Fans of anything — music, movies, games — enjoy making lists, but those lists are often encumbered by concepts like ‘quality’, ‘impact’, ‘objectivity’, words that usually result in all lists having the same established ‘classics’ in varying different orders. Inspired by my Twitter buddy Rowan Kaiser, I decided to make my own super personal top 50.
These are my favourite video games. There are multiple different reasons why each game is on the list. Some of these games are objectively awful, some are undisputed classics. Some are stupid, some changed my life. Some are probably dated as hell or, worse, completely unplayable.
That doesn’t matter. Every single game on this list means something to me. The crazy thing is this: it was a list that came easily. It took me maybe 15 minutes to make. It reflects a lot. In a way it represents a history of a life spent playing video games, but it also represents my own very personal tastes.
Just a few things before I leave.
— I know [insert game here] isn’t on the list. I know that’s outrageous. Make your own list and post it in the comments!
— I realise there are a lot of Mario/Zelda/MGS games on here. That just reflects the games I like and the games I’ve fallen in love with.
— People like different things for different reasons!
— Please do not use this list to justify any future comments I make in the future, or even things I might have said in the past. This is simply a list that represents how I feel right now. It would be different if I were to make it in the next 30 minutes, let alone in a year or two!
— I’ve written down the platform I played the game on — I realise it might have been on other platforms!
— Yes, they are ranked!
And with that, here’s the list!
My Completely Personal Top 50 Video Games Of All Time!
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES)
2. Monkey Island 2 (Amiga)
3. Horace Goes Skiing (Spectrum)
4. Halo (Xbox)
5. Rock Band 2 (PS3)
6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
7. Metroid Prime (GameCube)
8. Street Fighter II (SNES)
9. Yoshi’s Island (SNES)
10. Red Dead Redemption (360)
11. Trials Evolution (360)
12. Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2)
13. Super Mario World (SNES)
14. Journey (PS3)
15. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)
16. Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)
17. Doodle Jump (iOS)
18. Daley Thompson’s Decathalon (Spectrum)
19. Super Metroid (SNES)
20. Super Mario 64 (N64)
21. Way of the Exploding Fist (Spectrum)
22. Treasure Island Dizzy (Spectrum)
23. Trauma Center (DS)
24. Metroid Fusion (GBA)
25. Secret of Mana (SNES)
26. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (PS2)
27. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
28. The Wild Bunch (Spectrum)
29. Assassin’s Creed II (360)
30. Goldeneye (N64)
31. Hunchback II (Spectrum)
32. Hotline Miami (PS Vita)
33. Halo 2 (Xbox)
34. Robocop (Arcade)
35. Dark Souls (PS3)
36. Chase HQ (Spectrum)
37. Elite Beat Agents (DS)
38. Alex Kidd In Miracle World (SEGA Master System)
39. International Superstar Soccer 64 (N64)
40. Flower (PS3)
41. Golden Axe (Arcade)
42. Mario Kart DS (DS)
43. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
44. Kick Off 2 (Amiga)
45. Dear Esther (PC)
46. Resident Evil II (N64)
47. IK+ (Amiga)
48. Braid (360)
49. Nodes of Yesod (Spectrum)
50. Castle Master (Spectrum)
Now you go make yours!
Comments
207 responses to “This Is My Completely Personal Top 50 Video Games Of All Time”
We share a VERY similar list! 😀
Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past … Greatest game ever!
Agreed.
Agreed again. Funny this list has a lot of Nintendo titles.
It is not at all surprising considering Mark’s generation and the dominance of Nintendo in the late 80s and early 90s
My generation too.
That is fine, all I said is that it should not be surprising, unless you were an almost exclusive non-console gamer then most would have a healthy number of Nintendo titles. I am not saying it is impossible for someone to have no Nintendo titles in this sort of list who grew up gaming in this time period, just it is pretty unlikely.
Getting a bit in depth, I was just saying it was mine too, gee I’m getting old
fair enough, arent we all
Not even. I doubt I’d have any. I was using C64’s, master systems, megadrives, and 386’s through those years. not a NES in sight.
I’m kinda surprised that there’s a mere two PC titles.
Fantastic , congratulations, it doesn’t change a thing, as I said, if you had bothered to read before trying to jump down my throat, it is not impossible but not at all surprising.
Im 30 and have no nintendo games in my list. First and probably last nintendo console was the wii. Grew up playing C64, Amiga, PC, PS1/2/3 (current).
Thanks for not reading.
Nice list, but where the heck is Final Fantasy VII?
Not in his personal list? Wouldn’t be in mine, either.
I know, I was only kidding. It doesn’t need to be in everyone’s list. Though I for one would certainly put it in my top 50.
I’d have games like Sextris, Dark Seed and Ultima 8 in mine which few people would probably have in theirs.
Cool, it’s hard to tell in comments like this whether people are mucking around or genuinely outraged. Somehow the latter actually happens! But it sounds like we’re all on the same wavelength then. Well, except for how terrible FFVII was.
Hopefully everyone read his ‘quotebox’ before hitting the list. 🙂
…Hopefully.
Haha for the record I don’t think I ever rage. So most of these things will be in jest. Yes, it was a terrible, terrible game! I mean seriously, how could a dude carry that heavy sword around like that? 😛
Ultima 8! High five! I recognise 7 was better in almost every way, but some of the most fun I’ve ever had with a game was messing around in Pagan’s debug mode, dismantling people’s houses, dropping Beren into lava pits, and setting off hundreds of oil bombs during scripted events. I don’t think I’ve ever clocked up so many hours in a game and made so little actual progress.
Lol sextris classic 😀
It’s a real game! And a really awesome one at that. (The old PC one).
Metroid Prime above Super Metroid, outrageous. No Castlevanias either? While I respect your list, the inclusion of Metroids and not Castlevanias seems weird.
I’ve never played a Castlevania game.
:O
:O
Start with IV for SNES Mark. You won’t be disappointed.
DUDE!!!
I was hoping everyone would reply with :O so we could have a whole page of them. 😛
:O
:O
:O (although you inclusion of Monkey Island at number 2 deserves a :^)
O:
:O
not even castlevania 64!! 😛 (although I did secretly enjoy that game)
:O (Haha, it said that alone was a duplicate comment!)
:O
:O
Lots of people would consider the original Metroid Prime a better game than Super Metroid. Myself included.
I don’t know if the games are even comparable aside from both being Metroid games. Sure they still have similar design ideas but they just play out so differently from a mechanical point of view.
Agree, if anything Metroid Prime is a 3D Legend of Zelda game with a Metroid wrapper.
Not that that’s a bad thing, I’d rate Metroid Prime higher than Super Metroid too.
Dark Souls and Arkham Asylum are probably the two best examples of 3D Metroidvania games. Even the recent Tomb Raider deserves a mention.
I couldn’t possibly do this! I’ll need a lot more time haha. Nice list!
Do it quickly. I’ve left out ones that I’ve just remembered now and regret not including (Skate 2). No big deal — it’s just meant to be a transitory splurge!
I did the same when I made a top 30 a while back. Damn my forgetful brain.
No Sonic games 🙁 ? I’m excited to see some other Top 50 lists emerge as well…a bit too time consuming for me right now, but I’d love to give it a shot.
I’ve got Sonic 3 & Knuckles (some might argue that’s 2 games, but I disagree) at number 4 on my top 30. Love that game so much. 🙂
I’d say Sonic & Knuckles is my favourite if you do seperate them! I’d put Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast) higher on my list though…sooooo much fun.
A game I like isn’t on this list.
You are worst than hitler.
Hahaha!
Bloody hell, top 50? Something tells me you don’t like picking favourites… 😉
I made a top 30 list about a year and half ago.
http://imgur.com/a/cMpPd#0
But I feel i should gone for 50, I cut out too many good games. 🙁
I never knew Titanic was a game :O Especially not one that may be worthy of someones Top 30!!
