Coin-Op's 100 Greatest Video Games

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

So here they are. The top 100 videogames of all time as voted for by you, the distinguished public.

So anyway before I get started on the 100, let's see what missed out...

Well due to the large number of 8 ratings for the games between 97 and 108 I'm only including the two games that had at least two people nominating them. So actually it's the top 98 games.

The other games that scored 8 were:

Abe's Exodus

Abe's Odyssey

Baten Kaitos

Battletoads

Katamari Damacy

Knights of the Old Republic 2

MLB 08: The Show

NBA Jam

Star Wars: Battlefront 2

Tombi

In total there were 222 games nominated.

204-222 scored just 1 point.

186-203 scored just 2 points.

173-185 scored just 3 points.

152-172 scored just 4 points. Interestingly two of these games were nominated twice, just in tenth place for each person! Star Fox 64 and Super Metroid.

131-153 scored just 5 points.

119 to 130 scored just 6 points. Street Fighter Alpha 3 was voted for by two people.

109-118 scored just 7 points.

So there you go.

Edited September 19, 2008 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[MalaCloudy Black]

Liar.

We're not distinguished.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Using the word "plebs" just sounded a bit mean.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

98: Rome:Total War

8 points - 1pt / 3pts

Until Empire Total War comes out, Rome is probably the best realised of the Total War series. I own it, I love it and it even had two TV series which used it - Time Commanders (with Richard Hammond) and Decisive Battles. It even has an excellent Napoleonic Wars patch for it that works nicely and looks good too.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Criminally low for such a magnificent strategy game.

97: The Day Of The Tentacle

8 points - 1 pt / 3pts

The eighth game to use the SCUMM engine (which was also used in this sensational line-up: Manic Mansion, Zak McKraken, Indy Jones Last Crusade, Indy Jones Fate of Atlantis, Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2, Passport To Adventure, Loom, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle, The Dig and The Curse of Monkey Island). DOTT was hilarious and enjoyable as you played three kids working through three different times as you tried to thwart the evil intentions of two villainous (well one more so than the other) tentacles. To be fair at least half of those games belong on this list.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: It's no Monkey Island but it's hella fun.

96: Streets Of Rage

9 points - 9pts

A classic Sega Genesis (or Sega Mega Drive in the UK) side scrolling fighter. It's often touted as the grandaddy of the arcade side scroller (see Golden Axe, Alien Storm etc) and has a huge fan base around the world. It was also released for the Game Gear and Master System...But sucked. It belonged on 16bit and has enjoyed a rennaissance on the Wii virtual console.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I preferred Golden Axe but Streets Of Rage stands out in an era of classic games.

95: Shenmue

9 points - 9pts

I've never played Shenmue but in the 16 months I worked at Gamestation I sold this relatively expensive "retro" Dreamcast game to many huge fans who would sing its' praises. At the time it was innovative in the freedom it offered it's players. If someone wants to pimp it in this thread please do. I grew to respect it from a sales point of view and it certainly offered a lot on the console that pioneered online gaming and holding stupidly huge, unwieldy control pads.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I'd actually like to play this some time. From what I've heard this belongs in the top 100 for it's significance.

Edited September 19, 2008 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[New Damage]

I'm liking what you're doing. I've only one of these before, SoR, and many years ago. From what I can remember, it was pretty good.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

94: Pokemon Emerald

9 points - 9pts

Pokemon Pokemon Pokemon. Ah yes, those games that count such great minds as plubby and PkmnJ among their fanbase. Something about collecting and fighting little evolving monsters right? The whole craze passed me by (I was a bit too old when it all kicked off - football stickers were more my thing) but I do remember it being huge. Emerald was the limited edition addition to Ruby and Sapphire, enhancing the two of them and becoming the secong best selling game in the USA in 2005 despite mixed reviews.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I couldn't care less but people love Pokemon more than I love MGS.

