Best of the Best

Personal Recommendations

I'm not saying that anyone cares what I think, but I decided to list some of my favorites on this page. Books, movies, and games I'd recommend to anyone. (The links go to amazon.co.uk where you can find get the current price & availability).

Games

My list of all preferred games categorised platform:
    Gameboy Advance
    Gamecube
    PS2

But first, if you need help picking a game, check out GameSpot. This page has everything in one place: screen shots, previews and reviews, new, player ratings, hints and cheats, even the review results from other pages. If you want to know what game to buy next just do an advanced search and sort by rating.

Gameboy Advance

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

My favorite game on the GBA. An exploration and adventure game with a mix of RPG and action elements (battles are all top down action). Excellent story and great graphics.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age

Deep, time consuming and fun RPG. Very traditional mode of play. Battles are fast. Lots of exploration also. Worth a good 40 hours.

Mario & Luigi : Superstar Saga

A mix of RPG and platform, some coordination is needed for battles. Charming story line with lots of exploration. Tools and techniques are acquired as you progress which opens up more areas.

I also own:

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 - Recommended
Breath of Fire - Recommended
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - Not my thing...
Pokémon Ruby - Recommended
BokTai: Legend of the Sun - Not Started
Rayman 3 - Not Started

Most wanted:

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
Sonic Advance 2

Game Cube

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

A 3D exploration adventure in a sea covered fantasy world. I've played all the Zelda games and at first I thought this one was too short, and not difficult enough. Perhaps a disappointment compared to Ocarina of Time on the N64. But then I played both through again, and I think Wind Waker stands up very well.

Super Mario Sunshine

Essentially a nonlinear platformer, with strong exploration and adventure elements. Not quite the achievement of it's predecessor, Mario 64, but probably the best platformer on the Gamecube.

Animal Crossing

A game that defies categorisation. You move into the little town of Animal Crossing, buy a small house, do odd jobs, collect sea shells, fish in river or the sea, catch insects, hunt for fossils, make friends, buy furniture, send letters, pay your mortgage. Life, only better.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

A fantastic mix of adventure and platforming. A great emergency of this old classic into fantastic 3D, with all the hallmark of the original: realistic movements, acrobatic platforming, careful timing. A bit too short though...

I also own:

Pikmin - Recommended
Starfox Adventures - Recommended
Turok : Revolutions - Not good!
Blood Omen 2 - OK
Monkey Ball - Recommended
Cell Damage - OK,Good multi-player
Mario Cart Double Dash - Great multi-player
Mario Party 4 - OK
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life - Not sure yet...

Most wanted:

Sonic Heroes
Metroid Prime

PlayStation 2

Jak & Daxter

Best adventure RPG on the PS2. Free roaming, nonlinear, no load times. Sets the standards. Jak II also good, more weapons based and fuses lots of GTA elements.

Summoner & Summoner 2

Major time killing RPG. I prefer this to the Final Fantasy stuff though as the battles aren't menu driven, much more arcade like.

James Bond 007 : Everything or Nothing

The right way to do action games on PS2, complex controls take a little learning but become very natural. Lots of action, typical James Bond story line.

I also own:

Ratchet & Clank - Recommended, similar to JakII.
The Thing - Recommended.
The Simpson Road Rage - Recommended. Basically "Crazy Taxi" but with great Multi-player.
Devil May Cry - Recommended
Rez - Recommended
Maximo - Recommended
Soul Reaver 2 - OK
The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers - OK
Legacy of Kain: Defiance - OK

Most wanted:

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Burnout 2 : Point of Impact
Dark Chronicle
ICO
 

DVDs & Movies

See my list of favorite films...

Books

The Code Book - Simon Singh

Popular Science / Applied Mathematics

An entertaining, fascinating and easy to read account of the history of cryptography.
If you are a programmer interested in this stuff you must read Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss

Grammar

The most entertaining book on English punctuation I have ever read. I have to say I wrote most of these pages before I read this book, but I'll try to fix them as I go.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

Fiction

The narrator, and also the detective, in this odd murder mystery is a young boy with emotional dissociated disorder. Very hard to put this down once you start.

Buffalo Soldiers - Robert O'Connor

Fiction

Actually written in 1992, but recently made into a movie (which I haven't seen). I was hugely impressed with this novel when I read it some years ago. The protagonist and narrator is simultaneously lovable and loathsome, leaving you feeling very ambiguous about the ending.

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Fiction

A young boy stranded at sea in a life boat with a tiger. Very entertaining and in some places a bit fantastic.

Perfume - Patrick Süskind

Fiction

The oddest serial killer story you will ever read, this is not a mystery but a biography of one of the strangest characters ever. Even if you have no interest in scents you'll love this book.

The Language Instinct - Steven Pinker

Popular Science - Linguistics, Development Psychology, Intelligence

Full of fascinating ideas and insights into language development.

The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

Fiction

I have a signed copy of this, I have all of Bank's novels, but I have a special love for the first one I read.

The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins

Popular Science - Evolution

You probably think you understand evolution already. However, if you think it goes along the lines of "Man descended from monkeys", you are wrong, you have no real understanding of the process. Dawkins will put you right!

Calendar - David Ewing Duncan

Popular Science, History

The fascinating history of one of Humanity's most important inventions. This is probably one of the most suspenseful and entertaining popular science and history books I ever read.

The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain De Botton

Philosophy

A very accessible and engaging summary of six great philosophers. The approach is to describe their stories, their lives, and their philosophy from the point of view of how they genuinely benefit people. Give up the self help books and go for the real thing.

How to Lie with Statistics - Darrell Huff

Popular Science, Mathematics, Politics

Little more than a pamphlet this book can be read in about two hours. It should be required reading for everyone who has to live in our mass media world. This book is not just about statistics it will teach you to recognise slant and how to ask the right questions.

Further Recommendations

I could go on all night, instead I'll just give you titles of some of my favorite books and you can look them up on Amazon.co.uk...

  • Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
  • Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
  • 1984 - George Orwell
  • Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
  • Contact - Carl Sagan
  • His Dark Materials Trilogy - Philip Pullman
    (The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass)
  • The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
  • Dune - Frank Herbert
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen R. Donaldson
  • Watchmen - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

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