Top 100 Video Games

Top 100 Video Games

Written by Zeromage 251 Comments
Last Updated:: February 1, 2009

90. Oregon Trail (PC)

The first introduction to deadly diseases for a gamer comes from Oregon Trail. In no other game before or after could the player be struck by cholera and dysentery. I guess we can assume this is what happened to actual adventurers who trekked across the six states of the OregonTrail itself. The game play of OregonTrail was odd. It was a cross between an RPG, and a puzzle game. There are many options one may take at any time through the game, for example, different paths on the Oregon Trail to get to your final destination, hunting for game if you don’t want to buy your food, and controlling the pace of the oxen who carry your wagon across the west. You were given exact details if you wanted to cross a river on the trail if a ferry wasn’t available, by “caulking”, such as depth and speed of the river. Another odd idea that the creators of Oregon Trail included, was your own grave and tombstone when yourself or one of your partners died during the trek, which you were able to write your own epitaph on (appropriate for young children?). This game has nothing much in common with any game in the history of video games, which gives it its own dignified place in the top 100 games of all time. In the end, Oregon Trail is a fun game because of all the choices that the player is able to take on throughout, and educational at the same time, by introducing the player to a host of deadly diseases. Was there a subtle, surreptitious, motivation in the game designers to influence a younger generation in medicine? This will be left to much more audacious game speculators.

89. Madden 2004 (Playstation 2)

The titles in Madden football series are currently the most popular football games in the gaming industry by far. Madden 2004 was the 14th game in the series and included some new options for the player to take control of that have lasted through out all the Maddens afterwards. You were able to act as an owner and control the whole franchise. You could displace your coaching staff at will, regulate the prices at your concessions stands and move your home stadium around to a different city if you thought it more lucrative for the franchise. More additional features included take control of training camp and getting your players skill better than if you didn’t go through training camp. Also, in Madden 2004, you could build a historic team from the great players of the past. Unfortunately, the Madden curse existed here like other games in the series. Michael Vick who was on the cover of Madden 2004 got hurt in the 2nd game of the 2004 season. In prior Maddens, Daunte Culpepper, Ray Lewis, and Shaun Alexander who were on the covers were all hurt early on in their respective seasons. Regardless of the curse, the Madden series continues to be the most played football games in gaming households.

88. Double Dragon 2 (NES)

Double Dragon 2 for NES was for the most part an add on the Double Dragon 1. There wasn’t much change in the characters, levels, and even the boss’s are for the most part the same. There is just enough of a difference though to make this game have its own place in your mind in distinction from its former. For example, the third level is fought in a helicopter with the door opening from time to time sucking you outside into imminent doom, along with the enemies. While the enemies for the most part were the same, there were new additions like those quick ninjas at the end of the 2nd level and the massive boss who looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger at the end of the jungle level that distinguished DD2 as its own game. The game does get incredibly difficult towards the end where you have to make seemingly impossible jumps. This game was always good with game genie so you could give yourself an infinite amount of time and lives to jump from conveyor belt to conveyor belt in one of the later stages that seemed impossible. The 2 player theme was identical to that of the first game, and the story line was slightly different. In this game you weren’t saving a girl, but seeking revenge. You know how these fighting games are setup. It’s not about the story, it’s about feeling virtual muscle power you wish you could have in real life.

87. Metroid Prime (Gamecube)

When Nintendo announced it was creating a Metroid for game cube, the gaming world jumped out of their seats. It was a long time waiting for this sequel to Super Metroid. Indications were given that they were making it but no one was really sure. How did it deliver? It delivered stunningly. Metroid became a 3D game rather than a side scroller in Metroid Prime. At first one was skeptical that it was going to be an average 3D shooter, but all the nuances of previous Metroid were left in tact, only in 3D shooter style. The bosses were just as nefarious, and Samus had as many, and perhaps even more of the same type of abilities that she had in the previous Metroids. The world was even larger than the massive world of Super Metroid, and just as rococo. Facing your old space pirate pal Ridley proves to be one of the best fighting matches in 3D shooter history. Like previous Metroids, you collect missiles, super missiles and rolling-ball bombs. You also collect the same type of ingenious weapons shown off in the first Metroids. In the end, although Metroid Prime is NOT as perfect a game as Super Metroid, it was a great sequel to the later. Trying to top a game like Super Metroid is basically impossible. You do the best you can and try to create an amazing gaming experience in its own right. Metroid Prime accomplished that.

