Top 10 Favorite Series

You know, it can be tough to justify spending $60 on a new game when there are so many of them. I have a few criteria myself and games generally have to hit at least one for me justify a day-one purchase. First, it can have something unique, in other words a gameplay or story element that's never been done before. Two, it can come from a certain company that has a history of releasing games.

The last one is what franchise it's coming from and that's going to be the subject of this list. Obviously this kind of thing can bite me in the ass when a disappointment is released but it doesn't matter. These are the 10 franchises that I either get more excited for than any other, or wish they would make a comeback if they're currently dead.

So, here's my list of my 10 all-time favorite video game franchises.

#10. Grand Theft Auto

The series that revolutionized open-world, sandbox style games, the influence and importance of this franchise cannot be overstated. GTA has been an awesome series from day one, though with the first ones, it was more the concept and charm that kept it fun.

The series really took off with it's PS2 debut, Grand Theft Auto III, when the open-world concept was fully realized in glorious 3D. Vice City managed to be superior with its 80s style and Miami-inspired setting as well as having Goodfellas actor, Ray Liotta, in the starring role (and he was awesome). And then came the jewel of the series, San Andreas, one of the largest open-world games ever with 3 whole cities to explore and improved gameplay.

The PSP games may have scaled back a bit but they were still really good. And despite the backlash and being overhyped GTAIV was still an outstanding game with two remarkable expansions: The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

With the rumored possibility of the series going to Los Angeles (so I guess back to Los Santos from San Andreas), there are still no signs of this cash-cow series slowing down anytime soon and I'm very curious to see what Rockstar has in store for the next iteration.

#9. Uncharted

The Uncharted series is a fairly recent addition to my list with the first one, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, being released in 2007. Respected Sony developer, Naughty Dog who had made the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series, released it to hype and critical acclaim and it was one of the few strong exclusives for the console at the time (before the PS3 had an awesome lineup).

Uncharted essentially took the third-person cover-shooting gameplay of Gears of War and combined it with the platforming and puzzles of Tomb Raider. Essentially think of it as Tomb Raider only much more fun and with a lot more soul, as the story and characters were very well-written and remarkably well-acted.

While the first Uncharted was great, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was so awesome that I'm amazed my head did not asplode while playing it. A strong contender for the best exclusive on the PS3, Uncharted 2 was longer, had more diverse environments, more tuned gameplay, and a solid multiplayer experience. It's story was fun, if a little B-movieish (that was kind of the point though) and the voice acting rivaled BioWare games. It was easily the best game of 2009.

The games also look beautiful with some of the best looking landscapes and character animations I've ever seen. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception will be coming out on November 1st of this year and I cannot wait to see where Nathan Drake will go next.

#8. System Shock

Unfortunately, many of you have probably not of heard of this two-game series and that's a shame because this series contains two excellent games including one of the greatest First-Person Shooters of all time as well as one of the scariest games ever. Unlike most FPSs at the time System Shock, released in 1994, utilized RPG elements in its set-up and was widely-praised for this unique style and immersion. Unfortunately it didn't sell very much.

It's sequel, System Shock 2, improved on its predecessor is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important First-Person Shooters ever and for good reason. It's also one of the most "shit-in-your-pants" scary games you will ever play. Released in 1999, the game used the RPG elements that the original System Shock used and it's now regarded as a masterpiece. Unfortunately, it also didn't sell well.

Why? I don't know. I'm guessing it's because it had to compete with the likes of Half-Life, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark which came out the next year. Personally I feel that System Shock 2 is the best of those three (yeah I went there). It's combination of role-playing, shooting, and horror are nearly unmatched. And it's villain, SHODAN, is the scariest artificial intelligence I've ever seen, with Mass Effect's Reapers following.

If some of this stuff sounds familiar, it's probably because you played Bioshock. To those who think Bioshock was so original, its essentially System Shock underwater. Nothing wrong with that as Bioshock is an excellent game, but System Shock was its spiritual predecessor. If you haven't had a chance to play these two classics, find a PC to run them and give them a go.

#7. Street Fighter

Without a doubt the most important fighting franchise in history, you can thank Street Fighter for just about every fighting game we've seen since the release of Street Fighter II. Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Killer Instinct, Virtua Fighter, etc. all owe their existence to Street Fighter II. This series had a rocky start though with the original which was a broken mess with crappy controls and limited options.

Then Street Fighter II came out in 1991 and revolutionized the genre, giving us excellent controls, memorable characters, great stages, great music and since then, there is likely no other fighting series more fun and notable than this one.

