Your Top 25 Games of All Time

[The Great Destroyer]

The last two years have been fantastic for gaming, and after playing BioShock Infinite and the Last of Us (and b/c of GTA 5 coming out) I started to reconsider what my favorite games were. It was very hard to narrow it down and I couldn't come up with a particular ranking so I decided to list out my top 25 favorite games of all time. How does it compare to your list?

The Last of Us
The Walking Dead
BioShock
BioShock Infinite
Resident Evil 4
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Metroid Prime
Half-Life 2
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Mass Effect
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Goldeneye 007
Super Mario Galaxy
Deus Ex
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
No More Heroes
Spec Ops: The Line
The World Ends With You
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Call of Duty 2
Batman: Arkham City
Pokemon Crystal Version
Final Fantasy VI
Yoshi's Island

[Vertigo]

Just choosing one example per series, as in the 25 albums thread. Though Unreal/UT, Civ 3/Alpha Centauri and HL2e2/Black Mesa might be cheating a tad.

Aliens vs Predator 2
Black Mesa
Doom 3
Ecco II: The Tides Of Time
Fight Night Round 3
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Jedi Knight 2
Knights Of The Old Republic 2
Left 4 Dead
Mass Effect
Max Payne 2
Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
Portal 2
Primal Rage
Rock Band
Skyrim
Rome: Total War
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Sid Meier's Civilization 3
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Space Hulk VOTBA
Streets of Rage 2 (ridiculously tricky choice between 1 and 2)
Unreal
Unreal Tournament (2004 has better gameplay, original has better atmosphere and world-building)
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War (particularly Retribution's Last Stand mode)

[The Great Destroyer]

Just choosing one example per series, as in the 25 albums thread.

Yeah that's partially where I got the idea. On picking one per series, I tried to, but I hardly consider Bioshock 1 and Infinite as part of the same series anyway so they both ended up on the list.

[frankie teardrop]

i'm generally an old school gamer only, mostly NES, so pardon the dust on this list:

1. the guardian legend (NES)
2. maniac mansion (NES)
3. silent hill (playstation)
4. battletoads (NES)
5. castlevania IV (SNES)
6. life force (NES)
7. mortal kombat (xbox 360/playstation 3)
8. worms (playstation)
9. comix zone (genesis)
10. doom II (PC)
11. the legend of zelda: majora's mask (N64)
12. super metroid (SNES)
13. super mario RPG (N64)
14. crystalis (NES)
15. super mario bros. 2 (NES)
16. batman: arkham asylum (xbox 360/playstation 3)- haven't played the new one yet...
17. goldeneye 007 (N64)
18. mario kart double dash (gamecube)
19. final fantasy VI/III (SNES)
20. demon's crest (SNES)
21. UN squadron (SNES)
22. zombies ate my neighbors (SNES/genesis)
23. TMNT IV: turtles in time (SNES)
24. actraiser (SNES)
25. smash tv (arcade)

[Mantra]

Man I don't think I play enough games to even come up with 25.

Skyrim
Goldeneye
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Banjo Kazooie
Limbo
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Hitman: Blood Money

That's probably it. I'm sure there's a wealth of great games out there that I'm missing out on.

[ambergris]

I've been playing computer games since 1985, maybe even earlier. My father thought that computers are the future, so I should learn to work with them. Yeah, but mostly I played.

In no order, biased towards the present, and probably containing a few omissions:

1. Sid Meier's Civilization III
2. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
3. Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon
4. Sid Meier's Pirates!
5. Elite II - Frontier
6. The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind
7. The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim
8. Half-Life 2
9. World of Warcraft
10. Starflight
11. Starflight II
12. Lucas Arts' Zak McCracken and the Alien Mindbenders
13. Star Control II
14. Dune
15. Flashback
16. Sid Meier's Colonization
17. Planescape: Torment
18. Fallout II
19. Fallout III
20. Mass Effect II
21. Settlers
22. Alien Breed (the series)
23. LucasArts' Loom
24. MegaLoMania
25. Lemmings II

There are tones of games I am forgetting, but I'd probably not play many of those old 8-bit games with the same enjoyment as I did back then.

[Vertigo]

9. comix zone (genesis)

Very cool game. I just wish it was longer.

1. Sid Meier's Civilization III

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that's the pinnacle of the series (Alpha Centauri aside). 4's interface and religion system bring me out in a rash, 5 has horrible AI and some weird pacing, and though the combat is interesting, I think the switch to hexes was unnecessary. The emphasis on flanking could still have played a part in the traditional stacked units / eight-way-movement dynamic.

