• Top 100 Video Games

  

  Written by Zeromage 226 Comments
  Last Updated:: February 1, 2009

  40. Mario Kart Double Dash

  It’s hard to think of any other game that has more expert players than Mario Kart. When you see someone has Mario Kart “Double Dash” in their Gamecube, you can be certain they’re amazing at the game and probably play it six hours a day. Having personally experienced playing this game six hours a day in college, I can attest this became more important than any schoolwork or teaching even by the best professors. The routine was standard. Wake up, Go to Class, Play Mario Kart, Go to Class, Play Mario Kart, Eat, Play Mario Kart, then go to bed (unless you hear someone playing Mario Kart when your trying to go to bed. Then you get up and play again). It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that Mario Kart was the primary cause for much of the poorly edited school work in higher academia. It was hard to do anything once addicted to this game. Double Dash was the fourth game in the Mario Kart series and easily the best. It had the most characters, the most variety of races, and the best multiplayer action out of the four in the series. In this Mario Kart, you have the ability to use two different drivers. One would drive and the other would throw shells, bananas, and other insuperable projectiles. Also, the characters you choose defined what type of “Kart” you could use, depending on the weight of the characters. Also, the idiosyncrasies in each player’s diction proved to be pure comedy for academia students under the influence of whatever “experiment” they were under at the time. Luigi became a hero of sorts because of his goofy faux-Italian lingo. It was important though, not to be under the influence of alcohol when playing Double Dash, or more often than not, controllers would be thrown at TV screens, people would be harassed with the most squalid insults, and even sometimes a physical fight would occur. There may not be a game ever created that inculcated this type passion and drive. There may be no game as addicting as Mario Kart Double Dash.

  39. Super Punch Out! (SNES)

  The progenitor to “Super Punch Out” was of course, “Mike Tyson’s Punch-out” for the NES which is one of the better games of all time in its own regard. But for all that the original offered, the Super NES version doubled in enjoyment adding more ingenious characters and circuits than the former. The playability increased more too with the controls responding seamlessly to your hand movements. All the fighters were endowed with iridescent colors and personality up the wazoo. Mad Clown was the most evil of evil clowns you have ever encountered in or outside any video game. Super Macho Man was the goofiest of bodybuilders you could ever encounter showing off his muscles at any chance he could get. Masked Muscle was so fun to look at that you actually enjoyed having to fight the ostensibly nefarious Mexican heavyweight. While the personality and design of the characters were expedient for making all ages enjoy this game, it was the final boss in “Nick Bruiser” that appropriately scared the player into reconsidering the bout as Bruiser walks to the middle of the ring to fight you slowly, prudently, and lugubriously. You hear each stomp as his boots traverse the canvass to meet the Mac face to face. More additions to Super Punch Out include a time trial mode where you attempt to beat the best in the world by knocking down your opponents in record time, some fighters in 10 seconds or less like the infamous “Gabby Jay” who reminded the player of the weakness of Glass Joe. All these qualities combined to make Super Punch Out a slightly more enjoyable game than the original, and if we creating our top 100 list with this first and foremost in mind (enjoyment factor), than Super Punch Out must edge out the original, even if the original firstly brought in the great idea.

  38. Deus Ex

  Deus EX which combines the FPS format with RPG elements. You don’t just go around the game as some “badass” shooting stuff with hi-fi guns. You have detailed objectives throughout the game along with skill points that enhance the characters abilities. You could also customize your player to become a gun master or a more shifty character who could pick locks and play more of a detective role. These are the elements that are precisely missing from FPS of modern and old age i.e. sophistication. Another reason that Deus Ex stands out from other FPS’s is that it that gives the player more of a sense of freedom than just destroying things, is the power to manipulate guns by modifying their accuracy and range. There is also actual dialogue in the game that ascends above the trivial “We are here to destroy you” platitudes found in most other FPS’s. Deus Ex in a strong sense is the most innovative FPS ever released.

  37. Final Fantasy (NES)

  Final Fantasy is clearly the best series for the video game epoch. Final Fantasy 3 and 7 would go down as arguably the greatest games ever made. But the series had to start somewhere, and it started here with this NES installment released in 1987 to a welcoming crowd of video game players who were interested in more elaborate story lines than the peculiarity of plumbers saving princesses from dragons. Final Fantasy 1, much like FF3 and FF7, have the same game play with turn based fighting scenes and a variegated amount of characters you were in control of. RPG’s after Final Fantasy 1 would rarely change in the tradition set up by this installment of Final Fantasy. It’s in this game that we learn to choose between attacking, using magic, drinking a potion, using an item, and cravenly running during the battle scenes establishing the basic list of “things you can do” for all RPG’s after it. The story line is concertedly strong involving light warriors reinvigorating orbs that were darkened by the stormy destruction of a water civilization. As with all Final Fantasy’s, it’s not the best idea to try to sum up the prolix story into a brief video game review. Zelda for NES would establish the basic game play of all adventure games after it. Much to the same effect, Final Fantasy 1 for NES would establish the basic game play for all RPG’s after it. Great Storylines, long game play, and turn-based battle scenes are all first firmly established in Final Fantasy 1.

