(I’ve also resisted the temptation to add Little Big Planet, but I wouldn’t be too surprised to see it in here next year.)

10. (NE) Peggle (PC/iPod) – If you added up all the hours I’ve spent on games over the last couple of years, I think Peggle would probably come out on top. You might think it’s completely random, but the fact is that you can get better at it over time. Impossible challenges become possible not simply through luck, but also through your increased knowledge and skills. Which is to say, it’s a game. A real, proper game. Fearfully addictive, impeccably designed, incredibly polished. It is, I think, pretty much perfect. And I love it. The iPod version isn’t quite as good – there’s the odd bit of weirdness with ball movement and the lack of a “speed up” button hurts it – but it’s still Peggle.

9. (NE) Animal Crossing: Let’s Go To The City (Wii) – My heart will probably always belong to the DS version, because that helped me through the long distance stage of my relationship with my now-wife. However, the Wii version is just better. It’s the same, but more so, with more items, characters, dialogue, activities, etc. There’s just something wonderfully relaxing about having a Crossing town to pop into after a hard day and I hope the series keeps on being updated and I hope it never changes too much.

8. (NE) GTA IV (360) – The best GTA game – though Saints Row 2 gives it a run for its money – with the best characters in any game, ever. Sure, I’m so pathetic that Suikoden 2 made me cry back in the day, but never have I cared for characters as much as I cared for Niko Bellic and chums. But the game was also incredibly good. The cover system made shooting people a joy, the car handling was new, different and fun and Liberty City was am amazing place to have adventures. Still, if it wasn’t for Niko, this wouldn’t have quite made the top ten.

7. (8) Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (PSP) – I don’t play it as much as I think I should, but that doesn’t stop it being one of the best games ever made. It’s an SRPG sandbox, with depths I’ve never reached. In all the years I’ve played, I’ve still only skated on the surface. The PS2 and DS versions are excellent, excellent games, but the PSP version gets my vote. I miss the DS version’s map, but it’s a lot smoother. It shouldn’t matter in a turn-based game, but I find the technical issues in the DS version very distracting. I’m just shallow like that sometimes.

6. (4) Mr Driller: Drill Spirits (DS) – I still play this fairly often, years after I first played it. I would really, really like a sequel please, Namco. But I don’t really need one, as there are still several stages in the main game that I’ve yet to clear. The 1500m stage has kept me going for a couple of years so far.

5. (5) Crackdown (360) – Same place as last year, despite the fact that I’ve not played it. I always think about it, though, and it’s never getting traded or sold. I will go back one day. I keep nearly playing it, but instead play newer games. I think I need to set a day aside soon, reset the city and go for it. I’ll jump around, shoot lots of bad guys and maybe even drive a car or two. The layout of the city is imprinted into my brain. I can run round it in my head even now. The best superhero game ever made.

4. (NE) Hitman: Blood Money (360) – I can’t quite believe this has never made my top ten before. Maybe it’s only in the last year that I’ve come to fully appreciate it. Each level is a puzzle with multiple solutions. Even if you’re going for a Silent Assassin rating there are different ways to approach levels. It’s an amazing balancing act, to give you so many ways to do things without making the game too easy. Also, very importantly, the game’s great fun when things go wrong, as well as when they’re going right. When your disguises work, when you stroll through levels unnoticed and untouched, you feel amazing. When you’re caught and the guns come out and you have to salvage something from the situation, the panic rises, the rag-dolls fly and, well, normally you die. But sometimes you don’t. It’s such a shame that the demo was just the tutorial level, as showing people the controls and rules of the game doesn’t show them the game itself. It doesn’t help, either, that the fist real level is easily the weakest of the bunch. I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it – this is the fourth best game ever made.

