The Top 5: Video Game Edition

Favorite Video Games of All-Time
Andrew's List

By no means will these lists be what we think is the best game ever made, or prettiest, or most challenging. These are simply the games we feel left the biggest impact on us in our personal gaming lifetime.

​5. Daytona USA (Sega Saturn) '95

"Rooooooooooooooooooolliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!"
Originally an arcade racing simulator, this game made its impact on me when it reached Sega Saturn in 1995. Serving as a release day title game, this racer drove into the hearts of millions with it's realistic racing features, graphics, and iconic music. At the time, this was THE racing game. It had both Saturn and Arcade modes with 3 races/tracks available.....Beginner, Advanced and Expert.  It had a decent selection of cars which could be played in Automatic or Manual transmission. My favorite "car" was not listed in the menus, and could only be accessed via cheat codes, which I loved using back in the day. This transportation unit, as shown above, was a magnificent steed, who had the ability to drive across the slippery, grassy plains like a duck on water. Even better, the horse raced speeds in excess of 200 mph, and could be pitted, like any other car. What brought the game all together was the music....oh, the music! Performed by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, these power ballads burn into your brain and will have you singing out loud for days! Combine everything, and you have a great racing game, but what made it special for me was that it was one of the first games I really remembered playing with my cousin significantly. He really opened my eyes to Sega, the video game industry, and lesser known games. Playing this for hours in my Grandma's basement will always be a special moment in time for me. Eventually I bought my own system and copy of the game, which sits in my basement today.

​4. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) '07

For me, this is the one the started it all in the Halo Universe. I know, I know....how did you play this one first, and not the others? Well, growing up, it was all about Sega and Sony. I actually never owned a Xbox (Original) or N64, until I was an adult. My friends who played games, didn't have them either, so I was never exposed to them often. I do remember renting an N64 with my friend through Family Video. It came in a hard plastic case, like something out of a James Bond movie containing nuclear codes. Anyways, this was my first Halo game and first game for the Xbox 360. I got this bad boy for Christmas in the form of the Legendary Edition, which had a replica Master Chief helmet, which I still display today. When the Xbox 360/PS3/Wii generation came around, I had to make a choice on which direction. I went Xbox 360, due to better exclusives, including Halo. Well, let me tell you, the choice was worth it! This game was, and still is, amazing! The graphics, the story, the online play, it had it all! This game is special for me, since my brother and I played a lot of it together. We went through the entire campaign via co-op, but had some of out best moments playing 1v1. My brother created a custom map on Valhalla loaded with vehicles and power weapons. I mean this thing had everything! Hornets, Banshees, and Wraiths, oh my! In addition to the carefully placed vehicles on the outskirts, a lone Scorpion sat in the center of the map, high atop the hill. You could see it from just about anywhere. It is a beast, but did you risk going for it and being an easy target? Sometimes it paid off and you had total domination. Sometimes it didn't and your were laser bait, or got a few pod missiles to the face! It's still something we play to this day and memories I will never forget!

3. Little League Baseball: Championship Series (NES) '90

This game is going to come out of left field.....literally. Little League Baseball: Championship Edition is not only old, but one that may have flown under the radar for many people. This is actually one of the first video games I ever remember playing, on our first system ever, NES. Both my brother and I were huge baseball fans, so naturally, a game that starred kids appealed to us. No big names in this one like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. , Ozzie Smith or Nolan Ryan. The all-stars in this one were the likes of Daniel, Alan, Happy, and Yodoya. My go-to team was always New York. While I don't support New York teams in human form, you can't deny the 1-2 punch of Ward and Saul in a lineup. A close second is the combination of Wang and Dong for the Chinese Taipei team.....no, I'm not joking there. If I wanted a nice casual game, I faced up against the team from Italy. No disrespect to the Italians in the audience, but this team sucked! I recently picked up the game again and in my first game back,  I beat these scrubs 13-0, with a no-hitter. Ah, 'Merica. While this game is based in 8-Bit NES graphics, I find it still plays pretty smooth and will always be enjoyable. Sure, the game is not perfect, but for it's age, it's still a fun game to play. Nothing better than setting up your opponent with an inside heater, then blowing their minds with a mesmerizing 17 mph floater with a 7 foot break. Just like John Tudor...HA! Tudor.

2. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PS3) '08

Games. Games always change. What can I say? This game had it all! I spent so many hours playing this game. I'm a sucker to almost anything post-apocalyptic, but the location, RPG format, humor, music, and 1950's retro-futuristic style blew this game out of the water. The game is endless. I would start on a mission, and find myself exploring a random building for an hour. I'd check every nook and cranny for weapons, caps, and miscellaneous supplies. I quickly became obsessed. It takes place in 2277, which is 200 years after the war and nuclear annihilation. There were survivors. Some lived above, and some below, in Vault-Tec survival shelters. These shelters were meant to be a safe-haven for individuals lucky enough to acquire a spot within. We soon find out that not all vault are created equal, and not all vaults served their advertised purpose. This game is all about exploration in the Wasteland, which lies in the ruins of Washington D.C. Being a huge history buff, as well, I loved exploring real-life, historical areas and finding important artifacts and buildings. The path choices and areas of exploration are all up to you, which makes it that more realistic. For the longest time, when I was younger, I thought all RPG were those turn-based fantasy games. One person attacks at a time? It was crazy talk! I have learned to enjoy those games, as well though! It's hard to even put into the words my feelings of playing this game, but when I stroll up to the Washington Monument with my radio set to Danny Kaye's Civilization, I get chills. I have always been a fan of retro culture, specifically the 40's and 50's. It was such a unique and "simpler" time. Yes, there were certainly bad things about it, but I would love to be able to experience it for a little bit. This took that era and put a futuristic spin on it with robotics, advanced nuclear power, lasers, power armor, and V.A.T.S. In addition to those items, the world has been blanketed with radiation which can be both deadly and helpful.....mostly deadly. It doesn't take long to find out that EVERYTHING in the game wants to kill you. The game provided hours and hours of enjoyment, which increased when they released 5 full-sized campaign DLC packages. In a time where companies nickel and dime you for every amount of gameplay, this game was well worth the price of admission. It will be hard to replicate the feeling of experiencing Fallout 3 for the first time.

1. Grand Theft Auto 3 (PlayStation 2) '01

Picking five games that made the biggest impact on me was hard enough, but having to decided which was number 1, was damn near impossible. So many games have affected my life in all different ways. I have so many great memories that will stick with me for the rest of my life. However, it's not often that a game comes along that changes your life. Grand theft Auto 3 did that for me. I'll caveat this by saying that this isn't the best Grand Theft Auto ever released, or even my favorite. What is was, was the moment gaming changed forever for me. This open world, free roam and action game was unlike any other, at the time. Taking place in the fictitious Liberty City, this crime/gangster story grabs you from the beginning. The game shifted from the previous overhead view a third person view. For me, it increased the playability 10 fold. You found yourself able to cause as much anarchy as possible with a variety of weapons and vehicles. Need a car? Steal one! Person annoy you? Kill them! Need companionship? Pick up a prostitute! This was the peak of graphic violence and sexual content, only to be topped by the next installment of GTA, and then the next one, and then the next one, and then the next one. This was a game that was made for adults and they loved it! Of course younger individuals, such as myself enjoyed it...Hey, I was close enough! I was enthralled by all you could do and all the places you could go. It was such a complete, graphically-superior game, which was impossible to out down. I played it for the first time at my friend Kasey's house. We would always have sleepovers which involved video games, A&W Cream Soda, and a Pizza Hut Big New Yorker Pizza! When I got to play it for myself, I immediately said I have to have this game. I ended up buying the system just to have this game! That's how much I wanted to play it! I could just sit and cause chaos in Liberty City for hours without even playing a mission. Spawn a tank and run through the streets! The game had a fantastic soundtrack, via vehicle radios, complete with hilarious commercials! My favorite station was actually the talk radio station called Chatterbox. People, always crazy, would call in to talk to Lazlow, having me in stitches. So much learned about the Australian-American War....

The freeform anarchy aside, the game had a deep single player campaign with plenty of side content. The GTA III played like a movie and even had some film stars like Michael Madsen, Joe Pantoliano, and Robert Loggia. Not only was this game an impact on me, but it really revolutionized the gaming industry and popularized the sandbox format, which can be seen in many of the top games in the following years, and even to date. This game has cemented itself as one of the greatest games of all time!