2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

How do you improve on "magic"? How do you make "wonder" better? How is it that this game could make me smile any more than the first Galaxy? I don't know how this game managed to do this, or how it managed to provide so many more wonderful pieces of gameplay bliss. But here we are at number 2 with Super Mario Galaxy 2... a game that provides just as much (and even more) heartfelt gaming magic than its predecessor.

I mean... the soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard, the colors, characters, and worlds provide some amazing playgrounds for Mario to play in, Yoshi delivers some fantastic gameplay additions, and this sequel continues what I love about this genre. It's so diverse and so surprising at every turn. One moment your riding down a looping slide and the next your handing from a bird, gliding above a jungle. This game defies a box that gamers love to put games in, and because of that its a game that always surprises and never dulls.

What is gaming? What defines a video game? Why is this branch of entertainment so special? What makes our hobby so unique compared to others? If you want those questions answered, I think sitting down and playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 is something that provides those answers, and with style.

I know. I KNOW! I really don't even have an excuse... maybe I'm initally afraid of Elven boys? That explains the whole Link/Legolas thing... but still. I suck.

9. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

I have a special place in my heart for the elder scrolls games. Why? Because they give me an out to reality. Truth be told, I'm really a loser IRL so I need to play video games in order to feel empowered! That's where Bethesda came along and was all like, "Hey there little man? Feeling down? How about bashing some mud crabs up with this warhammer?" I was all like, "Yes sir, this appeals to my needs" And that's how a long lasting relationship was consummated.

What I love most about Bethesda games and in particular Elder Scrolls 4 is it's depth. There's so many weapons and skills to learn, so many places to visit, so many quests to fulfill, and so many people to mutilate! This goes along with the whole 'empowerment' thing I'm talking about. But what I like most is the sense of journey that the game has... it ranges from EPIC when storming into an oblivion gate to somber and subtle when just walking along the coast near Anvil.

So yeah, I love this game... and all 3 of its voice actors

Well, look on the bright side! At least we know you're not an elven pedo

There is good in bad

8. Demon's Souls

Just as i like Oblivion for it's sense of empowerment, I LOVE Demon's Souls for doing the opposite. All the games in my top ten have given me some sort of feeling... be it a sense of journey, a sense of awe, etc. Demon's Souls also gave me a sense of something... a sense of dread. But I mean that in the best way possible! Whatever that means... But yeah, I love demons souls and in more ways than one.

For starters, the art direction is wonderful. Castelvania LoS has recently been touted as having a great Gothic art direction... yeah, no it doesn't. Demon's Souls, now THAT is Gothic. I felt like a Knight going through a dark medieval world be it the gates of Castle Bolitaria or the Tower of Latria. It was pretty incredible for just that reason alone. But to further my point, the game has an assload of weapons/armor/loot all of which allows the player to tailor their playstyle. And these items are NOT handed out like candy! Something that most/all other RPGs do. Oneself has to work for armor/weapons be it changing world tendencies, fighting through terrible foes, or a combination of the two. Once these items have been won, there isn't even a guarantee you can use them effectively! If your stats aren't high enough, stuff can weigh you down and make you move slow and cumbersome. Or in short, they can hurt more than help. And if an item CAN be used effectively, the result is nothing short of feeling like a knight waving around a weapon in a medieval world... or in short, win.

Also: the bosses are fantastic, the online is innovative, and there's so much content here you're guaranteed to spend over 100 hours playing. I know I did! I even got the platinum trophy! (And yes it did take that long to get it :P)

I really should just wrap this thing up... so let me say one final thing. There's an abortion pit... I was really blown away by that. I hope I didn't spoil anything but damn, you even fight the demonized fetuses AND THEY'RE HARD!!! D:

My top ten games are such shining examples of the medium that their order might as well be random, and any of them could be number 1 on a given day.

High five!

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2

As I've said, SMG bettered SM64. What I wasn't expecting was for Nintendo to release the first ever direct sequel to a 3D Mario game and go another step further with my favourite game of this year, of this generation, and my second favourite game of all time.

When it was announced, critics thought it would be SMG1.5, but they could not have been more wrong. This game takes everything that was great from the first game, improves it, and then adds things on top, such as the reappearance of Yoshi, who is used far more effectively here than he was in Super Mario Sunshine. There are more ideas thrown into some five minute levels, never to be seen again, than there are in some entire games.

If you doubt me and want a second opinion of how great this game is, read this.

Finally, I challenge you, if you've not played this game, to play it from beginning to end, and try not to smile even once. You will fail.

2. Heavy Rain (PS3)

If you're searching for an innovative game with an engaging story Heavy Rain is the best game you can get. I could try to find many words to describe how amazing this game is, but I guess I couldn't find the right words for it. Many different choices and endings, innovative gameplay and storytelling, interesting characters and a great plot; all this combined is Heavy Rain.

Number 10

Metroid Prime

"Immersion" is a word that people throw around constantly and often in inappropriate ways. You want to know what immersion is like? You play Metroid Prime and you will find out.

Metroid is a game that is predicated on the idea that exploration is inherently fun, that plumbing the depths of caves and glaciers and volcanoes is an activity that is enjoyable for its own sake, and that finding monsters in the secret places of the world only enhances that sense of wonder and adventure. And you know what? It's true. Metroid Prime is fun in every part, down to the simple act of walking down a corridor in an alien fortress.

There is a real sense of progression in any Metroid game, but one feels it in Metroid Prime more than any other because not only does one become stronger and more easily capable of annihilating enemies, but also because the perspective granted by a first-person view allows the player to see how the world changes around them. Metroid is a game about forcing new states on the world around you, and Prime makes you feel these acts like no other game in its series.

I also really like the storytelling in this game - maybe not so much the story itself, but the way it's told is masterful. The vast majority of the plot is entirely opt-in, and you don't have to read it at all if you don't want to, but there's so much material to go over (often revealed only minutes after events have happened) that the world ends up being exactly as fleshed out as you want it to be. There's a sense of expert pacing and alien strangeness married together in the act of scanning lore or pirate logs, and the result is a feverish perusal of facts that could spell out doom for an entire world - and you will believe it.

Metroid Prime is beautiful in so many ways - the soundtrack is beautiful, the art is beautiful, the construction of the game is good enough that it is pleasing to the eye a full generation and EIGHT YEARS after its initial release. But you know what's best abotu all of this beauty?

They let you see how they made it.

Metroid Prime has several unlockable art galleries made available by finishing different amounts of the game, and these art galleries show off the kind of talent that Retro Studios leveled at the challenge of this game (the talent and the challenge are both enormous). I wish all Nintendo games had extras like Metroid Prime. It would give me still more reasons to keep playing.