To the guy who asked for the love to be shown to Secret of Mana, that would be my job. ONLY game I could give serious consideration to as my personal favorite. My god. It hasn't stood the test of time perfectly (few old games have), but with slick, subtle characte (hee hee, rabites!)r/plot design, perfectly executed battle controls (radial menus, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...), and the ability to power up your weapons and magic by searching high and low for the right mana orbs (or using your magic enough), SOM
was the best part of my childhood. Despite the lack of replay value, I played that game at least a dozen times, getting all of my characters to level 99 every time (at least 750-1000 hours, all told). That's not to say I've not thought a lot of other games were really fantastic (btw, 6 is my favorite FF, in case anyone wanted to know), but Mana (and it's sequels/spiritual successors) enthralled me in a way no other games really have.
Other really fantastic games, in no particular order:
-System Shock 2 (I considered it for best ever, but couldn't quite give it the win)
-Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (awesome D&D-type RPG- I thought it was a lot better than games like Baldur's Gate; probably on par with
Fallout, another seriously awesome game worthy of mention)
-Earthbound (what really needs to be said? When you've killed a New Age Hippy with a baseball bat, you know you've found something special...)
-Osu! Tatake! Ouendan! (probably my favorite import game ever; close on its' heels would be
Vib-Ribbon, a PS music-y game, and
Ikaruga, which WAS subsequently ported to GC for Americans, so it only half-counts.)
-Guitar Hero (my favorite rythm game, which will become invincible against the forces of criticism once additional tracks can be downloaded)
-Elder Scrolls II(Daggerfall)/IV(Oblivion)- IMO, these represent what every D&D player imagines when creating playing a pen and paper campaign. On that note, I'm looking forwards to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and should bring up
Neverwinter Nights, which accomplishes the same atmosphere.
-Tetris Attack- my favorite puzzle game, right up there with the original Tetris
-Mario Kart 64, my favorite racing game (though
Burnout Revenge comes pretty close...)
Y'know, at this point I realize there's really no point in elaborating further... a lot of my favorites have already been mentioned, and in any case there are so many fantastic games that I'd be up all night. I really enjoy most all well made, fun games- don't we all?
Long story short, though-
SECRET OF MANA FTW!