150 GREATEST MOMENTS IN GAMING

150. THE FIRST GAME EVER
THE MOMENT: In 1958 Manhattan Project scientist Dr. William Higinbotham created Tennis For Two on a Donner computer.
WHY? Because it was the birth of videogames as we know it.

149. THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THE MOMENT: The Vectrex debuted the idea of console start-up music, ushering gamers into a new world of entertainment.
WHY? Boot-up sounds would become a defining feature of console hardware.

148. HOT COFFEE
THE MOMENT: Hacked Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas code reveals abandoned sex mini-game. Controversy ensues.
WHY? GTA has always sat within the crosshairs of mainstream media but Hot Coffee caused global outrage, leading to an overhaul of rating systems.

147. LEEROY JENKINS
THE MOMENT: When a World Of Warcraft player with a penchant for poultry dismantled an intricate battle strategy that cost the lives of the rest of their team.
WHY? The video became an internet phenomenon that spread far and wide beyond the boundaries of gaming into mainstream media.

146. TOMODACHI LIFE CONTROVERSY
THE MOMENT: When Nintendo received criticism for not including same-sex relationships in its life-sim Tomodachi Life.
WHY? It highlighted how behind Nintendo was in terms of social game design.

145. QTES ARE BORN
THE MOMENT: When a cinematic sequence turns interactive, prompting the player to initiate an action to progress.
WHY? Shenmue director Yu Suzuki coined the term, but the concept can be traced back to arcade laserdisc game Dragon’s Lair. In recent years it has become a staple of contemporary game design.

144. MIKE SINGLETON’S LEGACY
THE MOMENT: The Lords of Midnight and Doomdark’s Revenge creator Mike Singleton passes away 10 October 2012.
WHY? Hugely influential through his seminal Eighties text adventure, Singleton’s indelible impact on videogame storytelling remains his unfading legacy.

143. LEGO BUILDS AN EMPIRE
THE MOMENT: TT Games releases Lego Star Wars: The Video Game in 2005. The world falls in love with cute yellow blocks all other again.
WHY? Utilising smart licensing, nostalgia and affable humour, the streets were soon paved with gold (well, yellowy-gold bricks) as Lego became a videogame powerhouse.

142. MORTAL KOMBAT’S KILLING BLOWS

THE MOMENT: With the iconic booming voice ordering ‘Finish Him’, a decisive killing blow is dealt to your opponent with brutal results. One of the first instances of such over-the-top movie violence in videogames.
WHY? Mortal Kombat was developed by John Tobias and Ed Boon as a response to the ever-popular Street Fighter II, albeit with a focus on blood, weapons and more general brutality. What Boon and  Tobias could never predict, though, was the staying power their ‘Fatalities’ would accrue, and the cultural impact they would make – the impact of which can still be seen today (think Gears Of War’s executions).

141. RISE OF THE INTERNET
THE MOMENT: When internet forums started to populate with weird, often illogical videogame memes.
WHY? A huge part of gaming culture that has grown in recent years, memes represent the weird, passionate fandom that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else.

140. GAMES? RUINS STAR WARS
THE MOMENT: Issue 10 of games? reviewed BioWare’s KOTOR, complete with a spoilerific image.
WHY? Only one other moment in games?’s historic tenure has caused its readership to turn to the Dark Side quite like the offending image (see moment 133). Again, we’re very sorry.

139. SILENT HILL LAUGHS AT ITSELF
THE MOMENT: After completing a series of tasks in Silent Hill 2, the puppet master is revealed to be a Shiba Inu dog.
WHY? One of the lighter moments in the otherwise oppressively dark Silent Hill series. Don’t underestimate the power of self-effacing humour.

138. JACK THOMPSON’S CRUSADE
THE MOMENT: American activist Jack Thompson takes umbrage to mature content – violence and sex in particular – in videogames and files several lawsuits against high-profile publishers.
WHY? Thompson is one of many to levy unsubstantiated claims that videogames lead to real-life acts of violence. His continued failure and disbarment highlights how ridiculous and ill-informed some outspoken members of the media still remain.

