Your top 10 games, and 1 top reason why~

[Hive]

no particular order:

Pokemon D/P/Pl. (battles)
Secret of Mana (music)
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 (physics)
Ninja Turtles: Arcade (4-player co-op)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (gliding peach)
Phantasy Star II (setting)
Final Fantasy VII (music)
Final Fantasy IX (characters)
Animal Crossing: Wild World (events)
Front Mission 3 (pseudo-World Wide Web)

[Jiggy]

Cool idea; straight top ten lists would have been pretty boring and usually people don't read them, but patterns can emerge when people list out their reasoning and it makes everything kind of cumulative.

10) Star Ocean: The Second Story - Super fun (if super mindless) battles.
9) Yoshi’s Island - Fantastic level design.
8) Super Metroid - Sequence-breaking.
7) Kirby Super Star Ultra - Ridiculous number of powers equals endless replayability.
6) Advance Wars: Dual Strike - Ridiculous number of COs and maps equals endless replayability.
5) WWF No Mercy - Create-a-character equals endless replayability.
4) Final Fantasy VI - Non-linear second half.
3) Tales of Symphonia - Super fun battles.
2) Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Super strategic battles.
1) Tales of Vesperia - Super fun ability learning.

[Iam Canadian]

10) Gunstar Heroes - The only action game with enough bosses to satisfy me. :3
9) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - Challenging level design with well-placed secrets.
8) Sonic 3 and Knuckles - Huge, intricate level design.
7) Kirby Super Star Ultra - Tons of moves, tons of replayability in bite-sized chunks.
6) Mega Man X - Best iteration of the classic formula.
5) Tales of Vesperia - Best action-RPG combat system ever.
4)Final Fantasy VI - Everything to do with the World of Ruin. <3
3) Super Metroid - Sequence-breaking.
2) Mother 3 - it made me cry ;_;
1) EarthBound - Best game world ever.

[Hive]

9) Yoshi’s Island - Fantastic level design.


No kidding!!

[transience]

10 - Street Fighter 4 (multiplayer)
9 - F-Zero GX (speed)
8 - Metroid: Zero Mission (speed running)
7 - Shadow Hearts (short and sweet)
6 - Shadow Hearts 2 (*fun*)
5 - Chrono Trigger (pacing)
4 - Mega Man 2 (METAL BLADE)
3 - Final Fantasy (endlessly replayable)
2 - Super Metroid (physics)
1 - Xenogears (atmosphere)

[Akai]

10 - F.E.A.R. 2 - Greek mythology symbolism
9 - Tales of Symphonia - Colette, Colette, Colette
8 - Gunstar Heroes - VS Green (the greatest boss battle ever)
7 - Hotel Dusk - The perfect crime drama
6 - Okami - Japanese mythology
5 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Toon-shading
4 - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Midna
3 - Terranigma - Ridiculously simple, yet addicting, ARPG
2 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - No nonsense adventuring
1 - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Zelda goodness in its purest, most compact form (and Marin! Okay that's two things, but who cares!?)

Yes, I am a Zelda whore, and I am quite proud of it!

[AzureJericho]

Sorry for all of the dual spots here, but my top 10 is so hard to nail most times and with so many games sharing spots, I really can't just pick 10 to go with straight.

10. Punch-Out!! (Raw gameplay is so much fun.)
9. Mega Man Legends / Legends 2 (Gameplay & personality were top notch)
8. Super Metroid / Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Took the awesome, injected it with raw amazing, cranked it up to 20, and gave me the Shinespark / best boss designs, mood, and challenge in a Metroid game bar none.)
7. Star Fox 64 (The first 3D game that REALLY phoned in the awesome of 3D.)
6. StarTropics (Puzzle Platforming at its NES zenith)
5. Mother 3 (The best fusion of a meaningful story & great gameplay)
4. Jet Set Radio (The musiiiic!)
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker (Charm and whimsy to no end)
2. Sonic 3 + Knuckles / Sonic CD (Fluidity of motion and momentum with an on screen character)
1. Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario Galaxy (The first game I played where I was in awe at the level design; the game that reminded me most of that exact feeling years later.)

