06-15-2008, 05:38 PM
Decided to yoink this idea from another forum I frequent...
The Rules:
1 - The list must be ranked. For uniformity, start with #10 and count it down to #1.
2 - This is "top ten favorite video games of all time". That means the criteria you choose to compare games against each other are entirely up to you.
3 - Exactly ten games allowed. No runners-up, no honorable mentions. It's hard, but I think it's rewarding to whittle a list down to ten final choices. Crossing off #11 will be a tough call, but don't cheat yourself. Also, no wussing out with "my tentative top three".
4 - Series of games, franchises, compilations, collections, intellectual successors, etc do NOT count as a single game. For example, "the Super Mario series" cannot be on your list. Decide which individual game from a series you want to include. If you think multiple games from a single series belong in your top ten (e.g. Super Mario Brothers 3 and Super Mario Land), that's perfectly fine, but each game gets its own spot.
5 - Any game for any platform from any era is in the running. Just make a mention of which platform you're talking about to avoid ambiguous cases (e.g. PC or console version of Doom) or obscure cases (e.g. Airborne Commando for the Commadore 64).
6 - Most importantly for our purposes, include a small bit of your reasoning with each choice. Use a sentence or two to explain why a game is on your list. You can choose a game for whichever reasons you see fit (see Rule 2), but let us know what they are. You can talk about game design and features, relate an anecdote, detail its superiority over similar games, whatever. This part is where the best nostalgia and best discussion comes from.
Enjoy and take your time. Rushing it means you'll undoubtedly forget something.
Heres Mine:
10) Super Mario 64 (N64) - I had such a blast with this game, and I remember it very fondly, and all the time spent collecting all 120 stars. I was definitely worried that Mario wouldn't be able to translate into 3-D and would end up having the same problems as Sonic, but all those fears were quelled when it came out. The controls were tight, the camera worked perfectly, and lack of non-temporary power-ups aside, it was a Mario game through and through.
9) Megaman 2 (NES) - With some of the best music Ive ever heard in a game to this day, the running and gunning done by Megaman never got to be as good as this one ever since. All of the bosses and power-ups didn't feel tired out, the password system made the game a lot easier than megaman 1, and the bosses in Wiley's castle were enormous and there wasn't another game out there that had the same feel. Don't tell me you didn't shit bricks the first time you fought that dragon.
8) Mario Brothers 3 (NES) -Â I remember seeing the wizard and getting this game, I still can't believe they made an entire movie to hype the game. This was the epitome of 2-D platforming games. The only thing that could have made this better was some kind of save game function, which they did add in Mario All Stars on the SNES.
7) Mechwarrior 2 (PC) - if memory serves me right, this was like the Crysis of its day, its 3D graphics required those new fangled Pentium 1 chips and that 486 wouldn't cut the mustard anymore. Later versions took advantage of those new fangled graphics cards. The plot was cool, the FMV cut scenes awesome, mech customization perfect, and eventually being able to play over the modem (also one of the first to do this), is why I put this game in my top 10.
6) Starcraft (PC) - The best balanced RTS ever created, and the fun just never stops, even today tons of people still play this game. Its fairly easy to learn basic tactics, the single player is enthralling (as far as RTS games go). The nation of Korea didn't just pick this game out of a hat to be their national game of choice.
5) Earthbound / Mother 2 (SNES) - Off beat non traditional RPG and cult classic, I simply love this game despite its childish design. Hidden beneath its childish looks however is a somewhat deep coming of age type plot as the protagonists fight a cosmic evil bent on destroying earth. I wont give away too much of the plot, even though you all should have played it already, but its the only game where a last boss practically begs you to kill him. I have yet to play the sequel, which I hear is even better...
4) Link to the Past (SNES) - This is everything a Zelda game needs to be. Progressively harder dungeons, a good story, tight controls, and awesome power-ups. This was such a huge leap from the NES titles its almost unfathomable. If you owned an SNES, you may not have had Earthbound, or FFVI, but damnit, you had this game at the very least.
