ILX'S 100 GREATEST VIDEO GAMES EVER

#100: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Kotorbox.jpg
http://l.yimg.com/img.movies.yahoo.com/ecr/us/img/99/70/0000109970_20070723182747.jpg
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: LucasArts
Original format: X-Box
Highest position: #4, HI DERE

IT'S ON NOW, MUMMYCUDDLERS

Always wanted to play KotOR, but I don't really give a toss about the Star Wars and I don't know how much of any impediment to enjoying the game that would be.

#99: Kirby's Adventure (1993)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/Kirby_adv_boxfront.jpg
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/gen618.jpg
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Original format: NES
Highest position: #4, Alex In Baltimore

Probably gonna do about four an hour, I think. stokedforthemadness.jpg

Might have to break out the emulatorz to check one or two of these.

#98: Wolfenstein 3-D (1992)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Wolfenstein-3d.jpg
http://binarybonsai.com/images/wolf3d.gif
Developer:id
Publisher:Apogee Software
Original format:PC DOS
Highest position:#7, Louis Jagger

Okay, Wolfenstein is totally one of those games that people vote for because it's "seminal" or "important", but frankly as a thing for having fun with it wasn't even all that in 1992. It would be fair to describe the gameplay as limited.

#97: Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Dragon_Quest_VIII_Journey_of_the_Cursed_King.jpeg
http://web20.server-drome.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/m%E4chtig_gro%DF.png
Developer:Level-5
Publisher:Square Enix
Original format:Playstation 2
Highest position:#1, TOMBOT

I get the feeling this is going to be the thread equivalent of Katamari Damacy, slowly picking up readers and contributors until at around 11pm tomorrow night it ends up with some massed 60 person "WHY IS SHADOW OF THE BEAST #2 NOT RANKED #3????" clusterfuck

The "highest position" subdivision is a nice touch.

It was either that or a GameFAQs link.

One day we need Tom's definitive book on mentalist Japanese RPGs. I can take them or leave them meself. Love the Breath of Fire series, some of the early Fighting Fantasys and the first episode of Suikoden, but too often they feel like no-gameplay trawls through Planet Twee, on rails. Haven't got a clue what this is one is like, to be honest. Looking forward to reading an explanation.

My favourite RPG of the moment is Forumwarz.com, but then again I don't play anything in Japanese other than the FirePro series.

I'm gonna go on and on about my favourite RPGs further up this list.

Excellent stuff, Dom.

#96: Diablo II (2000)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Diablo_II_Coverart.png
http://www.cheats.ru/uploaded/d/diablo2-01145.jpg
Developer:Blizzard North
Publisher:Blizzard Software
Original format:PC
Highest position:#13, EssKay

I like the highest position thing, but miss the general 'number of votes' listing. Am interested to see what ends up in this.

Also, I got bored with Forumwarz after a while. Might go back to it when I'm not supposed to be finishing my degree.

Diablo 2 = another one I haven't played. Got the first one, liked it in short doses, but the gameplay is essentially "click left mouse button as quick as you can". Hope they varied that up a bit for the sequel.

Forumwarz has a lot of "grinding" down forums/enemies about a week or so in, but I'm a sucker for meta humour and the BoingBoing zings.

xp

but frankly as a thing for having fun with it wasn't even all that in 1992

Two words: "MEIN LEBEN!"

Some more: this game was ridiculously fun in 1992! So long as you played it on your uncle's computer with the good sound card and the good processor - it was BLINDINGLY fast and the sounds just seemed MASSIVE - especially the chaingun. And the Nazi exclamations! Okay, banging around smacking spacebar and hoping to find secret doors got old fast, and the whole game looks basically the same, but compared to anything else I was playing at the time it was amazing. And yeah, the violence - cartoony though it seems now - was otherwise unavailable on my PC. The shock of the new!

Yeah, I voted for it largely on "seminal" terms and because its successor DOOM weren't available - but I really did play the hell out of Wolf/Spear.

#95: Super Monkey Ball (2001)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Super_Monkey_Ball_Coverart.png
http://thewiiremedia.revolutionreport.net/games/20/1210.jpg
Developer:Amusement Vision
Publisher:Sega
Original format:GameCube
Highest position:#5, caek

and i still think four per hour is going to blow the wad a little fast :( i have to grade papers with my fellow TAs for several hours today and i'm sure i'm going to miss the cosmopolitan furor surrounding all the best games on the list. but bravo to Dom for putting this thing together, the old-school poll is ILX's most difficult art form

I think Super Monkey Ball is the only N-Gage title on the list. Shocked, I know.

Ach, you might well be right Herr Doktor, but I figure this thread is best approached with Challops set to Kill. Raise the levels of debate, so to speak.

Wait until we get to #41 tomorrow. There's gonna be lulz-a-plenty there.

re #41 i suspect I'll have to review my ballot and figure out what extremely unpopular game I put in the top ten...

i'm going away for the weekend Dom. can't you drag it out a bit?

I could well be the only voter for my #10, pretty sure I'll be the highest voter for my #2 and #9. Were there only 100 games to choose from in the final list?

Nah, there was... 230 odd I think.

Do any of the top 100 have only one vote then?

#94: Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/Super_Mario_Galaxy.jpg
http://www.dignews.com/admin/screenshoot/super_mario_galaxy_10.jpg
Developer:Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:Wii
Highest position:#13, Thomas

Do any of the top 100 have only one vote then?

-- Noodle Vague, Saturday, 3 May 2008 13:49 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

Nah. There's only two or three that only got two votes as well.

SPOILER: That's not the highest placed Mario game

SHOCKAH!

I know I need to get SMG but I can't ever seem to be bothered, y'know?

#93: Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/Zmbox.jpg
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/7901/hdmetroiduu4.jpg
Developer:Nintendo R&D1
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:Game Boy Advance
Highest position:#5, abanana

thread of fond memories so far and nothing i voted for has even come up yet. truly every game here can feel that they're a winner, even if they didn't place as high as they might have hoped.

#92: Maniac Mansion (1987)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Maniac_Mansion_%28Commodore_64%29_box_front_cover_art.jpg
http://game-research.com/wp-content/uploads/maniacmansion.gif
Developer:Lucasfilm Games
Publisher:Lucasfilm Games
Original format:PC DOS
Highest position:#13, robertwolf8080

tl;dp

loltm

#91: Rez (2001)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/RezBoxArt.jpg
http://www.chipcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/_ps2games_rez_rez4.jpg
Developer:United Game Artists
Publisher:Sega
Original format:Dreamcast
Highest position:#1, Stet

^nerd bracket

http://i-eclectica.org/wordpress/wp-content/my%20images/People/ActHoffmanRainman.jpg

#90: Super Mario Bros 2 (1988)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Super_Mario_Bros_2.jpg
http://www.ugo.com/a/worst-videogame-sequels/images/3.jpg
Developer:Nintendo EAD
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:NES
Highest position:#10, Jordan Cohen

OKAY! First one of my picks, ridiculously underrated. I spent a small fortune shovelling pounds into one of those Play 10 machines in The Mint in Hull in about 1990 to play this fecker. Completely groovy movement dynamics and didn't really feel like any previous game at the time. Oh how smug I felt when I picked up the first egg and threw it back at that little Dino-looking motherhugger.

Like many another game, all fun completely evaporates when you get to the twat-bastarding ice level.

SMB2? It was kinda disappointing at the time for me (compared with the still epic SMB1), but still leeched months of otherwise wasted time away. I don't remember if SMB3 made the list, but if so I probably voted pretty high for it.

oh and KOTOR is fabulous and you don't have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy it, I don't think.

I really liked Super Mario 2 too, though 3 was obviously even better. I remember reading from somewhere that Super Mario 2 was actually a totally different game in Japan, but the characters were changed to Mario/Luigi/Toad/Princess, and it was then marketed as Super Mario 2 in Europe and the US. This was because the original Japanese Super Mario 2 was basically just Super Mario with new levels, and people thought it wouldn't sell as such in the West.

It's a remake of this game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yume_K%C5%8Dj%C5%8D:_Doki_Doki_Panic

for the record, i had lots of fun playing wolfenstein 3-D back when it came out.

#89: Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (1991)
http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/games/drg000/g011/g01172b9e5b.jpg
http://www.ellosnuncaloharian.com/164/imagenes/pantallas/big/eyeofthebe2_2.png
Developer:Westwood Associates
Publisher:SSI
Original format:PC DOS
Highest position:#9, HI DERE

Don't know, never played it.

I'm enjoying how many sequels we're putting in this list!

This is also my shit. But in English, obv. Still got a big pad of half-centimetre squared paper full of level maps, which is half the fun. The Eye of the Beholder games crossed some kind of fun threshold, taking the nerd thrills of Bard's Tale and that Pool of Radiance stuff I could never be arsed with and finally making it a pleasure to actually play. Sure Dungeon Master might've got there slightly early, but that game's just a little bit arid compared to the fleshed out plots and puzzles of this one. II is my pick of the series, but they're all sweet.

I suspect mine and Dan's high placings for this might've been the only votes it needed to chart?

i voted fairly high too. version i played wasn't in spanish but was awesome.

Oh and really I guess this game is still more or less linear but it moved a good way towards making you feel you were free to explore.

In general I'm fairly anti-linearity but pro-storytelling, a lot of my big picks are about the trade-off between those two play elements.

NV, Monkey Island / Lucas Arts fan?

