I played many games over the past few years, that are highly rated, and they just don't compare to games I played as a kid. I know they're good games, but it just doesn't bring that special feeling I experienced when I was younger. I used to think about games all the time and eager to get home so I could continue. Now, I can start a game and not play it again for months. For example:
Uncharted doesn't compare to Tomb Raider.
MGS4 to MGS1.
FF12 to FF7
Burnout Paradise to NFS3
The game that sort of came close is Okami (it's old, but I only played it recently).
Ah, the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia. Most of the time, when you go back and play these "greatest games of all time" that you grew up playing, they aren't nearly as good as you remember. Some stand the test of time, but most don't. The non-3D Mario games, Megaman 2+3, Super Metroid, etc. all are just as amazing now as they were back then.
I can't comment on the racing games or Uncharted, since I've never played them (okay I played the demo of Uncharted and wasn't impressed), but Tomb Raider was pretty cool for its time. A great classic game? Probably not, but it was awesome at the time to dive off of cliffs into lakes and run away from dinosaurs.
MGS1 was just amazing (technical limitations aside). The series has been all downhill from there.
FFXII was a horrible game any way you slice it. The only non-online Final Fantasy I have not finished (or even gotten halfway). Though, you chose FFVII as your "best Final Fantasy ever" and I also assume that you grew up playing it. That would...explain a lot.
Final Fantasy IV + VI > Final Fantasy VII. I mean, if you're gonna list "the best", then actually list the best! Most just choose Final Fantasy VII because it was "their first FF game", but it's not even close to the best. I remember playing Final Fantasy on the NES...ahh, paddling that canoe to the volcano, getting pwned all the way, and then realizing you still have to go through the volcano, kill the boss, and get all the way back to town without saving. Nostalgia is fun, but I'd never want to do that again.
/sneaks away