3) Half-Life 1 (PC) - Half Life was everything a good FPS game should be, tight controls with a slightly dodgy physics engine (Bhop FTW), some puzzle solving, and a modestly good story. This broke the older mode of Quake and Doom of simply a maze filled with monsters you had to kill to get to a switch or elevator that would take you to the next part. Half Life went continuously from one area to the next seamlessly, there was no sense of hitting a switch like doom to end a level. Aside from the great single player game, the game was the first to really embrace mods, while Quake II did it first, the community exploded with half life, with out it, we wouldn't have things like CS, DoD, or TF.
2) Final Fantasy VI (SNES) - I love this one more than any of the other FF games. The characters are better developed, even with the limited emotional expressions of sprites vs 3d models. The story is nothing short of excellent and Uematsu's music has never been better. What I especially like is that every character except Gogo and Umaru got their own back story to explore as a side quest before you fought Kefka, making you care more about the characters. I could probably write another entire paragraph on Kefka, definitely the best FF villain, he wasn't some demon or sum of all evil, or mother loving emo faggot (Sephiroth),he was simply a horrible human being who desired power above all else. Ive said it before, if your first FF games was VII, you will love that above all the others, if you played ANY other FF game first, VI will be your favorite.
1) Fallout (PC) - Choice and Consequences, Karma and Reaction. No game has ever come close to how fallout designed its quest structure to accommodate any character. This non-linear RPG can be completed in under 10 minutes with the proper skill set and a little bit of luck. Unlike more recent shit fests (oblivion), Fallout has consequences for how you act, and no characters are 'invulnerable', every NPC in every town can be killed, however, doing so will make people hate you, run you out of town, and make you the scourge of the wastes. Speaking of the wastes, the atmosphere and desolate feel of the wasteland is something that I haven't seen duplicated outside of Metroid Prime. Combine this feeling with pop-culture references and dark humor that puts portal to shame, and you have what is in my opinion, the greatest game of all time.Â
Edit: Added links to intro movies and game play, fucking watch Fallout's if you have never seen it
The Rules:
1 - The list must be ranked. For uniformity, start with #10 and count it down to #1.
2 - This is "top ten favorite video games of all time". That means the criteria you choose to compare games against each other are entirely up to you.
3 - Exactly ten games allowed. No runners-up, no honorable mentions. It's hard, but I think it's rewarding to whittle a list down to ten final choices. Crossing off #11 will be a tough call, but don't cheat yourself. Also, no wussing out with "my tentative top three".
4 - Series of games, franchises, compilations, collections, intellectual successors, etc do NOT count as a single game. For example, "the Super Mario series" cannot be on your list. Decide which individual game from a series you want to include. If you think multiple games from a single series belong in your top ten (e.g. Super Mario Brothers 3 and Super Mario Land), that's perfectly fine, but each game gets its own spot.
5 - Any game for any platform from any era is in the running. Just make a mention of which platform you're talking about to avoid ambiguous cases (e.g. PC or console version of Doom) or obscure cases (e.g. Airborne Commando for the Commadore 64).
6 - Most importantly for our purposes, include a small bit of your reasoning with each choice. Use a sentence or two to explain why a game is on your list. You can choose a game for whichever reasons you see fit (see Rule 2), but let us know what they are. You can talk about game design and features, relate an anecdote, detail its superiority over similar games, whatever. This part is where the best nostalgia and best discussion comes from.
Enjoy and take your time. Rushing it means you'll undoubtedly forget something.
Heres Mine:
10) Super Mario 64 (N64) - I had such a blast with this game, and I remember it very fondly, and all the time spent collecting all 120 stars. I was definitely worried that Mario wouldn't be able to translate into 3-D and would end up having the same problems as Sonic, but all those fears were quelled when it came out. The controls were tight, the camera worked perfectly, and lack of non-temporary power-ups aside, it was a Mario game through and through.
