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Retro What Are Your Top 10 Favorite Video Game Series Of All Time?

classicgamer504

Cappy
Banned
I been playing video games since the Second Generation. First two consoles, were a Colecovision and Atari 2600. The gaming industry has come a long way since then.

Played so many games over the years. There's certain series/franchises that I grew fond of. Some older and some newer. These are the games that I had the best moments with and left the biggest impact on me. It would be interesting to see what other gamers enjoyed during their gaming experiences throughout the years.

Here are my Top 10

1. Legend Of Zelda
2. Castlevania
3. Ninja Gaiden
4. Bayonetta
5. Resident Evil
6. Devil May Cry
7. Metroid
8. Final Fantasy
9. Mega Man
10. Street Fighter
 
  1. The Legend of Zelda
  2. Persona
  3. Pokemon
  4. Mario Kart
  5. The Elder Scrolls
The next five aren't properly defined rankings, I know they are these five, I just don't know how they place against each other:

  • Yakuza
  • Final Fantasy
  • God of War
  • Monster Hunter
  • Civilization
 
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I think mine have changed a lot over the years as I didn’t really get into rpgs until the PSOne, and on the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles I played more platformers, shmups, run-and-gun and scrolling fighters. But the big constant is Zelda.

In 1992, my favourites probably were:
Zelda
Mario/Mario Kart
Mega Man/MMX
Streets of Rage
Castlevania
Probotector/Contra

In 2022, it’s more like:
Monster Hunter
Dragon Quest
Zelda
Fire Emblem
SMT

Most of my fix for sidescrollers comes from the indie scene these days, and while there’s plenty I’d put on the same level as the stuff I loved in the 90s, I wouldn’t say the ‘IP’ stick in my mind compared to the stuff that’s been around for decades, which is fair enough. Games are weird in how many major franchises have been going for so long, and the older IP has the advantage of being made in a time when it was possible to put a sequel out in only a year or two.

The big outlier that I’ve kinda abandoned is Final Fantasy. It’s what introduced me to turn-based JRPGs in the late 90s on the PSOne. Then I was a bit lukewarm on FFX, loved FFXII. I fell away from it on the PS3, these days I barely follow it all which feels weird when pretty much all the other series I loved on older platforms I still follow to one extent or another. To be fair there’s tons of other Square rpgs I play instead so I still credit it with introducing me to the genre.

One more outlier would be the Dizzy games on c64/spectrum etc- they were bigger than Mario for me in the late 80s, I played and finished all of them.

It’s interesting the way so many of my childhood favourites have evolved. Some of them more regular direct sequels (Mario, Zelda). Then Streets of Rage went on a hiatus after SoR for 25 years before coming back with a bang with SoR 4. Mega Man 11 was pretty solid but I found it forgettable. Castlevania is pretty much Bloodstained now. Contra went from a wave of decent games in the mid 00s with Contra 4 on the DS, Contra Rebirth on Wii and Hard Corps elsewhere, to whatever the hell that latest one was. Even Golden Axe re-emerged with Beast Rider then slunk offstage in shame :D
 
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Metroid is number one, but after that it's really hard to rank.

Souls
Resident Evil
Metal Gear Solid
God of War
Super Mario
The Legend of Zelda
Ratchet & Clank
Uncharted
Mega Man
 
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I think mine have changed a lot over the years as I didn’t really get into rpgs until the PSOne, and on the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles I played more platformers, shmups, run-and-gun and scrolling fighters. But the big constant is Zelda.

In 1992, my favourites probably were:
Zelda
Mario/Mario Kart
Mega Man/MMX
Streets of Rage
Castlevania
Probotector/Contra

In 2022, it’s more like:
Monster Hunter
Dragon Quest
Zelda
Fire Emblem
SMT

Most of my fix for sidescrollers comes from the indie scene these days, and while there’s plenty I’d put on the same level as the stuff I loved in the 90s, I wouldn’t say the ‘IP’ stick in my mind compared to the stuff that’s been around for decades, which is fair enough. Games are weird in how many major franchises have been going for so long, and the older IP has the advantage of being made in a time when it was possible to put a sequel out in only a year or two.

