#80 - Trauma Centre Under The Knife

Game: Trauma Centre Under The Knife
System: Nintendo DS
Genre: Puzzle?



I should hate Trauma Centre, it drove me crazy when I played it by being so damned difficult. It starts hard and just gets harder and harder but that's what I love about it too. It's so intense and exciting and when you pull off a tough-as-nails operation you feel great. It also reminds me of Italy since that's where I was when I played it.

#81 - Gitaroo Man

Game: Gitaroo Man
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Rhythm Action

I love every song in this game, it's mad as a sack of badgers and it has some really touching moments as well. I will never tire of replaying it.

#82 - Pokémon Stadium

Game: Pokémon Stadium
System: Nintendo 64
Genre: RPG


When this first came out I was amazed to see 3D models of my very own Pokémon up on the big screen thanks to the transfer pak. What I remember about it now are the mini-games (Clefairy!), the great remixes of the music from the Gameboy games, the triple "Dodrio" speed Gameboy emulator and the incredibly tough "final battle" with Mewtwo. It was an excellent companion to the Gameboy Pokémon games.

#83 - Wii Sports

Game: Wii Sports
System: Wii (No..)
Genre: Sports (...kidding)


I never thought I'd see the day when both of my parents would come in to the room and beg to play games with us, but that's exactly what happened the Christmas before last thanks to Wii Bowling.

#84 - Kuru Kuru Kururin

Game: Kuru Kuru Kururin
System: Gameboy Advance
Genre: Puzzle

I made such a mistake when I sold this game, it was only after that I realised I liked it a lot more than I thought. The idea of guiding a constantly rotating stick through a curving maze where you can't touch the walls was such a clever idea and it was very satisfying to fly at top speed through a level without taking a hit once you knew what you were doing. I was very disappointed when the Gamecube sequel wasn't released over here but I'm just glad I got to play this little gem at all.

#85 - Jak and Daxter

Game: Jak and Daxter
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Platformer


What I love about Jak and Daxter, apart from the beautiful, seamless world, is the simplicity. Simple tasks, simple rewards; not that it's not tricky in places but there are none of the guns or GTA-style missions that made the later ones a bit over-complicated and annoying. I've never lived up to the nickname Rage more than when I played Jak II...

#86 - Super Monkey Ball

Game: Super Monkey Ball
System: Gamecube
Genre: Puzzle/Party

The very first Gamcube game I ever played, it always reminds me of excitedly carrying our newly purchased Gamecube home on the bus after being the only person waiting on Henry Street for HMV to open it's doors. The series gradually went downhill afterwards but this one was the purest and best and in some ways, the hardest. It's also notable for Monkey Target, the best of all the mini-games especially when you tried to land on the tiny yellow targets. It was also one of the main games played at Games Soc in my 2nd year of college.

#87 - Dynamite Headdy

Game: Dynamite Headdy
System: Mega Drive
Genre: Platformer


Dynamite Headdy is incredibly difficult, so dificult in fact that when we first rented it I couldn't even get past the first level! I recently got it on VC and managed to clear it this time and it's one of the most bizarre games I've ever played. Out all the strange moments my particular favourite is Babyface - a giant floating baby head which turns into a boy, teenager, middle-aged man then elderly man as you damage him then eventually dies of old age before you can defeat him yourself. It also makes very good use of classical music during certain bosses. ("You got a secret bonus point")

#88 - Final Fantasy X-2

Game: Final Fantasy X-2
System: Playstation 2
Genre: RPG


A lot of people seem to hate FFX-2 but I liked it. I liked the music, I liked the battles, I liked the dress-sphere job system, I liked the mission-based gameplay , I liked having an open world map right from the start, I liked Paine, I liked the ending and most of all I liked the general silliness and sense of fun the whole thing had. I do agree it went a bit overboard sometimes and it would never have worked as a main numbered Final Fantasy but it is a game I enjoyed immensely and that's what I play games for after all.

#89 - Vandal Hearts

Game: Vandal Hearts
System: Playstation
Genre: Strategy RPG


The very first strategy rpg I ever played, a genre which went on to become one of my favourites. My memory of this game is very fuzzy (apart from the massive sprays of blood that flew out of the characters when they died) but I do remember that I enjoyed every minute of it. I borrowed it off someone in Gamessoc in college and Anto and I spent one Christmas playing a team game together. We also provided the characters with their own voices as we played, the one I'll never forget being poor, heavily armoured Dolan who for some reason we decided was forever searching for his missing keys on the battlefield..

#90 - Psychonauts

Game: Psychonauts
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Platformer



A surreal platformer set in the subconscious minds of the inhabitants of a psychic summer camp. It's one of the funniest, best written games I've ever played. The Milkman Conspiracy (a twisted version of suburbia set in the mind of a paranoid milkman) and Lungfishopolis (where you rampage godzilla-style through a tiny city full of fish) were particular highlights.

