G4's Top 100 Games of All Time

[Byrne]

Lots of people are heavily questioning some of the picks made for this list. See if you agree with them or think G4 is just full of morons like I do:

100. Pong
99. Words With Friends
98. Pitfall
97. NBA 2K11
96. Guitar Hero II
95. Burger Time
94. Braid
93. Star Wars: Tie Fighter
92. Galaga
91. The Sims
90. Baldur's Gate II
89. Left 4 Dead
88. Double Dribble
87. Mass Effect 2
86. Out Run
85. Silent Hill 2
84. Wii Sports
83. Ninja Gaiden
82. Super Smash Bros. Melee
81. Resident Evil
80. Gears Of War 3
79. PsychoNauts
78. Spy Hunter
77. Excitebike
76. Blades Of Steel
75. Fallout 3
74. Starfox 64
73. Mega Man II
72. Mortal Kombat
71. Wing Commander II
70. Star Wars
69. Double Dragon
68. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
67. Minecraft
66. Assassin's Creed II
65. Unreal Tournament
64. NBA Jam
63. Wolfenstein 3D
62. Civilization II
61. God Of War III
60. Contra
59. Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tenacle
58. Ultimata Online
57. Pokemon Red/Blue
56. Super Street Fighter IV
55. Kingdom Hearts
54. Gauntlet
53. Deus Ex
52. Rock Band 3
51. Ratchet & Clank Going Commando
50. Sonic The Hedgehog
49. Angry Birds
48. Tecmo Bowl
47. Must
46. Red Dead Redemption
45. Metal Gear Solid
44. Grand Theft Auto IV
43. Quake III: Arena
42. Ghosts 'N Goblins
41. Super Mario 64
40. Space Invaders
39. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
38. Super Metroid
37. Halo
36. Batman: Arkham City
35. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
34. Counter Strike
33. Final Fantasy VII
32. Mike Tyson's Punch Out
31. Skyrim
30. Super Street Fighter II Turbo
29. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
28. Super Mario Kart
27. Chrono Trigger
26. Ico
25. Grand Theft Auto III
24. Madden 2005
23. Halo 3
22. Panzer Dragoon Saga
21. Resident Evil IV
20. Call of Duty 4
19. Diablo II
18. Ms. Pac-Man
17. StarCraft
16. Half-Life
15. Donkey Kong
14. Uncharted 2
13. Portal
12. Doom II
11. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
10. World of Warcraft
9. Shadow of the Colossus
8. Goldeneye
7. Super Mario Bros. 3
6. The Legend of Zelda

5. Tetris

4. Asteroids

3. Bioshock

2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

1. Super Mario Bros.

Some of the games I'm particularly questioning: Angry Birds at #49? The fuck? Asteroids at FOURTH?!?!?!

 

[VKCA]

Yeah sorry old games can't compete with new games. Nobody finds asteroids more enjoyable than like.. half life or halo or something
Including old games and trying to argue that "they were good for their time" is stupid. While they may have been, it doesn't make them any better now.
The best video games are always going to be the most recent (within reason), anybody who disagrees needs to take off those pink shades.

tealdeer: Including games from the eighties or early nineties is stupid.


Also; isn't this thread going to degenerate pretty quickly into "why isn't x here, why is y there, and why didn't they include z?"

Edit: see below four posts

 

[Shiny Mew2]

Why the fuck is Minecraft at #67. And why isn't either Battlefront on here. Some of these are good, but they have the scoring wrong.

 

[alamaster]

Wii Sports at 84? lol...and I don't agree with all the "band" games on there either (guitar hero/rock band) but at least it isn't as bad as this one:

https://www.playfire.com/a/blog/win...ion-announced-and-top-100-best-games-revealed

