#25. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Here comes my first Zelda game of my Top 50. I love the Zelda series, both in 2D and 3D (stay tuned to know which one I prefer the most), Twilight Princess was no exception, I bought it along with my Wii at launch and I couldn't have dreamed of a better launch game. It featured the proven 3D Zelda formula with the addition of Wii controls. While swinging your sword with a flick of the wrist was not the 1:1 experience I had hoped for, shooting arrows with using the IR pointer was incredibly satisfying. While I didn't particularly like the Wolf-only sections of the game, I really started to appreciate Wolf-Link once you are allowed to change from Wolf to Link at will.

Only 3. I've had to limit myself.

Same for me as well... and I've never played Majora's Mask. So...

(Spirit Tracks, Phantom Hourglass, and Link's Crossbow Training)

Stop spoiling my Top 50 Zelda games!

Sorry!

#24: Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube)
Release Date: December 2, 2001

Super Smash Brothers... MAYLAAAAY! The second game in the frantic and fun Smash Bros. series was the ultimate launch game... despite the fact that it missed GameCube's launch by a week or two (but hey, who's complaining?). But the game took the whole entire N64 game and overhauled it to the point where everything was improved. Incredible graphics, more characters (Mewtwo! Ganondorf! Falco! Marth and Roy?), a single player that put us in Nintendo's greatest worlds, new Smash attacks (no going back after this), and a trophy system that gave us more collectables to deal with made Melee a game that could not be ignored. Sure, there were issues with the balance (Fox, Falco, and Shiek say hi!), but that doesn't take away from the hundreds of hours I've spent with this game over the years. Seriously, I was still playing this game fervently in 2008. 800 hours later... and Super Smash Bros. Melee is here as my 24th favorite game of all time.

Main: Falco (Yeah yeah...)
Favorite Level: Hyrule Temple

24. Mass Effect 2 (X360)

Mass Effect 2 is a superb game from start to finish. The only thing that was worse than in ME1 was the story IMO.

Ah, now i recollect it. 24 is Pokemon Blue, super classic

Why is this site moving so damn slow this evening?

I'm so far behind.... I will catch up soon!

#23 Burnout played on PS2, released 2001

The start of a great series. I still play the first one now and then. It is by far the most challenging in the series which made it all the better. The roads are more narrow, there is more traffic on the road and even the slightest touch will make your driver slam on the brakes and take out the insurance papers. Yet all that makes weaving in and out of traffic that much more exhilarating. This game comes the closest for me to the great car chases in movies like Ronin.
Building up the boost bar takes effort too and crashing will cost you a hefty chunk. Finally getting a full bar and completing a succesful boost feels all that more rewarding.
My favorite 'car' was the city bus in Rush hour reverse. Getting that huge bus up to full speed then stringing succesful boost after boost while dodging the busy traffic while going in the wrong direction on the freeway is awesome. And when you do hit a car head-on the results are always spectacular.
And don't forget the great split-screen racing, many hours of fun.

List

23. Banjo-Kazooie (N64)

Some crazy types out there considered this to be the best 3D platform game of its time, ahead of Mario 64. I disagree, but that doesn't mean it's not a fantastic game. The game sees Banjo set out with Kazooie to try and save his sister Tooty from the witch Gruntilda, and they have help from Bottles and Mumbo Jumbo along the way. It made Banjo a star, as previously he'd just been a random character seemingly created only for Diddy Kong Racing, but he came in to his own with the help of Kazooie. It's yet another Rare game in my list, and there are still a couple more of them to come...