Please do! Whether it be here or just on the Official Thread. <3

Just let me know if you'd like to participate. We'd love you have you. ^_^

#29 - Wild ARMs 5 (PS2)

As guessed by no-one :(.  Wild ARMs became my go-to RPG series after I became incredibly disappointed with Final Fantasy during the last generation.  Wild ARMs 5 mixed in the new battle system and platforming ideas of WA4 with more traditional elements such as world maps that had generally been missing from JRPG's on consoles during the 6th gen.  The only thing that was a bit lacking was the story, but the main gameplay was tighter than ever and there was a beautiful world to explore and some fantastic set pieces, which more than made up for it.

Clue for my #28 - First PS3 outing for one of the PS2's heroes.

28th hint: This game was a departure from a much loved franchise, this game was criticized at the time but is now also much loved.

I really feel like I should know this and it's bothering me :P

The Wind Waker?

#31: Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)
Last Year: 30

Retro Studios certainly has a knack for returning SNES-era superstars to their rightful glory. Not satisfied just for raising Samus Aran from the dead in spectacular fashion (we'll get to that later), Retro Studios took up the task to returning (ahem) Donkey Kong Country to its rightful place among the all-time platforming greats. Rare did an incredible job of first creating the amazing Donkey Kong Country series back on the SNES (as seen by my previous placing of DKC2), so Retro had quite the shoes to fill. But with the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns, Retro didn't just meet expectations, they exceeded them. This game is an ode to amazing platform design, and always keeps things fresh and (super) fun. And like the DKC series before it, the game is quite challenging, but always fair (the kind of game where it's "Just one more time! I know I can get it this time!"). It had a few small issues (getting a perfect head bounce is harder to perform than it needs to be, and getting used to the shake controls), but on the whole, the game is amazing. Truly one of the all time platforming greats.

#29: TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
Last Year: 28

"It's time to SPLIT!" With TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, Free Radical hit the benchmark on what it takes to make a truly great game. Solid, intuitive controls, fun, engaging gameplay, a creative and engrossing single player campaign, super addictive multiplayer, and goodies that kept you coming back for more. Once again you take the reigns of Sargent Cortez as he goes through time trying to track down a mad scientist trying to become immortal. From a Haunted Mansion to a robot Civil War, and everywhere inbetween, the single player never lets you go with amazing gameplay sequences and a sense of humor that the former Rare staff are known for. The multiplayer is amazingly addictive as well, and with the amount of modes (Virus mode!), characters (Deadwinda!), Stage Creation Mode, and customization options available, you be playing for months on end. It's just the culmination of everything I ever wanted out of the FPS genre. Truly the shining star of the shooters.

#30: StarCraft/Brood War
Last Year: 26

StarCraft is an important game for me because it's the first RTS game that I really got involved in. I remember staying up into the wee hours of the night playing this game, whether it was playing the fantastic single player campaign or battling against CPU opponents in a custom game (If you could survive the CPU's first attack wave in the beginning of the game, you were set). It was also my first foray into the crazy world of Battle.net, Blizzard's online world of glorious battles (I never never great) and crazy custom games (now those were fun. Paintball anyone?). And then Brood War came along and brought more great units (Lurkers are amazing) and more single player goodness (although Kerrigan was a real bitch. ). All in all, StarCraft was another Blizzard classic that I spent more hours playing than I care to admit. Great game.

Hint for #28

This game features a gender-confused shadow.