Why isn't Call of Duty the top pick?

5. Mario
4. Crash Bandicoot
3. Portal
2. Kingdom Hearts
1. Paper Mario

You have great taste =p

OT: In no specific order... Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, GTA, Timesplitters, Xenoblade, Smash Bros

Lots of Zelda love. Good .

But how am I going to do this though? A lot of franchises are among my favorites if you don't count them after the point where they dropped off a cliff.

That's why I'll give you two lists.

One considering franchises excluding the (often newer) games that s*cked *ss and ruined everything forever, so based one a franchise's heyday, and one list which considers those as well, so a list of my favourites that consistently stayed good.

First 'heyday' list:
5. Rollercoaster Tycoon (before 3)
4. Sim City (before EA started meddling ie. up to 4)
3. Mario
2. Star Wars (before EA started meddling ie. before ToR)
1. The Legend of Zelda

Second 'consistency' list:
5. Uncharted
4. Anno
3. Star Wars (will plummet further the more EA will meddle)
2. Mario
1. The Legend of Zelda

You might see a certain pattern here. Anyway, Mario is one thing as OP described, but the best thing about it is the 3D platformers, followed by Kart followed by 2D platformers followed by Party. I don't care for the Sports games, but they aren't enough to knock the franchise down. If seperated, 3D Mario would replace the franchise proper on 2nd place and Mario Kart would replace Uncharted at 5th place.

5. Resident Evil
4. Grand Theft Auto
3. Ratchet & Clank
2. Metal Gear Solid
1. Uncharted

5. Persona
4. Smash Bros.
3. Metal Gear Solid
2. Mario
1. The Legend of Zelda

5. Soul Calibur
4. Final Fantasy
3. Pokemon
2. Bioshock
1. Tales series

Honorable Mentions: Persona, Kingdom Hearts, Borderlands, and Mortal Kombat.

1. Zelda
2. Earthbound/Mother
3. Super Smash Bros
4. Mario
5.Sonic (The good ones, I ignore the mess ups)

1. Super Smash Bros.

2. Mega Man

3. Dark Souls

4. Fire Emblem

5. Half-Life

1. Halo
2. Grand Theft Auto
3. Zelda
4. Mario
5. Gears of War