The big outlier that I’ve kinda abandoned is Final Fantasy. It’s what introduced me to turn-based JRPGs in the late 90s on the PSOne. Then I was a bit lukewarm on FFX, loved FFXII. I fell away from it on the PS3, these days I barely follow it all which feels weird when pretty much all the other series I loved on older platforms I still follow to one extent or another. To be fair there’s tons of other Square rpgs I play instead so I still credit it with introducing me to the genre.

One more outlier would be the Dizzy games on c64/spectrum etc- they were bigger than Mario for me in the late 80s, I played and finished all of them.

It’s interesting the way so many of my childhood favourites have evolved. Some of them more regular direct sequels (Mario, Zelda). Then Streets of Rage went on a hiatus after SoR for 25 years before coming back with a bang with SoR 4. Mega Man 11 was pretty solid but I found it forgettable. Castlevania is pretty much Bloodstained now. Contra went from a wave of decent games in the mid 00s with Contra 4 on the DS, Contra Rebirth on Wii and Hard Corps elsewhere, to whatever the hell that latest one was. Even Golden Axe re-emerged with Beast Rider then slunk offstage in shame :D
You brought back some good memories. There's a lot of games that take me down nostalgia lane from the 3rd and 4th Gen. Capcom was one of my favorite developers during that era. In the 3rd gen, Mega Man of course and still a favorite. Little Nemo The Dream Master, their Disney platformers, etc. Loved the Ninja Gaiden games. Castlevania, Contra. There was this game called Astyanax from Jaleco. Sunsoft's Batman. Rygar, Conquest Of The Crystal Palace. Too many gems to think of during that era.

In the 4th Gen, Bonk's Adventure, Streets Of Rage, Keith Courage In Alpha Zones, Legendary Axe games, Revenge of Shinobi, Shadow Dancer, Shinobi 3, Landstalker, Super Metroid, Secret Of Mana, etc. I also was into a lot of platformers, adventure, action, shootemups, rpgs(action and turn based), side scrolling beat em ups, fighting games, etc. My love for fighting games was mostly during the 90s, when the arcade scene was extremely popular. Capcom and SNK were my favorite developers when it came to fighting games. Still till this day the Street Fighter and King Of Fighters series are my favorite fighting game series. Wish Capcom would bring back Darkstalkers though. Some of my favorite developers have either merged or no longer around. Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Namco, Treasure, Sunsoft, Data East, Irem, Hudson Soft, Squaresoft, Enix, SNK, etc. They were like the major players from the 3rd to 6th generations.

In modern times, I love Survival Horror and Character Action games. Still love Platformers, Action, RPGS and Adventure games. Resident Evil, Silent Hill, The Evil Within, Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, still love Ninja Gaiden from 2D to 3D.
 
Top 5:

5. Monkey Island
4. Ys
3. Dragon Quest
2. Metroid
1. The Legend of Zelda

next 5 w/o any particular ranking:
-Atelier
-The Legend of Heroes
-Souls
-Bayonetta
-"Laura Bow" series
 
Top 5:

5. Monkey Island
4. Ys
3. Dragon Quest
2. Metroid
1. The Legend of Zelda

next 5 w/o any particular ranking:
-Atelier
-The Legend of Heroes
-Souls
-Bayonetta
-"Laura Bow" series
Ys is another series I love. Looking forward to the next one, especially as it seems like they are shaking up the party system. Which I didn’t particularly dislike, but after 3 games I’ll be glad to see them try something else. I hope they really cut down on the ‘running around a city and samey geometric dungeons’ from the last one and go back to outdoors adventuring instead.
 
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I'm more of a person that likes standalone, unique games over game series. Zelda is by far the most passionate and devoted I've been to an actual franchise, with Final Fantasy coming in as a second place.

To come up with 10:

Zelda
Final Fantasy
NieR
Metroid
Life is Strange
The Last of Us
Persona
Super Mario
Metal Gear Solid
Kirby
 
In no order off the top of my head with more specifics in parentheses:

N.B. in thinking of this list I realised I'm not actually that much of a franchise or series person, and I struggled to think of 10. I think when I was younger this would have been much easier but I am challenging myself to think of series I still love today. (So although I enjoyed Resident Evil Revelations recently it was the first RE game I had bothered with in many years.)