93: Final Fantasy XI

9 points - 9pts

Yup someone voted for this online baby. Apparantly it's still huge in Japan, mostly in it's PS2 guise but is best known in the UK and the US in it's 360 form. An MMORPG, I know virtually nothing of it and it seems that 99% of the people on this forum aren't into it nearly as much as the one of you who did vote for it (highly!)

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Wha?

92: Extreme Warfare Revenge 4.2

9 points - 9pts

Bah gawd JR! Who'd have thought it! Yup someone locked their lips around Mr Ryland's manhood with this entry. Still, I remember playing EWR over numerous versions and once I'd "fixed" it - i.e. replacing the silly real wrestlers with cooler moviestars - it was a fine piece of entertainment and could swallow hours of your time in a similar way that the person who voted for this is swallowing gallons of Ryland cum.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: There's one main reason why most of us ended up on EWB. This is one of the best editions of that reason.

91: Europa Universalis III

9 points - 9pts

I own this game and have tried to dip into it before running away screaming like a foolish school girl. There is a MONSTER of a strategy fiend on the disc. I became the Danes, made an uneasy peace with the Swedes, swept down into Northen Europe all but wiping out one of the smaller nations of 1453 (before offering them safety in return for their undying allegiance to me) and then promptly got overrun by half a dozen countries who weren't happy with my war mongering. I want to learn to play it properly. It sounds amazing, looks amazing, offers a scale and a depth that very few actually "enjoyable" strategy games can offer and even had a successful long running Coin-Op thread here in EWB.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: It makes my brain hurt.....But in a good way, like eating delicious ice cream too quickly. I'm amazed it's not higher.

[lanky316]

Two of my favourite games already gone in EU3 and RTW. Loved SoR too and Manic Mansion (though only mentioned and may not return ) took hours of my childhood

[probablyoliver]

I've never played Total War myself, but I have seen people play it and certainly looks pretty. I recently played through Streets of Rage again and couldn't complete it, by the 6th level it's nigh on impossible, but it's still one of the most addictive games of all time ever. Shenmue is wonderful. Just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Pokemon... meh. FFXI I still haven't played, but I do own it. EWR does deserve a place on the list, it's still a great little time-waster.

[METALMAN]

If I remember correctly I was the only one who voted for EUIII. I'm pretty surprised about that.

[Farmer Reil]

I liked M2TW way more than RTW (which I don't own but have played a bit). Probably more due to the time period than the gameplay though.

[Guest Kou]

I'm probably going to end up mirroring this list with my own comments, BECAUSE I WANTED TO DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE BUT HAMMY DIDN"T GET BACK TO ME. Expect pain. :@

[King Ellis]

Oh Hammy, the only true Time Commanders presenter was Eddie Mair.

[Guest Kou]

Sure, Hammy's list is all sunshines and sprinkles but what about a balanced view from the bitter, cynical, old man of the Coin-Op; Kou J Kouerson?

Yeah you know you want it, and not just Ellis! Maybe MPH. Maybe.

And with that I present to you my views on the list so far,

Under the Bridge with Kou J. Kouerson

Lol at a top 100 list having 98 and then not fixing this in the title name. ANYWAYS!

98 - Rome: Total War

How the hell is 1pt + 3 pts = 8 pts. Oh well.

I really have nothing bad to say about Rome: Total War other than Hammy is right it should be higher, it is easily the finest game in the Total War series and is probably the most brutal timesink out of all the games to make the list so far and probably the best game of the 98-90 block. Can't really make fun of this one. 8/10

97 - The Day of the Tentacle

Hey kids! Do you remember when LucasArts made good games? Wait, let me rephrase that. Do you remember when LucasArts made good games that you never played because you were a sniviling puss bag who didn't see the point in adventure games. Which in turn slowly killed the genre? YES!? Well then I have the game for you! Day of the Tentacle is the finest adventure game ever made by LucasArts. That being said, it's an adventure game and it's not the Neverhood so I hate it. Fuck you adventure games, I'm glad you died. 5/10 (Because Adventure games have a ratings cap of 7)

