Whether it's Super Mario, Final Fantasy, Onimusha or Senran Kagura, which series appeal to you and have you played all the main-line and sub-games? I'm curious to know what tastes are out there and whether we have gamers who only buy games from that specific franchise.

My favourite overall series has to be Assassin's Creed. I own every single one of the main releases, and have downloaded a few of the sub-releases/DLC titles/etc.

Do I think it is the best franchise ever? Not at all. But it's got to be my favourite if I keep buying the games. I love getting lost in the settings in the games and the stories are always amazing. I don't mind the endless sandboxing in them either because I can just wander the world and find stuff without it feeling like a chore. Could use fewer "follow me over here" missions though. That's the biggest drawback to the games.

The Legend of Zelda is up there too. I don't own every game, but I've played most of them. I haven't enjoyed every game though. I hated Majora's Mask, I thought Link's Awakening was meh despite all the love that game gets. Maybe if I played it again I'd enjoy it, but I don't have a Game Boy anymore so whatever. I didn't get to play Skyward Sword but my daughter loved it. Everything else I've played in the series has been phenomenal.

I'll think of more. Not going to comment on Mario because I think it's a given that it's one of the best series ever, if not of all-time.

Let's list them in chronological order...

Donkey Kong Country - Was really into the series until they started introducing the musical games. I would like to play through the Game Boy ports at some point as well as the Retro Studio sequels.

The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina convinced me games were more than just 'toys' and could rival any media form. Have been an avid collector since with only the Four Swords-style and the DS games eluding my collection.

Pokemon - Fell hook, line and sinker for the fad and I find myself returning to it every now and then. I stopped buying the sub-games after Puzzle League was released and I'm missing White, Black 2, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon from my main collection. I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to buying those games.

Final Fantasy - In the PS1 era, I couldn't believe you had to have 4 discs just to play through a single game. It sounded like the most epic series imagineable and I enjoyed it's take on the high fantasy genre. My interest started with IX and I bought every game from there until XII came out where it seemed to be focusing a lot on auto-attacks which took me out of it. Later on I've found myself returning to earlier entries and it seems like every year I tick at least one FF game off the list. In recent years that's included 6-9, XV, FFT, FFTA and FFTA2. I do eventually want to play through XII now that the Zodiac edition has been released.

Tales of - I bought an edition of Hyper magazine just to read their review on the latest Paper Mario RPG. It scored a 90% which I thought was impressive, but then on the next page, this game called Tales of Symphonia scored a 91%. Naturally I had to get my hands on it and it's gone onto become one of my all-time favourites. Collecting for the series though has proven to be a nightmare. Either the games come out in limited qualities, or they don't come out at all. In recent times they've been more consistent, unfortunately it seems like they've skimped on production in recent times. The last game I played through was Xillia 2 which looked like a Disney-sequel on paper but got surprisingly better later on.

Yakuza - Well, I'm just starting. I kept seeing Yakuza 5 rated as one of the best PS3 games of all-time, so I snaffled it up when it went on sale for PS3. Didn't really get a chance to play it before Yakuza 0 came out so I jumped into it and was blown away by it. The story-telling in the game is incredible and as melodramatic as it can be, it never loses it's sense of enjoyment. I've played through 0 & Kiwami, now I'm just waiting for Kiwami 2 & the PS3 ports to make their way over.

Dragon Quest - My playthrough of VIII was one of my favourite experiences of all-time. I've since been buying the 3DS games, but I've been holding off on playing them until XI comes out in September. For years I complained about Final Fantasy fixing what didn't need to be fixed, not realising it was merely trying to compliment DQ which doesn't push for innovation. It made me appreciate the genre more and each adventure is a fun wholesome experience.

Final Fantasy
The best series of all time. As Pete said, the creators strove to innovate on every new release. Certainly every original idea was not a success, but there's far more good than bad and each new game provided a fresh experience. I've played all the main games in the series up to 13-2. Finished most of them. Some multiple times. Also Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Not played any of the other spinoff games.

Pokemon
Fell in love with Pokemon Red. Played Yellow and Silver. Got fed up of the series partway through Emerald. Didn't play until Pokemon X. My love for the genre was rekindled but the fire was extinguished once the credits rolled. At least until a friend inspired me to start Pokemon FireRed, and that's where I am right now. I recently watched a speedrun of Black 2. It looks excellent. That generation might be next.

Onimusha
My love for Onimusha 2 is well-documented. Must have finished that game at least five times, which is a lot for me. I've played the three other games in the main series, but none of them have quite the same appeal.

