Greatest Video Games of All Time - The Top 60 Counted Down
50 – Galaga - One of the strongest memories from my childhood was the time I spent at the local arcade. With a wild cacophony of sounds from pinball games, air hockey, pool and foosball tables, and the blips and beeps from dozens of standup arcade machines it was truly a place of wonder for an 8 year old. During that magical time the one game that captured the bulk of the quarters earned from my paper route was the space shooter Galaga. Simple in concept you could only travel in a horizontal line at the bottom of the screen while wave upon wave of enemy ships descended on you. Still, it was enormously fun and represented a golden age of video games when the high score ruled.
49 – Perfect Dark - Nintendo hit a homerun with their partnership with flagship developer Rare back in the N64 days. After their runaway success with the critically acclaimed GoldenEye: 007 Rare delivered another FPS classic with 2000’s Perfect Dark. The game was a technical tour-de-force for the N64 console with incredible graphics and Dolby surround sound. Though not as popular with the mainstream crowd as GoldenEye the game is considered a cult classic and one of the system’s best games by many hardcore gamers.
48 – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Over the past decade a subgenre of first person shooters has gained increasing popularity. First person war simulators have sold millions of copies over that time and there has been arguably no more popular franchise than Activision’s Call of Duty series. Despite the critical acclaim of the previous chapters and the huge anticipation for COD4 back in 2007 developer Infinity Ward managed to shatter everyone’s expectations, creating a military shooter that has set the gold standard for the genre. With incredible realism, uncanny representations of World War II weaponry, and intense action the game is about as immersive as it gets.
47 – Fallout - Though when most people hear the term RPG they immediately think of swords, sorcery, dungeons and dragons. However, with Fallout, Bethesda created a futuristic RPG that was freshly original and challenged traditional RPGs for the title of best game in the genre. Despite its turn-based combat system the game still seems action-packed and with a beefy character development system that includes skills, traits, karma and reputation players have plenty of options for developing their characters. The game received huge critical acclaim and routinely shows up on lists from major gaming publications like IGN and Gamespot as one of the best PC games of all time.
46 – Space Invaders - Yep, I’m going old school for this next selection. Though kids growing up today might scoff at the simplicity of a game like Space Invaders, back in the day this incredibly addictive shooter robbed kids of their allowances as they pumped quarters in to try and make it just one wave further, and eclipse the high scores of their friends.
45 – Rock Band - After turning the video game industry on its ear with the release of the massive smash hit Guitar Hero developer Harmonix decided to raise the bar even further, incorporating drums, a bass guitar and a microphone to bring the full band experience to people’s living rooms. Rock Band may just be the greatest party game of all time, and along with Guitar Hero is responsible with bringing in a new class of gamer to video gaming. Though it is more expensive (and takes up more room) than your average video game this title is a must have for anyone who loves music.
44 – Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec - Really, I could have put any of Polyphony’s critically acclaimed Gran Turismo racing series on this list. All of the games in the series are incredibly polished, feature a depth and a realism unmatched by any other video game driving simulator, and still have an incredible fun factor to boot. I chose GT3: A-Spec because it was the first driving video game that was so graphically impressive that it came close to watching a race on television. Somehow Polyphony just seems to be able to squeeze a little bit more out of Sony’s systems than any other developer and that was never more apparent than with the gorgeous GT3.
43 – Metroid Prime - Not only does it have the best first party franchises in the video gaming biz, over the years Nintendo has managed to acquire some of the best third party developers as well. With 2002’s Metroid Prime for the Gamecube Developer Retro Studios took the hugely popular Metroid Prime series into three dimensions for the first time. Ranking up there with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark as one of the best first person shooters on a Nintendo console Metroid Prime sold more than a million copies and its protagonist female bounty hunter Samus Aran is one of the most recognizable figures in video game lore.
42 – Deus Ex - Much like Fallout Ion Storm’s Deus Ex is a game that turns the traditional RPG genre on its ear. Also a first person shooter with many of the traits of an action-adventure game the title appeals to a wider gamut of gamers than most RPGs. With a cyberpunk theme and an incredibly detailed plot that could rival many Hollywood scripts the game is as about as immersive as it gets. Unfortunately, despite its incredible single player mode, the game shipped with no multiplayer option. However, the developers quickly realized their mistake and added that functionality in later patches, and though the afterthought multiplayer doesn’t measure up against its competitors it adds enough replay value to ensure this title a rightful spot on the list of the best video games ever made.
41 – Super Mario Kart - One of the best things about video games is the social aspect of sitting on a couch, going head to head against your buddies and trash-talking them as you lay the smack down. This is a tradition that goes back to the days of the Atari 2600, and has only gotten stronger over the years despite the proliferation of online multiplayer options. However, no game before or since has been as successful at developing that buddy rivalry as Nintendo’s Super Kart. The cute little racing game enjoyed massive popularity in its day, and the more than 8 million copies sold make it the third best-selling game of all time on Nintendo’s SNES system. Want to take a trip down memory lane? Next time you’ve got a few buddies over pull out the old SNES, and pop in this game. I guarantee you’ll have an absolute blast, and will be forcibly reminded that fancy graphics are a very small part of the equation when it comes to gaming enjoyment.
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