Coin-Op's 100 Greatest Video Games

[New Damage]

I had Gran Turismo 1, but wasn't too fond. I just found it a little bit too realistic, they just seemed way too heavy, like Need For Speed Underground, if you know what I mean. And yet there wasn't any damage too. Me and my friends have talked about it on numerous times about how we used the "use the other cars as a barrier so i don't need to turn" tactic.

Also those driving licenses were a nightmare. As an 8/9 year old, having the patience to try and drive as fast as you can and brake and stop in the section within an area and time limit. Those damn brakes were made wet sponges.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

75: Championship Manager '03/'04

14 points - 1pt / 6pts

Championship Manager 03/04 offered up the swangsong of the Eidos/SI partnership before the "split". It was a good game, I remember playing it plenty. I played it with my cousin and we would take a few hours each - him managing his Aston Villa team and me managing my Spurs team. I finally bought a copy too and we competed against eachother by each taking on the Wycombe management and seeing who performed the best. Happy times.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Good game good game. Not THAT much that would make it stand out above the rest though...

74: Bioshock

12 points - 1pt / 6pts

The criminally underselling, quite rightly celebrated FPS proved that an arresting story and a creepy environment will never grow old if produced correctly. I'm rejoicing that this is coming to PS3. The sub-aqua art-deco/industrial design paired with the tragic genetic modification tale is weaved perfectly throughout and worked through with some good controls and geniunely cool moments.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Whether it belongs higher or not I'm mildly surprised that this wasn't voted higher.

73: Resident Evil 4

16 points - 3pts / 5pts

So take Leon from Resident Evil 2, chuck him in the middle of some godforsaken Eastern European village full of crazy parasitically-controlled locals who can run, shoot at you and flail flaming torches around...Mix in the usual freaky bosses, a luscious washed-out view and a shopkeeper who likes to ask you "what're ya selling?". Resident Evil 4 is regarded by many as one of, if not THE best game on the PS2. I'd certainly put it up in the top 5. The Wii port was mostly successful from what I've been told. While Resident Evils sometimes go off the boil when they stray from the numbered series, Resi 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all excellent games so, after seeing the videos, roll on five!

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Whoo great game, deserved higher positioning.

72: Monster Rancher 2

18 points - 4pts / 5pts

Breed a monster, raise it, strengthen it, fight it. No wonder folk moved from this onto Pokemon. Still, MR2 DID have a very cool feature - already mentioned in the voting thread - allowing you to enter another disc into the Playstation from which a monster was created. It also allowed monsters to die, for you to freeze them to breed them together or to sell them when they got old. Coolios.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Never played it but reading about it makes it sound interesting in the same way that horseracing games sound interesting.

71: Marvel Ultimate Alliance

18 points - 3pts / 6pts

MUA gives you loads of Marvel superheroes with which to craft four man teams to battle your way through levels, power-up, defeat supervillains and average "grunts" and rescue the world. Building up stronger and stronger teams, powering up your heroes and working out the best group dynamics were definite selling points along with it appearing on numerous formats and console generations. I own it on PSP and while I find it fun for five minutes, the amount of action on screen makes my eyes hurt.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Good game but I wouldn't put it in the 100.

[New Damage]

I didn't know that Spain was in Eastern Europe on Resi 4 ^_^ .

Also don't forget "NOT ENUFF CASH, STRANGAH!" in his strangely odd Cockney accent despite them being stuck in the middle of rural Spain. :/

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

SOUTHERN Europe, sorry.

[Guest Kou]

It'd have taken about 12 of you voting it best game ever to get it to the top of the list.

Which could have easily been done. I HAVE THE POWER.

Way to use a picture of Monster Rancher GBA, dickbutt.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Kou

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

It'd have taken about 12 of you voting it best game ever to get it to the top of the list.

Which could have easily been done. I HAVE THE POWER.

Way to use a picture of Monster Rancher GBA, dickbutt.

If it had been "Gay Arse Rancher" I could have used a picture of your face. But it wasn't.

