(Totally random stock image of top games that has nothing to do with my list. But it looks cool.)
Welcome to my much more than top 100 games of all time list. Why is it not 100 because I found a way for my list to not be all Zelda, MGS or Mario games. I also hate the idea of only putting one or two per franchise, this is about individual games and some franchises are so good all their games are in the top. But that makes for a boring list so I wanted more games in.
The compromise I came up with is to bunch similar quality games together as one entry (example Galaxy 1 and 2). There could be two, three, maybe six games in one number. The idea being they are very close in quality so no reason to break them into separate ranks. I will order them from least favorite to favorite within that rank.
This is also a favorites list meaning if one game is ahead of another it does not necessarily mean I think its a better game, I just might have a deeper history with that game. Now toward the top of the list my favorites and what I believe to be the best games ever made are one and the same. It was not easy to pick the games I did, I constantly removed some games, put others in, rearranged the ranks many times. Ive always known my top 25 or so but the rest has been fun to explore and figure out which games have been my favorites over all these years.
Its actually kind of late so I will start officially tomorrow. But before I go I'll leave you with a few games that just missed the list.
So funky and fresh but didn't make it.
The splatoon games, one of the best online competitive "shooters" I've played. Slightly out of the splat zone.
FTL, such an addicting simple yet extremely deep game. A classic but just missses the mark.
The Longest Journey, Incredible story and the best traditional point and click adventure game I have ever played. Excellent game but lets be real, adventure games aren't my thing.
MASTER LIST
- 100. Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil Outbreak
- 99. Rogue Squadron 2
- 98. Nights
- 97. Destiny
- 96. Astro Bot
- 95. Pixeljunk Eden
- 94. Tomb Raider 2
- 93. Sim CIty 2000
- 92. Splinter Cell Blacklist
- 91. Panzer Dragoon 2 and Panzer Dragoon Saga
- 90. Shenmue 1 and 2
- 89. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and 3
- 88. Nioh
- 87. Tetris
- 86. Darksiders
- 85. Assassin's Creed 2
- 84. Portal 1 and 2
- 83. Dragon Quest 8
- 82. BloodBorne
- 81. Ecco the Dolphin 1 and 2
- 80. Dead Space 1 and 2
- 79. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
- 78. Kingdom Hearts 2
- 77. Mortal Kombat 1, 2 and 9
- 76. Uncharted 3, 4 and Lost Legacy
- 75. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
- 74. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- 73. Rayman Origins and Legends
- 72. Castlevania Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow
- 71. Crash Bandicoot 2
- 70. Silent Hill
- 69. Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite
- 68. Bayonetta 1 and 2
- 67. Donkey Kong Country Returns
- 66. AM2R, Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Zero Mission
- 65. Final Fantasy 6 and 12
- 64. The World Ends With You
- 63. Hollow Knight
- 62. Chrono Trigger
- 61. Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel
- 60. Dragon Age: Origins
- 59. Sonic Adventure 1, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors and Sonic Adventure 2
- 58. Mega Man 2
- 57. Halo 1 and 2
- 56. Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga and Paper Mario 2
- 55. Devil May Cry 1 and 4
- 54. Horizon Zero Dawn
- 53. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- 52. Tie Fighter and X-Wing Alliance
- 51. Gran Turismo 1 and 3
- 50. Tekken 3
- 49. Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds and Oracle of Ages/Seasons
- 48. Sonic 1, 3 and Knuckles
- 47. God of War 3
- 46. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Brawl, Wii U and Ultimate
- 45. Metroid Prime 3
- 44. Ratchet and Clank Going Commando and A Crack in Time
- 43. GTA 3, 4, 5 and Red Dead Redemption
- 42. Mass Effect 3
- 41. Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 3D World
- 40. NFL2k1 and ESPN NFL 2K5
- 39. Ninja Gaiden
- 38. Deus Ex
- 37. Shadow of the Colossus
- 36. The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion and TES5 Skyrim
- 35. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution and Virtua Fighter 5
- 34. Okami
- 33. The Last of Us
- 32. X-Com UFO Defense
- 31. Fallout 3 and New Vegas
- 30. Resident Evil, Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 5
- 29. God of War 2 and God of War 4
- 28. Red Dead Redemption 2
- 27. Metal Gear Solid 2
- 26. Devil May Cry 3
- 25. Batman Arkham Asylum, City and Knight
- 24. Legend of Zelda Wind Waker and Skyward Sword
- 23. Final Fantasy 7 and 8
- 22. The Witness
- 21. Phantasy Star Online
- 20. Half-Life 2
- 19. LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2
- 18. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- 17. Doom
- 16. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- 15. Super Metroid
- 14. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3
- 13. Uncharted 2
- 12. Castlevania SOTN
- 11. Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica and Remake 2
- 10. Metal Gear Solid V
- 9. GTA Vice City and San Andreas
- 8. Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World
- 7. The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening
- 6. Mass Effect 2
- 5. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
- 4. Metroid Prime
Is it the Pixeljunk series that turned into an endless series of endless runners, or am I thinking of something else?