#88: Lords of Midnight (1984)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/LordsOfMidnight.jpg
http://www.zzap64.co.uk/images/screenshots/Lords_Of_Midnight,_The.gif
Developer:Mike Singleton
Publisher:Beyond Software
Original format:Commodore 64
Highest position:#4, Catsup Dude

First game on the list I voted for! Also maybe the first game I ever played for a day non-stop, back when I was eight or something.

I like the first 2 Monkey Island games, a lot, haven't played the others. Didn't really get into any of the other Loom-type games. Back in the early 90s I totally loved point and click, but something about the endless "click-read amusing description-collect object-repeat" seems pretty boring a lot of the time now. One of the reasons I couldn't be arsed with Maniac Mansion - multiple characters = too much pixel hunting to get my head around at the start. I feel like the learning curve on that one in particular is harsh.

I would LOVE to play Doki Doki Panic.

3rd game in a row I voted for. Thought my 9th place might be the highest vote - good work Jon. Lords of Midnight was an obsession for me when it came out, it totally cracks the non-linear story code, maybe the first game to ever do that. Of course it was a hell of a lot easier to win via the adventure game route, aka Morkin Goes for a Walk Up the Side of the Map. But it was the wargame that kept dragging me back, because waking up one morning and looking out of your castle to see an endless line of bad guy armies stretching to the horizon and no reinforcements in sight was fun fun fun. Also the Mongol-looking dude with the round helmet and the pony was HARDCORE

NB playing this on emulator/remake is a big pain without that lovely plastic keyboard overlay.

F'reals Lords of Midnight on the Spectrum was definitely one of those leaps forward where you were just like HOLY SHIT WE'RE LIVING IN THE FUTURE

Mike Singleton is still programming now, y'know? If someone can tell me if "Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows" is worth seeking out, feel free to do so.

True sign of a great RPG game is if you can enjoy it whilst not actually giving a shit about fantasy fiction. LoM succeeds in spades w/that.

You've got the Lords of Midnight format as Comm 64 but it was o.g. Spectrum.

Lords of Midnight was the first game where I thought, FUCK this is massive, a whole world! Elite was the next after that.

True sign of a great RPG game is if you can enjoy it whilst not actually giving a shit about fantasy fiction.

60 Megaton truth bomb. Mrs V finds it very hard to understand that I don't really give a shit about pixies and goblins.

Actually I think she understands perfectly well, she just likes ripping the piss.

I lost touch with Mike Singleton after Midwinter which seemed painfully over-complicated and probably needed a nice keyboard overlay.

#87: Double Dragon II - The Revenge (1988)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/DD2_Flyer.jpg
http://www.gooddealgames.com/articles/Double%20Dragon/Double%20Dragon%202.gif
Developer:Technos Japan Corp
Publisher:Technos Japan Corp
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#13, Euler

lol for shit games I sure spent plenty of arcade money on the Double Dragons. There's no actual skill at all involved in playing these, is there?

Euler is gonna be one of the CAMRA dudes on this thread, isn't he.

Oh man, I don't think I ever played this one. They had the first Double Dragon at Godfathers Pizza in my town, which for a while was the only pizza place we had. All I remember: "Oh shit two Abobos!"

#86: Master of Magic (1993)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Master_of_Magic_boxcover.jpg
http://www.ibiblio.org/GameBytes/issue21/greviews/momrev02.gif
Developer:Simtex
Publisher:Microprose
Original format:PC DOS
Highest position:#2, Euler

Don't think I've ever even heard of that. Looks like it lives up my alley.

That Double Dragon II cover has it ALL! Whipping gutterpunk women in the face, ball and chain, exposed asscheek, full moon, angry subhuman swinging a club, helicoptor!

oh fucking AAAA I love Master of Magic; I too do not care about pixies and dragons but I still play this bastard and love it...it's worth emulating DOS or windows for.

Master of Magic is like Civ but with spells and pixies and shit...you get to build cities but each race has special buildings and offensive units they can build; and you create heroes who can level individually and eventually beat entire armies by themselves...and like Archon you get to play the combat, not just sim it like in Civ.

Diablo 2 = another one I haven't played. Got the first one, liked it in short doses, but the gameplay is essentially "click left mouse button as quick as you can". Hope they varied that up a bit for the sequel.

They didn't. But it was still fun.

whoa what is CAMRA? google pops up Campaign for Real Ale which I know about from other sources but I don't get the reference? B/c I do like real ale but mostly I like kicking the shit out of bad guys in video games. And Double Dragon has that in spades. I don't think skill's required, no, but sheer visceral bloodlust is. And back in the day this was as realistic as it got, which was cool: baseball bats rule (is that the CAMRA part?).

Euler did you ever play Fantasy General? Another example of the fantasy gubbins having nothing to do with the awesomeness of the game itself.

(The CAMRA thing was a joke about you repping for Old School, Trad fun. It's pure love tho, honest.)

Man, I tried to play Lords Of Midnight just now, I had no idea what was going on. I gotta sleep and then work, but I'll have something to kill a bit of time when I get home.

yeah I love the old school and the new school and I feel the love, no prob

I don't know Fantasy General, no, sorry, but it sounds nice---although it sounds hex-y, and the closest I got to playing through a hex-type game was Europa Universalis, which wasn't really that hex-y.

Yeah Fantasy General is Panzer General with a different tile set, really, so it's a turn-based wargame but I think that series just blends the playability versus deep strategy mix just right - easy to pick up, hard to master, as some old board game used to say.

actually it's funny, a lot of the games on the list are old school but are a different old school than I was into, because I didn't have a PC or commodore or TI or whatever, just an Atari and then a Colecovision and then NES. Once I got a PC in 1988 I was all about Chuck Yeager Flight Sim and Earl Weaver Baseball for many years, but I doubt they crossed over the pond much (well, that and Bard's Tale, which I suspect will come up later in voting).

#85: WipEout 2097 (1996)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/WipEout2097Cover.jpg
http://www.vpltd.com/images/wopic_02.jpg
Developer:Psygnosis
Publisher:Psygnosis
Original format:PlayStation
Highest position:#3, Ledge

yeah one of my friends is a trainspotter type for the Panzer General company, he researches old German tanks and updates their stats for them. At least he makes a little coin from that kind of aspie nonsense.

Oh man I remember the time I played the first Wipeout, it was on a Sega Saturn. That first time I hit the first big jump in the first level = GAAASSSSSP!!

I only played the original Wipeout, never 2097, but all I remember from it is how dramatically the walls would slow you down. You'd glance at the corner at the screen and find out you were going 928 km/hr and life would be good, and then one nick on the wall, and it was all over.

Wipeout is awesome when you're fucking stoned and you lean back and forth on a gnarly futon

lol was about to say I have only ever played Wipeout over at stoners' houses.

#84: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oblivion_Cover.JPG
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/697/697211/the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-20060320080708445-000.jpg
Developer:Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher:2K Games
Original format:XBox 360
Highest position:#7, bnw

If I'd been able to play this, I would've placed it first, but I'll save the majority of my spiel for when Morrowind turns up. My eldest son has been playing Oblivion since Christmas and tormenting me with stories about just how detailed and perfect a world those Bethesda guys have made. This is the first placing that I will hand on heart say is at LEAST 70 places too low, you horrible people.

Master of Magic was AWESOME. It was a Civ clone at the top level - cities on a tile map, you build various improvements to them, etc...but the combat switched over to an isometric turn-based thing, moving your little expendable hordes around on a map. There was also a really great hero system to build up specific underlings with cool +3 HP type gear. AND you could make your own widgets and give them names (if I remember correctly) - like, for a certain amount of magic points you could infuse a ring to make it have flame power. It was a LOT of fun. Probably the last game I was really into, for a long spell anyway.

oh i guess euler already said most of that stuff, xpost.

Anyway basically it was Civ + Warcraft III, with the graphics of the former (although a bit brighter and friendlier - Civ is a bit dingy outside of the city views!).

#83: A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985)
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/apple-ii-games/7-1.jpg
http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/388/A%20Mind%20Forever%20Voyaging_3.png
Developer:Infocom
Publisher:Infocom
Original format:Commodore Amiga
Highest position:#1, Mordechai Shinefield

SMB2 I played the hell out of at the time, but can't seem to recall with too much fondness now. Noodle Vague is right about the satisfaction of smacking Birdo with a well-lobbed egg, but too much of this game is just kind of tedious and forgettable. The desert stage is just terrible, and I wish I could have back all the hours of my life collectively robbed by ducking down into rooms/pipes/jars and finding nothing down there... I mean, if E.T. has to get docked for pointless exploration of empty holes, Mario should have to suffer it as well.

I can only assume that if this had been published in the US under its original name, it would be a somewhat warmly regarded footnote, cult classic at best, but by no means a contender for top 100. Great music though!

My friend Indy and I were talking recently though about this - when exactly did the material from SMB2 become imported into the Mario canon? Like, the Shyguys, Bob-ombs, the floating Princess, Toad as major playable character, etc... I think these things are a considerable asset to the Mario universe, this game has a really charming feel in general - but this is stuff that would have been either invented by the US Mario office, or in Doki Doki Panic... when and how did it become part of Mario for Nintendo of Japan? (I'm thinking Yoshi's Island but I have no idea.)

I like how screenshots of text adventures are basically all the same. If I'd known this was an Infocom title I would have given it my vote on behalf of Zork II...

