I had a friend that I let borrow Tekken 3 back in the day. When I got it back months later, the entire case was covered in cocaine residue.

Nuff said.

Dvader said:

Lol glad you enjoyed it. Maybe I’ll do another! Lol

I have a feeling you might do a top 50 honourable mentions of great games that weren't quite worthy of the ultimate top 50!

I played some Xwing VS Tie fighter back in the day.  Can't remember what exact game it was, but I did have a cool flightstick to play it with.  If my memory serves me well, this was probably the first game I played online, against one of my friends who also had it.

ALBW's was ok, but it didn't blow me away.  I don't think I bothered with the renting system much.  I either bought them, or it didn't influence me because I didn't die during the whole game;

I only played Oracle of Ages back then on the GBC, didn't own seasons.  It was a cool game. I also enjoyed Minish Cap a lot, what didn't you like about it?

Weren't the Zelda games made by the 2nd Resident Evil team Flagship?

48. Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic 3 and Knucles

1991, I'm 8, like most kids I am into the great cartoons of the time, the games, the movies. I had an NES and loved it dearly but it was getting old. A new gen was starting, I didn't know much about it until there were commercials airing all across kids programming, GENESIS DOES. You cant do this on Ninetendo, GENESIS DOES! And what did Genesis do, well it was 16-bits baby, I was blown away, 16?! tThats double8?! It's two times better than the NES. Those graphics, the amount of colors, I wanted this! But the ad campaign didn't really take off until Sega found their mascot, their Mario killer, Sonic the Hedgehog. He was cool, he had attitude, and he was FAST. Mario was fat, slow and boring, Sonic was the new hot stuff. As you can see the ad campaign worked on me, Sonic looked like a dream game, I never seen any game that popped the way it did.

But I'm 8, I can't buy anything myself and I never asked for a Genesis. Lucky for me my dad saw the same commercials and my dad always needs the newest gadgets, so one day out of damn nowhere he says lets go to Toys R Us (remember that! I should do a whole blog just on Toys R Us). So I am thrilled, my favorite store in the world, what can we possibily be doing there. Ohhh we headed to my favorite ailse, the magical video game section of paper tickets. It was just rows of printed out game covers and backs with a paper ticket you grab if you want to buy it.  Remember this is pre internet, all our game info came from just reading the back of those covers. So my dad goes right to the Genesis section and takes a ticket, OH MY GOD, I'm getting a Genesis which comes with Sonic! He also bought three sports games, Madden, Pat Riley Basketball and Hardball; there is his angle, he wanted to play the most state of the art sports games. It's all good I got Sonic.

That day is one of my fondest game memories. My uncle came over, so it was me, my dad and my brother all huddled in the room with the now disconnected NES and the new shiny Genesis (16-bits!), They took turnes trying out each sports game. We were blown away by Madden, it had weather, injuries where an ambulance would show up, it was wild. I sat patiently waiting for my turn to play Sonic, clearly no one else was interested in it. They got their fill and so it was finally my turn, screw those sports games give me the game that would rival Mario. I start it and that theme song plays and sonic wags a finger at you in 16-bit glory, I hit start and that iconic Green Hill Zone music begins. I couldn't believe how beautiful everything was, how fluid and responsive the controls were, and just how fast it could all move.

Sonic was not an easy game, sure the first few levels are a breeze, well Marble hill is an asshole level but still doable. But then you hit Labryinth Zone and it hits another gear of hard. I remember being stuck in the water slide puzzle for many days.  I kept hammering away, made it to starlight and then finally Scarp Brain with that menacing music and devilish level design. FInally one time I was able to beat it... but Dr. Robotnick still had the emeralds! I love everything about the first Sonic, even the weird bonus levels. It single handedly made me the Sega fan I am. It made me a blind fanboy who all of a sudden was team Sega, screw Nintendo. It's a very important game in my life, it has been surpassed by it's sequels but that first one does hold a special place in my heart.

Yes we are skipping a game, thats to come later as to me it's at a different level. Sonic 3 came aa few yeras into the Genesis which was showing its age. Now after 2 I was at maximum hype for Sonic 3, I would read loads of articles from gaming mags. I remember one had a two page spread just laying our the first level on the page. Sonic 3 was a big step up for the franchise in good and bad ways to me. Sonic 3 feels the most like a platformer, it's slowed down with a lot more emphasis on getting passed obstacles in front of you in ways that are much more like traditional platformers. The levels also became huge with many paths, every level very well designed. But Sonic 3 was short and only had 6 worlds, it felt far smaller than Sonic 2 because Sonic 3 wasnt finished.

Sonic and Knuckles came out later that year and had the strangest gimmick ever, lock on technology. Once locked on with Sonic 3 you basically unlocked the full game, since Sonic 3 and Knuckles has been the definitive version when playing these games. When together they make a massive Sonic epic that is nearly twice as long as any other Sonic game and introduces a totally new playable character who would go on to become one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. This was Sega saying we can make a game where traditional platforming is more of a foucs, this game has incredible design and variety. So many levels introduce some new mechanic whether it would be a spinning top that crashes through walls, or skiing down a mountain, to gravity changing tunnels, this is the sonic that can contend with Mario’s level diversity. Then there is the music which is phenomenal. Michael Jackson helped in making a few of the track, ice cap zone is my favorite. It’s a fantastic game with great moments and bosses.

Quick mention to Mania, its probably the most well made game in the series but it just came out recently so it doesn't mean enough to me to crack this list.