Why 25? It will probably give a better view of what you actually enjoy, compared to say 5, or 10. Of course this list is ever changing, so it's by no means definitive......just 25 games that define you, as a lover of the medium.
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1.Civilization IV (PC)
2.Half-Life (PC)
3.The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4)
4.Civilization II (PC)
5.Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
6.The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
7.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
8.Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
9.SimCity 2000 (PC)
10.Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox)
11.Half-Life 2 (PC)
12.Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
13.Soulcalibur (Dreamcast)
14.F-Zero X (N64)
15.Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)
16.Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
17.Metal Slug X (Arcade/NeoGeo)
18.Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U)
19.San Francisco Rush 2049 (Arcade/N64/Dreamcast)
20.Real Bout Fatal Fury Special (Arcade/NeoGeo)
21.Halo 2 (Xbox)
22.Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (PSP)
23.The Last of Us (PS4/PS3)
24.The King of Fighters 98: The Slugfest (Arcade/NeoGeo)
25.Super Mario RPG (SNES)
Can't do an exact ranking but can rank in groups of 5)
Top 5 (Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Championship Manager 01/02, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, Yakuza 5, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep)
Next 5 (Final Fantasy VI, Suikoden 2, Kingdom Hearts 2, Resonance of Fate, Persona 4 Golden)
Next 5 (Rayman Origins, Merit´s Galactic Reunion, Resident Evil Chronicles HD, Quest for Glory IV, 999)
Next 5 (Resident Evil Revelations, Batman Arkham Origins, Gabriel Knight 2 the Beast Within, Rival Schools, Super Mario Bros 3)
Final 5 ( Fatal Frame 2, Donkey Kong 94 (game boy), Mass Effect 3, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, Parasite Eve)
Changes as of 3/29/17 edit:
Dropped Fire Emblem 7 on GBA for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Nintendo Switch.
Dropped Silent Hill 3 on PS2 for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on Wii U.
Dropped Rocket Knight Adventures on Sega Genesis for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D.
Dropped Shin Megami Tensei IV on 3DS for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, also on 3DS.
No particular order, so I'm just going to list them off by platform:
GBA
Final Fantasy VI Advance
Metroid: Zero Mission
NINTENDO DS
Contra 4
NINTENDO 3DS
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Etrian Odyssey IV
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
PSP/PS VITA
Corpse Party
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Gravity Rush
PS1
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Silent Hill
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy VII
Monster Rancher 2
PS2
Shadow of the Colossus
Silent Hill 2
NES
Super Mario Bros. 3
Contra
GAMECUBE
Resident Evil remake
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Metroid Prime
WII
Super Mario Galaxy
WII U
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
NINTENDO SWITCH
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
25 is a lot of games so I'm going to separate them into Short games, Long games and Competitive games.
Short;
Magic Land Dizzy
Super Mario Bros
Tetris
Streets of Rage 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Monkey Ball
Resogun
Long;
Frontier Elite 2
Shining Force 2
Final Fantasy 8
Civilisation 3
Metal Gear Solid 3
Mass Effect 2
Knights of the Old Republic
Gundam Warriors 3
Halo Reach
The Walking Dead season 1
Grand Theft Auto 5
The Last of Us
Competitive;
Sensible World of Soccer
Super Bomberman
Soul Calibur 2
Anna Kournikovas Smash Court Tennis
Mario Kart Double Dash
Rocket League
I'm glad to say 4 of those games, I played on ps4. I've missed loads out and no doubt my selection would change tomorrow.
