Beyond Good and Evil?, cool, so now there are 2 guys that love that videogame. Ken Levine and Yon Von Tleilaxu Kuxthom Thenxon (aka Tei)

1. Counter-Strike
2. Final Fantasy 7
3. Harvest Moon
4. Resident Evil 4
5. World of Warcraft

Shenmue,
TLoZ: A Link to the Past
Okami
Phantasy Star Online (for the sheer amount of time I spent playing...)
Jet Set Radio

(these aren't what I believe to be the five BEST games, just my personal favourites)

1. Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess
2. Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas
3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
4. Team Fortress 2 and Classic
5. Bubble Bobble

in the interest of not proving that this question has a correct answer, i will refrain from posting my top five :-/

Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
Final Fantasy 7
Starcraft
Chrono Trigger
Super Metroid

Snes for me was the best gaming console... spent tons of hours playing it everyday...

Limiting it to 5 is really hard, I'll just pick the first 5 that pop in my head.

1. Final Fantasy 7
2. Suikoden 2
3. Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time
4. Vandal Hearts
5. Ragnarok Online

@108: I agree... I posted my 5 most memorable games but obviously everyone has their own tastes...to each his own i guess.

Link to the Past
BioShock (teehee)
Orange Box - Team Fortress 2
Windwaker
Banjo Kazooie

And I hope GTAIV can knock one of them off and take my coveted 'favourite game' award.

Gran Turismo 4
Final Fantasy 7
Grand Theft Auto 3
Super Mario Brothers
and Tetris (the best game ever...)

Off the top of my head, so probably not entirely accurate:

Rez
Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Jet Set Radio
Shenmue
Twinkle Star Sprites

- Starcraft
- Goldeneye 64
- Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Half-Life / CounterStrike
- Fallout 2

Honorable mentions to: StarWars: KOTOR, Earthworm Jim 2, Diablo 2 and Perfect Dark.

Nice list Ken! Here's mine:

Civilization 2
Half-Life
Metroid Prime
Wing Commander 2
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

Personal faves are:

Quake

RTCW

GT3

Freelancer

Unreal 2

1. X-COM: UFO Defense
2. Monkey Island
3. Baldur's Gate
4. Grand Theft Auto III
5. Resident Evil 4

Top 5 is always too broad based on the enormity of games I've played. I don't mean to sound smug when I say that but I'm sure plenty of people say that who have played many more games than myself just as I think it a strange question to ask a movie critic what their top 5 movies are.

Top 5 this year? Top 5 of 1996? Top 5 games involving uses of a crowbar (other than opening stuff)? These are things I'm bound to answer.

In no particular order:

-GTA: San Andreas
-Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
-Guitar Hero 2
-Rock Band
-Mario 64

MGS3S. MGS2 is my favorite storywise.
Starcraft
Company of Heroes
Half-Life 2 Ep.2
Zone of the Enders 2

My personal top 5:

Half-Life 2

Daytona USA Arcade

PGR4

Tetris

Wipeout 3

I'm sure ill have changed my mind 10 times as soon as ive posted this.

Shadow of the Colossus
Ico
Portal
Zelda: Majoras Mask
Super Mario 64

Not in any particular order of preference, my top ten is always shuffling around.

Counter-Strike
World of Warcraft
Diablo
Street Fighter 3
Mass Effect

Final Fantasy Tactics close 6th

i am amazed that no one so far has MENTIONED my #1 game!

At the moment,
1. Mario Kart
2. Zelda: Link to the Past
3. Warcraft 2
4. Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
5. Animal Crossing: Wild World

Punch Out
Legend Of Zelda - A Link to the Past
Castlevania - Symphony of the Night
Super Mario World
Final Fantasy 7

I think the best 5 games would be those that I still play regularly even if they are old and still find very fun.

Street Fighter Alpha 3
Half Life 2 Deathmatch
Tetris
Super Mario Bros (the one bundled with Duck Hunt)
Virtua Fighter 5 Online

Yes FFVII, Chrono Trigger, Zelda's were good and I enjoyed them but I will not be playing those again...

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Phantasy Star Online
4. Diablo II: LoD
5. Star Ocean: The Second Story

I feel guilty because I know I've left out alot of great games. :(

Urrmmm, that's a tough one. I guess this would be mine, in no particular order.

Commander Keen 4
Cave Story
Rez
Border Down
Mario 3

Super Metroid
God of War
Final Fantasy X
Punchout
Bomberman

we tried to do that on Game over blog yesterday ([gameover.blogs.sapo.pt]) But I failed terribly.

Dune for MS-Dos/Amiga and Secret of Mana (SNES) are 2 of the 5 id choose... Ill have to keep working on the other 3...

