Top 5 Video Games of All-Time

Since I was a kid I've enjoyed video games. I'm not the obsessed hardcore gamer that you might find logging eighteen hours a day bulking up his Blood Elf Druid in World of Warcraft, but I've blasted my share of aliens and pixilated bad guys.

Here are my all-time favorite top five video games.

Super Mario 64

I was so impressed by the 64 bit graphics the first time I played Super Mario 64 in the Sears electronics department that I determined to save my earnings from my paper route to buy myself a Nintendo 64. I formed an alliance with my brother and we finally saved enough to get one. I loved this game. Shigeru Miyamoto is truly a pioneer in the video game world, and proved it again by developing a rich 3D open world environment that would become a standard in many games. The diversity of the levels and variety of puzzles formed a rich and unique gaming experience.

Star Fox

My SNES was bought used from a pawn shop and sometimes played the games and sometimes didn't. Star Fox always played. The flight controls were so fun, the quips from your wingmen were amusing, and I often got emotional when one of them was under attack. I loved trying to get power-ups by swooping under a colossal slamming door. Now that I think of it, I really have no idea what the environment was supposed to be. It was a rather eclectic assortment of obstacles. I remember a level where you could avoid the end and keep going in loops forever. My brother and I played it for hours wondering if there was a secret reward for tenacious games. I don't think there was.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Miyamoto finds himself again this list with Ocarina of Time. The N64 was a gaming advancement and games like this took full advantage of the console. At this time, the graphics were amazing to me. The story was better than most Oscar winning epics. The characters were so fun and the gameplay was addicting. When I got a horse for the first time I cheered in excitement. The differences in young Link and adult Link made the game almost two games. The boss battles made me feel like I was in an epic fantasy adventure. I dust this off and play on my emulator once in awhile and still enjoy every minute of it.

Counterstrike

In high school I had some friends who had much better computers than I had. Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy! was probably the best my poor system could handle. So, on some weekends I was lucky enough to go play on my friend's powerhouse rig and play some Rainbow 6, Ghost Recon, or, my favorite Counterstrike. All night clan matches were fueled by Taco Bell Doritos and some Mountain Dew. I used to be able to turn off the monitor and navigate to plant the bomb in the de_dust map. I'm more of a counterterrorist guy but my favorite was wielding two .40 duel elites, and only the bad guys were granted that level of coolness. If John Woo taught me anything it's that there's not much cooler than two pistols.

Halo 2

This game came out right before I deployed to Iraq. I bought an Xbox just for this game. I think that may be part of why this one was so fun to me. It helped relieve a lot of the tension of being deployed. I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign, and was left screaming at my television at the end at the cliffhanger that Chris Butcher and his comrades had left our favorite Spartan Master Chief dangling from. I loved the AI that guided you, Corana, and loved playing as the Covenant Arbiter. The best part of this game is the multiplayer. Via Xbox Live while I was still stateside, and then linking up systems in Iraq between our huts, we spent more time than we should have battling it out. Swords and shotties anyone?