Simon Haynes, author of the best-selling Hal Spacejock series and creator of some awesome freeware that I use, recently posted this meme. I can honestly say I have never, ever posted a meme response, but I figure a post about video games is as good a time as any to begin. After all, I did at one time, you know, make them. Or, rather, played a smallish part in their creation. Those of you with blogs of your own, feel free to consider yourself tagged.

Here are the rules:

1- Look at the list and bold those games you have played.

2- Go one step further and underline those games you loved.

Please note that these are not my rankings, and there are absolutely changes I would make if they were. Actually, I don’t know what the rankings actually represent. But that may well be another post for another day.

My comments will appear [like this].

100: River City Ransom (aka Street Gangs)

99: Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

98: Battle Toads

97: F-Zero

96: Mafia

95: Herzog Zwei

94: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six [This and "Ghost Recon" are two of my faves from Red Storm]

93: Quake II

92: Dragon Warrior (aka Dragon Quest)

91: Virtua Tennis

90: Master of Orion [I wish I still had this game rather than the travesty that was Master of Orion 3]

89: Alone in the Dark

88: Final Fantasy VII

87: Thief II: The Metal Age [preferred its predecessor, but still a damn good game]

86: Final Fantasy X

85: Prince of Persia

84: Ultima VII: The Black Gate

83: Contra [perhaps the single greatest 2-player game ever made. I'd even put it up against Halo for sheer killing enjoyment]

82: Gunstar Heroes

81: Freedom Force

80: Baseball Stars

79: Shining Force II

78: Star Wars (arcade)

77: Archon: The Light and the Dark

76: Tetris Attack

75: Crimson Skies

74: Syndicate

73: Return Fire

72: Galaga

71: Half-Life: Counter-Strike [aka Half-Life: Crack – what exactly did I do with my life again?]

70: Pokemon Red/Blue

69: Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs

68: Starsiege: Tribes

67: Rayman 2: The Great Escape

66: Homeworld [I mourn the hours... no, days lost playing this one]

65: Mechwarrior 2: 31^st Century Combat

64: Advance Wars

63: Sonic the Hedgehog [sooo much better than that Mario dude!]

62: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

61: Sam & Max Hit the Road

60: Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

59: Bionic Commando

58: Super Smash Bros. Melee

57: Mike Tyson’s Punchout!

56: Final Fantasy III (VI)

55: Fallout [all hail the dystopic greatness!]

54: Panzer Dragoon Saga

53: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings [just replayed this a month or so ago, actually]

52: Metroid Prime

51: Grand Theft Auto III

50: Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi

49: Grim Fandango [there is nothing about this game that isn't brilliant]

48: The Secret of Mana

47: NHL 94 [in all fairness, I don't know if it was this one or one of the other years. '94 is around the time I had a Sega Genesis though, so I'll go ahead and bold it]

46: Super Mario World

45: Battlefield 1942

44: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

43: Soul Caliber

42: Gran Tourismo 3: A-Spec

41: System Shock 2

40: Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution

39: Doom [I still say that Bungie's “Pathways Into Darkness” (Mac only) was a better game]

38: Madden NFL 2004

37: Wave Race 64

36: Command and Conquer: Red Alert [after hours gaming goodness when at Disney Interactive. I think I was the worst player on the team]

35: Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

34: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

33: God of War

32: Resident Evil 4

31: Sim City 2000

30: Halo

29: GoldenEye 007

28: Half-Life 2

27: Burnout 3: Takedown

26: Final Fantasy II (IV)

25: Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn

24: Tecmo Super Bowl

23: Super Mario Bros. 3

22: Half Life

21: Deus Ex

20: Ms. Pac Man

19: Metal Gear Solid

18: ICO

17: Star Control 2

16: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

15: Super Mario Kart

14: Rome: Total War

13: Chrono Trigger [stunningly mesmerizing game]

12: X-Com: UFO Defense

11: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

10: Super Metroid

9: Star Wars: TIE Fighter Collector’s CD-ROM [have this somewhere... should break it out again some rainy day]

8: Street Fighter II

7: StarCraft [Not a huge RTS fan, but this one I really liked, regardless of how terrible I was at it]

6: Sid Meier’s Pirates!

5: Super Mario 64

5a: Lego Star Wars

5b: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind [just installed one of the add-on packs and am playing it again]

4: Sid Meier’s Civilization II [long since retired in favor of first Civ III, and now Civ IV]

3: Tetris

2: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1: Super Mario Bros.