2. Metroid Prime
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios, Inc.
Platform: GameCube
Whether you call it a shooter or adventure game there’s no denying Prime’s place in the history of gaming. Retro Studios did what no gamer could have expected, merging the moody atmosphere, visuals, and sound design of one of Nintendo’s top franchises with a first-person perspective. It was a gamble, and it paid off big time.

3. Kingdom Hearts
Publisher: Square
Developer: Square
Platform: PS2
In a move that incited quite a few chuckles in the gaming community, Square Enix teamed up with Disney to create a brand new action RPG featuring both Final Fantasy and Disney characters. Kingdom Hearts quickly became a global sensation, as its excellent gameplay and nostalgia-inducing story hooked countless gamers around the world.

4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar North
Platform: PS2
One year after GTA III changed what we knew about the PS2 and invented the 3D sandbox, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City arrived with a bigger city, better soundtrack, more cars, and Ray Liotta voicing the main character. Yatchts, the horribly awesome color scheme of the ’80s, and everything you loved about GTA was in one game, and it was good. Very good.

5. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Silicon Knights
Platform: GameCube
Before Silicon Knights bolted for seemingly greener pastures at Microsoft, the development team produced an absolutely epic GameCube game that really screwed with the mind. The story spanned centuries and offered unique experiences in each time period that intersected each other. It was an intense and haunting experience, enhanced with creative insanity effects that made the player rethink his own reality.

6. Splinter Cell
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Platform: Xbox
Ubisoft Montreal offered up Splinter Cell and suddenly the Xbox had a game that could compete with, and in some ways, surpass the mighty Metal Gear Solid franchise. The stealth combat, making heavy use of dynamic lighting, ushered in a whole new wave of clones and wannabes while Sam Fisher watched from the top.

7. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PC
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos may not have broken any conventions of the genre, but good luck finding a smarter, cleaner real-time strategy game in 2002, much less 2009. Like Diablo II, Warcraft III was built to be played online, but Reign of Chaos’ strong single-player campaign (thanks in part to a great story) makes it one of the decade’s best.

8. Virtua Fighter 4
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: SEGA-AM2
Platform: PS2
In 2002 it was Virtua Fighter 4 that ruled the brawling roost, and while SEGA has since bettered the formula with the all-conquering fifth installment, it was this game that refined the pugilism into an art form. Its battles were tense and brutal, and its fighting was more technical than anything that had come before.

9. Animal Crossing
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Platform: GameCube
Nintendo’s ‘communication game’ might look woolly and lovable but Animal Crossing is one of the most perversely addictive time-sinks ever made. Move into Animal Crossing’s idyllic universe, meet the neighbors and you’ll never escape. It’s all about trading hard graft and menial labour – from fishing to apple picking – for a scant offering of miniscule materialistic pleasures and, assuming you’re not instantly lobotomised by the experience, you’ll quickly realise its absolute evidence of Nintendo’s true evil.

10. Ratchet & Clank
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Insomniac Games
Platform: PS2
Insomniac’s classic helped change the way that we look at the classic platforming genre by mixing in a ton of action with a deep weapons system. The fantastic art direction, stellar animation and intricate level design gave us an awesome playground to dive into, and it kick-started one of thebest PlayStation franchises.

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