Top 5 games of all time

[Tsurani]

So I was just curious what everybody's top 5 games were and why? What makes these games so great as to put them in the best of the best category for you. Mine would be

1. Baldur's Gate 2-For me if there was a perfect game this would be it. The story, the writing, the voice acting, the plot, the narrative, the environments and art style. Everything in this game was near perfect and was a perfect representation of D&D. 100-200 hours of perfectly great story telling and awesomeness. This game is what gaming is all about in my opinion.

2. Mass Effect 3- Yes I'm going there. The fact is this game despite all the hoopla and negativity over how "bad" the ending is, is still a game that really pulled me in from start to finish. So much emotion and feeling in this game that I was sucked in like almost no other game has sucked me in. It made me feel alive again after having had gone through a lot of negative stuff right before playing it and made me able to move past all that stuff. The characters are the best cast of characters in gaming history in my opinion and the impact that this game had on my the very first time I played it...there has been no other like it. A real toss up between this and Baldur's Gate 2 for my favorite honestly.

3. Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time-The perfect Zelda game. I know this game gets seen as not as good as it once was but for me personally the magic is still there. From the music to the combat to everything this Zelda game wowed me and still wows me from start to finish as the most finely crafted 3d adventure game ever made.

4. Chrono Trigger-The best JRPG I've ever played bar none. Yes there are a few other jrpgs that come kind of close like ff6 or xenogears but the time based plot and story really just did it for me along with the most colorful casts of characters along with the unique combat system and the awesome music. A truly epic experience like no other.

5. Suikoden II-A very unique JRPG that now that I think about it does come very close to usurping Chrono Trigger as my favorite. Just like Chrono Trigger it had a very unique battle system that was very fun, plus the story and the characters are both one of the best in terms of story and characters. Everything about this game was amazing and certainly a game that I can very much relate to everytime I play it.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

1.Spyro the Dragon/Mass Effect

2.Sonic Generations

3.Blood Dragon

4.Bioshock Infinite

5.Kirby?s Epic Yarn ? A new edition to my list. I just found this game and my god this is just an absolute joy to play/experience.

 

[scorptatious]

It's pretty difficult considering how much my tastes in games tend to change. But here goes:

1. Shadow of the Colossus- Hands down. My most favorite game ever. It's story is minimalist yes, but the way it's presented and the way the game is set up, I actually WANT to see through to the end, just to see what happens. The gameplay is, for lack of a better word, epic. You scale giant colossi, hanging on for dear life as they attempt to shake you off. And then reaching to the top and stabbing their weak points over and over until you finally defeat them. It's satisfying, but at the same time kinda sad because these colossi were just minding their own business, and you killed them solely because you want to bring back your loved one.

The game is also very atmospheric. When you're not fighting colossi, you're travelling down the Forbidden Lands on your horse. They're wide open and empty, almost completely devoid of life. To some people, this may be a turn off, but to me, it gives off a sense of both loneliness and peace. I love exploring the place while searching for the colossi.

And the soundtrack. Don't get me started. It's so fucking magnificent.

I could go on and on about how great the game is, but I want to talk about the other games I love too.

2. Final Fantasy IX- Played this over three years ago after playing through VII for the first time. This game is also quite fantastic. The characters are all lovable and well realized, the story is gripping, the combat is fun (albeit a bit slow) and it has one of Nobuo Uematsu's best soundtracks. It also has one of my most favorite game endings ever.

3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater/Subsistence- My first foray into the Metal Gear universe. Between sneaking by patrols in the dense jungles and forests, the gripping story, and the James Bond-esque vibe the soundtrack gives off, and the awesome boss fights, this game is a classic. Admittedly, the controls take some getting used to, but once you get past that and discover the wealth of gameplay options the game gives you, you're in for a treat.

4. ICO- Yup. The other game Team ICO made is on my list too. Like Shadow of the Colossus, the story telling is pretty minimal, but I found it pretty easy to get attached to Ico and Yorda. Both kids that are way in over their heads, working together to escape a castle filled with shadowy monsters, decaying structures, and magical couches strewn everywhere. And the bond they share is really endearing.

