3. Super Mario 64 (5 last year)

First Impression 10/10: This was the game that got me into gaming, and if it weren't for the impression the game made on me, with its colorful, imaginative worlds, varied challenges, catchy music, and sheer playability, I likely wouldn't be typing this right now (god knows what i would have gotten into instead...).

Replay 10/10: 120 stars to keep you going after the final Bowser fight, with the motive of seeing Yoshi, but beyond that, many stars present a good challenge that you can enjoy pursuing them again and again.

Technical 9/10: Famous Nintendo polish slips a little here, causing the original game to age somewhat poorly, but the goodness of the game outweighs it on the whole: great music, good and varied level design such that the game never bored you.

Since it seems nobody else has the guts to say it:

2 - Final Fantasy X-2.

I'll give a hint for my #3, #2 and #1:

3.-Was released in 3 different years (2010, 2011 and 2012) in different places
2.-The main character is silent and is the only one immune to certain curse
1.-One of the three main characters can use a "spell" that makes him throw fireworks against the enemies

3 - Xenoblade.

2 - Dragon Quest VIII.

Three main characters? Then #1 isn't Final Fantasy IX...

Well they aren't the only main characters, but they're the three that fight in most battles

#5 - Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (Kudos to no-one for guessing this)

Although Insomniac Games are now my favourite developers of all time, mostly thanks to the Spyro trilogy, I thought they'd lost it when I played the original Ratchet & Clank.  It just didn't have all the elements I associated with making their games great.  Although Up your Arsenal corrected that many many years later, it was A Crack in Time that showed me the original Insomniac was still in there and capable of creating masterpieces.

For one, the game is absolutely stunning.  A true pixar-style cartoony videogame.  And yet it's not just that which makes it great - environments are truly beautiful; fantastically designed and with incredible draw distances.  Those folks at Insomniac sure knew how to make the most out of the PS3.

Gameplay is everything you'd come to expect from Ratchet - blasting enemies apart with all manner of crazy weapons; solving environmental puzzles; zipping around in hover boots etc.  The two additions to ACiT that made it better than everything else were the "planet" levels and the Clank puzzles.  Both were fantastically designed and really expanded the scope of the game.

But what made ACiT best for me, though, was the story.  Providing a resolution to Clank's storyline and even touching on Ratchet's origins in a very touching way; for a game like Ratchet targeted at a specific audience it told a surprisingly emotional tale.  New characters like Orvus and Azimuth were incredibly well developed while Nefarious provides a formidable villain.

All in all, a fantastic way to conclude the Future trilogy (until the surprisingly appropriate Nexus 4 years later) and well deserving of a spot in my top 5.

#4 - LittleBigPlanet (Kudos to Brendude for guessing this)

LittleBigPlanet was actually one of the first game I picked up for my PS3 in 2010 when I started gaming again on consoles after a long absence.  It turned out to be (along with my #3 game) the catalyst to get me back into console gaming on the whole and a shining example of brilliance on the PS3.

There's not much I can really say about LBP that people here won't already know.  It's a 2D platformer where you can create your own levels.  Yes, if you can't handle that you may never be able to enjoy the game.  No, it didn't impact my enjoyment of the game in the slightest.

Even though I think, objectively, LBP2 is a much better game (and LBP Vita is better still) all my fondest memories are contained in LBP 1.  Even little touches such as the intro were unlike anything I'd seen before; Stephen Fry's weird narration over some beautiful imagery.  Staying up all night playing online with my friends in London who I hadn't seen for 2 years because we had all gone to different Universities.  Progressing through the campaigns together before going to some incredibly designed community levels.  Trying our hand at making our own level and utterly failing because things were far too complicated for us to understand; so going back to play some more brilliant community levels.  

Seriously, even in the first game which is incredibly limited in terms of what you can create compared to subsequent titles, the community did an absolutely excellent job.  I played Tomb Raider knockoffs; War of the Worlds; Motorstorm; rollercoasters and all sorts.  Such a brilliant, brilliant title.

Oh, and I miss when this was the music that played in the pod.  Wish you could choose it as an option for the later games:

Clue for my #3 - my hometown's greatest development studio remaster stuff from their 2 PSP games in beautiful 1080p 60fps, becoming one of the few teams to actually manage that achievement on the PS3.

Clue for my #2 - ".........."

Clue for my #1 - you should all know this about me by now. The third.

The Holidays are not good for keeping up with my Top 50. I'm soooo far behind.

#3

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox/2001)

For the longest time I thought Halo wasn't worth my attention. I had played it briefly with my friend, who raved about its greatness, but it never clicked for me. The control scheme and mechanics were alien to me. I had grown up with GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, and later moved to games like TimeSplitters and Nightfire. Halo was a different animal, and I didn't get it. Years later, when I purchased my Xbox 360, I pledged to play all the Xbox originals I missed. I picked up Morrowind and Ninja Gaiden, KOTOR and Doom 3, and, of course, the first two Halo games. Halo was the first game I played on my Xbox 360 and it remains, to this day, the very best. I realized then how great and revolutionary the game really was. On a technical front, the game boasts superior graphics, sound design, and artificial intelligence. On an aesthetic front, the game demonstrates a surprisingly detailed and coherent art direction that brings its alien worlds, facilities, and creatures to life. Best of all, though, are its controls, which are tight, responsive, and straight-forward; its weapon inventory system, which has been spared any unneccesary features and options; and its firefights, by far the best of any game ever made, thanks to the one idea that makes Halo the very best shooter ever made: improvisation.