#19 Valkyria Chronicles

Why did it make the list?
Valkyria Chronicles is a unique, well crafted, and beautiful looking tactical RPG.  I really love tactical RPG's! Well, Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical RPG for the modern home era of console gaming.  I have not encountered a tactical RPG since that even comes close to how awesome this game is.  

The best part of VC is probably it's unique battle system.  It feels like a hybrid of turn-based and real-time combat.  You are given a map and then choose which units you want to move each turn based on your command points.  Then you are taken to a view that is like a 3rd person shooter, where you decide where you are going to move and act (usually shoot) and decide where you end your turn.  When you shoot a targeting icon comes up so you can choose to go for a headshot or a more reliable body shot.  

Also even when the units are not moving they react to enemies near them by shooting at them.  This gives a real feeling of being in a fire fight.  When you move your guys, you better flee for cover fast to avoid damage.  At the same time, if you set up a good defensive position then you can eliminate a lot of enemies...on their turn...as they try to break through your defenses.  

Lastly, you have a friggin' tank.  A friggin' TANK!  The tank takes more command points than your infantry, but sometimes you just want to unleash the raw power of the tank on your enemies.

Original experience:
This game blew me away when I first played it, and really it still blows me away today.  It looks and plays great and there is no other game like this.  (Ok the sequels on the PSP are like this, but the original game is much better.)  On top of everything else that I have mentioned it also has a fantastic story.  I say this as someone who is usually really irritated by stories in video games.  Like if I took away the Final Fantasy series, then I really struggle to think of a story I like.  But this game has a story that can rival the best of Final Fantasy's. 

How does it hold up today?
This game is still awesome by today's standards.  I go back and play it again every 2 - 3 years.  It originally came out on the PS3, and this version looks great, but there is also a PS4 remasterd version that also includes all of the DLC.  If you love tactical RPG's then this game is a must play.

18 Kingdom Rush?
17 Gran Turismo 5 Prologue?

PT

17

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

• Nintendo GameCube, Wii, WiiU
• 2006
• Adventure
• Nintendo EAD

The Nintendo Wii system couldn't have started off, or the GameCube send off, with a better game than 'The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'. For a while the only game in the series simultaneously released across two platforms spanning two generations. Personally I got the GameCube version first, only to get the Wii version a couple months later when I got the Wii.

The game follows a familiar pattern in the series and is heavily inspired by it's most famous predecessor. That doesn't make it less of a game though, and it actually helps the fluent story. A story presented in a very stylistic way, including what is probably the best cutscene I ever saw in a video game. Like any Zelda game, the look of it serves the theme of the game perfectly, in this case the depressed story of the evil thief Ganondorf's return to a declined kingdom after being imprisoned. The environments, the tone of the visuals and the soundtrack all serve to show a Hyrule long past it's prime, with hints of a more prosperous past.

What sets the game apart though is it's gameplay design. Dungeons are important to me in any Zelda, as well as the beautiful landscapes, and this game delivers in a big way. The game is home to plenty of enormous dungeons, each more unique than the next, each with their own back-stories, realistically integrated into their environments and locations, and plenty of aspects and detail to theorize about. It also features many grand vistas to gaze upon while riding on horseback, which never gets old. It all is some of the best level-design in general among gaming actually. At the end of the day that's what's most important in a game, and that's keeps drawing me back every time.

#16
This is a game similar to those in a well known strategy series, but based on a European comic.

You know it.

And you too

All correct.

I looked it up but I haven't played that game before, so I won't say :P.

23. Super Mario Bros 3

One of the first games to have a battery backup save file. The first Mario game to sport an overworld, or a hub world. Excellent graphics for the NES' power output. The only other game that looks as good is Kirby. The final world of this game is just nuts, with auto-scrolling bullet hell levels, where Mario has to dodge hundreds of bullet bills, and cannonballs. Also, the music is pretty good. 

22. Super Mario World

This is the first of what I call "The Big 5". Five SNES games that have aged like a fine wine. Seriously, if you haven't played these games you need to do yourself a favor and play them. Back in the day I had a Sega Genesis, but I knew SNES was better based on just this one game. SMW has more levels in it than all four Sonic games combined. It also has Yoshi, who as everybody knows is a ton of fun to ride. This game was a massive leap in 2D tech at the time. Seriously, almost every level showcases some new and previously impossible feat in 2D graphics. Books have been written on the number of 2D tricks Nintendo invented just for this game. 

21. Batman Arkham Asylum

I love a good Metroidvania game, and Arkham Asylum was pretty much a Metroidvania beat'em up starring Batman. I like this game over Arkham City, because wide open spaces often create downtime in games, whereas small tightly packed levels keep you busy and entertained. A lot of people say the combat of this game is bad, because you can just hit Y or Triangle over and over again to beat any jobbers in the game. But they are missing the point. The point of the combat is to see how high of a combo you can rack up. Jobbers never pose a threat unless they have guns. This makes the list for being the best super hero game ever made. Too bad Rocksteady and WB went down the Microtransaction rabbit hole. 

#19 Super Mario World / SNES-GBA

Is Mario World.

#18 Mischief Makers / N64

Something pretty obscure from my childhood, still play it to this day, one of those few (if not the only) mostly sprite based 2D platformers for the N64, which remains pretty unique in combination with its shake mechanic of grabing and shaking enemies and objects to defeat them and solve puzzles plus its pretty unique sounding soundtrack, all thrown in with a wacky storyline makes it my favorite game from the system.

#17 The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap / GBA

A pretty underrated Zelda game from what I have seen, its soundtrack that combines classic and new tunes, the great sprite work, Ezlo, Vaati, the kinstone system, the minish mechanic, the dungeons, the familiar faces from previous titles, I love everything about this game. A pretty nostalgic yet fresh experience.

Cloud Tops is perfection.