ILX'S 100 GREATEST VIDEO GAMES EVER

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