Solid choice in Deus Ex as number one…wouldn’t be mine, but man is it a fantastic game.
I’ve played through Deus Ex so many times since it was released it ridiculous. I still go back to it almost once a year. I just love it. 🙂
This. Deus Ex is the pinnacle of game design…and storytelling. Gameplay and story reach ultimate communion, if I may be so pretentious.
I keep telling kids to play it, but I always emphasise “Remember – this was released a year before 9/11.”
(And the NSA scandal, too, come to think of it.)
Some cool adventure games on your list, you’re alright StuMan. 😀
Thanks, I like to think so. 😀
Titanic in particular, such a creepy, creepy game.
Absolutely agree with Deus Ex as number one. I was hoping someone would mention it! I have never played through a game as many times as I have played Deus Ex.. It is damn near perfect!
I’m surprised somebody who grew up with the 8-bit Spectrum didn’t have Elite on his list. Although I guess you would have played it on the Spectrum which, as we all know, was markedly inferior to the C64 so maybe that version was no good 😛
The best thing about this list are the disclaimers. 😀
Lets all ignore this bit, shall we.
Bookmark this post people! 😛
I feel like my list would just infuriate people because COD4 would be fairly high up on it.
Challenge accepted @markserrels – I will be a busy little beaver creating a list this weekend for my own bemusement.
By the looks of it, this list is fairly impulsive. I like that idea. Going to spend a few minutes trying to get one of my own together.
EDIT: This is hard. Just coming up with 50 titles is difficult. Then sorting them… dang.
Yeah I’ll give myself 10 odd minutes. I just can’t dedicate that time right now. (Stupid I know, given that I’m posting here).
I remember this guy!
Multiple games I like are on that list. You’re literally Ghandi!
Honest question though, why Rock Band 2 over 3? I assume because 3 came out when people were getting bored of those titles so you played it less, or something along those lines?
Guest huh?
I rate Tekken 2 my favourite even though the latest is usually ‘the best’. Just because I had the most fun with it & prefer the OST
Wow, ordered?
I’n a little surprised at the way some titles were ranked, like MGS4, given how you’ve talked about it in the past. It definitely gives the impression that this list is very much a product of a specific time, and prone to change.
The best I can do is a definitive 1, Chrono Trigger, after that I would have a hard time nailing down specifics.
Dayum nice!
I always have trouble picking favourites, let alone ranking them 😛
Platinum
I love seeing Treasure Island Dizzy on there. Shame they didn’t reach their kickstarter for the HD reboot 🙁 I’ll just throw my top 5 or so (turned into 10) games in no real order here for no reason
Medieval 2: Total War
Civilization 4
Gauntlet IV
Final Fantasy IX
Metal Gear Solid
Skyrim
Half Life 2
Team Fortress 2
GTA San Andreas
Red Alert 2
I want to carry on now but that’s probably pushing what people are willing to read anyway
Is Medieval 2 the best of the total war series for you?
I almost put Shogun on my list but ran out of room. I really need to try out Shogun 2 one day considering it is a remake of my favourite TW to date
Because it’s my favourite historical period, Medieval gets my vote just ahead of Rome (also another favourite period of history for me). I try to get into Shogun 2 but because I like to get fully immersed into a campaign, my lack of knowledge about feudal Japan means I don’t get very far. I really need a long weekend to close myself off from the world. The same goes for Empire, although that’s just a weaker game imo
Solid reasons. I thought I would like it more but found I preferred shogun when I payed the first medieval. Maybe because it was the first of them and the rest just derivatives of it. I think I preferred Rome to Medieval but I haven’t played medieval 2 yet, so the gameplay enhancements might make it a better game.
I really didn’t like empire, didn’t do it for me at all. Then again probably didn’t help it is a time period I don’t have a whole lot of interest in.
In no particular order. (They’re only numbered so I remember to post 50 actual games. XD)
1. Gabriel Knight: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (PC)
2. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (PC)
3. Day of the Tentacle (PC)
4. Full Throttle (PC)
5. Beyond Good & Evil (PC)
6. System Shock 2 (PC)
7. Grim Fandango (PC)
8. Heavy Rain (PS3)
9. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)
10. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
11. The Last of Us (PS3)
12. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (PC)
13. Red Dead Redemption (360)
14. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC)
15. Mass Effect 2 (PC)
16. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
17. Yoshi’s Island (SNES)
18. Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES)
19. Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive (PC)
20. BioShock (PC)
21. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC)
22. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC)
23. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (PC)
24. The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
25. Mirror’s Edge (360)
26. Maniac Mansion (NES)
27. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
28. Prince of Persia (2008) (360)
29. Portal 2 (PC)
30. The Colonel’s Bequest (Amiga)
31. SWAT 4 (PC)
32. Fallout: New Vegas (PC)
33. Scratches (PC)
34. Space Quest 5 (PC)
35. King’s Quest 6 (PC)
36. Freedom Fighters (PC)
37. Pikmin (Wii)
38. The Walking Dead (PC)
39. The Longest Journey (PC)
40. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (PC)
41. Theme Hospital (PC)
42. Roller Coaster Tycoon (PC)
43. Dragon Age: Origins (PC)
44. Psychonauts (PC)
45. Stacking (360)
46. Dishonored (PC)
47. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 – The Sith Lords (PC)
48. Fahrenheit (PC)
49. SSX (Original) (PS2)
50. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (PC)
I’m sure I’ve forgotten some of my all-time favourites somewhere here. XD
This list I like. The one up top, not so much.
Damn. I forgotted momentarily about Red Dead.
A lot of great games here. Lots of time lost playing SWAT 4 over LAN. Good times 🙂
Lucasarts and Sierra feature in many games in your list, my man I approve!
Yes, you forgot Little Big Adventure.
Good list, by the way.
Oh man LBA, I left that off my list as well /o\
Another often forgotten classic is Star Control 3.
A brilliant, brilliant game. Then and now.
Whenever I hear/see Prince of Persia, I can’t help but think how good the SNES version was that Konami made. Still remember the opening scene – pull back view of Persia at night, a crescent coast, and a full moon with its reflection rippling in the sea 😀 The music was amazing too.
I disagree with Arkham Asylum. I thought Arkham City was better, due to the larger freedom it gives you of an area to explore. Great list though
I liked the smaller, well realized setting of the first game. Plus the green hue when you were outside. Both games were pretty damn great though. Mostly comes down to preferences. 😀
Where’s the JRPGs?
I did 15. Mostly because no one gives a crap about my list 🙂
Max Payne 2 (PC)
Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
Neverhood (PC)
Gargoyles Quest (Gameboy)
Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Gameboy)
Arkham Asylum (PC)
Comix Zone (Megadrive)
River City Ransom (NES)
Grim Fandango (PC)
Tekken 5 (PSP)
Soul Blade (PSX)
Tombi (PSX)
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (C64)
Samurai Warrior : Usagi Yojimbo (C64)
Tony Hawk 2 (PC)
With an honourable mention to Klik and Play, which I lived on for years.
Tombi! You sir, are a genius.
Zak McKracken…. YES!!!
Yeah for Grim Fandango representation! Not in the article list, but it’s heartening to see it appearing on so many other peoples’ 😀
Wow! Everyone’s lists are totally different aren’t they? Maybe 1 or 2 of those would be on mine. And i reckon I would have a lot more arcade games, Rygar being on of them.
Here a a list that just came to my mind, it’s in order, but I’m sure I’ve forgotten many great games.
These are games that deeply effected me when I played them. I went from SNES straight to PC, and then got into the current gen really late, so I missed out on a lot of N64, Xbox and PS2 classics. I’ve played them since, but I don’t have the nostalgia for them the way my SNES games do.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) – my FIRST gaming love
Chrono Trigger (SNES) – my second gaming love!
Journey (PS3) – Brought me to tears.
Super Mario World (SNES) – Perfection, but I didn’t realise it at the time.
