Mrrix32

Martin's 2025 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I started this year by watching a couple of films while I was sick, that fell into the strangely specific category of “Japanese films released in 2023 that are about PTSD caused by World War II” I would recommend both Godzilla Minus One, and The Boy And The Heron.

This year we only saw 1 film in the cinema, which was “28 Years Later”. Shockingly, I haven't seen Tron: Ares yet as I haven't found the time

I have added a new category this year as I realised that we had watched 4 films based on Stephen King stories this year

I predict a rise in animated films coming in next year's post 😅

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻: 42 (22 released this year)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: The Boy and the Heron (2023)

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱: Cocaine Bear (2023)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Sinners

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The Running Man (2025)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹: Wake Up Dead Man

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁: Eternity

𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁: Sinners, Eternity, The Long Walk, The Conjuring: Last Rites, Hallow Road

Martin's 2024 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 08:00:00 +0000

It’s that time of year again!

As with recent years, most film watching was at home with only(!) 8 films in a cinema, half of those being on the tail end of an Unlimited membership from last year. But we also went to a Vue cinema for the first time. Wish there was one closer, much nicer seats and cheaper than Cineworld!

I started the year keeping good track of films and even rating them, but as the year went on the ratings stopped, and a film or two got missed from the log, but I think I have most of them!

In my selection I have only included films that released this year. Partly this is because it reduces the number of films I have to choose between, and partly if I included the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the Cornetto trilogy it wouldn’t feel like I’m giving anyone else a chance!

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻: 76 (29 released this year)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸/𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺: Deadpool And Wolverine

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝘆: Ricky Stanicky

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Abigail

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Fly Me To The Moon

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹: Terrifier 3

𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁: One Life, The Iron Claw, Totally Killer (2023)

Martin's 2023 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 12:14:00 +0000

Just realised that this is my 10th year doing this post, probably should have done something special, but didn’t have the time :P

2023 marked the year that I had enough of Disney’s endless sequels and remakes, the only Marvel film I watched was Black Panther 2 (which came out last year), and haven’t seen any of this year’s Marvel or Star Wars TV series.

I did see an increased number of films in the cinema this year (though didn’t keep track of how many) as Cineworld currently has a reduced minimum term of 3 months (rather than 12), so we were able to sign up for a short time rather than committing for a year. As it was the end of the year, lots of horror films were seen.

Most of the films that I have chosen to highlight are from either this year or last year

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻: 74

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿: Barbarian

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Super Mario Bros (2023)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝘆: Weird, The Al Yankovic Story

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Tetris

(2nd) 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: The Menu

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹: Hunger Games Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) | Glass Onion (2022)

𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁: Barbarian, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Scream VI, Knock at the Cabin, Elemental & Tetris. Honourable TV mention - The Fall of the House of Usher

Martin's 2022 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Dec 2022 14:30:00 +0000

Cinema is starting to discover its “new normal”. Disney films are launching on Disney+ almost exactly 90 days after they hit cinemas, Paramount is trying to push its own streaming service and Warner Bros is cancelling completed films.

As with last year, we did not have our Unlimited membership, and again only saw one film in the cinema. My film list will contain every film watched at cinema, at home or on an aeroplane.

I should start rating films again after I watch them, as looking back, films that I didn’t like are standing out more than those that I did.

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮: 1

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿: The Black Phone (2022)

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻: 97 (30 of which released in 2022)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Turning Red (2022) | Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸/𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗱𝘆: Keanu (2016) | The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Malignant (2021) | Nope (2022)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮: Dark Waters (2019)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Morb…. No, sorry. It may have been the only one out this year, but its not getting the award

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Rocket Man (2019)

𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁: Promising Young Woman (2020), The Black Phone (2022), Nope (2022), Midsommar (2019), Dark Waters (2019)

Martin's 2021 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 19:13:00 +0000

Here goes.

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿: A Quiet Place Part 2

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻: 1

Cost: £6.29 per film

.... I didn't go to the cinema much this year.

