10: Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3
Looking at it from a 20 year old perspective it's mainly press your special attack button and hope you get lucky. I still enjoy it but not nearly as much as I use to. This was the DBZ game that EVERYBODY was waiting for. This game probably has the best fighting mechanics of any DBZ game to date Executing combos, special moves and of course ultimate took timing and a good amount of effort. It had the flair and the substance true to the anime many of us love and knows and in not since DBZ budokai Tenkachi 3 (and maybe Burst Limit) has there been a deeper experience of being an over powered monkey.
9: Hulk Ultimate Destruction:
Sandbox games are some of the most addictive games out there hence the success of GTA. But Hulk Ultimate Destruction blew me the hell away! At the time the movie and the game loosely based on it was garbage, this character was done little justice till this game came out. Through first experience it felt like this game had everything you could skate on buses, body slam robots, throw enemies into oblivion, weaponize cars into boxing gloves, swing wrecking balls at helicopters. The amount of content in this game was unbelievable, not to mention the hidden goodies (yes useful goodies) you can unlock. This game not only showed hulk done right but it also gave me new found respect for superhero games long before the Batman Asylum games ever existed.
8: Super Smash Bros Melee
As much as I would love to put Brawl on the list because of certain a certain blue hedgehog and the addition of many clone free new characters, I have to give it to Melee. SSBM was a innovative fighter and took me by surprised. I'm stingy as hell when it comes to Nintendo even when I know they've made games I enjoyed like Zelda on the 64 and Metroid Prime 3. But I'm glad I'm open to new things when its suggested and Melee was a treat, insane combat I've never before seen at the time an awesome, balanced roster and an actual interesting adventure mode for each individual characters was more then enough to persuade me to waste countless upon countless hours on this masterpiece. It's a shame they hampered brawled with that stupid trip mechanic, damn them and their family friendly ideals but I guess thats why their using money for toilet paper more often then Sony or Microsoft.
7: Burnout 3
I have need for speed underground 2 to thank for this gem. Because after playing the demo 100 times in a single day this was instantly on my must have list. I love the sense of speed and total chaos this game offers, there's nothing like watching your victim barrel roll in the air while on fire leaving you to wonder how the hell they get totaled in the first place.
6: Halo 3
Halo 2 was the reason I got an (original) xbox, it had a fantastic story and a great since of adventure. But Halo 3 was just a fantastic experience. The story was bigger and badder then before and the xbox live experience was damn near drug like. I'd play Halo 3 online to this day if I could. There's nothing like chillin with ya buddies and kicking ass in a big team slayer match together then replaying it to witness each other's gaming glory.
5: Mass Effect
Yes mass effect 2 was awesome and Mass effect 3 was even more so despite insulting my intelligence with that "artistic" ending. But when I was introduced to the first of the trilogy it was over. Never before have I been so immersed in a game since Halo 2 and Smash brothers Melee. And that's the honest truth because in Mass Effect that's pretty much what you play as, YOU! I could not put this game down I wanted to talk to everyone explore every world possible just absorb every single detail that I can and TO THIS DAY I have not experienced everything ME 1 has to offer, DLC excluded. The original may be over shadowed by its sequels as far as game play goes but it can't be replaced because of the innovative and fresh feeling it stirred within me.
4: Kingdom Hearts 2
Square really knows how to pull on the heart strings when it comes to KH. The ending to KH pretty much guaranteed a KH II. This game just overwhelmed me with all the good it does. Over the top action, an almost non stop kickass soundtrack, and a very engaging story line despite me not giving a damn about Final Fantasy and almost all the Disney Characters I hoped to see. Once I saw the kickass opening cinematic with visuals only Enix can do and that beautiful song Sanctuary I knew this game was an instant gem. When I think of video game crossovers that work I never thought Disney and Square Enix would be one of those, let alone be considered would of the best games of the 6th gaming generation, let alone off all time.
3: Resident Evil 4
Wow...I don't know what happened to Capcom back in 2004 leading up to this games release but when I first saw a commercial for this game, following playing a demo with children behind me staring and commenting every thing taking place on screen. Instant purchase and the rest was history. This game was just...perfect. I don't know where the transition from tradition RE style to this new third person shooter experience began but hell this pretty much refreshed the series. The characters are all likeable in some way, the haunting atmosphere was heart stoping, the gameplay and interactive cutscenes almost never get old and there were so many kickass moments in this game I lost count. RE 4 is hands down the best RE game of all time, RE 5 was a disappointment and shows capcom didn't understand what made RE 4 work, but I'm crossing my fingers for 6. Regardless even if they fuck it all up I'll always look back at RE 4 with nostalgic pride.
2: Sonic Adventure
Sonics REAL transition to 3D like most games popular franchises was just jaw dropping. Sonic's levels were all interesting and unique in some way and some the best levels in sonics history can be found here especially lost world, speed highway, Windy Valley. The inclusion of new characters made it even more so, Chaos is one of my favorite villains of all time because his design is just so cool and he makes for an awesome boss especially his 6th and perfect form. Although some one in particular (BIG The Cat) is a "what the hell they were thinking?" to this day. It didn't kill or even hinder the experience because this game felt larger then life the hub worlds were awesome, most of the character stories were interesting and of course the music is just top notched as usual. Sonic Adventure is one of the best sonic games of all time.
1: Sonic Adventure 2 :Battle
Nope it's not a cope out. This is genuinely my favorite game of all time. The original SA2 alone would've still been enough to make it on the top spot but it's re-release on the Gamecube blew it away with BETTER multiplayer and a BETTER Chao Garden system. I can remember at least chalking up 1000 wins in Hedgehog vs Hedgehog racing matches. And the Kart racing was addictive to once you got the hang of it. And don't even get me started about the time I poured into my chao before I discovered abusing a glitch to raise chao a hell of a lot faster. The story line was respectfully and dark for a sonic game and it's also the main reason why it got the number 1 spot. I loved EVERYTHING about the story despite how stupid the humans are. Shadow the Hedgehog's debut pretty much made this game this is when I was really into the whole evil twin/ doppelganger thing like most kids at age 12. The biolizard is the most badass sonic villain ever his design is just so cool and intimidating to look at I mean the guy has tubes for eyes and 50 feet tall, that would disturb most kids at least a little. Fighting him twice, especially as Super Sonic/Shadow to one of the best Sonic vocal track of all time "Live and Learn" is one of the coolest gaming experiences I ever had.
Honorable mentions:
Halo 2
Mass effect 2
Dragon Ball Z budokai tenkachi 3
Sonic Generations
Tekken 3
Super Smash Bros Brawl
The Darkness
Gears of War
Ape Escape