I vacillated over whether to include Rock Band 2 on the list, but it just came down to how much time I spent with the game and how much fun I had which is the primary job of a video game. So, I regret nothing!
24.
Super Smash Brothers: Melee (Gamecube: 2001)
Might as well get the party games out of the way first, I guess. By their very nature party games just aren't as fun when played solo and
Super Smash Brothers: Melee, much more than
Rock Band actually, certainly lives up to that. I don't think I've ever had a desire to play this game by myself but man oh man is this game fun with a room full of friends.
Before
Rock Band, the Smash Brothers series was the party game of choice for my friends and I. Lounging on a couch, drinking copious amounts of soda, staying up way too late, while hurling sexually-laced insults and smash attacks at each other, this game defined my immediate post-high school years.
The gameplay is uber-simple but fairly robust: choose from amongst a roster of Nintendo characters and beat the shit out of your friends. Everything works in this game: the items are all fun, the stages are varied, and every character has their own suite of tricks that make them unique and (mostly) fun to play without being overpowered or worthless. The fact that Nintendo was able to do this with such a fairly expansive selection of characters is impressive.
You can have computer bots in the game to fill the holes left by friends that have to work, have school or are out with their significant other, but it's just not the same.
Super Smash Brothers: Melee excels when you have four people playing in the same dingy (basement) room and sitting on the same cheeto-stained couch. There's nothing quite like screaming sexually suggestive commentaries on the barnyard proclivities of your friends' mothers after a particularly intense bout.
As with
Rock Band, my choice over which entry in the Smash Brothers series really came down to how much time I spent with each game. I probably played the original more, but Melee is an improvement in nearly every single way. Comparing Brawl and Melee is a bit tougher, mostly because I just haven't spent as much time with Brawl. It's a good entry, but all of my great memories come from Melee. So suck it Brawl!
Anyways,
Super Smash Brothers: Melee comes highly recommended for people who love to yell their friends, for people that hate their thumbs, and for those who've always wanted to beat the crap out of Yoshi.