[Guest Kou]

I do not ranch them.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

70: Kingdom Hearts

18 points - 1pt / 1pt / 4pts

Recipe for a certain hit: Mix one part of Square's Final Fantasy series with one part of the Disney cartoon universe. What falls out at the other end is Kingdom Hearts - a child friendly adventure game with enough meat and interest for the adult with even the hardest heart. The chance to interact with Disney heroes (like Goofy, Mickey and Donald) and battle against their nerfarous foes was made even more pleasing by the appearances of Cloud, Sephiroth, the Genie, Simba, Cid, Yuffie....The list goes on. A great soundtrack, top notch production and voiceover work and the nerdgasmic factor all added to the excellent gamplay to make a classic title.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Great game, surpassed by the second, but then the second game is still to come in this list...

69: Halo 3

18 points - 2pts / 7pts

The original Halo on XBox probably sold more consoles than any other game since Goldeneye on the N64. Halo 2 boasted the chance to play online in a wide variety of battles against human combatants. Halo 3, the first foray onto XBox360 offered more of the same in the next generation of console. It was crazily hyped (at work the Microsoft rep was in nearly every day with more cardboard stands and other junk to fill the store with). Microsoft wanted a million preorders in the UK and when it was released (at midnight of course) it sold at crazy speed, only beaten out by GTAIV a few months later. But is it any good? Ratings were high, fan feedback was generally good and it offered a classic FPS experience on the 360. Some cited the campaign as too short but people still play the online modes.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Never played it so what do I know?! That's right...NOTHING!

68 AND 67: Donkey Kong Country 2 AND 1

18 points - 1pts / 8pts and 18 points - 4pts / 5pts

Ooooh freak results. Both Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2 score 18 points and therefore take up 68th and 67th position on the countdown. I was personally first made aware of Donkey Kong Country from a player challenge on the excellent kids TV show Gamesmaster. I remember it looking all shiny, colourful and flowing at the time (prerendered 3D graphics!) with those teasing bananas everywhere. Turns out that the original was the third biggest selling game on the SNES. Proving that simple plots are often best, in DKC1 Donkey Kong must recover his stolen hoard of bananas from King K. Rool and the Kremlings. DKC2 added Diddy Kong and also sold and rated well. Interestingly BOTH games received 93% at GameRankings proving that no-one can split them for quality.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Looked great at the time. I have limited plays of it but it was fun enough as far as platformers go.

66: Alex Kidd in Miracle World

18 points - 1pt / 8pts

So what was the very best thing about Alex Kidd in Miracle World? Was it the games of Janken between levels? (Curse that Scissor Head), was it the Mario-esque straight-forward and simple platformer fun? Or was it the fact that after initial release on a cartridge, AKiMW came built in on later Master System consoles?! Brilliance! Just turn the machine on and there he was ready for a quick burst of play when you had nothing better to do! Add to that no save points whatsoever and you've got a quirky, fun platformer which most people got for free. Bonus

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: My friend had a Master System and we played Alex Kidd to death, trying to complete levels faster than eachother and pick up more money than eachother. Great fun.

Up next:

Three games from three of the biggest Nintendo console franchises.

One game featuring men in lycra shorts.

One game featuring an adhesive ball.

Sounds exciting huh.

[Fry_4000]

I loved Alex Kidd, I had in built in my MS

[Sousa]

DKC2 added Diddy Kong and also sold and rated well.

DKC2 added Dixie Kong. The first DKC featured Donkey and Diddy as playable characters, while the second had Diddy and Dixie.

Unless this is another one of those things in which it's different in the UK, in which case fuck you you limey shits for making me wrong twice in the same thread.

Edited October 5, 2008 by R-Sous

[PkmnTrainerJ]

So I meant to do this before, but am lazy. Quick thoughts on games done so far:

Abe's Exodus: Not quite as fun as Odyssey I felt, but still fun

Abe's Odyssey: Great fun, seemed to discover something new each time I played. Purposefully killing Mudokons was always a nice thing to do.

