What’s happening? What’s going on? Is this some sort of sick game? The answer to all of these questions is: YES BEOTCH. We’ve held out this long to weed out the suckers and prune our rose bushes. It’s hard for us to believe we’ve actually done it, the top 100 video games of all time list. We’ve separated ourselves from the pack by freely admitting that the only science behind this list is our cumulative gigantic brain. You’ve read the sales charts, you’ve formed your own opinions, now you are ready for the truth…the OLD-WIZARD TRUTH. If you don’t like the list, yell at us and we’ll undoubtedly yell back. So without any further adieu: The Top 100 Video Games of All Time Ever in the Universe List!!!
100. Donkey Kong
Staring at the screen, littered with ladder type structures, you found yourself wondering if the person who designed this arena had ever heard of a tool called the level. You then realize that this area is totally out of whack because of the huge ape that has decided to climb up top and jump around a bit. Taunting you with what appears to be an easy question of “how high can you get?” Donkey Kong seems like a piece of cake. It’s in this game that you are first introduced to Jump Man, who’s a little rough around the digital edges. He moves at a rate slower than year old molasses and his jumps also leave much to be desired. Later in his life, this character gets an upgrade to the much loved Mario, who is much more agile. As for Donkey Kong, your only goal is to reach the girl at the top of each level, while avoiding falling barrels and flames. The barrels follow random routes, sometimes falling down a ladder, and sometimes just continuing onto the end of the screen. The randomness of the barrel’s path adds to the frustration and poor visual quality of this game. Overall this was a great game for its time, and most importantly it introduced us all to Mario.
99. Rampage
Rampage is one of the most popular games in the coin-op industry to come to the NES, missing nothing of the greatest of the former. In this game you get to choose between a giant gorilla (George), a dinosaur (Lizzie) or werewolf (Ralph), and knock down buildings, and each other! Like all great fighting games, the option of throwing your ostensible partner in the river gives the game an always welcome tension with the 2nd player. I myself always geared the entire game towards knocking my partner off a building right when he thinks that I’m stopping the mayhem on him. The levels are numerous (North American cities) and so are the enemies. Tanks, Helicopters, Boats, Taxis, and even residents of buildings try to stop you from wreaking havoc on the innocent cities (although it’s a stretch that a dinosaur could be hurt by a coffee cup). When you are out of energy you turn into a little man wanting to escape the carnage, the perfect time for the 2nd player to eat you and gain some energy. All in all, this is an extremely fun game to play. Once again, this game shows that simplicity and playability always make for the best gaming experiences.
98. Batman (NES)
Gotham’s resident superhero, Batman, came to the NES with some doubts based on how poor most movie-turned—to-videogames are. Batman though was not one of these failures. The controlling is smooth, the levels are dark and stealthy, and Batman can use numerous weapons besides his fists. The game play resembles Castlevania 1 both aesthetically and thematically which is never a bad thing. The graphics are crisp, conspicuous and magnificently detailed in the cut scenes. Seeing the cut scenes in Batman made one understand how far you can push 8-bit graphics. The difficulty level of Batman is certainly challenging but never overbearingly difficult, mostly because of how responsive and fluid the controlling is. In terms of the storyline, Batman follows the chronology of the Batman movie exactly, level for level …which is fine. This is a better idea than coming up with a worse story than the original just to give the game a sense of “originality” that’s all too often lacking in effort. There’s also the soundtrack for the game was created with a zeal and contagiousness not expected from a movie video game. You’ll certainly find yourself humming to the tune of the first level after you play it 4 or 5 times. Overall, Batman is simply a very solid 2D side-scroller that has a re-playability value not seen in most movie video games that you can barely stand playing after the first 5 minutes of playing them. This is one of those games that sell for 10 dollars plus in a used video game store and for good reason.
