G4's "The Top 100 Games of all Time"

[cashew]

Anyone planning to watch?

I'm curious to see what is on the list but am prepared to be disappointed.

[Spiro]

Anyone planning to watch?

I'm curious to see what is on the list but am prepared to be disappointed.

I was following this as well,

here's that list:

100. Pong

99. Words With Friends

98. Pitfall

97. NBA 2K11

96. Guitar Hero II

95. Burger Time

94. Braid

93. Star Wars: Tie Fighter

92. Galaga

91. The Sims

90. Baldur's Gate II

89. Left 4 Dead

88. Double Dribble

87. Mass Effect 2

86. Out Run

85. Silent Hill 2

84. Wii Sports

83. Ninja Gaiden

82. Super Smash Bros. Melee

81. Resident Evil

80. Gears Of War 3

79. PsychoNauts

78. Spy Hunter

77. Excitebike

76. Blades Of Steel

75. Fallout 3

74. Starfox 64

73. Mega Man II

72. Mortal Kombat

71. Wing Commander II

70. Star Wars

69. Double Dragon

68. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

67. Minecraft

66. Assassin's Creed II

65. Unreal Tournament

64. NBA Jam

63. Wolfenstein 3D

62. Civilization II

61. God Of War III

60. Contra

59. Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tenacle

58. Ultimata Online

57. Pokemon Red/Blue

56. Super Street Fighter IV

55. Kingdom Hearts

54. Gauntlet

53. Deus Ex

52. Rock Band 3

51. Ratchet & Clank Going Commando

50. Sonic The Hedgehog

49. Angry Birds

48. Tecmo Bowl

47. Must

46. Red Dead Redemption

45. Metal Gear Solid

44. Grand Theft Auto IV

43. Quake III: Arena

42. Ghosts 'N Goblins

41. Super Mario 64

40. Space Invaders

39. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

38. Super Metroid

37. Halo

36. Batman: Arkham City

35. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

34. Counter Strike

33. Final Fantasy VII

32. Mike Tyson's Punch Out

31. Skyrim

30. Super Street Fighter II Turbo

29. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

28. Super Mario Kart

27. Chrono Trigger

26. Ico

25. Grand Theft Auto III

24. Madden 2005

23. Halo 3

22. Panzer Dragoon Saga

21. Resident Evil IV

20. Call of Duty 4

19. Diablo II

18. Ms. Pac-Man

17. StarCraft

16. Half-Life

15. Donkey Kong

14. Uncharted 2

13. Portal

12. Doom II

11. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

10. World of Warcraft

9. Shadow of the Colossus

8. Goldeneye

7. Super Mario Bros. 3

6. The Legend of Zelda

5. Tetris

4. Asteroids

3. Bioshock

2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

1. Super Mario Bros.

Well I'm sure the "that list sucks. how in the heck did that game make it so high/low/not on the list", etc etc comments will probably follow.

A few curious choices, I must admit. But the thing is that something that is by it's very nature subjective can't really be judged as objectively wrong. Can it?

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

[Schloss Ritter]

"93. Star Wars: Tie Fighter"

How the mighty have fallen. That was considered the #1 PC game of all time on at least one list in the mid 90s. Doesn't help that the Flight Sim genre is all but dead nowadays...

Wish I had the patience to even read through the whole list. Did a search for a couple Sierra titles (ie. King's Quest) but found those sadly completely absent. In fact, 59. Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tenacle, is the only classic Adventure game I'm even noticing, likely due to that genre also being currently pretty much dead as well.

[GrinningGoku]

Meh. Can't say I agree with some of the titles in the top fifty, but I guess it's OK. I mean Goldeneye is an epic- and I mean EPIC multiplayer game, but I don't think it should be in the top seven. And no Resident Evil 2 at all? And how can they put Super Mario 64 @ 41? Super Mario 64 revolutionized the 3D platformer! I'm going to stop reading before my blood pressure goes up further.

[cashew]

Thanks for posting the list, Spiro.

My main gripe was about SMB being number 1 "because it was the best-selling NES game." Uh, yeah, because it was packaged with the console! To me, that is not very -- for lack of a better term -- fair.

SMB 3 was the best-selling NES game not sold as a console.

[Areala]

Nobody's ever going to be happy with somebody else's list of the top ANYTHING in gaming history.

Five things that surprised me on this list:

1 - Double Dribble. Nobody remembers that this game was five-on-five at a time when two-on-two was severely taxing the capabilities of a system. The unlicensed sports teams weren't much of a distraction in the pre-EA era, and the cinema sequences for dunks were state of the art at the time. Hell yeah, Double Dribble!

