Stuff’s #Fave7Games
Prepare for a trip down memory lane. We're about to get nostalgic, yo
#Fave7Games is trending on Twitter right now, with people all over the world joining in and sharing their seven favourite games of all time.
We, too, are also people, though we suspect one of us – who shall remain unnamed – is a cyborg, but we digress.
Below is a list of our favourite games. We’re sure you’re going to passionately disagree with some of our choices, and that’s okay.
We are all unique snowflakes, and are entitled to our own opinions. So please don’t get too mad when you see Enter the Matrix pop up at some point.
Editor, Stuff.tv – Marc McLaren
Why I love… Half-Life 2
Everything about Half-Life 2 is perfect. I’ve never played a game before or since which just works so well, totally immersing you in its world and leading you through it in a way which makes it almost impossible to stop playing.
It just has everything. The story is well thought out and engaging; the characters are well rounded; the graphics are, for the time, sumptuous; the combination of awesomely inventive weapons, diverse bad guys and varied settings combine to make it constantly different, while also always feeling part of a consistent world. It’s just… supremely playable. In fact I’m going to start playing it again today.
Related › The 30 most anticipated games of 2016
Magazine Editor – Rob Leedham
Why I love… Super Mario World
There are hundreds of reasons why Super Mario World is my favourite game of all-time. It’s the still best platformer in human existence. It’s the high-watermark for 2D gaming. The ‘You are a super player!!’ message written in gold coins as you complete its very last Funky level.
All of these are entirely valid arguments, but I only need one word to proclaim SMW’s true genius: Yoshi. As the very first game to feature the greatest dinosaur ever, this classic has an eternal place in my heart.
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Deputy Features Editor – Esat Dedezade
Why I love… Halo 2
Halo 2 is love, Halo 2 is life. That was my mantra way back then, when I spent every spare waking moment in Bungie’s incredible multiplayer shooter, which had an online experience lightyears ahead of its time.
Staying up till dawn with my clan – which incidentally pwned the Stuff team in a challenge 11 years ago – was a regular occurrence, and the custom games with my mates – turret wars, cops and robbers, zombies and more – remain my fondest gaming memory to date.
Acting Reviews Editor – Tom Morgan
Why I love… Final Fantasy VII
FFVII was so big, you had to buy a memory card to have any hope of finishing it. Seriously – it had a massive advert for Sony’s official PS1 memory card on the back of the manual.
This ain’t your traditional dungeons and dragons RPG – it was a revolutionary, modern take on the genre that will keep you glued to the screen for well over 70 hours. 11-year-old me was sold the minute I began exploring the futuristic, neon-infused megacity of Midgar. Just don’t get me started on that scene with Aeris. Gets me every time.
Magazine Deputy Editor – Tom Wiggins
Why I love… Half-Life 2
Yeah, yeah, it’s another vote for Half-Life 2 but literally every good idea in a first-person shooter since 2004 is nicked from it, plus I only played it for the first time when Valve released The Orange Box, which also introduced me to Portal. I didn’t see much daylight that month.
Deputy Editor, Stuff.tv – Tom Parsons
Why I love… The Last of Us
I wasn’t planning on naming a relatively recent game as my no.1, but as I began shuffling around my long-list, The Last of Us was the one that resolutely refused to budge.
My love for Naughty Dog’s zombie epic is of course routed in the tough, gritty story of two deeply flawed characters having to survive together in a beautifully realised, apocalyptic US, but it’s also in the stories of the victims and other survivors they encounter on their journey, the design of the once-human creatures (clickers! *shudder*), the frantic, desperate nature of the combat and the final lie that ends it all. The Last of Us is perfect. Just perfect.
Senior Designer – Will Clarke
Why I love… The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
I never thought I’d enjoy a game more than Mass Effect 2, and I usually find games with swords and sorcery very, very dull, but The Witcher 3 is so lovingly crafted and cinematic that you can’t help but fall in love with the world and its characters. Even the smaller side missions are often better than the big set-piece missions in other games.
Contributor – Sam Kieldsen
Why I love… Bloodborne
In a medium that so often attempts to derive legitimacy from slavishly aping more established forms of art, Hidetaka Miyazaki’s game stands out: the way it unfolds its story is something that couldn’t be done in any other medium but video games.
A stunning achievement in design, sound, visuals and gameplay, it’s one of the few games that doesn’t treat its players like babies, but trusts them to work things out for themselves. That’s why I come back to get horribly killed by its beasts again and again.
Senior Video Editor – Pete Brown
Why I love… Maelstrom
A reimagining of the classic Asteroids, Maelstrom added a 256-colour palette, 3D-ish graphics, daft audio samples and power-ups that you’d never have imagined down at the arcades.
Devilishly addictive, free (!) and ran from a floppy disk with bugger-all RAM. Better still, it’s been ported to OSX, and you can time-sink your adult years playing it here.
Esat Dedezade
Contributor 
