My 100 Favorite Video Games of All-Time: #100-81
Video games have always been a part of my life. I love playing them, talking about them, and even reading about them. Recently, I played a tremendous game that got me thinking about how I would rank the greatest games of all-time. That led me here, where I rank the 100 best games. Now, obviously, 100 games is a lot, and nobody is going to read an blog post with 100 games listed, so I'm going to break this down into smaller, digestible bits.
A little background to begin, which will help explain why some of your favorites aren't on here. First of all, if I never played it, I can't rank it. As a kid, my family did not have a lot of money, so while we eventually got systems, we didn't get them early, and we didn't get to buy a lot of games. So, there are likely some very good NES and SNES/Sega Genesis games that I missed out on. I did rent when I could. I also never had certain systems at all, and therefore didn't play games exclusive to that system. I had: Atari, NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, Xbox360, and PS4. I played a lot of Sega Genesis as well, at friends' houses.
These will be ranked based on my own enjoyment, including how much time they caused me to spend on them, fun I had playing them, and other criteria that is my own. I hope you enjoy, and maybe you'll go back and check some of these out if you missed them. I might replay some of them myself.
100. Maniac Mansion: If you never played Maniac Mansion, then you missed out. The gameplay isn't complicated, and it's not packed with non-stop action, but it is a terrific, weird, funny adventure that was highly entertaining. Replay value was tremendous, because you could play with different characters, resulting in a different path through the game, with different endings. It's also one of the few games involving a tentacle that isn't rated "Adults Only". It was creative, and I enjoyed every second of it.
99. Far Cry 2: I only recently discovered the Far Cry series when a friend of mine bought Far Cry: Primal. As it turns out, the next time I was at Gamestop, they had a 4 for $20 sale going on, and Far Cry 2 was one of the options. The malaria idea was a good attempt at being different, though it was annoying. It was the huge open world, and the fun combat that drew me in. It wasn't perfect, but there was plenty to do, and it was pretty great graphically. It was good enough to get me interested in playing the rest of the series, but more on that later.
98. Xenogears: Squaresoft (Square Enix) knows how to do role-playing games. Plenty more on that later, also. Less famous than some of the other RPG series from that era, that doesn't mean it's an inferior game. The story is every bit as good as any other, and it did wind up being the beginning of a very good series, if not as popular as other Square titles. Though it didn't have the lasting impression on me, I do remember enjoying it a lot. I need to go back and play it again, and the rest of the series as well.
97. Excitebike: There was nothing fancy about Excitebike. It was simply driving around in circles and avoiding obstacles, or jumping ramps. The graphics weren't amazing, the gameplay was sort of repetitive, and I played it relentlessly. I loved the jumps, the challenge, and the ability to build my own track was pretty cool as well. Sometimes a game doesn't need a great story. It just needs to be fun, and I played Excitebike over and over again. It never really got old.
96. Angry Birds: Who didn't get caught up a little in the Angry Birds phenomenon? It was a pretty simple way to get lost for a bit on my phone, and the strategy aspect appealed to me. It was important for me to get all three stars. I played through the original, and a few of the sequels, and eventually grew tired of it, but I had a blast with it for a short period of time. That's all I can ask for in a mobile game.
95. Bases Loaded: Baseball games are so much more involved these days. You can track every imaginable stat, manage the front office, make trades, and that's not even taking graphics into account. However, I've always preferred the simpler times when it comes to baseball. Bases loaded was one of a number of enjoyable baseball games from the early days. It didn't have the real players, but it boasted good graphics for the time, and more importantly, was fun. Everybody had a favorite team, but everybody I know wanted to play with Paste (you know if you played it).
94. Pitfall: Now we go way back. Picture it: Small-town Kentucky, a small kid just discovering video games when his grandmother, who lives next door, buys an Atari. Among the games was a title called Pitfall. He inserts the cartridge and is transported to a land of crocodiles, vines, and holes in the ground. He gets frustrated when he successfully lands on a croc, just as it opens its mouth, but he loves the increasing difficulty as logs start rolling at him, and he works that much harder to be better. That little boy was me. Pitfall was awesome.