Hide

Top 100 Best Game of All Time by Playfire Community and Friends

1 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 6,056
2 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 4,381
3 Battlefield 3 3,992
4 Call Of Duty 3 3,266
5 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2,496
6 Final Fantasy VII 2,369
7 Grand Theft Auto IV 1,881
8 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 1,795
9 Team Fortress 2 1,690
10 Gears of War 3 1,672
11 Call of Duty Black Ops 1,637
12 Mass Effect 3 1,498
13 Halo: Combat Evolved 1,437
14 Halo: Reach 1,432
15 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 1,370
16 Halo 3 1,320
17 Battletoads 1,280
18 Portal 2 1,271
19 Half Life 1: Anthology 1,201
20 Minecraft 1,021
21 Chrono Trigger 950
22 Super Mario Bros. 861
23 Red Dead Redemption 851
24 Metal Gear Solid 835
25 GoldenEye 007 (1997) 794
26 Fallout 3 789
27 Super Mario Bros. 3 769
28 Dota 2 740
29 Half-Life 2 740
30 Mass Effect 732
31 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 713
32 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 691
33 Halo 2 668
34 Assassin's Creed II 661
35 Super Mario World 608
36 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception 582
37 Super Mario 64 560
38 Mass Effect 2 550
39 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves™ 518
40 World of Warcraft 483
41 Batman: Arkham City 459
42 StarCraft II 444
43 Final Fantasy X 412
44 God of War® III 405
45 Counter-Strike: Source 390
46 BioShock 384
47 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 382
48 Portal 375
49 Diablo II: Lord of Destruction 344
50 League of Legends - Clash of Fates 343
51 Diablo II 343
52 The Orange Box 338
53 Halo: CE Anniversary 325
54 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 324
55 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 321
56 Shadow of the Colossus 315
57 Dark Souls 300
58 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 296
59 The Legend of Zelda 294
60 Final Fantasy VIII 292
61 Fallout 2 286
62 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 278
63 Final Fantasy VI 261
64 StarCraft 260
65 Kingdom Hearts II 257
66 Forza Motorsport 4 256
67 Deus Ex 255
68 StarCraft: Brood War 253
69 Kingdom Hearts 248
70 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 243
71 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood 240
72 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 239
73 Diablo 3 235
74 Counter Strike: Global Offensive 228
75 Borderlands 226
76 Final Fantasy IX 221
77 Left 4 Dead 2 217
78 Super Metroid 217
79 Half-Life 213
80 FIFA 12 211
81 Tetris 204
82 Pokémon Red Version 201
83 Saints Row: The Third 201
84 Fallout: New Vegas 195
85 HEAVY RAIN™ 194
86 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 190
87 Call of Duty: World at War 179
88 Planescape: Torment 177
89 Shenmue 176
90 Dragon Age: Origins 170
91 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Game of the Year Edition) 170
92 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn 168
93 Assassin's Creed 165
94 Gears of War 164
95 Battlefield 2 163
96 Super Smash Bros. Melee 160
97 League of Legends 159
98 The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 157
99 Mass Effect 2 154
100 Resident Evil 4 152

 

[Byrne]

I agree VKCA. I mean, I'm not upset much at all about Super Mario Bros, but ASTEROIDS over OoT? That's just outrageous.

And don't even get me started on MADDEN 2005 OVER KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC. I love me some Madden, but ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

 

[BattleStar]

Link to the past is 2nd? It's actually a fun game but I would not say it should be placed at second. This whole list is an interesting mash up. I am surprised actually Pokemon Black or White didn't show up. Neither did platinum.I have no idea why Tetris is even below 50 much less in the top five. If anything I would barely let it be on here.

 

[zorbees]

Yeah sorry old games can't compete with new games. Nobody finds asteroids more enjoyable than like.. half life or halo or something
Including old games and trying to argue that "they were good for their time" is stupid. While they may have been, it doesn't make them any better now.
The best video games are always going to be the most recent (within reason), anybody who disagrees needs to take off those pink shades.

tealdeer: Including games from the eighties or early nineties is stupid.


Also; isn't this thread going to degenerate pretty quickly into "why isn't x here, why is y there, and why didn't they include z?"

Edit: see below four posts

cool story bro

 

[Philip7086]

I'm convinced G4 is just trying to commit suicide in general at this point. No Adam Sessler, no Kevin Piererra, and now arguably the worst top 100 list I've seen.

 

[VKCA]

cool story bro

Am
am I missing something?

 

[Byrne]

I'm convinced G4 is just trying to commit suicide in general at this point. No Adam Sessler, no Kevin Piererra, and now arguably the worst top 100 list I've seen.

Losing Adam Sessler is almost a gift, but Kevin was probably the last cool thing about G4. Kevin was like the prime example of just a cool dude that almost anyone would wanna chill with. Now all they have left is Morgan Webb, who is an abomination, various annoying dudes, some hot women that are nice to look at occasionally, Cops, and Ninja Warrior, which is all that's keeping them afloat anymore.