That would be it.
You can blame RE2 for the delay.
#94 Tomb Raider 2
The start of the 3D era had some seminal games that set the bar for 3D gaming and Tomb Raider was one of those games. It controlled like ass but damn it felt mindblowing to have such an epic adventure in a 3D world. But the first game was rough, like many franchises do the second outing is really when formula shines. Tomb Raider 2 was a massive step up adding vehicles to its levels, taking Lara on a globe trotting adventure to some memorable locations like the Great Wall and Venice. With better combat, enemies and boss battles TR2 was one of the best games on the PS1.
My history with Tomb Raider started on the Saturn, I know, yes feel bad for me. Despite the rough port it still was one of the most unbelievable games I played, when that T-Rex stomps out for the first time it left a stamp in the list of most memorable game moments. By the time TR2 came out I had a PS1 so I could properly play it and boy did it live up to the hype. It felt so grand, this massive adventure with so many locations filled with devious puzzles. I still don't feel the franchise ever topped the second game, the third started to get a bit too annoyingly difficult and by then controls had evolved. Tomb Raider 2 is one of those great sequels that set the standard for its franchise.
#93 Sim City 2000
My list isn't just action adventure games, I know, shocking. I did play all kinds of games and in the early 90s the PC scene was where the most unique games were coming out. Enter Sim City 2000 the most beloved of the Sim franchise. Who can forget the cover with the giant UFO, holy shit this game has aliens! Yes that was all I needed to give the city builder a try and man was it a blast. I played this at my friends house who had a good PC (pretty much all my early 90s PC gaming was done at my friends house so this will be a recurring theme), I remember being marveled at the incredible cities that were possible. I would never get far because it wasn't my game so I mostly stuck to premade stuff and then let natural disasters hit, come on you all did that, the alien was my favorite.
1995 Christmas I got the system I was most hyped for in my life. The system that would go down as the greatest game console in history, nothing would come close... or so I thought, I got the Sega Saturn (my poor parents, what they did for me). With such an amazing launch lineup of games to chose from like uhhh... ok I got Sim City 2000 and Panzer Dragoon (coming soon to a list near you). Yeah I got a Saturn to play a PC game, leave me alone, I'm a console guy. Finally Sim City 2000 was mine and I spent many many hours building my giant metropolis with good city management and save scumming whenever a disaster hit lol. The Sim City 2000 theme song is engraved in my mind, I can hum it on queue to this day. No other sim game comes close to making me love it like I did this one. It struck the right balance of complexity and accesability. Future Sim City games never struck that same cord like this one did.
I find it crazy that my indepth list inspired so many others to make their own.
I really like your write ups.
Resident Evil 3 was the game that introduced me to the series, and everyboady remembers the game for two reasons: #1 Jill Valentine looked '90s hot, and #2 Nemesis is terrifying. Even though I was ten at the time, I haven't forgotten running away from Nemesis, getting to a different screen and letting out a sigh, just for him to appear from the corner again. Utterly terrifying. I remember being so frustrated because I got to the final boss in the game only to run out of ammo right before killing it.
Nights is a game I remember solely as being that weird Sega Saturn headliner game. From an outsider looking in, even today, it seems like the peak experimental '90s 3D game that was so common during the mid to lateish '90s. A game where you fly in a 3D space as a jester that is meant to be "a mascot platformer for the thrid dimension". It was definitely intriguing, but even as a child I remember thinking...is Sega Saturn even a thing?
Yes thank you, I love lists like these. Without good stories about why these mean something it wouldnt work. The best part are the stories that come with the games and I will try to do that.
FWIW I couldn't imagine doing a list like that again. While I still play games I find my gaming experience more "consistent" if that makes sense. Outside of Persona 5, games rarely blow me away like they did when I was a teen and early twenties. It's sort of like with movies. A quality release is just another quality release and I move on to the next one.
But anyway this thread isn't about me. Tomb Raider 2 I remember from the demo and I could almost never beat it because I was a stupid nine year old.