Opaque Senator's Top 10 Games of All Time

by Opaque Senator, guest GGR contributor

Greetings everyone! I am the Opaque Senator and I will be joining in on the fun at GGR. For as long as I can remember I have been an avid gamer, and will be providing some thoughts on games both old and new. Being a child of the 90s, I was around and heavily played systems as old as the Inn Television and Nintendo. The two systems I have the most memories and invested the most time into are the Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64; though I've owned Genesis, PS2, Xbox 360, and now PS4 and a pretty darn good PC.

As you can see, some of the systems and games I've spent the most time with have varied quite a bit from the norm. To give you all a primer for the type of content I enjoy, I wanted to give you my list for my top 10 games of all time. My main rule for this will be no duplicate games from a series. In those instances, I’ll choose my favorite from the line up for that game's spot. My list of favorites also doubles as those with the most impact on my experience and helped develop my senses of what I look for in games. I hope you all enjoy!

10: Panzer Dragoon

A title many may not be familiar with, Panzer Dragoon was a rail shooter, as well as a launch title for the Sega Saturn back in 1995. I have always enjoyed rail shooters and there were several excellent ones on this system that have been overlooked over the years, including the 1st sequel to this game Panzer Dragoon 2: Zwei. This game was one of the first shooters to let you shift your focus around yourself as you blasted down enemies. Once practiced enough, this game can be beaten in a little over an hour as it is an arcade style shooter. This game is one of the first I remember being difficult enough that I wanted to work overtime to beat it, which I did not do until my college years. A genre I would greatly enjoy seeing more love given to in the future, a remake of this game is coming out on the Nintendo Switch soon, and I am greatly looking forward it.

9: Mega Man 2

One of the quintessential platformers of the Nintendo era, I actually did not come across the Mega Man series until my college years, but I quickly made up for lost time as I got lost in the challenge and music of the series. Mega Man 2 is my favorite of the lot, with just the right amount of challenge-to-fun and a stellar soundtrack that has been remixed to bits. Also I was greatly appreciative to see this series get some love with the recently released and solid Mega Man 11.

8: Super Mario 64

What the OG Super Mario Bros. did for 2D platformers, Super Mario 64 did for 3D titles. Another launch title, this time for the N64, this game boasts smooth controls having Mario jump, flip, and kick his way to a complete 120 star adventure with several fights against Bowser and secrets abound to unlock. It’s control scheme has aged these days, especially with the camera angles, but this is a title I am always down to revisit.

7: GoldenEye

What else is there to say? The Doom series and GoldenEye revolutionized the multiplayer FPS genre. GoldenEye was my gateway into FPS' and is a game I still enjoy, even on the wonky N64 controller. This game boasted a challenging single player campaign on the 00 Agent difficulty. It was also likely since GoldenEye was my foray into the world of James Bond and my favorite of those movies that this game left an impact as well. And by the way: no, you're still not allowed to pick Oddjob.

6: Kingdom Hearts 2

Few games left me longing as much for a sequel as much as Kingdom Hearts 2 did. 14 years later we got the official Kingdom Hearts 3 (though there were 7 odd games in between 2 and 3 that run the gamut of awful to great, Birth by Sleep being a close second here in my favorites of this series).A hack-and-slash-action jaunt with an amazingly odd combination of Disney and Square Enix, the story would require more pages than I’m allowed to delve into. In spite of that, the game play was fast, fun and action packed. It is a game I always look forward to revisiting.

5: Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void

Now we are getting into the real heavy hitters. Starcraft was one of the first games I played on PC, and an entry in one of my most beloved genres; the RTS (real time strategy). Years later we got a 3 (and a half) part sequel with Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void. Legacy of the Void is my favorite of them all as it has several huge moments (1 in particular that should be experienced by any gamer interested in character, story, and development), in addition to the complete set of units for all 3 races to play, and a constantly evolving meta game where some of the truly elite gamers come to play. Check out just how many actions per minute a pro Starcraft player can make, and you'll also see why the RTS is a dying genre not for the faint of heart.

4: Sonic 3 and Knuckles

My all time favorite platformer (with the recently released Sonic Mania Plus a very close second). I didn't own a Genesis until my adult years, but the Sega Saturn came with a port of the 1st four games on the classic Sonic series called Sonic Jam. The 3rd title linked with Sonic and Knuckles cart combined to make the complete 3rd game. It was a game I could revisit even today and still find new routes to take and new secrets to discover. With exception to Sonic Mania, the blue hedgehog has been in a number of mediocre to just plain awful games throughout the last decade and a half, but this one game solidified itself as the one true mascot platformer for me. This is a game even today I would recommend to anyone.

3: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

While everyone I knew growing up who owned the Nintendo 64 gushed about this game's predecessor Ocarina of Time, my true favorite and time sink was Majora's Mask. This game is the true stalwart when it comes to how to correctly develop a game. No more long, drawn out open spaces, no more cardboard cut out characters that were difficult to relate to, this game had smoother game play, and one of the most interesting, dark, and menacing stories. Even today, Majora's Mask is every bit the upgrade to Ocarina of Time. This is something I look forward to talking more about in the future. I also think of all the Zelda games, this is the best in addition to my favorite. (I am fully ready for the tomatoes to be thrown at me, haha!)

2: Journey

One of the more surreal experiences I have ever had in gaming came with Journey. No, I never owned a PS3, and only got to experience this game for the first time at a friend's house. There is actually very little “game” here by any measure you look at. But the visually told story, graphic output for it's time, big moments, and most of all soundtrack left me in awe. I'll link you the final song of the game called “I Was Born For This” as performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Try not to catch the feels listening to this...

I get goosebumps still throughout several moments of this experience, and that's truly what Journey is, an experience for the player.

1: NiGHTS into Dreams

There is no game I have fonder memories of when it comes to gaming. The quintessential title for the Sega Saturn, this game upgraded the moving-on-rails formula to one of the most free flowing movement games of its time. You take control of NiGHTS; a jester who occupies the world of dreams and nightmares. This androgynous being helps children Elliot and Claris navigate their fears as they appear in their dreams and save the dream world.

I have played through and beaten this game north of 70 times in my life. I can always revisit it. In fact, I probably do so at least once a year. The visuals for its time, soundtrack, game play, and my experience playing it all greatly influenced me in many ways. If you want to experience this game, I have “let's play”ed all 3 games in this series for the Super Gaming Brother's channel on YouTube, plus there are ports of the 1st two games on Steam for the PC. I highly recommend checking them out (the other titles are Christmas NiGHTS, also for the Saturn, and NiGHTS Journey of Dreams, a Wii title that came out 11 years later).

That's my top 10. I enjoy various styles of games, though a great soundtrack, visuals, characters, and/or story line will always be the games I look at more closely. Hope you enjoyed my take. I look forward to talking all things gaming soon! Until next time...