93. Parasite Eve II: Most of the games that I played as a kid/teenager were from rental. I saved up and bought a Playstation when it came out, but my parents bought my first game, and it was the last game that they bought me before I moved out. The game was Parasite Eve II. I hadn't played the first one, and hadn't even heard of it, but it was a game, and it looked interesting, so I dove in. It was part RPG, part Resident Evil, and hard, but fun. Square made it, which will be a recurring theme.
92. Secret of Mana: Just in case you didn't catch on, I have always loved Square RPG's. Secret of Mana was another interesting fantasy story, and I believe it was the first one I played with a real time battle system. That added a degree of fun to the game, and made it a little different at the time. Like Xenogears, there were plenty of sequels, and I haven't played most of them, but this game was one of my favorite SNES games ever.
91. The Sims Series: OK. It's not a conventional RPG, but somehow the Sims games are a lot of fun. You jump into the life of a character, and do what people do. You get a job, clean house, eat meals, make friends, and have a family. It's a simple concept, but there's a million ways to play it, and you never play the same way twice. You can be a family man, a bachelor on the town, a criminal, and even a murderer, if you choose. All in all, it's a nice, relaxing way to kill some time.
90. Frogger: Let's face it. Atari games don't hold up over time for the most part. At the time, though, it was the face of video gaming. I used to spend hours at my grandmother's house glued to games that nobody is playing these days. One game, though, that has stood the test of time, is Frogger. It has been remade on various platforms, but the underlying principle is the same. Get the frog to its home. I spent so many hours doing just that.
89. Super Mario Bros: There might not be a more iconic game in history than the first Super Mario Bros. I don't think this one really requires an explanation. It came with my NES, along with Duck Hunt of course. Since it was the only game I had, it got played a ton. There was a real sense of accomplishment in beating it, and rescuing the real Princess. All those Atari games got me into playing video games, but it was Super Mario Bros that made me a gamer.
88. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2: I don't remember where I got Pro Skater 2, and I was never into skateboarding, but I loved this game. Trying to master each course, and maximize the points to unlock other bonuses were as fun as any other sports game at the time. I actually still have it somewhere. Maybe it's time to dust off the board.
87. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: These kind of games are enjoyable for me, because they don't require a lot of thought, and they still retain a measure of fun over time, especially since there's really no "end". Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 built on its previous versions, adding even more options. You can play with a goal in mind, or just go into sandbox mode and play to your heart's content.
86. Bully: Rockstar is known for another series of games, but Bully was a solid effort from them. It plays basically like Grand Theft Auto, only without the "auto" and from the perspective of a teenage boy. It's not the most original gameplay, but the story was pretty fun, and I got plenty of game hours on it before sending it back to GameFly. A sequel has been talked about, but not forthcoming. I'd play it.
85. Super Mario RPG: What happens when your cross Square with the most recognizable character in video game history? Super Mario RPG, that's what. It wasn't just a gimmick either. It was well put together, and an interesting, fun game. It put Mario in a whole new light, and was one of my favorite entries in the long, and varied Mario series of games.
84. RBI Baseball: As I've said, where baseball games are concerned, simpler has always been better for me. RBI Baseball was the first game, that I know of, that had actual major league players' names, and it made it even better. My friends and I would play each other constantly, sometimes even pausing a game, and leaving it for hours while we did something else, before coming back to finish it. It was a game that, for a while, we planned our time around.
83. Sim City Series: Like Rollercoaster Tycoon, Sim City was a nice way to kill time without having to stress too much. I've played several different versions, and though each one has more and more options, the premise is the same, and always enjoyable. Being able to send a disaster to destroy everything I just built was kinda fun as well.
82. Wii Bowling: OK. This is cheating a bit. Wii Bowling isn't, itself, an actual game. It's just one part of a larger collection of games, but it's by far my favorite. I played tennis some, and baseball a little, but it was bowling that I spent most of my time on. It also gave a lot of enjoyment to the family. I bowled against my daughter, my wife, and even my parents a few times. It was a fun game for me, but the added value of family involvement gets it on this list.
81. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: If you know me, you know I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan. So, I take any chance to play a new game set on Middle-Earth. Shadow of Mordor didn't feature the characters we all know and love, but it had the familiar setting and those damned orcs. It also had a very cool feature where the chieftains had feuds and battles. It would have been much higher on the list, but it got a little repetitive after a while. Still, I had a ton of fun with it.
A little background to begin, which will help explain why some of your favorites aren't on here. First of all, if I never played it, I can't rank it. As a kid, my family did not have a lot of money, so while we eventually got systems, we didn't get them early, and we didn't get to buy a lot of games. So, there are likely some very good NES and SNES/Sega Genesis games that I missed out on. I did rent when I could. I also never had certain systems at all, and therefore didn't play games exclusive to that system. I had: Atari, NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, Xbox360, and PS4. I played a lot of Sega Genesis as well, at friends' houses.
These will be ranked based on my own enjoyment, including how much time they caused me to spend on them, fun I had playing them, and other criteria that is my own. I hope you enjoy, and maybe you'll go back and check some of these out if you missed them. I might replay some of them myself.
100. Maniac Mansion: If you never played Maniac Mansion, then you missed out. The gameplay isn't complicated, and it's not packed with non-stop action, but it is a terrific, weird, funny adventure that was highly entertaining. Replay value was tremendous, because you could play with different characters, resulting in a different path through the game, with different endings. It's also one of the few games involving a tentacle that isn't rated "Adults Only". It was creative, and I enjoyed every second of it.
99. Far Cry 2: I only recently discovered the Far Cry series when a friend of mine bought Far Cry: Primal. As it turns out, the next time I was at Gamestop, they had a 4 for $20 sale going on, and Far Cry 2 was one of the options. The malaria idea was a good attempt at being different, though it was annoying. It was the huge open world, and the fun combat that drew me in. It wasn't perfect, but there was plenty to do, and it was pretty great graphically. It was good enough to get me interested in playing the rest of the series, but more on that later.
98. Xenogears: Squaresoft (Square Enix) knows how to do role-playing games. Plenty more on that later, also. Less famous than some of the other RPG series from that era, that doesn't mean it's an inferior game. The story is every bit as good as any other, and it did wind up being the beginning of a very good series, if not as popular as other Square titles. Though it didn't have the lasting impression on me, I do remember enjoying it a lot. I need to go back and play it again, and the rest of the series as well.
97. Excitebike: There was nothing fancy about Excitebike. It was simply driving around in circles and avoiding obstacles, or jumping ramps. The graphics weren't amazing, the gameplay was sort of repetitive, and I played it relentlessly. I loved the jumps, the challenge, and the ability to build my own track was pretty cool as well. Sometimes a game doesn't need a great story. It just needs to be fun, and I played Excitebike over and over again. It never really got old.
96. Angry Birds: Who didn't get caught up a little in the Angry Birds phenomenon? It was a pretty simple way to get lost for a bit on my phone, and the strategy aspect appealed to me. It was important for me to get all three stars. I played through the original, and a few of the sequels, and eventually grew tired of it, but I had a blast with it for a short period of time. That's all I can ask for in a mobile game.
95. Bases Loaded: Baseball games are so much more involved these days. You can track every imaginable stat, manage the front office, make trades, and that's not even taking graphics into account. However, I've always preferred the simpler times when it comes to baseball. Bases loaded was one of a number of enjoyable baseball games from the early days. It didn't have the real players, but it boasted good graphics for the time, and more importantly, was fun. Everybody had a favorite team, but everybody I know wanted to play with Paste (you know if you played it).
94. Pitfall: Now we go way back. Picture it: Small-town Kentucky, a small kid just discovering video games when his grandmother, who lives next door, buys an Atari. Among the games was a title called Pitfall. He inserts the cartridge and is transported to a land of crocodiles, vines, and holes in the ground. He gets frustrated when he successfully lands on a croc, just as it opens its mouth, but he loves the increasing difficulty as logs start rolling at him, and he works that much harder to be better. That little boy was me. Pitfall was awesome.
93. Parasite Eve II: Most of the games that I played as a kid/teenager were from rental. I saved up and bought a Playstation when it came out, but my parents bought my first game, and it was the last game that they bought me before I moved out. The game was Parasite Eve II. I hadn't played the first one, and hadn't even heard of it, but it was a game, and it looked interesting, so I dove in. It was part RPG, part Resident Evil, and hard, but fun. Square made it, which will be a recurring theme.