In May, we decided that although cinemas were reopening, we were not ready to go back. So after being a member for 10 years, I canceled my Unlimited Card.

We went to the cinema once in July (we had a giftcard with some money left on it), with plans to go again a few days later to see Black Widow. However due to lack of social distancing measures in the cinema we decided to cancel the second trip.

However with 500+ films on our shelf, a Netflix account and a Disney+ account, we were not short of things to watch. So for the first time since I started this in 2014, let's include films I watched at home. In cases where the “winner” is a film from a previous year, I have also included my choice from films released this year.

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 (Released 2021): 23

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 (Total): 57

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: The Country Bears (2002) | Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Luca (2021)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Free Guy (2021)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸: Jungle Cruise (2021)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹: The Suicide Squad (2021) (It’s kind of a sequel?)

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Venom Let there be Carnage (2021)

𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁: Gone Girl (2014), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), The Addams Family 2 (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021), Forrest Gump (1994)

I have not yet seen “Spider-man: No Way Home” yet, so there may be a late entry for 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸/𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺

My 2020-21 Playthrough of Assassin's Creed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 May 2021 18:00:00 +0000

One year ago, Ubisoft announced Assassin's Creed Valhalla. At that point, I had not played any Assassins Creed games however the viking setting of the new game interested me. I knew there was more to Assassin's Creed than the history part, so wanted to experience the older games before getting the new one.

Assassin's creed is a series of 12 games (plus spin-offs) that tells the story of a secret war between the Assassins (you) and the Templars (the bad guys). Each game is set in 2 different time periods, the modern day and which ever era that particular game is taking place. The modern day sections are generally less interesting and in some of the games they basically didn't bother to include them, but the general idea is that using modern technology you can use DNA to relive ancestors memories. The historical part of the games have you exploring an open world, living through historical events, meeting famous people, and climbing towers to get to viewpoints which you can synchronise to fill in your in-game map. Oh, also there are magical artifacts with brain controlling powers that were developed by a race of creatures that lived millennia before the human race. Your mission is to stop the Templars getting their hands on these.

I'd picked up Assassin's Creed 1-3 digitally on PS3 when they were on sale a few years back, but never played them. I also had a few of them on PC from Humble Bundle or when they had been given away free on UPlay.

As of last weekend, I have completed the story on all the mainline games except Valhalla (that one is waiting for a bit longer).

I feel my favourites are 2, Brotherhood, Black Flag and Syndicate. I wouldn't say any of the games are bad, but there are games that I don't remember the story as well as others (Rogue, Revelations, Unity)

Playing the first Assassin's Creed, I really liked the gameplay mechanics. However, it got rather repetitive and I was surprised that it was released before PS3 had trophies (not that I care too much about that). This game was a good starting point for the series and was a good base to build upon in future games. One thing that I've realised didn't carry forward was people commenting on your climbing of buildings (or avoiding soldiers seeing you climbing a tower to get to a viewpoint). This game is the only PS3/Xbox 360 Assassin's Creed game that has not had a re-release on a newer console.

Rather than continuing on the PS3, I continued the story on Xbox One with the The Ezio Collection, which is a remaster of Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood and Revelations. This set of games is the only time that you play as the same character in the historical portion in more than one game. Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood kind of blur together in my memory, there are portions that I know were in one game and portions that I know were in the other (and DEFINITELY know what happened at the end of 2.

Martin's 2020 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 13:37:00 +0000

I saw JoJo Rabbit on 4 January 2020. After the film, I thought “This is great, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up on my list of best films of the year”. How right I was.

We saw 14 films in the cinema this year, which is quite a drop from last year’s 58. But still works out at only £3.94 per film (not including premium upgrades).

So, here are my top films of the year:

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻: 14

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿: JoJo Rabbit

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Onward

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: Sonic The Hedgehog

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: The Invisible Man

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: 1917

Although “Military Wives” is technically the best Musical film and “Birds of Prey” is technically the best Comic Book/Superhero film I saw this year, I didn’t like either of them enough to award them a place above. Equally for “Best Sequel” I would have had a choice of “Birds of Prey” (If that counts as a sequel) or “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” (Which I had already watched last year). That being said, nothing was bad enough to win Worst Film.

