88 Crazy Taxi - San Francisco hills
About 20 seconds into the game, you reach the famous San Francisco hills. And, happily, you reach them at the top, not the bottom.

You pick up a customer who wants to go to the beach so you Crazy Dash as fast as you can and fly over the traffic, bouncing on the next crossroads, launching again into the perfect, Dreamcast-blue skies, with The Offspring's All I Want pounding from the speakers and your customer whooping with delight.

87 Guitar Hero - Mastering the track
Successfully mastering Guitar Hero's more testing riffs can require reaching near Zen-like levels of concentration. It takes time - and perhaps a little beer - but hit a fret-burning streak and it's as if you're the last human on Earth.

It feels like you're standing proud atop a resounding temple of rock and battling the ever-approaching string of notes with your ceaselessly dancing fingers, while sporting a thousand-yard stare so steady it threatens to punch a hole right through your TV. The song ends, your burning digits protest, but the moment will always be with you.

86 Pro Evolution Soccer - Butting heads
Our favorite PES anecdote is simple, really: two players running at full tilt with their heads down collide, and clatter to the ground. Entertaining enough already, but it's the puzzled, shocked and alarmed expression that appears on both faces as the two players crumple awkwardly on to the pitch that's charmed us so deeply that we break out the replay whenever we need a good chuckle.

We've only seen it happen once, and it's a perfect illustration of why Pro Evolution's characterful take on the bootiful game will always beat FIFA's officially licensed robots for a place in our hearts.

85 Shadow of Rome - "Urine trouble!"
Possibly the goriest videogame ever, the strongest moment in the quite excellent Shadow of Rome comes almost immediately during your first gladiatorial bout. After a successfully bloody fight you're herded into an arena full of crippled warriors. They limp desperately away but one swipe of your scimitar and you've sliced off a man's arm.

You pick it up, beat him across the face with the soggy end and he wets himself in terror as "Urine trouble!" bursts proudly on to the screen, a doting crowd showers you with rose petals and you bellow at the skies in glorious triumph. You sicko.