Recently, this conversation and this blog post gave me the idea to post my own 50 favorite games list.  The forum thread asks, “When was the last time you played you 50th favorite game?”  (Now it has been revised to better reflect the true nature of the question; how often do you play that games you liked but did not love?)  So, I thought I would list my 50 favorite games.  While some thought did go into this list, it is off the top of my head, so it is very possible there is some oversight and I left off some game the should be on this list.  Of course, if I liked it so much then I probably would not have forgotten it.  Here is the list, in mostly alphabetical order:

1. Beyond Good and Evil
2. Chrono Cross
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Dragon Quest 4
5. Dragon Quest 5
6. Earthbound
7. Final Fantasy 6
8. Final Fantasy 9
9. Final Fantasy Tactics
10. Final Fantasy XII
11. Ico
12. Kirby Super Star
13. Legend of Zelda:  A Link to the Past
14. Legend of Zelda:  Ocarina of Time
15. Legend of Zelda:  Majora’s Mask
16. Legend of Zelda:  Wind Waker
17. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
18. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
19. Mega Man 2
20. Mega Man 3
21. Mega Man 9
22. Metal Gear Solid 3
23. Metroid Prime
24. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
25. No More Heroes
26. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
27. Ogre Battle 64:  Person of Lordly Caliber
28. Okami
29. Persona 3:  FES
30. Persona 4
31. Phoenix Wright:  Ace Attorney
32. Phoenix Wright:  Ace Attorney:  Justice for All
33. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
34. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
35. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
36. Resident Evil 4
37. Retro Game Challenge
38. River City Ransom
39. Shadow of the Colossus
40. Soul Caliber 2
41. Star Fox 64
42. Suikoden 2
43. Suikoden 5
44. Super Mario Bros. 3
45. Super Mario World
46. Super Mario 64
47. Super Mario Galaxy
48. Super Mario Galaxy 2
49. Super Metroid
50. Super Smash Brothers Brawl

I’m happy with this list.  It is an accurate representation of what I like and what I play.  Lots of Nintendo classic franchises, Mario and Zelda etc., and lots of RPGs.  (Now that I look at it, I realize I completely ignored computer games, which would have added at least a few games, like The Sims 2, Red Alert 2 and Baldur’s Gate 2.)  These are not the only games I play, but they are the ones that tend to resonate with me.

How often do I replay these games?  Most of them I’ve played through multiple times.  The shorter games, like Star Fox 64 or any NES game on the list, I play often.  If I can sit and beat a game in less than 2 hours, I am more likely to come back to it.  With the exception of the Persona games, I have also played all of the RPGs at least twice, although for some I haven’t played them in years.  The only games I do not see myself replaying are the Professor Layton games.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Professor Layton, but the whole game is based on solving puzzles and I’ve already solved them.  Maybe one day I will forget the solutions, but if I went back now it would be rote and boring.  I haven’t, however, played most of these games in the last couple of years.  I have played tons of new games, but my old favorites have sat on the shelf.  Which is a big change from how I’m used to doing things.  I rarely bought new games in high school; instead obsessively playing the ones I had.  I think I’ll fire up my Wii and play through Star Fox 64 or Mega Man 3 tonight.