137. KEN KUTARAGI’S GREATEST HITS
THE MOMENT: Former Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi dispenses sage wisdom to the industry large.
WHY? “[PS3 is] for consumers to think to themselves ‘I will work more hours to buy one’. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else.”

136. WARNER BUYS ATARI
THE MOMENT: Nolan Bushnell sells Atari to Warner Communications for a considerable sum,
estimated at $28-32 million.
WHY? It was a moment that legitimised the medium to the wider world. All of a sudden videogames were serious business. And more importantly, could make a lot of money.

135. KONAMI’S WORST E3
THE MOMENT: Konami’s 2010 E3 press conference stunned the gathered press…and not for the right reasons.
WHY? Failed stunts, barmy presenters and baffling statements, one media outlet labelled it as an “uncomfortable monstrosity.” Lesson learnt.

134. TRIALS AND ERRORS
THE MOMENT: Edging victorious over the finish line on Trials Evolution with just a hair between you and your opponent.
WHY? One of the most essential multiplayer experiences of the last decade, few games have inspired such fierce competition.

133. WHERE’S Half Life 2

THE MOMENT: games? decides not to review Half-Life 2, given we received the code after the game hit retail.
WHY? No other moment in the history of games? has been criticised quite so aggressively. After being accused of laziness, pettiness and downright stupidity, we eventually decided to review
it in a bookazine.

132. HACKERS GET MORE OUT OF KINECT
THE MOMENT: When an industrious community of hackers took Kinect far beyond the boundaries of gaming.
WHY? Utilising Microsoft’s motion controller for creative exploration – including robot vision and 3-D doodling – demonstrated the nascent capabilities of the divisive hardware.

131. CLOVER BURNS BRIGHTLY
THE MOMENT: Viewtiful Joe, Okami and God Hand. These excellent games from a very short-lived game studio were created by some of Japan’s most brilliant designers.
WHY? Few developers have achieved so much in such a short period of time. The studio’s closure remains a blow to game design.

130. PETER MOLYNEUX CHOOSES A GOD
THE MOMENT: Industry hyperbole machine Peter Molyneux reveals what’s inside the cube: a chance to be a god.
WHY? How many games actually end with a life-changing event? The winner, Bryan Henderson, will take on the mantle of ‘god’ in Godus come release.

129. THE GAMECUBE’S SECRET
THE MOMENT: Discovering that the GameCube had two alternative boot sequence sounds.
WHY? While Sony and Xbox’s consoles were all about pomposity, Nintendo remained willingly playful despite its heavy competition.

128. PUBLISHER SENSITIVITY
THE MOMENT: The debut trailer for Resident Evil 5 reveals a white protagonist gunning down black characters in an African village.
WHY? Allegations of racism and insensitive imagery had a surprisingly positive outcome, sparking a debate about how videogames represent people.

127. MASS EFFECT 3’S ENDING

THE MOMENT: When BioWare’s epic sci-fi trilogy came to a close and the wails of disgruntled fans
could be heard from space.
WHY? BioWare buckled to the complaints and offered an extended ending. A win for the fans; a loss for creative integrity.

126. ET DESERTED
THE MOMENT: The notorious urban legend of Atari burying thousands of ET cartridges turns out to be true (sort of).
WHY? It got the world talking, both when the original rumour began to spread and recently when the copies were unearthed.

125. THE RETURN OF THE 2D PLATFORMER
THE MOMENT: Limbo, Super Meat Boy, Rayman Origins, Spelunky! Just a few of the games that reclaimed the 2D platformer for a new generation.
WHY? Developers excavated the past for ideas and presented some of the most progressive games of the generation.

124. OUTDATED HOSTS
THE MOMENT: Actor Jamie Kennedy bumbles around the stage at E3 embarrassing both himself
and the games industry in general.
WHY? Kennedy antiquated remarks proved that gamers would no longer tolerate stereotypes. Time to move on.

123. THE ‘TWIN PEAKS’ OF GAMES
THE MOMENT: Some think Deadly Premonition is a work of art others think it’s a work of crap. It’s one of the most divisive games ever made.
WHY? Deadly Premonition’s cult following is as bizarre as the game itself.