[ambergris]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that's the pinnacle of the series (Alpha Centauri aside). 4's interface and religion system bring me out in a rash, 5 has horrible AI and some weird pacing, and though the combat is interesting, I think the switch to hexes was unnecessary. The emphasis on flanking could still have played a part in the traditional stacked units / eight-way-movement dynamic.

I actually prefered Civilization III because it is most suitable for multiplayer games. Civ IV and V are too slow-paced for that. But yes, the pacing in general in V is not good. There are always good ideas in every game, but part III has the best combination of them. The maps in IV and V are so small. I like huge empires. The purists would prefer Civilization II because of that. But this game is clumsy in other regards, and looks ancient.

[Vertigo]

I actually prefered Civilization III because it is most suitable for multiplayer games. Civ IV and V are too slow-paced for that. But yes, the pacing in general in V is not good. There are always good ideas in every game, but part III has the best combination of them. The maps in IV and V are so small. I like huge empires. The purists would prefer Civilization II because of that. But this game is clumsy in other regards, and looks ancient.

Agreed on all counts. I do like that Civ 2 can be run in a window though, I still dust it off every now and then so I can dominate the planet while doing something productive.

[Space Suicide]

No order whatsoever:

Resident Evil 5
Devil May Cry 3
Dead Space
Batman: Arkham City
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Metal Gear Solid
God of War 3
Spyro The Dragon 2: Ripto's Rage
Bioshock: Infinite
Mass Effect 2
Donkey Kong Country
Super Smash Brothers
Gears of War
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Uncharted
Resident Evil 4
Call of Duty: World at War
Tekken 3
Soul Blade
Mortal Kombat (2011)
Crash Twinsanity
Silent Hill 2
WWE SmackDown!: Shut Your Mouth
Gears of War 3

[heroicraptor]

Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 3
Pokemon Crystal
Pokemon Blue
StarCraft Brood War
StarCraft II
Batman: Arkham City
TES Oblivion
TES Skyrim
Portal 2
Knights of the Old Republic
Knights of the Old Republic 2
Halo: Combat Evolved
Dragon Age
Donkey Kong Country (all three)
Yoshi's Island

[Iran_Ed]

In no order whatsoever, the games I have the most fond memories of.

1. Super Mario World
2. Fallout 3
3. Beyond Good and Evil
4. The Portal series
5. Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic
6. Journey
7. Limbo
8. Super Smash Brothers: Melee
9. Ico (I need to play SOTC)
10. Metroid Prime
11. Braid
12. Sonic The Hedgehog 3
13. Pokemon gold/silver
14. Red Dead Redemption
15. Jet Set Radio Series
16. Assassin's Creed 2 (the only one I've played)
17. NBA Street Vol. 2
18. Animal Crossing Series
19. The Tony Hawk Series till Underground
20. God of War 3
21. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
22. Need For Speed Underground 2
23. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
24. Super Mario 64
25. Sonic Adventure

[Big Fat Matt]

No real order.

Final Fantasy 7
WWF No Mercy
Minecraft
Pokemon Gold
NHL '99 (n64)
GTA 4 (dlc's included)
Star Wars Battlefront 2
Portal
Goldeneye
GTA 3
Skyrim
NCAA Footabll '04
WWF SmackDown! 2
Tekken 4
Armadillo Run
Mega Race
Spider Solitare
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

[liquidcalm]

Only numbered so I can keep track!
1. Final fantasy vii
2. Quake 2
3. Xwing
4. Metal gear solid
5. Ico
6. Wipeout hd
7. The last of us
8. Uncharted 2
9. Grand theft auto vice city
10. Super mario brothers 3
11. Sim city 2000
12. Micro machines v3
13. Super smash brothers
14. Half Life
15. Team fortress classic
16. Crash bandicoot 2
17. Silent hill 2
18. Zelda : the minish cap
19. Gran turismo
20. Saints Row 2
21. Demons souls
22. Journey
23. Command and Conquer Red Alert
24. Tomb raider 2
25. Rez

tried to steer clear of listing sequels.. Otherwise there would be a whole lot more repitition.. Safe to say all these games had an impact on me one way or another, even if later games were 'better'.