Baten Kaitos: Never played. Seen screens and things, and don't understand the hype (Also my opinion on Earthbound)

Battletoads: Ah fuck. This game is stupidly hard. I thought it was just me until a few years back when I discovered it's reputation. Never gotten further than the third level. Every member of my family has played it though, and despises the crows on level 2.

Katamari Damacy: I want to play this, but have never had the chance/.

Knights of the Old Republic 2: Never played, probably never will.

MLB 08: The Show: Never played, probably never will.

NBA Jam: Never played, probably never will.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2: For being a person who dislikes FPSs I don't mind this. Enough of a difference in character classes to make for a fun game and the online mode plays nicely too.

Tombi: Someone remake this, or allow me to download it for my PSP and you will have my love forever. This game is pure awesome.

Rome:Total War: The few brief plays I've done of this are quite engaging. I need to play it again.

The Day Of The Tentacle: Eh? Never heard of this, and I'm quite fine with that.

Streets Of Rage: A mate of mine had this and we spent a few hours on it back in the day. Little repetitive, but okay for a quick game.

Shenmue: Only heard of this because of Penny Arcade's strips on it. Not getting the whole fuss.

Pokémon Emerald: One of my votes, and I do rate it highly because of the Battle Frontier. If you're too poor to get a DS and D/P/P get this for your GBA instead.

Final Fantasy XI: I'd be willing to play this if my laptop would run it. I do intend to play it someday after having researched it.

Extreme Warfare Revenge 4.2: I liked this game, though I would often set the difficulty up and fail miserably. Still have it for when I feel the urge for a quick play. I did a Final Fantasy scenario for it I think, which now seems very laughable.

Europa Universalis III: Looks like a Civilization clone, but it may have more depth to it. Definetly a game I want to try out.

Crash Bandicoot: This must have been one of my first PS1 games and now resides happily on my PSP as well. Good game then, still a good game now. I need to get Crash Bandicoot 2 when I get paid too.

Championship Manager 2: No interest in football really, so have never played any football management sims.

Xenosaga Episode 1: Never played, probably never will.

Tekken 5: Recently got Dark Ressurection on my PSP and have enjoyed it somewhat. The character customization could cost a little less though. I like the addition of Lili and her moveset in it, and have stuck with the same favourites since around Tekken 3. Also, the retconning of storylines in Tekken annoys Benji, so it makes for mocking.

Super Mario All-Stars: Have this on the SNES, and it is very cool. Dug it out recently, and am hoping for a VC release of it (even if it costs more Nintendo points than usual).

Outcast: Looks kind of interesting. If I spot it somewhere dirt cheap, I'll be sure to grab it.

Final Fantasy VIII: This was good, but unfortunately paled in comparison to the previous installment of the series and the next installment, which kind of left it as the forgotten FF of the Playstation era.

Championship Manager 01/02: No interest in football really, so have never played any football management sims.

Silent Hill 2: Silent Hill is better than Resident Evil. There I said it.

Mike Tyson's (Super) Punch Out: Despite having a NES for my childhood, I have never played this, but will be sure to play the new Wii one.

Ico: Very pretty game. Very strange setting and creatures. The bitch doesn't understand you. I remember the advertising for this in the UK. "You die. She dies. She dies. You die." in an advert that showed the pair overlooking a city with the shadow creatures in.

NHL 08: Never played an ice hockey game. If they have the same kind of things in as EA's NFL games, I'll have to give it a try.

Gran Turismo 2: We had this and I enjoyed it a fair bit. Not one for the racing games, besides Mario Kart (damn you Nintendo) but I did enjoy this. I remember OPM saying something about it using all the power of the PS1, hence why it was so shiny.

Banjo-Kazooie: Managed to never play this game somehow. Oh well, I look forward to the new one which I'm hoping is a series they don't manage to screw up. I'm looking at you Ratchet & Clank.

