Everyone has their own opinion about what video games are the best that have ever graced a console. What makes this top ten list different and totally unique is that my opinion is, in fact, the correct opinion, whereas the opinions of the past are incorrect and undeniably inferior. Actually, to call it my “opinion” is in itself misleading, as it is no mere opinion, but solid, irrefutable fact. I have spent countless hours (actually, probably only an hour or two, to be fair) carefully selecting the ten best video games of all time in order to set the record straight.
10: Daikatana (PC, Game Boy Color, N64)
Whether you like it or not, John Romero made you his bitch with the 1997…sorry, 1998…wait, that’s not right…1999?…no, I got it this time, 2000 release of Ion Storm’s Daikatana. Built on the Quake engine…no, sorry…Quake II engine from iD Software, Daikatana was a FPS powerhouse that brought players 24 levels of time traveling gameplay. With advanced graphics and staggeringly intelligent AI in the form of your sidekicks, Daikatana set a standard for first person shooters that has yet to be matched.
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09: Shaq Fu (Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Amiga)
Featuring one of the greatest basketball players of all time, dimensional travel, and kung-fu, Delphine Software’s 1994 classic Shaq Fu made the gaming world tremble. A classic 2D style fighter, Shaq Fu sees you towering over your opponents as only Shaquille O’Neal could ever hope to do. With one of the best fighting engines you could ever hope to find in a game of that genre, Shaq Fu brings one-on-one 2D fighting to previously unheard of levels of bitchin’ awesome.
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08: Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (PSX)
Who is your favorite Mortal Kombat character? A true fan of the series would invariably and immediately respond with Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs. What is your favorite Mortal Kombat game? A true fan of the series would invariably and immediately respond with Midway’s 2000 series entry, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. Mortal Kombat: Special Forces puts you in Jax’s shoes chronologically before the events of every other Mortal Kombat game. This game is the foundation of the entire Mortal Kombat series. An action game, Special Forces helped return the focus of the entire series to its one true main protagonist, Jax.
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07: Pac-Man (Atari 2600)
Wakka Wakka Wakka. With his signature loud-chewing, 1982 saw Pac-Man making his presence felt on the Atari 2600 in an adaptation that has helped define the franchise. Atari not only refined and defined Pac-Man in their groundbreaking adaptation, they seem to have inadvertently created one of the greatest twitch-gaming titles of all time. With a simple maze layout, Pac-Man had you navigating for pellets while dodging the trickiest and most devious ghosts he has ever seen.
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06: Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
Final Fantasy X is regarded by some as one of the better Final Fantasy games. When you have a game that performs well, the first thought is naturally, “sequel!” With 2003’s Final Fantasy X-2, Square Enix took all of the elements of Final Fantasy X and improved them beyond recognition, creating a new genre of gameplay with their first of two entries on this prestigious list. Where Final Fantasy X was a classic JRPG, Final Fantasy X-2 created one of the most visually in-depth fashion dress-up games I’ve ever played, and let me tell you something, I’ve played my fair share of fashion dress-up games.
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05: MindJack (X360, PS3)
Square Enix took the third person shooter genre and blew it away with their 2011 mind-jumping third person shooter, MindJack. MindJack boasts one of the most innovate gameplay elements in modern video games, allowing you to literally jack into the minds of enemies and NPCs to create support for your character. An innovative idea isn’t enough, though, and Square Enix made sure that their implementation of this brilliant mechanic was top notch. This shooter will blow your…mind.
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04: Street Fighter: The Movie (PSX, Saturn)
What’s better than a movie adaptation of a video game? A video game adaptation of a movie adaptation of a video game. What’s better than a video game adaptation of a movie adaptation of a video game? A fantastic video game adaptation of the very best movie adaptation of a video game ever to see the light of day. The 1994 movie, Street Fighter, gave us definitive versions of our favorite Street Fighter II characters in one of the greatest plots Street Fighter has ever had. That incredible success was taken and translated into Capcom’s 1995 PSX/Saturn fighting masterpiece, Street Fighter: The Movie. With digitized imagery of the film’s cast used to bring the characters to life in the game, Street Fighter: The Movie is, without a doubt, the ultimate Street Fighter game ever made.
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03: Superman (N64)
Never has there been a superhero game so well designed, true to canon, and generally outstanding as the Nintendo 64’s 1999 mega-hit Superman. The brilliant minds at Titus Software were truly ahead of their time when they envisioned and built the benchmark superhero game that all other superhero games, past and future, would be compared to. Taking the titular hero into a virtual world of Lex Luthor’s design, Superman‘s puzzle elements transcend the game itself and make their way into the physical world with a new, and misunderstood game mechanic that affected the accuracy of the physical controller.
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02: Bomberman: Act Zero (X360)
Reinvention is the mother of creativity. No game has handled reinvention with more respect to the source game while providing such a substantial improvement in gameplay, plot, and graphics than Hudson’s 2006 Xbox 360 landmark, Bomberman: Act Zero. Act Zero takes the classic, cartoonish Bomberman and transforms him into an absolute bad-ass. Bomberman is no longer cute…Bomberman is dangerous. To be clear: Bomberman will fuck you up then take your mother out for dinner and a movie. Act Zero gives Bomberman what he’s desperately been missing all these years: EDGINESS. Kudos, Hudson.
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01: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600)
1982 saw not only the birth of the single greatest video game of all time in the Atari 2600’s smash hit E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, it also saw the birth of the single most awesome dude of all time (that would be me). Atari took a minimalistic approach to E.T., resulting in something more akin to a work of art than a video game. Developed in an astounding six weeks, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was a game so great that it is commonly credited with being one of the games responsible for the great video game industry crash of 1983. I mean, come on. Gaming perfection had been achieved. What was the point of continuing the industry?
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What are your thoughts on these obviously accurate and undeniable selections for the top ten best video games of all time? Comment and let me know just how incredibly right I am!
Editor’s Note: T3 (Troll Top Ten) is a feature on Marooners’ Rock that aims to satire the prevalence of opinion-based top ten lists within gaming journalism. It also gives us a chance to be asshats, which is always fun. As such, please take our T3 entries with a grain…nay, a veritable beach of salt.
