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 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.
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...
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...
I find that a lot of the 16 bit era console games (some of the 8 bit as well), and more advanced 2D arcade titles....say from around 86 to around the end of sprite based fighters and shmups era, so the early 00's...................hold up very well, and I don't have much if any nostalgic value for many of these titles.
First of all, you can appreciate these games from an artistic view point, play a game like Progear, which was a 2001 Cave shooter based on Capcom's sprite based 2D arcade hardware, and the game is just beautiful, even today.......................even something like R-Type, from 87, can be appreciated on the graphical level. In fact, the sprite artwork in many of these titles are superior to what we say from modern indie developers.
Second, when it comes to ageing, simplicity, and fun factor rule all. Hence, why many arcade, or arcade like titles........which were meant to hook you within the first 25 seconds of gameplay, still hold up very well. They were designed from the ground up to be immediately accessible, challenging, and fun, and those values spilled over into the 8 and 16 bit era machines as well. As far as something like the Atari 2600, just my opinion, but I feel like many of those titles are a bit too archaic and shallow to hold much value these days.
But stuff like Super Mario Bros. 3, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Battle Garegga, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Mega Man 2, Streets of Rage 2, Final Fight, etc., etc...............IMO, are absolutely timeless in many aspects.
Now, as far as early 3D console games, so from around 96 to 2001ish......I feel like that's much more of a mixed bag. To be honest, they have aged rather poorly in some aspects. It's very dependent on the title (again, simplicity is key), but it was a proving ground.
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Topic: Your top 25 games, of any era, any platform.
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