Half Life 2 (PC) – Loved every minute of it, a real game changer.
Portal (PC) – Made my write my first fan letter to Valve. The end song did everything for me.
Portal 2 (PC) – Who would think they could pull it off again?
Half Life (PC) – Scripted sequences in games? It’s like a movie!
Quake (PC) – Death Match addiction – nothing comes close to Quake 1 for skilled play imho.
Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) – It’s as good as people on 360 said it was.
Halo 3 (360) – Local multiplayer with my cousin, so much fun.
New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii) – Made me feel like a kid again – co-op was amazing.
Counter Strike original and Source (PC) – I remember thinking “I’ll never need another game”.
Quake 3 (PC) – Multiplayer at work, everybody stayed till 7pm, amazing times.
Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 (PC) – Co-op + microphones. Didn’t know co-op could be this good.
The Last of Us (PS3) – Powerful game, though I might be bias by how recent it is.
Braid (PC) – Perfect game, clever, beautiful and a cool ending.
Crysis (PC) – I’m a graphics whore, but this played spectacularly as well.
Resident Evil 4 (Wii) – Really well paced, exciting game. Back when QTE were good.
Pixel Junk Shooter (PS3) – Why don’t more people know about this, it’s amazing!
Wii Sports (Wii) – It brought the entire family into gaming, nothing like it since.
Street Fighter II (SNES) – The best competitive game we had as kids, so much fun, then later at the arcades as well.
A few SNES classics, and a lot of Valve games I guess!
Good call on Wii sports. It never would have come to my mind, but it was definitely a game changer.
Yeah, it’s not an obvious one, but my family and I put heaps of time into that game, and older people that NEVER play games would always be up for some bowling or golf.
I imagine that for a lot of non-gamers, the Wii was just a Wii Sports machine.
Money where my mouth is time:
1. Megaman X
2. LoZ: Link to The Past
3. Super Castlevania IV
4. Commander Keen
5. LoZ: OoT
6. Final Fantasy X
7. Uncharted 1
8. Tetris
9. Super Mario World Yoshi’s Island
10. Goldeneye
11. Fallout 2
12. Super Mario Brothers 1
13. Monster Hunter Tri
14. Castlevania SotN
15. Mario Kart 64
16. Pokemon Red/Blue
17. Super Mario Bros 3
18. Elite Beat Agents
19. Worms
20. Donkey Kong Country
21. Sonic and Knuckles
22. Syndicate
23. Dark Souls
24. Deat Esther
25. Fallout 3
26. Super Smash Bros.
27. Arkham Asylum
28. Mario Party
29. Halo
30. Lumines
31. Super Mario 64
32. Deus Ex HR
33. Left 4 Dead 2
34. Dark Forces II
35. Battletoads
36. THPS2
37. Journey
38. Shadow of the Colossus
39. Portal
40. Tekken 6
41. Advance Wars
42. Guitar Hero 2
43. ICO
44. Infamous
45. Harvest Moon
46. Boxel
47. Kirby Super Star
48. Wipeout (PS3)
49. Pokemon Snap
50. Mechwarrior 2
Oh crap, how could I forget Ico in my list. I only played it two months ago and loved it.
Fallout 2 over Fallout? Well at least it wasn’t tactics 😉
Nice list which includes dark forces 2, how did I forget all the star wars games
I spent a lot more time with 2 than one, it was more or less a coin toss
I don’t want to sound like I am whining, but I always enjoy lists more when they start at the bottom and go up (ascending?).
Your scoll bar works both ways 😀
Yeah I know but I didn’t realise until I read the first one.
I agree. I actually scrolled to the bottom and read upwards
Okay, here’s a list. The ordering is wonky (I made an Excel spreadsheet and gave each game a gut feeling number out of 10 and then sorted the games with that number very roughly) and I cheated by putting in some board games but I think it checks out:
1 – Tetris
2 – Journey
3 – Mario Kart DS
4 – Portal 2
5 – 7 Wonders
6 – Trauma Center: Under the Knife
7 – Diablo 2
8 – Red Dead Redemption
9 – Gears of War
10 – Rock Band 3
11 – Wind Waker
12 – Portal
13 – Saints Row the Third
14 – Elite Beat Agents
15 – Ticket to Ride
16 – Dota 2
17 – Ocarina of Time
18 – Arkham City
19 – Mass Effect 2
20 – Mirror’s Edge
21 – Final Fantasy X
22 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
23 – Arkham Asylum
24 – Starcraft 2
25 – The Last of Us
26 – Super Smash Bros
27 – Super Street Fighter 4
28 – Sonic 3 & Knuckles
29 – Halo: Combat Evolved
30 – Lego Batman 2
31 – Theme Hospital
32 – Assassin’s Creed 2
33 – Super Mario Galaxy
34 – Baldur’s Gate 2
35 – Dominion
36 – Warcraft 3
37 – Left 4 Dead 2
38 – Katamari Damacy
39 – Counter Strike 1.6
40 – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
41 – Pokemon Blue
42 – Columns
43 – Age of Empires 2
44 – Conker’s Bad Fur Day
45 – Resident Evil 4
46 – Alex Kidd
47 – N
48 – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
49 – Tekken 4
50 – Mortal Kombat
EDIT: Games that I realise that I’ve already forgotten and should be in here somewhere: Goldeneye, Ragnarok Online, Mario 64, Donkey Kong Country 3, Uncharted 2 and a list of others that is sure to grow.
Some games aren’t in here because they were great but simply because I had a good time playing them. Maybe because I was a kid, maybe because of the people I was playing it with, maybe because I had terrible taste when I played it.
Someone else put in Elite Beat Agents *hi5*
In no particular order:
Tribes: Ascend (PC)
Battlefield 3 (PC)
Baldurs Gate + Tales of the Sword Coast (PC)
Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Arm (PC)
Diablo (PC)
Diablo 2 (PC)
Torchlight 2 (PC)
Full Throttle (PC)
Half Life (PC)
Half Life 2 + Episode One + Episode Two (PC)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Point Blank (PS1)
Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)
Dead or Alive 2 (PS2)
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (PS3)
Grand Thef Auto (PC)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andres (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
Portal (PC)
Portal 2 (PC)
Call of Duty: World at War (PC)
Call of Duty 2 (PC)
Medal of Honour: Allied Assault (PC)
Total Annihilation (PC)
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II + Mysteries of the Sith (PC)
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (PC)
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (PC)
X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter (PC)
Freespace (PC)
Freespace II (PC)
Codename Eagle (PC)
Freelancer (PC)
Age of Empires (PC)
Age of Empires II + The Conquerors + HD Edition (PC)
Borderlands (PC)
Borderlands 2 (PC)
Duke Nukem 3D + Atomic (PC)
Chaos Legion (PS2)
Left 4 Dead (PC)
Assassins Creed (PS3)
Transport Tycoon (PC)
Roller-coaster Tycoon (PC)
Kingpin: Life of Crime (PC)
Worms: Armageddon (PC)
The Impossible Game (iOS)
Pokemon Red + Blue (Gameboy)
Pokemon Gold + Crystal (Gameboy Colour)
Perfect Dark (N64)
Super Smash Bros (N64)
Mario Kart (N64)
I don’t have enough time left in my life to possibly order them from first to last (I’m 24, man).
I didn’t bother with the ordering either. Good call on Freelancer
I used to play Freelancer during accounting in highschool. Got my backing in Star Citizen. =D
WOW Mark…..
Not even 1 Final Fantasy game??
Surprising
My list only has one FF game and that’s solely because I used to go round to a friend’s place after school and work through 100%ing it with him.
Sometimes the game itself isn’t the reason someone likes it.
Solely down to what I’ve played. Final Fantasy VI never came out in the UK. FFVII, I wasn’t much of a PS1 guy back then.
I have to admit, FF VII was my first experience with the series, and if I had to choose 1 favourite, it would be FF VIII.