9) Megaman 2 (NES) - With some of the best music Ive ever heard in a game to this day, the running and gunning done by Megaman never got to be as good as this one ever since. All of the bosses and power-ups didn't feel tired out, the password system made the game a lot easier than megaman 1, and the bosses in Wiley's castle were enormous and there wasn't another game out there that had the same feel. Don't tell me you didn't shit bricks the first time you fought that dragon.
8) Mario Brothers 3 (NES) -Â I remember seeing the wizard and getting this game, I still can't believe they made an entire movie to hype the game. This was the epitome of 2-D platforming games. The only thing that could have made this better was some kind of save game function, which they did add in Mario All Stars on the SNES.
7) Mechwarrior 2 (PC) - if memory serves me right, this was like the Crysis of its day, its 3D graphics required those new fangled Pentium 1 chips and that 486 wouldn't cut the mustard anymore. Later versions took advantage of those new fangled graphics cards. The plot was cool, the FMV cut scenes awesome, mech customization perfect, and eventually being able to play over the modem (also one of the first to do this), is why I put this game in my top 10.
6) Starcraft (PC) - The best balanced RTS ever created, and the fun just never stops, even today tons of people still play this game. Its fairly easy to learn basic tactics, the single player is enthralling (as far as RTS games go). The nation of Korea didn't just pick this game out of a hat to be their national game of choice.
5) Earthbound / Mother 2 (SNES) - Off beat non traditional RPG and cult classic, I simply love this game despite its childish design. Hidden beneath its childish looks however is a somewhat deep coming of age type plot as the protagonists fight a cosmic evil bent on destroying earth. I wont give away too much of the plot, even though you all should have played it already, but its the only game where a last boss practically begs you to kill him. I have yet to play the sequel, which I hear is even better...
4) Link to the Past (SNES) - This is everything a Zelda game needs to be. Progressively harder dungeons, a good story, tight controls, and awesome power-ups. This was such a huge leap from the NES titles its almost unfathomable. If you owned an SNES, you may not have had Earthbound, or FFVI, but damnit, you had this game at the very least.
3) Half-Life 1 (PC) - Half Life was everything a good FPS game should be, tight controls with a slightly dodgy physics engine (Bhop FTW), some puzzle solving, and a modestly good story. This broke the older mode of Quake and Doom of simply a maze filled with monsters you had to kill to get to a switch or elevator that would take you to the next part. Half Life went continuously from one area to the next seamlessly, there was no sense of hitting a switch like doom to end a level. Aside from the great single player game, the game was the first to really embrace mods, while Quake II did it first, the community exploded with half life, with out it, we wouldn't have things like CS, DoD, or TF.
2) Final Fantasy VI (SNES) - I love this one more than any of the other FF games. The characters are better developed, even with the limited emotional expressions of sprites vs 3d models. The story is nothing short of excellent and Uematsu's music has never been better. What I especially like is that every character except Gogo and Umaru got their own back story to explore as a side quest before you fought Kefka, making you care more about the characters. I could probably write another entire paragraph on Kefka, definitely the best FF villain, he wasn't some demon or sum of all evil, or mother loving emo faggot (Sephiroth),he was simply a horrible human being who desired power above all else. Ive said it before, if your first FF games was VII, you will love that above all the others, if you played ANY other FF game first, VI will be your favorite.
1) Fallout (PC) - Choice and Consequences, Karma and Reaction. No game has ever come close to how fallout designed its quest structure to accommodate any character. This non-linear RPG can be completed in under 10 minutes with the proper skill set and a little bit of luck. Unlike more recent shit fests (oblivion), Fallout has consequences for how you act, and no characters are 'invulnerable', every NPC in every town can be killed, however, doing so will make people hate you, run you out of town, and make you the scourge of the wastes. Speaking of the wastes, the atmosphere and desolate feel of the wasteland is something that I haven't seen duplicated outside of Metroid Prime. Combine this feeling with pop-culture references and dark humor that puts portal to shame, and you have what is in my opinion, the greatest game of all time.Â
Edit: Added links to intro movies and game play, fucking watch Fallout's if you have never seen it