Top five favourite games of all time, And WHY Options

[Dr Strum]

Simple. Post your top five favourite games of all time (Riviera is implied since you're here, so avoid listing it), and WHY they are your favorite games.

Mine (unordered):

• Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (GEN)
  I loved the first Sonic, and then this one came along and blew it away. Faster Sonic, larger, more diverse levels, bigger bosses and multiplayer. One of the earliest games I remember playing as well.
• Frequency (PS2)
  A music game, although Frequency is really indescribable. But any game that can put me into a trance with fast, rhythmic button mashing, beautiful visuals and great sound is a good game (and the multiplayer was insane).
• Advance Wars (GBA)
  My first Turn Based Stratey game, and probably one of the most balanced strategy games I've ever played. Great animation, likeable characters, some really difficult gameplay, and fun music makes for a game I keep playing, years after its release, and the release of the not-as-good sequels.
• Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC)
  Not my first Zelda, but the first one(s) I beat. I collected every ring, every weapon, every heartpiece and beat EVERY mini-game in Seasons and Ages. The bosses were fun, the puzzles were great (and many of the Ages puzzles involving lots of time travelling were downright maddening), and if you beat one game, you can link it up to the other to continue and get a different final boss. To COMPLETELY beat it, you had to play through each game four times (eg, eight times total). Hmm, maybe I oughta' go play through again...
• Feel the Magic: XY/XX (DS)
  A recent game, sure, but I spent months on this game. I beat normal mode the night I got it, but it took me a few months to finish hard mode, and I only finished hell mode a few weeks ago (more than a year after its release). Still haven't filled up all the games in Maniac... But, I can't wait for the sequel (coming out on Valentine's Day <3).

[Yuka]

Legend of Mana - This was, believe it or not, my first RPG ever, and it STILL stands as my favorite of all time. Not just my favorite RPG, but my favorite game of all time. There's just so many things you can do in this game, and there's a surprising amount of non-linearity for a jRPG. There's three main 'arcs' of the game, and when you beat one, you can access the end of the game, beat it, and start over on a New Game+. There are ways you can do multiple story arcs, but it's all relevent to how you do your placements on the world map. In a way, it's kind of like FFTA in that you essentially build the world. Well, a more accurate way to explain that is that FFTA is kind of like this, since LoM came before FFTA. Anyways, three difficulties, 10-ish different weapon types you can use, forging, instrument making (they're magical and cast AoE spells!), Golem crafting, and the fact this RPG is MULTIPLAYER (Yeeaaaaah!) set this as my favorite game of all time.

Shadow of the Colossus - Epic game is epic. The thrill you get when you're fighting something that's fifty times bigger than you is exhilarating. Honestly, need I say more?

Skies of Arcadia - In a world where six moons orbit, which should leave six equators, which would make the world seriously fucked up, are a bunch of floating islands and air pirates. The combat in this RPG is quite fun, the story is amusing, and the sight of seeing an airship take down some mythological creature that's like ten times as big as it never gets old.

Tyrian - My first shmup ever, and my favorite shmup. Much like LoM, but without the part about non-linearity. Actually much of LoM's description applies to this as well, in the varying difficulties, multiple weapons and the like. It's multiplayer as well, although it's not one I've actually played around with. The game is long for a shmup (It covers four 'episodes'), but it's fairly short compared to any other game in any other genre, meaning you can still sit down in one sitting and beat it from start to finish.

Okami - This game is art. Seriously. Well, the PS2 version. I don't know about the Wii version. This is truly one of those games I wish more developers could make. The game is long if you want to collect everything, and this game has some seriously awesome boss fights.

Other Notable Mentions Include-

Valkyrie Profile 2
Star Ocean 3
Klonoa 2 - Lunatea's Veil
Pokemon Silver
Phantom Brave (YOU SUCK NIS WHY DIDN'T THIS GAME HAVE NEW GAME+)