2 - Myst is nowhere to be found. You mean to tell me that the best-selling computer game of all time (until the arrival of The Sims six years later), the game that single-handedly popularized the concept of the graphical adventure game and brought millions of people into the world of computer gaming (across a dozen different platforms no less) doesn't even merit a place on this chart? You're also telling me the likes of Madden 2005, Call of Duty 4, and OutRun (OutRun, for the love of gawd!) were more important than Myst? WTF? Of all the surprising things in my list, none of them is more surprising than this.

3 - Centipede and Defender are curiously absent. For the longest time, if you asked any game designer to name the game with the best design in history, "Centipede" was the answer you got. Centipede introduced the trackball controller, a destructible playing field, and added a second dimension with the ability of your ship to travel up and down as well as from side to side. Theoretically, it could be played forever.

Defender absolutely blew the doors off of anything ever seen in the arcades before with its multi-directional scrolling, a shooter mechanic that penalized you for killing the people you were charged with protecting, and the introduction of the smart bomb designed to wipe the screen of your foes. I see plenty of other classic games from this period (Asteroids, Space Invaders, Ms. Pac-Man, etc...) but both of these titles are missing.

4 - Burger Time. Really? Are you kidding me? Sure, it's a fun game, but it's not like it brought anything really new to the arcade table. In historical terms, it's simply a platformer up there with the likes of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Squashing rogue condiments with layers of bread, meat and cheese makes for an amusing diversion, but historically-speaking there are plenty of games that did more to revolutionize the industry than Burger Time (see Centipede & Defender above).

5 - Skyrim but not Morrowind or Daggerfall. I'm not contesting that Skyrim's a kick-ass game in the least, but let's be honest, Skyrim is standing on the shoulders of giants when it comes to accomplishments. Daggerfall and (to a lesser extent) Arena both did the massive RPG world filled with infinite quests deal first, and Morrowind flat-out changed the way everybody played the open-ended RPG with its beautiful (for the time) graphics, soul-stirring soundtrack, and incredible storyline surrounding the vengeance of the Sixth House, the second coming of Nerevar, and the three god-kings of Vvardenfell coming slowly unhinged. Yes, Skyrim has dragons, dual-wielding and prettier graphics, but Morrowind did it first and it's surprising to see it left off the list.

Five things that aren't so surprising about the list:

1 - Four of the top ten titles are NES games. Given that the NES resurrected the gaming industry, it's no surprise that nearly half of the top ten games came from that system. Super Mario Bros. redefined platforming forever, Super Mario Bros. 3 expanded that redefinition, The Legend of Zelda brought Action RPGs to the attention of gamers everywhere, and Tetris is not only responsible for more lost productivity than any other game on the list barring Doom II, but was to the 8-bit generation what Wii Sports was to this generation: it inspired people who never picked up a controller to play. Hell to the yes.

2 - Silent Hill 2 is the only SH title to make the cut. This one constantly makes the top of the list for survival horror junkies, and while my personal favorite is 3, SH2 did more to redefine the horror genre in terms of storyline and psychological niggles that got inside the player's head and took root than any other game from that generation. Resident Evil made us jump, but Silent Hill 2 made us sleep with the light on.

3 - Final Fantasy VII is the only one from that series to make the cut. Unlike #2, this pisses me off greatly because while FF7 might be the best-selling game in the series, it's far from being the best of the series. Four and six both have stories that utterly pwn seven's in terms of both plot and characters, and no other game is more responsible for making designers think that RPGs have to be non-interactive movies half the time. Am I surprised it's the only one in the series to make the list? No. Does it make me happy it's there? Absolutely not.

4 - Ultima Online. You'd have a hard time arguing it's the best MMO ever made (especially since Blizzard's WoW is sitting pretty forty-eight places higher on the list), but the truth is UO showed the world that a MUD with a pretty graphical interface in the same vein as Baldur's Gate or Diablo could capture the attention of thousands of subscribers worldwide. Lord British's experiment paid off in huge dividends, and PC gaming was never the same.

5 - The Sims. Forget everything you knew about gaming, because Wil Wright proved with The Sims that people were content to play a game where there was no storyline, no main quest, no villain, and no ending save those created by the player. Outside of the likes of Pong, there's no game that is more obvious for an inclusion on a list like this than The Sims.

*huggles*

Areala

[MrUppercut]

Bioshock at #3 really!? I understand that this game tells a great story but there are many games that do. I'm all for it being on the list but at #3!? Ahead of half-life no less. I always review lists with an open mind but this pick is pretty bad in my opinion.