After about 40 or so re-releases of Street Fighter II, Capcom released Street Fighter III which was also awesome and also had many re-releases. In 2008 we got Street Fighter IV, which has really brought about a revival of the fighting genre which was starting to fade, and a re-release titled Super Street Fighter IV was released about a year ago.

With characters like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, M. Bison and others and a great fighting system, Street Fighter continues to be excellent. It has made forays into the beat-em-up genre at points but we all know that Street Fighter is a fighting series and that's how it should be. Now only about 30 more versions of Street Fighter IV before we get Street Fighter V.

#6. Mario

Easily the most recognizable and famous franchise on this list, the Mario series can be given a lot credit for helping to revive the game industry after the Crash of '83. While he's been in some crap, what else can you expect from a character who's appeared in over 200 games. For the most part, the games that Nintendo develops are nearly flawless.

Appearing all the way back in the arcades in Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Mario really got big with his NES debut on Super Mario Brothers. He enjoyed an excellent career on the NES and SNES with the sequels like Super Mario Brothers 2 (which is actually a different with Mario's grill on it titled Doki Doki Panic), Super Mario Brothers 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and an outstanding RPG co-developed by Square, the guys behind Final Fantasy.

After that, Mario made a glorious jump into 3D with the N64 and Super Mario 64, and also had a surprisingly awesome RPG with Paper Mario which had a few excellent follow-ups as well. Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube, while not being what everyone expected was still fun and very challenging.

Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii was a title that showed that while Mario may not revolutionize things nowadays, sometimes all you need is an evolution and new elements to keep things fresh. Super Mario Galaxy 2 stands as one of my top 3 games of this console generation. What does Nintendo's plumber have next up his sleeve? I can't wait to see.

#5. Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate, the game that put industry giant BioWare on the map. While it wasn't their first game (that was 1996's vehicle shooter Shattered Steel), Baldur's Gate was BioWare's first RPG which propelled the then unknown company into the popularity that they see today. Baldur's Gate is often credited with helping save computer role-playing games and the western RPGS.

Baldur's Gate had excellent gameplay utilizing D&D rules, an enormous amount of depth for character customization and morality, was challenging, and in true BioWare fashion (though they were starting out at that point) was credited as having one of the best stories in gaming history when it was first released. It also got a great expansion pack with Tales of the Sword Coast.

The sequel Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn was even better. Not as revolutionary as its predecessor, Shadows of Amn managed to tweak everything into near perfection and keep the same great storytelling as the original. It also had a great expansion pack with Throne of Bhaal. Baldur's Gate II is still often considered one of the greatest games ever made.

While BioWare stopped with the Baldur's Gate series for Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic (both are also awesome), Dragon Age was made to be a spiritual successor to the series, and if possible I would love to see BioWare go back for another go at the series that made them who they are.

#4. The Legend of Zelda

Another well-known Nintendo franchise, while GTA is generally credited for the open-world design, it really could probably be laid on The Legend of Zelda's feet for laying the groundwork. When the original came out for the NES, it was so big compared to any game at the time that it came with a battery pack for saving games which had never been done for an NES game before (outside of Japan that is).

Since then this series has enjoyed a remarkable life, even with the absolutely craptastic CD-I games which weren't even made by Nintendo. Whether it be the dimension shifting gameplay of A Link to the Past which has been copied so many times in so many great games I've lost count, the time-traveling adventure in Ocarina of Time, the cartoonish and epic feel of Windwaker or pushing back the Twilight with Midna, they've all been excellent.

My personal favorite would probably be Majora's Mask. I just really liked how different it tried to be while still successfully keeping the item collection and gameplay of the other games. It's an excellent game and an incredible companion piece to Ocarina.

There's something so satisfying about playing as Link and finding a new piece of equipment and hearing that iconic tune. You can hear that short tune every five minutes and always feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction which is why The Legend of Zelda gets the #4 spot on my list.

#3. Mass Effect

The impact that this series has had on me cannot be overstated. I think the only reason this franchise isn't any higher is because the trilogy isn't done yet. For those of you who don't know, the Mass Effect series has one of the most well-written science-fiction stories I've ever seen and not just in video games. It's not necessarily the most original but the writing is so strong it doesn't hurt at all.

The games have been defined by the incredibly well-constructed sci-fi universe, brilliant character development and dialogue, emotional storytelling, and by the second one excellent third-person shooter gameplay with powers and abilities to make it feel like it's own. The voice acting is some of the best you will ever hear, with Jennifer Hale as the female main character (Commander Shepard) stealing the show. But everyone from the small time actors to big name people like Martin Sheen and Seth Green all deliver. The series also looks at many themes through its sci-fi universe such as biological warfare, genetics, racism, political bureaucracy among others. Mass Effect 2's exploration of artificial intelligence and what it truly means to be human is one of the most powerful and well-written examples of said exploration I've ever seen in any medium.