5. LoZ: Minish Cap (GBA)

4. Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)

3. Ico (PS2)

2. LoZ: Windwaker (GC)

1. Vagrant Story (PS)

1. Metal Gear Solid 2
2. Okami
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Shadow of the Colossus
5. Metal Gear Solid 3

xcom
ffvii
gta3
smw2:yi
legend of zelda:ocarina

1. Jet Set Radio
2. FEAR
3. King of Fighters XI (or any)
4. Soul Calibur 3
5. Civilization IV

Maybe not in that particular order, but you get the idea :D

1. Alex Kidd in Miracle World
2. Metal Gear Solid 2
3. RE4
4. Shadow of the Colossus
5. COD2

These are my 5 favorite games, not what I consider to be the best 5 ever made.

1. Tales of Symphonia
2. Skies of Arcadia
3. Pikmin 2
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
5. Super Mario Galaxy

Moan... I wish there was room for Kirby, Fire Emblem, Smash Bros., and Baten Kaitos up there.

Suikoden I

Vandal Hearts

Shadow of Colossus

ICO

Tie: Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (arcade) and Aliens Vs. Predator (arcade)

Libo, nice to see that there are other VH fans around. Always preferred VH over FFT

PC Gaming FTW:

1. Deus Ex
2. Starcraft
3. Blood
4. Abe's Oddyssee
5. Alice

Also Dark Earth, Beyond Good and Evil, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Final Fantasy VII, ONI, Morrowind, GTA: Vice City, Warcraft II, Lost Vikings, Quake, NFS Hot Pursuit, Another World, Heart of Darkness, Half-Life I, Unreal Tournament Classic, Master of Magic, Doom, Diablo, Wacky Races (screw Mario KArt, sharks and hedgehogs for life!), Ultima Underworld, Prince of Persia, PoP: Sands of Time, Manhunt, Privateer.

Shit, it's so hard to pick just five... Each has story, game mechanics, ambience, audiovisuals, each was incredible experience and each is a part of my life spent on living through adventure.

On other platforms: PSP Lumines, PSP Daxter, PSP WipeOut Pure, PSP Crush, PS2 ICO, PS2 Shadow of the Colossus, GB Mario Land I, II and Wario Land, SNES Final Fantasy VI, GBA Advance War, GBA Caslevania I, Amiga Wolfchild, Amiga Internaional Karate+, Amiga Street Fighter II, Amiga SWIV...

Holy whack, and you'd like me to pick just five?!

. Beyond Good and Evil
. M.U.L.E.
. Turrican 2
. Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat
. ...

And of course X-COM aka UFO: Enemy Unknown, and of course Virtua Fighter II PC.

In no particular order:

1) Phantom Dust
2) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
3) Thief: The Dark Project
4) Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
5) System Shock 2

@Barts: Hey, look! One of the other ten people who played Dark Earth!

Top five in no particular order...

Phantasy Star Online
Intelligent Qube
Portal
Power Stone
Shadow of the Colossus

Honorable mention goes to Crusi'n for the Wii...lolz j/k

In no particular order...

Metal Gear Solid 1

Final Fantasy X

Counter-Strike

C&C Generals (preferrably Zero Hour)

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (could probably think of another but it's the only game I've enjoyed recently)

As several before me have said, this is such a wide topic and i would have to spend a good day with every game on every console and pc i'd ever owned and wittle it down with painful detail...

...buttt for the purpose of the article...

BioShock
GTAIII
FFX
Legend Of Mir II
Pokemon Blue

Hmm, this is a tough one. Not necessarily in order:

1. FFVII
2. Grandia 2
3. Halo: Combat Evolved
4. Phantom Dust
5. Castlevania: SOTN

Honorable mentions go to Portal and The DS Yugioh series (shut up, card games are addicting).

In no particular order:

Deus Ex
FFVII
STALKER
System Shock (can this be one AND two?)
Diablo II

1. Thief - The Dark Project

2. System Shock 2

3. Starcraft

4. Diablo II

5. Half-Life

So 1998 was pretty much the best year ever.

Also, it is safe to say that I am incredibly excited at the semi-announcement of Thief 4.

In no particular order:

Super Mario Bros 3
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
/Ocarina of Time
Black & White

...Hmm, I'd say Final Fantasy 7, but the graphics and random battles completely prevent me from playing it again. I've been spoiled.

Chrono Trigger.

These are the games I grew up on. They hold a special place in my heart. Except Black & White. That just appeals to my desire to play god. If Spore lives up to the hype, it will probably replace B&W.

1. Halo

2. Metal Gear Solid

3. Final Fantasy IIV

4. Half Life 2

5. Mass Effect

@Ghede: Actually, remove Ocarina of time, replace it with TF2. (Yes, I like Link to the past More.)

1) Halo 2
2) Goldeneye
3) Street Fighter II
4) LoZ : Occarina of time
5) Gran Turismo

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Final Fantasy VI
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil
Starsiege: Tribes