Massive Kudos on Secret of Mana, loved that game to death!!!
Well, here we go, I’ll give it my best shot. Mind you, I can’t possibly rate them 1-50, so I’ll just try to list my top 50 games of all time. This list is in no particular order.
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Seiken Densetsu 3 (aka, Secret of Mana 2) (SNES) – travesty this was never officially released outside Japan!
Mortal Kombat II (Arcade)
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (PC, PS1)
Mortal Kombat 9 (PS3)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (PC, PS1)
Starcraft: Brood War (PC)
Starcraft II (PC)
Unreal (PC)
Unreal Tournament (PC)
Killer Instinct (Arcade)
Warhammer 40:000: Dawn of War + expansions (PC)
Shadow of the Beast (Amiga, Lynx)
Scooby Doo’s Maze Chase (Intellivision)
Shark! Shark! (Intellivision)
Mind Strike (Intellivision)
Joust (Atari 7800)
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (Gamecube)
Metroid Prime (Gamecube)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Gamecube)
Super Metroid (SNES)
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES)
Super Mario Bros 3 (NES, SNES)
Quake (PC)
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Gamecube)
F.E.A.R. (PC)
Super Smash Bros Melee (Gamecube)
S.T.U.N. Runner (Lynx)
Sega Rally (Arcade)
Final Fantasy VII (PC, PS1)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Gamecube)
Lemmings (PC)
Terranigma (SNES)
Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube)
Ironman’s Super Offroad Racer (PC)
Jazz Jackrabbit (PC)
Rise of the Triad (PC)
Centipede (Intellivision)
Starfox/Starwing (SNES)
Commander Keen 4: The Secret of the Oracle (PC)
The Lost Vikings (SNES)
Q*Bert (Intellivision)
Pinball Fantasies (Amiga, PC)
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (PC, PS1)
Worms: Armageddon (PC)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Arcade, SNES)
Soul Calibur II (Gamecube, PS2, Xbox)
I think that’s 50…
Shadow of the Beast! Yeah, that was such an awesome (and technically interesting) game for its time. And the soundtrack on the Amiga was just spine-tingling.
I’m going to have to think hard about my list. I am impressed by the variety of people’s list. Nothing worse than sticking to a couple genres and not branching out.
In no particular order:
Bubble Bobble (Arcade)
Rainbow Islands (Arcade)
Ghouls n Ghosts (Arcade)
Ghosts n Goblins (Arcade)
Snow Bros. (Arcade)
Parodius
R-Type (Arcade)
LoZ: LttP
LoZ: OoT
Super Metroid
Metroid 2
Metroid Prime
Civilization
Duke Nukem 3D
Quake
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Wonder Boy 3: Dragons Trap
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MD)
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Mana
Diablo
Diablo 2
Doom
Warcraft 2
Starcraft
C&C: Red Alert
Total Annihilation
Castlevania IV
The Last Ninja
Zork
Pocky & Rocky
Populous
Carmageddon
Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario Galaxy
LoZ: The Wind Waker
LoZ: Links Awakening
Final Fantasy 9
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 10
Double Dragon (Arcade)
TMNT: Turtles in Time (SNES)
Gradius 3
Borderlands
Castle of Illusion (Master System)
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat
River Raid
Donkey Kong Country
Commando
Rainbow Islands was the Candy Crush Saga of its day (for me). So colourful and shiny!
And The Last Ninja… what can I say? Best soundtrack ever?
Zelda Wind Waker
Banjo Kazooie
Dark Souls
GTA San Andreas
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Secret of Mana
Batman Arkham City
Demon’s Souls
Day of the Tentacle
Double Dragon
The Last of Us
Oblivion
Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Super Mario Galaxy
Red Dead Redemption
Rayman Origins
Infamous
Mario Kart Wii
Rock Band
Zelda Ocarina of Time
Super Mario World
Mass Effect 2
TMNT The Arcade Game
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Super Mario Allstars
Mario 64
GTAIV
Saint’s Row 2
Mortal Kombat 3
Warcraft 3
Skyrim
Zelda Majoras Mask
Bully
Mafia II
Zelda Phantom Hourglass
Diddy Kong Racing
Soul Blade
Flashback
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
Super Mario Sunshine
Sega Rally
Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts
Spiderman Web of Shadows
Sonic 2 (Master System)
NBA Jam
The Godfather
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Aladdin (Megadrive)
Oddworld Abe’s Oddysey
Spy VS Spy
Ooooh, Flashback. Rayman Origins. There’s some good stuff here. Great list.
Pirates! I can’t believe I forgot Pirates!
Abe’s Oddysey is one of those games that I loved until I went back and realised that I really didn’t like the gameplay (so much trial and error…), just the world and character. Sometimes the quickest way to kill a favourite game is to play it again.
Pretty solid list. Nice catch with ISS 64! “Goal GOAL GOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Wales, TURN UP THE HEAT!!!!”
I like the idea that you just made the list on a spur of the moment. For some reason I just love reading people’s personal opinions of games and it’s a big reason why I come here each day. I find I’m at a point where it’s harder to pick out what I’d personally like to play as opposed to what has been ‘universally praised by critics’. There was that period when I was a kid where I’d just pick a game because I liked the cover or the idea of it. Two of my favourite games (Freedom Force and KoTOR) were picked up this way, in fact when I got them I had no idea that they were RPG, I thought they were both action adventure. I feel like this kind of positive mistake is much more difficult to make these days because 1) I’m not a kid, and because 2) the coverage of games and universality of praise is so widespread across the Internet. I guess games at this point are a media that is still yet to fully develop a snobbish elitist culture in the same way that books and films have and this is something that we should hold onto. That universal objectivity surrounding quality just isn’t there with videogames, try as other people might to impose it.
PS I had International Superstar Soccer on PS1 and spent so many hours playing against my brother that we actually had favourite players even though the players were fake, so much fun.
Mark’s PC sits in the corner, sulking, and wondering what it did to offend its master.
Well… this was hell to make. Though, I haven’t been playing games as long as many of you guys, so, unfortunately, mine is mostly current and last generation games.
1. Final Fantasy VI (SNES, PS1)
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube)
3. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
4. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
5. Chrono Trigger (SNES, PS1)
6. Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
7. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD (Xbox 360, PS3)
8. BioShock (Ps3, Xbox 360, PC)
9. Pokémon Black Version 2 (NDS)
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
11. Super Metroid (SNES)
12. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
13. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
14. Metroid Prime (GameCube)
15. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube)
16. EarthBound (SNES)
17. Yoshi’s Island (SNES)
18. Pokemon Silver Version (Game Boy, Game Boy Colour)
19. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
20. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES)
21. Catherine (Xbox 360, PS3)
22. Dragon Quest V (SNES, PS2, DS)
23. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
24. The Legend of Zelda (NES)
25. Portal 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
26. Mother 3 (GBA)
27. Mega Man 2 (NES)
28. Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu (Super Famicom)
29. Fable (Xbox, PC)
30. Portal (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
31. Super Mario Galaxy(Wii)
32. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)
33. Mario and Luigi: SuperStar Saga (GBA)
34. Metroid Fusion (GBA)
35. Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube)
36. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (Game Boy Colour)
37.Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
38. Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast, GameCube, PC)
39. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (GBA, Wii, DS, iOS, PC)
40. Shadow of the Colossus
41. Resident Evil 4 (Everything)
42. Super Meat Boy (PC, Xbox 360)
43. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
44. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GameCube)
45. Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, PC)
46. BioShock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
47. Okami (PS2, Wii)
48. Pikmin (GameCube, Wii)
49. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Xbox, PC)
50. Starwing (SNES)
Cool list! There’s some games on there I’ve never played that I’ve always wanted to… :'(
Any list that has Xenoblade Chronicles in it is a good list 🙂
What’s funny is that I just finished listing all the must-have SNES games on the thing about Ouya’s UK emulation advertisement.
