1)Chrono Trigger (SNES, Nintendo DS)

To me, this game embodies everything a game should be. Fantastic story, solid gameplay, plenty of side quests and a sizeable but not overly long main quest to keep you busy, wonderfully composed music… this game has it all. Can you give 11/10?

2)Ocarina of Time (N64, Gamecube)

This almost got bumped down to number three, but you have to be faithful to the classics, and this is as classic as it gets. For the first time, Zelda fans were given the same innovative puzzles, awesome items, and well-written story as previous games, but now it was in stunning 3-D.

3)God of War series (PlayStation 2, 3)

I haven’t played 3, but if the first two are any indication, the game is going to be phenomenal. Sometimes you just need to rip mythological Greek monsters limb from limb in bloody showers, and Kratos is exactly the revenge-driven badass you can expect to deliver.

4)Thief II: The Metal Age (PC)

It’s fair to say that the Thief series innovated the stealth-style gameplay that games like Splinter Cell get all the credit for. Thief II is a shining example of the best of the trilogy. It’s a fairly old game, but it’s wonderfully innovative in the way it presents challenges to the player, and nine times out of ten the wacky plans you dream up to slip past the guards undetected might just work. If not, there are the fire arrows…

5)Sins of a Solar Empire (PC)

This game changed the face of Space-themed RTS for me. I liked games like Homeworld, but the fact that all the ships moved freely in three dimensions was overwhelming to new players. Sins of a Solar Empire changed that for many gamers, giving the traditional space-sim feel but restricting the scope to two dimensions, which works much better. It also managed to pull off the feeling of a 4X game while still performing like an RTS. Now if only it weren’t so slow.