I've also tried to think about series' specifically rather than the franchise as a whole (Mario RPG and Mario Bros. are completely different games!).

  • Castlevania (IGAvania-style)
  • Mario (2D mostly; Super Mario World is the pinnacle)
  • Quintet Quad/Trilogy (Soul Blazer/Illusion of Time/Terranigma)
  • Tomba! (Tombi! in PAL land / and only 2 games but still... Holding out hope one day for a revival)
  • Harvest Moon (the Bokujou Monogatari games that later became Story of Seasons; however, the earlier games had a more charming simplicity and the OG had gorgeous graphics)
  • Final Fantasy Tactics (I'm considering the Tactics games their own series)
  • Zelda (the only 2 mainline games I haven't finished are Majora's Mask and BotW--I know, shame on me!!!)
  • Advance Wars
  • Broken Sword

(Could only think of 9!)

Lots of honourable (nostalgic) mentions: OG Tomb Raider (1-3); OG Sonic (1-3 again); Streets of Rage (1+2); OG Resident Evil (1-3); Capcom/Disney platformers; Professor Layton; mainline FF (kinda grew out of the series); Football Manager (I don't even really like football but my uni mates had to organise an intervention to cure me of my addiction).

Series' I predict will be in a future top 10: Valkyria Chronicles; Ace Attorney; Ys; Dragon Quest; Yakuza.
 
Not sure why this is in Warp Zone, but I'll post my (not ranked) list:
  • Zelda
  • Donkey Kong Country
  • Ace Attorney
  • Pikmin
  • Mega Man X
  • Mega Man Zero
  • Final Fantasy
  • Fire Emblem
  • Mother
  • Mario
There's some that I considered, like Kirby, Metroid and Xenoblade, but I left them off the list since I feel the others have had the most impact in my gaming life. I know I listed 2 separate Mega Man series in there but I just like them that much!
 
Not sure why this is in Warp Zone, but I'll post my (not ranked) list:
  • Zelda
  • Donkey Kong Country
  • Ace Attorney
  • Pikmin
  • Mega Man X
  • Mega Man Zero
  • Final Fantasy
  • Fire Emblem
  • Mother
  • Mario
There's some that I considered, like Kirby, Metroid and Xenoblade, but I left them off the list since I feel the others have had the most impact in my gaming life. I know I listed 2 separate Mega Man series in there but I just like them that much!
To be fair I’m gonna guess it’s in warp zone as every IP you picked is at least 20 years old, as are a significant portion of those in the thread (and all of mine too) :D
 
If Chrono counts with only 2.5 games in the series then that's at the top. Outside of that:
  • Zelda
  • Sonic
  • Mario
  • Xeno
  • Metroid
  • DKC
  • Shantae
  • Final Fantasy
  • Bayonetta
  • Shenmue
Nostalgia might be coloring it some but part of it might be that nowadays I'm following more one-off indies than big series.
 
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Super Mario
The Legend of Zelda
Donkey Kong (Country)
Metroid
Dragon Quest
Castlevania
Crash Bandicoot
Megaman
Ys
Prince of Persia

More or less :p
 
To be fair I’m gonna guess it’s in warp zone as every IP you picked is at least 20 years old, as are a significant portion of those in the thread (and all of mine too) :D
I guess you're right... I imagine it's hard for newer franchises to fit the criteria of being a series as I imagine there are some newer IPs like Hollow Knight that'd probably make people's lists but they don't have enough games yet.
 
I guess you're right... I imagine it's hard for newer franchises to fit the criteria of being a series as I imagine there are some newer IPs like Hollow Knight that'd probably make people's lists but they don't have enough games yet.
Yeah, I think it’s the sheer weight of releases, so many gaming series have been around for decades so they tend to dominate such lists. They just easily come to mind, as well as having enough entries where even a few entries you don’t enjoy isn’t enough to offset the half dozen or more that you do, even when they’ve got more entries you didn’t vibe with than entire other series!

