Now I'm not against change. I just hold to the idea of "change was doesn't work, keep what does work, because what matters is what works". This philosophy applies to video games as well.

I don't buy the "You gotta give them credit for at least trying something different" line, but that's for a whole other topic. The point is that if a game copies another game, it can still be good. Some might not believe it, but this thread is for those who do.

Now the degrees of copying will likely be up for debate, so the best guideline would be that you could just play the original game and copycate a little, and tell that the latter is one of these.

And it could be flexible. While I don't think any of the SNK fighting games would be accused of being complete ripoffs of Street Fighter II, they clearly are copying the formula, just copying very well, and with nuances that experiences players can point out better than me. On the other hand, a game can be a total copycat and still be good, like Darkstalkers (hey, just because Capcom published this doesn't make it not a copycat, it just means they wouldn't try to sue themselves over it).

So anyway, these are my five nominees:

Honorable mentions include Silent Hill (Resident Evil), Master of Darkness (Castelvania), and Simpsons Hit & Run (Grand Theft Auto).

i liked saints row 1 better than the second one because of the mp3 player.

This isn't about which SR game is better.

thats what you think...

I was with you until God of War. Sure it borrowed some things from previous games, just like every third person shooter after Gears jacked its cover system and every FPS stole Halo's regeneting health. That doesn't make it a "blatant copycat". If God of War wasn't something totally new and amazing it wouldn't have risen above its inspirations to become the unchallenged leader of its genre.

Switch it with Forza Motorsport. Microsoft made that game with a copy of GT3 and a piece of tracing paper.

It wasn't totally new. It just really refined established hack & slash conventions.

This is another reason I'm suggesting this list. Too many gamers don't know their gaming history, and therefore don't know how rare originality actually is. Just because you haven't seen something before doesn't make it new.

Both Alundra and Okami were no doubt inspired by Zelda (2d and 3d respectively) and IMO they are comparable to the Zelda games in their quality.

Heck, the director of the latter outright admits Zelda inspired the game.

Your kind of a stretching the term 'copycat' with some of of your choices. Going by your definition, Super Mario Bros. is a copycat of Pitfall, because they basically both use sidecrolling levels that allow you to jump over enemies and obstacles. Donkey Kong is a copying Space Panic because they both involve a static single screen that has the player jump over upcoming obstacles to reach the top of the screen. Devil May Cry copied Dynasty Warriors 2. I don't agree with any of these comparisons, but they do ring true when I look at it from your perspective.

Now something like Dantes Inferno is definently copying God of War, anyone that's played the game will be able to list off all the things he directly takes from the franchise. 

Darksiders is definently copying Ocarina of Time. Crash Team Racing is definently copying Mario Kart and 3d Dot Game Heroes is definently copying Zelda. The problem is that your taking the creators of the genre and listing games that take influence from those older games, they aren't direct copies, mainly because they create their own game within an already established genre. 

P.S. I'm including your nominees in this little post.

This is what a real copycat is:

1. I stated in the OP that it's flexible, so there can be some stretching. That's why a post about Okami was valid.

2. Are you all forgetting how the VG Chartz Top 10 system works? I even wrote that I was posting my nominees. So if you disagree, post your own. I didn't write the OP to make some official list in that alone, or else I would have posted that in the gaming section.