#38) Metal Slug 4 (NG/PS2/Xbox/Wii/PSP)

Metal Slug 4 relied more on cheap enemy placement for difficulty instead of pure great game design, and I fail to remember most of what happened in the final two stages, but it still doesn't fall too short of its two predecessors.

By the time this list is finished, you'll realize what a huge compliment that is coming from me.

I felt the same way. This game starts off much much much better then Heavy Rain, unlike any game I can think of. Then all of a sudden you get super powers and the ending comes way too fast, and it's way too half assed. If it didn't go shit at the end, It would easily have made my list.

At least it made your list. Metroid Prime 2 is outside my top 50, but in my top 100.

40. Halo: Combat Evolved (PC)

Halo is one of the few reasons I was glad to have a PC gaming computer back in 2001. It was one of those rare new gems which was interesting, unique, and fun to play. Halo had the most polished controls out of any First Person Shooter I have ever played before it....and it should, since this was my first FPS since GoldenEye. Halo got me into FPS, it got me into Sci-Fi genre games, and to be honest this still is the only story based PC game I have ever been sucked into. Still the controls in this game were so good, almost every Halo since has kept them relatively unchanged. Halo is Microsofts tradmark brand for a reason, and this is one of the best games Microsoft has ever produced.

39. Halo :Reach (360)

But this game is better. Halo: Reach was the first proper Halo game to deviate from the traditional formula. I cared for the story in Halo Reach, like I did for Halo CE, but I didn't care for it in Halo 2 or 3. Halo: Reach tells the story of the mass murder of nearly all of the Spartan Class Super Soldiers. Elites drop out of the sky in waves of dozens at a time, Corvette Mothsips fill the sky, and battles are even fought in space, but still the Noble 6 team pushes through, that is until you start getting picked off. Some of the Spartan deaths aren't that special, but some of them are pretty epic (the big guy on the left for instance). This game took Halo to a new level, with more instense combat, more diversified gameplay (spaceship level!), and it had one of the best sound tracks in a game. That's still only half the package, online is fun as hell too. Halo: Reach is the only game I care about ranks in. Call of Duty is too easy to presteige, Killzone focus's on class limits which only have 10 levels each, and Gears of War doesn't have daily challenges. Firefight is also wicked fun, especially Rocketfight. With 9 years of making Halo, Bungie have made this game a masterpeice, this is definatly the best Halo experience, and this is definatly a proper franchise MS can brand themselves with. I just hope 343 don't sqrew it up, but at the same time the franchise is due for more changes.

38. Super Metroid (SNES)

Now this, this is the shit people played before Halo and Metal Gear Solid. Samus Aran was the bad ass Super Soldier that defined one of a kind mother f***en badass. Super Metroid was a deep, fun as hell Action/Adventure game, and it has some of the most adrenaline pumping action moments and boss fights ever in a game. This was the definitive Metroid game before Metroid Prime, and it showed us that Nintendo can please the hardcore. That said in all honesty, I still haven't beaten this game. I never owned this, and only played half of it on my friends SNES, but I played enough to know it belongs on my list, and it belongs above Halo. Best thing about this game is that Samus was still portrayed and a silent soldier, who had nothing left to live for, but to search for the Chozo race that took her in, raised her, and made her into the super soldier she is.

#37 Valkyria Chronicles played on ps3, released 2008

A beautiful game with incredible art style featuring a great story with interesting well developed characters. This is one of those games I took my time with, going slow, taking in every detail, stretching it out for as long as possible. Every mission was unique and well thought out. My only complaint is that the main story was very easy, which was maybe a good thing due to the random outcome of encounters. Replaying the encounters and extra mission to get the highest rank was fun and gave the whole experience a satisfying length.
It was very disappointing to hear that the sequel was psp only. Now part 3 isn't even making it out of Japan. What a shame. Hopefully Sega will come to their senses and release these on ps3 worldwide sometime soon.

List

37. Duke Nukem 3D

I played this when I was in my teens, which was essentially the perfect time to play something as immature as this. But it was brilliantly immature, rather than gratingly so, although I haven't played it recently to avoid potentially changing my mind about this. It had crazy weapons (the shrink ray was a personal favourite), and numerous memorable one liners along with a crazy story about aliens capturing women. Basically, it was just mindless immature fun at a time when I loved that kind of thing.

Always wanted to play that game,it picked my attention since I saw it on a games magazine. Im a sucker for 2D isometric graphics XD

Before buying a PS3 I brought a PSP and played VC 2, I can't recommend it enough, it's really a great game and yet I have to try VC 1. Heard good things about it

Never played it but I'm very grateful for Ellis. (BTW, I improved your post with a visual aid)

Just got up to date with my list:

40. Super Smash Bros Melee - GC (38 last year):

I first played this game round a friend's house when I was 9 and it simply blew my mind.  Not only that, but it convinced me to get a GC instead of a PS2 (which I got towards the end of the 6th gen).  I'm also not sure whether Nintendo had realised the marketing potential of this game, but it did just that for me; I bought Metroid Fusion and Star Fox Adventures pretty much solely because I recognised the main character from this game.

39. Ico - PS2 (36 last year):

I always feel that this game has been and still is overshadowed by SotC (no pun intended).  This is a game which I think everyone should play, IMO this is easily one of the best PS2 games of all time.  The box art is awesome too.

38. Tactics Ogre: LUCT - PSX (New):

Matsuno is a legend and his Ogre series is really underrated IMO; the fact that this isn't even the highest game in the series on this list is a testament to this.  Almost every non Fire Emblem SRPG uses the mechanics pioneered in this game.  I'm just sad that given Matsuno's recent move to Level-5, this epic series won't have a future.

37. The Adventures of Alundra - PSX (New):

This is a really overlooked PSX game.  If you are not familiar, it is best described as 2d Zelda, just with really hard puzzles.  This game could've been Playstation family's answer to Zelda, but instead we are just left with this masterpiece and a slightly disapointing sequel.  I urge Zelda fans everywhere to track down this game and give it a go.