Games that got a concept down perfectly.

[Stammer]

Chess RPG's: Final Fantasy Tactics. I've seen others, I've played others. None of them go anywhere close to the amazing strategy and overall amazing-ness of the original Tactics.

Strategy in RTS: Command and Conquer Red Alert 2. Many have come before it and many have come after it, but none really grabbed my attention as much as RA2. Seriously, it has brilliant balance and some of the best strategies ever, involving aircraft, naval, and land-based armies and both sides having a perfectly even chance of kicking the others' butt.

Console FPS: Goldeneye 007, perfected in Perfect Dark 64. I still think Perfect Dark is fun and can still play with my friends whenever I dust my N64 off and plug it in. It had a great story (and overall single-player), decent graphics, phenominal background music, great voice acting, and above all else the best multiplayer outside of Smash Bros.

Puzzles: Portal. I'm sure we can all agree that Portal shines out as the perfect puzzle game in our standards.

C&C Mode: Renegade. It's the only game with it, and for its time, it got it down perfectly. Again, all I can hope for is that they make Tiberium similar to it.

Sucking: Big Rigs. I'm sure no game in the world sucks even half as bad as this game. World of Warcrap comes in a close second though for getting the concept of "suck" down perfectly in its game too.

 

[babyblues]

Rock Band: I've never played Guitar Hero, so I won't say it's the best at rhythm gameplay. Instead I'll say that it's the best party game out there right now. It probably isn't as challenging as the GH series, but that's all in the interest of it being fun for everyone, even if you suck. I played this game for hours with my entire extended family and it was a blast. Well worth the $200 or whatever I paid for it.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Puzzles: Portal. I'm sure we can all agree that Portal shines out as the perfect puzzle game in our standards.

As much as I love Portal (and I do. Very, very much,) It's not the perfect puzzle game because it doesn't have infinite replay value. Once you're done, you're pretty much done. Meteos, Tetris, Wetrix are better puzzle games because they last forever and can be played forever. Tetris never, ever gets old.

Portal is the best example of a pure-experience game based around a single concept

 

[Piemaster]

Call of Duty 4: It did the first-person cinematic really well. I've always liked cinematics, especially first-person ones, and they are becoming more common these days.

 

[stompy]

I'd say that COD4 has the most polished FPS gameplay, IMO. It's get nice gunfights, very few vehicle sections, and challenging gameplay (hell, you do the epilogue on Veteran).

- A procrastinator

 

[qbert4ever]

I'll throw my hat in the ring with Spiderman 2, not just for the web-slinging, but for nailing the tutorials as well. Being made fun of while you learn the ropes by none other then BRUCE FUCKING CAMPBELL is the only way to learn.

Onto the list!

Crackdown - You're a superhero. With guns. BIG guns. 'nough said.

Star Wars Rogue leader: Rogue Squadron II - After all this time it still has the best examples of both Death Star attacks.

Fight Night Round 3 - Ya, ya, EA is evil, but is still the go-to game for turning a dudes face into meat.

Halo 1 - the sniper rifle in this series is one of the most overpowered and cheap weapons ever, but I'll be damned if using it to sculpt the battles between Flood and Covenant is not one of the most empowering things I have ever felt. Sadly tuned down in terms of campaign use and pure "oomph" in 2 and 3.

 

[Stammer]

Puzzles: Portal. I'm sure we can all agree that Portal shines out as the perfect puzzle game in our standards.

As much as I love Portal (and I do. Very, very much,) It's not the perfect puzzle game because it doesn't have infinite replay value. Once you're done, you're pretty much done. Meteos, Tetris, Wetrix are better puzzle games because they last forever and can be played forever. Tetris never, ever gets old.

Good point. To be honest, I've still never played the game entirely true. I basically got up to the "Euthanize your Companion Cube" part and then left my friend's house because it was getting late lol. I was going to say "Tetris", but then I figured Portal was more fun

 

[Voodoo Child]

MGS1: Defined and perfected the TPS Stealth genre.

Goldeneye 64: Console FPS w/Multiplayer.

 

[Drong]

To the op, good idea for a topic but paragraphs please as giant walls of texts are an assult on the eyes and often people won't bother to read them.

and perfect concept goes to civ 4, world domination has never been so much fun.