This is the first year that “Best Film Featuring The Rock” has not had an entry since the award was introduced. (The only acting credit on his IDMb this year was for the music video for “The Man” by Taylor Swift)

I don’t know if this post will happen next year, or if it will be in a different form. With releases changing and some coming to streaming, cinema is certainly changing.

Martin's 2019 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 13:37:00 +0000

We saw 58 films this year, which is quite a drop from last year’s 85. But still works out at only £3.70 per film (not including premium upgrades).

This year saw the introduction of ScreenX at Cineworld Crawley (which includes screens on the side of the cinema as well), although initially I was not impressed with it, I have found it to be a nice addition to certain films (Although I still find IMAX the most immersive experience).

So, here are my top films of the year:

Number of films seen: 58

Best Film of the Year: Joker (Close 2nd: Knives Out)

Worst Film: Dumbo

Best Animated: The Addams Family

Best Comic Book film: Joker

Expected to be bad but was surprisingly Good: Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw

Best Comedy: Stuber

Best Video Game Film: Detective Pikachu

Best Film Featuring The Rock: Fighting With My Family

Best Horror Film: IT Chapter 2

Best Historical Film: On The Basis Of Sex

Best Drama: Knives Out

Alex’s Best: Knives Out, Red Joan, Zombieland: Double Tap, Joker, On The Basis Of Sex

Note: This is the first time DC has won best comicbook/superhero film, and the first year that no Marvel film (Whether MCU, Fox, Sony or Disney Animated) has appeared at all on my list.

This year Disney made the most in a single year at the box office that any studio ever has (~£10 billion), yet if they hadn’t bought 20th Century Fox (which released “Stuber”), this would be the first year that Disney has not appeared on the “Best” lists. This should however not be taken as me saying that Stuber is the best Disney film of 2019.

Martin's 2018 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 13:37:00 +0000

Time for my annual round up of cinema this year.

We saw 85 different films at the cinema this year. (The highest since I started counting!)

That works out at £2.53 per film (plus any upgrades for IMAX/4DX. Also not taking into account any films we saw multiple times)

Best film: Avengers: Infinity War

Best sequel: Avengers: Infinity War

Best Disney film: Avengers: Infinity War

Best Super Hero Film:

.... You know what. Let's start again, excluding that from the list.

Favourite film: Ready Player One

Best sequel: Incredibles 2

Best Super Hero Film: Black Panther

Best Non-Marvel Marvel Film: Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse

Best comedy: Tag

Best Video Game Film: Ready Player One

Best Film Featuring The Rock*: Rampage

Best Horror Film: A Quiet Place

Best Historical Film: Darkest Hour

Best new concept: Downsizing

I planned to include "Worst Film" but this but to would have been a 30 way tie. Couldn't even narrow it down to "Worst Sequel"

*Runner up for Video Game Film and I wanted to shout it out

Martin's 2017 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 13:37:00 +0000

Generally at the end of the year I look back at the films of the year and say what I thought. Due to me moving house in the year, I lost track of the number of films I saw in 2017 (although I have tried to work that out from Facebook). Also it means that I may not remember some of the films I saw. However:

Number of films seen: At least 60

Best film: Baby Driver

Best video game film: Jumanji

Best superhero film: Logan

Best Animated film: Sword Art Online

Worst film: mother! Or King Arthur

Martin's 2016 in film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 13:37:00 +0000

I saw a lot of good films in the cinema this year, The Force Awakens, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End, Shaun of the Dead (again), Scott Pilgrim, The Iron Giant.... What do you mean none of those films came out this year? I saw them in a cinema this year! OK, fine. In my opinion 2016 was a poor year in new films. I saw 53 showings of films this year (not including an all night screening of Edgar Wright films) which is significantly down from last year's 87. Anyway, on to the awards!