5. Valkyria Chronicles- I'll admit, I'm not too big of a fan of SRPG's. But this game (and another series) are an exception. The game plays like a TBS mixed with a third person shooter. Which creates a really unique style of strategic gameplay. The story and characters are all really well done, even the non-story side characters that you recruit all have their own unique voice and dialogue, making it easy to get attached to them. Looking at it now, it's a little rough around the edges, the enemy A.I isn't that bright, and the ranking system is too focused on beating the missions as fast as possible rather then strategy. But it still has a lot of good points and it is a very under appreciated gem.

Honorable mentions go to (in no particular order):

Fallout: New Vegas
Persona 4 Golden
Banjo Kazooie series
Disgaea series
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Spryo series
Bayonetta
Skullgirls
Metroid Prime
Fallout 1 and 2
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate
Chrono Trigger DS
Team Fortress 2
Halo 3

 

[jademunky]

5. Final Fantasy III (VI)
4. Planscape Torment
3. Civilization V
2. The Original Simcity (the SNES port)
1. Dark Souls


*Edit* I really should try to work Fallout 2 into the list somehow

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

easy peasy

1- Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence

Stealth perfected, an unforgettable story, specially if you are an MGS fan, so many options to proceed in the game, glorious boss fights, and the last couple of hours of the game, boy i swear i almost had a heart attack from all the awesome

2- Shadow of the Colossus

exciting, thoughtful, memorable, a game that plays like nothing else, with an uncanny ability to push story and ideas into the player without almost any exposition

3- Half-Life 2

best FPS there is, no contest, the immersion, the story, the characters, my god the ingame universe is all so great, the best pacing in any game ive ever played, only downside are those dumb dumb squad command mechanics

4- Persona 4

best RPG ive ever played, and thats saying something since im not a fan of the genre, great story, great characters, great combat mechanics, very long altough surprisingly the game doesnt over stays its welcome, that dumb fox however, completely ruins the pacing of the dungeons, also the card fusion mechanics and unnessesarily clunky

5- Company of Heroes

best RTS there is, a sublime level of authenticity in the combat and weaponry, lots of intuitive and fun mechanics to play with, such as the way vehicles control and infantry cover, and unlike the sequel, commanding the units is extremely responsive and amazing. the story of the main campaign is meh however, tough the compaign itself is good enough

 

[Shoggoth2588]

uuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh...I'll try but my top X lists change pretty frequently. Here we go anyway.

Pokemon Silver Version & Soul Silver version - I listed both of them despite their graphical differences because the core gameplay is more or less the same. Anyway, I've been a fan of Pokemon since the beginning (Red) but I've always preferred Silver/Gold to the others in the series. I loved those starters, enjoyed the terrain, liked the gym leaders (even Whitney). I liked the original because the new Pokemon were great without being overwhelming. 251 was a ton but nothing compared to what we have now. As for HG/SS, the best thing I can say is how I love the graphical upgrades and how your lead Pokemon follows behind you. The core gameplay hasn't really changed since 1998 and I'm a fan of turn-based RPGs. Not too much else to add really...

Fallout 3/ Fallout: New Vegas - I put them both up since they use more-or-less the same engine and play almost identically. I chose these instead of the Elder Scrolls games because I like using guns instead of bows, arrows and, swords. Anyway, Bethesda's Fallout games take place in large open-world maps. There are a ton of adventures to embark upon either by talking to people or, stumbling ass-first into the right cave. I loved Fallout 3 because unlike New Vegas it didn't feature any/many invisible walls, allowing for near total freedom. I also chose New Vegas because it has a refined combat system which doesn't feel like it's dice-based. New Vegas also has an excellent faction system which can make you some really powerful friends or, enemies.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - A top-down adventure game by Nintendo, this was the only Zelda game on the Super Nintendo. As Link, you must find three pendants and the Master Sword so as to stop the evil wizard Agahnim from harming Princess Zelda...only you fail at that and must chase him into a dark world wherein you have 7 more temples to conquer before fighting against the newly revived Ganon. This is a nostalgic choice for me but even after recent playthroughs of other Zelda games (including Ocarina 3D, Majora's Mask and, Link Between Worlds) I prefer this one over all.