3. (RE) OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (Xbox/PSP) – Dropped out of my top ten last year, because I’m an idiot. A game I’m still playing after it’s been out for years. A small selection of short stages. A small selection of cars, many of which feel very similar indeed. And the PSP’s analogue nub to contend with. Yet it’s still absolutely brilliant to play and feels fresh and exciting every time you start it up. How good must the two first levels be, to still be fun after all this time? Third-best-game-of-all-time good, that’s how good. There’s a version coming to Live Arcade and the Playstation Network any time now. I can’t wait.

2. (3) ICO (PS2) – Every year this seems to climb the top ten, despite me not having played the game. I should play it through again sometime, to make sure it’s worthy of this high praise. I know I’ll get annoyed by the combat. I know I’ll get stuck on some puzzles I should remember how to complete. I know I’ll get incredibly frustrated… but I’ll be back with Yorda in that lonely castle. I’ll see the sun again, the trees, the windmill, the great crumbling towers and bridges, the halls, the caverns… the beach. Yes, yes. I need to play this again.

1. (1) Doom (PC/360) – No surprise to see this year, what with it being the best game ever and all. It’s never been bettered. It’s looking likely that it never will be. The perfect combination of controls, weapons, enemies and level design. But can we have Doom II on Live Arcade please?

2007

10. (NE) Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
9. (NE) OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (XBOX/PSP)
8. (7) World of Warcraft (PC)
7. (9) Mr Driller: Drill Spirits (DS)
6. (10) Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
5. (6) ICO (PS2)
4. (3) GTA: San Andreas (PS2)
3. (4) Mario 64 (N64)
2. (NE) Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (360/PC)
1. (1) Doom (PC/360)

2006

10. (NE) Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
9. (6) Mr Driller: Drill Spirits (DS)
8. (10) Resident Evil 4 (GC)
7. (NE) World of Warcraft (PC)
6. (5) ICO (PS2)
5. (7) OutRun 2 (XBOX)
4. (2) Mario 64 (N64)
3. (8) GTA: San Andreas (PS2)
2. (3) Elder Scrolls: Morrowind GOTY (PC)
1. (1) Doom (PC)

2005

10. (NE) Resident Evil 4 (GC)
9. (5) Giga Wing (DC/PC/MAC)
8. (NE) GTA: San Andreas (PS2)
7. (NE) OutRun 2 (Xbox)
6. (NE) Mr Driller Drill Spirits (DS)
5. (4) ICO (PS2)
4. (NE) Disgaea (PS2)
3. (NE) Morrowind: GOTY (PC/Xbox)
2. (3) Mario 64 (N64/DS)
1. (1) Doom (PC)

2004

10. Advance Wars 2 (GBA)
9. Rez (Playstation 2)
8. Halo (Xbox)
7. Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night (Playstation)
6. Super Monkey Ball (Gamecube)
5. Giga Wing (Dreamcast)
4. ICO (Playstation 2)
3. Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)
2. Grand Theft Auto 3 (Playstation 2)
1. Doom (PC)

Seems I didn’t do one in 2003, but in 2002 I did. Only two of those are in the top ten now.

2002

10. Sam & Max
9. Lode Runner
8. Suikoden 2
7. Rollercoaster Tycoon
6. Giga Wing
5. Rez
4. ICO
3. Mario 64
2. GTA3
1. Doom

However, there is one game that I can’t seem to play using a normal controller. As the title of this post might suggest, that game is Rainbow Islands. I tried the Taito Legends and the MAME version on my Xbox today and I couldn’t play either of them. Random jumping, rainbows flying everywhere, it wasn’t pretty. It’s because I need to use my thumb and not my fingers for the jumping and firing.

(Well, either that or I’m just rubbish these days. But that can’t be the explanation, can it?)

The camera is rubbish, the graphics have dated horribly and it generally doesn’t feel nearly as good as I remember. Swinging around is still fun when it works properly, though, so I did some of that.

10. (NE) Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)

I remember it annoying me when I played it. But I also remember loving it. And it gave me my single most satisfying gaming moment ever – killing the final boss after a 45-minute battle.