Best film: Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them

Worst film: Hail Caesar!

Expected to be bad but was surprisingly good: Angry Birds

Best Superhero film: Deadpool

Best Animated: Zootropolis

Best Comedy: Dirty Grandpa (Alex's pick: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates)

Hounarable mention: Star Trek Beyond

Martin's 2015 in Film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 13:37:00 +0000

Number of showings of films seen: 87

Number of unique films seen: 68

Best: Star Wars: Episode VII (Tied with the other "Best" films below)

Worst: Into the Woods

Best Animated: Home

Best Super Hero film: Big Hero 6

Best YA film: Paper Towns

Expected to be bad but was surprisingly Good: Pixels

Film I like that no one else does: Ant-Man

Martin's Film Picks of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:37:00 +0000

Best Film of the Year: Guardians of the Galaxy

Worst Film: Noah/Hercules/Expendables 3 (I couldn't choose)

Best Musical Film: Begin Again

Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie

Surprising Good Film: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Film that I like that no one else does: I, Frankenstein

My Life in Video Games

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:37:00 +0000

The below post was originally typed up in 2009. I listed my favourite video game from each year since my birth. I'd probably agree with most of this list, but I think now I would pick Theme Hospital over Goldeneye, and the 2008/9 picks would probably be different.

1991: Super Mario World

Probably the game I've played least on this list. But it's Mario and was released the year I was born it HAD to make the list. Also it has Yoshi!

1992: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
- The only point and click adventure on the list. I can remember spending hours playing this game and eventually completing it. I'm tempted to get "Staff of Kings" just so I can play "Atlantis" on the Wii :P

1993: Sim City 2000
- The first game I paid for myself. I got the Floppy Disc version, the discs ended up being re used for other purposes, and I don't know what happened to the setup files :P

1994: Jazz Jackrabbit
- Best 2D platformer series featuring a green rabbit I have ever played! I love this game, I love the sequel, I love the 3rd game in the series that was never officially released (Not that I downloaded it off a Torrent or anything ;)). I love this series so much that when I had to make a game on my college course rather than going for Pokémon, as the rest of my class expected me to, I chose to make a JJR clone. I've also got my younger cousins playing the Network version (JJR2: The Secret Files) and they ask to play it when they come round.

1995: MS Solitaire
- I needed a game for this year, so Win95 managed to get in the list. Anyone who's ever been any where near a Windows machine (That isn't currently BSODing) MUST have played this game at some point. Your bored, Internets a pain (Stupid Dial-up), and the computer in front of you doesn't have any good games, so you end up playing Solitaire. I've lost count of the number of systems I've played MS Solitaire on, Win 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, NT4, XP, Vista, 7, Mobile 2002, Mobile 2003, Mobile 5.... There's probably a few I've missed out. (Yes I've also played Solitaire on Ubuntu and the Wii, but this is the MS version I'm taking about).

1996: Super Mario 64
- NINTENDO SIXTY FOOOOUUUUUURRRRRRRR!!!!!! Best console EVAH. And this is probably the best game on it. If you ask my mate Chris he will say it is the best game ever created, I just say best on this console. It's Mario. It's 3D. It's got mushrooms, stars, shells, Bowser, Peach and Mario can touch lava without dieing instantly!

1997: Goldeneye
- Best.....FPS...... EVAH!

Honorary Mention: Theme Hospital

1998: Pokemon Red + Blue
- Before I begin, fans of Blue, I'm sorry. I typed "Pokemon Red and Blue" into Wikipedia and the Article only has the Red box art.
- The start of something amazing. Although I don't own either of the original games, I've included these in the list due to the huge impact they have had on me :P
1999: Super Smash Bros.
- Pikachu fighting Mario.... need I say more?