Dragon Ball Z:Attack of the Saiyans - This turn-based JRPG begins at the tail end of Dragon Ball and goes through to the Saiyan Invasion of Earth. There are some side bits as well that I don't remember from DBZ but anyway; the game allows you to form parties of 3 once you've met enough characters. The Battle System features a system wherein characters can attack simultaniously in various ways, kind of like combo-rushes in the show. The system encourages a lot of experimentation in party-members and attack variation. The end-game teases a sequel taking place on Namek but sadly, Monolithsoft hasn't made that yet...they've been busy working on Xenoblade Chronicles and, its sequel...blah...

Saint's Row 2 - This is an open world crime game wherein you can create a character from the ground up to lead The Third Street Saints in their violent takeover of Stilwater. The game features a lot of customization options not only for the player character (who can be an obese, gender neutral person with dark skinned and a British accent among other things), vehicles and to a lesser extent your crib. Where the game shines though are the missions. There are the standard missions like races, assassinations, vehicle theft, but there are also missions where you throw old women into jet turbines for looking at a celebrity the wrong way or, ride around a large truck spraying homes and property with semi-liquid feces. This game is goofy as all Hell but still manages some really great dramatic moments within the plot.

Other games that I love and could easily make a top X list of:

Beavis & Butt-Head: Reality Bites
Benethe a Steel Sky
Bubble Bobble
Burger Time
(Super) Double Dragon
Duke Nukem 3D
Dynasty Warriors Gundam
Elder Scrolls IV & V
Final Fantasy VI, VIII &, IX
Final Fantasy USA - Mystic Quest
Gradius III
Guitar Hero Series
Guitaroo Man
Gunman Clive
Just Cause 2
Legend of Zelda series (ALBW, OoT, TP, WW)
New Super Mario Bros series
Ninja Gaiden
Portal
Quest of the Mystic Ninja
Retro City Rampage DX
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Super Mario 3D Land/World
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Tales of Phantasia
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy
Yoshi's Island

 

[Tsurani]

I see shadow of the colossus is getting a lot of love and rightly so. That game was one of the most epic games I've ever played and a truly unique game that hasn't been copied since to my knowledge. Ico was pretty good too but in my opinion it wasn't on the same level as SOTC. Awesome game and one that would go in my top 25 of all time(with 358 games played at last count).

 

[Eamar]

Ooo I love making lists! [small]No really, this excites me...[/small]

Just my favourites, not necessarily the objectively "best" games. Also I'm restricting myself to one game per franchise and I'm only allowing myself one Bioware title, otherwise the list would be flooded with them.


1. Dragon Age: Origins (plus Awakening DLC) - For me, it's the perfect Bioware RPG, and Bioware RPGs are my favourite games.

2. Portal - For obvious reasons, really. Tough call between this and the sequel, but I decided to stick with the original because it was just such a revelation. The humour is what makes these games for me.

3. World of Warcraft - This has to be high up on my list, as the sheer number of hours I've put into it attest. I love this game. I love the world, the visuals, the music, even the grinding... it was the first game I really played, so after all these years it also has this lovely safe, familiar feeling. It's my escapism, basically.

4. Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Love, love, love this game. It's genuinely terrifying (you can't fight the monsters, you can only run and hide), and it has this incredible Victorian supernatural/gothic horror storyline which is the sort of thing I adore in literature and have rarely seen done well in games.

5. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 - It's just fun. Bright, colourful, silly and immensely satisfying. I've hosted parties that revolved around playing/watching this game.

Honourable mentions go to:

Mass Effect 2 - really should be on the list, but see above point about Bioware.
Alice: Madness Returns - not perfect by any means, but absolutely gorgeous visuals and level design.
Bioshock 2 - yes, it's my favourite Bioshock. Come at me.
Halo 3 - see above. Substitute "Halo" for "Bioshock"
Digital - A Love Story - more of a visual novel, but really well done.
World of Goo - just completely charming and really well made.
Plants vs Zombies - I got completely addicted, and I really didn't expect to.
Aquaria - only started this recently, but I'm in love with the visuals, the music, the use of singing as a game mechanic...

 

[Phlogiston]

Thief 2: The Metal Age

Portal (Yes I also liked Portal 2, but the puzzles were too easy in comparison, it felt like they made it easy so everyone that played could enjoy the story)

Monkey Island 2

GTA: San Andreas (The most fun one in the series imo)

Quakelive

I'd struggle to list those in any kind of order...

 

[Evonisia]

Oh goody I get to keep my promise of looking back on my previous Top X list, which was on the 9th April. Because I'm pretentious I'm going to note changes, but since this is a Top 5 and NOT a Top 10 it won't seem mad.

