As I am on the verge of entering my third decade, I look fondly back at some great ten years. I have played a ton of video games in that time, and here are the my favorite ten.

10. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

This game is incredible. It came out at the beginning of my senior year in high school, and it dominated my life. I was hooked the second I set foot on the massive GFS flagship. The game had incredible atmosphere. The Temple of Doom like Bryyo tickled the Jones fan in me, and Skytown is the epitome of Jules Verne. However, the game went to the next level on the GFS Valhalla. A genuinely frightening and incredible level, with all the metroids jumping out of walls. The day it came out, I was late to rowing practice, by like thirty minutes. As captain of the team, this was a terrible infraction, however my coach said nothing other than, "I told you he would be late. Metroid came out today." Getting 100% on this games hardest difficulty is one of my favorite gaming achievements.

9. Jak 3

Jak 3 absolutely blew my mind. Jak and Daxter one was a family favorite, but this one was something else. The second one wasn't my cup of tea. Thankfully in 3, there were not police literally every 3 feet, so it was possible to traverse the worlds in peace. The gigantic wasteland let you drive around and blow up other vehicles Twisted Metal style, and you also got to kill gigantic dinosaurs with machine guns. I know there is a lot of win in that sentence. The best part of the game is the phenomenal platforming. The world is made to be traversed with Jak's double jumps and spinny thing. The Light Jak addition had some awesome time slowing and flight based segements. This game kicks a lot of Dick.

8. Super Mario Galaxy

Completing this game took two semesters of work. In stead of studying, I put my focus on earning the right to play as Luigi. GI lied to you, Luigi is awesome. He's like a high end sports car. He handles and jumps TOO well. Anywho, this game is incredible. Playing this game scored me dates, its so good. Girls would come visit while I was playing, ask to play, two hours later we'd be going out to dinner, and the next night out again. Mario just plain ol' rocks. The platforming is the best in any game ever, and the level designs will never be topped. Jumping planets and flying through space, while some John Williams worthy music is blastin, puts this game at the top of the best games I have ever played.

7. Metroid Fusion

This game will always hold a special place in my heart. I spent countless hours playing this game in the car on the way to the hospital or at the hospital. It was my way of dealing with my aunt's struggle with cancer. The story and gameplay are just so easy to get lost in. This is where my obsession with Samus started. I rip on it pretty hard now, mainly because I can't play this game. Being really good at Super Metroid has killed it for me, but I still absolutely love this game, and how it helped me get through a hard time.

6. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

When I was in fourth grade, I was crushed that I had to get glasses. This meant my chances at becoming a fighter pilot were ruined. There is a reason it took me until spring of last year to play Super Mario Galaxy. You see, for Christmas 07, I got Ace Combat and Mario. I am in absolute awe of anything with airplanes. This game took over my life. I was fox two-ing like crazy. I made sure to clear every level with the S ranking, on expert. The best part was the ending. It totally rips off Return of the Jedi, but it is oh so satisfying to play a game of chicken with the guy who pwned your military life, as well as the world.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Majora's Mask isn't necessarily my favorite Zelda, but it sure is close. Link's Awakening is my favorite, but any Zelda that is slightly different from the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Ocarina Princess of Wind formula jumps high on the list. My friends and I spent a whole summer trying to get everything in the game. 5 a.m. was seen a great many times while trying to 100% this game. We spent 2 whole weeks trying to get the heart piece for the octorock shooting gallery. I wouldn't trade the time spent trying to beat this game for the world. The nights we spent beating this game are some of my best memories ever.

4. Warcraft 3

When some of my older friends went of to college, we had no clue how to stay in touch. So we bought Warcraft 3 and the expansion. We have played at least 200 hours of this game since we all bought it. One of my favorite memories from this game was at a LAN party we had. We were playing a four person ffa, and the map was nigh empty. To stay alive to build towers, one of us had a caravan of peons running literally all the way across the map to the last gold mine and back. Soon, the other person left standing caught onto this, and sent his blademaster. The blademaster uncloaked, and in a leaping slice off of a hill, ended the caravan, along with his hope for survival. Just mentioning this game brings all kinds of laughs to mind.

4.Super Smash Bros. Brawl

FALCONE.......... PUAWNCH!!!!!! No game has harmed my studies more than this. Last year, my friend would come over to my dorm after class and we would dual until rowing practice. This year, my roommate yells from his bedroom, "ZANE! SMASH! NOW!" I waltz out of my room, awaiting to land a Falcon Punch, a Knee of Death, both to be followed by a taunt of "SHOW ME YOUR MOVES!" It pisses him off so bad.

3. Pokemon Silver

So we all know that this is by far the best Pokemon game. We all were caught up in this craze. This game saved a rowing trip in my junior year. It was the annual ten hour drive to Philadelphia, and the guys and girls had come together on a rare occasion. This occasion was to OD on Pokemon. It turns out that as soon as we got to Philly, the Head of the Schuylkill had been canceled due to rain. So our yearly celebration of being awesome was ruined. NOT! We all had Pokemon. We battled, we traded, and made tea for the whole team in the sink of a hotel bathroom. It was awesome.

2. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Ratchet has never treated me wrong. This is the game I measure all platformers to. Insomniac created the perfect balance between gunplay and platforming. The story is all kinds of hilarious, there are all kinds of different colors and great graphics. Even the sidequests are awesome. The Qwark VidComics are on par with the likes of Mega Man and Metroid, and the missions with the Rangers are a great take on control point missions. The very first thing you do is JUMP OUT OF A SPACE SHIP AND SKYDIVE WHILE NUKES ARE FLYING AT YOU! Every moment of this game is over the top in a very non MW2 good way. My cousin and I were so excited for this game, we got in a car wreck on a snowy night just so we could bail on the Christmas part we were at to play it. Up Your Arsenal is a game that everyone can enjoy. My little brother lol's at the goofiness of Qwark, my mom and dad join me to watch the crazy colors and laugh at the great story. The multiplayer is great too. My friends and I were blowing up lombaxes while the rest of the world was dual wielding, sticky nading and getting owned by the end of Halo 2 (UYA's cover is a total rip on the Chief and the cover of Halo 2)

1. TEAM FORTRESS 2

This may just be my favorite game of all time. I have sunk almost 300 hours into this bad boy, and I have LOVED every single minute of it. It's the best balanced multiplayer of all time. 2fort is the greatest map ever made. It may not be huge, but I'm sure I could write at least 20 pages of strategeries for the map. Every class is just as good as the other. I love how stylized the look of it all is. Every class is vastly different from the other. Feel like being sneaky? Slap on a disguise with the Spy class. In the mood for mindless killing? Flame on with the Pyro, who has a hadoken for a taunt. Guess what? Valve is still in the process of updating this game and adding maps. FOR FREE!!! The wacky sense of humor the game has won me over with such quotes from the Heavy "WHO TOUCHED SASHA! (his minigun", "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH". I also love the pyros "Mmhmmphmmp" to everything. I've made close friendships while playing on my favorite server. My mom makes fun of me for playing this game so much, saying I need to get a life. She doesn't know I don't watch TV or movies while I'm not busy. I play this with my pals. It's way more fun than anything that will ever be on TV, save Seinfeld.