[xmd 5a]

No particular order, subject to change, 1 game per series yadayadayada

Phantasy Star II
Yoshi's Island
Donkey Kong Country 2
Chrono Trigger
Mario Kart 64
Fire Emblem
Sword of Mana
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
DOOM
Fallout 2
Bioshock
Final Fantasy XII
Bayonetta
The Darkness
Far Cry 3
Mass Effect 2
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Banjo Kazooie
Dragon Quest VIII
Wario Land 3
Lylat Wars (Star Fox 64)
Skyrim
Red Dead Redemption
Dead Space 2
Super Smash Brothers Brawl

[Halo Infinity]

Thank goodness I played lots of video games in the 1990s so I can actually contribute 25 titles. And as a Nintendo fan from back in the day, why not? And this is also in no particular order, but I'm numbering it to make sure it is 25 games all in all. I still wish I had them all. I shouldn't have let people borrow any games back when I was in elementary and middle school.

1. Super Mario World
2. Super Mario Land
3. Super Mario Land 2
4. Super Mario Land 3 or Wario Land
5. Kirby's Dreamland
6. Kirby's Dreamland 2
7. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
8. Star Fox
9. Star Fox 64
10. Donkey Kong Country
11. Donkey Kong Country 2
12. Donkey Kong Country 3
13. Donkey Kong Land
14. Donkey Kong Land 2
15. Donkey Kong Land 3
16. Mega Man X
17. Final Fantasy VI
18. Final Fantasy VII
19. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time
20. Super Mario 64
21. Super Mario World 2 or Yoshi's Island
22. Super Smash Bros.
23. Super Smash Bros. Melee
24. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
25. South Park

So many good times and memories. (With some lost ones.) It sucks that people do a thing called borrow shit and never return it though. To the "Little things that piss you off" thread.

[Wretchedest]

My rules:
Narrative and competitive games must be separated. Games can qualify for both categories
Each franchise can only occur once. For instance im not about to list 10 pokemon games but Ill specify "Synphony of the Night" for Castlevania because its the only relevant entry in the series.

This is in pretty close order


Bioshock Series
pokemon
Persona 4
Final Fantasy Series
Shadow of the Colossus
Symphony of the Night
Mass effect
Infamous
Ni No Kuni
Dark Souls
GTA
Read Dead redemption
La noire
Zelda series
Mario 64
Portal series
Spec Ops the Line
luigis mansion series
dead space
braid
journey
far cry 3
Elder scrolls series
batman arkham series
saints row series



COMPTETITIVE LIST. I dont play a lot of competitive games so i might not be able to fill it out.

Street Fighter
Smash Bros.
Halo
Starcraft
Persona 4 arena
Mortal Kombat
Left 4 Dead Series
Pokemon series
Donkey kong
frogger
dig dug
galaga
pacman

Yeah i ran out of ideas. I might come back to it

[GavinCollins420]

Metal Gear Solid (1, 2, 3, 4. Counting that as one.)
Grand Theft Auto IV
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Half-Life 2
Portal 2
Fez
Limbo
Super Meat Boy
Star Wars: Battlefront (1, 2.)
Skyrim
Banjo Kazooie
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Metroid
Dead Space
Silent Hill 2
Batman: Arkham City
Battlefield 3
Super Smash Bros. Melee
UFC Undisputed 3 (Just for sheer competetiveness.)
Trials: Evolution (Same as above.)
The Last of Us

GTA V will probably be on this list by the time the week is out, though...

[ericy210]

Thanks for mentioning life force, Frankie. Haven't thought of it in years. Great, great game. Time to find it in my parents basement with all that other classic nes

[Clownboat]

I can't think of 25 at the moment, but here are three that changed my life forever and will always be close to me:

The Dig
Doom
Dark Souls

These three are more important than any list of 25 could possibly describe.

[ManBurning]

Wow, nice to see this idea catching on in other sections of the forum. I'm not sure if this thread popping up is a co-incidence, or it was created based on my top 25 albums thread in the musical revolution, but this is the kinda thing I love! Lists! haha

I wasn't sure if this was even going to catch on with the community, but i'm glad it did. Now someone just has to complete the circle and make a top 25 movies of all time in the cinema section and we're all good!

i'm generally an old school gamer only, mostly NES, so pardon the dust on this list:

You're my kinda gamer Frankie Teardrop! Wow, what a great list! I'm generally an old school gamer as well, but there have been soooo many awesome new xbox live arcade games that follow the 8 and 16 bit formula from the retro days, it's hard to not include them on the list. They are just as awesome as their old school counter-parts.