Counter Strike: Never played this, despite critical acclaim.

Championship Manager '03/'04: See other football manager titles.

Bioshock: I've heard a ton about this game, and will be able to play it soon. As I understand it, the aim of the game is to

1. Slaughter the small children littered throughout the game

2. Listen to some kind of narrative

3. ???

4. PROFIT

Resident Evil 4: Not got this myself, but have seen Benji play and the storyline seems okay. Gunning down non-T-Virused-though-perhaps-maybe villagers is always a good thing too.

Monster Rancher 2: Fine. I love this game. I love the concept of it, the battle system and everything. I'm so annoyed that my copy does not work any more. I need to find myself a working copy again and then lose myself in the game.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Played this on many a platform actually now that I think about it. Flawed certainly, and I wouldn't play it alone.

Kingdom Hearts: I also love Kingdom Hearts, though I love it's sequel a lot more. While there are still certain levels (such as 100 Acre Wood) that I enjoy while no-one else is in the house (or if they are, I insist on the rare items), it's battle system is certainly a good one (again made better in the sequel). Merging the Square & Disney did seem like an odd move but one that's paid off well for both companies.

Halo 3: Played the multiplayer on this only and it was different. I don't think I could do the single player campaign or could put up with the fanboys online. They are annoying, as are obsessive KH fanboys. Bad Axel/Roxas shippers.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Dixie was a nice addition to this game, and they kept many rail levels in it, which I enjoyed in the original DKC. I really liked Krazy Kremland in this game, and redid the levels there many a time.

Donkey Kong Country 1: As mentioned, the mine cart levels in this game are easily my favourites, and I like the Stop and Go Station cheat, which I always used. Never completed that level normally. I have this on my Wii and am going through it at the moment in vs. mode against my little brother and am teaming up with another brother to go through it on one save too.

Alex Kidd: Evidently I missed this initially. Limited plays on it and seems like it would be fun if I spent more time on it. It was built in to some systems which was a nice touch.

Edited October 6, 2008 by PkmnTrainerJ

[Skummy]

Alex Kidd In Miracle World is easily one of my favourite games ever (well duh), alongside Katamari. Also, Streets Of Rage 2 is the best in the series, 3 is shit in comparison.

The best part of Alex Kidd isn't Janken, though, or even it being built into a console, nor is it driving through a spikey rainforest on a motorbike, shooting flying fish in a pedal-powered helicopter, it wasn't being told to take a heavy stone underwater to help you breathe or some such nonsense, it wasn't even that the titular character bears an uncanny resemblance to a lesbian friend of mine, no, it was clearly (as I stated in Donators' recently) the fact that you get about five or six levels in before anyone tells you that you're a prince and you have to save the country; the implication being that Alex Kidd has just spent the last quarter of an hour punching eagles, running over frogs and whatnot for NO DISCERNIBLE REASON. Now that's bad-ass. Fuck your Chuck Norriseses, Alex Kidd is where it's at - he punches eagles. For fun. And then later on he punches a bull several times in the face, in what is probably the world's easiest boss battle. That and he alters his diet depending on what country he's in. WE WESTERNERS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE RICECAKE, ALEX KIDD MUST EAT HAMBURGER HERE.

[PanchoVilla]

I retract my previous rant on the basis of not remembering which Streets of Rage actually had Skate in them.

Whichever ones they were...no good...just because of Skate.

And one more time, just to be relevant instead of completely three pages ago. I never got Alex Kidd but Ra's commentary does make it sound like one of the greatest games of all time.

Also, DKC 2 was fantastic. Lots of jumping, but fun.

Edited October 14, 2008 by PanchoVilla

[Thatz]

This was going great, keep it up!

I'm surprised to see Halo 3 so early, actually. I wouldn't say that it was the best game ever, but I thought that it was more popular here. Oh well.