92. Secret of Mana: Just in case you didn't catch on, I have always loved Square RPG's. Secret of Mana was another interesting fantasy story, and I believe it was the first one I played with a real time battle system. That added a degree of fun to the game, and made it a little different at the time. Like Xenogears, there were plenty of sequels, and I haven't played most of them, but this game was one of my favorite SNES games ever.
91. The Sims Series: OK. It's not a conventional RPG, but somehow the Sims games are a lot of fun. You jump into the life of a character, and do what people do. You get a job, clean house, eat meals, make friends, and have a family. It's a simple concept, but there's a million ways to play it, and you never play the same way twice. You can be a family man, a bachelor on the town, a criminal, and even a murderer, if you choose. All in all, it's a nice, relaxing way to kill some time.
90. Frogger: Let's face it. Atari games don't hold up over time for the most part. At the time, though, it was the face of video gaming. I used to spend hours at my grandmother's house glued to games that nobody is playing these days. One game, though, that has stood the test of time, is Frogger. It has been remade on various platforms, but the underlying principle is the same. Get the frog to its home. I spent so many hours doing just that.
89. Super Mario Bros: There might not be a more iconic game in history than the first Super Mario Bros. I don't think this one really requires an explanation. It came with my NES, along with Duck Hunt of course. Since it was the only game I had, it got played a ton. There was a real sense of accomplishment in beating it, and rescuing the real Princess. All those Atari games got me into playing video games, but it was Super Mario Bros that made me a gamer.
88. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2: I don't remember where I got Pro Skater 2, and I was never into skateboarding, but I loved this game. Trying to master each course, and maximize the points to unlock other bonuses were as fun as any other sports game at the time. I actually still have it somewhere. Maybe it's time to dust off the board.
87. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: These kind of games are enjoyable for me, because they don't require a lot of thought, and they still retain a measure of fun over time, especially since there's really no "end". Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 built on its previous versions, adding even more options. You can play with a goal in mind, or just go into sandbox mode and play to your heart's content.
86. Bully: Rockstar is known for another series of games, but Bully was a solid effort from them. It plays basically like Grand Theft Auto, only without the "auto" and from the perspective of a teenage boy. It's not the most original gameplay, but the story was pretty fun, and I got plenty of game hours on it before sending it back to GameFly. A sequel has been talked about, but not forthcoming. I'd play it.
85. Super Mario RPG: What happens when your cross Square with the most recognizable character in video game history? Super Mario RPG, that's what. It wasn't just a gimmick either. It was well put together, and an interesting, fun game. It put Mario in a whole new light, and was one of my favorite entries in the long, and varied Mario series of games.
84. RBI Baseball: As I've said, where baseball games are concerned, simpler has always been better for me. RBI Baseball was the first game, that I know of, that had actual major league players' names, and it made it even better. My friends and I would play each other constantly, sometimes even pausing a game, and leaving it for hours while we did something else, before coming back to finish it. It was a game that, for a while, we planned our time around.
83. Sim City Series: Like Rollercoaster Tycoon, Sim City was a nice way to kill time without having to stress too much. I've played several different versions, and though each one has more and more options, the premise is the same, and always enjoyable. Being able to send a disaster to destroy everything I just built was kinda fun as well.
82. Wii Bowling: OK. This is cheating a bit. Wii Bowling isn't, itself, an actual game. It's just one part of a larger collection of games, but it's by far my favorite. I played tennis some, and baseball a little, but it was bowling that I spent most of my time on. It also gave a lot of enjoyment to the family. I bowled against my daughter, my wife, and even my parents a few times. It was a fun game for me, but the added value of family involvement gets it on this list.
81. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: If you know me, you know I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan. So, I take any chance to play a new game set on Middle-Earth. Shadow of Mordor didn't feature the characters we all know and love, but it had the familiar setting and those damned orcs. It also had a very cool feature where the chieftains had feuds and battles. It would have been much higher on the list, but it got a little repetitive after a while. Still, I had a ton of fun with it.
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