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
And as I built this list, I really walked away with a lot more respect for the Wii. I was always a big fan of the system, but when I go back and look at the library, it really is impressive. it doesn't have a lot of the big mainstream games, but between its main library, and WiiWare, it's pretty spectacular. And so much of it is going to be stay there due to the controls. At least until Nintendo decides to launch the Wii Classic.
Good luck playing anything on that with a 2 foot controller cable.
And I agree, Wii had a great library. I think I own more than double the amount of games for it than I do for WiiU.
Oh I forgot to answer this part. Overall they're similar experiences, but Center has more highs and lows due to the variety of practices. The ones you like will be a lot of fun, but the ones you don't can get tedious. By the end of the game though, I was enjoying the practices that I was originally bored by once the stakes were raised. Here's the breakdown:
The surgeon is very similar to the classic Trauma Center style.
The paramedic is more about speed and balancing multiple patients at once.
The orthopedic surgeon played similar to the main surgeon, but a little more repetitive and tedious. Most dull scenario I thought.
The endoscopy surgeon was really tough as the controls were tricky. Wiimote just wasn't accurate enough for what they were trying to do. Towards the end of the game, I finally got comfortable with it and begin to enjoy those scenarios, but it was definitely tough to pick up.
Then the diagnostician and coroner scenarios play more like Phoenix Wright. The diagnostician segments are similar to the trial scenarios where you are asking questions, looking at evidence/test results, and applying it to a diagnosis. The coroner scenarios are like the investigation segments. You're looking for clues, listening to witness interviews, and then trying to figure out what happened to victim.
So there you go. If there was any replay value in the game, it would have been much higher on my list. But unless you really care about getting perfect scores, when you get through the game there's not much left to do.
It came with my Wii U but I never got around to playing it.
It's humorous reading your list and comparing it to a Nintendo special of Hyper that was just released where they completely ignore the Wii (except for derisive references to it), while praising Nintendo for doing their own thing on everything else...even the Wii U gets its props for being a good first draft of the Switch.
I'm editing my list, this is hard. How did you make sure you didn't miss something?
Metroid Prime? Check
Zelda? Check
Metal Gear Solid? Check
Just throw some other titles in there too!
Well the first thing to remember is you will miss games. you will also put them in order, and then later on you will wonder why the hell you ranked 1 game so much higher than another. You just have to accept all that stuff, and remember that if any game makes your personal top 100 out of the thousands you played over your life, that's enough of an endorsement. Don't stress too much where it's ranked. Game 83 really isn't that much better than game 78.
The way I made my list was I listed out every console I've played, and then arcade games and PC games (and those two I split in two time periods to make it easier to create groups). Then I made a top 10 or 15 list for each of those, assuming there were even that many games to rank. Then I just started identifying what were my favorites in those groups and which ones I probably would want in that top 100 list.
After that it's just a matter of finding one you like a lot, but maybe not love And then start comparing every other game to that. Whether it's better or worse. After awhile you will have a rough list and you tinker with that for a couple days or even weeks.
Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my final result. Since I started writing these out, I have made two changes, but for the most part everything has stayed where I originally put it.
Very helpful, thanks.
Contra was fucking great. I used to love playing that with my brother. That and Ikari Warriors made me feel like a five year old version of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
#53. Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV was one of the first games I ever played on the SNES. Nintendo was going around to different malls across the country doing showcases for their new SNES, and they'd set up kiosks of their launch titles for everyone try out. Miraculously my mom took me to the event when I asked her and it was glorius... at least it would have been if there wasn't such a damn crowd. Super Mario World had a line for days. I eventually got a spot at some really mediocre WWF game and I played that for a bit since no one else wanted to. Fortunately after a few minutes of that, a spot at the Castlevania kiosk opened up and it was amazing. Simon could now whip in 8 directions!!! Even better he could dangle the whip and just flip it around. The graphic were incredible and the music... fuck man the music was legendary. Castlevania games always great soundtracks and this was no letdown.
I think I've bought the game 3 times now. Once on the original system and on both the Wii and Wii U VC's. It's just as good today as it was then. In fact it might be one of the best pure action platformers ever made. No leveling up or special armor to make things easier in this game. You play, you learn, and you get better. And unlike it's NES predecessors, the controls are spot on in this game so the cheap jumps of death aren't really cheap anymore. IT's a god tier action action game. Definitely a must-play.