#91 - Dark Chronicle

Game: Dark Chronicle
System: Playstation 2
Genre: RPG



This game is a randomly-generated dungeon explorer with a round of mini-golf or a spot of fishing on each floor, plus a sidequest which involves taking photographs of everyday objects which you can then use to create wacky inventions. It's bright and colourful with cheery background music and a clever weapon synthesis system. Naturally, I love it. (It always makes me think of ABBA because of a cd we got around the same time!)

#92 - Suikoden IV

Game: Suikoden IV
System: Playstation 2
Genre: RPG


Ok, so I admit it. This game was a real disappointment and barely deserves to be called a Suikoden game. It has a bog-standard plot with almost no connection to the running timeline of the other Suikoden games, bland Stars of Destiny which none of the usual background info to flesh them out, horribly basic battles with a crazy restriction of only 4 characters instead of the usual 6 and an awful world map with broken controls; but.. it is still a Suikoden game and so I still love it.
Collecting the Stars of Destiny is as fun as ever and I loved the "castle" ship, not very traditional but very atmospheric, it had a charm all of it's own. The idea of the Suikoden castle being mobile is very cool. There also some great characters among all those forgettable faces: Lino En Kuldes, Elenor Silverburg and Reinbach, not to mention the return of Ted from Suikoden 1. The ship-to-ship battles and 1-on-1 duels were as excting as ever and the music was great as always.
So I may be biased but when the worst game in a series still makes my Top 100 you know it's doing something right.

#93 - Lylat Wars

Game: Lylat Wars
System: Nintendo 64
Genre: Shooter


I finished Lylat Wars countless time and earned every medal in the year it was first released thanks to Alan's generosity but it's only now that it's on the Virtual Console that I actually own my own copy. It is the high point of the Starfox team's career which has been on a downward slide ever since Star Fox Adventures. It's a memorable game for so many reasons: Slippy's constant bumbling (he needs rescuing about 5 seconds into the game), much unintentional hilarity ("Andross won't have his way with me"), loads of classic quotes ("Do a barrel roll!"), exciting gameplay (Sector Z's missile barrage) , varied levels (Landmaster) while still keeping a focus on the Arwing sections and epic music (take your pick). What I wouldn't give for a new Starfox game that was even half as good as this..

#94 - Spacestation Silicon Valley

Game: Spacestation Silicon Valley
System: Nintendo 64
Genre: Platformer


Spacestation Silicon Valley was a hidden gem of a platformer for the N64. You played as a micro-chip on an abandoned space station that could insert itself into larger robot animals to control them. Every animal had different strengths, weakness and abilities and each level made very clever use of these abilities, often seeing you trading up to take over the most powerful animal in each area. The game was pure fun, from trying out all the different animals to little touches like being able to stop the background music by destroying all of the speakers in the current level.

#95 - Streets of Rage

Game: Streets of Rage
System: Mega Drive
Genre: Beat 'Em Up

Not only is it responsible for giving me my nickname, Streets of Rage is also one of the first games I ever owned, as part of a compilation on the Mega Drive. It's especially good in multiplayer where co-operation quickly turns into competition with an accidental punch in the back of the head or the sudden appearance of a bizarrely nourishing turkey.

#96 - Silent Hill 2

Game: Silent Hill 2
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Horror


Admittedly I never actually played this game, I just watched Anto play it, but it still succeeded in scaring the crap out of me. It's dark and disturbing with some very memorable scenes and characters, including Pyramid Head, one of the most brutal and frightening enemies I've ever seen in a game.

#97 -Beyond Good & Evil

Game: Beyond Good & Evil
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Adventure


Beyond Good & Evil was great game with varied gameplay and high production values but what really makes it special was the plot which was far deeper than anything I'd seen in this kind of game before. It dealt with conspiracy, rebellion and human experiments and culminated in a horrifying cliffhanger which was made all the more crushing by the announcement that the planned sequel had been cancelled and we'd never find out what happened next. Happily that decision has since been reversed and Beyond Good and Evil 2 is on the way!

#98 - Suikoden Tactics

Game: Suikoden Tactics
System: Playstation 2
Genre: Strategy RPG


I was always bound to like this because it has Suikoden in the title but this spin-off from Suikoden IV turned out to be a surprisingly good game in it's own right. It made very clever use of the combine attacks that feature in every Suikoden game and the cel-shaded graphics were particularly nice. I'd love to see that style used again in a "regular" Suikoden game.

#99 - Parappa The Rapper

Game: Parappa The Rapper
System: Playstation 1
Genre: Rhythm Action


The first rhythm action game I ever played but thanks to how much I loved it, not the last. Every song is brilliant and the 2D art style was very original for the time. "Kick, Punch, it's all in the mind"

#100 - Mario Tennis

Game: Mario Tennis
System: Nintendo 64
Genre: Sports

The first tennis game I ever played and by far the best (Mario Power Tennis was ruined by gimmicks). This game introduced us to Waluigi and had some great music and exciting gameplay.