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Added by List-All on 29 Feb 2008 08:07
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Greatest 100 Video Games

Sort by: Showing 1-50 of 100
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People who added this item 527 Average listal rating (734 ratings) 8.3 IMDB Rating 0
Super Mario Bros. - Famicom and NES
NES - 1985

Brick-breaking Nintendo mascot Mario was huge even before he broke out in this seminal side-scroller. Too huge, in fact. "So we shrank him," creator Shigeru Miyamoto said about the creation of his game. "Then we thought, 'What if he can grow and shrink? How would he do that? It would have to be a magic mushroom!'"

But power-upping mushrooms--long since lasered into gaming iconology--were far from the only contributions of Miyamoto's masterpiece. Super Mario Bros. bred a generation of Nintendo fanboys-4-life with such gameplay innovations as screens that scrolled, twitchy dungeon traps, regiments of trooping turtles, secrets that players passed via word of mouth--all mortared brick by smashable brick into an experience so gripping that we were happy to learn the princess was in another castle.

Today, even Mario's boinging jump is enough to trigger Pavlovian thumb twitching. "I don't think there are many games that we can identify immediately by a simple sound effect," says Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. And more than a few of gaming's greatest designers might have been lost to us if not for Miyamoto's best-seller. "I encountered Super Mario Bros. back when I was a student," Metal Gear series maker Hideo Kojima tells us. "It really changed my life. If I had somehow missed playing this game, the Hideo Kojima I am now would not exist."

Not bad for a game Miyamoto dreamed up two decades ago while wondering "what it would be like to have a character that bounces around," he says. "Honestly speaking, 20 years ago, I could never dream that this game could lead up to such a beloved franchise all over the world." Funny, because today we can't imagine it any other way.
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People who added this item 266 Average listal rating (217 ratings) 7.6 IMDB Rating 0
Pac-Man - Arcade
Arcade - 1980

"The whole thing actually started with me walking around arcades watching how many boys were playing and the fact that all the machines were about killing aliens, tanks, or people. Girls were simply not interested, and I suddenly had motivation for my work: I wanted game arcades to shed this dark, sinister image, and it seemed to me that the way to raise the atmosphere of a place is to entice girls to come in. [So] the whole purpose of Pac-Man was to target women and couples, and get a different type of player involved.

"So there I was, wondering what sort of things women would look for in a videogame. I sat in cafes and listened to what they were talking about; mostly it was fashion and boyfriends. Neither of those was really the stuff of a good videogame. Then they started talking about food--about cakes and sweets and fruit--and it hit me that food and eating would be the thing to concentrate on to get the girls interested." --Toru Iwatani, Pac-Man creator
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Arcade - 1991

"One day, I stood up and walked out in the middle of my small, 16-student college math class because I couldn't stand it any longer--I had to play Street Fighter II right then and there. The other students stared and my teacher looked at me funny, but I didn't say a word or offer any explanation. I silently marched straight to the local arcade, cashed in a ten, and spent the rest of the afternoon shoryukening away. Spending money and time that I really couldn't afford...such was the draw of this incredible game."
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People who added this item 356 Average listal rating (255 ratings) 8.4 IMDB Rating 0
Tetris - Game Boy
Game Boy - 1988

"It's the king of games. There's nothing left to add or subtract from Tetris' design; in a way, it's nearly perfect. Logic and speed, the left brain and the right brain, intensity and relief--all done in only four blocks. This almost-miraculous game taught us the very important fact that a game's fun is not bound by its screen resolution. It proved to us that games can be a universal tongue, crossing language, borders, ethnicity, age, and platform." --Tetsuya Mizuguchi, designer of puzzle games
People who added this item 587 Average listal rating (522 ratings) 8.1 IMDB Rating 0
The Legend of Zelda - Famicom and NES
NES - 1987

"As a child, Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto famously explored the countryside near his home in Kyoto, Japan. This kid was a junior vagabond: He'd traverse dense forests, creepy graveyards, and secluded mountain paths on a quest to better understand his world. Young Shigeru was even an amateur spelunker--he once brought his own lantern from home to help navigate a cave he discovered deep in the woods. And while it's unclear whether this insatiable curiosity ever led our future game designer to a buried treasure trove or a distressed princess, it certainly inspired The Legend of Zelda.