While the gameplay itself in the first game was rather clunky, this was fixed by the second game where we got TPS gameplay that was ridiculously fun and while it's not as tight as Gears of War or Uncharted, it didn't really need to be due to the powers and abilities and the fact that combat only takes up about half of the game with the outstanding writing and voice acting taking up the other half (all interactive of course). And the dialogue wheel along with a voiced main character allows for seamless conversations with Paragon being the good and Renegade the bad. I really liked how Paragon was not a goody-two-shoes like in most games and just as badass as its counterpart.

I am so psyched for the release of Mass Effect 3 this year where we will finally see how Shepard stops the Reaper threat. I've become so attached to all of my Shepards (particularly Paragon female) as well as all of these characters and with the excellent save-file transfer system to bring my choices from the other two games I am very excited to see how Shepard's story will end. If BioWare does this right, this series could jump to the top of my list.

#2. Metal Gear

Well seeing how I just made a list of the 20 greatest boss fights in this series, it should be no surprise that this one is on here. Created by mastermind Hideo Kojima in 1987, the Metal Gear franchise pioneered the stealth genre. The two 8-bit games (not counting the NES port and non-canon NES game), Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, are both outstanding with Metal Gear 2 often being labeled as one of the greatest 8-bit games ever.

But it was the jump to 3D on the PlayStation where Metal Gear really became legendary with Metal Gear Solid. This game gave much greater depth to the character Solid Snake, often considered to be one of the most well-written characters in gaming. An enormous success and all-around incredible game, it got a PS2 follow-up with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty which despite the broken base that it created is still an excellent game.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater might be the masterpiece and stands as one of the best games on the PS2 (if not the best). Two great PSP games have also been made, Portable Ops and Peacewalkers (this one kicked ass), and of course the PS3 masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. We can mock the long cutscenes all day but the games themselves are totally solid *pun intended*.

Despite how difficult the story can be to follow sometimes, the characters remain expertly written always keeping you in no matter how much the main story screws with you and makes for some REALLY heartbreaking moments. The fourth-wall breakage, boss fights, compelling gameplay, awesome action, and deeper themes looked at such as the problems with nuclear weapons, the thought of an "absolute" enemy, genetic engineering, censorship, etc. The great voice acting and graphics for the respective generation are just icing on the cake to this wonderful series.

#1. Metroid

It really speaks volumes to the series that even after the COLOSSAL disappointment that was Metroid: Other M, this series STILL holds the #1 spot. Metroid is flat-out awesome taking everything that I love about video games and blending them beautifully. Almost everything that I've mentioned on this list so far is put into this series.

You get the satisfaction of gathering items and feeling of progression after adding five more missiles to your arsenal, shooting, platforming, story with barely any dialogue but more implications which (without good acting) can just as powerful as lots of dialogue (which was Other M's failure), great sci-fi, an excellent main character (again disregarding Other M) and villains with Ridley, Dark Samus, and Mother Brain, incredible bosses, some of the best music imaginable, and so many other great things.

Metroid made an amazing jump into 3D with Metroid Prime on the Gamecube which defied the low expectations people had for it and is considered one of the finest achievements in gaming. The two sequels in the Prime trilogy are also outstanding with Prime 3 being the first game to nail the Wii's potential for first-person controls. Pick all three of them for the price of one with the Wii's brilliant controls with the Metroid Prime Trilogy, you won't be disappointed.

But of course, the big one to talk about is quite possible the crowning achievement of all video games and my pick for the best game I've ever played: Super Metroid. I cannot name another game that comes as close to perfection as this one. It nails the controls perfectly, the incredible feeling of both seclusion and being alone with the feeling of claustrophobia, still looks beautiful after 17 years and ends with arguably my all-time favorite boss fight. If you've never played, GO...PLAY...IT...NOW! It is gaming at its finest.

But of course they aren't the only great ones. The original on the NES, while it doesn't hold a candle to Super Metroid, is still fun and nostalgic and Metroid II: Return of Samus on the Gameboy, while limiting is still fun. My two favorites though next to the Prime Trilogy and Super Metroid would have to be Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission (a GBA remake of the original). These games are all classics and kept Metroid at the top even after Other M. Please, for the love of god, if you've never experienced any of these, go find them, make yourself some time, and play them.

And now for your enjoyment, here's the first 10 minutes of Super Metroid with music from the game playing over the video (not my video).