9. (NE) OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (XBOX/PSP)

Not really a new entry as OutRun 2 was in the chart last year, at number five. I’m rating it lower this year because I never seem to play it. The Xbox version doesn’t work on the 360, so I never play it, and the PSP version, though lovely, is hampered slightly by the PSP’s analogue nub and a pretty rubbish framerate.

8. (7) World of Warcraft (PC)

It gave me some of my best gaming moments ever. (The trip to the contested area of Booty Bay to buy parrots with two friends! The first time we ganged up to invade Alliance territory!) However, I never got a character beyond level twenty-five and don’t really like teaming up with random strangers so it can’t be higher.

7. (9) Mr Driller: Drill Spirits (DS)

Best (English language) Mr Driller. Drill Land might take the spot if it was out in English. But it’s not. And there’s been no new Driller to challenge this in the last year.

6. (10) Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

I don’t play it as much as I used to. Probably been a couple of weeks or more since I last had a wander round Venture. But it lasted for hundreds of hours of play and helped cement my relationship with the woman who is now my wife. Thanks Nintendo!

5. (6) ICO (PS2)

Haunting, atmospheric, etc. And unlike Shadow of the Colossus I actually finished ICO.

4. (3) GTA: San Andreas (PS2)

Last year I said, “Best setting, best map, best features, best everything.” Still true when you’re talking about the GTA series, but Saints Row now exists and it does a lot of stuff an awful lot better than GTA does it. GTA IV is going to have to be something very special now.

3. (4) Mario 64 (N64)

Loved it then. Love it still. It was losing ground in my top tens, but the Virtual Console version has reinforced how much fun it still is, so it gains a place here.

2. (NE) Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (360/PC)

Morrowind was in this spot last year. Oblivion doesn’t do everything better, no. It feels a lot smaller, possibly down to the fast travel and quest markers. The land doesn’t have the strangeness of Morrowind. The levelling system isn’t as bad as many make out, but is ever-so-slightly broken. But in other ways it makes many, many improvements. At times it looks breathtakingly beautiful. The combat is much improved, especially the ranged combat. The stealth works brilliantly – so much so that it seemed almost everybody went for a stealth-based character when playing the game. It’s been over a hundred hours of glorious fun, with more to come.

1. (1) Doom (PC/360)

Genius that hasn’t aged in anything but graphics. Gameplay, level design, feel… it’s still all there. And the 360 version has the best controls since pre-Win95 PC keyboards. BEST. GAME. EVER.

Wish it looked better, as the game itself is perfectly enjoyable in short bursts.

I still haven’t unlocked the secret level. I don’t think I’m about to any time soon, either. I’m slowly earning enough to buy the invicibility cheat, which I’m going to need, but it’s very slow going.

I just finished Beldingfield Manor and got a Silent Assassin rating.

Kill a guard near the start, take his uniform and gun. Walk to the front of the house, up the ladder, in the window. Pick up poison. Save. Syringe the weird woman wearing underwear in the shower (could have turned it off, I found out later), smother the old guy with a pillow. Downstairs, to the basement, poison the cask of whisky. Save. Wait for target to be served and to drink whisky. Out the front doors, over to the stables, poison the horses, turn off the telly, steal the key, free the academic bloke, run straight back out the level.

Died quite a few times and it took about two hours in total, but got there in the end. And dying’s good too, because you get fun shootouts beforehand. As the colour bleeds away and the speed falls I always try to get the man that killed me.

Excellent stuff.

I had a great idea of catching my two targets in an explosion, but it kept only killing one of them. The survivor would then go and sit in a car in fulll view of about eight guards, meaning that killing him was impossible. Eventually I just had to run to where the targets were when I’d saved, gun them down and then run out of the level.

Got a mass murderer rating from that level, not quite the silent assassin that I was hoping to be. Oh well, job done, however messy.

Only having two save points per level is a bugger when you get them. That level seemed to take ages to do, but the total time (not including reloads after deaths) was only twenty minutes. A few hours actually including those retries, of course.

Phew. Maybe I should have swallowed my pride and played on Normal difficulty, but I don’t want the game to be easier, I want to be better.