86. Tiger Woods 2004

Dexterity be damned, anyone old enough to be in a bar when Tiger Woods 2004 came out played it with the palm of their hand, Golden Tee style, and probably wore the rubber pads off of their dual-shocks. Anyone who golfed in the third dimension and bought Tiger ‘04 immediately added countless strokes to their game. Because of its frustratingly beautiful landscapes and its impeccable playability I have tried to flop shot over trees, punch shot over ponds to skip the ball over the surface to the green, and I’m constantly convinced I can hold my swing and power up to drive a par four. That said, I partied like Tara Reid on a booze cruise when I beat Tiger on the world tour.

85. Mega Man 1 (NES)

Mega Man, also known as Rock Man, came to the gaming universe in 1987, created by the world-renowned Capcom. It’s the first time that we are acquainted with Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, and the blue bomber himself as he treks through six stages of infinite peril. We are met with the monsters of the elements, ranging from Ice Man to Guts Man (“Guts” is an element?) and to Fire Man. This game is when our intuition first flourishes in realizing that if we destroy Fire Man first, maybe his weapon will be able to be used against Ice Man! Mega Man 1 is considered to be without a doubt the hardest Mega Man in the whole series. Some of the jumps over empty space and spikes are brazenly difficult; also, there is no password system or built-in save, which means you have to beat the game in one shot. All these concerns were addressed and fixed by the monumental Mega Man 2 and all other Mega Mans afterwards. Still, Mega Man 1 stood the test of time because the levels were more than fun to play and the idea of collecting weapons from different enemies and using them in specific other parts in the game proved ingenious in entertainment value. The only part of Mega Man 1 that was unbearable was having to look at the front cover where an ostensible mega man looks more like your father in a Halloween costume.

84. 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.

83. 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.

82. Streets 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.

81. Chrono Cross

Chrono Cross has massive shoes to fill coming after Chrono Trigger (arguably the greatest game ever made). Chrono Cross though boldly took the best elements of Chrono Trigger and made a game almost as great as Chrono Trigger. The graphics were superb, the world was huge, and storyline was intricate to the point of the gamer wanting to revisit past scenes to understand what was happening in their future. The cinematic sequences were superb bringing storylines to their apex. Who could forget the soundtrack? Who could forget the theme of “The Dream that Time Dreams”, and “Scars of Time”. Someone was listening to their Mendelson. Navigating the world by boat was another enchanting part of the game where all the lands came across tropical, but would certainly turn out to be much less serene upon entering them. Wait until you got to the final boss too. This was a battle for the ages on par with Lavos from Chrono Trigger.

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251 Comments

#1 Bladerunner says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:09 pm

Terrible list imo.I realise this list is your opinion, and i respect that. Im just pointing out that my opinion differs from yours vastly

1) Its a whore-fest of old games, lots of true modern classics were ignored. No half life 1,2, gta, resident evil, call of duty, fallout, civilization? Seriously???!!

2) Toe jam and earl? give me a break….

3) Not a single fricking N64 game? Majoras mask?! Mario 64?! Goldeneye?! Perfect dark?! OCARINA OF TIME?!!!!!! sheesh

3) Just ONE ps2 game in the entire list? no shadow of the colossus? no okami? no gran turismo? no god of war? OMG

4) Correct me if im wrong, but i dont think i saw a single racing game in there… wtf?