If if were going to list gaming series with multiple games, that are under 20 years old and I also legit love (but they didn’t spring to mind when listing stuff that’s been around forever), the ones that spring to mind for me would be:
Etrian Odyssey (2007)
Professor Layton (2007)
Shovel Knight (2014)
Octopath Traveller (2018)
Bloodstained (2019)

Otherwise, as you say there’s so many singular titles, particularly indies. Huntdown, Hollow Knight, Infernax, Cyber Shadow, Deaths Door. If I were to write a long list of the new IP I’ve loved over the last decade or so, the vast majority of it would be indies.
 
Zelda, Fire Emblem and Kingdom Hearts are my three favorite franchises. Which one is my favorite depends on the time of year, really. What's amazing is that, at this moment in time, there are major new installments of each being developed simultaneously, and two of them are set to release within the next six months!

Beyond those I don't really have specific rankings, but 7 more would be--

Ace Attorney
Mega Man
Dragon Quest
Super Mario
Smashbros
Persona
Pokémon

Edit to replace Sonic with Pokémon, because Pokémon has hurt me less lmao
 
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Yeah, I think it’s the sheer weight of releases, so many gaming series have been around for decades so they tend to dominate such lists. They just easily come to mind, as well as having enough entries where even a few entries you don’t enjoy isn’t enough to offset the half dozen or more that you do, even when they’ve got more entries you didn’t vibe with than entire other series!

If if were going to list gaming series with multiple games, that are under 20 years old and I also legit love (but they didn’t spring to mind when listing stuff that’s been around forever), the ones that spring to mind for me would be:
Etrian Odyssey (2007)
Professor Layton (2007)
Shovel Knight (2014)
Octopath Traveller (2018)
Bloodstained (2019)

Otherwise, as you say there’s so many singular titles, particularly indies. Huntdown, Hollow Knight, Infernax, Cyber Shadow, Deaths Door. If I were to write a long list of the new IP I’ve loved over the last decade or so, the vast majority of it would be indies.
Thinking about series (2+ games) that I really enjoy that are under 20 years old I guess I could name:
  • Xenoblade: Played 1 and 2 so far, 1 is easily one of the best stories I've played and 2 was super fun as well.
  • Azure Striker Gunvolt: Keeps the legacy of Mega Man Zero's mission design.
  • Zero Escape: Awesome VNs. I need to play the 3rd one somehow, but it got delisted from 3DS.
It's not that much... I guess Celeste and Hollow Knight would join if they had more games. I was also tempted to list Okami, but I've only really played the first one.
 
Thinking about series (2+ games) that I really enjoy that are under 20 years old I guess I could name:
  • Xenoblade: Played 1 and 2 so far, 1 is easily one of the best stories I've played and 2 was super fun as well.
  • Azure Striker Gunvolt: Keeps the legacy of Mega Man Zero's mission design.
  • Zero Escape: Awesome VNs. I need to play the 3rd one somehow, but it got delisted from 3DS.
It's not that much... I guess Celeste and Hollow Knight would join if they had more games. I was also tempted to list Okami, but I've only really played the first one.
Speaking of indie series, I guess we’ve got Hades now :D

Also, I really like the Steamworld games and the way they change things up each time, even the genre. Didn’t enjoy the last one (the rpg-style Quest) as much as Dig, Dig 2 and Heist, but it’s a series I always keep an eye out for, the writing is always witty and I like the character designs.
 
Advance Wars
Castlevania
Final Fantasy
FromSoftware's Souls Series
Half-Life/Portal Universe
Halo
The Legend Of Zelda
Metroid
Resident Evil
Super Mario
 
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Metroid
Resident Evil
Monster Hunter
The Souls Series
Halo
Devil May Cry
The Legend of Zelda
Dead Rising (Literally just because the first one is so good lol)
Castlevania
Silent Hill

The bottom 4 are maybe a bit of a stretch but I think they fit.
 
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Super Mario
The Legend of Zelda
Tales of
Metroid
Kirby
Ace Attorney
Viewtiful Joe
Style Savvy
The King of Fighters
Dunno about a 10th, that is where stuff start to clash, could be Fatal Fury, Bayonetta, Monster Hunter, Freedom Planet, Wario Land maybe.