 

[ENZ0]

Am
am I missing something?

Yea you made a hasty generalization.

 

[mingot]

It's pretty obvious that a lot of games were included in this list because they were groundbreaking and influenced other games -- not sure how that makes them the best. Historically important, yes. The best, nah.

Comments on some below.

Lots of people are heavily questioning some of the picks made for this list. See if you agree with them or think G4 is just full of morons like I do:

100. Pong - This was not really a great game, but it was pretty fucking novel. Cool story about this being put into a bar and the owner complaining that it was broken. Turns out it was just full of money.

98. Pitfall - I'd put this game higher. It still stands up fairly well. Pitfall 2 was better, though!

95. Burger Time - Fun game, nuff said.

92. Galaga - This is a game that I still play. When I move into a bigger house and I have room for shit like this, I will own one. And a Sinistar. And a Ms. Pacman.

91. The Sims - Fuck this. Replace with Sim City and you are on to something.

80. Gears Of War 3 - Just no. Gears 1 was better. Yeah, this had refinements, but I'd still enjoy a 1 replay more.

78. Spy Hunter - For the music alone this game is awesome.

77. Excitebike - I was always terrible at this game.

75. Fallout 3 - Great game.

74. Starfox 64 - This one is interesting. LOVED it on the N64. Recent replay on the 3DS was pertty terrible. Maybe it just wasn't the right game to port to a small screen.

58. Ultimata Online - Not spelled correctly. Best game I have every played. More hours logged into this game than I care to admit. Of course games can be patched these days. This one became terrible.

41. Super Mario 64 - AMAZING game. Blew all my dough on an N64 after playing a 10 minute demo of this game.

40. Space Invaders - Trend setting, sure, but this game was never incredibly fun. Nowhere near as fast and fluid as galaga.

31. Skyrim - Same game as fallout. Why on list twice?

30. Super Street Fighter II Turbo - This is the #1 reason that I didn't finish college. It's hard to pass classes when all you do is hang out at the commons and pump quarters into this machine.

23. Halo 3 - In the end what bungie did with online stats integration turned out to be more interesting than the game.

18. Ms. Pac-Man - I remember the first time I saw this game at the arcade and thinking how great the graphics were. This was cutting edge shit right here.

15. Donkey Kong - This was a great game. Quite difficult, but at the same time it didn't scale up to impossible too quickly.

13. Portal - Love this game.

11. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Strange, I could never get into this. I got it the day it came out and never finished it. Loved wind waker, though.

8. Goldeneye - Sniper rifle. I was hooked. Had no gamer friends when I bought this, though, so completely missed out on the multiplayer.

5. Tetris - Sure, as long as you are talking about the gameboy version of this game. Nothing even comes close.

4. Asteroids - Another popular 80's quarter eater that I never got into. Won't be buying one of these.

3. Bioshock - Probably the best atmosphere in a story. Except maybe eternal darkness was better. Eternal darkness should be on this list!


1. Super Mario Bros - If you say so!

Some of the games I'm particularly questioning: Angry Birds at #49? The fuck? Asteroids at FOURTH?!?!?!

 

[6-Dimension]

I'm a fan of the high placement of Tetris, despite being an old game it has not lost anything over the years. I'm also pleased at Chrono Trigger in the Top 30, it seems somewhat overlooked by modern gamers.

Other than that though...

 

[mingot]

Yeah sorry old games can't compete with new games.

Some can.

Galaga.

Tempest.

Ms. Pacman.

Gameboy Tetris.

 

[Byrne]

Some can.

Galaga.

Tempest.

Ms. Pacman.

Gameboy Tetris.

But not Asteroids, for god sakes. And while those games are definitely fun, do they really deserve to be placed over so many of the great games being made today? I mean, I'd put damnable Mario Party over any of these if we're using today's standards. I think people should stop using "historical importance" for lists like these.

 

[faint]

I'm convinced G4 is just trying to commit suicide in general at this point. No Adam Sessler, no Kevin Piererra, and now arguably the worst top 100 list I've seen.

this.

also neogaf was laughing at this list before it was even made.

 

[More Cowbell]

I wonder what the list is based on. Readers who can vote? One person's experience?