I do agree with most of the top 20 though. Chrono trigger, Castlevania:SOTN, Zelda LTTP…. epic games

#2 Dopeycunt says:
March 17th, 2010 at 9:36 pm

Seems like the author does not have a whole lot of experience playing catalogs of games on different systems, and probably stuck to Nintendo systems when he was a kid. Only the big-name (obvious) Sega titles are here, and a distinct lack of PSX, XBox, and PC games.

#3 Wolf says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:12 am

…dodgeball beat DigDug?
already bad things happening and im only on page 1

#4 Wolf says:
March 17th, 2010 at 10:20 am

Ducktales made the top 20?…

#5 dude says:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:19 am

while this list may not be well rounded (at all), it makes for a pretty good reference on which old roms I should be investing my time in.

#6 pd says:
March 17th, 2010 at 9:45 pm

so your saying nhl 94 and a dodgeball game are better then say castlevania iv and contra 3 bullshit and there two games off the top of my head.

#7 Justin says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:45 am

I didn’t know N64 was such a crappy system.LOL.What an ass list and an ass website. Terrible what you are putting into these viewer’s heads.

#8 Justin says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:50 am

Oh and I also forgot to LOL @ having Madden 2004 on there without NFL 2k5.Props for putting Star Craft on there though,best game ever made.

#9 Azelfknight says:
March 17th, 2010 at 8:44 pm

Zelda 2 is the worst Zelda ever…just saying.

This list is okay, but with way to many old ripoffs of each other in the platforming department. A link to the past is one of my favorite games and glad others recognize it too, but so many good game aren’t on this list that it makes me shake my head. Here are games that deserve more credit, in no order, Halo, Ocarina of Time, Fallout 3, WOW, Mario Kart 64, and more…

#10 pelham123 says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:05 pm

It’s nice to see a more personal top 100 list for a change, an enjoyable read. Cheers!

#11 Fedricco Rabaya says:
March 17th, 2010 at 2:31 pm

Hey people can someone tell me the Mario game when the story is about a dream of Mario? There are 4 characters to choose from: MArio, Luigi, Princess and the Mushroom kid.

#12 Salo says:
March 17th, 2010 at 2:48 pm

Super Mario 2.

#13 nick says:
March 17th, 2010 at 6:56 pm

good list, but you guys really need to play golden sun.

#14 georgie says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:56 am

hey i dident look at all the list but the ps2 had the most great titles and here are a few he might of not said priece of persia the sands of time is one of the best games ever made the 2nd and 3rd ones were not that good shadow of calouses is another amazing game god of war ang metal gear solid 3 ff 12 ff10 and way isint ff7 on the top ten bullshit

#15 georgie says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:03 am

the ps2 is the best system ever the ps1 and nes are closs but not as good and and not a single ps2 game stupid here is a list of great ps2 games

1.prince of persia the sands of time not the other two

2.shadow of calouses

3.GOW 1and2

4.FF 10, 12

5.METAL GEAR SOLID 3

6.KINGDOM HEARTS 1AND2

7.THE DEVIL MAY CRY SERIES

8.GRAND TOURISMO

and trust me i could go on and on way isint ff7 on the top 10 i wish this guy would really think about hes list a little harder

#16 Emerald Magus says:
March 17th, 2010 at 2:03 pm

Awesome list! So glad to see LTTP at #1. That game was great.

#17 retrickster says:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

You did not mention Super Mario RPG Legend Of The Seven Stars for the super Nintendo in the top 10.. That makes your list fail.

#18 raziel owns u says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:53 am

…ok where is resident evil 3, gta, god of war, gran turismo, i agree with csont and starcraft they are epic, but zelda games are averrated not the ocarina of time but d others are just the same.

#19 Jamie says:
March 17th, 2010 at 8:42 am

lol final fantasy 7 no one

#20 HookEm says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:34 am

Freakin no way zelda is 1st. I personally thought donkey kong isn’t 100 it should be 2nd. Why else is it so popular instead of freakin zelda??? It made arcade games globally and zelda only sold a few thousand. This list sucks. But I’m glad mario 3 got in the top 5. =)

#21 Tanner says:
March 17th, 2010 at 12:16 pm

This top 100 riddles me with questions. Why on Earth is FInal Fantasy VII so low on the list? Why on Earth is Half Life and Fallout not on there. Why are there so many classics on there? If you had to choose these 100, why didn’t you change the order?