PS3 Megathread 2019: The Last of Us
Multiplat 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn
Nintendo 2017: Super Mario Bros 3
Playstation 2016: Uncharted 2
Multiplat 2015: Final Fantasy 7
In no order
1: Kingdom Hearts Series
2: Uncharted Series
3: Jak And Daxter Trilogy including Jak X
4: Ratchet And Clank Series
5: Drakenguard
6: Scaler
7: The Last Of Us
8: Zelda The Minish Cap
9: Star Wars Battlefront 1/2 And EA
10: Call Of Duty Modern Warfare Trilogy
11: Star Wars Republic Commando
12: Bloodbourne
13: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
14: Crash Bandicoot Series (PS1 Games)
15: Half Life 2 & Episode 1/2
16: Portal 1&2
17: Fallout 3/4/New Vegas
18: Oblivion/Skyrim (Only Elder Scrolls I've Played)
19: God Of War Series
20: Batman Arkham Asylum (Need to play the others)
21: Dishonored
22: Halo 1/2/3/Reach
23: Red Dead Redemption
24: Age Of Empires 2
25: FNAF Series
I know I didn't really follow it properly by adding "Series" in some of then instead of individual games
I'm pretty much surprised I'm the first to include Chrono Trigger, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grim Fandango. I thought those games were beloved. Really dig a lot of those lists, though.
1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2. Super Mario World
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
4. Red Dead Redemption
5. Chrono Trigger
6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
7. Bioshock Infinite
8. Super Mario Galaxy
9. Mother 3
10. The Last of Us
11. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
12. Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year-Door
13. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
14. Bioshock
15. Pokémon Gold
16. Grim Fandango
17. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
18. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past
19. Super Smash Bros. Melee
20. Journey
21. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
22. Shenmue
23. Mass Effect 2
24. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
25. Plants vs. Zombies
I couldn't list 25 best games ever. I would have a better chance of listing my GotY's for each year I have been gaming. There are some games though that I absolutely loved, were game changers in their time etc but by today's standards, I wouldn't give them a mention. Goldeneye, for example, was one such game. The campaign was excellent and loved the different difficulty and extra missions/objectives different difficulties added. It wasn't perfect though as AI wasn't great - especially if you were escorting someone. MP had issues too - being able to 'screen watch' to know exactly where someone was being the main issue. Obviously at the time it was game-changing but to say its 'better' than modern day equivalents if we compare directly is difficult. Some old games can stand up against todays games but more often than not, the old games have been improved on in almost every way in my opinion. You can't deny how ground breaking SM64 was in its day but compared to more recent 3D platformers, they are better - better story, better movement etc.
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Some old games can stand up against todays games but more often than not, the old games have been improved on in almost every way in my opinion.
But then you're only looking at the technical side. Level design, story, originality, replay value, humor, challenging, fun: those are just a few things that are very important in a game, that are very hard to get right and isn't something newer games are nessecarily better at.
The level design in Super Mario World is easily better than any platformer that came out today. Even the controls are better than a lot of platformers.
Snake Eater is also such a great game. It looks unimpressive by today's standards, maybe, but the way the story is told is so strong.
And a game like Paper Mario is so well-crafted and fun, without a dull moment. It is easily a better way to spend your time than most of those new games, no matter their graphics.
And I understand your critique on games like Goldeneye and Mario 64. I can easily name some more games that aren't as fun to play now as they were back then: Lylat Wars, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 4 (people will disagree with some of those, of course). But that's why I didn't name them in my list. There are a lot of games that despite their age are still great.
I couldn't list 25 best games ever. I would have a better chance of listing my GotY's for each year I have been gaming. There are some games though that I absolutely loved, were game changers in their time etc but by today's standards, I wouldn't give them a mention. Goldeneye, for example, was one such game. The campaign was excellent and loved the different difficulty and extra missions/objectives different difficulties added. It wasn't perfect though as AI wasn't great - especially if you were escorting someone. MP had issues too - being able to 'screen watch' to know exactly where someone was being the main issue. Obviously at the time it was game-changing but to say its 'better' than modern day equivalents if we compare directly is difficult. Some old games can stand up against todays games but more often than not, the old games have been improved on in almost every way in my opinion. You can't deny how ground breaking SM64 was in its day but compared to more recent 3D platformers, they are better - better story, better movement etc.
Exactly, go back and play MGS on emulation; the controls and camera will kill you after being spoiled by modern titles. Equally, older classics like Pac-Man, Tetris, Mario et al, still hold up because of their simplicity. With that in mind, I think my list will have weight to how important they were "at the time".