"After upending the world of action games with Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto once again reimagined the concept of game design with Zelda. Here, the player embarks on an open-ended adventure through a massive fantasy world. It's tough to convey just how groundbreaking this game truly was when it hit stores in 1987. Sure, we'd already seen ambitious PC role-playing fare like Ultima and Might and Magic, but a console action title with this much depth was utterly unprecedented. As you guided elfin hero Link through the ancient land of Hyrule, every aspect of the game fell perfectly into place--clever puzzles, cool enemies, creative bosses, and a nearly endless torrent of spectacular secrets."
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People who added this item 814 Average listal rating (1042 ratings) 8.3 IMDB Rating 0
Super Mario 64 - Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64 - 1996

"Super Mario 64 had no guns, no vehicles, no additional playable characters--and it still managed to offer something fresh in every level [through] clever use of Mario's moves and brilliant level design. I mean, I can distinctly remember almost every one of those levels and its stages--I can't say that for any other game I've ever played, including games we've made here at Insomniac...and I've played our games far more times. Mario 64 not only set the standard for modern platformers at the time, but it demonstrated a level of excellence and innovation in design that I think few games today have achieved." --Ted Price, designer of the Ratchet & Clank series
People who added this item 110 Average listal rating (88 ratings) 7.1 IMDB Rating 0
Space Invaders - Arcade
Arcade - 1978

"I started making Space Invaders around the summer of 1977. I did all the design, graphics, and programming on my own. In June 1978, I finished the game and had an unveiling, but the [arcade] operators didn't like it, and we received almost no orders. Many of the operators were older gentlemen; they said it was too hard. I don't think they knew how to deal with the targets shooting back--shooting games up to that point had been about the player shooting one way at targets, and this game went against that logic. But when the game went out into the world, its fresh approach brought thrills and excitement mainly to young people, and I think that led to it being a big hit." --Tomohiro Nishikado, Space Invaders creator
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People who added this item 948 Average listal rating (1027 ratings) 8.6 IMDB Rating 0
Nintendo - 1998

"Coming six painfully long years after the previous console Zelda effort, Ocarina actually managed to exceed gamers' lofty expectations. In much the same way that Super Mario 64 successfully brought that series' gameplay into 3D, this new Zelda kept everything that we loved about the old games--labyrinthine dungeons, tricky bosses, and oodles of inventive equipment--while completely overhauling the control and combat to take advantage of the scope of 3D visuals. At the same time, Nintendo wisely chose to impart a darker, more narrative mood, thereby appealing to older gamers who grew up with the original Zelda.

"My most potent memory of Ocarina seems positively innocuous now: I was in awe the first time Link reaches the vast, sprawling Hyrule Field. Never before had a game created such a concrete feeling of physical space. Truly epic."
People who added this item 892 Average listal rating (910 ratings) 7.7 IMDB Rating 0
Grand Theft Auto III - PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2 - 2001

"Once I played it for 10 minutes and realized the range of possibility in it, I was blown away, just because I understood that, oh, I can go anywhere in this city and I can pick any car. I can go in there and be an ambulance driver and save all those people. I can go in and be a taxi driver. I can go in and be a badass. I feel like I'm controlling my own story. I can ignore the missions entirely. It's a toy for me--a toy world. I was like, wow, this is cool. And then I knew, OK, this is gonna be big."
--Will Wright, creator of The Sims and SimCity

"Grand Theft Auto III has missions? For my first few hours of playing, I couldn't tell. I got so caught up in just driving around in different cars and launching off ramps, I forgot GTA3 wasn't a 'driving around in different cars and launching off ramps' simulator--that it has this entire cinematic Mafioso story line as well. That was the beauty of this game: It wasn't about the violence or controversy; it was about playing something however you want."
People who added this item 81 Average listal rating (64 ratings) 6.8 IMDB Rating 0
Pong - Arcade
Arcade - 1972