These 2 would be high in the top with only an specific set of games:
Atelier (Only the timer games)
Castlevania (Only classicvania and Circle of the Moon)
 
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I’m not going to try and rank these, but I think my top ten would include:

Mario
Metroid
Zelda
Final Fantasy
Trails
Xenoblade
Kingdom Hearts
BlazBlue
Yakuza
Smash Bros

I think what makes this hard for me is that some franchises I love have become inactive or have a dud or two. Do I pick franchises that historically meant a lot or ones that mean a lot to me right now? Like I threw BlazBlue in there since it historically meant a lot to me, but I’m not necessarily convinced the series has a future. But anyway, this was fun to think about.
 
3D Mario
Metroid (2D and Prime)
Yakuza
Pokémon
Halo
Bayonetta
2D Mario
Smash Bros
Resident Evil
Left4Dead (i know it's dead and it's never coming back but OH MY GOD those games were good)
 
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I’m not going to try and rank these, but I think my top ten would include:

Mario
Metroid
Zelda
Final Fantasy
Trails
Xenoblade
Kingdom Hearts
BlazBlue
Yakuza
Smash Bros

I think what makes this hard for me is that some franchises I love have become inactive or have a dud or two. Do I pick franchises that historically meant a lot or ones that mean a lot to me right now? Like I threw BlazBlue in there since it historically meant a lot to me, but I’m not necessarily convinced the series has a future. But anyway, this was fun to think about.
It’s interesting, I could also list an entirely different set of series of:
Series that I think were the best
Series that I think were the most influential
Series that were my personal favourites in the 80s/90s
Series that are my favourite new IP in the last 20 years
Series that have been my lifelong favourites all along
Series that are my favourites AND are also still relevant this decade in terms of new releases
Series that are my favourites AND are also still relevant this decade in terms of influence if not new releases

I’ve said it before but gaming IP having series that relentlessly pump out titles over decades means that IP can have a huge hold in mindshare, influence or just recognisability even decades after the main games stop coming out on a regular basis. A ton of stuff by Nintendo, Capcom or Konami has a lock on 2D retro nostalgia for a start, even if there hasn’t been a game for a while. Quality multimedia spin-offs like the Castlevania cartoon help a lot too. I haven’t played a new Castlevania or Contra game in ~13 years but still love them.
 
It’s interesting, I could also list an entirely different set of series of:
Series that I think were the best
Series that I think were the most influential
Series that were my personal favourites in the 80s/90s
Series that are my favourite new IP in the last 20 years
Series that have been my lifelong favourites all along
Series that are my favourites AND are also still relevant this decade in terms of new releases
Series that are my favourites AND are also still relevant this decade in terms of influence if not new releases

I’ve said it before but gaming IP having series that relentlessly pump out titles over decades means that IP can have a huge hold in mindshare, influence or just recognisability even decades after the main games stop coming out on a regular basis. A ton of stuff by Nintendo, Capcom or Konami has a lock on 2D retro nostalgia for a start, even if there hasn’t been a game for a while. Quality multimedia spin-offs like the Castlevania cartoon help a lot too. I haven’t played a new Castlevania or Contra game in ~13 years but still love them.
I usually think about individual games more than series, so this question caught me off guard in a way. Like my first five, Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Trails all had to make a list like this, but yeah as you cemented there are so many ways to consider the question.

I wasn’t considering multimedia at all for example until you mentioned it. Maybe I should have considered Magia Record for example more then. It was just one game inspired by an anime (ongoing in Japan), and yet I also have anime blu rays, two manga series, figures, plushes etc. for it and I rep the series here through my avatar. Only Final Fantasy has operated at times on that level for me in its own ways compared to the other nine I chose.

Definitely going to think about the question and its possibilities more when I go to bed tonight lol.
 
I usually think about individual games more than series, so this question caught me off guard in a way. Like my first five, Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Trails all had to make a list like this, but yeah as you cemented there are so many ways to consider the question.

I wasn’t considering multimedia at all for example until you mentioned it. Maybe I should have considered Magia Record for example more then. It was just one game inspired by an anime (ongoing in Japan), and yet I also have anime blu rays, two manga series, figures, plushes etc. for it and I rep the series here through my avatar. Only Final Fantasy has operated at times on that level for me in its own ways compared to the other nine I chose.