#22 CUSTOMCARVIN says:
March 17th, 2010 at 8:27 pm

Dude.. you suck! I didn’t even finish your bassackwards list… once I saw that rescue rangers for the NES was higher than DOOM, I nearly shit… how the fuck do you gauge your rankings? I thought these lists usually reflect popular opinion, sales, reviews (ie something credible) your list reflects shit. You suck, find a new hobby!

#23 Kdeizy says:
March 17th, 2010 at 7:44 pm

Definitely some great games from the nes/snes era but you missed out on some key games in modern history. No goldeneye, ocarina of time or wind waker, call of duty, halo (2 or 3), god of war, resident evil (2 or 4), halflife, mario 64?? And madden 04 as the best madden? True that this list is your opinion but it seems to differ from the rest of the gaming world’s opinion. gotta love starcraft, good top 5 tho..

#24 Jack Simpson says:
March 17th, 2010 at 7:12 am

Don’t listen to all these losers, author. It’s a good list. I don’t agree with it completely either but you’ll never find two people who can agree on a top 100 list besides their own.

#25 darin says:
March 17th, 2010 at 6:08 pm

well when you look at this list it is all retro games mostly… but looking at the sites name i’m not surprised. where is mario 64, ocarina of time, resident evil 4

btw ff7 is overrated so it gets a lower rating, go play chrono trigger or ff6

#26 Blaine says:
March 17th, 2010 at 8:09 pm

You ever play videogames? I mean besides the OBVIOUSE neglection of Ocarina of Time, this list is trash. Metal Gear for the NES was one of the worst games ever made. Super Mario 3 timeless. I’m thinking these are the only 100 games you’ve ever played based on this list, PLEASE broaden your videogame horizon here. Somebody never owned an N64..invest immediately!!!!!

#27 Walrus says:
March 17th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Forgive me for hyping, but for anyone interested I’ve got my own top 100 videogame list going as well… up to 61 so far.. updated daily..
http://www.zeitgeistyreport.com/the-lists/2010/01/20/z-list-the-top-100-videogames-of-all-time/2/

Its not spam.. just sharing the list love with everyone…

#28 Allday says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:58 pm

Dude prince of persia sands of time, any kingdom hearts (as gay as that sounds), and zelda ocarina by far the best zelda game all time. What that game donkey kong 64 and banjoe kazooey did for gaming mid to late 90’s was unreal. I personally like counterstrike and what it did for non pc (and pc) online game play, over the usually posted half life.

#29 Armenelos says:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:16 am

FINAL FANTASY VII DESERVES NUMBER 1.

#30 Andy says:
March 17th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

I cant say i agree with all of them but wow, amazing top ten especially. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3(or 6), Donkey Kong Country,SNES Zelda, SUPER Metroid…Spot on guys. FF1 was one of my fave for retro, but thats what got me going on rpg. nice to see Chrono made your highest RPG, best plotline ever. Best Music in a game too in my opinion. the is alot of more current games that are awesome too, but for retro this list rocks!!

#31 The Magnificent says:
March 17th, 2010 at 7:55 pm

Thank you very much. The order of the games seemed perfect to me. And also special thanks to put the Starcraft in the 3rd Place.

You ase awesome

#32 The Magnificent says:
March 17th, 2010 at 7:57 pm

This list is OK

Thank you very much one more time.

#33 The Mountain says:
March 17th, 2010 at 2:33 pm

Kid Icarus is shit. It shouldn’t be on this list.

#34 Kattula x says:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:22 pm

*Ahem*…………………
WHERE IS KINGDOM HEARTS?!!!!!!!
YOU EVIL EVIL PERSON! Why aren’t any of Kingdom Hearts games in this list? Have you just not played them or are you just daft?
*Pfft*….this list is like,,,C-R-A-P, crap!

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