Graphical Styles

A post to accompany the poll. I was just wondering what people think about the art styles used by different video games. Which are your favourite? Which don't you like? Do you think a game should be as realistic as possible, or should each game have its own unique style? I've got some examples in case people haven't heard of any of the ones in the poll, or just want to compare:

Crysis is quite probably the most realistic looking game to date. After all, there's no better artist to imitate than the Universe itself, right?

Gears of War takes realism and makes it look a little too real. Desaturated colours and rough textures make this what I call a 'gritty' style.

Beyond Good & Evil is a great game, and if you haven't played it, you should. Its visuals are jaunty and every place, person or thing seems to have its own character.

The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker recieved some negative critisism for its cell-shaded art style. I personally thought it was beautiful.

Team Fortress 2 is a brilliant arcadey multiplayer shooter from Valve. Their art style is inspired by 1920s cartoons, and is at a comfortable point between pure cartoon and realism.

Viewtiful Joe is a fast-paced, movie-themed beat-em-up by Capcom. The graphics look cell-shaded, but with ink outlines imitating comic book illustrations.

I haven't played Okami, but from what I've seen, and what people tell me, I think I should. The visuals, and some of the gameplay, are based on Japanese brush paintings, as is fairly obvious.

Metal Slug is fairly well known as a series of wacky side-scrolling shooters. The visuals, while old-fashioned, carry a style that's near-impossible to acheive with 3D games.

Super Mario World features simple, smooth sprites and bright, vivid colours and, despite lacking detail, still manages to be full of character.

One of my favourite games of all time, Yoshi's Island was gorgeously cute all the way through. Miyamoto's idea for crayon-drawn graphics are possibly the best on the SNES.

Last, and possibly least, are the simple but colourful shapes of trancey minigames like Geometry Wars for the Xbox Live Arcade. It's a bit like being on acid, so I'm told.

So, what do you think? Did I forget any? Leave a comment, if you want.