It came to 44 entries, not including sequels. Including only the BEST games in some multi-game series? 50 exactly. BOOM!
Actraiser 1&2
Big Sky Trooper
Blackthorne
Choplifter 3
Crono Trigger
Demon’s Crest
Desert Strike / Jungle Strike / Urban Strike
Equinox
Earthbound
EVO (Shut up, it was awesome)
Final Fantasy (2 & 3, usually known as 5 & 6 – Mystic Quest if pushed)
Flashback
Front Mission
Ghoul Patrol (and its predecessor, Zombies Ate My Neighbors)
Harvest Moon
Humans
Illusion of Gaia
Jurassic Park
Kirby’s Dream Land
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Lemmings series
Lost Vikings 1-2
Lufia games
Metal Marines
Ogre Battle / Tactics Ogre
Out of This World
Parodius
Pocky & Rocky 1-2
Populous 1-2
Robotrek (the ORIGINAL Pokemon! Look it up.)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms games
Secret of Evermore / Secret of Mana (I’m pretty sure these were different games though)
Soldiers of Fortune (The Chaos Engine)
Starwing / Starfox
Super Bomberman games
Super Metroid
SMASH TV. (“I’d buy that for a dollar!”)
Syndicate
TMNT (Turtles in Time. Not the 2D fighting game. Though that was OK I guess.)
Theme Park
Ultima series
Vortex
Where in the World/Time is Carmen Sandiago
Worms.
Has Vortex but not Stunt Race FX. And no Unirally. What a horrible list!
Edit: Oooh, and no Mario Kart either 😮
Holy cow you’re right! Mario Kart on the SNES was the best version they ever made. But boo hiss other racing games, that’s why stunt race and the otherwise brilliant unirally aren’t on there. If I was into racing games I’d have added Rock’n’Roll Racing.
[Edit: I also didn’t include fighting games, because I’m crap at them. If I did, I’d have had to add SF2, MK2, Brutal, Clayfighter, and Ballz 3D.)
I FORGOT BLOODY SHADOWRUN.
…This is going to happen a lot in the next hour or so, I think.
Hahaha, I feel like I just slammed a door shut next to a just-finished house of cards. What a jerk.
Actraiser, jurassic park, Carmen Sandiago and Evo. Very solid list
I’ve seen around 8 on other people list as well as thought of another 2 myself that I want to add.
Yeah, Carmen Sandiego for me. Which brings to mind a couple of games we used to play on Microbee at school. One was, I think, Island Adventure, where you were shipwrecked and had to survive on an island. Another was basically a geography edutainment product where you had to guess geographical positions of countries and cities.
Theme Park is weird, because I played it first and absolutely loved it, but Roller Coaster Tycoon completely eclipsed it once I played… (For me, at least.)
I didn’t even know RCT made it to the SNES, my only exposure to it was PC.
Oh, wasn’t on the SNES. I misread your post, just in general I mean. XD
Oh. Hee. Yeah, well, if we’re going to let the PC in… well! I don’t know that 50 would do it, for sure. And you’d bet there’d be a hell of a lot more LucasArts in there!
(Almost every game they made up until their last good game. Republic Commando.)
Man, I don’t know how you do that. If I tried to do this, it’d probably take me all day. Especially trying to rank them – I don’t have a favourite anything because I’m too indecisive to pick one above all others.
Can I just write “Planescape Torment” 50 times?
If you did, I’d upvote it.
(Edit: Provided it was in a spoiler tag to avoid stupid long page length.)
i find it intresting that you didnt have MGS (PS1) on the list.
Wooo:
N64
Mario 64
Goldeneye
Ocarina of Time
Mario Party
Mario Kart
Super Smash Bros.
WWF No Mercy
Playstation 1
Tekken 3
Bust a Move 4
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Point Blank
Gex 3D
Frogger
Crash Bandicoot (1)
Sega Megadrive
Sonic & Knuckles
Streets of Rage
Ecco the Dolphin
Altered Beast
SNES
Street Racer
Dreamcast
Chu Chu Rocket
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Crazy Taxi
Shenmue
Xbox
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (edited – I meant this instead of Deception)
Unreal Championship
Jet Set Radio Future
Deus Ex
GTA: San Andreas
Gauntlet (Seven Sorrows?)
Xbox 360
CoD MW2
CoD MW3
Borderlands 2
Borderlands
CoD Black Ops 1
Halo 3
Halo 4
Skate 2
Crackdown
Batman Arkham City
Prototype (2 I guess)
Fable 1
NBA 2k (typically the latest one!)
GTA IV
PC
Encarta Mindmaze
The Land Before Time
The Sims (series)
Worms 2
Gameboy
Pokemon Blue/Red
Super Mario Land
Mobile
Candy Crush – I have a problem
Fixed.
it is hard for me to to rank my all time. but i truely enjoyed these games:
Diablo 2, MGS (all of them but acids), Warcraft 3 and WoW (up till Wotlk), PES(the PS2 ones), demon souls and Dark souls, ninja gaiden 3 (NES), goal 3 (NES), HL2 and Ep 1 and 2, Morrowind and skyrim, uncharted 2, god of war 2, FF8, Guild wars, shadow of the colossus, Max payne 2,
@markserrels – i LOVE that fate of atlantis is on your list! It’s one of my fav games of all time, and subsequently on a very short list of games i have played through multiple times!
I love adventure games and I love LucasArts but this is one of my secret shames, I never finished. Indy is standing the desert still trying to work out how to use the surveyor dealy. XD
Really give it a go. Fate of Atlantis is one of the most solid adventure games I’ve played.
Yeh ditto man, all 3 playthrough styles are different enough to warrant extra play throughs too! I even tracked down a mac cdrom version recently to play on scumm vm 🙂
I’m sad for a few genres under represented in these lists.
First, strategy, where I’d put the Civilization series probably at the top.
Then flight sims, where I’d put Flight Simulator, IL 2 Sturmovik and a bunch of others at the top of my list too
And the almost dead now resurrected space sims, with the Wing Commander and X-Wing series somewhere at the top too.
Mix these into Mark’s list, add the classic D&D rpgs and it will start looking like mine I think.
Wow, I’m quite surprised that those with older-school games on their lists don’t include either California Games or Another World.
Haha, as soon as you posted I posted my list with Another World in it.
And I posted mine with Cal games 🙂
Haha, nice guys.
Was it California Games that let you smack face first into the skateboard full pipe and leave a blood spatter?
Took a bit of time, but I am pretty happy with this top 50. Numbering is only really considered until 20, after that I was pretty rough.
1 Chrono Trigger
2 Red Dead Redemption
3 Quest For Glory
4 Half Life 2
5 Yoshi’s Island
6 Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
7 Another World
8 Assassin’s Creed 2
9 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
10 Tomb Raider
11 Beyond Good & Evil
12 Aliens Vs Predator 2
13 Civilization 5
14 Unreal Tournament
15 Mario Kart DS
16 Team Fortress 2
17 Bastion
18 Deus Ex: Human Revolution
19 Ultrastar Deluxe (Open Source)
20 Transport Tycoon
21 Metal Slug
22 Diablo 2
23 Max Payne 3
24 Grand Theft Auto 3
25 Soul Calibur 2
26 Tiger Woods
27 Skyrim
28 Commander Keen 4
29 Space Quest 4
30 Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
31 Red Alert 2
32 Tyrian
33 The Incredible Machine
34 Frozen Synapse
35 Burnout Paradise
36 Metal Gear Solid
37 Magic Carpet
38 Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
39 Warcraft 3
40 Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
41 Uplink
42 Star Wars Pod Racer
43 System Shock 2
44 Populous: The Beginning
45 Tetris
46 Portal
47 Total Annihilation
48 Rayman Origins
49 Puzzle Quest
50 2020 Baseball
Good list!
I wrote out a list of the 30 most memorable games I could think of that shaped my gaming life, and quit while I was ahead. I wasn’t even a quarter done. Even if I could narrow it down to a top 50, I’d spend forever ordering them. And I got work to do, man.