1) Championship Manager 2
2) Syndicate
3) Final Fantasy VII
4) Civilisation 3
5) Zelda : Ocarina of Time
6) Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater (Subsistence version)
7) Fallout 3
8) Pro Evolution Soccer
9) Streets of Rage II
10) COD4 : MW
11) Jedi Knight : Dark Forces 2
12) Life Is Strange
13) Silent Hill 2
14) UFO : Enemy Unknown
15) Monkey Island 3
16) Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic
17) Doom 2
18) Mass Effect 2
19) Super Street Fighter II
20) Road Rash II
21) Skyrim
22) Rainbow Islands
23) Bioshock
24) GTA : San Andreas
25) Journey
Honourable Mentions : The Last of Us, Unreal Tournament
@Kidfried: Of course some games still hold up today but its not just the technical issues - such as visual fidelity, story etc. A game like Ratchet and Clank has far more 'story' than Super Mario 64, more game-play elements too. The problem I have is that I also believe nostalgia plays a big factor into decision making. There is no denying the impact SM64 had on me at the time and because nothing else came close (at that time) it seemed better than maybe it was. I know that camera angles weren't always the best but it was the first game that had a greater sense of freedom and finesse to its controls - thanks to the analogue control stick and the 3D world. It really didn't have a story so to speak - just a thin plot - the same as the 2D Mario games - defeat Bowser to rescue the Princess.
By the time we get to the modern era, these games, not just from a technical level (although all of these are far more refined), but also from a 'story' perspective are very much superior. Obviously they may lack 'originality' because a game 20+ years ago did it first, and as for replayability - well that again came down to the lack of competition to a degree too. Trying to get the high score in pac-man for example was very repetitive but we still kept playing the same game over and over again - yet people complain that a 'horde' mode for example can be repetitive even though it offers up more variation and choice often. The same principal applies - get to the highest Wave possible or beat a high-score.
If you look at Goldeneye, for example, its regarded as one of the best games ever. However Perfect Dark took everything Goldeneye offered and improved on it so why isn't that regarded as 'better' - maybe because Goldeneye came out first and therefore had something Perfect Dark can never have - That 'first' time unique 'uncomparable' (you can't compare anything to Goldeneye but Perfect Dark and all other FPS's got compared to Goldeneye afterwards) experience and rarely anything can live up to that.
It doesn't matter how good Yooka-Laylee is, what has improved etc, it will automatically get compared to Banjo-Kazooie and the memory that still has lingering. I have played many games that were 'favourites' - even regarded as the best in their day - most recently via Rare Replay. More often than not though, these games really disappoint and leave me wondering what I saw in them. The older the game, the more this happens - which then leaves me questioning my 'best' games. Are they the best because they are still good or best because of their impact at the time or even associated memories - like staying up all night playing Goldeneye with my wife, friends and family - the situation and social aspect rather than the game itself.
A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!
Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??
Feel free to add me but please send a message so I know where you know me from...
If you look at Goldeneye, for example, its regarded as one of the best games ever. However Perfect Dark took everything Goldeneye offered and improved on it so why isn't that regarded as 'better' - maybe because Goldeneye came out first and therefore had something Perfect Dark can never have - That 'first' time unique 'uncomparable' (you can't compare anything to Goldeneye but Perfect Dark and all other FPS's got compared to Goldeneye afterwards) experience and rarely anything can live up to that.
Sure, I can get behind this idea. It was actually something I thought about before making my Top 25 list. I tried not to choose games that I liked back then, but now wouldn't play. I also hate it when those top games lists choose Tetris or Pong as the best game of all time. It wás great and ground breaking, but I think 'greatest of all time' also means they should hold up today. I genuinely think Wind Waker holds up today just as it did almost 15 years ago.
Are they the best because they are still good or best because of their impact at the time or even associated memories - like staying up all night playing Goldeneye with my wife, friends and family - the situation and social aspect rather than the game itself.
Great point. But isn't that also a difference in timelessness? Some games just aren't that timeless. I wouldn't be surprised if in ten years we don't think so highly of Skyrim anymore. It could become dated. We'll say: "Remember that holiday when I played Skyrim for one week straight?" Others might stand the test of time and take Skyrim's place in my Top 25. Those things are supposed to be fluid, right?
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Topic: Your top 25 games, of any era, any platform.
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