1. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Solid storytelling, solid gameplay, and those tech quotes, man. I don't know if any other game has ever captivated me in every way quite like this one. This is real science fiction, the likes of which you normally only see in books. Asimov would be proud.

2. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I have never in ny life played another game with lore this thick and arcane. It's been decades and people are still arguing about it. Oh, and also you're encouraged to break the game and become a god. That's a nifty bonus.

3. Starcraft: Brood War. I still maintain this is the greatest real-time strategy game of all time. I have never played another RTS that manages to maintain such balance while also having the different factions all play completely differently to each other. Just all around brilliant.

4. Dragon Age: Origins. The world, the characters, and the story all combine with old-school Infinity Engine esque gameplay to create possibly the last great traditional CRPG. When Bioware does what they do best (rather than trying to knock off Bethesda) they are really, really talented.

5. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword: From a technical gameplay standpoint this is the greatest 4X/turn-based strategy of all time. SMAC's atmosphere allows it to edge just above Civ IV but on the merits of sheer gameplay, Civ IV has yet to be topped.

Big fat honorable mentions to Yoshi's Island, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Deus Ex, Yars' Revenge, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Warcraft III, Dragon Age 2, and Super Mario RPG.