96 - Streets of Rage

So I guess this is here because a bunch of dicks just voted for the Streets of Rage series as a whole and not just the good one, Streets of Rage 3. If you actually voted for Streets of Rage instead of it's superior younger brother then you can just go to hell. Streets of Rage was a decent beat-em up but never had the speed and finesse that 3 does, that and it doesn't feature a young black man on rollerskates and that is crucial to a games score. / 10

95 - Shemue

And the 'Bring it behind the shed to shoot it in the face award' goes toooo, SHENMUE!!!! Jesus christ this is an awful game. Take everything that's fun about Day of the Tentacle and then hit it so many times in the face with a baseball bat that it's own mother doesn't recognize it anymore. This is without a doubt the worst video game to ever be made for the amount of money that was put into it, shit like this is why Sega is got relegated from the Premiership of consoles to the Confrence of making Olympic cash cow games with Mario in it.

Fuck you Yu Suzuki and fuck you Yoichi Takahasi, I want the time of my life I spent playing through Shenmue back. It is without question the worst game of the Dreamcast/64/PSX generation and possibly the worst game of all time. The kicker is THEY MADE A SEQUEL FOR THIS PEICE OF GARBAGE. THAILORS / 10

94 - Pokemon Emerald

Same old shit with new Pokemon, moving on.

93 - Final Fantasy XI

Now Hammy just seemed chuffed that this made this list and I am somewhat too. FFXI is a horrible MMO, any game on the PC that is "easier to play with a controller" shouldn't be on the goddamn PC in the first place. This awful waste of a blank disc should have just stuck to peddling the wares they have for the console market and left the PC market to WoW. A friend wanted me to play this with her and we split the first month's costso I could try it out. I played for half a month and then uninstalled in disgust due to how terrible it was. -3 /10 Fuck you for voting this in.

92 - Extreme Warfare Revenge 4.2

IT'S JUST COPY AND PASTE...AND YOU PEOPLE LOVE THIS SHIT.

91 - Europa Universalis III

Other wise known as the inbred cousin of Hearts of Iron. Europa is one of those 4X strategy games that caters to the history loving neckbeard in all of us. Did I say all of us? Sorry, sorry. I meant like five of us because these types of games will never be popular outside of beating it with a stick and calling it Europa Revolutions. If you want a Nazi simulator go with Hearts of Iron, if you want a inbreeding royalty simulator you've got it in Europa Universalis III. Just make sure to y'know, read the manual because it basically clubs you with Excel sheets constantly. /10

Until next time, I'm the internets Kou J. Kouerson. Fuck you your tastes in games suck. No I'm not spellchecking this I don't care.

[Plubby]

You silly, Kou it's in the voting thread. Weighting is given to more people voting for a game than one person voting a game really high, so the points are (points person A gave them + points person b gave them + etc) * (number of people who put this game in their top 10)

So for Rome: Total War

(1 +3) * 2 = 8

Edited September 21, 2008 by Plubby

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

90: Crash Bandicoot

9 points - 9pts

I remember Crash Bandicoot. It was the first game I ever owned on my Playstation. It was the first game I ever completed on the Playstation. I remember thinking at the time that it looked great and actually playing again recently it still kinda holds up graphically - mostly thanks to it's simplicity and bright colours. What was cool about Crash was that while it was still an on-the-rails 2D platformer, it pretended it was more. Some levels had you running into the screen, some being chased towards the screen, some sideways, some in and out of the screen. Lots of variety, lots of levels, lots of fun.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Great game but not the best platformer ever and probably about correctly positioned.

89: Championship Manager 2

9 points - 9pts

Think back to 1995. When things were all black and white, when dinosaurs ruled the earth and when Championship Manager allowed you to choose between English leagues and...erm...the Scottish leagues. Hell, I remember the really early CMs when you could buy the Italian League as a separate game. Still CM2 getting into the list is a bit of an oddity, but hey, we're still at the stage where it only takes one person to vote for it.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I have fonder memories of the earlier CMs and the later FMs are better.

