Gaming — Vladan Markovic

Top 10 (no particular order)

World of Warcraft
Final Fantasy VII
Super Mario World
Resident Evil
Tekken 3
Quake II
Tomb Raider
Final Fantasy Tactics
Freelancer
Half-Life: Alyx

Gaming history

Arcade era (1980s)

Started in arcades in the 1980s. My first game was Karate Champ (1984) — I was so young I needed a chair to stand on just to reach the controls. Became a regular, playing legendary coin-op titles: Castlevania, Galaga, Chuka Taisen, Moon Patrol, Contra, R-Type.

Home computers — Spectrum & Commodore

Moved gaming home with the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 128, loading games from cassette and floppy. Paperboy, Great Giana Sisters, and many others from the tape era.

Early consoles — Nintendo, Sega, Game Boy

Family Computer (Famicom), Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive, Game Boy. Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog, Earthworm Jim, Aladdin.

PlayStation 1

Tekken, Final Fantasy, WipEout, Ridge Racer.

All 47 games

Genre	Game	Platform	Year	Notes
MMO	World of Warcraft	PC	2004	The defining MMO. Playing since launch day 2004. A lifelong dream of a fantasy MMO realised — buying the box, seeing adventurers fighting a dragon on the back, pure goosebumps.
MMO	Final Fantasy XIV	PC / PS	2013	One of the greatest MMO comeback stories — relaunched from the failed 1.0 into a critically acclaimed MMO.
Solo RPG	Final Fantasy VII	PS1 / PC	1997	All-time favourite. Materia system, combat mechanics, an epic adventure. Changed the RPG genre forever.
Solo RPG	Mass Effect (trilogy)	PC / Xbox 360	2007–12	Epic sci-fi RPG spanning three games. Player choices carry across. One of the greatest stories in gaming.
Solo RPG	Final Fantasy XV	PS4 / Multi	2016	Open-world action RPG — Prince Noctis, a road trip across Eos, real-time combat, the Regalia, epic summons.
Solo RPG	Borderlands	PS4 / Multi	2009	Looter-shooter that fused FPS with RPG loot mechanics. Cel-shaded art, procedurally generated weapons, co-op mayhem.
Platformer	Super Mario World	SNES / GB	1990	First Mario I played — instant love. Tight controls, brilliant level design, secret exits.
Platformer	Sonic the Hedgehog	Game Gear / MD	1991	Sega's flagship. Blazing speed, iconic ring-collecting, retro joy on both portable and home.
Platformer	Donkey Kong Country	SNES	1994	Pre-rendered 3D graphics that were jaw-dropping on SNES. Tight platforming and one of the best soundtracks in gaming (David Wise).
Platformer	Super Mario 64	N64	1996	The game that invented 3D platforming — triple jumps, wall kicks, long jumps.
Survival horror	Resident Evil	PS1 / PC	1996	Never played a game so exciting and scary. Ammo is scarce; every bullet counts. True survival.
Survival horror	Alone in the Dark	PC (DOS)	1992	The original survival horror — predates Resident Evil by four years. Lovecraftian, fixed camera angles, limited resources.
Fighting	Tekken 3	PS1 / Arcade	1997	King was the go-to. Once he grabs you, one combo chain can nearly one-shot you. Memorised all the combos.
FPS / TPS	Quake II	PC	1997	Legendary university LAN nights — 10–15 students, networked computers, all night in 1998. First taste of online competitive gaming.
FPS / TPS	Team Fortress 2	PC	2007	Class-based competitive FPS that defined team shooters. Iconic art, deep meta. Still active nearly 20 years on.
FPS / TPS	Doom II: Hell on Earth	PC	1994	The sequel that perfected the FPS formula. Super Shotgun, the BFG, a modding community still thriving 30+ years later.
FPS / TPS	Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory	PC	2003	Free, objective-driven team FPS. University LAN-night staple alongside Quake II.
FPS / TPS	Gears of War	Xbox 360	2006	Third-person cover shooter that defined a generation. Lancer rifle, roadie run, active reload. Unreal Engine 3 showcase.
Action adventure	Tomb Raider (series)	PS1 / PC / Multi	1996+	Played every one start to finish. The first was groundbreaking; the reboots proved the franchise can reinvent itself across decades.
