#22: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Genesis)
Release Date: January 23, 1994
Last Year: #12

It took me years to beat this game. Years. Before the age of the internet, we gamers had to get by through playground video game gossip... and no one had a solution for my issue in this game. You see, I couldn't get past those darn cylinders in Carnival Night Zone. I jumped and jumped and jumped... but the thing just wouldn't budge enough to get through... and I always ended up hitting the 10 minute mark and dying. Years later, I learned that it wasn't jumping that made the demoic device go up and down... it was just the directional pad (insert facepalm here). I booted up my old Sega Genesis right away and mintues later... I finally passed the level and went on to beat the game. While the final level and boss were a letdown (because it's really only half of a game...), Sonic 3 introduced some awesome features like Elemental Shields (the Electric Shield is my favorite, I love me that double jump!), the ability to save, and a new bonus level that was all 3Dish. Most importantly, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would introduce the most awesomest video game character ever: Knuckles the Echidna. A star was born!

Favorite Music Track: Hydrocity Zone (Act 1)
Coolest Moment: Sonic skiiing in Ice Cap Zone

#21: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
Release Date: November 15, 2009
Last Year: #24

If I had it my way, when you looked up "fun" in the dictionary, you'd find New Super Mario Bros. Wii under it. The game is a blast, no matter how you play. Great level design, pitch perfect controls, smart use of motion controls (seriously, I absent-mindedly shook my 3DS in Super Mario 3D Land thinking it would get me a more seconds of air... it didn't work.) and classic Super Mario Bros. elements make this game a moden classic... but it's the ability to play with three other friends that push this game over the edge when it comes to fun. Sure, adding players makes the difficulty spike exponentially... but nothing beats four friends sitting on a couch, yelling and screaming (get in the bubble!) and laughing. There's already so many fond memories with this game... and I still play it with friends and family to this day. Oh... and that final Bowser fight? Brilliant!

Favorite New Power-up: Penguin Suit (adorable)
You Know a Game is Great When: Even the Credits are fun

#24. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

With this game Retro Studios have done the impossible: capture the essence of what made the DKC games so fun and manage to create a game that surpassed even the original. World after world this platformer comes up with new ideas making it fresh from start to finish. This time around instead of collecting bonus levels you get to search for puzzle pieces and KONG letters.

While I try to get as many puzzles pieces as I can, I really focused on getting the KONG letters because they unlock the incredible K levels in each world. These levels really test your platforming skills (and sometimes your patience ) but managing to finish them all is one of the most rewarding gaming experience there is.

#23. Resident Evil 2 (PS1)

I started the Resident Evil series with this game, in fact it's a secret shame of mine but I've never played the original Resident Evil or its remake. The game starts off rough, you're thrown in the deep end and I died a couple of times before I figured out what to do and how the controls worked.

I quickly learned that you couldn't go around killing every zombie in your path and that ammo conservation was of the utmost importance. The fixed camera angles and the tank controls sometimes worked against you, hiding your enemies from your sight but all of this added to the tension that was present all the way through the game.

The story was told through the vision of Leon and Claire and while the locations were the same both playthrough were quite different in the enemies encountered and the weapons you could use. The story woud also differ slightly whether you played with Leon or Claire first adding replay value. The game also rewarded quick playthroughs with various bonuses, the best one being the infinite rocket launcher if you finish the game in less than 2½ hours.

That thing is the handiwork of Satan. Probably the second most annoying obstacle in the series. (Behind the Pit of No Return in Mystic Cave Zone)

*laughs* I totally forgot about that in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Hilarously enough, I only fell into it once... and I was Super Sonic. Talk about a kick in the nuts.

It's nice to know that I wasn't the only one to struggle with the Cylinders from Satan though. Googling "Carnival Night Zone" gets me this:

Brilliant.

You can't go and recreate your list on a new compy? I doubt it would be that difficult... I believe in you Spurgeon!

#22. Final Fantasy II (SNES)

Love, hate, betrayal, drama, sacrifice, crystals, airships this game has it all. To this day the story of this game remains one of my favorite. Starting off with Cecil as a Dark Knight asked to do questionable things by the king of Baron and ending with a confrontation on the moon, the story covers many themes such as redemption, love triangles and sacrifice. Every character was fully fleshed out and you could easily understand their motivations.

On the gameplay front, we saw the introduction of the Active Time Battle system and characters each had their specific class. Rosa was a White Wizard, Rydia a Caller/Black Mage, Kain an easily mind-controllable Dragoon. I really appreciated that everyone felt different and had their own use in the party (except for Edward the worthless Bard of course).

The game clocks at just under 20 hours everytime I replay it and it's always a blast to experience.

Side note: I've played this game so many times that I started to notice how certain things were determined. One of those things was that the level of everyone on your final team (except Edge) was determined by Cecil's level when they joined the party. Knowing that, right before beating the Magus Sisters, I would kill off my whole party except Cecil and fight the puppet summoning enemies for a while. Using that method I'd get Cecil at a ridiculous level (around 60) and afterwards my whole party would join my ranks powered up and ready to kick ass.

#22 Tekken 6 ladies and gentlemen!

Yay! :D

#21. Final Fantasy X (PS2)

The first Final Fantasy on PS2 and the first one with voiceovers. I really enjoyed this game a lot, the battle system was really good, the sphere grid was a nice change from what I was used to and finally Square had found a solution that made using every character a definite possibility. No longer did you have to form a party, level up three people then change so the others wouldn't fall behind, you change between all of your characters on the fly in every battle. It was just brillant!

The story was interesting and the game featured breathtaking CGI cutscene (Yuna's first sending comes to mind). Also Auron kicks ass! There was a decent number of things to do once the main quest was over (mainly the Monster Arena and it's crazy strong monster). I didn't enjoy Blitzball at all but thankfully I wasn't forced to play it more than once per playthrough.