The Legend of Zelda
Not the biggest Zelda fan but I've played enough games over a long enough span of time for it to count. It started with the Game Boy, as most things did for me. Link's Awakening. Never finished it despite multiple attempts. Oracle of Seasons. Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time (3DS remake). Link Between Worlds. I've also tried the original but tapped out pretty quickly. I'm currently on a long hiatus on Majora's Mask. To be honest I doubt I'll play it again.

Crash Bandicoot
Favourite platforming series. Played the first three multiple times. Also finished Crash Bash with a friend.

Spyro The Dragon
I disregarded this franchise for a long time due to my stubborn loyalty towards Crash, but game them a shot a couple of years ago and they are just as good. Finished the first three games. Once only, but I'm sure to return to them in the future.

Project Zero/Fatal Frame
The best horror game franchise bar none. Love the combat, the atmosphere, and the story. Again I've finished the first three. There are more sequels, one for the Wii-U and one for the DS, but neither appeal to me. I'm content with the trilogy.

Golden Sun
The third is pretty bad, but the first two are masterpieces and among the very best Nintendo handheld games. Certainly the best handheld exclusive games I've ever played.

RT - It's interesting that both Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening happen to be your least favourite of the series. Both games have a lot in common in regards to straying from series conventions and being based outside of Hyrule. What turned you off Majora's Mask? Was it the time mechanic?

Emp - Black 2 and Heart Gold are my favourite additions to the series and well worth a playthrough. The only problem is, both can be pricey, so you'll have to keep an eye out for a cheaper price. I'm not sure about the UK market, but here Heart Gold still goes for above RRP.

A couple more series I forgot about...

Tekken - In the late 90s, I was all about Nintendo. Games like Crash Bandicoot, Ape Escape & Spyro the Dragon all seemed like solid jaunts but they paled in comparison to Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie & Ocarina of Time. I was quite comfortable with my Nintendo lifestyle, that was until a friend of mine introduced me to Tekken. The Tekken series had everything I enjoyed about fighting games, a varied cast of characters with interesting designs, fluid combos, memorable moves and vivid locales, there was nothing more satisfying than unleashing wave after wave of combos on your opponent. In that moment, there was a chink in my all-Nintendo lifestyle and eventually I had to buckle so I could get my hands on both Tekken 2 and 3 for the PS1. While 3 is viewed as the premier title, I felt I had to get 2 since it had so many original characters and there was something about the 'new generation' vibe of 3 that put me off.

Most fans enjoy Tekken because of the fluid combat and state of the art 3D fighting engine, but I was all about the lore. The original trilogy had a cryptic story that you had to piece together through opening CG and whatever piece of info you could find online. It was fun connecting all the dots and when I came across the Tekken movie, I had to see what their interpretation of the story was. It was pretty different to say the least and went in that edgy anime direction that missed the charm and comedy of the series.

My interest in the series started to fade with Tekken 4. I followed every development of that game, including live feeds of the Japanese arcade scene where they were unlocking all the new characters. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the game, especially since it was revealed that Jin had been hiding out in my neck of the woods to prepare for the forth King of the Iron Fist tournament. I got the game, played the bejesus out of it, but came to the realisation that the series had gotten too serious for it's own good. Before I enjoyed how vague the cinematics were, here they'd spend minutes narrating each character's back-story and campaign which only served to show how silly the games had gotten.

I fell out of the series around that time, but when the reviews started pouring in for 5 I had to get my hands on it. The game was a real return to form for the series and felt like the definitive version. It was so good I haven't felt compelled to play another Tekken game since and every now and then will bust it out for a round or two.

Kingdom Hearts - Kind of an off-shoot of the Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts captured my imagination when it debuted 16 years ago. No other game had it's level of fan service and the multi-verse game design made the game feel a lot bigger than it truly was. One moment you could be swimming with Ariel in Atlantica, the next you could be swinging from vine to vine with Tarzan in the jungle, no other game had that kind of scope. Since then it's proven to be a frustrating series to follow given all the side-games, but the presentation is always consistent and for an Action RPG it holds it's own against most series.

Starting out, Legacy of Kain, I've voiced countless times that my greatest gaming lament is this never getting a final chapter, thus remaining an unfinished masterpiece; we got the finale of Raziel, but never Kain. At this point, it sounds like Reboot might be the best we get. I absolutely adore every entry in this franchise, dating back to the PS1 original.

Resident Evil, it really hurts my feelings how much I hate RE5 and RE6...0, 1, 2, 3, CVX, and 4 all stand as some of my favorite games, and I really enjoyed 7 and the Revelations games (especially 1). So aside from side series like survivor, those are the only black marks that knocked it down a notch or two on my favorite list.