Anyway, let's take a stab at this... this might be harder than the top 25 albums list...

In no particular order (other than the order they come to my head)

1. TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)
2. Super Mario RPG (SNES)
3. Battletoads (NES)
4. Mega Man 3 (NES)
5. Super Meat Boy (XBLA, PC)
6. Castle Crashers (XBLA, PS3)
7. Final Fantasy 3 (SNES)
8. Goldeneye 007 (N64)
9. Mario Kart 64 (N64)
10. Star Fox 64 (N64)
11. Contra 3 (SNES)
12. Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES)
13. Super Mario 3 (NES)
14. Hard Corps: Uprising (XBLA)
15. Mega Man 9 (wii eshop / XBLA / PSN)
16. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES)
17. Toejam and Earl (Sega Genesis)
18. TMNT: The Arcade Game (Arcade version)
19. Scott Pilgrim Vs the World (XBLA, PS3)
20. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
21. Mega Man X (SNES)
22. Earthworm Jim (SNES, Genesis)
23. Maximum Carnage (SNES, Genesis)
24. Awesomenauts (XBLA, PS3, PC)
25. Wild Guns (SNES)

That was extremely hard... I had to leave off so many classics...

[frankie teardrop]

Yoshi's Island

UNDERRATED! i played through the original mario world hundreds of times as a kid, but never bought this, only rented it for one weekend and it never left my mind. i have to give this another shot soon...

10. Star Fox 64 (N64)
11. Contra 3 (SNES)
20. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
21. Mega Man X (SNES)
22. Earthworm Jim (SNES, Genesis)
23. Maximum Carnage (SNES, Genesis)
25. Wild Guns (SNES)

excellent choices! almost put wild guns on mine...

just hunkered down with a LOT of classics this weekend, blew through turtles in time and a bunch of sports games with a buddy, tried rock n' roll racing (pretty good!), finally beat super star wars, ran through super mario 2 this morning in honor of the president of nintendo's recent passing, and had another successful playthrough of actraiser with max population and all items! my thumbs are killing me.

i hear mega man 9 is awesome! i'll have to try it out. 2 was always my favorite of the original series...

[ManBurning]

i hear mega man 9 is awesome! i'll have to try it out. 2 was always my favorite of the original series...

Oh yeah, MM9 is spectacular! Total throwback to the old school games, specifically 2. It's just Mega man and his piddily little buster. No charge shot, no slide, no gimmicks.
Really well done game. Wish I could say the same about MM10, but it was a lackluster rush. You could tell the rushed it out, probably because they wanted to conclude the series with a nice whole number like 10.

My personal favorite is number 3, but 2 is great as well.

[xmd 5a]

UNDERRATED! i played through the original mario world hundreds of times as a kid, but never bought this, only rented it for one weekend and it never left my mind. i have to give this another shot soon...

It was the very first game I ever played. My parents got me it and a SNES for my 5th birthday. It is by far the game I've spent the most hours playing in my life and as such I HAD to put it up the top of my list. Unfortunately I lost the original cart years ago but I've still got the GBA version lying around somewhere.

Screw the Konami Code, it's all about X X Y B A.

[50 Volt Phantom]

No order...

Doom
Zelda: Link's Awakening
Metal Gear Solid 1
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
GTA Vice City
Manhunt
Resident Evil 2
Twisted Metal 2
Metroid Prime
Uncharted 2
Fallout 3
Resident Evil 4
Metal Gear Solid 3
Bioshock
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Hotline Miami
Half Life
Halo 2
Fight Night Round 2
Super Mario 3D Land
Lone Survivor
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Timesplitters
Perfect Dark
Mortal Kombat 2

[Jinsai]

Final Fantasy VII
Super Metroid
Suikoden II
Metal Gear Solid 3
Bioshock
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Chrono Trigger
Uncharted 2
Dark Souls
Zelda: Link to the Past
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Final Fantasy VI
Phantasy Star II
Yakuza 3
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Portal 2
The Dig
Below the Root (probably nostalgia talking)
Mega Man (either 1, 2, or X)
Castlevania IV
Day of the Tentacle
Street Fighter II
Battle of Olympus
Lunar II: Eternal Blue

On a side note, a game that I thought was absolutely brilliant but I never hear anyone talking about is Contra: Shattered Soldier. It's a better and more finely tuned Contra game than Hard Corps, which makes it the best and most finely tuned Contra game ever. It's also unbelievably hard, but you can go through the entire game without getting hit/killed once if you know the layout. I actually played that game enough with my brother that we were able to get through the entire game without getting hit and scoring 100% completion on every level, unlocking the final boss form and beating him. I sometimes wonder if ANYONE else in the world actually ever pulled that off...