122. WIIMOTE DRAMA
THE MOMENT: When the Wiimote slipped out of the player’s hand and caused destruction to your furniture.
WHY? A backlash against Nintendo Wii at no fault of the company’s negligence. Never underestimate consumers.

121. SAREN’S CHOICE
THE MOMENT: When your actions in Mass Effect cause [spoilers!] Saren to kill himself.
WHY? It was the first sign that Bioware’s promise of a franchise impacted by your choices could be possible.

120. THE RISE OF IN GAME ADS
THE MOMENT: Almost instantly after the inception of gaming, corporations discover a lucrative
marketing opportunity.
WHY? A direct feed to today’s youth, in-game ads sell everything from fast food to presidential candidates to gamers

119. URBAN REALISM
THE MOMENT: Walking through a virtual proxy of an existing city and feeling the culture bleeding through the pavement cracks.
WHY? Grand Theft Auto, Activision’s Tony Hawk series and Sleeping Dogs all used iconography, music and fashion to make videogame worlds feel authentic.

118. VIRTUAL MISHAP
THE MOMENT: Nintendo releases the Virtual Boy, the first “portable” games console capable of
displaying “true 3D graphics”.
WHY? It was Nintendo’s first commercial failure after a string of hugely profitable and inventive technological advancements. Lessons were learnt.

117. #1REASONWHY
THE MOMENT: A discussion around why there are fewer women working in videogames explodes on Twitter.
WHY? It was direct insight into the lack of equality in the industry, as thousands took to social media to tell their stories.

116. ATARI STOPS MAKING CONSOLES

THE MOMENT: The pioneer in home videogame consoles, Atari exits the hardware race in 1996.
WHY? As one of the leading innovators in console hardware, the commercial failure of the Atari Jaguar marked the end of an era.

115. THE MYSTERY OF HALF LIFE 3
THE MOMENT: Valve continues to make fans wait for a sequel over a decade in the making.
WHY? The drawn-out anticipation towards Half-Life 3 has almost entered industry joke status, but in terms of pure excitement Valve’s sequel overshadows everything.

114. THE RISE OF THE BEDROOM CODERS
THE MOMENT: The early years of videogame software are dominated by the imagination of individuals designing games from their bedroom.
WHY? It established a movement in the games industry. Creativity was king and anyone with an idea had the potential to be a game developer.

113. NINTENDO LOSES A PIONEER
THE MOMENT: Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi passed away in 2013 after running the company for over 50 years.
WHY? Under Yamauchi’s leadership Nintendo entered the electronics market and became the global leader in the videogame industry.

112. THE INDIE AGE
THE MOMENT: When triple-A videogames funded by publishers and designed by hundreds of people took a backseat to the ingenuity and imagination of smaller teams.
WHY? The indie movement over the last decade has provided both a fresh creative outlet and profitable alternative to the existing industry business model.

111. THE LAUNCH OF XBOX LIVE
THE MOMENT: Microsoft launched its online service in 2002, introducing one of the fundamental
features of Xbox.
WHY? Sega was the first to debut online connectivity out of the box but Xbox came along when broadband was more widely adopted and popularised the concept.

110. BIOSHOCK LIVES UP TO ITS NAME
THE MOMENT: As the curtain is drawn back on BioShock’s villain, one of the most subversive
narrative rug-pulls is carried out.
WHY? Storytelling in videogames is often criticised, but Ken Levine’s script provided a hugely thought-provoking twist.

109. VIDEOGAME MOVIES SUCK
THE MOMENT: When the Super Mario Bros. movie adaptation is released and the world weeps.
WHY? Not even the late, great Bob Hoskins can save this atrocity. And so starts the calamitous history of videogame movie adaptations.

108. THE DOWNFALL OF ARCADES
THE MOMENT: As home consoles and online interactivity become the predominant videogame hardware, the popularity of arcades dwindle.
WHY? For many gamers, arcades were formative to their love affair with the medium, and their continued closure, not to mention waning status, signals that their time has passed.