A Mind Forever Voyaging is good and all, but it's absolutely punishing to get into.

Non-linearity gone mad in fact.

I have never played that game, but I will sum up the gameplay:

>look
you see a bat, and a key inside a glass container.
>use bat on container
i don't understand.
>attack container
i don't understand
>use bat
you don't have a bat
>pick up bat
i don't understand
>get bat
you got a bat
>attack container
with what?
>attack container with bat
the glass container shatters!!
>get key
you got the key
>use key on door
i don't understand
>use key with door
...nothing happens
>look at door
it is brown. it appears to be locked.
>attack door with bat
...nothing happens
>use key in keyhole
the door opens. you have no girlfriend in real life

lol as that is, you're actually rong Z S. AMFV is a whole different ballgame of nerd intensity. It's like comparing Philip Dick to, um, somebody who wrote run of the mill space operas.

did anyone else vote for that

I couldn't in good conscience place it top 30, it's too dry for me and I've never got deep enough into it to become engrossed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mind_Forever_Voyaging

^ wau!!!

Four people voted for AMFV. If they want to demask themselves, they're free to do so.

Strong Bad: "And you're like, GET YE FLASK, and the game's like, YOU CAN'T GET YE FLASK. And you just have to sit there and IMAGINE why on earth you can't get Ye Flask, because the game's certainly not going to tell you."

If G-Kit voted then I reckon he'll be one.

"Dr. Abraham Perelman, PRISM's "father", informs Perry of his true nature and gently brings him from simulation mode into reality. Perelman explains that he has awakened PRISM so a vital mission can be performed: running a simulation of a revitalization plan (dubbed the Plan for Renewed National Purpose), sponsored by Senator Richard Ryder."

Wait, PRISM is awakened from simulation mode into reality so that it can...run a simulation?

WHOA, AND THE SENATOR'S NAME IS DICK RYDER! AHHAHAHA

Actually, though the description of the plot on wikipedia, as you said Noodle Vague, does sound leagues beyond normal games of this ilk. Apt Philip K Dick comparison, too.

I don't think there's any verb-guessing, more importantly. It tells you all the words you need to use.

#82: Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/Halobox.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/First_official_halo_screenshot.jpg
Developer:Bungie Studios
Publisher:Microsoft Game Studious
Original format:XBox
Highest position:#6, stet

This didn't make my list, but it is a robust, fun game, obviously MADE for hanging out with buddies and blowing stuff up together. The multiplayer, from what I observed, seemed a bit frantic and pointless, but the single player was totally a blast. I feel incapable of judging the game since I hadn't really played another FPS since Unreal Tournament, and before that, Duke 3D - I just don't know the state of the art for this generation of work.

(Whereas with, say, Goldeneye, I felt very comfortable saying it was a godawful embarassment to the genre, since it was so evidently behind what was going on with PC FPSes at the time.)

BOOOOM !!! with the challop

The AI in GoldenEye was pretty good.

You mean like when you have to lead/protect the girl informant (or whatever) and she keeps getting stuck wandering into tree trunks and shit while you're getting shot to pieces?

I put AMFV very high, maybe number 2 in my list. It's incredibly well-written, and the non-linearity thing worked - the game-world is immersive, and the option of wandering around trying stupid things is perfectly balanced with a clear purpose. Also, no fucking goblins.

#81: Defender (1980)
http://www.labelmaker2600.com/images/Defender.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/A5200_Defender.png
Developer:Williams Electronics
Publisher:Williams Electronics
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#30, Raw Patrick

That should be #1, Raw Patrick, obviously.

I first saw some kid playing Defender in the Winter Gardens at Blackpool, early 80s. Another one of those "this is the next level" moments. When the dude had finished his huge score, I leapt in. Lasted about 30 seconds, to my Dad's amusement. I'm slightly less shit at Defender now, but I still find it stupid hard. I had to give it a vote tho. For me, because it invented a bunch of things: radar, a new kind of movement round the screen. And because it's still really beautiful in its way, more so than other games of this vintage. And cos I wish I was that cool kid at Blackpool.

that's touching, man

Never had enough access to this one at the right time to get really into it - but I appreciate its freaked-out, fried neon aesthetic. Like, that laser beam in the screenshot is just cool. Yars Revenge for Atari had a similar kind of thing going on.

i had a PC clone of this called Stargate, pah

#80: River City Ransom (1989)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/River_City_Ransom-front.jpg
http://www.gamewad.com/gw_images/overlooked/rcr.jpg
Developer:Technos Japan Corporation
Publisher:Technos Japan Corporation
Original format:NES
Highest position:#6, TOMBOT

Defender had the courage to be HARD as FUCK and juggles it's few variables magnificently.

I'd kinda forgotten I put it no 1 tho'.

*barf*

!

i hope there aren't more shitty NES games that only tombot cares about in this poll

Obligatory comment on wipeout as i placed it highest... my favourite racing game ever. No arsing about with boring phsyics type stuff like traction so you don't need a diploma to play it, just a pure mindless adrenalin racing fix, with the added fun of a whole suite of weapons for wiping out (geddit) your opponents - or being wiped out of course. The computer opponents could be real fuckers and this game caused me to lose my shit more than any other, screaming obscenties at the TV. I'm told I could easily be heard from the street outside. I was 24 at the time.

With a pitch-perfect 90s lolectronica soundtrack and a neon future setting lovingly imagineered by the Designers' Republic it was a stylistic dream as well, waaaaay ahead of cheapo contenders like f-zero.

90s lolectronica soundtrack

this game got dug out of the cupboard a couple of weeks ago and yes, lol 90s

I placed River City Ransom at #10, so it's not just Tombot! Possibly the epitome of a 2D game of "middle" depth - it's not solely button-mashy action like your Double Dragons (which I love), nor is it as endlessly explorable as your Metroidvanias (which I love even more). You can basically beat it in an afternoon and it's hard to imagine this game taking over somebody's life...but it's also not really a pick-up-and-play game either. It's just a game that always, always delivers what it's supposed to - fun, SMOOTHly flowing action, a few surprisingly tough moments, and lots of stupid crap to save up for so that you can become an absolutely unkillable machine. If you liked throw turnips at people in SMB2, you haven't LIVED until you've thrown trash cans, crates, your partner, etc., at leaders of gangs with names like THE JOCKS, the COWBOYS, and the game's best contribution to my personal lexicon, the GENERIC DUDES. The one endlessly repeated theme is surprisingly elaborate, never gets old, and perfectly frames the jumpy, shiny, happy whompings you're dishing out - obviously the graphics are part of that too. The special moves are satisfying to perform, and somehow milk a lot out of the NES's percussion/noise track for nice soft hitty sounds.

Does anyone still make games like this? The Symphony of the Night genre isn't so far off, I guess...

(ps re wipeout, for more 90s lolectronica - albeit of a different lineage - see TETRISPHERE.)

also Lumines

#79: Ico (2001)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/Box-l-jp.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/sabre2922/ICO%20PS2.jpg
Developer:Team Ico
Publisher:Sony Computer Entertainment
Original format:Playstation 2
Highest position:#7, abanana

^nerd bracket #2

Shadow of the Colossus better not place higher than that...

The reviews of this game were like 60% of my never-fulfilled desire for a PS2. (The rest was playing Dynasty Warriors 2 in my dorm lobby.) Never played it though.

wau, I feel like I am single-handedly responsible for KOTOR and EOTB2 making it onto this list! MY VOTE MATTERS

Actually, three of my games have made it onto the list so far (Diablo 2 being the other one) so I'm pretty well on track to represent the lolnerd hivemind.

#78: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/BGII_cover.png
http://www.deafgamers.com/bg22.jpg
Developer:BioWare
Publisher:Black Isle Studios
Original format:PC Windows
Highest position:#3, HI DERE

lol that closet sounds like my life

ok this should have placed higher for everyone

#77: Spy Hunter (1983)
http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/cpom/SpyHunterRepro.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Spy_Hunter.png
Developer:Bally Midway
Publisher:Bally Midway
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#11, Antexit

Wow, Spy Hunter? Really? Someone fill me in - we had the NES version and I played it every now and then but was never seduced by it.

Classic top-down racing, with guns! And you could change into a boat! And drive into a big truck kightrider style!

or knightrider style

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/books/covers/9/The_Kite_Rider_-_jkt.jpg

ROBBED

"The Nintendo port of this game has extremely buggy collision detection. If the road turns, the car will not crash if it remains pointed straight. It is possible to drive for hours over dirt, rocks, river banks, etc"

#76: Xenogears (1998)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Xenogears_box.jpg
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061103/xenogears.jpg
Developer:Square
Publisher:Square
Original format:PlayStation
Highest position:#2, TOMBOT

ILX: not keen on the late 90s

all RPG noms should have been binned

animebot

I never did play this....is it good? Are PSX copies available cheap? That screenshot surprises me - I didn't expect that spritey, Monkey Island look but I really like it.