97. NHL 94 (Sega Genesis)
NHL 94 for Sega Genesis is one of EA sports first forays into the hockey world. The game was a genuine success that it led to annual installments up to the current year of ’08. The controller movements are perfectly fluid, the teams are represented by an accurate ability for each specific player, and the difficulty is just perfect for entering into a season or playoff race. Also in this installment of NHL 94, four players could play on the same team or on opposed teams using a specific four player adapter for the Sega Genesis. This is a game like Mario Kart that one could get extremely good at, to the point where no one wants to play with you, especially when you learn the “behind-around the goal” trick of scoring goals. Within two minutes you can have the other player pinned down to a 15-0 lead and have him wondering why he ever agreed to play with a nerd who spends all his time thinking of ways to dominate his friends in video games. Another addition to NHL 94 is being able to play a shootout mode for more of an ephemeral challenging. Who could forget the most conspicuous addition to this vigorous EA series, breaking the glass when checking your opponent into it? This was a sure fire way to have tempers flared in the virtual realm. The best sports games can be played over and over and over again. This is a perfect example…
96. Ecco the Dophin (Sega Genesis)
In the battle between 16 bit systems, the SNES for the most part dominated the Sega Genesis because of the sheer amount of memorable games that the SNES produced, and because SNES had a little company called “Squaresoft” on its side. One of Sega’s best attempts at competing with the creativity in SNES games was from Ecco the Dophin. It had a deeper instinct to it than the “hip” and “cool” Sonic the Hedgehog. It also had an aggrandized storyline in it not seen by the likes of many of the games made for Sega Genesis. Ecco the dolphin is an illustrious game that was easy on the eyes and ears. You were a dolphin communicating with your family and other pods in your own “ecco” language. Your journey takes you up to the northern artic ocean to find “Big Blue” who tells you of the disaster of all the marine life being sucked up by sprouts and storms. The main enemy in this game was your breath support, as being a dolphin, you needed to jump for air periodically. Also, this game was more of a puzzle game in which you had to collect clues from other families of dolphins facing the same immanency. Storylines of time machines and food-scarcity evolve as you rush to find the cure to all the seas problems. This game always keeps you on edge and keeps you disposed towards saving that which is bigger than yourself. Sega had trouble making meaningful games like the SNES, but “Ecco” stood out as one of it’s most memorable accomplishments.
95. Advanced D & D Treasure of Tarmin (Intellivision)
Intellivision games came with a 17 button controller. Each game came with a plastic card you slide into the controller that describes that game’s button configuration. I think the system wasn’t more of a winner because it was stupidly complex for the graphical interface…unlike the 2600′s one button/one stick genius. The D&D series for this system was colour coded, later to be ripped off by Pokemon games. I was too young to care much for back stories, so the manual went unread. I inserted the cartridge and toggled the power on. The game started with me in a lo-fi quake style 3-D setting. Before I could press a button a huge purple blob with horns appeared in front of me, a purple lightning bolt flashed across the screen, game over. Holy crap, this game is worse than ET for 2600! It turns out, you never play the same game twice. The levels are completely random, each level descending further into Hades a-la the circles of Amsterdam in “The Stranger.” Sometimes the game would be 60 levels long, and your arsenal would be so deep that defeating the game was a snap. Other times, like my first time, you meet the purple Satan as soon as you enter the game. The replayability of this game was original, and the 3-D interface was unprecedented. I really wish my Intellivisions still worked…
94. Street of Rage 2
Side scrolling street fighting found its home in Streets of Rage. Like Sonic 2, Streets of Rage 2 was the memorable moment in the series. The levels expanded, the bosses became more volatile, and the music was on par with a chemical brothers record. The levels were colorful and had detailed backgrounds that kept the gamer in the mood throughout the game. All the characters were enjoyable to play with from Max to Skate. You were going through pool halls, carnivals, and dojos throughout this game, never a dull moment when there were fighters coming from all sides. Streets of Rage 2 is one of the more fun two player Sega games out there. Sega was definitely successful with this series.
93. Strider
Strider was first released for the coin-op industry where it garnished only little success. When gamers were given the opportunity to play it on the Sega Genesis though, they realized that this was a game not to be overlooked. Strider Hiryu was one of the more unique characters to control in the old video game land. He was quick, aerobatic, and diligent in his sword thrusts. The game play itself was always curiously manic and chaotic creating a tension in the gamer throughout all stages. The music was defiantly something to write home about. The jungle stage and the beginning stage were stand out moments in this games soundtrack. The bosses were large and colorfully designed making strider a graphical standout in the Sega Genesis era. Strider is a quality game and was only released for Sega Genesis.
92. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Zelda Ocarina of Time was the first Zelda for the 64 bit platform that took on a totally different game playing style from previous Zelda’s. Its success though was in maintaining the same type of storylines and problem solving that made the previous Zelda’s so great. In Ocarina of Time, Link becomes 3D giving the player an enormous amount of possibilities in game play not seen in the 2D progenitors. For instance, you can target in on enemies and slowly circle in on them to kill them which is actually required to beat some of the bosses. Along with this, there are the inclusions of loads of side quests that help Link with getting new weapons and energy boosts to help especially later in the game when the bosses became increasingly difficult. As Link progresses through Hyrule he learns new melodies that help him throughout different puzzles and areas in the game. A big expansion that this Zelda installment cashed in on was the size of the dungeons that could be shown and played in because of this truly 3D format. Dungeons were multiple levels shown with a depth from top floors unheard of before the N64. One dungeon in particular, you had to use your vision of this depth to control water flow in sub-chambers to help you onto the final boss. The visual depth of the forest areas also were vast and magnificent in stature embodying what the forest area in Link to the Past should of truly looked like. While Ocarina of Time could not supersede the perfection of Link to the Past, it absolutely would be included within the best of the “other” Zelda games. Zelda made its transition into its new environment of evolving game technologies intuitively and ingeniously.
91. Toe Jam and Earl
Wow was this game fun. Two players would walk across the most funakadelic of universes trying to uncover pieces of a broken ship. The amount of side adventures in this game proved to be one of Sega’s most unique moments. From the first screen of the game, you could travel way off the ocean into a distant Xanadu if you had the right equipment. The enemies were fun little creatures that would irritate the player as much as they would come across as harmless. The music to the game was as funky as a Parliament record; entire stages hip hoped with some of the best beats of the day. The sheer amount of items you could possess in this game was staggering; you could use tomatoes, slingshots, vehicles, and even floating rafts. One wonders why Sega didn’t want this creativity out of all of its games. Anyone who’s played Toe Jam and Earl knows they’re playing a game from a distant planet.
What the hell is so good about Zelda? Can someone please enlighten me?
-genius storyline
-great characters
-good morals
-incredible adventure rpg mix
-great weapons/gadgets
just to name a few
“Good Morals” is not a reasonable criteria for declaring a game great.
Who cares? It’s the same old Top 10 list with more spaces for more NES/SNES games for you guys to gush on. And, it’s gonna be Sony/Sega ignoring. I don’t care anymore. I don’t need to read this list.
Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, and Chrono Trigger…Probably my 3 favorite games of all time, so glad those games cracked your top ten! I definitely do not agree with everything on the list, but it’s hard to agree on the same 100 games, lol. I also think that Zelda games rock, i dont really have a fave in that series though.
golden eye could be one of the worst games of all time
time splitters 2 on the other hand was absolutely hillarious, and one of the most entertaining multiplayers of all time.And that’s just one of the many ps2 classics they’re missing
Ie. ratchet and Clank 1-3 soul caliber 1 and 2 and diamond in a rough series dynasty warriors 5
Yeah good list I guess, it doesn’t seem too different from your other one. Have you ever played Golden Sun for Gameboy? If not, get on that.
First of all, Andrew. Legend of Zelda is the greatest video game series of all time for various reasons. 1. The epic story. I can’t remember a Zelda game that I have played that didn’t have at least one “WTF?!” moments. The games are filled with memorable characters (not as memorable as Final Fantasy, but still memorable) and interesting quirks. B. The gameplay is stunning. Running through dark caves, climbing mountains, and exploring the ocean are a snap with the tight controls. When playing Twilight Princess, the sword just feels so natural, like it is an extension of your arm. The ability to cock your bow, ready your boomerang, or set a bomb are so easy the the simple controls. 4. The games aren’t loaded to the brimb with blood, guts, cussing, and sensuality as is the case with many Microsoft games, and yes, even some Sony games. All in all, the games are fun, interesting, and (sometimes) querky in a way that is charming and awesome.
Anyways, about the list. You guys have done it again. You have created a great list that (although a little biast,[no complaints there])has glorified the Nintendo lover to more than just a person who likes “childish” games. You guys are awesome.
Besides Zelda I?
Nice list. There’s a few games missing that would sail into my top list though. Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, FIFA (i guess FIFA10 at the moment), Halo series, Worms, Lemmings, Command & Conquer and Championship manager (up to when the franchise split in half, i think 2004 or something similar. The last one ruled.). Especially Championship Manager, never have i lost so much of my life to one game, nearly failed uni, played it 6 hours a day in my last office job. There is truly nothing like hearing they have built a statue of you in Rotherham.
Cool List.
H. Mentions:
Alone in the Dark
Snatcher
Ikaruga
No More Heroes
Okami
Burn Cycle
Myst
Bioforge
Crusader: No Remorse
my thoughts on the auto-dismis this list is getting due to Ocarina’s Placement…
Why did it make the 90′s?