[cashew]

Areala, I completely agree with FF4 and 6 not making the list. I LOVED those games. If I could (I guess I can't because I'm a n00b?), I would like your post. At the very least, FF6 SHOULD have been on the list. Without FF6's plot and side quests, I don't think FF7 would have been the game that it is.

[cashew]

Which game(s) does everyone think was/were ranked too high?

[Schloss Ritter]

Areala

Double Dribble: oh yes, my friends and I played the heck out of that back then. Unfortunately, it's become a forgotten gem since that era. I could also argue for Blades of Steel on the same grounds of being able to use full teams and the early use of cinematic sequences.

No Myst?! I could have sworn that I saw it there, or maybe I was just assuming it was. Sure, the series strayed into being called overrated for a time, but to write it off completely or forget it just because The Sims later took the crown of casual king? Strange.

Centipede was fun, but never really my favorite game from the era. My young mind was actually overwhelmed by its complexity compared to some contemporaries. As for Defender, for some reason I never even ran across that one back then. I did play a number of clones or stripped down ripoffs though.

Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man were more heavily cloned than those, however, and I think inspiring imitators may have played a role in the selection process.

Burger Time - heh, I actually played that one a lot too, but never was very good at it. I think it helped inspire my later love for Dig Dug and Mr. Do.

Final Fantasy VII - oh yes, I once refused to play this due to the excessive hype it got (and still gets in some circles). Now, I've tempered my hate, thanks to watching a good Let's Play of it on Youtube, but I agree FF4&6 will always have a bigger spot in my heart. I played through FF4 (as FFII on the SNES) more times than almost any other game, and my best friend's sister and I even voice acted through the whole thing at least twice.

[Sb20]

Sad Mega Man 2 didn't make it higher, but it certainly had tough competition from out "of all time." I need to watch it now just to hear them explain why Link to the Past is #2. Not saying I have a problem with that, it just seems like an unusual opinion.

[ctophil]

Areala, I completely agree with FF4 and 6 not making the list. I LOVED those games. If I could (I guess I can't because I'm a n00b?), I would like your post. At the very least, FF6 SHOULD have been on the list. Without FF6's plot and side quests, I don't think FF7 would have been the game that it is.

Oh yeah, Final Fantasy VI was the masterpiece. That game yanked me out from being a total dweeb as a mainstream gamer into super hardcore I am today. I don't have to explain it to the choir. FF7 was a good RPG but was not well put together like FF6. So it not making the top 100 list of all time is a major bummer and an insult to true gamers out there. But then, it's G4. I wouldn't trust their reviews and opinions too much. They cater to the mainstream audience on "what's hot" right now kinda mentality. They don't really know what a good game is all about.

# 47. Must

Eh? What the mess is a game called "Must?" If it's on the top 100, you better believe I've at least heard of it. I've been playing video games constantly for 24 years, and I never heard anybody mention that game nor seen it anywhere. Oh wait, it "must" be a typo. Should be Myst. Hehe. I think those here who wondered why Myst is not in the list. This is your answer.

# 99. Words With Friends

They got this game but no Dragon Quest nor Indigo Prophecy? Dragon Quest series was and is the premiere RPG in popularity and greatness. It even rivaled Final Fantasy as a top-tier RPG worldwide. Indigo Prophecy wasn't highly popular but was a terrific game at its own right. I think it deserves at least # 99 at the least. Created by Quantic Dream, always known for their original storyline, great characters, music, and odd-ball adventure elements. Sony even premiered their E3 2012 Press Conference with Beyond: Two Souls--the latest from Quantic Dream. People applauded when it was showcased at E3. They shouldn't base the Top 100 on how many copies sold. They should based it on how good the game is in the total package.

# 95. Burger Time

# 86. Out Run

# 83. Ninja Gaiden

They got these titles but no Shinobi? Come on, Burger Time wasn't that fun. It was fun for about 10-20 mins if that, and it's just boring and repetitive. The same can be said about Out Run. Shinobi and its sequels were challenging and fun for a long time, at least until you beat it. Not to mention, ninja magic never gets old! Ninja Gaiden is a great title, only comparable to Shinobi.

# 67. Minecraft

Ok, the above title is pretty fun. But where is SimCity? Building an entire city or place to live in always feels great. Especially when you combine it with traditional gameplay like in Actraiser or Dark Cloud. Just because its the latest craze, doesn't mean it beats the original idea that came before it.

