all time favorite video games 27-25

Welcome to the leather edition of ATFVG! Two of the games on this list have occupied many, many, many hours of my life, while the third has always just been a special game to me. We're into the top twenty-five...have you enjoyed the ride so far?

27. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES)
The first Castlevania was memorable--an action game where our whip slinging hero went stage by stage defeating such classic horror staples as Medusa, gargoyles, mummies, and ultimately Dracula. A repeat of the same formula would have been just as good, but instead Konami decided to try something else. I'm not sure exactly what their goal was in creating this game. Imagine the original Metroid with a much more in depth storyline and less clues about what is actually going on. You play as Simon Belmont, who, for some reason, has to collect Dracula's body parts in order to defeat him again. That part never made sense to me. Why not just leave his body part scattered across the land? Maybe it was in that destroying Dracula's essence the curse that had fallen over the land would be lifted. You see, while the lands of Castlevania were perilious in the day time, when the night fell, a curse would transform the beasts that roamed the forests, caves, and rivers making them twice as strong. This unique day/night feature really added some feel and sense of time to the game. It was very innovative for its day. Numerous hidden items, hidden villagers, hidden paths, and of course the deadly "mansions" that contained bosses made for a deeply engrossing game that I have always had a fond spot for in my heart.

26. NBA Jam: Tourament Edition (SNES)
If I could stack all the hours Chad and I played this game over the years, I could probably go on a long vacation. The draw to defeat every team in NBA Jam was insatiable. The good mix of player attributes and very, very simple play mechanics allowed for ridiculous scores and a blend of scorching three-pointers ("he's on firrrre!") and over the top dunks ("boom-shak-a-laka!"). It was the perfect two player game and also contained one of the first instances of easter eggs in games with the unlockable people you could play as such as Bill Clinton, the Beastie Boys, or a handful of NBA mascots. No matter how easy the game became, there was always that game that went right down to the wire and depended on the shot at the buzzer. Good times, good times.

25. Sid Meier's Civilization (SNES)
For any of you who are PC gamers, you will probably yearn to stab me for picking the classic Civilization...for the Super Nintendo. Fact is, this game intrigued me and I grew up without a computer. I have always preferred games on the console (with the few notable exceptions on this list), and it was my only way to play Civilization. Since I have already reviewed Civ II and Civ IV on this list, I'll leave you with a story instead. My friend Chad once stayed the night, and as was our tradition, we would always try to play through an enitre game over the course of a night. One time we tried this with Civilization. To our credit we would have beaten the game, but in a moment of pure stupidity, I mockingly went to press the reset button. I wasn't supposed to actually hit the button, but somehow I did and we lost about 12 hours of gameplay. We had never saved the game. Ugh. After that we didn't have a chance to beat the game, though I have many times over the course of my life. This one ranks higher than the other Civ games for being what started the love interest.

UP NEXT:We're going waaaaaaaaay back for a space adventure, an installment in a certain popular kart racing game, and, AND, "The Wolfpack is back causin' mass destruction..." See you tomorrow faithful reader!