(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
A Link to the Past is the G.O.A.T.
Same for me. This whole list is bullshit for not recognising it as such.At the present rate of his posting, this may actually be the last one Vader gets to before he dies of old age! So it's effectively number 1!
We can only hopeVader, the G.R.R.Martin of videogame lists.
But I will finish!
6. Mass Effect 2
Being a fan of sci-fi all my life I have always wanted the a game where I feel like I am on an epic space adventure. The captain of my own ship, leader of a rag tag group of aliens, fighting for the fate of the universe. Enter Mass Effect, a dream scenario with the expertise of Bioware and the perfect setting and style for the game I want. Now Mass Effect 1 was a MS 360 exclusive, I did not have a 360 and so like back in the 16 bit days I watched from the outside as many praised Bioware's first episode of this planned trilogy, desperately wanting to play. Then something crazy happened, Mass Effect 2 would come to PS3, but not the first and it would come with all DLC. So that is what I played, I watched ME1 cutscenes on youtube, I made my choices in the intro movie of the PS3 version of ME2 so you can set the stage for your version of ME2 and off I went.
The best part of Mass Effect 2 is that its actually an action game. ME1 was plagued with half RPG elements, made the game feel real sluggish, playing that after the far better playing ME2 was not easy. ME2 thankfully embraced that it is a shooter with RPG elements, the result is my perfect kind of game. I instantly fell in love with Shepard and the crew. I had the Normandy, my own spaceship! I could go to each team members quarters, chat with them, try to sleep with them, learn about their lives. It felt like the Star Trek game I always wanted. Well if Star Trek was part action movie and you are space Jack Bauer, which so happens to be my other favorite genre, shooting shit!
ME2's combat was a really cool TPS strategy hybrid. Unlike Gears where all you do is hide behind cover and pop out and shoot, ME2 gives you biotic powers with basically makes you a Jedi with a gun. I was force pulling fools, launching enemies in the air and gunning them down. Some teammates were hackers giving me support drones and hacking Geth enemies. There was an element of rock paper scissors with the powers and shields, and the way you command your entire team made each combat scenario more than just shooting. I was enthralled with every gunfight as the story sets up every scenario so well and I loved the various planets and locations you visit.
Bioware's strength is their storylines specifically with the team members. ME2 has a stellar cast from your right hand man Garrus, to Miranda the hard headed second in command that might become your love interest. Thane the assassin with a spiritual background, Zaeed the assassin who doesn't give a shit about no one. Jack and her tragic story of being experimented on, she is the hot head of the group. Tali who is just the best, kind of like the crew's Data. And the rest, all really great team members each of them with their own story lines, each can be grown with specific powers and such.
Mass Effect's most impressive feature is that Bioware wanted to create an adventure across three games where all your decisions matter. So depending on what you did in the first game some characters are dead or alive, some races hate you or welcome you and the choices you make in this game have impact on the next one. That ambitious project sort of fell flat at the very end but in the moment it made every story decision feel nerve wrecking. I was many times deciding the fate of my crew, like Captain Kirk, making the tough decisions. Its the perfect blend of great combat, compelling story and making the player feel in control of their own story. It all culminates in one of the best final missions of a game ever, where every character you meet has a role and can die.
Now I played the game with all the DLC integrated into the game so this game felt MASSIVE to me. I was engaged for 40+ hours, exploring every nook of this galaxy. I read every journal entry, I loved all the lore, all the detail Bioware put into this. I couldn't wait to get to my next planet, to see what kind of horrible situations I have to fight my way out of. It felt like being in control of a TV show that I never wanted to end. Mass Effect 2 is the best Bioware game ever, if you classify it as a true RPG it would be my favorite RPG ever. It's almost my dream game, it just needs a little better combat with better enemy and level variety. Still it's one of those gaming experiences where it was pure joy from start to finish.
5. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
Obviously I grew up loving Super Mario Bros, I love platforms, but for whatever reason the transition from 2D to 3D didn’t really capture me the way it did other genres. I think it mostly had to do with how precise the controls had to be for a platformer to work, 2D Mario always controlled like a dream, the levels lend themselves to focusing on the most basic and essential of all video game mechanics, the act of timing a jump.
When Super Mario 64 hit it was a revelation, exploring that 3D world was awe inducing BUT that need of the precise jump was gone. Levels were large, most of the time was spent looking for what to do rather than doing what had to be done. This was exacerbated further in Sunshine which went even more toward exploring. Were 3D platformers never going to be able to capture that energy and magic of the 2D ones. Enter Super Mario Galaxy.
Galaxy takes the spirit of my favorite Mario game up to that point SMB3 and successfully translates it into a 3D space. Gone are the giant meandering levels, Galaxy has smaller more goal oriented courses. The focus is back on the act of jumping, timing, using powers to get around and it’s all done so in a way that’s so incredibly imaginative.
The hook of Galaxy is that Mario gets to run and jump around spheres that have their own gravity. You can launch yourself and forward and wrap around a small planetoid due to the gravitational pull. Or using the Wiimote to grab onto stars that launch you from one gravity field to another. This leads to incredible levels where you are slingshotting Mario using gravity across space or running on top of and below a UFO has lasers fly from every corner of the screen. Crazy levels where floors come and go at the beat of music. Levels where it’s a race against time. The classic auto scrolling levels. And yes even a few larger levels to satisfy that exploration itch. Variety is what makes this game so amazing.
One of my favorite aspects of SMB3 are the wild suits and all the powers it gives Mario, well Galaxy one ups SMB3 with even wilder suits. Bee, ghost, fire, ice and even a flying Mario suit all add to the ridiculous gameplay variety. My favorite though was the spring suit that has you bounce around what was my favorite levels of the game, a giant sized toy room with the Mario theme song playing. Galaxy 1 practically had it all or so I thought but the sequel proved there was still more.
Galaxy 2 does not stray to far from the formula of the first but it does add a bunch of new suits and Yoshi into the mix. Yoshi levels were a blast, getting Yoshi to catch fire as you flew up walls and upside down areas at fast speeds, almost felt like a sonic game. The cloud and rock Mario suits were incredibly fun to play with and the cloud in particular lead to some genius levels.
SMG2 streamlined the levels even more, giving you a spaceship with a giant Mario head to use to navigate an almost SMB3 like level map. It’s got the same creative level design and non stop variety that makes the first so great. Oh and when you beat both games and get all stars you get to do it all again as Luigi, just insane amount of content at such high quality.
I see no correct answer as to which one is better, this is truly 1a and 1b. I prefer Galaxy 1 slightly one because it was the first one and I liked the hub more. I liked that it still let me get a little of that exploration Mario feel when I wanted it. Plus it had Gusty Garden Galaxy and that music! The Super Mario Galaxy games are platformers perfected, to me the best the genre has ever produced. When I think of pure gaming, the essence of why I play it boils down to the joy of controlling a character and getting past obstacles in many ways. Galaxy is pure gaming bliss.
I love Mario Galaxy, maybe my favorite of all the Mario series. It's definitely the best of the 3D platformers.