#75: Ninja Gaiden (1988)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/Ninja_Gaiden_arcade_flyer.png
http://media.gwn.com/articles_mp/7359625146777a2e959a3.jpg
Developer:Tecmo
Publisher:Tecmo
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#5, Zach Scott, Jordan Cohen

this "highest position" bit is clearly setting up the outliers for merciless meta zinging in future, good job Dom. I was worried DG was running out of things to remind stet and me why we suck

#74: Elite (1984)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/Elite_org_cover.jpg
http://www.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/6108-Elite2.jpg
Developer:David Braben and Ian Bell
Publisher:Acornsoft
Original format:Acorn Electron
Highest position:#8, Nate Wools

Prediction: ^^^is the first game someone's gonna get mad about how low placed it is.

ok this should have placed higher for everyone

-- HI DERE, Saturday, May 3, 2008 6:30 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

he was right too

however, I'm afraid I have to recommend DQ8, XG and RCR to everyone who hasn't played them, two out of three of which are readily available online or in used bins, I'm sure

Dragon Quest VIII
River City Ransom: C/D
Xenogears, bitches

Elite scraped into my ballot at 30. Which means that I rated e.g. Wizball higher. Looking over my ballot again it looks as though I made some mental choices, might as well have hurled darts at the nominations list.

Ninja Gaiden!

How many times this game made me yell "fucking bird!", I don't know, but it must have been really confusing to anyone who ever overheard me from another room.

Level 6-2 nearly reaches the pinnacle of gaming difficulty. But the best thing about Ninja Gaiden is that as much as parts of require memorization of patterns and little tricks (for example, you can make some of the annoying enemies in the game disappear by moving a little bit to the left and moving them off the right edge of the screen), it rewards you for developing mad skillz. Every time you play, you can get a little farther, even if it's just another inch. Plus the cutscenes were hot shit back in the day.

#73: Scorched Earth (1991)
http://images.cafepress.com/jitcrunch.aspx?bG9hZD1ibGFuayxibGFuazoxNTJfRl9jNi5qcGd8bG9hZD1MMCxodHRwOi8vaW1hZ2VzLmNhZmVwcmVzcy5jb20vaW1hZ2UvMjczNTA0NDJfNDAweDQwMC5wbmd8fHNjYWxlPUwwLDE1MCwxMTYsVHJhbnNwYXJlbnR8bG9hZD10bS1MMCxibGFuazoxNTJfRl9jNl90bWFzay5qcGd8Y29tcG9zZT1MMCx0bS1MMCxUZXh0dXJlTWFzaywtMTYwLC0xMDJ8Y29tcG9zZT1ibGFuayxMMCxBbHBoYUJsZW5kLDE2MCwxMDJ8Y3A9cmVzdWx0LGJsYW5rfHNjYWxlPXJlc3VsdCwwLDQ4MCxXaGl0ZXxjb21wcmVzc2lvbj05NXw=
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Scorched_Earth_for_DOS_screenshot.png
Developer:Wendell Hicken
Publisher:Wendell Hicken
Original format:PC DOS
Highest position:#8, Catsup Dude

Don't think I've played Scorched Earth per se, but Tanx and Worms and all those other versions are brilliant fun for such a simple premise. I don't always buy this "simple games are best" shit but in this case it's true.

Never got down with Elite because it's physically impossible for anybody who didn't train on a BBC in 1984 to dock the fucking ship. Fact.

#72: Castlevania (1986)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Castlevania_NES_box_art.jpg
http://pressthebuttons.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/castlevania.png
Developer:Konami
Publisher:Konami
Original format:Famicom Disk System
Highest position:#3, lamp

never did play this....is it good? Are PSX copies available cheap?
It was a greatest hit for PSX so there should be some cheap used copies available. XG had one of Square's best battle systems ever and an amazing story. I'm still kind of surprised to see it ranked over DQ8 though, which is bar none the best straight RPG they ever released.

Don't think I voted for any of the others I've missed. Not including any of the Black Isle RPGs was a really perverse decision on my part, must've not been feeling the on railsness of them the day I voted. Haven't played BG2 that much tho. Thought Spy Hunter was dope as a kid, but there's not a lot to it really. It's fun for a quick blast I guess. Ico is...alright, but I feel like it's a game that people who don't LOVE games go on about. Being way po-faced don't make it Great Art.

I'm really pleased AMFV did so well. I thought it wouldn't place at all. (And I think that if more people got the chance to play it - it would've potentially gotten more votes.) In case people didn't get it before, here's a link where you can download it.

#71: Metroid (1986)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Metroid_boxart.jpg
http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Metroid_NES_ScreenShot4.jpg
Developer:Nintendo R&D1
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:Famicom Disk System
Highest position:#3, TOMBOT

I know this is a big unnecessary Challops Bomb but I've never got what people see in the Metroid games. Admittedly I've only played Super Metroid, as far as I remember, but it just seems like a dull version of a budget Spectrum game, meandering round a boring maze collecting the occasional boring power-up. Big whoop.

i didn't vote in this, but metroid should have been at least top 50. xp

orig metroid is addictive as shit.

you supposed to vote in these things to complain, MORBIUS.

also having two versions of it obv split the vote. but that's because people sucked at nominating and also dom didn't bother with sorting it out when making the ballot

but I'm not complaining, everything in the top 100 is a winner!

I'm predicting GTA IV as the surprise #1. Even though it came out after nominations ended.

Quiten down NES boy. xpost

#70: Deus Ex (2000)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Dxcover.jpg
http://www.tech2.com/media/images/img_4966_deus_ex_001_450x360.jpg
Developer:Ion Storm Inc.
Publisher:Eidos
Original format:PC Windows
Highest position:#2, Mordechai Shinefield

Oh snap!

what is challops??

wtf when was voting held

i strenuously object to, like, everything ever

xenogears? EAT SHIT

i <3 scorched earth.

ps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0N1CkVshOc

Metroid that low is such an embarrassment.

m shocked that you never played it, curtis! this game was huge for me when it came out, though obviously if you showed it to me now I would probably vomit on you and maybe attempt to chew off your orbital bones.

-- IN UR BASE KILLING ALL UR DUDES (Adrian Langston), Monday, December 5, 2005 5:04 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

Think I voted for Deus Ex. Love the fluid storytelling, great plot, a lot of fun gadgets. Nowadays I'm not so sure that stealth in games is a good thing tho. I've spent too much gaming time staring into the screen waiting for some grunt in a balaclava to turn his back on me, only to get alarms going off as soon as I move and end up mowing down everything in the room.

El Gershboto xp

yeah exactly dude!

re: chewin off ur bonez

i played deus ex earlier this year. it was really good! it still holds up imo.

#69: Tomb Raider
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Tomb_Raider_1_Box.jpg
http://www.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/6108-TombRaider2.jpg
Developer:Core Design,
Publisher:Eidos
Original format:Sega Saturn
Highest position:#8, Louis Jagger

I'm not saying shit.

lol.

Dom I placed Tomb Raider higher than that.

I knew it wouldn't do as well as it ought to tho. For me it's perfect, the combo of music and level design create this absolute sense of inhabiting a space, I feel like I could walk some of those levels blindfold now. And some of the shocks: like the first time you hear that T Rex lumbering towards you before you see it, are cinematic as hell. Of course the story is ripped off a bunch of movies, that's why it works.

I'm going back and fixing all my errors at the end, I'm in the zone right now.

Tomb Raider: One of the worst ever well-known franchises?

The first 3 Tomb Raiders are all perfect, I don't really get why they wind people up so much?

#68: Bioshock (2007)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/Bioshockcoverfinalcropped.jpg
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1663/bioshock200708261254317yr0.jpg
Developer:2K Boston
Publisher:2K Games
Original format:Xbox 360
Highest position:#1, bnw

So far 5 of my picks have made it. Got a feeling I might lose a few.

The first 3 Tomb Raiders are all perfect, I don't really get why they wind people up so much?

-- Noodle Vague, Saturday, 3 May 2008 21:35 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Residual loathing of Eidos.

RE: Tomb Raider

The controls, for one thing! Controlling Lara Croft didn't resemble normal human movement so much as maneuvering an oblong shaped piece of wood around with only one chopstick.

What were you playing it on??

The response to the controls, too. Tomb Raider epitomizes the control style where if you have to jump over a large gap, you have to hit the jump button around 1 1/2 steps before you actually want to leap. Eventually you get used to it, sure, but shit, I'll take Mario Bros. mechanics anyday over that.

PSX

I just never found that an issue on the PS. I suppose counting the jumps was a little mechanical but I picked it up really quick.

#67: Contra (1987)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Contra_flyer.jpg
http://dailyscreenshots.de/screenshot/contra/nes-1867381
Developer:Konami
Publisher:Konami
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#5, Euler

I think this took a fair bit of my arcade coin too but I barely remember playing it.

Contra had some great C64 clones, Midnight Resistance and shit like that.

I played Tomb Raider on the PC and it was one of the most fluid, seamlessly-controlling games I'd played, up to that point anyway! This is another game that was just a revelation the first time you loaded it up, stepping out into these huge cavernous environments - it was really breathtaking. Big nays for provoking the "crate-pusher" school of gameplay, but there were a few great puzzles, and yeah, the T-Rex was great.

I'm not sure why I placed it at #18 though! My ballot in general looks kind of strange to me now...the aggregation of many small, independently logical decisions.

Scorched Earth might not have been "THE MOTHER OF ALL GAMES" as billed but it was so cool! Loved loved loved all the stupid high-concept weapons you could get, the earth-eroding things, the insane one from that T-shirt (Fanta Bomb?)...etc.

