| 40 | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox) |
| 39 | Grim Fandango (PC) |
| 38 | Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga/PC/Archimedes) |
| 37 | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC/Xbox 360) |
| 36 | Civilization II (PC) |
| 35 | Elite (BBC/CPC/Commodore 64/Spectrum/Atari ST/Amiga) |
| 34 | Phantasy Star Online (including v2) (Dreamcast) |
| 33 | Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2) |
| 32 | Perfect Dark (N64) |
| 31 | Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS) |
Comments on the games I've played:
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
I never got very far in this. It was just a bit boring, and took ages for the game's story to kick in. By the time I found out what was going to happen, I could tell that I'd never get anywhere near the end of the game without devoting weeks to it, and I had many more enjoyable things to do instead.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga)
Another game where I never quite got what everyone raved about. It all seemed a bit clunky, with the ball lacking momentum and the playing area being just the wrong size for the number of goals. I used to play this at friends' houses, on the Amiga and on the Mega Drive, and despite winning a large proportion of the time, I was never convinced I was entirely in control. The team management bits seemed pretty pointless as well.
Elite (BBC, CPC), Elite: The New Kind (PC)
I have played this game for hundreds of hours. It's aged pretty badly, really, in that modern games do everything it does but better, but they add other games over the top. Maybe that's why I still like Elite - it's pure, clean, and easy to play. I've learnt profitable trade routes, I've earnt the title of Elite, I've jumped into witchspace and survived.
Phantasy Star Online (including v2) (Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox)
One of the best gaming experiences of my life - although not necessarily the best game ever. This was the first time I played anything online with friends, and I spent many hours building up my character by running through the forests, caves, mines and ruins. I can still remember the first time I battled Dark Falz with online assistance, drawing attention away from others, healing, whittling down his health. The final blow leading to a poignant animation of a red ring, showing the fate of the hunter who had left us messages through the world. I've killed Dark Falz many times since.
Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2, Xbox)
I completed this, which is saying something given the difficulty of the final mission - chasing a helicopter to a dam, not getting killed while running to the control room, shooting someone who seemed to be wearing a full kevlar bodysuit. Is this the best of the 3D iterations? Vice City had less interesting missions but possibly a better world; GTA IV got boring very quickly due to hassles from characters calling your mobiles; the PSP games were great but a bit limited in terms of out-of-mission havoc. I've not played San Andreas or the latest DLC yet, but will one day. GTA3 remains great fun to mess around in, and I can still recognise landmarks in the city when I watch videos today.
Perfect Dark (N64)
I played very little of this, as I came to it late and the FPS genre had evolved considerably. It's dated far more than Goldeneye.
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS)
Great fun, but I prefer Elite Beat Agents.
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