I can’t believe none of these lists include Superman 64, what the hell guys?
Or Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing?
Dark Castle
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Loom
Monkey Island 1
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Demon’s Souls
Dark Souls
Heavy Rain
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit
Shadow of the Collosus
Ico
Lost Odyssey
Nier
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy XII
Fallout 1
Kings Quest 1
Space Quest IV
Last of Us
Psychonauts
Tetris
Conkers Bad Fur Day
Katamari Damarcy
Chaos Rings
Deus Ex
System shock 2
Thief 2
Chrono Trigger
Bioshock
Braid
La Mulana
UnEpic
Sonic Adventure 1
Beyond Good and Evil
Longest Journey 1 & 2
Machinarium
Grim Fandango
Prince of Persia ((second) remake is ok, too)
Walking dead
Unreal Tournament
In the spirit, a spontaneous splurge list with minimal thought!
7. Unreal Tournament
1. Jagged Alliance 2
2. Ultima 8
9. Monkey Island 2
17. Portal
5. Grand Theft Auto 3
15. Diablo 2
7. Turbo
4. Goldeneye
6. Doom 2
16. Def Jam: Fight for NY
8. California Games (Atari Lynx version)
19. Star Wars KotOR
12. Saints Row 2
10. Ultima 7
2. Day of the Tentacle
3. The Secret of Monkey Island
11. Speedball 2
Dude! How could I forget Jagged Alliance 2!? The first one was pretty good, but the second one was just spot on.
A weird but cool exercise. Drags up memories…
Quick 15 in no particular order…
Space Invaders: played in a pub while my old man got hammered – 20 cents a play in 1979 (standing on a stool to reach the controls)
Empire Total War
Fallout 3
Skyrim
Dark Souls
Aliens Vs Pred gold
Interstate 76
Gauntlet (arcade)
Black Dragon (arcade)
Galaga (arcade)
The Sacred Armour of Antiriad
Colin Mcrea Rally
Rome Total War
Limbo
Farcry 3
Edit: how could I forget Deux Ex: Human Revolution – for shame…let’s call it 16
Berzerk
A Link to the Past
Super Mario Bros 3
Final Fantasy VIII
Skyward Sword
Metal Gear Solid 4
FFVII: Crisis Core
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy VII
Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow
Street Fighter IV
Super Metroid
Gran Turismo
Commander Keen
Toy Story 2
Jackie Chan Stuntmaster
Donkey Kong Country 2
Super Mario 3D Land
ISS Pro Evolution
Metal Gear Solid 2
Mass Effect 2
Star Trek 25th Anniversary
Luigi’s Mansion 2
Star Command
Max Payne 3
I may be a bit biased with my final choice Max Payne 3 only because it is the title I am currently playing for Shameless Gaming Month.
Heres my top 30:
1. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
2. Shining Force 1 (MegaDrive)
3. Shining Force 2 (MegaDrive)
4. Landstalker (MegaDrive)
5. Settlers 2 (PC)
6. Dune 2 (PC)
7. AFL (SNES)
8. Cricket (SNES)
9. Day Of The Tentacle (PC)
10. Sam And Max – Original (PC)
11. Diablo (PC)
12. Baldur’s Gate (PC)
13. X-Wing (PC)
14. Tie Fighter (PC)
15. Doom (PC)
16. Doom 2 (PC)
17. Dark Forces (PC)
18. SimCity 2000 (PC)
19. Shadowrun (SNES)
20. Alien 3 (MegaDrive)
21. Gargoyle’s Quest (GB)
22. Tetris (GB)
23. Golden Sun 1 (GB)
24. Resident Evil 1 (PS1)
25. Resident Evil 2 (PS1)
26. Fear Effect 1 (PS1)
27. Walking Dead (PC)
28. Batman: Arkham Asylum (X360)
29. Farenheiht (Xbox)
30. Shane Warne Cricket 99 (PS1)
Here’s mine, the order probably isn’t perfect though;
FF Tactics – War of the Lions
Tetris
Pac-Man
Asteroids
Commander Keen
Street Fighter 2
God of War
Homeworld
SimCity (the first one)
Mario Kart (SNES)
DK Country
Rollcage
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Super Mario All Stars
FF9
Metal Gear Solid
Valkyria Chronicles
Super Stardust HD
Red Dead Redemption
Gran Turismo 4
Wolfenstein
Prince of Persia (the original)
Lode Runner
The Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time
TLOZ – Majora’s Mask
TLOZ – A Link to the Past
Star Wars Rogue Squadron (N64)
Donkey Kong 64
Goldeneye
Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks (PS2 – criminally under-rated in my opinion)
Metal Gear Solid 3 – Snake Eater
Dune 2000
Civilisation (insert any number here – they’re all awesome)
Tenchu 2
Zone of the Enders – The 2nd Runner
FF7
Vagrant Story
Skyrim
Fallout – New Vegas
FF12
F-Zero X
Journey
Flower
Soul Calibur
Shadow of the Colossus
Prince of Persia Sands of Time
Age of Empires II – The Age of Kings
Super Battletoads
Uncharted
Mario 64
Nice list! I actually meant Shaolin Monks in my list…not Deception. It’s a fuckin awesome game!!!!!
Awww man, totally forgot about Lode runner, I played that game to death. Also all the star wars games, hadn’t even considered them.
Lode Runner was epic, I loved the level editor so much, used to troll my little brothers by creating fiendish levels for them to pass… good times. I left off so many favourites; Worms, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Myst, Ultima series… damn it I need to replay some of these this month.
haha 3 of the 4 favourites you left off I have on my list
I know I saw them there then went “D’oh”, I preferred Tenchu 2 to the first one because of the level editor and the story, though it’s interchangeable really (what ever happened to that series?), Mechwarrior 2 was awesome too. Oh and I forgot Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Mat Hoffman’s Pro-BMX.
You could probably compile everyone’s top 50 lists here, remove the duplicates and pick one or another of numbered sequels in everyone’s lists (or just chuck ’em all together) and call it the Essential Bucket List of Video Games. Such good taste…
Tenchu: Return From Darkness on Xbox and Tenchu Z on 360…I played Tenchu Z a bit, it was fun, but lacking.
Early level editors were way too rare and way too awesome. Does anyone remember that really early Mario NES game which involved using hammers to smash through walls, and which had a level editor?
My list right up until the point I read any of the other lists. Alphabetical as no way do I have time to try and order them
Age of Chivalry
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
baldur’s gate
Bastion
Batman AA
Beyond good and evil
Bioshock
Bolderdash (C64)
California games
Civilization
Deadlight
Defense grid
Descent
Diablo 2
Doom 2
Evolva
Fallout
Golden Axe
Halo
heros quest: Quest for glory
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Just casue 2
Legend of Zelda (Nes)
Mario cart (snes)
Mechwarrior 2
Medievel madness
metro 2033
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
Portal 2
Prince of persia
Psychonauts
River Raid (Atari 2600)
Shattered galaxy
Solaris (Atari 2600)
Space marine
Spec ops the line
SSI Interceptor
Street Rod
Super street fighter (Arcade)
Syndicate
Tenchu
Tiny bang story
Torchlight
Torchlight
Total Anhinhilation
Tropico 4
UFO: Enemy Unknown
Ultima 3
Worms
XCOM Enemy Unknown
Spec Ops! I loved that…
So. Damn. Much.
Great list, Tigs.
What I like most about the Author’s list, is the inclusion of so many Amiga games. As a keen gamer of yesteryear, there were so many original and brilliant games for the Amiga, I could easily do a Top 200 on that system alone 🙂
Got a few Amiga titles on my list. Great memories of going to my neighbour’s house after school to play on his machine. His dad pirated heaps of games from his work mates.