#66: The Sims (2000)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/The_Sims_Coverart.png
http://www.thesims.eagames.nl/images/pages/screenshots/566-The%20Sims1.jpg
Developer:Maxis
Publisher:Electronic Arts
Original format:PC
Highest position:#10, Mordechai Shinefield

I got enough problems holding down a real job and keeping a real house tidy thanx guyz.

I know SO many non-gamers who love this thing. All of them say that it's only fun if you use the infinite-money cheat code. I played it obsessively for a few days and then somehow lost the CD and forgot about it completely.

Isn't it like one of the best-selling PC games of all time?

Feel free to link to your favourite Youtube videos featuring clips from The Sims set to contemporary pop songs.

bioshock is massively massively overrated

the sims is for morons

In 2002, The Sims became the top-selling PC game in history, displacing the game Myst.

xxp

^^^proof

i can only assume myst will be #1 in this poll

Myst is for even bigger morons tho

Haven't played Bioshock, think I'd dig it.

Sims is just a pain, the time runs out too fast, it's like trying to juggle 15 live squid and a chainsaw. And I'd argue it ain't a game, it's a toy.

The Sims soundtracked by MIA. For all my ILM friends: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yLkErCVsQNY

bioshock was no system shock 2 :(

Myst is just an overdecorated adventure game with moderate to easy puzzles and an ending, as far as I can tell, that doesn't really tell you the game's finished.

Myst is for even bigger morons tho

No, that would be Riven. Myst was mainstream enough that you almost wanted to check it out just to see what the fuss was about. Riven was for people who somehow enjoyed Myst and were eager for more.

Playing Scorched Earth with school chums on Windows 3.1 = childhood. That and downloading the "Anarchist Cookbook" on AOL 2.0 and trying to create napalm in an empty coffee can.

#65: Secret of Mana (1993)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/Secret_of_Mana_Box.jpg
http://secretofmana.planets.gamespy.com/images/secretofmanashot.gif
Developer:Square
Publisher:Square
Original format:SNES
Highest position:#1, caek

whoa '16 meg-memory'

Tombot voted for that one as well.

Bioshock was my #9 and my most recent pick on the list. That said, I'm still shocked it got a #1 from someone. It's really hard for any new game to penetrate the haze of gaming nostalgia from my youth.

Also, if The Sims highest score was a #10, but placed before a lot of #1 rated games, does that mean a lot of people liked it a little?

ha!

no way

I feel like I've played the first few hours of most of the Square rpgs and never finished any of them.

I voted for SOM out of some kind of affection for my first experience staying up till dawn playing a game (my neighbor friend had gotten it for his birthday). I played quite a bit of it later on emu - and much much more of Seiken Densetsu 3, before getting bored with all the tedious levelling-up - at this point I can't really remember what stuff was in which game (I didn't finish either one). They've got nice bright colors and the multi-player thing was cool (in principle anyway).

#64: Nethack (1987)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Nethack_releasing_a_djinni.png
Developer:The NetHack DevTeam
Publisher:Open-source
Original format:PS Dos
Highest position:#1, Catsup Dude

ZZT for number 1

I play it with a tile set cos I'm not geek enough.

I guess what impresses with Nethack is how much game is packed into so little code, and how well a bunch of ASCII characters can create a satisfying atmosphere.

#63: Cannon Fodder (1993)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0b/Cannon_fodder_MDb.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Cannon_fodder_MD_2.png
Developer:Sensible Software
Publisher:Virgin
Original format:Commodore Amiga
Highest position:#8, blueski

^first game on the list I love unconditionally

that's more like it

^^^ TOO LOW

Cannon Fodder was so much fun, until you got to the first really hard level and gave up.

wtf? i've never even HEARD of that one.

Screenshots from the cancelled Sensible Software project, Sex'n'Drugs'n'Rock'n'Roll:

http://www.purplesensi.co.uk/snd/sshots.php

Find an abandonware copy now, you won't regret it.

xpost

wtf? i've never even HEARD of that one.

-- Doctor Casino, Saturday, 3 May 2008 22:40 (22 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

Real-time war tactics game, control a motley group of soldiers and kill opposing armies. Produced by the Godlike (for British gamers, at least) Sensible Software. Big tabloid controversy around the time the game was launched because it used the red poppy as a logo.

Abandonware copy of Cannon Fodder: http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/76/Cannon+Fodder.html

#62: Planescape: Torment (1999)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Planescape-torment-box.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/nordonordo/planescape_torment01.jpg
Developer:Black Isle Studios
Publisher:Interplay
Original format:PC Windows
Highest position:#2 HI DERE, Greg Pallis

yeah i'm sure that's better than cannon fodder

It's pretty good. Different kind of thing. Not sure that the much vaunted plot is as mind-blowing as the hardcore fans think, but I've never finished it.

Cannon Fodder was so much fun, until you got to the first really hard level and gave up.

Painfully OTM. Anyone else play that Sensible Soccer crossover called Cannon Soccer? That was a perfectly measured dose of CF.

cannon fodder was wonderful.

Not sure that the much vaunted plot is as mind-blowing as the hardcore fans think, but I've never finished it.

Dude, finish it. It's fucking mental. (At least, it was in 1999.)

Also I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT SCORCHED EARTH, WAU

There's a general "look" to these turn-of-the-millenium PC games - this, Diablo, Baldur's Gate - that is just incredibly off-putting to me. I don't know how to describe it...other examples would include Age of Empires, Ultima Online, and to a lesser extent Ultima 8 (which has plenty of other problems to worry about). It's not the ugliness of polygons (another scourge of the late 90s) but something else. Not sure why it connotes "boring, tedious game" but it does.

Thanks for the tips on Cannon Fodder - I'll check it out tonight maybe!

(the "this" above is Planescape)

big shame lucasarts etc have been the abandonware sites and pulled their games off with no sign of rereleasing them

#61: Final Fantasy VII (1997)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Ffviibox.jpg
http://www.gamethink.net/IMG/jpg/playstation_Final_Fantasy_VII-Combat.jpg
Developer:Square
Publisher:Square
Original format:PlayStation
Highest position:#5, Mordechai Shinefield

xxxpost

Mrs Vague complains about the "stupid little people that you can't see properly" aspect of those games.

DG I can hook you up with some Lucasarts adventures if you're interested.

Throw out a wishlist; I may have one or two

xxp

xp oh no i've got the adventures, it's stuff like X-Wing i'd like to play again, cheers anyway

(x-wing alliance hates vista)

FF VII is where I got off. Specifically cos my son made me read all the text out loud and I got bored stupid, but that's not really Square's fault. Pointlessly over-elaborate combat fannydangle and random fights that happen every time you cover one inch of screen OVER AND OVER AND OVER are tho.

"Oh good, it's some more Ninja Acid Blobs and a Big Fucking Frog".

Fuck a random battle, f'real.

I don't care how big your sword is you aren't seriously gonna take down some dude with a nuclear laser cannon.

I made an honest stab at playing through that one but I just couldn't fall in love with it... where is influential voter Mordechai Shinefield in this discussion anyhow? I'm curious what would make someone so adore this game that it makes top five!

#60: Prince of Persia (1989)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/PoP-megaCD_cover.png
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/files/prince_of_persia.gif
Developer:Brøderbund
Publisher:Brøderbund
Original format:Apple II
Highest position:#10, KenC

had that exact version

it was no flashback though

This was fun too for a bit but feels like another game you'd vote for cos of its historical importance, and I ruled that out as a voting criterion. Yeah Flashback was better.

This was fun but got old once you'd done it, which didn't take long.

nice turbans though

Best ever video game turban?

Yeah, I didn't vote for it for precisely these reasons, although I was happy to give historical votes to a lot of these, I guess cause they were historical AND I played the shit out of them, whereas Prince I would load up every so often, be unable to beat it, and then give up. Boy was the animation cool though!

penalty shootout w/aladdin xp

The Disney Aladdin game had some dece turbans I seem to remember.

lol snap

Dhalsim wears a turban in SF2:Alpha

Was gonna ask if Monty was in the latest versh of EA Cricket but he don't wear the full turban on the pitch.

#59: Sega NHL series (1991-2007)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/NHL_08_Coverart.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/NHL_Hockey_screenshot.png
Developer:EA Canada
Publisher:EA Sports
Original format:Sega Mega Drive
Highest position:#6, Euler, bnw

If most Sikh cricketers find the turban impractical for playing, I'm pretty sure Dhalsim shouldn't wear one for street fighting.

shit, the Sega NHL games man.

Question: why did I love the Madden games but I've never given a shit about playing an Ice Hockey game?

Dhalsim wears a turban in SF2:Alpha

No doubt in honor of his ancestor, Great Tiger from Punch-Out!. As well, any game with a desert board probably has at least one turban to speak of, eg Super Mario 3 (the king of that world). Quest For Glory 2 is absolutely rife with turbans.

Also do you think EA Rugby League sells any copies at all in the US?

i'm sure it's trounced by EA cricket

http://trsrockin.com/images/smb_desert3.jpg

#58: R-Type (1987)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b0/R-Type_NA_flyer.png
http://www.theaveragegamer.com/wp-content/Screenshots/Rtype/rtype_3.png
Developer:Irem
Publisher:Irem
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#10, blueski

Rainman.jpg

I love side-scrolling shooters in theory (like, within issues of Nintendo Power) but have never gotten past level 2 on a single one.

the spectrum version was pretty brutal IIRC

I like Sexy Parodius.

They're ALL brutal.

that's comforting

whoa this thread

I gave A Mind Forever Voyaging a pity vote.