Ninja Gaiden, been onto these since the NES original, some of the toughest games from the very beginning (long before everthing was "the Dark Souls of" for being difficult). Much like RE, dropped down a peg or two because Ninja Gaiden 3 was a massive bummer.

Yakuza, I was a late comer to this one, I played a bit of one back in the day, but then just kinda forgotten about it (wierd considering it was the successor to Shenmue, a series I loved)...but then PS+ gave Yakuza 4 for free, I played maybe 30 minutes, then went out and purchased 1-3. PS+ also gave Yakuza 5 not long after (I wasn't able to play Yakuza 4 for like a year, because despite having the space, it wouldn't let me download it, but when I uprgraded my harddrive, solved the problem), and went day 1 buys with 0, Kiwami, and 6 (soon with Kiwami 2). They're simply the best beat 'em ups around, a genre not exactly roaring to begin with, fun combat system, a ton of stuff to do, a crazy world, and some of the best crime/thriller narratives in gaming.

Uncharted was my first PS3 game, and was instantly in love, the characters, the set pieces, the sharp gameplay, and the superb dialog make for a thoroughly enjoyable experience each time. Always pushing graphics, and with some of the best character work in gaming (something that rolls over to the Last of Us).

God of War I fell in love with from the first moments of the first game that I got to play on some demo disk (member those?), now it's built one of my favorite gaming mythologies (still behind LoK), and has some of the most brutal hack-and-slashing you'll ever encounter. The last entry coming out, largely reinventing itself, and remaining all kinds of amazing. Ascenion being the only "eh" title of the bunch for me.

The Arkham series, as a long time comic book near, Arkham Asylum was a godsend. Comic book games didn't exactly have a history of stellar performances, even a mediocre game could have been well regarded, but instead, we got basic perfection, you WERE Batman in this game. Not only a great comic book game, but a great game PERIOD. The City came out and undid it in almost every way, with the best boss fight in the series, Mr. Freeze. The Origins came out and didn't, but was still immensely fun, and has some of the best boss fights in the series (except the aforementioned). Knight was bit of a disappointment due to the heavy Batmobile focus (despite the Batmobile itself being fantastic), rather than the real gem in dual combat, but still a mostly great entry. Fitting end to Rocksteady's run.

Devil May Cry was the first PS2 game I ever played, and boy am I glad I didn't give up after the abysmal DMC2, because 3 came out and still stands as one of the best of its kind, then 4 was a ton of, fun too. And while a bit iffy all around, even the reboot DMC had pretty entertaining combat. That black mark of DMC2, literally the game that made me propose a "no day one" policy on all but a very select few franchise (I didn't even get Uncharted or Arkham day 1 until 4 and Knight), is the only negative for be.

And finally, METAL GEAR. I played the original Metal Gear way back when on the NES, then I rented the original Solid on PS1, but never got that far because as a rental I didn't have Meryl's code on the back of the box. Then I actually beat MGS2, but not having actually beaten part 1, the resolution didn't exactly resonate with me. Later I rented MGS3, and for some reason just couldn't get into it, and missed 4 all together. Now, MGSV is starting to get hyped to high hell, and I did remember enjoying part 2, and I ended up finding a cheap copy of the 1st Metal Gear Solid (now with case), and just couldn't put it down. So, after beating this, I saw there was the "Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection" for PS3 for not too much, so I jumped on that too. I then learned the MG I played on NES was a bastardized inferior version to the remarkable MSX originals (which I'd rate as two of the best 8-bit games ever, surprisingly complex for their time), enjoyed MGS2 much more with proper context; and now, ironically, the one I couldn't get into, then strongly established itself as not only my favorite of the franchise, but one of my very favorite games ever. MGSIV then brings an almost perfect conclusion to the entire series, bring everything full circle, and giving one of the most epic (emotionally) final fights of all time. The I hit up Peace Walker, which turns out to be also surprisingly deep for a port of a PSP game, must be one of the best on the consoles, stands toe-to-toe with console games. And finally, I love Ground Zeroes, and find the Phantom Pain to be a near perfect unfinished masterpiece (just close off the Liquid plot line, and it's an instant 10). Even the completely different genre hack-and-slash spinoff Revengeance manages to be amazing, which other franchise manages that? So that's 8-9 (depending if you count GZ together with TPP) games, all amazing,all unforgettable, not a stinker in the bunch...VR Missions was pretty damn fun too. No other franchise has managed this for my money.

Does Call of Duty count?

I've fallen out of gaming over the past several years, but I remember when Medal of Honor first came out and thinking that was the dopest shit. For some reason, I couldn't get my hands on my own copy though and somehow got redirected to Call of Duty. I was hooked and loyal ever since.