88: Xenosaga Episode 1

10 points - 10pts

I played Xenosaga 2 on the PS2 once but never Xenosaga 1. As far as the series goes it's a bit of an oddity and the series has been plagued by a lot of controversy surrounding the sackings and resignations of devlopment employees. Game-wise Xenosaga scored 31/40 in Famitsu magazine - the market is is most targetted at....Which would suggest that it's not the best in it's field.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I hear 1 is far better than 2. Just as well really.

87: Tekken 5

10 points - 10pts

Technically great and positively received, Tekken 5 boasted some of the best PS2 graphics and a top quality fluid fighting system. While not attracting such a big cult following as Tekken 3 (seen as the other big success in the series), Tekken 5 is nonetheless a great example of a flowing, fast moving multi-discipline fighting game...With pandas, and wooden men...And girls in short skirts....

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Yeah I love Tekken and play Dark Resurrection on PS3. I prefer Tekken 3 but 5 is top quality.

86: Super Mario All-Stars

10 points - 10pts

The first of numerous Mario games on the list interestingly includes another game on the list in it's compendium of games offered on the cartridge. Mario Bros 2, 3 and Super Mario World are all included along with some "Lost Levels". So sure, a funky collection to have available on one useful cartridge.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: A collection of games that somehow snuck under my radar. Shame on you, whoever it was that voted for it.

Edited September 21, 2008 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[MalaCloudy Black]

Super Mario All-Stars is so so fucking great. Whenever I hang out with my friend I always hook his SNES up and play through it.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I hear 1 is far better than 2. Just as well really.

So true. The devs pretty much took everything that was fun about the first Xenosaga, purged it from the second, and then released the second game. Three is supposed to bring back a lot of the stuff that was purged and though it isn't as good as the first it's still leaps and bounds better than the second, however, I still haven't had a chance to play it.

[Sousa]

Mario Bros 2, 3 and Super Mario World are all included along with some "Lost Levels".

Mario World isn't on this disc. The original Super Mario Bros., Mario 2, and Mario 3 are on it. The Lost Levels is a complete game and was the sequel to Super Mario Bros. that was released in Japan--it runs on the original SMB engine with some new changes (poison mushrooms, super springs, wind levels, batshit fucking insane difficulty, etc.). This game was deemed too hard for the US market, so Nintendo took a popular Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic, crammed in some Mario characters, and whammo, Super Mario Bros. 2 everywhere but in Japan. That's why Mario 2 is the completely wacky one.

But hey, I'm not surprised you didn't know this since you apparently think CALL OF DUTY 4 is one of the best games of all time.

[King Ellis]

There was a PAL release I think that did have SMW on it.

Though, yeah, SMB1/2/3 and LL are all highly regarded in their own right so SMAS should be some kind of uber game.

And finally, 'disc'? >_<

Edited September 21, 2008 by King eLLis

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Mario Bros 2, 3 and Super Mario World are all included along with some "Lost Levels".

Mario World isn't on this disc. The original Super Mario Bros., Mario 2, and Mario 3 are on it. The Lost Levels is a complete game and was the sequel to Super Mario Bros. that was released in Japan--it runs on the original SMB engine with some new changes (poison mushrooms, super springs, wind levels, batshit fucking insane difficulty, etc.). This game was deemed too hard for the US market, so Nintendo took a popular Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic, crammed in some Mario characters, and whammo, Super Mario Bros. 2 everywhere but in Japan. That's why Mario 2 is the completely wacky one.

But hey, I'm not surprised you didn't know this since you apparently think CALL OF DUTY 4 is one of the best games of all time.

Just thinking back to your last wet dream again....

And yes, listen to Ellis.

[King Ellis]

According to Wiki, the SMW version was just a bundle edition coupled with the SNES in Christmas '94, not only in the UK but America as well.

The only bonus I got with my Super Mario All-Stars was a VHS with Craig Charles.

Interestingly enough, that was the only game I think we ever got from Boots.