I don’t have time for 50, but here are a few:
Thief 2
Fallout 2
Ico
Battlefield 1942
Civilisation
Super Mario 64
Red Dead Redemption
Doom
Tribes
Quake 3
Baldurs Gate 2
Half Life
Faery Tale
Boulderdash
GTA: San Andreas
Total Annihilation
Left 4 Dead
Bioshock
Here’s my 2c – stopped numbering after 10 as it became way too meaningless for me – I even had trouble making it to 50! I’m sure i’ll have missed stuff still tho…
1. Ocarina of Time – N64
2. Streets of Rage 2 – Megadrive
3. Wind Waker – Gamecube
4. Fate of Atlantis – PC
5. Goldeneye – N64
6. Half Life 2 – PC
7. Golden Sun – GBA
8. Duke Nukem 3D – PC
9. Mass Effect – PC
10. Super Mario 64 – N64
—
Golden Sun: Lost Age – GBA
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn – DS
Metal Gear Solid – PSX
Far Cry 2 – PC
Mario Kart 64 – N64
Super Mario Bros 3 – NES
Day of the Tentacle – PC
Machinarium – PC
Half Life 2: Episode 1 – PC
Half Life 2: Episode 2 – PC
Battlefield 2 – PC
Mass Effect 2 – PC
Mass Effect 3 – PC
Majora’s Mask – N64
Sonic the Hedgehog – Megadrive
Need for Speed Underground 2 – PC
Fifa 99 (the last great run through everyone and score fifa) – N64
Streets of Rage – Megadrive
Road Rash 2 – Megadrive
TMNT arcade game – NES
Xenophobe – Lynx
Banjo Kazooie – N64
Call of Duty 4 – PC
Battletoads – NES (damn that speeder bike level)
Battlefield Bad Company 2 – PC
Arkham City – PS3
Infamous 2 – PS3
Hybrid Heaven – N64
Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey – N64
Diddy Kong Racing – N64
Links Awakening – GBC
Uncharted 2 – PS3
Starwars – NES
Quake – PC
Alex Kid in Miracle World – Master System
Starwars Rogue Squadron – N64
Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast – PC
Sam and Max Hit the Road – PC
Psychonauts – PC
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil – N64
Thrown together in 20 minutes, with NO particular order:
Doom 2 (PC)
Quake 2 (PC)
Wip3out (PSX)
Metal Gear Solid (PSX)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
God(s) Eater Burst (PSP)
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP)
Final Fantasy VII : Crisis Core (PSP)
Final Fantasy Tactics (PSP)
Tactics Ogre : Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past (SNES)
Legend of Zelda : Link’s Awakening (GB)
Tetris (GB)
Lemmings (Amiga)
Gods (Amiga)
Cannon Fodder (Amiga)
Final Fantasy VI (PSX)
Final Fantasy IX (PSX)
Spec Ops : The Line (PC)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Megaman X (SNES)
Shadowrun (SNES)
Super Metroid (SNES)
Front Mission 3 (PSX)
Space Hulk (PSX)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Goldeneye (N64)
Turok : Dinosaur Hunter (N64)
Oni (PS2)
Persona 3 Portable (PSP)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
The Binding of Isaac (PC)
Pokemon Yellow (GB)
Fallout 3 (PS3)
Demon’s Souls (PS3)
Deus Ex Human Revolution (PC)
Syndicate Wars (PC)
Sam and Max Hit the Road (PC)
The Secret of Monkey Island (Amiga)
Flashback (Amiga)
Another World (Amiga)
F/A-18 Interceptor (Amiga)
Resident Evil 3 (PSX)
Fallout (PC)
Diablo II/Lord of Destruction (PC)
Phew.
Glad somebody had cannon fodder on their list. I thought of that after I posted.
Of course the other one the really should be on my list that I haven’t seen on any other list is
Earthworm Jim
Cannon Fodder was amazing. So many great memories of my Amiga. The old Psygnosis/Bitmap Brothers/Sensible days.
Good list. I loved F/A-18 Interceptor back in the day.
I couldn’t fly that plane for peanuts as a kid, but damn I had fun trying.
Here’s my personal Top 50 Games Of All Time…..Of All Time!!
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES)
2. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
3. Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2)
4. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
5. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Arcade)
6. Red Dead Redemption (PS3)
7. Goldeneye 64 (N64)
8. Bioshock (PC)
9. Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
10. Willow (Arcade)
11. WWF Wrestlefest (Arcade)
12. Dead Space 2 (PC)
13. Tekken 6 (PS3/Arcade)
14. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Arcade)
15. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (PS3)
16. Grim Fandango (PC)
17. Run and Gun (Arcade)
18. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
19. Full Throttle (PC)
20. Skate 3 (PS3)
21. Super Metroid (SNES)
22. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
23. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)
24. Final Fantasy VIII (PS2)
25. Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)
26. Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)
27. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
28. The King Of Fighters ’96 (Neo Geo)
29. Wonder Boy (C64)
30. Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES)
31. Rock n’ Roll Racing (SNES)
32. Zombies Ate My Neighbours (SNES)
33. Wing Commander III: The Heart Of The Tiger (PC)
34. Road Rash 3 (Megadrive)
35. Skitchin’ (Megadrive)
36. F-Zero (SNES)
37. Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (PC)
38. R.C. Pro Am (NES)
39. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (PS2)
40. Battletoads (NES)
41. California Games (C64)
42. Track And Field (C64)
43. Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory (Neo Geo/Arcade)
44. Captian Skyhawk (NES)
45. Choplifter (C64)
46. Stakes Winner 2 (Neo Geo)
47. IK+ (C64)
48. Alex Kidd In Miracle World (Master System)
49. World Games (C64)
50. Cooking Mama (DS)
yeh more road rash love! 🙂
Battle Chess!!!
While people are in list-making moods… Top 50 Tower Defense games! I need help. I’m a rabid TD FANATIC, but can get too little of the good stuff. List of quality stuff I have so far, in no particular order:
* Defense Grid
* Prime World: Defenders
* Orcs Must Die 1 & 2
* Kingdom Rush
* Sanctum 1 & 2
* Pixel Junk Monsters
* Revenge of the Titans
* Plants vs Zombies
* Dungeon Defenders
* Unstoppable Gorg
* iBomber Defense
* Cubemen
* Fieldrunners 1 & 2
* Sol Survivor
* Harvest: Massive Encounter
* Tower Wars
* Defenders of Ardania
* Savage Moon
* Iron Brigade
What am I missing?
Reverse TD is NOT TD! Anomaly does not count. Also, multi-player-only stuff like Tower Wars is especially dubious. (Edited to include ones I forgot.)
Did you like Iron Brigade?
Ohyeah! I own that. It was pretty cool. A bit too much action, not enough TD for my tastes, but a very respectable entry. Thanks for reminding me. 🙂
I wonder if Mark will review and present to us all the readers Top Ten Games (in order of mentions…not rank…) Wishful thinking?!
I can see a couple potential winners I think…Goldeneye, Deus Ex, Zelda (SNES) , Unreal Tournament??!
Red Dead Redemption gets a few mentions and usually very high up in people’s lists, Battletoads surprisingly as well given its difficulty curve was vertical, I think these lists should be compiled in to a Reader’s Top 1,000 or 10,000 games.
Guess Ill just do a quick list of ten( no particular order), most of them are modern
Batman: Arkham City
Borderlands 2
Bioshock infinite
Guild wars 2
League of Legends (kind of addicted)
Knights of the Old Republic 2 ( I know one is better in terms of story, and a lot less buggy, but 2 brings in new systems)
Crash: Tag Team racing
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
X-com: Enemy Unknown
Wildstar (If i had a beta invite) 🙁
Doodle jump Mark!! You make me sick! 😛
You’re a brave man, I’m scared to do a top 50 of all time because I don’t want to leave out games :/
Yeah, I only noticed that on a second read-through. It made the mind boggle… but I’ll let it go because damn we all seem to love games here. 🙂
1-48: Deus Ex.