Why 'pity vote'? plz to explains.

#57: Grim Fandango (1998)
http://banditosbanditosbanditos.typepad.com/weblog/WindowsLiveWriter/grim%20fandango.jpg
http://archived.ryanjohnwilliams.com/files.ryansgoblog.com/small/grimaanone.jpg
Developer:LucasArts
Publisher:LucasArts
Original format:PC Windows
Highest position:#3, Mordechai Shinefield, Louis Jagger

Yeah, I voted for A Mind Forever Voyaging (17, I think). I also gave Nethack my no 1 vote, mostly because i still play it.

^^^One of the all-time PC greats. xp

Need to play Grim Fandango soon.

I put R-Type at #13, although I was really voting for Super R-Type for SNES.

Another really difficult game (although nothing really touches the madness of Life Force, which resorts to cheapness more than just about any other game I've ever played), but again, it rewards your hard work. I'll always associate R-Type with Kraftwerk's Computer World, as I spent the entire summer of 2004 doing nothing but playing and memorizing both.

Grim Fandango looks pretty awesome.

#56: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (1991)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f6/TurtlesInTimeSNES.jpg/250px-TurtlesInTimeSNES.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/TurtlesInTimeFootSoldiers.png
Developer:Konami
Publisher:Konami
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#1, Mehlt

No. Just, no.

#55: Galaga (1981)
http://arcadecontrols.com/images/News/05-15-06-galaga.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/Galaga.png
Developer:Namco
Publisher:Midway
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#7, antexit

"pity vote" because it's not one of my favorite infocom games, but I didn't want it to get shut out.

Galaga is my favorite 80s arcade game.

o fuck i've just shot my own ship.

#54: Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987)
http://www.retroscene.co.uk/prodimages/c64/m/rainbow-islands.jpg
http://www.classicamiga.com/images/stories/jreviews/2999_rainbow_islands_screenshot_3_1169035023.png
Developer:Taito
Publisher:Taito
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#3, Thomas

SO BEAUTIFUL. Great mechanics, challenging but doable, but getting 7 crystals in spectrum order is a pig. Not enough platform games go up like this.

Probably my second favourite C64 platformer, behind New Zealand Story (which, disgracefully, wasn't nominated)

Spectrum version of Rainbow Islands was great, but playing it on Mame is the real deal.

nothing ever seems to work properly in MAME :(

how grim fandango is not a top ten game is beyond me ;_;

#53: Guitar Hero (2005)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Guitarhero-cover.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/Guitarhero-screen.jpg
Developer:Harmonix Music Systems
Publisher:RedOctane
Original format:PlayStation 2
Highest position:#4, Raw Patrick

As I said in one of the other threads, Turtles in Time = representative vote for all 2.5D beat-em-up side-scrollers of that generation. The two-screen X-Men arcade game is unquestionably the god of this quarter-munching, superficial genre, and god was it so much fun. Unless you got stuck playing as Dazzler. Other greats - the TMNT and Simpsons arcade games...Knights of the Round ain't bad in a pinch...etc...

Galaga has probably aged the best of games of its generation, except for Ms. Pac-Man... it's never an unwelcome sight at any bar or pizzeria.

I think I nommed Guitar Hero and immediately regretted not giving my 00's nom to Tony Hawk, which consumed half the hallway in my freshman dorm. But Guitar Hero has a lot of similarities to that title - absolutely made for two-player, but delivering a pretty decent geek wallop when played alone, gradually mastering its rhythms. It's really too soon to tell how it'll age, but its immense crossover appeal as a party game for non-gamers seems a good sign. That said, having to buy new versions of the same game just to get new songs seems like a big dud to me - why not just have you able to buy new batches of songs online and forget about it?

#52: Worms Armageddon (1999)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/Wa-win-cover.jpg
http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2001/pc/str/wormsworldparty/wormsworldparty_screen004.jpg
Developer:Team17
Publisher:MicroProse
Original format:PC
Highest position:#5, Dom Passantino

Didn't vote specifically for Armageddon but hell, it's Worms. I've probably laughed more playing these than any other games, and it's the most fun videogaming with my kids. Except for my daughter thrashing me at Wii Bowling, maybe.

No. Just, no.

-- Noodle Vague, Saturday, 3 May 2008 23:08 (29 minutes ago) Link

Oh please do not tell me this is about Turtles in Time.

I didn't even have Super Nintendo and it's still my favourite.

two crude dudes for number 1

Just beating out Yie-Ar Kung Fu.

whoa, what is this rainbow islands game? kawaaiiiiiii!

mehlt, the whole poll/thread is about differences of opinion. It's fascinating seeing how different people approach games. But #56??????? NO WAI

I think we could safely get another good poll out of the worst/most irritating video games.

#51: Jet Set Radio (2000)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/Jgrbox.jpg
http://www.ntsc-uk.com/reviews/sdc/JetSetRadio/01.jpg
Developer:Smilebit
Publisher:Sega
Original format:Dreamcast
Highest position:#5, stet, Greg Pallis

Last one of the evening. Next 50 tomorrow. SPOILER: there's a bunch of NES shit on there.

I think we could safely get another good poll out of the worst/most irritating video games.

Wonder how much crossover there'd be?

i found the level 3 vampire the hardest boss in Rainbow Islands - much tougher than any of the subsequent ones. if you didn't have triple rainbow and the red shoe you were fucked.

bullshit reward at the end tho: 'now go play it again and this time collect the jewels in the right order on every island, sucker'

lol i never even realised you had to collect the jewels in an order!

Like I said, jewels in the right order is ROCK. I find most bosses on the arcade version want at least double rainbows to beat.

I don't remember there being that much NES shit on the original list.

xposts, fair enough.

Either way, this thread + fresh start to <4 months of summer vacation without a job or anything to do. . .

http://www.retroscene.co.uk/prodimages/c64/m/rainbow-islands.jpg

why is there a cassette tape with this game

also this thread is fucken siccening 2 me

Man. I was top voter on a lot of these, huh? Tho I've probably blown my load at this point. Unless Fallout makes the list (or unless I'm the unlikely highest vote on Monkey Island).

And Casino - FFVII came out when I was 13 and was probably the first kind of massive console JRPG I played. I think I also played Fallout that year, and the two together really stand out in my mind.

Yeah FFVII is a big touchstone for gamers born between 84 and 87 or so

in my experience at least

<3 jetset radio, loved the cartoon-type 3d colouring - it's the first game I recall it in. Loved the feel of skating, the grinds and the little speed boosts you could get by bouncing/scraping off vertical surfaces. On the first level you could do an entire loop of grinds and jumps without ever touching the floor and actually skating and i used to just love going round and round and round...

Think it would almost be worth getting a dreamcast again just for that and MSR and chu-chu rocket.

Yeah, Max. That's pretty deadon IMHO.

Huh - that makes sense actually. I was born in 81 so my peak years of impressionability were just slightly earlier. Funny thing, though, with the exception of Secret of Mana, I hadn't played any of the great 16-bit RPGs by the time FF7 came out, unless you count Shining Force, which is a tactics game and also FUCKING AWESOME. But I didn't play FF7 until I had my own PSX, ie summer of 2000. By that time, I'd caught up on ChronoTrigger and FF6 and so, in a kind of delayed action, I was living out the spirit of '81.

I always loved the look of Jet Set/Grind Radio but never got the chance to play it - did it ever get ported off Dreamcast?

hahha i was singing the chu chu rocket song last night on my walk home!

But I'd like to flesh out this generational idea more - I guess it depends what really qualifies as a touchstone game. (Our various top tens, maybe?)

weirdly, i played tmnt: the arcade game (both in the arcade and on NES) to death but don't think i ever played turtles in time.

the games i remember most from my most impressionable years (i.e. middle school and first couple years of high school)--goldeneye, FFVII, and super smash bros.

and maybe mariokart 64

Mario Kart 64 has been a joy in my life at several different moments - playing it to death with my brother and sister a couple summers after it came out...then again in 03-04 with my roommates and their respective boyfriends and girlfriends. Such a blast.

The most impressionable years games for me from those years (some of which we will hopefully see later on in this poll) - Ultima 7, Ultima Underworld, Civilization, LucasArts games. Slightly later, Duke Nukem 3D... middle school and first couple years of high school are funny for me because it's a period where the NES was sort of in its death throes but except for three games for the Genesis, I didn't have a 16-bit console of my own. PC gaming I was very on top of but the technology slipped completely past me with Quake, and that was it.

http://www.wargamer.com/articles/y2k_awards/aoe2-2.jpg

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061208/simcopter.jpg

http://minicastle.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/star-fox-64.jpg

http://www.pelipaketti.net/kuvat/rogue_spear/rogue_spear_04.jpg

http://gen14.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/resident-evil-4-wii-edition-20070517044724284.jpg

stop that

people with worst top votes:
Mordechai Shinefield
Lois Jagger
HI DERE (tentative)

RONG.

Catsup is just jealous that Aeris never wanted to hook up with him.

uh to this: Catsup is just jealous that Aeris never wanted to hook up with him.

FFVII, at the end of the day, was a big bag of dicks.

http://ff.munkyisland.com/images/ff7/aeris_tifa_yuffie2.jpg

This kind of thing also a part of my cold distance from FF7.

in terms of aeris hooking up with Catsup, i mean.

FFVII, at the end of the day, was a big bag of dicks.