107. FINDING YOSHI
THE MOMENT: Collecting all 120 stars in Super Mario 64 and finding an old friend on top of the castle.
WHY? Finding Yoshi felt like a genuine reward for persevering through every puzzle and collecting all the stars in the game.

106. THE PASSING OF A LEGEND
THE MOMENT: Not a great moment, rather an acknowledgment of a great man. When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, he left an indelible mark on the games industry.
WHY? Jobs was a strong advocate of gaming; his technology innovations paved the way for modern game consumption.

105. THE MOBA TAKES OVER

THE MOMENT: When a small free-to-play title caught the attention of the wider gaming population
and went on to be one of the most popular and profitable games of all time
WHY? League Of Legends proved that the MOBA was not just the ‘next big thing’, but a valid and rewarding genre in itself. Riot Games, in a demonstration of admirable market awareness, took what DotA was doing and improved upon the formula. League of Legends has inspired a massive following around the world, and proved to wider media that eSports isn’t just a forgettable facet of the industry.

104. NSA SPIES ON WORLD OF WARCRAFT
THE MOMENT: When leaked documents revealed that American and British intelligence agencies had infiltrated various online games with the objective of hunting down terrorists.
WHY? It’s the sort of political paranoia nonsense that seemed like it was straight out of The Thick Of It… except in this case it absurdly turned out to be very real.

103. ENGAGE PREDICTS MOBILE GAMING
THE MOMENT: The precursor to the iGeneration, Nokia’s ill-fated N-Gage bridged mobile phone and handheld videogame technology, paving the way for casual gaming today.
WHY? Despite a lukewarm sales reception, Nokia’s visionary device successfully anticipated the future of mobile gaming.

102. BLACK MESA WELCOMES YOU
THE MOMENT: Standing on a train, touring the Black Mesa facility and entering the world of Half-Life.
WHY? It immersed players into the game world using limited interactions and simplistic visual storytelling. One of the finest opening sequences of all time.

101. STUDIO LIVERPOOL WIPEOUT

THE MOMENT: When Sony shut one of its most celebrated first-party studios relatively recently in 2012.
WHY? One of Britain’s most talented developers defining PlayStation brand, Studio Liverpool will be sorely missed.

100. GAMES?’S FIRST 10
THE MOMENT: It took two issues, but Metroid Prime has the distinct honour of being awarded
games?’s first perfect 10.
WHY? “The elusive ten is reserved for game of incredible, irrefutable quality.” With only a handful of tens handed out to date, it remains a high watermark.

99. THE RETURN OF THE POINT AND CLICK
THE MOMENT: When the point-andclick genre became cool again, thanks to a new wave of involving narrativeled games.
WHY? As videogames evolved to incorporate more intricate forms of storytelling, the point-and-click (or adventure game) re-emerged triumphant.

98. 360 RINGS DISASTER
THE MOMENT: Xbox 360 owners around the world discovered three little red lights that spelled doom for their console.
WHY? It led many to question the quality of Microsoft’s platform, not to mention the cost of companies competing to release their hardware first.

97. THE BATTLE OF BATTLEFRONT 3
THE MOMENT: When Battlefront 3 was in development, then out of development, then in development, then out of…
WHY? Easily one of the most anticipated games stuck in development limbo, Star Wars: Battlefront 3 has had a tumultuous development that would rival Duke Nukem Forever.

96. MODISH MOD
THE MOMENT: The PC community reclaimed game design for the bedroom coder and reinvented existed games.
WHY? This tinkering movement fundamentally changed the way developers approached PC game
design, opening the architecture for its consumers to use its groundwork as a springboard for new ideas.

95. THE DEAD RISE

THE MOMENT: The dead rise from the grave. From the straight-up zombie shooter to the poignant human stories set in the zombie apocalypse, zombies take over the world of gaming.

WHY? Zombies have always been an integral part of gaming – they allow for a brainless, generic enemy that doesn’t carry the too-close-to-home empathy that human enemies do and have AI that's much easier to code. The recent surge of popularity of zombies started with the likes of Call Of Duty: World At War’s ‘zombie mode’ and DayZ but other titles to take advantage of the unique opportunities the brainless undead allow for in game design are the likes of Red Dead Redemption, Dead Space, Dead Island and Left 4 Dead.

