The 10 GREATEST games EVER made...EVER.

1: Resident Evil 4: (Capcom: GameCube/PS2: 2004) A triumphant reinvention of an increasingly indolent formula, Resi 4 was a shotgun blast to the arse of a series on the brink of going stale. Out with the familiar fixed camera angles, the inability to overcome simple obstacles like locked doors (you're a special-ops soldier for God's sake! Kick the damn door down!!!) and hunts for silly little keys. Out with zombies and in with Las Plagas infected freaks and muttering, fanatical tattooed monks, who are worryingly fleet of foot at times. Resi 4's biggest revolution was switching to an ingenious over-the-shoulder viewpoint, which made aiming more intuitive and rewarding. Most important of all the new view allowed you to get closer to the action giving the game a more immediate, intense and immersive feel. Enemies ferociously come right at you now! Thankfully you can shoot them in the legs and slow them down, or why not just pop their melon heads with a well-aimed shotgun shell? Satisfying. To summarize, Resi 4 incorporates every fanboy's wish list of what they ever wanted from a Resi game. Add to this near-infinite depth and replayability and you have a game that is perfect in every conceivable way. For this, Shinji Mikami-san, we salute you sir, for thou hast maddest the Greatest Game of All Time.

2: Streets of Rage II: (SEGA: Sega Mega Drive: 1992) The absolute zenith in 2D scrolling beat 'em ups. Why in the name of mighty Thor Sega haven't bothered to reinvent this game for today's consoles is incomprehensible. The concept is simple. Stroll along the crime riddled streets inflicting fistfuls of painful justice. That is mullering waves of generic punks and other eccentric villains with all manner of weaponry to Yuzo Koshiro's unique soundtrack. Despite a limited set of moves and levels that are the very definition of linear, Streets of Rage II manages to be forever fresh and enjoyable, especially with a friend. (As an excitable 10 year old my friend and I finished this seven times in a row). Today it has a lo-fi charm and along with Capcom's Final Fight, this was the high-water-mark for not only scrolling beat 'em ups, but for 16-bit gaming, full-stop. Play it alongside a modern scrolling beat 'em up and it might not look red hot, but it'll sure as hell play a billion times better. Sure, it's brief too, but its brevity only leaves you wanting more. Too bad Streets of Rage 3 didn't manage to live up to expectations. So Sega, if you're listening, BRING BACK STREETS OF RAGE!!! SOON!! IF NOT SOONER!!!

3: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: (Rockstar: PS2/X-Box/PC: 2004) An obvious choice we hear you scream, but it's a choice that's made with good reason. No other game encapsulates the concept of sandbox gaming better than GTA:SA. The sheer scale and consistent quality of what is on offer is truly overwhelming, it's like (to use a well-worn cliche) being a kid in a candy shop. Planes, trains, automobiles...oh, and boats, helicopters, jets, bikes: they're all up for grabs. Sniff the screen while you play, can you smell the quality? You should be able to. GTA: SA's subject is handled with such panache that this is the closest a game can get to being an interactive movie. In terms of ambition, Rockstar's greatest opus remains unchallenged by the whole gamut of pretenders and rip-offs buzzing around it's genius like fetid flies. Such a rich gaming world just waiting to be fully explored, GTA:SA is a treasure trove, incorporating virtually every genre it can into its vast repertoire. As a result GTA's replayability factor is infinite and the ability to do pretty much anything just makes real life seem, well, dull.

4: ICO: (Sony: PS2: 2002) Everyone needs a break from killing people and punching faces. Enter ICO, the perfect antidote to wind down with. Beautiful and serene, ICO is the antithesis of all the self-styled 'urban' themed games currently choking the shelves of every game store. Fumito Ueda's classic is a true one-of-a-kind, its sequel Shadow of the Colossus the only game that comes close to eclipsing it. Epic in every sense of the word, ICO is an invigorating experience. Challenging you to go the extra mile every time to protect the ethereal, delicate Yorda from being dragged into the abyss, you'll be hooked, such is the emotional attachment that you develop with the characters. There's simply no other game like it, nothing is as touching or memorable.

5: Super Mario Kart: (Nintendo: SNES: 1992) Colourful and bright, Super Mario Kart is undiluted, addictive gameplay on a 16-bit cartridge. The lacklustre copycats since only illuminate how flawless a gem this game really was and still is. Not even Mario Kart: Double Dash managed to capture the unique brand of fun of the classic original and best. Get friends round too and Mario Kart develops into undoubtedly one of the best multiplayer games ever made. Mario Kart's secret lies in its accessibility. Anyone can play it and enjoy it, even if they do suck...a truly unifying game.

