The 100 best games of all time

Pretty good list, most of the games I thought should be on are. First place is a commendable choice :D I would have put Planescape: Torment for sure though. In one of the top places. I mean, come on. Also Devil May Cry 3 and some game from the Thief series.

My only qualm with this article...thought-out, nuanced, justified, and spot-on...was that it was "only" 100 games. I might despise some of the games on the list, but they do deserve to be there...I've gamed long enough to know that 'Games I like' and 'Important Games' are a Venn Diagram, not mutually inclusive. I can think of several others that I'd be heartbroken if they weren't at least considered, and could have just as easily ended up on the list on another day. 1: Descent: Freespace 2. The definitive open-space shooter, and the game that gave George Lucas so much p*nis envy that he tried [and failed] to one-up it in the last prequel movie. 2: Metroid Prime. While it's a repeat, it does at least deserve mention...though if the list has to have just one Metroid, Super deserves to be on the list. 3: Monkey Island. 'Nuff said. 4: Descent 2. While Descent 3 was a lot prettier, the attempt to mix-and-match wide-open space and tight corridor levels would sink its multiplayer. Descent 2 did what the non-freespace games did best...claustrophobic, vertigo-inducing, and frantic. 5: Thief 2. An amazing stealth game that could teach even today's stealth games a thing or two about level design and mechanics. 6: Tribes 2. Planetside did it better, but Tribes 2 did it first. They're two sides of a coin...one persistent, the other server-based. 7: Mechwarrior 2/3/4: While you could argue all day long about which deserves to be on the list...#2's physics-defying ability to run in DOS and alternatively pulse-pounding or spine-chilling soundtrack, #3's 100% accurate to the board game build system, or #4's to-this-day playability, all 3 games have made their waves. #2: Mercenaries is best left for nostalgia...butt-ugly and at times highly unfair...#4 has stood the test of time despite its awful build system. 8: Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. The pinnacle for both its franchise and the franchise it's spun off of. While the game isn't as immaculately balanced as Starcraft, it makes up for it in approachability. It also showed that intentional B-movie writing can be the perfect foil to an otherwise addictive, hair-raising plot. Too bad its expansion pack was terrible, the sharpest contrast between passionate developer and soul-less EABorg sequel-factory seen yet. 9: Black and White. While it had its flaws...not everyone was a behavioral psychologist, so oftentimes one's "creatures" had the strangest personality quirks, such a self-immolating cow or an ape with learned helplessness...it was also charming. [I'm not joking...in trying to teach my cow 'cast fireballs on other creatures', it learned 'cast fireballs on all creatures. I'm a creature. Cast fireballs on myself.', and my putting out the fires eventually taught it 'Fire bad. Use rain to put out fire. I'm on fire. Use rain on me.' For the rest of the game, it'd randomly set itself ablaze, much to the awe of the little people, then put itself out right before dying] 10: Ragnarok Online. While there's no (legitimate) way to play it outside of the Pacific Rim, RO has a depth of character progression and sprawling world to match WoW, all with a charming, anime-inspired personality, and a set of mobs that is so varied it borders on the silly, yet none feel out of place. Its one fault (often 'fixed' on illegitimate servers via XP rate boosts) was that the character progression was painfully slow; it could take years of dedicated play to reach the top levels. 11: Duke Nukem 3D. Much like Bulletstorm is doing today, Duke proved that unadulterated attitude and not taking oneself 100% serious 100% of the time was a ton of fun. 12: Dungeon Keeper 2. The sequel to the RTS that turned RTS on its head, DK2 greatly refined everything in the original, from its gameplay to its humor. The loss of 'creature evolutions' [hitting a high enough level to start over as a better creature...the only way to get Dragons] was missed, but only momentarily. 13: Rollercoaster Tycoon (series): By and far the single best business sim game, it catered to both whimsical builders and micromanagers alike. 14: One Must Fall: 2097. A PC fighting game that was far ahead of its time, boasting several firsts for the genre: character customization, a 'career mode' that tasked the player with buying/upgrading/repairing their machine as well as their fighter's stats, and eschewed blood for flying nuts, bolts, and tight gameplay with tons of secrets. A shame its sequel was panned for going against the grain and introducing a play format + control scheme ahead of its time. 15: The Settlers 4: It never took off in the US, but The Settlers manages to make planning an entire economy fun, everything from chopping wood to make tools to cut stone to build a castle...in a game with tons of personality to boot. You'd think it'd be easy to make a list of 100, but there's just so many contenders...and while these could be on the list, all the ones on it deserve to be too...

