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I've been horrible at updating, so here are a few thoughts about my Top 50.

  • About a third of my Top 50 games are RPG's including six of the Top 10 spots. Chrono Trigger is #1, and Mother 3, Pokemon Red/Blue, The World Ends With You, Kingdom Hearts, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga were also in the Top 10. All but two of the RPG's are JRPG's.
  • To my surprise, I have a fair number of shooters in my Top 50. These range from 1997's Star Fox 64 to 2015's Splatoon, the most recent game in my Top 50. Three of these (Resident Evil 4, Team Fortress 2, and Kid Icarus: Uprising) are in my Top 10.
  • I use the term "Zeltroid" to describe action-adventure games with an emphasis on the player avatar gaining new capabilities to unlock new locations to explore. Sometimes the only obvious difference between Zelda-clones and Metroid-clones is whether we're playing the game from an overhead or side view. Six games made it under this category: Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and four Zelda games (LttP, OoT, MM, and LBW). Link Between Worlds is not only my favorite Zelda of the 21st century, but also my favorite entry in the series.
  • Although I enjoy the genre, only a few platformers are on this list, including just one Super Mario entry: Super Mario 3D World. Super Mario 64, Super Mario World and Super Mario Galaxy were in the running for the bottom of this list, but didn't make the cut for various reasons. 3D World, simply put, went beyond my expectations multiple times over, via distinct levels, wealth of content, surprising gameplay variety, etc. The fact that it is the only Super Mario game to really work out cooperative play also helps.
  • Besides Nintendo, Aquaresoft/Square Enix was the best-represented developer/publisher.
  • In the two months since making this list, I am already thinking that a few changes will have to be made. Games like Splatoon and Age of Empires 2 (!) have gotten better in the past two months, and after a bit more time with the game, I feel Majora's Mask deserves better than #35. Conversely, Mario & Luigi and Elite Beat Agents may be a bit high.
  • Though most of this list is Gen 6 onwards, the top two games were released in the mid-90's.