#16 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest The DKC Trilogy is GOATed but the DKC2 is my favorite. The addition of Dixie's mid-air spin was revolutionary at the time. The music has lived in my soul rent-free for 3 decades.

#17 Final Fantasy IX My actual favorite all-around Final Fantasy (VI does come really close). My 1st Final Fantasy game ever, actually! I replayed it a few years ago and was astonished at how GREAT the English localization is. This one introduced me to Nobuo Uematsu and all of his prog influences.