There are few more daunting on-the-spot scenarios than when someone asks you to name your favourite *insert entertainment medium that you have way too many favourites of to ever whittle down into a list*.
But social media doesn’t care about your stressing, so for the last few days the hashtag #Fave7Games has been invading everyone’s Twitter feeds.
Considering that a lot of people who use Twitter have lived through upwards of five console generations, we’re surprised so many were able to bash out a top 7 with such ease, but a five-minute scroll serves up some brilliantly eclectic (and a few questionable) lists.
https://twitter.com/TheGamingLemon/status/763422275047686145
https://twitter.com/_vixx/status/763427158651985920
#Fave7Games
Gunstar Heroes
Pokemon Gold
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker
Street Fighter IV
Persona 4
Phantasy Star IV— Gunstarheroes@AGDQ (@Gunstarheroes) August 10, 2016
#Fave7Games
Assassins Creed 2
Far Cry 4
Civilisation Series
Championship Manager Series
Day of the Tentacle
Fall Out 3
Uncharted 2— Chris E (@fac_23) August 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/MichaelJ_Taylor/status/763436885712769027
Never averse to hopping merrily onto a bandwagon, the gamers at JOE have decided to share with you our own all-time favourite lists. We’re certain that many of you will judge us for our blinkered nostalgia, but we’re willing to take the plunge anyway. No particular order on any of these, as that’s just unreasonable.
Tom Victor (@tomvictor) – Senior sports writer
1. Tekken 2
2. Tekken 3
3. Crash Bandicoot 3
4. FIFA Road to World Cup
5. Crash Team Racing
6. Crash Bandicoot
7. Snake 2.
“I don’t play a lot of games.”
Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) – Staff writer
https://twitter.com/Ankaman616/status/763109522395262976
Kevin Beirne (@KevBeirne) – Staff writer
1. TimeSplitters 2 or 3
2. FIFA 2003
3. F.A. Premier League Football Manager 99
4. Red Dead Redemption
5. Crash Team Racing
6. Pokemon Gold
7. Looney Tunes
“As the younger brother, my early gaming years involved a lot of multiplayer. TimeSplitters and Crash Team Racing were pretty much the only times I was allowed to play along with my brother and his friends, and I still love them now.
Once I got a Gameboy though, I was able to play myself and while I love Pokemon Blue, Gold just edges it because of the extra features (day and night, a whole new world, 100 extra Pokemon). Also, if you’ve got an old Gameboy, try seek out the Looney Tunes game from 1992. It’s ace.
F.A. Premier League Football Manager 99 was my favourite manager game because I played it over and over so many times that I knew every single trick, while FIFA 2003 is my favourite football game because it’s probably the last time I scored a free kick.
As for Red Dead Redemption, if you don’t already know how great that game is then stop reading this right now and go enjoy the tale of John Marston. One of the few action games I can actually understand the hype around.”
Joe Gilmore (@Gilology) – Video-making wizard
1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2. Gun
3. Crash Bandicoot
4. Counter Strike: Global Offensive
5. Civilisation V
6. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
“GTA was the first game I’d ever played that involved guns so an instant classic for me. Gun is, in my opinion, the best cowboy game there has been. It’s timeless and when I was younger I amazed at the fact you could scalp people.
Crash Bandicoot was the first game that I ever played – and what a game to start with – while Counter Strike is basically COD without the 13-year-olds.
I spent countless hours playing Civilisation V and it never gets old. Best strategy game out there. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is the best stealth game I’ve ever played. It got me into the genre of being sneaky. And on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – everything you could have ever wished for as a 13-year-old.”
Rob Burnett (@RobBurnett) – Sports editor
1. Football Manager
2. Mario Kart 64
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 3
4. Street Fighter II
5. Formula One Grand Prix (Amiga)
6. F-Zero
7. Star Fox
“Were it not for Championship Manager, it’s possible I would have got a first, and not a 2.1 in my English degree.
But I don’t hold that against it. It is quite simply the most engrossing human activity in the world. The danger for me now is that once I start playing not only is it virtually impossible to turn it off and go to sleep (even when it’s 3am and it’s a school night), but that even when I’m not playing, it’s all I think about. Can I get that left-back signed on a free transfer from Sparta Prague? Will this formation help nullify Benfica’s forward line in our upcoming Europa League clash? Will the board accept my request for more transfer funds?
It’s all consuming. And totally and utterly brilliant.”
Richard Beech (@BeechardRich) – Editor
1. Sonic 2
2. Streets of Rage
3. Pokemon Red
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
5. Grand Theft Auto
6. Gran Turismo 2
7. Championship Manager 4
Ben Kenyon (@benkenyon) – Fitness & Health editor
1. Sonic the Hedgehog
2. Super Bomberman
3. Theme Hospital
4. Micro Machines
5. Crash Bandicoot
6. Grand Theft Auto
7. Temple Run
“Sonic The Hedgehog had an iconic character, incredible levels and it was beautifully simple. I had a serious addiction to collecting rings and hearing that satisfying ‘ding’ as a youngster. The casino level might be the greatest of any game ever created.
With Theme Hospital, I have fond memories of fucking with the patients. I was a weird kid. It’s probably a good job I didn’t end up in the NHS.
Crash Bandicoot – stick your football game, this was all I played in the late 90s. The theme music and sound effects were class, and smashing into a load of boxes and collecting apples wearing a daft mask just seemed to appeal to my 12-year-old self.
The graphics in the first GTA were shite, but the concept was revolutionary and it satisfied every teenager’s visceral desire to rampage through the streets nicking cars
Temple Run was the last and most addictive game I’ve ever played. I would sit on the toilet for an hour at work playing that thing. I’ve banned myself from all games since for productivity’s sake.”
Rich Cooper (@richcooper) – Senior writer
1. Grim Fandango
2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
3. Half-Life 2
4. Super Mario 64
5. Skate 2
6. Theme Hospital
7. Peggle
“Grim Fandango was the last of the great LucasArts adventure games, and few since have managed to weave as rich a tapestry of environments and characters. It’s one of the most consistently beautiful games ever designed, and though the controls were a bit wonky at times, the world of Grim Fandango is one I have yet to tire of visiting.”
Matt Tate (@Mattt8_91) – Staff writer
1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2. Batman: Arkham City
3. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. The Last of Us
6. Spider-Man 2
7. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
“As someone who has spent far too much of his life playing video games this is probably the hardest list you could ask me to write.
I’ve had to omit a few more recent classics for games from my youth. I could have had any of the first four Tony Hawk’s games – they are all far and away the games I played the most growing up – but 4 was the first to remove the time limit on levels so that gets the nod.
I’ll get some stick from Zelda fans for picking Twilight Princess, but it was the first I played to completion. I played the Wii version in all its waggly motion-controlled glory and I haven’t had a more enjoyable adventure since.
I have played many superhero games over the years – more bad than good – but the two I have in this list are genre-defining for their time and easily my favourites. Spider-Man 2 almost certainly plays like a flaming bag of dog shit these days, but I lost countless hours to swinging around Manhattan on the PS2. The shadowy stalking and balletic combat in the Arkham games, for me, will probably never be bettered.
Super Mario Galaxy is about as close to perfection as a video game can get. Spellbindingly, stupidly, unreasonably brilliant in every way.”
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