Final Fantasy, Mega Man, and Super Mario are the series that come to mind but I will go with the lesser known Suikoden series. One of my friends had heard amazing things about the series so played my first one in part 3. Some of the characters are in multiple games but the stories mostly standalone. Three had a slow start since it jumps between 3 characters. After the characters stories started mixing it got better. Still it was just a pretty good rpg. Then I played part one later and it was much better and I understand the hype for the series a little more. Then I played Suikoden 2 which is one of the greatest thing I ever played. It is definitely on FF7 tier of games. The fourth one gets a lot of hate because the insane sea battle encounter rate. But with a gameshark you could fix that and if you get past that then it is not that bad of a game. The fifth one was also another amazing game. My only complaint is games couldn't be patch back then and team combos did less then a single person moves.

Oh, man. Way too many.

Tales of-As I enjoy the battle system and the art style of this series.  There are hits and misses but boy the good outweigh the bad, imo.

Midnight Club- Not much to say.  It is just my favorite racing series of all time.  Customization galore.  3 is not doubt my favorite in the series.

Final Fantasy- Kinda like Tales of.  There are a few duds but there are some of the best RPG's in gaming part of this series.  Any game with the name Final Fantasy always has my attention.

Yakuza- When I bought the first game back for the PS2, never did I think I'd fall in love with a series that was wishing to be GTA when I first got it.  I look forward to these more than GTA nowadays.  Kiryu and Majima keep me coming back.

Ratchet & Clank- Guns, Guns and more Guns.  Just love this series style and the inventive ways they come up with guns.  Fun bosses, fun guns and witty stories, I don't care how many of them there are.  Bring me more!

Borderlands- As far as I know, this is the only FPS I love.  Mix amazing guns with characters that have amazing abilities with fun cooperation, Borderlands is a game I keep coming back to over and over.  2 especially.

Street Fighter & Tekken-  Both different fighters but both have a place in my heart.  Just try not to mix the too.  Capcom will find a way to ruin it.

InFamous- I know it only has 3 games but love every one of these games.  Getting both ending and messing around with Good and Evil.  Never has a game made me want to hit that "New Game" option so hard.

Kingdom Hearts- Not all winners and the story may be a load of bollocks but mixing two things that I love, I look forward to each of these games and what lore it adds and what new combat mechanics we get with Sora.  Kingdom Hearts III can't come sooner.

Far Cry- They can get boring after awhile but I just enjoy leaving the story (cause they tend to suck) and explore the world created for me.  Far Cry has by far some of the most funnest playgrounds in the genre.

LEGO- I don't care how many they make.  Nothing gets me more excited than hearing a new LEGO game.  Just playing through the story and seeing a different side of humor than the original source and then going into Free Play and start unlocking the many many characters, LEGO gives me that completionist tingle every time.

Sly Cooper- Enjoyable characters, fun environments and every game seems to vastly improve over the last.  The Sly games show how the developer not only tries to outdo the last but also ups in story as well, better fleshing out the characters.  The last game was not made by Sucker Punch, but Sanzaru Games clearly shared the same vision.

Donkey Kong Country

Never got into Mario as a kid, got the DKC games instead..and it seems to be an Australian thing. Almost every Australian Youtuber I know has made a reference to being a big DKC fan at one point.
Didn’t get into DK64 until years later, because I told my parents I didn’t want it because the demo sucked (I couldn’t work out what to do in the open world). Loved the two Wii/U sequels as well, if they had the Kremlins they would have been perfect.

Mortal Kombat

I bought the SNES version as a kid, initially thinking it was Mario Kart and my dad warned me it would be too scary. I was hesitant to play it, and after that played the life out of it. I loved it, not knowing what a butchered port it was. I was Team MK all the way up to MK9, and the original ban in Australia made me switch over to Street Fighter.
(I had a US copy but online didn’t work) The ridiculous amount of DLC in MKX put me off a lot as well.

Hitman

Anyone who watches me play Hitman hates it, as I’d try to get SA rank and constantly stuff up. Absolution soured me a lot on the franchise, but the Hitman Episodic game is fantastic, despite its flawed original release.

Street Fighter

I’d play II at my uncles holiday house, but didn’t get into the series much until the release of Super Street Fighter IV which I played an obscene amount of, to the point that Zap thought it was the only game I owned. I’m on one the few that enjoyed SFxT and played a lot of SFV despite its launch being one of the worst in gaming history.

I also enjoy Call of Duty, Tekken and Final Fantasy 7,8,10.

I also like Warcraft & WoW a bit, but not a fanatic which is weird because I have a large Lich King tattoo 😂.

