ILX'S 100 GREATEST VIDEO GAMES EVER

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