  36. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)

  From the title screen, you hear a Wagnerian sweeping crescendo signifying an aggrandized adventure ahead. On top of that, you see a picture of the world from outer space. Yes, Illusion of Gaia was a game of world significance. You traveled the world seeking out myths that have been discovered throughout time in the real world, from Mayan culture to Chinese culture, in an investigation to the whereabouts of your journeymen father who was lost at the Tower of Babel. The story along the way is invigorating and often romantic with multiple people falling in love. You’re even cast out at sea for a prolonged period of a time with a princess who becomes stricken by the grandiose nature of the sea, where she stops becoming nagging and starts eating the fish you catch for her. Illusion of Gaia as an RPG is much more like “Zelda: Link to the Past” than a Final Fantasy three. There is no traditional experience build up and turn-taking battles, instead the protagonist “Will”, will gain experience by beating all the enemies in a room and will do so in real time fashion, something much preferred for adventure game players than the former style. Throughout the adventure, you have the option of changing into different warriors like “Friedman” and “Shadow” who you need to use to get past specific areas in the game. The towns are filled with a varied cast of interesting people who all are informed by their indigenous cultural “memes” that help you with information to pass on to new areas, and give you a sense of a Romanized world-view, that you will remember past completing this game. Illusion of Gaia is often overlooked within the great games in RPG history. This is a mistake as the story line and game play are absolutely superlative.

  35. Tie Fighter

  Ever since the first time I saw a Tie Fighter I wanted to pilot one. For some unknown reason I always thought they looked so much cooler than X-Wings. Sadly I knew my dream would never come true, not even in a video game. After all, video games only let you play as the good guys, right? Well, that’s what I thought until I stumbled upon this amazing little game. This is the game for all those kids (like me) who always thought the Empire was cooler than the rebellion. With Tie Fighter there was finally a game where you got to pilot the bad guys’ ships and the defend the Empire from the upstart rebels. As far as I know this is one of the first video games where you got to play as the bad guys, and in my opinion its still one of the very best.

  34. Super Off Road

  When Super Off Road was released for the SNES, it was monumental for those who enjoyed the arcade version. This game was as addicting as playing Tetris. Playing in two player mode was the most fun though. Playing against the computer and your friend at the same time proved to be an immense amount of enjoyment. What was even more fun though was using the second player to smash all the other players making your friend come in first every time. The “basher” could master this to the point that the computer truck that he was smashing would be taken all the way back a lap. There is no real ending to this game which makes it even more infinitely fun. The goal really is getting as much money as possible which is 9’s straight across the money spaces. This would take at least a whole summer though of 18 hour days. Old-Wizard T-shirts go out to anyone who can prove they have done this.

  33. Knights of Old Republic

  The original Knights of the old Republic was one heck of a game. It took everything that we loved about the classic trilogy and the expanded universe of Star Wars, and packed it neatly into an epic RPG where you could even chose between the light side or dark side of the force. This game feels more like Star Wars than the Prequel Trilogy did, and sadly it probably has a better story line too. The game was well scripted, had great plot twists, all while giving you the possibility of roaming both sides of the conflict in the best way any Star Wars game ever has. The game mechanics in KOTOR are some of the best in any RPG ever, giving you the ability the ability to either choose what attacks each character in your party will use or leave them automated. The bottom line is, this game is a must for any Star Wars fan or RPG fan. If you haven’t played it, I feel sorry for you.

  32. Final Fantasy 7

  Final Fantasy 7. Dubbed by many “The Greatest Game Ever Made” and “The Best Final Fantasy Ever Made”, Final Fantasy 7 has received quite a following amongst its fans, and for good reason. While plenty of the people who have played and beaten 7 won’t agree with it being the greatest game ever made (myself included), they still think it’s a damn good game. It was quite revolutionary for the Final Fantasy series, what with it being the first 3D entry, and introducing the Materia system, an advanced way of giving characters abilities and magic. Think of it as being the Final Fantasy 4 of the 3D games. The story was surprisingly well done, although not as well done as some people tend to think. The graphics were decent, but I’ll let that slide, it was Square’s first 3D title. And like all truly great games the sound was simply mind-blowing, the pieces ‘Those Who Fight Further (Boss Theme)’ ‘Aeris’ Theme’ ‘Those Chosen By the Planet’ and of course, the legendary composition ‘One Winged Angel’ Sephiroth’s own theme.

  31. Super Mario Galaxy

  I don’t mind saying that Mario Galaxy is the best video game to be released since the SNES stopped making games. The graphics are breath-taking, showing a depth and imagination not seen in most modern video games. The soundtrack is simple and eloquent as Mario surfs the different galaxies in search of the Princess. But the best part of the game is how fun and different it is. Up until I played SMG, it seemed to me like modern day video game designers have forgotten how to make fun games. Even though it seems like you might have already done this or that in another game, SMG adds a completely different twist to it that makes it so more exciting and fun then anything you have ever played before. Super Mario Galaxy will completely revolutionize the way you think about platform games. And at this point the bar has been pushed so high by SMG that it’s light years beyond any other platformer that I have played or probably ever will play for years to come.

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226 Comments

1. #1 Bladerunner says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #2 Dopeycunt says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #3 Wolf says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 10:12 am

   …dodgeball beat DigDug?
   already bad things happening and im only on page 1
4. #4 Wolf says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 10:20 am

   Ducktales made the top 20?…
5. #5 dude says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #6 pd says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #7 Justin says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #8 Justin says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #9 Azelfknight says:
   November 20th, 2009 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. #10 pelham123 says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    It’s nice to see a more personal top 100 list for a change, an enjoyable read. Cheers!
11. #11 Fedricco Rabaya says:
    November 20th, 2009 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. #12 Salo says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    Super Mario 2.
13. #13 nick says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

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