To celebrate our 10 year anniversary I think it's only fair that we do the exact same thing every video game magazine did whenever they reached a milestone... create a top 100 list. So that's what I'm going to do. I've spent the last couple weeks thinking this over and I have a list in front of me that I'm pretty happy with. No one else on earth will be happy with it, but as I always say, "fuck off it's my list and I don't give two shits what you think you little pissant." At least I think I say that.
Also, if you recall I did do a top 28 list a while back. However, that was 5 years ago and many great games have come out since, so even that top 28 has some changes in it. There's a few new games, a few games my opinions have changed on, and there was one really great one that I completely overlooked somehow when I made the list the first time. So rest assured there will be some very noticeable changes.
And it's going to go by fast. Since I've got that new job starting in just over a week, my free time may be reduced, so I'm going to try to get all 100 games posted within the next two weeks. I need to sharpen up my writing since this is a PR job so it's good practice. Writing about insurance benefits and filing medical claims is just like video games right?
100Sonic Adventure
99Kaboom
98Conquests of the Longbow
97Streets of Rage 2
96Lollipop Chainsaw
95Bloodborne
94 Crazy Taxi
93Bit.Trip.Beat
92Wii Ski & Snowboard
91RiverCity Ransom
90Dragon Quest Monsters
89Jones in the Fastlane
88Dark Cloud 2
87Professor Layton and the Curious Village
86MadWorld
85Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
84Torneko the Last Hope
83Crystal Castles
82Space Harrier
81Retro Game Challenge
80Final Fantasy VII
79Bulletstorm
78Rayman Legends
77Super Dodge Ball
76World of Goo
75The Magic of Scherazade
74Minecraft
73Fantasy Zone 2
72Golden Axe: Revege of Death Adder
71Final Fantasy Legend II
70Hotel Dusk
69Splatoon
68Pitfall
67Dragon Quest V
66SteamWorld Dig
65Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
64Order Up
63Hearthstone
62Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge
61Bayonetta
60Galaga
59 Earthbound
58Super Mario Bros.
57Wii Sports Resort
56Pac-Man CE: DX
55Trauma Team
You like Nights more than Mario Galaxy?!
I very fondly remember getting NiGHTS when it came out and playing it on that big ass controller. Had a lot of fun with that game.
NiGHTS Into Dreams is barely in my top 100. It's great but it's no Mario game.
Seems like Super Mario got hit and reverted to Mario. He lost his cap after the first fireball.
Not sure what this has to do with NiGHTS though?
#36. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
Zelda games and I kind of have a funny relationship. They never really pull me in, and I tend to give up on them pretty quickly and move onto something else. But once it has its claws in me it doesn't let go. That's exactly how it was with Link to the Past. I was playing it and while it wasn't bad it wasn't grabbing me and eventually I put it away after a few hours. A few weeks later I was on vacation visiting relatives eating a bowl of Apple Jacks. The prize in that box was a Link to the Past sticker, and when it came out of the box I decided to give the game a second shot. Thank god I did. Turned out I just needed a little extra push and suddenly everything clicked.
There was so much to like in this game. The music and graphics were great. The Lost Forrest was the perfect example. The music there was great and the way the shadows, light spots, and fog changed up the environement was mindblowing for a 16-bit game. The way the dark world was a copy and yet not of the light world made for some amazing puzzles. But the secrets were the best things of all, and LttP was packed to them. I think I've told the story before, but when I swam up the river and found the guy chilling out under the bridge who gave you a bottle, I thought I was the smartest guy in the world. Who else could find this? Surely this was the best hidden secret in all of video games. And ME!!! I was the one who found him. No one else. Yes, there were definitely times I might have thought too highly of myself, but if Link to the Past entertained me and boosted my ego, then I say I'm all the better for it.
#35. Diablo II
No question, this is the very best of the Diablo trilogy. The first was great fun, though ultimately a very simple and basic hack-and-slash. The third did an excellent job in refining the combat, but got bogged down with its story at times, and might have been a little too long. Diablo 2 had that perfect balance. The combat is a big step-forward from the original and still holds up just fine today even 18 years later. The story was good especially how they were expanding the history of the characters of the first game. Add in the whole new character roster, a variety of settings, post-game content and you've pretty much got the greatest hack-and-slash of all time.
My only regret is that it took me about 10 years to beat. I blame my wife for that. Shortly after I got the game, she and I hooked up and let's face it new partner sex tends to trump video games. Since I was distracted with her I ended up giving my original copy to a co-worker who wanted some games to give to his son in Isreal. Why he couldn't have bought the damn game himself apparently didn't occur to me, and I happily offered up Diablo 2. Ooops... Anyway, I would go on to rebuy the game years later and ended up beating the game solo a couple times over. Really wish I spent more time with it online during its prime run, but we live and learn.