Perhaps because the controls were a bit clunky, the graphics were great but easily passed by in later generations, the story sometimes got in the way of the gameplay, the young Link part dragged on and if you wanted to play a superior near-identical game you’d have to look no further than Twilight Princess…
Granted, it is deserving of a place as a great game and a must-own (hell I bought it twice) but maybe not even in my top 3 Zelda games. 92 sounds about right and for the Nemo haters: Little Nemo blew my mind as a kid. It’s based on a nearly 100 year old source!!! Look at the creator Windsor McCay’s work, it’s up there with the crafstmanship of N.C. Wyeth, Gustav Klimt or Maxfield Parrish. The 80′s animated movie was great too.
So why exactly do you downplay OCARINA OF TIME because the graphics were surpassed by later generations, and the controls were a bit clunky?
Of COURSE the graphics will be surpassed, you don’t even need to go to later generations for the graphics to be surpassed, and it was in the first generation where 3D really took-off, on the awkward N64 controller. So yeah the controls will be clunky.
I never actually played the game, but those are really horrible reasons to say it should be scored really low for a game that historically has been stated to have such influence on 3D gaming as we see it.
Like I said, I didn’t play it, so I’m not ranking it, but some of the reasons you gave really suck.
Horrible reasons? I think on ANY game ratings site, some of the main grading points are graphics, controls, story and overall presentation so I think I touched on 3 of the 4 main points and I didn’t even get into the sometimes enraging camera system.
The graphics were pretty decent overall and sometimes outright shined. Even with 64-bit (whatever) comparing that to 16-bit Link to the Past, the SNES version blows it away in pallate, crispness and clarity. In my opinion (as someone who actually played the game) many parts of Ocarina just looked muddy but the game did have some great parts. The final battle with Ganon is epic (best in the series), getting Epona is amazing, the Temple of Time is great. It does deserve a nod as a top 5 n64 game but that says something about the 64. That system and the Saturn (sans Radiant Silvergun) had their shared sets of flaws but they were ultimately necessary steps to get to where we are now in the gaming evolution.
Play it (especially the water temple) and then tell me how great it is. Oh right, graphics and controls don’t matter when ranking a game why don’t we just put Sword of Vermillion, Total Recall or Ghostbusters for NES in the top 5. Does the list have some flawed misses? Yeah, I’d like to have seen Mario Galaxy, Marvel v Capcom or Earthbound but it’s one guy’s opinion. Mage took a risk by changing literally one thing about a retro gamers top list and 3 quarters of the responses focused on one single game. Talk about missing the forest for one deku tree.
Yes, horrible reasons. Graphics and controls tend to not hold-up so well on games from 2 generations ago, and the list is of Top 100 Video Games Of All Time. If we’re to go by your standards, then really the list should almost entirely be made-up of modern-day games. Story would be the only place where the older games could really compete with modern games and even that would generally just be the RPG genre, as story has improved and become much more important nowadays in FPS and Action games, even the Platformer genre has games known for good stories these days.
And comparing OCARINA OF TIME’s graphics to LINK TO THE PAST’s is not a fair comparison. 2D games hold-up much better graphically than 3D. OCARINA OF TIME is from the first generation that really started using 3D games(not that 3D games weren’t around before, but this is where they became standard) VS a graphically beautiful game from the SNES. When the N64 and PlayStation came-out we were all WOWed by the newness of 3D graphics being so common and were amazed. Now they don’t look so good even compared to the Xbox/PS2 generation. Let alone any of the top-end(graphically) modern games. I mean look how gorgeous MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2 is even after 10 years.
And yeah, I haven’t played OCARINA. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m pointing-out the REASONS you’re basing your opinion on are flawed. If we were to go by what you attempted to refute me on, name how many games that aren’t from the past few years compete with CRYSIS out-side of story. Yet I don’t think CRYSIS will have much impact on games out-side of raising the bar for graphics.
And it’s not that controls don’t matter, but of course a game old as an N64 game generally won’t hold-up well in controls. But look at the rating OCARINA OF TIME was getting when it came-out. Hell, isn’t it the highest rated game on Metacritic? If a game were to come-out that was moderately better than OCARINA OF TIME in graphics, controls and gameplay and had a completely different face on it, yeah, it would do terribly review-wise. Why? Well, that’s because the bar has been raised a LOT since then. Again, going by your standards, this list should almost only be filled with modern games.
Another thing I should note.
When making a list like this, things like nostalgia and impact on the gaming landscape are far more important than how well the game holds-up in graphics and controls.
For example, take GOLDENEYE 007 and PERFECT DARK, from the same generation and even developer.