Action adventure	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Switch	2017	Redefined open-world design. Complete freedom from the start — climb anything, go anywhere, solve problems any way.
Strategy	Age of Empires	PC	1997	University LAN multiplayer staple alongside Quake II. RTS spanning Stone Age to Iron Age.
Strategy	Final Fantasy Tactics	PS1 / PSP	1997	Deep isometric turn-based tactical RPG set in Ivalice. Complex job system, political intrigue, one of the best stories in the FF universe.
Strategy	Disgaea: Hour of Darkness	PS2 / PSP	2003	Over-the-top tactical RPG with insane damage numbers, geo panels, endless post-game grinding.
Racing	Need for Speed	PS1	1994	The franchise that defined arcade racing. Exotic cars, police chases, sense of speed.
Racing	WipEout	PS1	1995	Futuristic anti-gravity racing with a legendary electronic soundtrack (Chemical Brothers, Orbital). Defined the PS1's cool factor.
Racing	Crazy Taxi	GC / Arcade	1999	Pick up passengers, drive like a maniac, earn fares against the clock. Iconic Offspring and Bad Religion soundtrack.
Space	Freelancer	PC	2003	Chris Roberts' open-world space sim. 48 star systems, dogfighting, trading, bounty hunting.
Stealth / tactical	Jagged Alliance 2	PC	1999	Turn-based tactical combat masterpiece. Hire mercenaries, liberate a country sector by sector.
Stealth / tactical	Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines	PC	1998	Real-time stealth tactics set in WWII. Squad of specialists, punishingly difficult, incredibly rewarding.
Couch co-op	GoldenEye 007	N64	1997	The game that proved FPS works on consoles. 4-player split-screen defined a generation of couch gaming.
Couch co-op	Worms Armageddon	PC / Multi	1999	Turn-based artillery strategy with destructible terrain and absurd weaponry. Perfect party game. Read the review →
Couch co-op	Mario Kart	SNES / N64	1992	4-player karting chaos. Blue shells, banana peels, last-lap comebacks. The definitive couch multiplayer franchise.
Simulation	Civilization	PC	1991	The "one more turn" addiction. Build a civilization from the Stone Age to the Space Age.
Simulation	RollerCoaster Tycoon	PC	1999	Theme park management — famously programmed almost entirely in assembly by one person.
Beat 'em up	Cadillacs and Dinosaurs	Arcade	1993	Arcade beat 'em up based on the Xenozoic Tales comic. Up to 3 players, dinosaur-filled post-apocalyptic world.
Beat 'em up	Metal Slug	Arcade / Neo Geo	1996	Run-and-gun masterpiece. Hand-drawn pixel art animation that still holds up.
Beat 'em up	Castlevania	NES / Multi	1986	Whip-wielding vampire hunters, gothic horror, legendary difficulty. Spawned the "Metroidvania" sub-genre.
Beat 'em up	Ghosts 'n Goblins	Arcade / NES	1985	Notoriously brutal difficulty — Sir Arthur in his underwear is an iconic gaming image.
Puzzle	Portal	PC / Multi	2007	Genre-defining first-person puzzle game. The portal gun mechanic, GLaDOS, "the cake is a lie."
Puzzle	Professor Layton and the Curious Village	NDS	2007	Gold standard for puzzle adventures on DS. 130+ brain teasers in a charming mystery story.
Puzzle	May's Mysteries: The Secret of Dragonville	NDS / PC	2012	I was the sole programmer. Custom C engine on 4 MB RAM / 67 MHz ARM. 300k copies year one. Project →
ARPG	Diablo III	PC / Multi	2012	Classic loot-driven action RPG. Demons, legendary drops, rifts, the endless grind.
Text adventure	The Hobbit	C64 / ZX Spectrum	1982	Illustrated text adventure. Revolutionary "Inglish" parser allowed complex sentences. NPCs roamed independently with their own AI.
Shmup	R-Type	Arcade / Multi	1987	Iconic side-scrolling space shooter. The Force pod attachment system was revolutionary.
Shmup	1942	Arcade / NES	1984	Classic vertical-scrolling WWII aerial shooter. Dodge, loop, blast through waves of enemy planes.
Shmup	Chuka Taisen	Arcade	1988	Vertical-scrolling shooter with a Chinese mythology theme. Ride clouds, fight mythical creatures.
VR	Half-Life: Alyx	HTC Vive	2020	Top 10. Proved VR could deliver a full AAA experience. Gravity Gloves, physics interactions, genuinely terrifying. Widely considered the best VR game ever made.