ILX'S 100 GREATEST VIDEO GAMES EVER

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.