I would swap Okami and Portal, and I would also represent one of the Phoenix Wright games for keeping the point and click genre going. Or Ghost Trick. I applaud you guys for not going with the obvious choices, but Portal personally does seem to be far too high.

Though I am offended by Dragon Quest 8's placement, I do agree that this is a rather... competent list.

YOU MEAN TETRIS IS BETTER THAN HALO REACH?! RAGE!

hmm it's a little overcrowded with multiple sequels, and SSFIV, Uncharted 2 are waaaay too high on the list (both are EXCELLENT games btw), but hey... SotC is top 10 and Portal #1 :)

Kinda sad Devil May Cry 3 didn't make the list, but still great job, GR!

I was actually really getting scared that Chrono Trigger wouldn't be on the list by the time I got to it lol. I like how the sequel wasn't even acknowledged lol

adding to my comment above... is this the greatest early aprils fools joke ever, cuz it seems like it!!!

Top 100 games of all time???!!! or worst game list of all time???!!! I simply cannot believe some of the games that are in there, the whole list is out of order (this whole court is out of order LOL!!!). where the hell is Ocarina of Time? most normal people say that IS the best game of all time, not portal (eventhough i love that game), with games like super metroid, resident evil 4, metal gear solid, Smash bros melee not even making the top ten shows how utterly atrocious this list is. i hate myself now just for wasting my time reading this!!!

There are a lot more shit games in the top 30 than in the rest of the list, just saying. And SSFIV at 13? Really? You guys ever played a different fighter? Didn't think so.

If I could add two games to this list, those two games would be Deadly Premonition and The Suffering. However, that would notch the number up to 102 and, consequently, the world would implode.

A bit dissapointed with the list and the games you put in the top ten, but I'm always dissapointed with "Top 100 Games Ever" lists.

WTF?!! PORTAL IS YOUR NUMBER 1?!!?!?!? WERE U GUYS FUCKING HIGH WHEN U WROTE THIS?!?!?!...just kidding...but, seriously, Portal?!....SERIOUSLY.....PORTAL?!?!?!

Twilight Princess and Wind Waker better than Ocarina Of Time? You broke my heart, GR, you broke my heart... And am I the only person to prefer Tony Hawk 2 to TH3? Better soundtrack, great levels... I still fire it up today. Ah well, opinions eh? Aren't they great? No, they're not. They're rubbish.

Oh and no Monkey Island. What the fuck GR?!

Don't know if I agree with Portal at number 1 or not but either way it's still a great game. I agree Wind Waker is the best Zelda game though. But I thought Penumbra would be in there somewhere, it's the only game that's ever genuinely scared me.

WHY IS SHENMUE ONLY AT #93?! IT'S ONE OFF THE ALL-TIME GREATS AND DESERVES TO A LEAST BE IN THE TOP 10!

*looks at number 100* *flies into an uncontrollable rage* *squints until 100 looks more like a 10 and feels much better*

I am glad that Killer 7 made the list though. It's probably the only game that Ive played that has bad gameplay. yet is still brilliant.I can't understand why Bioshock is here and not System Shock 2 though. Bioshock is just a dumbed down version of that game and Shodan is greater than Glados. Ico is also better than Shadow of the Colossus