6: Street Fighter II: Turbo: (Capcom: Arcade: 1992) The definitive fighting game, SF II practically invented the one-on-one beat 'em up as we know it. Combos, special moves, eclectic and unusual fighters, Street Fighter II has it all. By the time Street Fighter II: Turbo came along the formula had been refined to its peak. Fighters had either new moves or welcome tweaks to familiar ones and the action was now faster (hence turbo, duh) and more fluid making for the ultimate in fighting. No true veteran gamer will have neglected to play SF II in some capacity. Every gamer has a place in there heart for it...for us it defined a golden era in arcade gaming. Back in the day, SF II was a global phenomenon. In a nutshell, no Street Fighter II: no Mortal Kombat, no Tekken, no Dead or Alive, no Virtua Fighter. It's that important.

7: Manhunt: (Rockstar: PS2/X-Box: 2003) For a full review, see below. One of the biggest controversy baiting games in recent years: Manhunt was condemned by Daily Mail readers (aka 'idiots') for its raw and brutal depiction of violence. What they didn't understand is that Manhunt is an incredible game: a dark, twisted urban nightmare with a vein of gallows humour running through it. It's the first game that actually appealed solely to an adult audience, the unflinching violence an integral part of the story. James Earl Cash has been set up and relentlessly manipulated, shoved around like a rat in a cruel maze by a sadistic, omni-present snuff movie director, so he's hardly going to be nice to the stalkers out to butcher him horribly. Manhunt's cleverest feature is the use of the PS2 headset. Brian Cox's performance as the malevolent director, Starkweather constantly hissing down your ear adds to the psychological assault on your senses. Manhunt is a true one-off that must be not just played but experienced...if you've got the spine and the stomach for it. You've been warned.

8: Metal Gear Solid: (Konami: PSone/GameCube (as Twin Snakes)/PC: 1999) Metal Gear Solid was without a doubt the best game ever to grace the original PlayStation and was responsible for inventing the action/stealth genre. Splinter Cell, Syphon Filter and countless other lazy copycats (I don't include SC and SF in that list) all take their cue from MGS. A flawless masterpiece, MGS put creator Hideo Kojima on the map as a renowned gaming auteur. Maligned for its loooong cut scenes, Metal Gear's stories are always twisty-turny, techno-political yarns that have us scratching our scalps red-raw. They always manage to have us hooked somehow despite only a rudimentary grasp of what's going on. It's because we want answers and MGS puts you through the wringer like Lost does on TV every week. Playing through MGS is one of the most memorable gaming experiences that you're ever likely to have, it's brimming with unforgettable, inventive and original moments. Moments of bizarre interaction with game boss Psycho Mantis, cryptic puzzles like a code printed on the actual game box. MGS is pure genius, absorbing, intriguing but most of all utterly enjoyable. It might be short, but you'll probably want to play it through four or five times because once just isn't enough.

9: Final Fantasy VII: (Square: PSone/PC: 1997) Gamers who were never into role-playing games were after playing this. An all-consuming epic, FF VII remains etched into our memory such was its power. When a central character dies halfway through, it was the first time a game had managed to give us a lump in our throat. Play it and Midgar will feel like a second home, you'll remember where everything is and you'll always have your favourite locations. FF VII plays less like an RPG, more like a series of great moments. All 70+ hours of the game are a joy to play, there simply isn't a single weak link amongst the action to mar the experience. You'll be constantly riveted, wanting to explore every nook and cranny of the vast world, breeding Chocobos and collecting magic enhancing materia along the way. Undoubtedly the greatest RPG of all time, FF VII is the only game you'll play for over 70 hours and wonder where the hell all that time went...after all, it does fly when you're having fun.

10: Sonic the Hedgehog 2: (Sega: Mega Drive: 1992) This one was a tough call, but then it was decided that the top 10 wouldn't be right without an appearance from the blue, spiky one. Sonic 2 saw the supersonic hedgehog at the top of his game, graphically it was a marked improvement over its predecessor. Bold, bright and sharper than a cyber razor cut (don't ask). And boy, is it fast. The chemical plant stage sometimes has trouble keeping up with the little blue streak such is the speed of the action. Sonic 2 was also far more streamlined, comprised of quick two act stages, the game progressed at such a pace that there's always something new thrown into the mix whether it be the casino night level or the labyrinthine mystic cave or the teeth bending frustration of the metropolis stage. Sonic 2 stays fresh and varied throughout the entirety of its twenty odd levels. Along with Super Mario World 2D platforming doesn't get much better than this. Classic.