Definitely going to think about the question and its possibilities more when I go to bed tonight lol.
There’s probably a thread in it somewhere, I always like reading about when people have a real attachment to a series for various reasons. A lot of mine are tied up in co-op play with my brother, which feels like it originated in console ports of arcade scrolling fighters. Back in the day the equivalent of a gaming meme was that everyone knew that if you went to a friends house to play multiplayer, you’d be getting the shitty third-party controller, my bro and I would argue over it constantly :D
 
Been gaming since the arcades era and Commodore 64.

My list in no particular order:

1. Resident Evil / Biohazard.
2. The Legend of Zelda.
3. Metal Gear.
4. Fatal Frame.
5. Megami Tensei (incl. Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, Devil Summoner, Devil Survivor, Digital Devil Saga etc.)
6. Yakuza / Like a Dragon.
7. Panzer Dragoon.
8. Shinobi.
9. Souls / Elden Ring / Bloodborne / Sekiro / King's Field / Shadow Tower. If I have to commit to just one of these then it's Souls. But Bloodborne is still my favourite next would be Elden Ring or Dark Souls 1.
10. Max Payne.

Special mentions: SIlent Hill, Shenmue, 3D Mario, 2D Sonic, Halo, Parasite Eve, Xenoblade, Siren, Gravity Rush / Gravity Daze, The Evil Within, Ace Attorney, Valkyria Chronicles, NieR / Drakengard, Zero Escape, Danganronpa, Armored Core, Suda51's Kill the Past games (No More Heroes / killer7 / The Silver Case / Flower, Sun & Rain / The 25th Ward etc) - which are all amazing in different ways but some of these pretty low lows as far as certain entries go (aside from Xenoblade, which is always consistent for me) and just aren't as consistent, or have moments in the entries that I wasn't a big fan of or thought was a flaw.

I value the quality over quantity of the ones I listed. Shenmue would have been on the list if it weren't for 3, Danganronpa if it weren't for the shitty anime and spin off game, Valkyria if it weren't for 2, Gravity Rush if it weren't for the awful stealth section in 2 and so on.
 
Not going to rank these because that way lies madness

Final Fantasy (really "Squaresoft")
Super Mario (including spin-offs like Kart, Party, Yoshi, Wario, Paper, Mario & Luigi)
MOTHER
Mega Man (including sub-series)
Kirby
Shin Megami Tensei
Smash Bros
SimCity / The Tower / The Sims (really "Maxis")
Blackwell Quintology + Extended Universe
Legend of Zelda

Not quite making the cut:
Kunio
Unreal
Metroid
Sierra / LucasArts (I just don't have enough experience but I've enjoyed what I've played)
Castlevania
Contra
Splatoon (still too new I think)
Shovel Knight (still too new)
 
I'll do my favorite ten, but not in any particular order beyond that:

  • Fallout
  • Football Manager
  • Civilization
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • MLB The Show
  • Animal Crossing
  • Super Mario
  • X-Men Legends/MUA (I think they can be smushed together; they're of the same lineage)
  • Capcom's Vs. series
  • Psychonauts (There are two and probably will be a third, so I feel good about putting it here)
Near misses:

  • Insomniac's Spider-Man series (next series up, tbh)
  • Activision's Spider-Man series
  • Virtua Fighter
  • Fatal Fury
  • Darkstalkers
  • Street Fighter
  • Ratchet and Clank (though one more game in the series probably puts it over the top for me and bumps something off; I just think the series really became something with the remake of the first game in 2016)
  • Star Wars's Old Republic series (the MMO is so bad that even it drags the two SP RPGs down)
  • The Legend of Zelda (the games in the series that I love, I love deeply, but they are very few and everything else in the series sort of bores me, honestly)
  • FIFA/PES
  • NBA 2K


Single games that probably get there with a good sequel:

  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Horizon (Zero Dawn is one of the best games of all-time, and Forbidden West is definitely not that)
  • Hades (yeah, I'd prefer an all-new IP, but come on, this sequel is going to be good)
 
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For me it's more of a top 6:

1. Pac Man
2. Donkey Kong
3. Smash Bros
4. Jak and Daxter
5. Crash Bandicoot
6. Mario Kart

After this, I don't really have "favorite" series, more just specific games I like.
 
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