The original Gameboy Tetris is my favorite version. Tetris DS is fun to play around with, but I don't like that infinite spin nonsense either.

86. Darksiders

THQ decided to enter the crowed action game market with what they hoped would become a new tentpole franchise for them. Clearly taking inspiration from hack and slash action games, Darksiders provided a unique spin, the adventure half would take inspiration directly from Zelda. From the start that sounded like a dream mix but it always looked a bit rough, small team and all so I waited a bit until the game was cheap to buy it. Why did I wait? Darksiders proved that when a development team actually tries they can make levels that can match the Zelda dungeon.

The combat is servicable, far better than any Zelda game but lacks the skill of DMC or even GoW for that matter. It didn't matter because the real star of the game are the dungeon levels and puzzle solving elements you just don't see in games like this. The world is also slightly open, more in the Zelda small hub way than big open world way, but it allows some freedom to move around. The result is a grand adventure that takes a good 20 hours and always has something new around the next area. The levels get more and more complex, War grows more powerful, gets Zelda like items and the dungeons evolve. I was in love, no other game has ever replicated the 3D dungeons of Zelda like this game, not even Okami.  It ends with what would be one of the best dungeons in a Zelda game. A complex maze where War gets a portal gun and now you need to solve puzzles where you teleport all over the map using this new portal power, it was a brillant dungeon that personifies everything I want in an action adventure game.

Vigil games earned my trust after this game so when Darksiders 2 hit I bought it day one. Much to my dismay the sequel focused more on loot and character building through stats than eleborate dungeon levels. Combat was better but the level design took a huge hit, puzzles were left out, not sure what happened. I have yet to get the third game which seems to have another design philosophy shift, maybe they were going for a different style per protagonist. What made Darksiders work is that they did what no one outside Nintendo even attempts to do, the complex puzzle filled dungeon, not sure why they went away from it. It's also a shame that the story has yet to move forward, Darksiders ends with one of the most hype inducing ending cutscenes I've ever seen, "not alone!" is an incredible final moment for one of the gems of the 7th generation.

I had a really good time with Darksiders. Had Darksiders 2 for quite some time. I’ve tried it a couple of times but for whatever reason I just played it for a little bit before putting it aside again and playing something else.

I loved AC2.  It’s the only game in the series where I bothered to complete it 100%.

84. Portal 1 and 2

The Orange Box, one of the best collection of games you can buy anywhere. The value was insane, you not only get the legendary Half-Life 2 and its expansions but Team Fortress 2 and the star of the box, Portal. Portal personifies Valve's desgn philosophy, you know if they actually still MADE GAMES. Portal was insanley creative, whitty, easy to understand while providing very complex challenges. The concept is easy, you have two different portals that allow you to instantly travel through them, the physics puzzles that come from that were mindblowing. Who can forget the first time they launched themselves by a rocket because they created momentum from nothing but portals. Everyone did the infinite fall through the portals at least once, the things you can do with one mechanic was so exciting.

Valve didn't just stop at making a challenging puzzle game, they infused it with memorable personality which turned what was essentially a room to room puzzle game into a game people can connect too. Take a cube, if its just a normal blank cube it means nothing to you. But draw a red heart and call it the companion cube and now you have an attachment to this inanimate object, which makes it all the more painful when you need to destroy it. It helps to have a psycho robot lead the way from puzzle room to puzzle room, infusing the game with a comedic tone that makes the player want to advance and solve these puzzles. Portal is a such a great marriage of gameplay with story, I remember how much fun those puzzles were and I will never forget the ending theme song, Still Alive. Portal was short but it included many challenges which make you replay the same puzzle rooms but with limiting objectives like only using a certain amount of portals. All of a sudden these puzzles need to be looked at in a totally different way, to me that was the beauty of it all.

Portal one felt like a prototype for a larger game, kind of because it was. Portal 2 was full end product, a game that can justify a full price. Portal 2 builds on the first by forgoing using test chambers all the time and instead create a full on narrative that takes you on an adventure. Larger cast of characters, as whitty and funny as ever. Puzzles added all new mechanics that take the Portal concept to its limits. Giant waves that carry objects down its current, paint one th floor and walls that allow you to speed up and launch yourself. Each area added a new gameplay mechanic, it was brillaint. It even had a boss battle, a puzzle game with a boss battle, an awesome one where you portal to the fucking moon, epic stuff.

The Portal games are two of the most creative, unqiue, and well designed puzzles games ever made. It is such a shame to see where Valve is now, not caring about anything but maintaining steam. Portal shows that Valve could excel in almost any genre,