"Great for its time? Pong was practically the only game of its time--every other title on this list owes this simple table-tennis simulator a massive debt. Unlike other prehistoric arcade fare (I'm looking at you, Space War), Pong was legitimately exciting, thanks to its nifty dial controllers. Twirling your knob to the increasing tension of a long volley until finally climaxing in a point...wait, what was I talking about? Hell, Pong is still fun today. Just a few months back, I lost huge sums of money to a fellow EGM staffer betting on a two-player Pong variant in Flipnic (PS2). The elder statesman of gaming's still got it."
People who added this item 370 Average listal rating (244 ratings) 7.3 IMDB Rating 0
Metroid - Famicom and NES
NES - 1987

"When we were working on the original Metroid, we didn't have much development experience. We were trying to establish a brand-new type of game: the sci-fi adventure. Even though we [had to feel] our way to completion, we never lost our ambition." --Yoshio Sakamoto, director of Metroid
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People who added this item 651 Average listal rating (599 ratings) 8.7 IMDB Rating 0
Metal Gear Solid - PlayStation
PlayStation - 1998

"[Metal Gear creator Hideo] Kojima really knows how to create characters and surprise players. It shouldn't surprise you that Metal Gear Solid was a huge inspiration for Splinter Cell. It was a pioneer for both the genre and the quality of directing, and I'm always flattered when people make comparisons between the two series." --Mathieu Ferland, executive producer of Splinter Cell
People who added this item 38 Average listal rating (24 ratings) 7 IMDB Rating 0
Adventure - Atari 2600
Atari 2600 - 1978

"Before there was Zelda, there was Adventure. I played this game so much that I could actually navigate the entire game--including the catacombs--with my eyes shut. It was the first time a game felt like its own little self-contained world for you to explore. And they aren't ducks, dammit, they're dragons."
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People who added this item 752 Average listal rating (1032 ratings) 8.6 IMDB Rating 0
Super Mario Bros. 3 - Famicom and NES
NES - 1990

"I still remember the first time I ran, then launched into the air to follow a secret trail of coins hidden in the sky. Mario can now fly! From that very first level to the airship armadas at the end, SMB3 is unforgettable. Many (including me) still argue this is the best Mario game ever made."
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People who added this item 153 Average listal rating (124 ratings) 7.5 IMDB Rating 0
Donkey Kong - Arcade
Arcade - 1981

"If there had not been Donkey Kong, I might be living a different life today. I don't know if it would be better or worse, but I like being surrounded by Donkey Kong and Mario and Pikmin and my other friends. [Maybe] it is about time to create new companions...." --DK creator Shigeru Miyamoto
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People who added this item 595 Average listal rating (504 ratings) 8.2 IMDB Rating 0
GoldenEye 007 - Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64 - 1997

"[Back when] PC shooters [ruled the genre], a company called Rare proved that you could, in fact, make a great console FPS. GoldenEye wowed everyone with a stellar single-player campaign and an addictive splitscreen multiplayer mode. The world would never be the same." --Cliff Bleszinski, designer of Unreal
People who added this item 998 Average listal rating (921 ratings) 7.8 IMDB Rating 0
Xbox - 2001

"Ask any hardcore PC first-person shooter fan how to play their favorite genre and they'll always respond 'keyboard and mouse.' And yet Halo controls flawlessly on the Xbox controller, proving to an entire generation that the genre is doable on a console. Millions of gamers can't be wrong. But Halo didn't become a hit simply by having great controls. Bungie kept a clear and obvious visual consistency for the player; you could always figure out where to go, what your objectives were, and how you were affecting the enemies' artificial intelligence. Add in a memorable theme song, some great vehicles, and simple but deep multiplayer and you've got yourself a breakout phenomenon." --Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer at Epic.
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People who added this item 82 Average listal rating (52 ratings) 7.6 IMDB Rating 0
Pitfall! - Atari 2600
Atari 2600 - 1982

"The working title was Jungle Runner, and it came dangerously close to going to market with that name. The second choice was Zulu Gold. Without Cheech and Chong as spokespeople, I don't think that name would have worked." --David Crane, creator of Pitfall!
People who added this item 577 Average listal rating (610 ratings) 7.9 IMDB Rating 0
Super Mario Kart - Super famicom and SNES
Super NES - 1992