94. JAPAN GAMING GOES PLATINUM
THE MOMENT: After the closure of Clover Studios, staff migrated to form Platinum Games and the madness continues still…
WHY? Bayonetta, Vanquish and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Platinum’s ability to amaze is only surpassed by its uncanny capacity to surprise.

93. PC OVERTAKES THE C64

THE MOMENT: The IBMcompatible PC overtakes the Commodore 64’s market share for the first time in 1985.
WHY? The rival computer standards of the Eighties began to give way to the PC, gaming’s longest-serving platform.

92. SATURN LAUNCH

THE MOMENT: Sega announced at E3 1995 that the Saturn will launch that day.
WHY? Sega shot itself in the foot. The surprise announcement upset retailers, plus the PlayStation beat its price.

91. COMPLETING YOUR POK?DEX
THE MOMENT: Capturing all of the original 150 (151 if you’re lucky, 152 if you count the glitch Missingno) Pok?mon.
WHY? Pok?mon Red/Blue was the first taste of interactive social gaming and swapping Pok?mon with other players was a seminal gaming moment.

90. MARIO MULTIPLIES
THE MOMENT: Nintendo reveals the power of GameCube with two technically impressive demos of Super Mario 128 and The Legend Of Zelda.
WHY? It was the promise of both titles that would eventually lead to disappointment when neither came to fruition.

89. THE RETURN OF THE FIGHTING GENRE
THE MOMENT: After years of waiting, Capcom revealed the long-awaited return of Street Fighter.
WHY? Street Fighter IV triggered the ensuing comeback of the fighting genre, which had been dormant for years.

88. CAPCOM’S CYNICAL DLC STRATEGY
THE MOMENT: When gamers discovered additional content hidden in Street Fighter x Tekken, to be unlocked with a DLC 'key' released at a later date.
WHY? It took a business model to an extreme and the backlash forced all publishers into re-thinking DLC plans.

87. THE FANTASY EXCLUSIVE
THE MOMENT: One of Sony’s most prestigious exclusive franchises, Final Fantasy, quietly goes
multi-format with Final Fantasy XI on PC.
WHY? It not only signalled the end of a lucrative partnership but also the gradual disintegration of third-party exclusivity.

86. PLAYSTATION IS HOME ALONE
THE MOMENT: Sony promises a progressive and revolutionary social platform for PlayStation 3.
WHY? The risk didn’t pay off. Home didn’t become the all-encompassing social hangout Sony anticipated and with hefty load times and general buffoonery, serious gamers ignored its existence.

85. YOUTUBE CLAMPS DOWN
THE MOMENT: YouTube’s content ID removes thousands of hours of gaming content for copyright reasons.
WHY? It was a slap in the face of the gaming community, stripping away the creative expression that feeds the core of gaming culture.

84. THE END OF LUCASARTS
THE MOMENT: After toiling away working on licensed Star Wars titles, the once great LucasArts is shut down.
WHY? LucasArts defined the adventure game genre and while its halcyon days had long passed, that did little to soothe the pain of its closure.

83. DOUBLE-A TURNS TO INDIE
THE MOMENT: When the number of middle-tier developers diminished and indie development filled the space.
WHY? With smaller studios and publishers facing bankruptcy, smaller development teams establish stability as the industry faced its most turbulent time.

82. GAMES AS REAL WORLDS

THE MOMENT: When you take down your first dragon in Skyrim and the sheer scale and depth of Bethesda’s RPG is revealed.
WHY? It instantly became the RPG for all others to be compared to. Vast in scale and head-spinning in attention to detail, it’s hard to imagine any game topping that immersive sense of majesty any
time soon.

81. SONY’S FAILURE TO LAUNCH
THE MOMENT: Sony releases the PS3 in Europe after several delays, courting criticism and driving
consumers to Xbox 360.
WHY? A major misstep in Sony’s strategy for PS3, it would take years for the company to reclaim dominance in several international regions.

80. DEATH OF SHAREWARE
THE MOMENT: After less than a decade, the golden age of shareware – developers giving away their software for free – comes to an end.
WHY? While shareware became a thing of the past, a more refined business model would emerge, while it also became the basis for many contemporary videogame business practices.