Never got into Mario as a kid, got the DKC games instead..and it seems to be an Australian thing. Almost every Australian Youtuber I know has made a reference to being a big DKC fan at one point.

Before the early-to-mid 90s, Nintendo was licensed through Mattel. It was perceived as a niche product and didn't have the same resonance as SEGA. Then Nintendo formed Nintendo of Australia to manage the license here, began releasing bundles, released an official publication and Nintendo began gaining traction here.

Then as Nintendo were gaining momentum, Sony launched the PlayStation and dominated the market. The Nintendo 64 performed well here, but even so it was no match for Sony's juggernaut. It's legacy was felt recently when the Crash Bandicoot compilation sold by the truckloads.

Since I won't have a chance otherwise, the Official Nintendo Magazine was something else. The actual news and reviews were fairly tame, but dear god the mailbag was something else. Graphic illustrations of Sonic being decapitated/gunned down/raped/cucked and all sorts of letters that kids under the age of the 12 shouldn't be reading. You could find similar content in the N64 Gamer mag as well. Australia has grown up since then, but there was a charm to our ozploitation and how unapologetic our country was to violence and sex.

To bring this back to Donkey Kong, the game was heavily marketed upon release. I have vivid memories of watching the Disney Afternoon block on Channel 7 and being greeted by this ad:

Compare that to say Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES and you can see why it made such an impression on me.

I can't find the yogurt that would have DKC2 comics, but here's the ice-cream bar that blew my mind.

It was unheard of to see any gaming merch back in the day. If you were lucky, you could have a nearby hobbyist store who would import from the States or Japan, but for the most part all we had were retailers who were very flimsy when it came to stock. Before it went out of business, Tandy could either be a goldmine for video games, or an absolute bust. The same could be said of Dick Smith and Harvey Norman typically only had PC games.

I don't remember the Donkey Kong 64 demo having an open-world segment. I thought it had two of the bosses and then a mine-cart mini-game? Obviously I had the complete opposite experience because if anything I was all aboard DK64 that Christmas. Every trip to Westfields had to include a DK64 session and when I got the game for Xmas, I made sure to pick up the Prima Guide alongside it. For a time, it rivaled Ocarina of Time as my favourite game on the N64. Then I finally added some more 3D Platformers to my collection and realised DK64 didn't stack up.

Absolution is the only black mark on the Hitman franchise, made even worse being the follow-up the masterpiece that was Blood Money. It's a pity the new disguise system was such ass, as that led to many of its woes. Just thankful the follow up was another master class in the genre, realizing the potential of the disguise system Absolution so widely missed the mark on.

Mine is obviously Shinobi from Sega, the original arcade game where you throw the ninja stars on the bonus level is where it all started for me. I seen that machine at a restaurant we went to when I was a kid and was in total awe, I didn't even get to play it because I didn't have any money but I just stood there and watched it in attract mode and it was the greatest thing I had ever seen in my life.

Shinobi III is my favorite game of all time, the controls and physics of the game are like Super Mario Bros as far as being a platformer, it's really tight gameplay but instead of cute plumbers and mushrooms it's fucking Ninjas and Cannon Films/X-Files setting with Street Fighter II type of fighting elements with the moves you can do, and it has the best music ever in a video game.

I didn't get to play Revenge Of Shinobi until years and years later in the 2000's when I started collecting Genesis games. It is an amazing game that is pure Cannon Films, epic music too but I still prefer III just by a hair.

Shadow Dancer is pretty sweet too, that's my favorite trilogy of the 16 bit era for sure. The series from there could have and should have been way better, the Saturn game is alright but a pretty substantial downgrade from Shinobi III, everything after that though is pretty lame overall. Fuck Sonic, Sega should have made this their flagship franchise and put everything they had into those games, Shinobi IV for the Saturn could have been so fucking great considering what that system could do with 2D or 2.5D, they didn't even make a fucking Shinobi game for the Dreamcast for crying out loud, the PS2 game sucks. If they could replicate the feel and controls of III in a 3D environment that would be sweet as hell but it never happened and probably never will. 

Jul 29, 2018 2:41:20 GMT G/B said:

LEGO- I don't care how many they make.  Nothing gets me more excited than hearing a new LEGO game.  Just playing through the story and seeing a different side of humor than the original source and then going into Free Play and start unlocking the many many characters, LEGO gives me that completionist tingle every time.

There's no bigger endorphin release than that feeling you get when you collect 100% rate of pieces in a level and hearing the sound based on whatever property you're playing. At the same time I always get so disappointed if I'm at like 95 and the level ends on me...