My Top 100 Games of All Time: #50-41

Here we are - the Top 50 games! It only gets better from here!

50. Super Mario Kart

(SNES, 1992)

One of my all-time favorite racing games, Super Mario Kart was actually the first racing game I've played. It brings serious nostalgia to my head and even though the series has evolved much since then, no other game in the series has quite the special place in my heart as this one does. I also really enjoy this one because unlike the rest of the series, this one is actually pretty challenging. Perhaps not at lower levels, but on the highest difficulty, I actually struggle to finish in first. The gamplay is mostly the same as it is in other games but I can't help but feel items are less the determining factor in this entry and it becomes more about your racing ability than anything else, which in my eyes only benefits the game.  A true racing classic.

49. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

(DS, 2005)

Another fantastic game in the Castlevania series. This was a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow on Game Boy Advance and retains the great Symphony of the Night style gameplay, an amazing soundtrack, and engaging gameplay. Like most of the games in the series, it doesn't do anything exciting or different but it is one of my absolute favorite games in the series. Perhaps this is due to my late interest in the series, which didn't pick up until 2007 or 2008, but this game is both an amazing entry in the series as well as a great direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow, which was also a very good game that barely missed my top 100.

48. Mario Kart 8

(Wii U, 2014)

Yes, it's true - this really is the absolute best Mario Kart game ever made. Each entry has seen new things but the racing has mostly stayed the same. It's always been about racing with items on fun course, and Mario Kart 8 honestly is the best of everything the series has to offer. Not only does it do DLC the right way - $6 for 3 new characters and 8 new tracks - But the online mode is fantastic, the character selection is great, the vehicle selection is great, and most of all, the game has some of the best tracks in the whole series. Besides all that, the gameplay is absolutely amazing. The handling is better in some games and worse in others, but Mario Kart 8 handles better than any game in the series. It truly is the quintessential Mario Kart game.

47. Super Mario Sunshine

(GCN, 2002)

Super Mario 64 was a very tough act to follow. Nintendo knew they couldn't just make Super Mario 64 2 and be okay with it. They had to spice it up a little bit, so they made Mario go on vacation, gave him a jetpack and called it a day. The game is mostly very fun and a fantastic adventure, but there are some frustrating sub-levels that almost make me not want to the game again. Fortunately, for me, there is far more good than bad. It is a mostly charming and memorable adventure that borrows a lot of the best elements from Super Mario 64. And why wouldn't you? Super Mario 64 is a legendary game. This game would've been higher on the list if a few parts of the game didn't detract from the experience, but I still very much enjoy playing this classic.

46. Mega Man 3

(NES, 1990)

Mega Man 3 was the first game in the series I ever played, at a neighbor's house. I found it too difficult for my tastes so I didn't revisit the series until the Mega Man Anniversary Collection released on Gamecube. Fortunately, I enjoyed it much more the second time around, and got to play most games in the series. I enjoy them all, but 3 was my favorite with my personal favorite soundtrack, favorite robots like Spark Man, Snake Man, and Gemini Man, and though a lot of people didn't like the reappearance of Mega Man 2 villains, I actually welcomed it. It's tough to really choose a favorite Mega Man game, since they're all so similar and all so great, but 3 has a special place in my heart for being my first.

45. Banjo-Kazooie

(N64, 1998)

I'm not sure why but when this game was announced, and I read the preview of it in Nintendo Power, my middle school friend and I were super pumped for it - almost in a fanatical way. We even got my mom to drive us to Walmart specifically for the purpose of playing the demo at the N64 kiosk. It was a real blast at the time. Even when we first picked up our copies, we had a sleepover and we played our games well into the night, almost beating it in one day. Almost. Also, aside from Super Mario 64, this was the first game I ever completed 100%. For a while I even preferred this game over Super Mario 64. 3D platformers were at the top of their game during the N64's lifespan, and this game is one of the best. After a while I started to realize it's not as infinitely replayable as Super Mario 64 but it still is one of the greatest N64 games I've played. The worlds are all so varied and detailed. The characters are all quirky and memorable. The gameplay elements are also very well done. It's just a fun time all the way through, though last time I played this last year, I blazed through it in a matter of two days.

44. Mega Man X5

(PS1, 2001)

It took me a little while to really come around to this game but when I did, I loved it. The music is probably my favorite in the entire Mega Man X series, the bosses were creative and based on members of Guns n Roses, and the level designs were memorable, challenging, and fun to blast your way through. This is a Mega Man X game through and through and while it doesn't do anything to really switch it up, there's really no need to since the gameplay is as spot on as it will ever be.

43. Super Mario 3D Land

(3DS, 2011)

After several New Super Mario Bros. games I began to actually grow tired of seeing more Mario games. It's not that they were bad games - they certainly were fun - but it was like more of the same, one after another. Super Mario 3D Land instantly piqued my interest when I read about it. I wasn't completely sure what to expect before it came out but it sounded like a new direction for Mario. What we got was something more of a half of a step forward, but honestly, this might be one of the best half of a steps they've ever taken. Like Super Mario 3D World after it, which came two years later, 3D Land is like half Super Mario Bros. 3 and half Super Mario 64. It's almost as if they designed the levels in 2D but then made the game 3D. This game turned out to be one of the most fun Mario games in a very long time.

42. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

(DS, 2008)

My absolute favorite Castlevania game.  It is half traditional gameplay like the first few Castlevanias, and half Symphony of the Night type exploration gameplay. There is a central town to buy items and weapons as well as a world map - a first for the series. This game is also pretty difficult - easily one of the most challenging games in the series in a very long time. I also love that they threw out the anime-inspired art of the last few entries and gave the characters a more realistic gothic look. Also notable is a female lead in Shanoa, another first for the series. Not to mention the music is as great as ever. I don't know why it took them so long to make a Castlevania game this amazing, but better late than never.

41. Paper Mario

(N64, 2001)

When this was originally announced, it was called "Super Mario RPG 2", which led me to believe this was going to be a direct sequel, or at least related, to the smash hit Super Mario RPG on Super Nintendo. Much to my dismay, they threw all that out and debuted Paper Mario, which is still an RPG but they changed almost everything that made Super Mario RPG great, and I hated it. I even refused to play it for at least two years after it came out. RIght around the time they announced Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door on Gamecube, I figured I'd at least give it a shot, found a used copy at Gamestop for $20, and went ahead and played it...and instantly fell in love! This game went to show me that just because something is different doesn't mean it's bad. No, it's not Super Mario RPG, hut it's still an excellent game. The story was simple but charming. The gameplay was also simple but fun and easy to master. The music was mostly catchy and fun to listen to as well. The story wasn't going to blow anyone away but the game was just so much fun I didn't care. Truly one of the best games on N64, a console that very desperately needed quality RPGs, and this game may have come at the very end of the Nintendo 64's lifespan, but at least before the system was put to rest, we could finally say it had at least one quality RPG. Thank you, Paper Mario!