Also, if this list wasn't already too full of JRPGS, I'd list Dragon Quest VIII, because it's perfect.

[Sallos]

Only PC games. Never cared much for consoles.

1. Infantry Online (best online experience)
2. Quake (first FPS)
3. Rogue Spear
4. Quake 3 Arena
5. Settlers 2
6. Mafia
7. Fallout
8. Morrowind (the last decent TES imo)
9. Carmageddon 2 (good days)
10. Planescape Torment
11. Diablo II
12. Neverwinter Nights (thanks to fan made modules and online content couse OC sucked dick)
13. Vietcong (In multiplayer was, and despite the arcade elements, was the best realistic war "simulator" i've ever played. No bunny hopping, you'd always need to crawl/prone to stand a chance and ocasionally switch to the enemy's weapon (m16/AK vice versa) to try not to get killed.
14. Killing Floor
15. Chivalry Medieval Warfare
16. Jedi Knight Outcast
17. Deus Ex
18. Tribes Ascend
19. Thief/ Thief II
20. Hitman (though Hitman 2 was nice as well, i liked the 1st one's atmosphere better)
21. Vampire Bloodlines the Masquerade (if your into vampires do yourself a favor and play this game, makes anything else, vampire related look like crap. Amazing Soundtrack aswell.)
22. Urban Terror
23. Wolfenstein Enemy Territory
24. GTA II
25. Haven and Hearth

[Millionaire]

I'll do it by overall series and pointing out my favorite of the series. Somewhat old-school, being in my late 20s.

1. Legend of Zelda series / Link to the Past(SNES)
2. Super Mario series / Super Mario World(SNES)
3. Half Life series / Half Life 2: Episode 2(PC)
4. Doom series / Doom(PC)
5. Elder Scrolls series / Skyrim(PC)
6. Yakuza series / Yakuza 3(PS3)
7. Street Fighter series / Street Fighter 2(SNES)
8. Mass Effect series / Mass Effect(PC)
9. Quake series / Quake 3 Arena(PC)
10. NBA 2k series / 2k11(PS3)
11. Bioshock series / Bioshock Infinite(PC)
12. Shenmue series / Shenmue(Dreamcast)
13. Mario Kart series / Mario Kart DS(DS)
14. Starfox series / Starfox 64(N64)
15. Left 4 Dead series / Left for Dead(PC)
16. Sonic series / Sonic 2(Genesis)
17. Starcraft series / Starcraft(PC)
18. Soul Caliber series / Soul Caliber(Dreamcast)
19. Portal series / Portal(PC)
20. Resident Evil series / Resident Evil 4(GC)
21. Contra series / Contra(NES)
22. Tetris series / Tetris DS(DS)
23. (Individual) Duke Nukem 3d(PC)
24. (Individual) Final Fantasy 7(PS1)
25. (Individual) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time(SNES)

[Dryalex12]

1 Turok series
2 Super Mario series
3 Elder Scrolls
4 Diablo series
5 Smash Bros
6 L4D series
7 Burnout
8 Spore
9 Pokemon
10 Mass Effect
11 Half Life
12 Mario Party
13 Paper Mario
14 Mortal Kombat
15 Dragons Dogma
16 Bioshock
17 Minecraft
18 Metroid
19 Metal Gear
20 Doom
21 LoZ Series
22 Mario Gold
23 GoldenEye
24 Gauntlet
25 Quake

[OSLIN]

01. Beyond Good and Evil
02. Super Mario All-Stars
03. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
04. Kid Chameleon
05. Mega Man X
06. Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
07. Resident Evil 4
08. A Boy and his Blob
09. Mass Effect 2
10. Fable 3
11. Star Ocean
12. Fallout 3
13. Animal Crossing
14. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
15. Pokemon Blue
16. Banjo-Kazooie
17. Basewars
18. Bioshock
19. Ice Hockey
20. Goldeneye 007
21. Sanitarium
22. Mutant League Football
23. Bubble Bobble
24. Metroid Prime
25. Mario Kart 64