-- HI DERE, Sunday, May 4, 2008 2:57 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

OTM. I think we have like identical tastes for games.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d70/McDagger041/SephirothAeris.jpg

I always thought it was total bullshit when people actually FOR REAL, DRAMATICALLY died in those games, given that every five minutes you bring party members back from the dead with potions they sell at the corner store!

Phoenix Downs aren't the answer to everything. :(

Shit I forgot to vote in this. Oh well.

later FF games have the among the most boring combat systems ever.

I can't believe I missed this whole thing until now. Thought it was a resurrected thread.

why is there a cassette tape with this game
So young, so young...

i really wanted to vote in this, but every time i thought about it i got really lazy.

I didn't vote in this since my board participation has been way down lately thanks to non-desk-job, and I'm the guy who started up the game subboard. More of you need to visit ILG.

Also, the fact that Grim Fandango and Planescape are so far low on the list means that it has issues.

Also, I daresay that ILG has not been as fun as it once was, with Gzeus and Darramous not around. I gave Tombot mod privs specifically to fuck with those two, and much entertainment resulted.

For what it's worth, my faves:

Ultima IV/V/VII
Grim Fandango
Planescape: Torment
Baldur's Gate 2
Gyruss
Legend of Zelda / Link to the Past / Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Jet Grind Radio
Tie Fighter/Xwing
Bionic Commando
Rez
Psychonauts
Civ 1 / 2 / 4
NHL 94 (whatever the last year they had fighting)
Earthbound
Monkey Island 1 / 2
Fallout 1 / 2

later FF games have the among the most boring combat systems ever.

This is my mantra.

Kingfish I think the list gains some interesting perspectives from being on ILE. I'm gonna end up disagreeing with three quarters of it, but that's the point of polls really. I'm confident some of today's placing are gonna be COMPLETELY EFFING NUTS.

Third point, Britishes: the NES never really did any serious business over here, did it?

Kingfish I think the list gains some interesting perspectives from being on ILE.

I agree. I just wish we could go back to having bookmarked boards as I personally found that that feature far better facilitated board-surfing than the current set-up.

I just use site new answers 99 percent of the time now, but it does affect how you use ILX.

why is there a cassette tape with this game

-- cankles, Sunday, 4 May 2008 00:38 (8 hours ago) Link

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Commodore-Datassette.jpg

people calling each other out for being bigger nerds on the

oh fuck it I'll have more fun with the end of that sentence tomorrow

http://retrograde.trustno1.org/pics/WIZ1_1.GIF
http://retrograde.trustno1.org/pics/WIZ1_2.GIF

This was the first home game to really suck me in deeply. Wizardry also was the first fantasy RPG computer game to use mock 3d graphics.

It's still fun too.

If Trayce forgot to vote, were there any other girls aside from me who voted? Not saying that it'd have any impact on the results (I highly doubt that it would, tbh), just interested as the thread is entirely male.

I'm just as god made me, ma'am.

#51: Gran Turismo series (1997-)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Gran_Turismo_4.jpg
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/screenshots/ps2/granturismo3/gt3_0322_screen001.jpg
Developer:Polyphony Digital
Publisher:Sony Computer Entertainment
Original format:PlayStation
Highest position:#5, Upt0eleven

*#50, not #51

bullshit reward at the end tho: 'now go play it again and this time collect the jewels in the right order on every island, sucker'

Hell yeah. I remember what a dissappointment this was after weeks, if not months, of playing this game with my friends, and when we finally, finally make it through the last level, then we get this message?! Did anyone actually complete the game properly?

Still, alongside Mario 3 it's one of the greatest platform games ever.

#49: Chuckie Egg (1983)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/Electron_Chuckie_Egg_inlay.jpg
http://www.bbcmicrogames.com/screenshots/chuckie-egg1.gif
Developer:A&F Software
Publisher:A&F Software
Original format:ZX Spectrum
Highest position:#2, Thomas, Raw Patrick

now there's one of the greatest platformers ever

I thought pretty hard about voting for Jet Set Radio #1, actually - in the I put it behind four games that I enjoyed less, loved less, but thought were 'better' in some way.

Things I love about it: it hits this amazing blend between allowing mad improvisation and being really really hard, loads of learning-by-dying that gets you free to make it up and feel so fly? The soundtrack! From the radio station to the voice that says "Mmmmembers of the golden rhino" on the last level & is the best sound in videogames. The stages on the American version, with cube and combo and that grind square level and the park where you could do that insane 200-plus combo across the whole zone. The way, like GTA, it changes the whole way you look at a city when you blink into daylight.

It's the best and last and most Sega game ever.

#48: Marble Madness (1984)
http://www.gamechoiceclub.com/image/md_g_marble_mads.gif
http://www.infinite-loop.at/Power64/Images/Screenshots_OSX/MarbleMadness.png
Developer:Atari Games
Publisher:Atari Games
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:

No highest position?

#1, Zach Scott. I've not got back into the rhythm of this thing yet.

I have... 5? games on here so far.

Marble Madness was the SHIT. Remember when the soundtrack mp3s were posted on ILM several years ago?

#47: Pac-Man (1980)
http://scottthong.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/pacman.jpg
http://www.pocketpcmag.com/newsl_NPR/images_05_05/5770-PAC-MAN.jpg
Developer:Namco
Publisher:Namco
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#2, Alex In Baltimore

love the Pacmania graphics
http://games.mattsarrel.com/images/PAC-MANIA.jpg

but it just wasn't the same somehow

i got to play Pacman on a topdown system in the Northwood Hills pub (Elton's first gig) in the mid 80s. g'times.

also fond memories of Commodore 16 Pacman clone 'Exorcist'

Pac-Man's character design is based on a pizza with a solitary slice taken out. True fact.

#46: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Castlevania_SOTN_PAL.jpg
http://top100media.ign.com/top100/2007/images/ign_top_game_15.jpg
Developer:KCE Tokyo
Publisher:Konami
Original format:PlayStation
Highest position:#4, deej

Pac-Man's character design is based on a pizza with a solitary slice taken out. True fact.

NO IS HAMBURGER I READ IT IN MAGAZIN

Pac-Man is cool and all, but Ms. Pac-Man is the really enduring classic. One of the few arcade games I've ever really felt a zen with, if only for a few isolated moments.

SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT IS THE BOMB. I don't know what any of us could say that hasn't already been said, but for me it's really the pinnacle of everything I love in a 2D game...you find cool shit with cool animations to reward you, you whack AWESOME enemies with a huge variety of weapons, you explore, find secrets, discover that your new gear lets you get into things you couldn't get into before, DISCOVER THAT THE WHOLE TIME YOU'VE ONLY BEEN IN HALF THE GAME, raise levels without having to really worry about it too much....it's really really really a blast.

The only flaws: the "magic" system with its special moves a la Street Fighter just never drew me in... and unfortunately they built in levels of power you could achieve that were preposterously beyond anything necessary to complete the entire game. I can't remember the scale of the levels for Alucard, but basically the last twenty or fifty or something are superfluous. You get great visual payoffs for maxing out the Familiars, but there's nothing left to fight that you need them for - always thought there should have been another set of areas that you can't even access until you're at a certain level of power, then you're strong enough to break down some wall or something. But I also think it says something that just fighting shit and leveling up in this game is enough fun, on its own, to be entertaining long after you're able to beat the damn game with no problem.

#45: Dance Dance Revolution series (1998-)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Dance_Dance_Revolution_North_American_arcade_machine_3.jpg
http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/29/7/7/s29707_ps2_4.jpg
Developer:Konami
Publisher:Konami
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#1, KenC

I'm on the run this weekend so I can't post much but just wanted to say that I'm happy Contra made it on the list and I hope it wasn't just my crazy high vote for it that got it there, because that's a totally fun shooter still. When you get the spread gun (btw loved that name at age 13) it was the kind of thrill that you didn't get until Doom, and even then it wasn't the same b/c of the first-person perspective. Plus destroying the HUGE FUCKING HEART at the end!!!!!!

i voted for Contra because of it's influence on Turrican and loads of other things

#44: Wii Sports (2006)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Wii_Sports_Europe.jpg
http://fallingsky.blogs.com/falling_sky/wii-sports-20061020011945307.jpg
Developer:Nintendo EAD
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:Nintendo Wii
Highest position:#7, Upt0eleven

DDR is awesome. Should've been higher.

unless you are a clumsy oaf, so becoming a torture device from HELL (with added public humiliation sob)

#43: Micro Machines (1991)
http://www.nesplayer.com/features/aladdin/box/micromachines.jpg
http://www.fabricoffolly.co.uk/images/games/micromachines2.gif
Developer:Codemasters
Publisher:Codemasters
Original format:NES
Highest position:#2, Stet

Hah, how did i know that kenc was going to vote DDR as #1

I like you can tell just from my 2 "highest position" mentions so far that I'm a lifelong Nintendo owner who doesn't really give a shit about gaming, and just voted for 10 games I like to represent for the philistine non-gamer demographic. I'll probably be highest position for at least 2 other games.

unless you are a clumsy oaf, so becoming a torture device from HELL (with added public humiliation sob)

-- zappi

Nah, I am both a clumsy oaf and a ph4ttey, and I still love it to bits. Although challenging people whilst drunk at ATP at 4am is NEVER A GOOD IDEA.