[OGpistolpete]

Halo > Halo 2 > Halo 3

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

65: We Love Katamari

22 points - 2pts / 9pts

A quintisential cult game, We Love Katamari was the follow-up to the surprisingly successful Katamari Damacy. Basically you'll either love it or hate it depending on the following description: "Since the release of the original game, the King of All Cosmos and his son the Prince have acquired a fan base. The Prince receives a request from a fan at the start of the game. The objective of the game is to have the Prince fulfill each fan’s request, which will make more fans (stages) appear until the whole game is mobbed with fans. Upon fulfilling each fan’s request, the Katamari is given to the king, which he uses to create a new planet in the cosmos, this continues until there are enough planets in the cosmos to roll up the sun using the Earth as a katamari."

You push around an adhesive ball (a katamari) to pick up everything in its' path as it increases in size. Trippy? Yes. Unique? Absolutely.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Colourful, cute, funny and entertaining.

64: Super Smash Brothers

22 points - 2pts / 9pts

Every series starts somewhere and Super Smash Bros started on the N64 back in '99. The premise was, and remains, simple. Take 12 Mario characters, set them in a small level and let them fight until one remains. Where SSB has always been strongest is in it's multiplayer form as up to four friends (or enemies) sit around the TV in an on-screen battle to the death. It sold well and has spawned new incarnations on Nintendo consoles since. A strong Ninento franchise game.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: SSB series leaves me a little cold but it's got a huge fanbase and the games always rate highly.

63: Pro Cycling Manager 2008

22 points - 4pts / 7pts

Does this thought of micromanaging a team of men in lycra shorts across 40 minute long race stages encompassing the middle of nowhere all over Europe fill you with excitement or the thought of utter boredom. Well across Europe Pro Cycling is a big sport. The Tour de France is arguably the biggest global annual sporting event and millions of fans will go and wait for hours to watch 180 men flash past at 40mph.

However whatever the view of the sport is, the game itself is a highly accomplished management sim causing you to balance fitness, injury worries, monetary issues, training and race squads as you look to use your cyclists to the best of their abilities to win races across the world. For me, winning a sprint finish at the end of a long stage after a carefully planned race strategy is actually pretty exciting, probably even more so than winning a tight match in Footy Manager. Half a dozen of us on EWB seem to like it.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Fantastic sports sim but realistically it was never gonna be higher than this.

62: Mario Kart 64

22 points - 3pts / 8pts

Mario Kart has always been fun and for my money is the best in the series. Colourful, bright tracks, fun "screw you" weaponry and a good speed and framerate add to the characters and sound effects to make a fun gaming experience. Mario Kart games never push the boundaries of technology but Nintendo are adept at knowing how to make money and Mario Kart has always been, and still is, a big cash cow which fortunately happens to be pretty good. Mario Kart 64 is one of the biggest selling Mario Kart games and is now available on the Nintendo store for the Wii.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: I wouldn't put it in my personal favourite games but I don't get upset if a friend dusts off his copy of Mario Kart for some stupid and chilled out gaming.

61: Legend Of Zelda

22 points - 2pts / 9pts

An international release in 1987 means that this game has been around for over 20 years now and still retains a massive fanbase. Bear in mind that 1987 also brought us John Elway's Quarterback, Leisure Suit Larry and Fast Food Dizzy and you realise quite how endearing Zelda is. No other game before it was quite the same. It broke categorization with it's mix of adventuring, roleplay and puzzles and slammed the series firmly on the map. Flexibility was also a massive thing compared to other games at the time with their desire to force you along a certain route. With Zelda you could wander around killing stuff as you pleased, visit shops and villages when you wanted and take numerous paths to complete the game. So, an important game then.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: It still stands up pretty well and belongs in the list.

UP NEXT:

Big guns, colourful planets, head scratching strategy and a court of law.

