Flashback is the offspring of such classic side-scrolling adventures as Prince of Persia and Out of This World. A stylish, beautifully drawn and superbly animated game set in a bizarre world filled with cool things to shoot - I couldn't ask for more. Your character Conrad suffers from that staple of videogame and movie lore, amnesia, and goes through all sorts of trouble as he retrieves his memories and then puts them to good use. My biggest complaint about this game is that the damn thing won't run on my computer, since it's so old.

When we were 7 years old, my cousin James and I would sit in easy chairs and pretend we were flying space fighters. They made a game about us. Cool. Props also to Wing Commander II, which was basically more of the same, only better. Unfortunately, in WC3 they replaced your character with an old, fat Mark Hamill. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive them for that.

I think that the music in a videogame plays a very large part in determining how much I like it. From the day I heard the Wood Man theme song, I've had that catchy synth drum riff stuck in my head. Understandably, people thought this was odd when I was in elementary school; now there are bands dedicated to playing this stuff live. I never knew I was such a visionary.

Anyway, my point is that this is the best game in the Megaman series, and I wouldn't like another one as much until they rolled out Megaman X on the Super NES.

Doom (officially DOOM) was the first game that I ever played that almost scared me to death. The sounds were designed in such a way that if anything was alive and interested in killing you ANYWHERE, you could hear it. Quite disconcerting, really. Doom was also the first shooter game to have a solid set of multiplayer modes, which were mind blowingly fun at the time, and which are still pretty cool today.

While the sequel to this game could arguably be described as better in every possible way, I really spent a lot more time on the original game, so it makes the list. Civilization's strongest point was its limitless replayability, something that a surprisingly large number of games had back when it was released (so no, I wasn't that impressed with Diablo). My only real gripe about the original version was that your battleships would occasionally get sunk by wooden spears.

It doesn't take much to shake up videogame playing audiences and, in the mid 80's, all it took was a game where you couldn't jump. Bionic Commando gave you a claw instead, which was pretty much the whole point of the game. Just the cool mechanics of swinging around, combined with level design that gave you ample opportunity to do so, made this the second best game to ever grace the Nintendo Entertainment System. The poorly translated English and thinly veiled Nazi references earn bonus points for it, as well.

I'm of the considered opinion that any game immediately becomes cooler when you add shopping to it. Buying weapons, powerups and new equipment gives you something to work towards aside from your continued survival, and there's some serious satisfaction when you finally get to haul out your shiny new A-10 for a Sunday drive.

The shopping alone doesn't make UN Squadron the best side-scrolling shooter ever, though - there's also the synthetic 80's metal guitar and the odd set of pilots and pilot dialogue. "So long, enjoy your desert graves!"

Take UN Squadron. Now replace the 80's music and the A-10's with beating up frat boys and immigrants. Throw in the surprisingly flexible combat system, a two player mode designed to antagonize and another healthy dose of shopping, and you'll end up with the single best game ever released for the NES. Words can't describe the feeling you get when you beat up a gang of high school bullies, take their money and use it to buy 15 orders of onion rings (which, incidentally, improve your strength). I weep with joy.

I don't want to gush, so I'll just say that you can get Starcraft (together with the obligatory add-on Brood War) in a collector's edition DVD case for $20 cdn. Go now, you've wasted enough of your life.

Also note that the voice actress for Sarah Kerrigan is Glynnis Talkin, who also worked on The Maxx, which is almost as entertaining.

Many people will adamantly argue that the SNES had the best role playing games of all time, and these people are pretty much right. The crowning jewel in this collection was FF3 (actually the 6th game in the series), the first true epic console RPG. A great cast, including the single most truly evil villain to ever figure into one of these games, a huge world, and a scene where you actually participate in an opera are all highlights of this masterpiece. It's also revered for its soundtrack, held in high esteem by serious geeks everywhere. I think that what I'm trying to say is that if you haven't given this game a try, then I'm not sure I even want to talk to you.