"Trigger a speed-boosting 'shroom right before you hit the jump bump in this game's first Ghost Valley course and you'll soar to the other side of the track, shaving seconds off your time. Try finding shortcuts that cool in Gran Turismo."
People who added this item 27 Average listal rating (22 ratings) 7.4 IMDB Rating 0
Virtua Fighter - Arcade
Arcade - 1993

"The boxy characters and stark arenas look bizarre now, but back in the day this stuff looked like the future. Which it was. But VF's quality wasn't based on visuals--spectacular gameplay (a simple three-button setup masks oceanic depth) and real-world fighting styles (no fireballs or babalities here) truly advanced the genre."
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People who added this item 80 Average listal rating (46 ratings) 7.3 IMDB Rating 0
Phantasy Star Online - Sega Dreamcast
Dreamcast - 2001

"I was reviewing an early version of PSO we got right around the holidays and I was in love--I just couldn't stop playing. I remember it was about 3 a.m. and I was just about to finally kill De Rol Le--that evil second boss fish--when suddenly everything went dark; it was a bitterly cold Chicago winter and my space heater and TV equipment all running at once blew a fuse. The fuse box was locked in the basement, and my landlord had already left for Christmas. The only working outlet was the one my refrigerator was plugged into. So I did what I had to: moved the TV, Dreamcast, and couch into the kitchen, unplugged the fridge, and kept playing."
People who added this item 189 Average listal rating (125 ratings) 8.6 IMDB Rating 0
SoulCalibur - Sega Dreamcast
Dreamcast - 1999

"They say graphics don't make a game, but they sure made this one. Perfectly animated warriors, gorgeous backdrops, and beautiful bursts of sparks when swords clash...plus a fighting-game system that rewards technique and clever play...it's enough to make you go, 'Tekken who?'

"It was pathetic how addicted we were to Soul Calibur when it first came out. We took time off of deadlines to organize interoffice tournaments, complete with seeds, brackets, and prizes. We even came up with a leaderboard of the top 10 players in the office at any given time for post-tourney bragging rights."
People who added this item 464 Average listal rating (315 ratings) 8.7 IMDB Rating 0
Super Metroid - Super famicom and SNES
Super NES - 1994

"Graphics, gameplay, control, music (oh man, the music!)--Super Metroid lived up to its name in every single category. Its minimal storyline even climaxes in a surprising final boss encounter people still talk about today. If you missed it, track it down and play it today--you won't be sorry."
People who added this item 56 Average listal rating (37 ratings) 7.7 IMDB Rating 0
Tetris Attack - Super famicom and SNES
Super NES - 1996

"Once, my combo count in a head-to-head match got so high that it crashed the game. Strangely enough, I wasn't mad--I considered it a nerdy victory of sorts. I must be pretty badass to crash a puzzle game with my skills alone! We still play this game every few weeks--it's that good."
People who added this item 245 Average listal rating (150 ratings) 7.5 IMDB Rating 0
Gran Turismo - PlayStation
PlayStation - 1998

"I was a road tester for a car magazine when Gran Turismo came out--it was my job to review cars. But GT did such a good job simulating what it's like to drive at ridiculous speeds that I didn't need to do it in real life anymore. Now I review games instead...I think I made the right choice."
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People who added this item 48 Average listal rating (22 ratings) 7.4 IMDB Rating 0
Phantasy Star - Sega Master System
Sega Master System - 1988

"This pioneering epic actually came out (in America, at least) more than a year before Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, and it outclasses both in just about every category. Groundbreaking 3D dungeons, a grandiose scope (three planets to explore), and stunning visuals made Phantasy Star an instant classic."
People who added this item 1233 Average listal rating (1184 ratings) 8.4 IMDB Rating 0
Final Fantasy VII - PlayStation
PlayStation - 1997

"The role-playing game that put the genre on the map, Square's legendary FFVII infused the previously nerds-only series with slick CG cut-scenes, 3D graphics, and a dark 'n' edgy story line. The underlying mechanics didn't deviate too far from classic Final Fantasy form, but the new postindustrial flavor and narrative gravitas proved a perfect fit for the franchise. Looking back, FFVII feels a bit weird now--it straddles the line between goofy old-school RPGs and gritty modern fare--but its ambition and mammoth scope cannot be denied."
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People who added this item 78 Average listal rating (64 ratings) 7.9 IMDB Rating 0
Galaga - Arcade
Arcade - 1981

