In the spirit of fall cleaning and the inevitable stumbling across something that makes you stop and think of old times I will resurrect this thread. Its not too old but still has some dust.

There have certainly been a lot of memorable games since I first started playing videogames. I don't think I have a favorite of all favorites because each game worth mentioning means something a little different.

Sports Game: NHL 95 (pc)
I stared at the back of the box everytime I was dragged to the mall. I still wonder what the clerk thought of me as I would just sit there reading the back over and over again. I finally got it for my 12th birthday and I dont know how many seasons I have played since. I still have the game and actually keep my high school computer around so I can still load it up every once in awhile.

Multiplayer Sports game: NCAA Football 2000 (ps1)
Me and 5 other buddies started a dynasty one evening my junior year in high school and never looked back. Hours upon hours were spent playing and recruiting. If we played each other a whole day was set aside for that one game as it was considered the game of the week and the question on everyone's mind was always "have you played your game yet?" so we could advance to the next week. If you looked at my GPA for my Junior Year you could clearly see what took priority during those seasons. I continued to enjoy the series (actually skipped it this year when the same flaws since 2000 were still present) but nothing will ever compare to that first time playing and the guys I played with.

Multiplayer FPS: Timesplitters 2 (gamecube)
I don't think anyone beat the actual storyline to the game. We spent all of our time in multiplayer or trying to complete the challenges. It was just good all around fun. Whether playing in between classes or while drinking before/after the bars or just because we had nothing better to do.

Online: Battlefield 2 (pc)
My first real online game. It has almost everything you need in a military setting and of course once I found tacticalgamer.com the experience is over the top. From the forums to the final round of a scrim I have experienced every sort of emotion, except love, while playing BF2 and its mods.

Strategy:
I dont have a favorite strategy game. There have been too many that have done it right. Age of Empires 2 was easy to pick up. Empire Earth was the first for me to use sea, air and land units together. Rise of Nations was similar to Empire Earth but had better units and was more polished. The Total War series brought epic battles and strategic level play together. Dawn of War/Company of Heroes are just all out fights and I would consider them the Hollywoods of strategy games, just great visuals and intense action.

Action/FPS: Crusader:No Regret (pc)
This might be my favorite all-time but there is no way I could leave these other games out for the reasons I have mentioned. No Regret had everything in it including 16 different weapons, and handful of different explosives for your liberal use. The story was well written and was tied together by live action cut scenes. The graphics were amazing and the isometric view was done amazingly well. You were simply a badass red armored mercenary known as Silencer with a full arsenal at your fingertips. I would actually have to stop before entering a room to plan how I would dispose of my foes. Would I leave nothing but skeletons using the "Broiler" or would I use the "Crystalizer" to create my own frozen statues with the option of shattering them like glass afterwards. Just a ton of different options for a 12 year old boy. I still love this game and like NHL 95 I still hop on every now and then to play it. The visuals and sounds still hold water today and if you set your system calender to 12/25 you get an amped version of a couple of christmas carols instead of the normal soundtrack. It has everything a computer game needs; visuals, sounds, lots of options (weapons), intuitive gameplay and a solid story.

Honorable Mention: Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher's Bay (XBOX, pc)
I just thought I would mention this game. It might be the only game where I have beaten the game and immediately restarted to simply play again. Great visuals, great acting (Vin Diesel is perfect), exceptional story and almost flawless execution. If you find yourself at a store and its sitting there I would definitely recommend picking it up especially since its just $20. I actually owned the xbox version and after I sold my xbox system I picked up the pc version. It is a little short but the gameplay is superb and the story is well written.