The problem was Spore is that each level is less personal than the next, so whatever sense of accomplishment or connection you have with your character gets wiped out each level.
You know when you have been playing an rpg or action game for a while, and you start thinking things like "good ol' Karmez (name of my D2 necro), never fails to draw shit loads of agro despite having 40 odd minions". Well in Spore you may think "Good ol' Microbe, he may be fast be he sure does hate the poison" then you level up and you have a creature, but thats ok, because its still pretty personal. Then you hit village and you have to make a whole new connection with your village, but thats ok, the village is small, it just takes a couple of hours or days. But the village stage lasts barely an hour. And then its city, and you are like, wow i dont even really care what happens at this point, i want my character back.
Can't believe you missed out Farcry 2, Oblivion and MW2.
AND, drumroll please, the most overrated game of all time, the Guitar hero/rockband series. JUST BECAUSE YOU USE A GUITAR SHAPED CONTROLLER DOESN'T MAKE IT A GOOD GAME. seriously. one of the worst/most repetitive games ive ever played.