"It wasn't Luke finding out his kissy friend is actually his sister. Or Spock sacrificing himself at the end of Star Trek II. No, the greatest space tragedy of the '80s was when you let one of the big Galaga bugs capture your ship before realizing it was your last one."
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People who added this item 243 Average listal rating (133 ratings) 8 IMDB Rating 0
Final Fantasy II (IV) - Super famicom and SNES
Super NES - 1991

"It wasn't the first FF (it was actually, uh, the fourth--long story), but it defined the series: The active-time battle system made combat exciting, and while the story was badly translated, it was never dull. Redemption, heroics, space whales. Who could ask for more?"
People who added this item 473 Average listal rating (321 ratings) 8.6 IMDB Rating 0
PlayStation - 1997

"[When we started working on it], this game was part of Japan's Dracula X Castlevania subseries, so I felt that I had more freedom to take it in a different direction. It was a one-off project, and we basically just did whatever we wanted! So, I asked questions like, 'Is fighting with a whip even fun?' and 'Isn't this macho-man Belmont guy kind of boring?'

"Ultimately, we incorporated a lot of new ideas and took the game in a more exploration-based direction. Since there hadn't been a Metroid for quite some time, we thought, why not try to make a better version of Metroid, but in the world of Castlevania?" --Koji Igarashi, producer of Castlevania
People who added this item 17 Average listal rating (12 ratings) 5.8 IMDB Rating 0
Star Wars - Arcade
Arcade - 1983

"It was like developer Atari invented a tractor beam for quarters with this mind-blowing vector-graphics shooter. 'I have you now,' threatens a digitized Darth Vader--way before he blathered on about sand--near the game's finale. You got that right, Darth."
People who added this item 13 Average listal rating (9 ratings) 8.1 IMDB Rating 0
Robotron: 2084 - Arcade
Arcade - 1982

"Robotron is the id of arcade gaming--all impulse and instinct and reflex. If you take the time to wait for conscious thought to move from your brain to your hands, you're dead--simple as that. It's just so pure...probably why it still holds up and will likely never feel dated."
People who added this item 27 Average listal rating (17 ratings) 6.8 IMDB Rating 0
Tecmo Bowl - Famicom and NES
NES - 1989

"Sorry, Kristen Bates. If it weren't for this gridiron title--and my obsession one Sunday afternoon with beating every team in the game as the Chicago Bears--I might've gone into the other room at Steve Bowman's house to kiss you."
People who added this item 208 Average listal rating (131 ratings) 7.5 IMDB Rating 0
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - PlayStation
PlayStation - 1999

"Former Editor Shawn Smith and I named our H.O.R.S.E. game the nonsensically vulgar 'T.U.R.D.E.A.T.' We took frequent T.U.R.D.E.A.T. breaks throughout the day, and once found ourselves playing in front of a bewildered PR dude for the game's publisher. As a goof, we asked him if the Dreamcast version included T.U.R.D.E.A.T. Thinking it was the mode's actual name, he asked the developers, and of course they had no idea what he was talking about--and became concerned that they were missing some hidden feature. Reveling in the confusion, we finally let 'em know it was just our custom name for H.O.R.S.E. It's a mode we jokingly inquire about for every Tony Hawk sequel since."
People who added this item 412 Average listal rating (253 ratings) 7.3 IMDB Rating 0
Tomb Raider - PlayStation
PlayStation - 1996

"[Lara Croft's] a bit of everything. She's like every kind of sexy Italian actress I've ever watched, and yet she's also that guy from Crocodile Hunter in Australia--completely in love with danger. And then there's this whole personality that's emerged from me. I kept thinking, 'I can't do this; I'm a serious actor.' And then suddenly I was in my little outfit on top of a mountain in Iceland with some dogs pulling me in a sled and some guns attached to me. And I thought, 'Yeah! This is exactly who I am!' I think I'm ridiculously brave, to a fault. I'd like to think that [Lara] fights for the right things and doesn't like injustice. She's a good friend, she cares, and she would stand up for somebody if they were in a spot. I like that." --Angelina Jolie
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People who added this item 363 Average listal rating (232 ratings) 8.8 IMDB Rating 0
Final Fantasy III (VI) - Super famicom and SNES
Super NES - 1994