49: Deus Ex : HR
50: Deus Ex 2
That series has captivated me in a way that no other game(s) ever has(have).
I think I could make a top 5 or a top 500…..
So I told myself only 1 entry from game series’ to prevent list bloating. I have a top 5 games that I could go back to and play over and over with an additional 25 in the order I remembered them making up a Top 30 list with a few comments on individual entries.
1- Chrono Trigger (This game is a gem that has stood the test of time for me)
2- The Last of Us (Powerful, moving performances drew me in early and have made want to be a better person)
3- The Legend of Zelda – Wind Waker (It was this or Link’s Awakening)
4- Final Fantasy 9 (Because it got all the components right, was a toss up between 8 and 10-2)
5- Commandos 2 – Men of Courage (so very underrated but this game above all rewards patience and practice)
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations (Because of how awesome the last case makes you feel when the original cornered theme kicks in)
Super Mario World
Terranigma
World of Warcraft (Hate me for putting it here but I spent 8 years forging friendships in this game, friends that I still keep in contact with even though I haven’t played it in about a year)
Donkey Kong Country 2
Banjo-Tooie
Pokemon Soul Silver
Borderlands 2
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3
Luigis Mansion
Ni No Kuni
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2 – Jedi Outcast
Cultures 2 – The Gates of Asgard (A game you could just power up and watch your villagers go about their business)
Rhythm Thief – The Emperors Treasure
Xenoblade Chronicles
Mafia (Came out at about the same time GTA3 came out, this one had a more believable world)
Portal 2
Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Yes this counts as one game >.>)
Worms World Party
Seiken Densetsu 3 (a.k.a Secret of Mana 2, if you haven’t played this game, I recommend adding it to your shameless gaming list near the top, grab a SNES emulator and a translated ROM)
Need for Speed Underground 2
Rogue Leader – Rogue Squadron 2
Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Sim Farm (Obscure I know, but I got a great deal of enjoyment during school with it)
Uncharted 2 – Among Thieves (Last but not least, witty dialogue, beautiful game and that helicopter and exploding building scene)
Oh yeah! I forgot about Commandos 2. That was an awesome game to try and stealth kill everyone. One of my favourite levels was the submarine base. Or whenever the dog was in a mission.
I was a masochist who quite liked Colditz Castle but I have a 100% stealth bridge over river kwai, white death and das boot part 2.
You know what upsets me with these lists?
Its all the titles we each missed out on because of not owning a certain platform at a certain time.
Doesn’t happen in other media.
Yes I have never played a Zelda or castelvania game.
My system history:
Commodore 64
Game & Watches
Sega Megadrive
Sega Saturn
Playstation
Dreamcast
Xbox
Xbox 360
Here’s my list….I didn’t order them, the order is which they came to me…so I guess that’s probably pretty close to the right order anyway.
Mass Effect 2 (PC)
Skyrim (PC)
Red Dead Redemption (360)
Halo (Xbox)
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Battlefield 1942 (PC)
Counter Strike 1.6 (PC)
Streets of Rage 2 (Mega Drive)
NBA Jam (Mega Drive)
Columns (Mega Drive)
Doom (PC)
The Last of Us (PS3)
Goldeneye (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
NBA 2K (Dreamcast)
NBA 2K4 (Xbox)
Team Fortress 2 (PC)
Half-Life (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)
Uncharted 2 (PS3)
International Superstar Soccer 64 (N64)
Borderlands (360)
GTA IV (360)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (360)
Burnout 3 Takedown (Xbox)
Driver (PS1)
Banjo Kazooie (N64)
Max Payne 2 (Xbox)
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
Portal 2 (PC)
Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube)
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (Xbox)
Rock Band 3 (PS3)
Mortal Kombat II (Mega Drive)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Point Blank (Arcade)
Daytona USA (Arcade)
Unirally (SNES)
Killer Instinct (SNES)
Micro Machines 2 Turbo (SNES)
Tekken 3 (PS1)
Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)
Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
Tetris (Game Boy)
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox)
PGR 2 (Xbox)
Forza Horizon (360)
Top Spin (Xbox)
Amped 2 (Xbox)
Shit, forgot about Geometry Wars 2 (360), Wrestlmania 2000 (N64) and Street Fighter II (Mega Drive). They would definitely be up there on my list as well. Probably replacing NBA 2K, Forza Horizon and Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow.
Here’s my top 10 quickly hashed out. I’ll probably come back and finish it after breakfast.
1 – Phantasy Star Online
2 – Shining Force II
3 – DOOM
4 – Alan Wake
5 – Bayonetta
6 – NiGHTS: Into Dreams…
7 – Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifers Call
8 – Sonic 3 & Knuckles
9 – Devil May Cry 3
10 – Halo
Here’s my list in order of memories
HERO – Atari 2600
Pitfall – Atari 2600
Dracula – Vic20
Thing on a spring – c64
Commando – c64
Robot – c64 (only because I spent 2 days typing it in from Comput magazine)
The last ninja (1&2) – c64
Barbarian -c64
Grand prix – c64
Pacland – c64
Double dragon c64
Secret of monkey island (1&2) – Amiga
Soccer kid – Amiga
It came from the desert – Amiga
Flashback – Amiga
Zool – Amiga
Sensible world of soccer – Amiga
Cannon fodder – Amiga
Theme park – Amiga
Dune 2 – Amiga
Simon the sorceror – Amiga
Last ninja 3 – Amiga
Lure of the temptress – Amiga
Amos basic – Amiga (Not a game I know, But a great Basic language with a built in sprite editor!)
Shoot em up construction kit – Amiga
Chaos engine – Amiga
Lemmings/ oh no more -amiga
Amiga power magazine – The best magazine I’ve ever read
Action replay – snes (yep I needed it!)
Super mario kart – snes
Unirally – snes
Demons crest – snes
Secret of mana – snes
Secret of evermore – snes
Zelda link to the past – snes
Yoshi’s island – snes
SFX racer – snes
Adams family – snes
Super mario allstars – snes (c’mon it had all the mario games in one catridge)
Grand theft auto london – ps
Tomb raider (1&2 only) – ps
Destruction derby – ps
Road rash – ps (Im still waiting for a modern version)
Wave race – N64
…..Dammit run out of room.
1. The Last Ninja
2. Mirror’s Edge
3. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
4. Mass Effect 3
5. Mass Effect 2
6. Baldur’s Gate
7. Neverwinter Nights
8. The Last Ninja 2
9. Borderlands 2
10. Borderlands
11. Pitfall
12. Super Zaxxon
13. River Raid
14. Raid on Bungeling Bay
15. Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition
16. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
17. Diablo II
18. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
19. Dance Dance Revolution (Any)
20. inFamous
21. The Last of Us
22. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
23. Magic the Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers (Any)
24. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
25. Mass Effect
26. Okami HD
27. Papo & Yo
28. Retro/Grade
29. Valkyria Chronicles
30. Skullgirls
31. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War
32. Civilization V
33. The Walking Dead (Telltale)
34. Virtue’s Last Reward
35. Jones in the Fast Lane
36. BurgerTime
37. Ghostbusters
38. Lost Dutchman Mine (Amiga)
39. Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
40. Rainbow Island (Amiga)
41. journey
42. Airborne Ranger (Amiga)
43. Platoon
44. Mechwarrior (1989)
45. Solomon’s Key
46. Shadow of the Beast
47. Wonderboy (Arcade)
48. Paperboy
49. Spy vs Spy (C64)
50. TMNT (Arcade)
I know I’m a bit late to the party but here’s my top 25, in order.
1: Super Metroid
2: Zelda: Majora’s Mask
3: Fallout 3
4: Mario Galaxy 2
5: Half Life 2
6: Cave Story +
7: Dust: An Elsyian Tail (yes, I like it THAT much)
8: Xenoblade Chronicles
9: Zelda: Wind Waker
10: Mega Man 2