# 35. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Hmm, a good title in the Castlevania series. But if you don't include Super Castlevania IV, then might as well don't do a list at all. If you can have 4 Mario titles in a top 100 list, you can have at least two Castlevania titles in it. Castlevania is way up there as the game series that brought video games to the top, right next to Zelda, Mario, Metroid, and Mega Man.

# 92. Galaga

Although a great classic, I believe that Konami took the concept to new levels in Gradius and Life Force as the epitome of 2D space shooters. In fact, I found Gradius to be a lot more challenging and more varieties in level designs. Definitely a great improvement over Galaga as a shooter. If they are going to have Metal Gear Solid to represent its series, they should do the same for space shooters.

# 81. Resident Evil

Although a representative of the modern survival horror genre, Resident Evil 2 was more polished and a better game overall. Sure, I bought the Playstation One just for Resident Evil. The 2nd in the series really put me into the survival horror fan mode due its better voice acting, better action, scarier and exciting moments, and introduction of the Licker is the staple of the series!

# 3. Bioshock

As someone mentioned before, Bioshock, though a good game, should not be in the top 3 titles of all time. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or original Legend of Zelda are much better titles overall. I think they just didn't want Mario and Zelda to occupy the top 3. But what can I say, good games will always kick the wannabes off the top.

# 4. Asteroids

Blah, Space Invaders should have been here instead of # 40. It was just one of the most fun games during the Atari era. Plus, the coop aspect just made it even better. I played that game with buddies for weeks and months because of that. Asteroids gets boring and is difficult to get into, while Space Invaders...anybody can pick up and play right away and get addicted to it.

# 1. Super Mario Bros.

You know, the original Super Mario Bros was a great intro to an awesome platformer. But Super Mario World takes the best of the first 3 games and combined them for the best game of all time. The G4 Top 100 didn't even mention Super Mario World. Now that's just plain stupid.

[Areala]

OK, I am now feeling like a COMPLETE tool for not realizing that 'Must' was OBVIOUSLY a typo since, like ctophil, I had never heard of any game called 'Must'. I redact my now inaccurate comment about Myst and instead will echo ctophil's concerns about the absence of Dragon Quest anywhere.

Dragon Quest is to Japan what Mickey Mouse is to the US. When the third game in the series was released on a school day, hundred of kids got busted for cutting class to buy the game as soon as it hit the shelves (Enix made sure to release each subsequent game on a Saturday). If you live in Japan, you either play Dragon Quest or know someone who does. So...donde esta mi Dragon Quest, muchachos?

*huggles*

Areala

[Areala]

Which game(s) does everyone think was/were ranked too high?

I could easily write a novel in response to this, so I'll keep it short.

Bioshock is way too high on the list. I like it, it's a good game, and it has an awesome story, but #3? Sorry, not buying it. Somewhere around 11-15 seems more fair to me.

Resident Evil 4 is another one I don't understand. Everybody seemed to love this game, and yet I just could NOT get into it at all. RE4 wouldn't make anywhere on my Top 100 list, but that's not being fair since it made an awful lot of people very happy. Replace RE4 wiith Dead Space on that list, and I'd be quite satisfied.

While I love Shadow of the Colossus, I think it and Ico should switch places on their list. They're both great games, but only one of them deserves to be in the Top 10, and that's Ico by a landslide in my opinion.

Super Metroid is scored far too low on this list for my likings, as I (and a metric fuckton of other people) consider it to be the most perfectly-designed game of the 16-bit era. Super Metroid does nearly everything right and almost nothing wrong, and it's responsible for inspiring the likes of Symphony of the Night, which should merit it a spot at least in the Top 10, not down in the 30s. I'd swap it with Asteroids, at the bare minimum.

*huggles*

Areala

[Jie]

Final Fantasy VII is there but not Final Fantasy VI? Ugh. I'm thinking the only reason why that was chucked in there was because FFVII was the game that single-handedly put the RPG genre out of the niche it was on and into the mainstream. But FFVI is and will always be the quintessential FF for me.

[cashew]

@ Areala: Totally shocked not to see Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior on the list at all. I expected it to be in the 75-100 range, but to not put it on there at all -- come on!

I'll have to play Super Metroid on emulator. I tried to play it once a long time ago, when it first came out, and I couldn't really figure out what to do or where to go. :(

Seeing Metal Gear Solid was great -- brought back a lot of memories. My cousin would play it quite a bit, and I would watch him since I really sucked. I really enjoyed the story and the strategies you had to use for the bosses, particularly the one where you had to plug in the controller to the second port (was it Mantis? I forget his name.).