79. THE META-GAME GNOME
THE MOMENT: Carrying a gnome through the entirety of Half-Life 2’s campaign to unlock a special achievement.
WHY? While a bizarre, arbitrary task, the gnome achievement represented the birth of the achievement meta-game. Thanks, we guess?

78. ROCKSTEADY SAVES BATMAN
THE MOMENT: Nobody expected much from Batman: Arkham Asylum, but a small studio from London changed the face of licenced videogames.
WHY? After years of interminable bargain-bin fodder, the licensed videogame is legitimised, and the
successful videogame/movie franchise continues today.

77. GAMERS GET WAGGLING
THE MOMENT: When Sony and Microsoft viewed Nintendo’s success in motion controls and wanted a piece of the pie.
WHY? Neither Kinect and PlayStation Move successfully capitalise on Wii’s success, showing that it’s not just about great tech but great ideas.

76. DEVELOPERS EARN ACHIEVEMENTS
THE MOMENT: When the British Academy of Film and Television began to award outstanding
achievements in game design.
WHY? It was the long awaited acknowledgment and validation of the medium as a genuine creative platform.

75. THE GREAT INVENTOR
THE MOMENT: One of the leading creative voices of Nintendo’s early years sadly passes away in 1997.
WHY? The creator of the Game Boy, Game & Watch and the modern-day D-pad, Gunpei Yokoi’s work shaped the modern gaming world.

74. DLC BECOMES BIG BUSINESS
THE MOMENT: While downloadable content had existed in some form for years, it was the
Dreamcast that pioneered the idea on home consoles.
WHY? Today, DLC is a valuable commodity to both the consumer and publishers, used as a powerful marketing weapon. Love or hate the idea, it’s changed the industry at its core.

73. SONY UPGRADES USERS
THE MOMENT: Sony unveiled its answer to Xbox Live: low on cost, high on free stuff.
WHY? The PlayStation 3 eventually got one over its rival Xbox 360 with free online play, but when it did launch a subscription service – offering free and discounted games –Sony set the precedent for
consumer value.

72. THE END OF THQ
THE MOMENT: When one of the world’s biggest publishers announced bankruptcy and
sold its assets.
WHY? In the post-recession industry, THQ’s tragic closure proved that no one was safe.

71. GIANT ENEMY CRABS
THE MOMENT: Genji: Days Of The Blade is shown at E3 2006, the game based on the actual history of Japan. Then a giant crab shows up.
WHY? The meme-bait was widely ridiculed and contributed to Sony’s most embarrassing E3. Still referenced even now, it was proof that games culture was at a point where words had to be chosen
much more carefully, because a lot more people were watching.

70. THE DAIGO PARRY
THE MOMENT: Like the Super Bowl of fighting games, Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong fight to the last pixel in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike during EVO 2004. WHY? The resulting parry (where
Umehara counter-attacks from a sliver of health) typifies the electric atmosphere of tournament gaming.

69. RETURN OF THE KING
THE MOMENT: After years wallowing in development limbo, Duke Nukem Forever is finally released. Be careful what you wish for…
WHY? It was a sobering lesson for all involved in the dangers of hype.

68. THE BIRTH OF THE MOBA
THE MOMENT: When a simple Warcraft III mod became an industry game-changer.
WHY? DotA invented the modern MOBA as we know and with it hundreds of hours were lost to the ether.

67. MULTIPLAYER ASSAULT
THE MOMENT: Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is released with a fresh angle on competitive online shooting. WHY? Lifting inspiration from the RPG genre, Modern Warfare brought
progression into the online arena.

66. DOUBLE FINE’S ADVENTURE
THE MOMENT: When Tim Schafer took to Kickstarter to raise money for his point-and-click adventure game.
WHY? It didn’t just kickstart his game, but it also kickstarted a valid alternative to the traditional publisher system.

65. FIRST WOMEN IN GAMES CONFERENCE
THE MOMENT: Created to promote and support the progression of women within the games industry, the first Women In Games conference promotes gender equality in the industry.
WHY? After criticism that the industry treats women unfairly, the conference offered and still offers additional opportunities and encouragement to an often overlooked sector of videogames.