#42: Portal (2007)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Portal_standalonebox.jpg
http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/portals.jpg
Developer:Valve Corporation
Publisher:Valve Corporation
Original format:Xbox 360
Highest position:#3, bnw

So...you like, make portals? To other rooms that have portals in them?

ohwait, I get it, one of those is a portal to the other?

IF ONLY I HAD SOME WAY TO GET TO THE ROOM I'M ALREADY IN

would Cube have made a good video game (before being a film)?

#41: Singstar series (2004-)
http://www.gameparents.com/reviews/images/PS2_Singstar_90s.jpg
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/11/06/icon1_singstar_wideweb__470x312,0.jpg
Developer:London Studio
Publisher:Sony Computer Entertainment
Original format:PlayStation 2
Highest position:#2, Ledge

#40: Arkanoid (1986)
http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/the_fairway/game_pages/game_boxes_large/arkanoid.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/Arkanoid.png
Developer:Taito
Publisher:Romstar
Original format:Arcade
Highest position:#9, antexit, emil.y

had that at #11. remember the arcade cabinet with the dial control.

Feel a bit weepy even looking at Chuckie Egg.

Arkanoid was what they had in my local swimming baths and I was never feeling it.

what was that version where the bricks disappear to reveal nude anime girls?

Arkanoid:Base 57

These oldie games (i.e. games I actually recognize, because they're from the time I still played them) are doing surprisingly well. I predict a surprise victory for Pong!

#39: The Legend of Zelda (1986)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Legend_of_zelda_cover_%28with_cartridge%29_gold.png
http://www.gamethink.net/IMG/png/NES_Legend_of_Zelda_1.png
Developer:Nintendo R&D4
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:Famicom Disk System
Highest position:#8, bnw

I was a bit unsure about having it top 10, but it's just ridiculously addictive. Must make bricks disappear! Kill them!

(I had a whole load of the oldie games in my list = repping the non-real gamers front)

xpost

Possibly the last time invaluable appeared on box art.

Wasn't Zelda one of those games where, once you've finished it, you actually have to play the whole damn game again, except that it's harder?

#38: Another World (1991)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Another_World_Coverart.png
http://img.hexus.net/v2/gaming/aw/aw_large_1.jpg
Developer:Eric Chahi
Publisher:US Gold
Original format:Commodore Amiga
Highest position:#1, abanana

Dammit, I missed the unveiling of Marble Madness. Once again, I will desperately try to get people to watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_25_rzqh-BI

I played another version (I think?) of Another World called Out of this World, for SNES. Really sweet game.

Same game, it was called "Out of this World" in America, for some reason.

#37: Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Fftbox.jpg
http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/ga/buzz/feature/vg11/hg07_finalfantasytactics_vs.jpg
Developer:Square
Publisher:Square
Original format:PlayStation
Highest position:#2, lamp

Jeez, the cover of the game up there goes out of its way to mention TWICE that the game took 2 years to make.

I should have made FFT my #2 (it was my #3). Absolutely perfect game, at least until you get Orlandu near the end, and he's so goddamn awesome that the difficulty balance is thrown off. Whatever though, by that point you've had like thirty 40 minute long battles in a row and it's nice to finally kick some ass.

Unfortunately, Square Enix responded to the massive praise for the game's (relatively) serious and mature storyline by making the sequels all about little kids and turning the bloody battles into little wittle judged contests.

#36: Katamari Damacy (2004)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/KatamariDamacybox.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Kata27.jpg
Developer:Namco
Publisher:Namco
Original format:PlayStation 2
Highest position:#1, Ess Kay

Thought that would have more no 1 votes.

That (Katmari) makes elven games I voted for so far. I thought pretty hard about making FFT my #1 vote since, aside from the Civilzation series, it's the game that I've spent the most time playing. It's also the first game that motivated me to contribute to GameFAQs.

Absolutely perfect game, at least until you get Orlandu near the end, and he's so goddamn awesome that the difficulty balance is thrown off

The great thing about Tactics is that you can make it as hard or as difficult as you like. I've finished the game using only Oracles and I've got a save file where I used the Level Up/Down trick to max my party's stats. 999 damage every hit. All the hidden characters kinda suck tho.

Another World was amazing but still, no Flashback

The hidden characters DO kinda suck.

I don't know, though, can't you make pretty much any game as easy or difficult as you want? I remember playing Mario 3 upside-down hanging off the couch (and I've heard of other people who have done that as well).

(xpost)

#35: Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Mi2cover.jpg
http://www.worldofmi.com/images/categories/3/screen03.gif
Developer:LucasArts
Publisher:LucasArts
Original format:PC DOS
Highest position:#6, upt0eleven

i can't choose between that and the first one

Arkanoid...it was in the lower tiers of my ballot, and once again it's a game that really stands for a small but delightful genre, Breakout clones. The obscure Blockbuster for C64 was possibly a little more robust and varied, but Arkanoid nails down the formula - you bust bricks, and also you occasionally get some power-ups to make things easier (or harder for that matter). It also may have originated the brutal twist where the ball keeps getting faster and faster, which is hard, but also makes you gradually feel like an IN THE ZONE badass, ONE WITH THE GAME as you intercept the ball at seemingly impossible speeds.

Monkey Island 2, I'll refrain from comment since I assume the first one will show up eventually...

The first Zelda was great...cool sounds, difficult in a way that was never really cheap...you could, slowly, make progress in the thing even if you weren't born to game. It didn't show up in my ballot - I think I figured that Link to the Past was basically the same game but better across the board.

#34: Sensible Soccer series (1992-1998)
http://www.atari-shop.nl/jaguarusedgames/sensiblesoccer.jpg
http://amiga.nostalgie.free.fr/disk/simulation/screenshots/sensible.jpg
Developer:Sensible Software
Publisher:Sensible Software
Original format:Commodore Amiga
Highest position:#1, blueski

^had that as my #2 game. Just... amazing, I don't think a game has ever _played_ as well as it.

Damn, I've gotta head up to lol campus and do work for most of the afternoon. I'll be looking forward to seeing the rest of the list when I get back home though.

ha i hate football and even i liked sensible soccer

* Sensible Soccer spawned several clones, amongst them Croteam's Football Glory, for which they were sued by Sensible Software. The game's Croatian programmer claimed to have never seen, let alone played, Sensible Soccer.
* The graphic style of the game was used in other Sensible Software games, such as Mega Lo Mania, Cannon Fodder and Sensible Golf.
* One Christmas, a free Sensible Software minigame was included on an Amiga Format cover disk. Called Cannon Soccer, it was essentially two bonus levels of Cannon Fodder (one of Sensible Software's other titles) in which the soldiers fought hordes of Sensible Soccer players in a snowy landscape.
* On the Amiga Power Coverdisk 21 one of the demos was "Sensible Soccer Meets Bulldog Blighty". This featured a mode of play that involved replacing players with soldiers from Cannon Fodder, and the ball with a hand grenade. The grenade would randomly begin to flash eventually exploding, killing any nearby players.
* Sensible World of Moon Soccer a free covermount disk included with an issue of Amiga Action magazine in the UK,play as Moon united. featured low gravity, a cratered pitch and hordes of alien players to trade.[5]
* The developers released a humorous spin-off called unSensible Soccer which consisted of apples vs oranges instead of men. It was released as a free covermount disk with some magazines at the time.
* SWOS 1996 received a score of 96% from Amiga Power, the highest mark given for any game in their 65-issue run.
* Sensible World of Soccer (1994) received recognition as one of the Ten Most Important Video Games of All Time by the History of Science and Technology Collections at Stanford University.
* The game was almost published by Virgin Games, but they insisted on it being called Virgin Soccer.

SS/SWOS brilliance includes the 'inertia balance' and sense of weight of players, more sluggish than early FIFA (and Kick Off obv) but as with Mario it just felt totally right (actually it was still all too fast for my liking, unless you played a Div 2 game or India vs Malaysia etc.)

In SWOS manager mode i took Wycombe into the top flight and UEFA Cup, won the treble with Real Madrid and then lead England to a World Cup with a Robbie Fowler header against Germany in the final. Greatest game experience ever.

#33: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/ZeldaOoTbox.png
http://www.igniq.com/images/zelda_online_ocarina_of_time_170805.jpg
Developer:Nintendo EAD
Publisher:Nintendo
Original format:Nintendo 64
Highest position:#5, KenC

Still really really want them to release the new version for Vista so I can play people online xp

ocarina of time higher than the original: all credibility lost

So much Zelda. I've never played any, and don't have any particular burning desire to do so. What's so good about these games, guys?

didn't it get 10 out of 10 in EDGE?

I do like ocarinas, mind you.

http://www.concertflute.com/images/OcarinaMakerDiagram001.jpg

The N64 Zeldas are totally cool though! Majora's Mask blows this one away though, with the sheer density of sub-quests and things to do. Ocarina feels quite sparse in comparison.

ding ding ding

only one that has any sort of claim to place higher than the original is the snes one - i feel like theyve really lost the plot w/this series - anyone play the last one omg so baaaad

mario on the other hand just keeps rolling

What's cool about Zelda = consistently one of the best syntheses in gaming between "action" and "puzzle" gaming, with an "adventure" format to help differentiate things, ie you get to do exploration and also you acquire equipment along the way that introduces new kinds of puzzles.

most retarded kotaku post ever: http://kotaku.com/gaming/ocarina/ocarinas-not-just-for-link-any-more-256174.php