 

[mingot]

But not Asteroids, for god sakes. And while those games are definitely fun, do they really deserve to be placed over so many of the great games being made today? I mean, I'd put damnable Mario Party over any of these if we're using today's standards. I think people should stop using "historical importance" for lists like these.

I agree on asteroids. It was not a great game when it came out, IMO. I never did like it.

If historical, it was one of the first games where you had complete long and lat freedom.

I'd say Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. also stand up well today.

 

[zorbees]

Sonic is a prime example of old > new, and I was surprised that Sonic was not placed much better than 50. Regarding Tetris, its a classic that has not lost its luster much if at all. I am kinda surprised with all the iPhone gaming stuff that you don't hear much about Tetris in that field, it seems like it would be a perfect match.

That being said, there isn't really any criteria listed apart from the title, "Top 100 games", which can mean almost anything. In my opinion, impact on the industry should absolutely be taken into account in these lists.

EDIT: #47 is supposed to be myst, right?

 

[HiipFire]

I think the fact that Words with Friends is on the list delegitimizes the entire list.

 

[Lee]

Yeah sorry old games can't compete with new games

there's a favourite video games thread in this forum that would disagree - absolutely loads of SNES/PSOne/N64 games but very few entries from the current generation! explain that one.

any top 100 games list is gonna be heavily debated because there's so many variables and undefined criteria but this one just seems random at times. I loved Bioshock but that is an inexplicably high rating, God of War 3 is the weakest in the trilogy imo and yet the only one to make an appearance, no Metroid Prime anywhere, no Super Mario Galaxy titles (currently rated as the 2nd and 3rd highest scoring games of all time on gamerankings)...

whatever...i could personally compile a list of my own top 100 games and even then i would end up criticising it - it's a poisoned chalice so i'm not gonna grill these guys too hard

 

[Fisdunction]

Just a few that caught my eye.

100. Pong - hurp durr
97. NBA 2K11 - SPORTZ
94. Braid - No
84. Wii Sports - Seriously?
78. Spy Hunter - What makes this worthy of the list?
73. Mega Man II - 3 was arguably better but okay
68. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - SHOULD BE HIGHER
67. Minecraft - Probably no, not really
64. NBA Jam - SPURTZ
57. Pokemon Red/Blue - Oh okay so this is a nostalgia thing...
56. Super Street Fighter IV - wait what
50. Sonic The Hedgehog - But 2 was an improvement in every way...
35. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Yes
31. Skyrim - No
29. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - NO
24. Madden 2005 - SPARTZ
19. Diablo II - Nostalgia again, there are others like it that have improved upon it
13. Portal - Deserved
5. Tetris - Fucking seriously?
4. Asteroids - ...
1. Super Mario Bros. - WOW WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING

Seconding Cowbell's post. I really want to know what this is based off. It isn't nostalgia, it isn't innovation, and it isn't quality. It really is a mixed bag of random shit.

 

[Byrne]

Words With Friends: hay lets take scrabble and rip it off and make it so you can play wit ur buds on a phone

G4: 99TH BEST GAME OF ALL TIME! BETTER THAN BANJO KAZOOIE AND DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 2 AND METROID PRIME AND MARIO GALAXY!!!

 

[Glen]

to be honest i've never found lists like this worth arguing over. discussing, sure, but asking 'why is x number 75 and y number 30' is kind of senseless if we're operating under either the idea that video games are an artistic medium or the idea that they exist for people to have fun, as the goals and results of both are completely subjective

i always thought ck was retarded when he talked about bands that were 'objectively' good and i guess i just dont see how this is any different?

 

[Byrne]

to be honest i've never found lists like this worth arguing over. discussing, sure, but asking 'why is x number 75 and y number 30' is kind of senseless if we're operating under either the idea that video games are an artistic medium or the idea that they exist for people to have fun, as the goals and results of both are completely subjective

i always thought ck was retarded when he talked about bands that were 'objectively' good and i guess i just dont see how this is any different?

There's still general, almost universally-agreed upon conclusions about almost every form of media. The Beatles are among the best ever. The Godfather is one of the best movies ever. The Scarlet Letter is one of the greatest novels. Lists like these are indeed subjective in some ways so they'll obviously be different, but there are just some decisions that make no sense regardless of who you are. You could NEVER justify to me that Angry Birds is the 49th greatest game ever made, especially when it is LITERALLY a carbon copy of dozens of flash games that have been around for a decade.