Edited October 22, 2008 by ChrisSteeleAteMyThatcher

[PkmnTrainerJ]

If a court of law is not a Phoenix Wright game I'm taking your left nut and selling it on eBay. Thoughts on games later

[METALMAN]

Pro Cycling Manager looks fun. I'd never heard of it.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

60: Age Of Empires 2

22 points - 2pts / 9pts

When I finished university I crashed with a friend for a couple of months over summer while I worked as a Sports Coach in Coventry. The days were pretty standard but in the evening, with little for two guys to do in a tiny apartment with two computers, we played the death out of Age Of Empires and the Star Wars edition. We played alongside eachother, death matches against eachother, huge all-nighter multiplayer conquests....No wonder getting up for work sucked so much. For this reason I have a love hate relationship with this game. I love how great it is and how insanely playable it is multiplayer but I hate it cos it reminds of of the times where I slept on a friend's couch with his cat and its' kittens crawling over me while I tried to sleep, when I would wake for work after 3 hours sleep and generally be shattered all the time.

Great game though.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Great game indeed. Loads of variants and plenty fun.

59: Super Mario Galaxy

26 points - 6pts / 7pts

I've never played it so time for an identikit answer. IGN, GameSpot, Nintendo Power, GameTrailers, Edge, and Yahoo! Games all gave it their 2007 Game Of The Year award and its sold over 6 million copies which is pretty impressive by any measure of imagination. SMG is the Mario game that the Wii needed and it generally delivered, adding to a series of games that is synonimous with the videogame industry.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Mostly loved and has the perfect fanbase in the Wii demographic. Nintendo strike with another winner!

58: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

27 points - 1pt / 3pts / 5pts

I love games that try something a little different. They may fall short (like Republic: The Revolution), tease with tasty nuggets but bloated design (like The Movies) or actually succeed in quirky brilliance (like Trauma Centre or Afrika). Phoenix Wright has a brain burning undercurrent, some wonderfully cheesy humour, an edge of weirdness and some brilliant gameplay elements as you search through crime scenes and bring the evidence to court to bring justice to all. It's clearly not that simple to succeed either, cos the Harvey Birdman game sucked all kinds of ways.

Interestingly it's a remake of a 2001 Gameboy game that was never released outside of Japan and it's success and reception has been incredible for a legal story game. So kudos to all. Great game.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Brilliant and inventive game. Still when everything boils down, it shouldn't be top 50 so this is cool.

57: Doom

27 points - 2pts / 3pts / 4pts

DOOOOOOOOOOM! The game which is synonimous with first person shooters. NEARLY the grandaddy of them all (Wolfenstein preceeded it and was excellent but Doom took it to another level). The storyline and settings to Doom were genuinely freaky involving gates to hell being opened, marines being sent in and slaughtered and the devil's spawn breaking out into our dimension with only you, one geezer with a killer flattop and shifty eyes, between them and humanity.

I can't sum up all the good stuff in this paragraph but I always loved the way that you sould see how bust up you were at a glance by looking at your guy's face which got more bloodied and bruised as you took damage. Genius. Going back now it's pixelly, frustrating (it's not in true 3D - the enemies are paper thin and you can't look up or down) but at the time it was everything. Revolutionary, and not many games can say that.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: Historically important and earthshattering. Doom was an excellent, excellent game that blew my mind when it came out.

56: Final Fantasy XII

28 points - 4pts / 10pts

The third Final Fantasy in our list is also the most recent canonical game. It's the fourth highest selling PS2 game of all time and was rated highly across the board, being handed game of the year by various parties. It became the sixth game to receive the 40/40 from Famitsu and was the first FF game (and PS2 game) to get it! As with most FF games though there is some trawling around which always upsets some folk but the sounds, effects and graphics were stunning for the time and are still pretty good today! However it seems as though on EWB at least, fan opinion is angled towards some previous games.

HAMSTER'S VERDICT: It may lack the charm of VII for example but it's still a special game that deserves all the recognition it has received.

UP NEXT:

Lots of fighting....And a Sports game that wouldn't be in the list if voting was happening NOW. <_>

Edited January 13, 2009 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[mattman1624]

I'm not going to argue with anything on this list since I didn't vote. Super Mario Galaxy is an awesome, fun game, that everybody should try.