5: Halo 2 (6-5)

ODST did get into my Top 10 again, and I still think it's a brilliant game, but Halo 2 just has better writing, more varied gameplay and honestly some of the best moments of the entire series thus far. Despite Yahtzee's claim that Halo never changes, Halo 2 is in the sequel camp of "We have a story that must be told and we're advancing the concept of the first game". The only thing that ODST has to combat Halo 2 is how it's stood the test of time better graphics wise and having much better atmosphere and lighting.

4: Call of Duty: World at War (4-4)

The worst condition for me in entertainment (so films, music, games, books, card games) is if every time I think about them, my opinion of them worsens. I hate "The Amazing Spiderman", I hate Katy Perry's "Roar", I hate "Halo 4" and I hate "Of Mice and Men". Every thought of World at War causes my already pretty high opinion of it to rise. Somebody informed me of how Americans look bad in this game, and oh my God, I just bled tears of happiness on my internet self.

World at War's message is "fuck everyone, war is a load of crap, why are you doing this?" and you know what game everyone gives praise for despite it's limited and generic gameplay? Spec Ops: The Line, of course, and that was my game of the year 2012 (though not higher than my number 2 in terms of overall favouritism). With some pop culture references, wonderful atmosphere, beautiful gore, interesting quirks to the formula, well written characters and entertaining gameplay (more so than The Line), World at War sits comfortably at number 4, maybe it will rise to the Top 3 one day.

3: TES IV: Oblivion (2-3)
Nothing is really "great" about Oblivion, writing is bad, gameplay is buggy, the "Oblivion stare face", a lot of the textures are reused and the music is completely out of place half of the time. Still all this madness combines together to create something I really, really love. Hell it and my number 1 game have stayed in my Top 3 for nearly ten years now, that's what I call staying power considering I've only been gaming for fourteen years.

2: XCOM: Enemy Unknown (3-2)
XCOM is my current addiction, and even though just yesterday it deleted by Ironman save 'cause it crashed, I still feel compelled to go back and play it again. Enemy Within is fantastic as well, but as an expansion pack it's combined with this game, much like how WoW has stayed in my Top 10 for so long (it fell out of my Top 5 this time round). I love the RNG, I love the setting and how the game slowly opens up to you and I'd love to see it expanded on in a sequel or two.

1: FarCry (1-1)
FarCry has been my favourite game since it came out in 2004, I even love the Xbox 360/PS3 port that came out this year. I'm just going to copy paste what I did in that post from the 9th April.

So much to complain about like the AI, but so much to love like the design and scale. The story is cliché but kinda charming, and the enemies are colourful and challenging to face. I've played it enough times to recount pretty much all of it from memory, to the point where I got all bar four of the 360 version's achievements without even noticing.

My "honourable mentions" I guess.

6: Call of Duty: Black Ops II (8-6) - This game is what changed the series, and people just don't realise it.
7: Silent Hill 3 (9-7)
8: World of Warcraft (5-8) - I don't know what's happening, it's not worsening in my mind, just other games are rising above it.
9: Halo 3: ODST (14-9)
10: Saints Row 2 (10-10)

 

[dantoddd]

kotor
hl2
rome2
homeworld
pop

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Top 5 Of All Time [That I Can Be Bothered To Think Of Right Now], Variant 747 (in no particular order):

Half-Life 2

Street Fighter IV

Dreamweb

Dragon Age Origins

Morrowind

Honourable mentions go to every other BioWare game (except Baldur's Gate which I don't like, and Neverwinter Nights which I didn't play), the original Syndicate on the Amiga, Skyrim, The Walking Dead, Red Dead Redemption, Halo ODST, Fable II, F.E.A.R., BioShock Infinite (rubbish gameplay, incredible central character narrative), Star Wars The Force Unleashed (deceptively well made, and probably the best 'sequel' to the original trilogy), Cannon Fodder, BlazBlue:CS, The Witcher 2, L4D, and so on... 5 really is a ridiculously small number.

Argh, damnit, forgot one biggie: Spec Ops The Line.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I tend to notice a lot of people choose to completely ignore a large chunk of gaming in favor of their favorite games, while ignoring a good percentage of gaming that includes fighting, racing, simulation or simply something very old and timeless like Pong, Pac-Man or Tetris. I'm suspicious whenever the "best games of all time" all came out in the past 10 years or so. Or maybe it's just me. I can't pick up just 5.

