What is your favorite video game (any genre) of all time?

SB Nation’s Video Game Week has been a fun one for me as I get to reminisce about all the fun games I used to play. Don’t get me wrong, I still play video games every now and again, but immersing myself into hours upon hours of game play isn’t always in the cards for me in my household these days.

We’ve already tackled a couple different questions in this WCG video gamer round table...

• What is your favorite football video game of all time?
• What is your favorite non-football sports video game of all time?

So today’s question takes sports completely out of the equation, if we so desire, by asking...

What is your favorite video game (in any genre) of all time?

Besides the Tecmo Super Bowl series (which is my clear-cut fav), I’m not even sure I could pick another favorite video game. I loved the original Resident Evil — and the sequels have all been mostly fun as well — but that game really kicked off the survival horror genre. Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, Until Dawn, Last Of Us, Manhunt, and Clock Tower are a few that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. But it was the originality of Resident Evil on the first Playstation with my then-girlfriend (now wife), that I probably have the fondest memories of playing.

I also really enjoy video games with RPG elements to them. Games like Skyrim, Final Fantasy, Diablo, Paper Mario, and Eye of the Beholder are all time sucks that you can get lost in. Goldeneye, Metal Gear Solid, Onimusha, Tomb Raider, and the Batman Arkham series were others that I’ve liked.

I’m not the only one of us that had a hard time sticking to just one game, so let’s see what the rest of our guys had to say...

“Third person shooters... I think there’s a lot you can do in that genre, from storytelling experiences like Uncharted to RTS-esque games like Battalion Wars, and it offers tremendous flexibility in what the developers behind the game can do. When a 3rd person shooter (or 3rd person game in general) is at it’s best, the experience is second to none. (Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Mass Effect, Uncharted, Horizon: Zero Dawn, etc)” ~ Robert Schmitz

“I was never really allowed to play shooting games when I was younger, and once I got old enough to play them I never really had much interest outside of GTA, so I’ve always been a sports gamer through and through. It sounds basic, but I loved NCAA Football 14. Though its reputation is clearly boosted by its being the last real college football game, it is still a genuinely great game. The gameplay is a lot of fun, and the dynasty mode is incredible through its recruiting features, coaching carousel, and more. Sadly, my disk of the game suffered temperature damage, so I’m unable to get it to work anymore.” ~ Jacob Infante

“I literally could pick any ten games in a ten-way tie. I’ve played every genre, from Pokemon — it’s not just for kids and yes I am still rocking the franchise while playing Sword version — to Ace Combat, to Jak and Daxter, to the Halo series, Fallout 4, and Call of Duty. To answer the question, I am going to pick Fallout 4. Yes, this isn’t the most polished game, and there are still bugs that were never fixed before the ever-so-useful “Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch” mod was released. Yet, the replayability of the main story and the accessibility of Mods to enhance the vanilla game is just too irresistible when having so much time to kill.” ~ Erik Christopher Duerrwaechter

“Most will point to Ocarina of Time or the recent Breath of the Wild as the peak iterations of the Zelda franchise. Friends, Romans, countrymen, noted purveyors of this blog, I’m here to tell both of those opinions are false, and misguided. The Wind Waker, with its glossy cel-shaded graphics that have stood the test of time and design, and an apocalyptic reset setting, will forever stand as the preeminent Elves With Caps And Swords video game.” ~ Robert Zeglinski

“Grand Theft Auto San Andreas... It revolutionized open world gaming.” ~ Jack Salo

“Even though Bethesda owes everyone a sincere apology — and money — for the dumpster fire that was Fallout 76, I’ll still give them and the countless mod authors in the community credit for creating this insanely fun game to play. I’m also curious as to how it’ll play on the Xbox Series X once that console releases in the fall.” ~ Some more from ECD

“Probably based on hours and how often I played it, Mike Tyson’s Punch Out has to get the nod (like I said before, yes, I’m that old). This game was so much fun and the menacing figure that was Mike Tyson at the end of the game made it that much better. I haven’t played the game in probably 20 years, but I still know the code to get to Tyson is 007 373 5963. There’s a chance that if I picked up the game right now, that I could still beat Tyson on the first try after decades gone by- the muscle memory is still that engrained after so many hours playing it.” ~ Bill Zimmerman

“For the record, I don’t think Bill is that old.” ~ Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.

“I like watching people who have hacked Tecmo Bowl to do strange things, but that’s only via YouTube.” ~ Ken Mitchell

“P.S. the Series X is going to mop the floor with the PS5 come this fall. Better performance, far more back door accessibility to previous generations like the Xbox One and the Xbox 360, and it’s rumored to be significantly cheaper than the PS5. Like, $550 compared to over $760.” ~ Even more from ECD!

“I can go Super Mario RPG for nostalgia and fun, Splatoon 2 for what has eaten like 80% of my Switch time, or SMT: Digital Devil Saga because it’s always been the answer based on system and genre (turn based RPG). But the actual answer is Lost Dimension (PS3/Vita/PC). Turn based RPG with a short runtime and excellent replayability, traitor-finding aspects, and a system that just WORKS - basically, everything I love crammed in one box. If only it didn’t (crashes comically before finishing this sentence). Also I could go for four years on this, let’s move on...” ~ Steven Schweickert

As a reminder, we’re running a mini Madden Tourney with a couple of the Pride Of Detroit guys on Steven’s Twitch Channel.

Now it’s your turn...

What is your favorite video game of all time?