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Thought about it a bit, think I've gotten it down pretty well. In no order, of course...
Mario - Mario has somehow successfully reinvented himself to keep in the game far longer than any other franchise has, or probably ever will. Even other top tier Nintendo franchises like Zelda can't claim to have been kept fresh through so many iterations.
The Elder Scrolls - Morrowind has straddled the top of my favourite games of all-time list for about a decade now and subsequent releases for TES has kept that love flowing through me. Sure, Oblivion and Skyrim aren't entirely the sequels I would have wished for and a lot of things I loved about previous installments have been swept under the rug, but they're still some of my absolute favourite titles.
Shin Megami Tensei Persona - Persona 4 is another game that battles for supremacy in my heart with the likes of Morrowind and SMB3. While the original Persona game and to certain extent both Persona 2 games are less compelling to me because of their poorly-aged dungeon perspectives, P3 and P4 are my benchmark where JRPG's and character-heavy storytelling in games are concerned. I have no qualms with calling P4 the greatest JRPG of all-time.
Animal Crossing - This one may come as a surprise to a lot of people who don't know me personally, but DAMN I love me some Animal Crossing. I remember using super primitive translation websites to read Japanese blogs dedicated to talking about the game when it was released for the N64 in Japan. Unbeknownst to much of the Drome, I still play City Folk for at least 5 minutes almost every day and I'm already hyped for the 3DS version.
Viva Pinata - Another one that may surprise people, but I can't overstate how much I f*cking LOVE Viva Pinata. I've got the full 1,000 GS in Party Animals if that helps at all. I own not 1, or 2, but 4 copies of the first game. Special Horstachio Edition, two regular copies and one copy on PC. I even have the sh*tty DS version. It totally bums me out that the series is probably buried, but Trouble in Paradise was a great send-off if that's the case.
Mortal Kombat - Love me some MK! The only fighting game I feel like I'm at least average in, although that edge has dulled over the years. Again, several copies of each game for various systems. Even bought the SE of MK9 after already owning a normal version just so I could get the Scorpion/Sub-Zero bookends.
Castlevania - This series f*cked me up as a kid and the hate I had for it festered for years. By the time I was a teenager the very thought of Castlevania made me sick. This had both positive and negative repercussions, positive being I missed the sh*t 64 games, negative being I missed SotN. When I finally did play SotN, all was forgiven. I went back and played the older games after that and found most of them to be pretty f*cking great.
Katamari Damacy - Some people think Katamari is done. I say f*ck those people. Roll sh*t forever! When I was about 19 and constantly failing at life, I spent the last bit of money I had on a copy of Katamari Damacy. I don't even know why. I had heard little of it and the case explained absolutely nothing, but I bought it and it was just what I needed at that point in my life. I don't want to credit Katamari for pulling me out of a super weird depression....but I will.
Legend of Zelda - I was truthfully hesitant to put Zelda on this list, because I loathe a lot of Zelda games. I can't stand any of the 2D games with exceptions for Minish Cap and Link's Awakening, the DS games belong in a toilet and I had a ton of problems with Twilight Princess. However, OoT was an eye-opening experience for me and tWW is an absolute masterpiece.
Banjo-Kazooie - I miss old Rare and thinking about what they've become continues to bum me out. Banjo-Kazooie is one of a handful of games that just makes me happy. Even the over-blown sequel I absolutely adore. My love for BK even extended into Nuts & Bolts and was a driving reason for my purchase of Sonic & Sega All-Stars racing. Yet another Rare series I doubt I'll see again, but that doesn't make me love it any less.
Whew! A lot harder than I thought. Lots of series just outside for various reasons. I would have liked to put either Mass Effect or Dragon Age in there, but the fact that Mass Effect has become a shooter with bolted on RPG-lite elements and DA2 was stitched together and left to congeal in a gutter didn't help their case. Stuff like Monkey Island and Pokemon just missed the cut.
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