 

[Phlogiston]

*whispers* lots of gamers are really young and don't have a clue about the good titles that came before they stopped wearing nappies so can only relate to the ones released in the last few years

 

[LaoJim]

My list, stressing the 'all time' aspect. Not in any way original, but there are reasons why these games are cliches on this kind of list.

1. Super Mario Bros.

Given the technical limitation of the time, as close to a perfect game as has ever been created, and still playable as hell.

2. Street Fighter II

In the year SF2 was released, one of the video game magazine held their annual competition for top 10 best new characters in video games, something like 8 of them were from SF2. Ironically for a sequel, you could say it basically created the fighting game genre, but more than that it has the most character of any video game ever.

3. Geoff Crammond's Formula 1 Grand Prix

The first real game I ever played that could be described as a racing simulation. Before it we had games like Outrun and Super Hang-on, after it Forza and Gran Tourismo.

4. Doom

While Wolfenstein could reasonably claim to be the first FPS, Doom came only a year later and was an incredible step forward and is still incredibly playable today.

5. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

We could argue about which GTA is the best, but well as the innovative sand-box gameplay, VC was one of the strongest invocations of a real time and real place (i.e. 80s Miami) that I'd ever experienced before.

Bubbling under in no particular order: the first Tomb Raider, Jet Set Willy, Tetris, Geometry Wars, Civilization 4, Ocarina of Time, Arkham Asylum, GoldenEye, Diddy Kong Racing, Call of Duty 2, Phantasy Star, Boulderdash, Laser Squad, The Hobbit, WaveRace, Crazy Taxi, Knights of the Sky, Plants vs Zombies, PacMan, Asteroids, Millipede, Bayonetta, Just Cause 2, Forza 4 and probably a hundred others...

 

[Phlogiston]

That's a damn good list sir

I nearly wrote an honorable mentions list but it was getting too long so I deleted it but it definitely had Goldeneye, Civ, OoT and SMB in there.

I completely forgot about SF2 and now you mentioned it I would have added that and Virtua Fighter 2 as well.

Doom was amazing but if anything Quake 2 was the oldest id title I had the most fun with before Q3/live (had it on my school LAN - awesomesauce)

Vice City instead of San Andreas makes me ummm and ahhh because now you mention it I could probably be swayed just by the soundtrack.

Diddy Kong never convinced me as being better than Mario Kart 64 but I know that was all subjective (I had MK and loved it, my friend had DK and loved that)...maybe in terms of single player DK just inches it since MP fun was even between them.

Also great shout on Laser Squad, I'd have gone for the original Xcom or maybe even Jagged Alliance for TBS (I know not symmetric movement, but similar enough) and also the original Tomb Raider was epic, although I remember getting stuck in some Colosseum or something and never finishing it.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Well this is quite a safe thread.

Ah, what the hell:

1) Spec Ops The Line: gameplay serves the story, and vice versa. Every element of the campaign strengthens the message and the information brought across. That alone would be enough to be a great game, but it also has the courage to explore the player/character relationship, violence in video-games and the hypocrisies of modern military shooters. To finish off, its in that sub-sub-genre of fiction inspired by Heart of Darkness, which I always keep an eye out for.

2) Knights of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: the most interesting and well-done work in the Star Wars Universe, as in, I think its better than the original trilogy of movies in some ways. Add to that, a robust combat and gameplay system, an interesting exploration of morality in the Star Wars universe, and moral choices that for once have some ambiguity or challenge in the decision thereof, great writing especially in regards to the characters, excellent atmosphere of a dying universe, excellent(and best) representation of the Sith not just as a group of generic villains who represent the opposite of the Hagakure, but as an actual force of the universe that cannot be reasoned with and festers in the chaos which it created, the Jedi as a bunch of arrogant hermits and hypocrites, etc. To put it simply, its what I think of whenever I think that Star Wars is beyond redemption.

3) Mass Effect 2: Excellent pacing, excellent writing, excellent atmosphere, excellent world-building, and an excellent ending. It is the best out of the Mass Effect trilogy by far, and in my opinion, Bioware's best game.