"When FFIII finally arrived in stores, I learned it was going to set me back $80. $80! That was a lot of money for me back then. So I hesitated buying it...for about 0.5 seconds. Honestly, I would've spent five times that to get what turned out to be one of the best RPGs ever."
People who added this item 22 Average listal rating (18 ratings) 7.8 IMDB Rating 0
Virtua Fighter 2 - Arcade
Arcade - 1995

"For the entire summer of '95, VF2 owned me. It left me penniless and a social outcast--I spent almost every night playing it at the Burger King castle (not exactly the town hot spot)--but it was worth it all just to master Akira's tough-as-hell Stun Palm of Doom."
People who added this item 52 Average listal rating (43 ratings) 7.1 IMDB Rating 0
Asteroids - Arcade
Arcade - 1997

"With its simple gameplay concept (try not to die as you blow away an asteroid belt), nifty vector-graphics look, and surprisingly satisfying sense of inertia, Asteroids remained an arcade staple years after its debut. Not bad for a game without a joystick."
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People who added this item 70 Average listal rating (42 ratings) 6.7 IMDB Rating 0
Combat - Atari 2600
Atari 2600 - 1977

"Ah, remember when consoles came with a killer app packed right in the box? For the four years we played our Atari, my family never got tired of Combat. And I don't care what anyone says--invisible tanks with bouncy bullets still kick ass."
People who added this item 374 Average listal rating (238 ratings) 6.9 IMDB Rating 0
NES - 1988

"Listen up, haters: Adventure of Link is one of Nintendo's gutsiest sequels ever--an ambitious follow-up that abandons all of its predecessor's conventions. Link simultaneously delivers an engrossing RPG (see: experience points, field map, magic system) and a sweet action game (tight control, big bosses)."
People who added this item 40 Average listal rating (34 ratings) 7 IMDB Rating 0
Double Dragon - Arcade
Arcade - 1987

"Forget the (mostly) lackluster sequels, home versions of varying quality, crappy cartoon, and silly straight-to-video film--when it debuted in the arcade, Double Dragon was it. Accessible and fun from the start but with plenty of depth to explore, it spawned a legion of imitations that rarely surpassed it."
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People who added this item 17 Average listal rating (13 ratings) 8.3 IMDB Rating 0
R-Type - Arcade
Arcade - 1987

"Finally, a shooter that wasn't just reflexes--you had to think about what power-ups to get and which to pass by, where to position your ship, and how to use the awesome Force pod. And that third level--a gigantic, ship, multiple screens long, that doubles as the boss? Brilliant. Tough as nails and fun as hell."
People who added this item 31 Average listal rating (24 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 0
TRON - Arcade
Arcade - 1982

"The futuristic neo-neon cabinet, digitized movie tunes, and challenging lightcycle stages made this my first stop at the arcade--even though I could never get past the third set of stages. Four great games in one. Well, OK, three--I always thought the grid bugs stage was kinda B.S."
People who added this item 200 Average listal rating (138 ratings) 7.8 IMDB Rating 0
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - Famicom and NES
NES - 1987

"Make it quick...I want to retire!" --Glass Joe

"I'll give you a TKO from Tokyo!" --Piston Honda

"I have my weakness. But I won't tell you! Ha, ha, ha!" --King Hippo

"I don't smoke...but tonight, I'm gonna smoke you!" --Super Macho Man

"They say I can't lose. I say you can't win!" --Mike Tyson
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People who added this item 11 Average listal rating (7 ratings) 6.1 IMDB Rating 0
John Madden Football - Sega Genesis and Mega Drive
Sega Genesis - 1990

