#38 GTA: San Andreas played on ps2, released 2004

Still the best sandbox game. There's always something to do. I have easily spend over 60 hours in this game without ever finishing the story mode. It wasn't perfect, the shooting sections left much to be desired which is the reason I gave up on the story in the 3rd city. Nevertheless it was a great journey getting to Las Venturas with nothing but quality distractions along the way. From paragliding off the top of the mountain to doing the ambulance mini game or stacking up cars and trucks in front of the indestructable tram in San Fierro. And ofcourse getting a 5 star rating and causing all kinds of mayhem.
Hopefully GTA5 will bring back the fun and scale of San Andreas.

List

38. Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3)

Its' multiplayer was almost as great as CoD4's, but the singleplayer was even better and therefore Black Ops became my favourite CoD game.

Nice choice

38: Superstar Dust HD

another big update from me containing lots of great RPGs:


45. Valkyrie Profile - PSX (New):

Another overlooked PSX RPG. I loved pretty much everything about this game: the setting, the music (which I've heard the PSP version doesn't do justice), the graphical style, the battle system, the dungeon exploring. I also bought a copy of it's sequel, but I just haven't got round to playing it yet. Without a doubt, more games should take inspiration from Norse mythology.

44. Secret of Mana - SNES (37 last year):

I love this game, I really do. This game was so far ahead of it's time with it's ring menus, lack of separate battle screen, battle system, etc. This game's soundtrack is easily one of the best I've ever heard from a single game (it's up their with FFVI and VII, SSBB, Xenoblade Chronicles and Chrono Trigger); music such as the opening theme, the 3rd flight theme and the penultimate boss theme are forever in my head. The graphics also are also among the best for the SNES, which is especially good considering it is a 1993/4 game.#

43: Paper Mario: TTYD - GC (41 last year):

This game took everything that was great about the 1st Paper Mario game and improved on it. Better characters, better visuals, a more refined battle system, more to do and a tough final boss; it's just a shame that this trend didn't continue with Super Paper Mario. This is the reason why I am eagerly anticipating Paper Mario 3D, as even if it is only half as good as this game it will be worth a purchase.

42. Xenogears - PSX (12 last year):

Xenogears sees a subsantial drop of 30 places from my last list, probably is because I only just finished the game upon writing my list last year. In many respects, this game is a masterpiece: the story is among the best found in any game, the music is very good and it's a good length. However, I can know see that in some respects the battle system is flawed; battles are usually just continuously using each character's most powerful deathblow under victory. However, despite this and the not so great 2nd disc, this game is still amazing and I would recomend it to any fan of RPGs.

41: Zelda: Majora's Mask - N64 (30 last year):

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but MM is my least favourite 3D Zelda game. That's not to say I don't like it (the fact it features on this list confirms it's awesomeness), but I just think OoT, WW and TP are all superior to it. I loved the originality of the game and it's novel setting, the game's stone tower dungeon is also probaly my favourite level in any Zelda game. This was a fantastic swan song for the N64.

38. Trine (PS3)

Trine is a little different from a lot of games released these days, it's a colourful and vibrant stand-out in an ocean of murky colour schemes. Add in the fact that it's a quality platformer that's not on a Nintendo console and it's even more of a rarity. The ability to switch between the thief, the wizard and the knight at any moment allows you to use their respective strengths to get beyond whatever obstacle or enemy is in your path. It does suffer from the floaty jump mechanic that plagues some games of its type, but outside of that it's a really enjoyable experience.

Yeah Indigo Prophecy was, at first, so intriguing but then it becomes kind of boring. I never finished it because the story was crap at the end and got stuck in some memorie where you are a kid and need to shealth trough a military station or something like that. But it has an excellent story (in the beggining) and characters were nice too

Also, I like seeing Grandia in a list, that game was truly enjoyable the story was nice, the battle was pure fun, the characters had charm and you had plenty to do. Really a great game

43. Halo 3

As a single player game, Halo 3 isn't anything special. As a co-op game, Halo 3 is fun as hell. I don't care for the story with Halo 3, but it was nice to finish the fight (unlike more recent entries), but what makes me like this game so much is how well made the game is and how balanced the gameplay is. Sticking friends online never gets old, and when your good enough to get people across the map, it can be hilarious. I love Halo 3 because it was a fun co-op game, it's simple, addictive, fun, and Master Cheif is pretty damn bad ass.

42. Uncharted 2

Normally I'm not a fan of the type of game where the main objective to to get some rare treasure, so I wan't expecting to like this when I played it. However traveling to Shemballa isn't such a terrible thing in this game. Nathan Drake is hilarious, I could play this game again just to hear his one liners, and the setting of the game changes so dramatically. Climbing a handing train, running up to the coach of a train and shooting down a helicopter, or actually climbing a giant statue to change mirrors all fell very different, and as a result the game never feels boring. You always have to go somewhere new. This game would rank higher, but the game can be buggy at time. One level I couldn't continue because the game wouldn't let me climb a pole and just to the next location, Nathan just wouldn't stick his arm out no matter where I positioned him. Also the idea of super powerful humans, hidden cities, and large temples with doors opened by reflected light just annoy me, it's just to unrealistic. Uncharted 2 feels like the new Indianna Jones, if they can make a new Uncharted more like the original Indianna Jones titles, then the Next uncharted will rank much higher on my list.

41. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

This is my favorite Zelda game on my list. I just hate how Nintendo has ruined the franchise lately, I wish they kep the art style choice of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and I wish the story could be dark as it was here. Anyway, the reason I love Majora's Mask better then Ocarina of Time is because it's harder, and less confusing. I always know where to go, and challenges are designed to be hard in dungeon, not finding the dungeon. Majora's Mask is also one entry that veered away from the traditional path against Gannondorf. I like this, I loved the fierce deko mask, and the game itself had such a rich atmosphere. I felt sad for Link because he had to stay away from Hyrule so he wouldn't alter the events that take place in Ocarina of Time, and well yea. This game had a good story, great gameplay, and was one of the first 3D games where different locations actually felt different. Great use of music to set an errie environment.

TruckoSaurus Great games again. Smash Bros Melee and Mario Kart Wii also made my list, not much above you. Great choices.

MrT-Tar I'm also catching up, but you have some great games on your list. I never played Secret of Mana, but I've heard good things and it;s on my to do list. Paper Mario and XenoGears didn't make my top 50 mainly because I'm a Super Mario RPG fan and I haven't put enough hours into XenoGears to judge it. Majora's Mask is above, same spot as it is for you.

Yeah, in the end it really got worse. However, it seems to me that the devs didn't have enough time to develope a good ending and probably a good last hour of the game overall, that's why it was so much worse than the rest of the game.

#38. Super Castlevania IV (SNES, VC)

I've been a fan of the Castlevania series for a very long time, I actually started with Simon's Quest (which I loved but it didn't make my Top 50) but Super Castlevania IV really left a lasting impression on me. It's a very early SNES title but it looks very good. Simon Belmont looks positively badass and he has learned to swing his whip in all directions which makes fighting birds and medusa heads slightly less aggravating. The level design is varied , the bosses are cool and the fight against Dracula is the best in the series.

Now, you can't mention Super Castlevania IV without talking about the incredible music. It's simply perfect, moody, well adapted to every stage. Tracks like Simon's Theme, Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer will stay in your head for days but you won't mind because they kick ass.