2000: Pokemon Gold and Silver
- Everybody wants to be a master, everybody want to show their skills, everybody wants to get there faster, make their way to the top of the hills.
- Pokemon Gold and Silver, the best games in the series and currently being remade on the DS. I played this so much I'm surprised the on board battery still works! Although I never Caught 'em All it is an amazing game and I still play it (Sometimes on GBC, sometimes on an emulator)... oh and the cloning glitch, that was fun :P
2001: Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
- It's Pokemon, it involves moving blocks around, and Tetris was released before I was born... so here it is. Pokemon Puzzle Challenge. Think a Pokemon version of Bejewled, except the blocks rise from the bottom instead of fall from the top. I lost my original copy of the game, might still be in my room some where. I bought a second copy in France on my way back from a college trip to Disney Land (There was a computer conference thingy in Paris, it was optional.... nobody went). We stopped at a shopping center near the ferry terminal, there was a Toys R Us, naturally I went straight for the games and found it there, I have no idea why they where still selling GBC games in 2008 but they where and I bought one :P

2002: Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Maybe the rules are still the same but more characters means more varied fights rather than repeating your self. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
2003: The Simpsons: Hit & Run
- Seriously I needed something for this year :P I do still have this game, but I haven't played it in ages..... now I'm tempted to install it and connect a Wiimote to my PC :D

2004: The Sims 2
- The Sims would have got in the list but Pokemon Gold + Silver HAD to take that year. The Sims was an addictive game for some reason, and the Sims 2 fixes (almost) everything that was wrong with the original game. Anoyingly I have the CD version as the DVD version wasn't released at launch in the UK for some reason.

2005: Mario Kart DS
- First Mario Kart to be fully online. Great game, got played a lot in my science class on my DS. I managed to get an A, so that shows how much I actually got to play on it at those times :P The online play is amazing as long as your Internet connection is, and the feeling when you beat a Japanese person is amazing, (Yes, I know not all Japanese people are Gaming Wizards, but in my head they are)
2006: Tetris DS

2007: Excite Truck/Pokemon D+P/Portal/GH3/Mario and Sonic
- Still undecided on this one. Here are the nominees
  - Excite Truck: Play your own music in game, and an early example of a driving game on the Wii
  - Pokemon D/P: It's Pokemon, on the DS with online trading..... Awesome!
  - Portal: One of the best puzzle games I've played and certainly the best value for money.
  - Guitar Hero 3: I'm just a GH addict, and 3 was the first version I owned. Just a game I can pick up and play.
  - Mario and Sonic: Mario.... and Sonic..... in the same game and the universe didn't implode!
2008: Megaman 9
- Another year where I had to make a tough desision. SSB:Brawl went because the two previous games in the series are listed already, Spore was the biggest let down ever (Well maybe Duke Nukum Forever), and Mario Kart Wii missed the cut as the graphics aren't much better than MK:DD!! and MK:DS has online. That left Guitar Hero Would Tour andMegaman 9. As much as I love GH, the NES style graphics have won this round.
  - I still haven't completed it. I think I've defeated four of the Bosses, and keep failing repetitive tasks. But the difficulty plus the retroness (even if it dies have DLC) make this an amazing game. Oh and the music is fantastic! (Download the Soundtrack!!!!)
2009: Retro Game Challenge
- Probably not going to get any "Game of the Year" awards, and it hasn't been released in the UK yet, but Retro Game Challenge, is just so much fun to play. Although it's full of rip-offs of old games, it's made in a fun way and you get to play them all on your DS. It can get a bit repetitive at times, but what ya gonna do?

If you've read the whole of this list you might have worked out that I don't give a flying fishcake about the quality of the graphics in games. As long as they are fun to play, I'll play them. I'm not one of these people who needs a HD picture to play Guitar Hero.
The games I have picked are my own personal choices and I'm sure you will have a different opinion to me (Especially if your name is Paul).
The year of release comes from Wikipedia and is most likely to be the US release date, although I know a couple have the UK one (and some where released in the same year in both countries).
Yes I have noticed that the list mostly consists of either PC or Nintendo exclusives, but that's me. If you knew me you wouldn't expect anything else.