[Iam Canadian]

9 - Tales of Symphonia - Colette, Colette, Colette
8 - Gunstar Heroes - VS Green (the greatest boss battle ever)

These are both excellent reasons to love a game. I particularly agree with you on Green/Seven Force and an analysis of him and how he encompasses everything that makes a boss fight great and memorable could probably sustain a full-length editorial of its own.

2. Sonic 3 + Knuckles / Sonic CD (Fluidity of motion and momentum with an on screen character)

This is one of the key things that Sonic Team still hasn't grasped with modern Sonic. Sonic Unleashed is in many ways, a huge step above...that OTHER current-gen Sonic game, Werehog aside. The daytime stages actually recapture a lot of what made the Genesis games great: level design with multiple routes to traverse, the exhiliration of speed mixed with traditional platforming, and the return of glorious 2D. However, the crippling flaw of that game is that Sonic isn't fluid or intuitive to control in the slightest. He can't steer worth beans in the 3D segments, his jumps feel unnaturally low, precision movement is virtually impossible, and the boost mechanic keeps you from having to properly build your speed. They're gradually improving in other respects, but Sonic Team still can't get the all-important controls right.

[AzureJericho]

You know, Sonic Unleashed is really a game that I hate ripping to shreds mainly because you could tell that the new team really put a decent bit of time and effort behind it.

What killed it for me personally though, were the QTEs that were rampant in the game for every other jump you had to make. I was almost offended at that, mainly because it really stuck out to me as them forgetting what makes a platformer a platformer. If I had to liken this feeling to anything, it would be like if you played Super Mario Bros. on the NES and in the middle of a jump over a large chasm, you had to put in an input string or fall to your demise.

Stripping away full character control like that in a platformer is a video game sin.

[Jiggy]

One of the coolest things about this thread is seeing so much love for so many games I have on Virtual Console (or even Gamecube) that if ever I run out of requested videos (http://www.gf-park.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77), at least I know what to start putting up myself while still being loosely able to call it others' "choice." ;)

[Prax]

Hmmm.. This is hard! Not sure if I can find an order! Let me think! Uhm..

10. Tales of Symphonia: fun cast + fun battle system = fun times!
9. Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI: Most of my hours are spent creating my own cast, which is soooo satisfying--then they get to kill each other!
8. StarFox 64: epic voice acting from Nintendo!
7. Ogre Battle 64: So many people I can name!
6. Final Fantasy VI: huge cast, huge world, huge possibilities!
5. Earthbound: It's got style, both in-game and in its player's guide!
4. Fire Emblem 7: localized support conversations with Hector
3. Fire Emblem 9: finally a localized console Fire Emblem with awesome support conversations
2. Fire Emblem 10: extension of FE9, but even bigger more customizable cast!
1. Fire Emblem 4: Fire Emblem.. and breeding babies!

Honourable mention (that got pushed off the list due to Fire Emblems:
Civilization IV: just.. one.. more.. turn..!

[Hive]

9. Romance of the Three Kingdoms

I'm a Nobunaga's Ambition player myself~

Still play the 1st SNES version whenever I feel like it.^^

[doomed1]

alright, i've been racking my brain for a while now, trying to come up with a good list to put here. i decided to not put games of a series in here, so RS3 didn't make it in along with MP3 and other Zelda games.

10. Call of Duty: World at War - 6+ days of online playtime, as in 6 multiplied by 24. more than that.
9. Contact - Moochie is love (very clever)
8. Advance Wars: Day of Ruin - brain wracking battles that can make you lose hours
7. Rogue Squadron - my first console video game. gameplay still holds up.
6. Half-Life 2 - the reason i give Valve money
5. Metroid Prime - ATMOSPHERE!
4. Battalion Wars II (BWii) - one of the few games that can genuinely make me smile, strategy edition.
3. Super Mario Galaxy - the OTHER game that can make me genuinely smile.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - just FELT epic, but without being aloof to the player.

1. No More Heroes - gaming as art

honorable mentions include Resident Evil 4, after putting hundreds of hours into just replaying it and nearly supplanted BWii, and Tales of Symphonia, which while fun, was utter tripe in much of its presentation, requiring me to make significant fun of the convoluted plot that asked the player to take it seriously.

[Hive]

you guys should bold either the games or the reason so it's a bit easier for others to read/see. ^^