From a technical standpoint, PERFECT DARK is a better game than GOLDENEYE in every way(with the exception of the slowdown was worse). PERFECT DARK had many graphical improvements over GOLDENEYE, and added more innovation to the gameplay on top of the solid base(at the time) gameplay and controls of GOLDENEYE. The weapons(including fists) all had secondary fire options, light took an impressive role in the gameplay for it’s time, and it had more gadgets that had more impact on the gameplay than GOLDENEYE did.
And in terms of modes, PERFECT DARK rapes the fuck out of GOLDENEYE. PERFECT DARK had a training mode(which wasn’t a huge deal but useful and gave more variety than GOLDENEYE), shooting range(same with training though you could also unlock classic weapon cheats here), Co-Op(which is almost a standard at this point in FPS games), the innovative Counter-Ops(which is what it sounds, two players work through the single-player campaign AGAINST each other, and not many other games have had anything like this since) as well as challenges(which added variety and were used to unlock stuff) as well as a few more modes for Multiplayer, a good deal more customization to the multiplayer than GOLDENEYE, and the inclusion of bots, which was huge at the time, making the games more than just 4 people running around shooting each other, and giving us a taste of online multiplayer to come.
Yet, which game is remembered more, had a greater impact, and is ranked higher of the two? GOLDENEYE 007. You don’t see PERFECT DARK put on lists like these nearly as often as GOLDENEYE, despite being a much better game at the time.
Graphics and controls don’t hold up well compared to today’s games if they are BAD games. You can still sit down to and play any Mario, Mega Man, Castlevania, Bonk, Sonic game and have great presentation and the tightest controls around. Think about how acclaimed a throwback like CaveStory is. Did you even look at any of my honorable mention nods? (besides No More Heroes or Okami, none of them are “modern”) Most modern games are shit, maybe that’s why so many Nintendo throw-backs are selling so well or metacritics top 20 360 list have 5 xlive arcade titles in the ranks. For every Half Life, Katamary Damaci or Fallout 3 you get a dozen “fall of liberty” or “darkest of days.” New Games, for the most part on the next gen systems try to take themselves so seriously by adding “mature” content and making everything drab and brown that they miss out on actual fun, originality and replay value. (unless you think interchangable, roided up, space armor looking dudes are original, which they where in 1986 when Aliens came out) Crysis may have raised the bar but it really was nothing new. Just another futuristic shooter in a sea of futuristic shooters. I had more fun with the original Call of Duty on pc than anything else in the series, and I had even more fun with the original Counter Strike or Team Fortress. I’m not a graphics whore but I just get sick of this whole bullshit “sacred cow” argument about Ocarnia. When you play that game and try to make the same jump for 5 minutes but can’t because of the awkward camera angle, your getting frustrated not because of challenge but because of poor layout, camera angles or design and that just should not be with a Zelda title. Especially when you think about how many times Nintendo delayed its release. I just really was turned off by the introduction to 3d, by the time Banjo Kazooi, Conker, or Blast Corps came out I was thinking, “enough of this wandering around stupid muddy 3d planes.” 64 put out great 2d titles as well, Paper Mario, Yoshi’s Story, Kirby 64 too. Perfect Dark may be technically better than 007 but who the hell cares about Johanna Dark? nobody compared to Bond. Its not based on a movie or decades old, time-tested story line, theres no familiarity, your fighting with stupid lazers and are wandering around alien ships by the end. Theres so much bullshit in that game compared to doing what gamers wanted to do for years in goldeneye, blast through military bases against hordes of enemies with realistic weapons. Final Fantasy II and III blow these new shitty titles out of the water which seem to favor teenage melodrama and graphical glitz over solid story and non-linear playability. Compare the new extreme makeover 3d Bionic Commando to the NES one, 8 bit dominates just like I’m sure Symphony of the Night will dominate this God-of-War-lookin Castlevania hybrid but only time will tell.
GOLDENEYE is the best game of all time, I dont care what anyone says
I stopped reading your list after seeing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at #92. This game is ranked in the top 10 in nearly every other list and it’s at 92 here. LOL y’all are funny and LAME!
Here’s a proper list of the greatest games of all times not the trash old wizard has here.
1 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (32 out of 43)
2 Super Mario 64 (26 out of 43)
3 Tetris (25 out of 43)
4 Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (19 out of 43)
5 Street Fighter II (18 out of 43)
Goldeneye 007 (18 out of 43)
6 Super Mario World (14 out of 43)
7 Final Fantasy VII (13 out of 43)
Resident Evil 4 (13 out of 43)
8 Final Fantasy III / VI (12 out of 43)
Super Metroid (12 out of 43)