"Sega [actually] wanted me to cancel the release of Madden and repurpose it as Joe Montana Football because Sega's development team had failed. [Electronic Arts executive] Bing Gordon wanted to do it, but I knew Madden was 'The Franchise,' so instead I convinced Sega to give us a $2 million check and we made both games. Both ended up in the top five [best-selling games] that year. Of course, in redesigning the Montana version I took out all of our pet features to make sure Madden was the best game." --Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts
People who added this item 663 Average listal rating (528 ratings) 8.5 IMDB Rating 0
Resident Evil 4 - GameCube
Gamecube - 2005

"It's just so new and fresh as a game. It's fun no matter how many times you play it! Creating this game helped me realize that there is nothing we can't achieve, and we should strive for the best without any compromise." --Hiroyuki Kobayashi, producer of RE4

"As close to a perfect game as you're going to get, RE4 doesn't just succeed because of the roller-coaster plot, amazing graphics, or deep game mechanics. It ultimately succeeds because of its pacing. You never get bored of the action; any time any sequence borders on lengthy, you're shuffled to a new variant on the experience, be it a puzzle, boss battle, or rail-shooter segment. RE4 is also the first game I've played with an escort element [that] was enjoyable and not frustrating. This game took me over 20 hours, and I enjoyed every single moment of it." --Cliff Bleszinski, Gears of War lead designer
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People who added this item 31 Average listal rating (26 ratings) 6.8 IMDB Rating 0
Joust - Arcade
Arcade - 1982

"When ostriches fly, you know something's up. Then they go and add floating eggs, bubbling lava, and the 'unbeatable?' pterodactyl. That's when you realize that, clearly, magic is at work, and you are best off just accepting it and flapping like hell."
People who added this item 9 Average listal rating (7 ratings) 7.3 IMDB Rating 0
Warlords - Arcade
Arcade - 1980

"I recently stumbled on a four-player tabletop Warlords with some friends; we played until my eyeballs couldn't take it anymore. The first great game for more than two players, this is still one of the best multiplayer titles ever. Plus, it's perfect for gambling and drinking games." --Executive Editor Mark MacDonald
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People who added this item 8 Average listal rating (7 ratings) 7 IMDB Rating 0
NHLPA Hockey '93 - Sega Genesis and Mega Drive
Sega Genesis - 1992

"I bet I've logged more hours playing head-to-head NHLPA '93 than any other multiplayer game. This was before one-timers, before goalie control--the only question was, could you knock me down before I deked your goalie? No, you could not. That's why the score was 14-12."
People who added this item 712 Average listal rating (701 ratings) 8.4 IMDB Rating 0
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Super famicom and SNES
Super NES - 1992

"I was late to the Zelda party--Link to the Past was my first experience with the series. It was amazing--the dungeons, the boss battles, the music...the hookshot! If I ever fall into a coma, I'm pretty sure a few Zelda ringtones can drag me out."
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(note: this list is a truncated list of 'The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time' from EGM magazine. This list shows only the top 100 from their full list)

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The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time
as featured in Electronic Gaming Monthy's 200th issue

all captions for each game is taken from their special:
EGM Greatest 200 Videogames

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The top 200 games? Surely that many games don't even exist. But what do I know--I'm just the intern, and I suppose EGM must have reviewed at least 200 titles over its 16-year history. (Actually, we've reviewed 4,562, for everything from the Atari 7800 to the Xbox 360. --Ed.) For our big bicentennial issue, the staff decided to rank the top 200 in ascending order of greatness. But top-games lists are so cliche, and one thing I know about my boss is that he won't touch a cliche with a 10-foot pole. So to spice up this monster list of gaming goodness, we're altering the criteria and rounding up the greatest arcade and console games of their time rather than all time.

What's the difference? Simple. We're ranking these games based on how much they consumed our lives--and, to a lesser extent, rattled the videogame biz--when they first hit arcades or consoles. That's why something as primitive as Pac-Man ranks higher than the more-fun-to-play-today Halo 2. Pac-Man's amazingly addictive mazes and quirky characters--and let's not forget its breakfast cereal or top-40 tune--enthralled us in ways few games have managed to since. We're also taking our list personally, filling it with anecdotes from game designers who created or were inspired by these hits, along with our own warm-and-fuzzy memories.

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7 votes
Canon Games (25 lists)
list by Mr. Saturn
Published 11 years, 12 months ago 1 comment



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