4)Half Life 2/Portal: I can't decide between the two, as they are both equally good in my opinion: Half Life 2 is an exemplar in video game pacing and narrative, with an alluring story and varied gameplay to boot. Portal is an amazingly tight little game, every second is on display, a revolutionary in puzzle games, memorable as hell too.

5) Fallout: New Vegas: Fallout 3 with an actual sense of humour, and real moral ambiguity(there is no real 'good' ending, nor is there a perfect one either, someone always ends up getting screwed over), brilliant writing, brilliant soundtrack(all Fallout games have memorable soundtracks), and a wealth of things to do that accommodates a multitude of approaches.

[small]Maybe I do love Obsidian, so what? >.<[/small]

 

[Eamar]

I tend to notice a lot of people choose to completely ignore a large chunk of gaming in favor of their favorite games, while ignoring a good percentage of gaming that includes fighting, racing, simulation or simply something very old and timeless like Pong, Pac-Man or Tetris. I'm suspicious whenever the "best games of all time" all came out in the past 10 years or so. Or maybe it's just me. I can't pick up just 5.

Well, a lot of people just aren't into certain genres, and it's impossible for someone to play every game ever, particularly if the required consoles are no longer widely available. Same goes for people who didn't grow up with gaming or who are younger and never got into the classics. People can hardly be expected to include games they've never played.

Personally I see no problem with people going for their favourites anyway (and that's exactly what I did) - it's not like there's some objective standard for a game's quality. Broadly speaking, a good game should be fun, and that's a pretty subjective criterion. I've played a fair few "classic" games that I didn't enjoy at all, and I don't personally feel that "it was really good/groundbreaking at the time" should give something a free pass if it hasn't aged well.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Somewhat challenging for me to do this.

1. Skyrim -no game has taken more hours from me. I love the vanilla game and the mods send it over the top.
2. Mass Effect 2 -best game of the series IMO. The combat isn't as good as 3 but the suicide mission is one of the greatest sequences in video games.
3. Mount and Blade Warband -The ultimate Medieval sandbox. Mods like Prophesy of Pendor and Floris basically turn it into a brand new game. I've spent hundreds of hours on this game and only got it a few months ago.
4. Borderlands 2 -Better than the first game in ever way. The gameplay is really fast and there are a ton of jokes in the game.
5. Bastion -best story I've ever experienced in a video game. Amazing art style and soundtrack. The sequence where you save Zulf is the best and most moving moment I've ever experienced in a video game.

 

[LaoJim]

That's a damn good list sir

Thank you sir.

Doom was amazing but if anything Quake 2 was the oldest id title I had the most fun with before Q3/live (had it on my school LAN - awesomesauce)

Funnily enough I missed Quake 2 the first time round, luckily it was included free with Quake 4 (doubly lucky of course because 4 sucked hard), was originally horrified by the sci-fi (rather than dungeon) setting, but was surprised at how much fun it actually was (given that I wasn't playing it with any kind of nostalgia goggles on) Pretty much all the Id games from that period would get on a top 50 list.

Vice City instead of San Andreas makes me ummm and ahhh because now you mention it I could probably be swayed just by the soundtrack.

All GTA games are good (yes even 4) but for my money VC had the best setting, there's something about the city of LA, I almost never enjoy games set there as much (i.e. LA Noire, Midnight Club LA etc)

Diddy Kong never convinced me as being better than Mario Kart 64 but I know that was all subjective (I had MK and loved it, my friend had DK and loved that)...maybe in terms of single player DK just inches it since MP fun was even between them.

Sure completely subjective, but Mario Kart never really appealed to me somehow. I think it was because there was no kind of single player campaign, you just did championships whereas with DKR you had to work to unlock things and progress. Plus you had hovercrafts and planes. (On this subject have been playing Sonic Racing Transformed which is probably my favourite Kart racers since DKR, especially for the Afterburner level)

Also great shout on Laser Squad, I'd have gone for the original Xcom or maybe even Jagged Alliance for TBS (I know not symmetric movement, but similar enough) and also the original Tomb Raider was epic, although I remember getting stuck in some Colosseum or something and never finishing it.

Again, X-COM was good, no doubt, but I always thought of it as just more Laser Squad. Plus on X-COM you couldn't use a rocket launcher to blow up the wall of the mansion, then use the sniper rifle to off the general for a one turn win.