64. BITTEN BY THE F2P BUG
THE MOMENT: Microtransactions and pay walls replace the traditional retail-pricing model.
WHY? While divisive and often exploited, free-to-play was a major turning point both in corporate and creative practice.

63. A YEAR OLD EASTER EGG

THE MOMENT: After a year on release, it’s revealed that a Naboo Starfighter is hidden within Rogue Squadron on N64.
WHY? It’s rare for an unlockable feature to surprise gamers; it was even rarer for one to remain hidden for so long.

62. MS PAC-MAN

THE MOMENT: Ms. Pac-Man becomes the first female protagonist in gaming history in 1982.
WHY? The original Pac-Man was designed to appeal to women but Ms. Pac-Man was the first to attempt to address equality in a visual way.

61. EVIL INVADES DARK SOULS
THE MOMENT: You’re battling through the world when an ominous warning appears: ‘You Are Being Invaded’
WHY? One of the most inventive uses of online. Nothing quite strikes fear into the hearts of players like a roaming phantom out to steal your souls.

60. VIRTUAL REALITY RESURGENCE
THE MOMENT: After many failed attempts in the past, a new era of virtual reality promises to bring players closer to games than ever before.
WHY? With Sony and Facebook developing rival products, it’s clear that virtual reality is going to play a big part in the way we play games in the future.

59. THE FIRST THIRD PARTY PUBLISHER
THE MOMENT: In 1979, Activision entered the software game and started producing cartridges for the Atari 2600. It invented the third-party publisher. WHY? Activision paved the road for thirdparty
publishing at large, proving you didn’t need to manufacture hardware to develop great games.

58. INFINITY WARD WALKOUT
THE MOMENT: When several key staff at Infinity Ward left Activision over pay and creative disputes.
WHY? It highlighted unfair practices within the industry, while also rocking consumer faith in the publisher. The ensuing legal battles continued for some time after the event.

57. INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE
THE MOMENT: A documentary filmmaker explores the lives of several notable independent game
developers, including Phil Fish, Jonathan Blow, and Team Meat.
WHY? It offered a rare insight into the minds behind some of the most inventive games of recent years.

56. SEQUELS GO DARKER
THE MOMENT: Everything goes a bit Chris Nolan when several old franchises got revived with an edge.
WHY? We’ve seen Tomb Raider get dirty, Batman bloody and Castlevania horrific. Gritty sells.

55. SEGA STOPS MAKING CONSOLES
THE MOMENT: After the commercial failure of the Dreamcast, Sega retires from the console arms race.
WHY? Sega defined the childhoods of many with its consoles. Depending on how you look at it, the world is either little more or a little less blue without them.

54. COMPLETING PORTAL
THE MOMENT: Hearing GlaDOS’ melodic parting words, composed by Jonathan Coulton.
WHY? A witty and unforgettable denouement from the malevolent AI. Valve shows how its done.

53. THE BIRTH OF EASTER EGGS
THE MOMENT: Adventure developer Warren Robinett created a secret room in his 1979 Atari game
crediting him with its creation.
WHY? When the secret was discovered after release, Atari decided to leave it, starting the trend of hidden easter eggs in video game.

52. VIRTUAL LIFE STALLS
THE MOMENT: EA launches SimCity. Fans are outraged about always-online connection as
servers collapse under the weight of traffic and a torrent of bugs emerge.
WHY? Listen to your audience. EA learnt a valuable lesson by going against the wishes of its community.

51. THE ARRIVAL OF CERTIFICATION
THE MOMENT: Concern rises about the amount of violence in games like Doom and Mortal Kombat. In 1994, the ESRB is born.
WHY? The established ratings board proved the increasing popularity of gaming, and the need for classification.

50. PSYCHO MANTIS READS YOUR MIND
THE MOMENT: Metal Gear Solid’s Psycho Mantis baffled players with his mind-reading abilities.
WHY? A moment of horrifying inventiveness, this boss battle freaked players out by reading through save data, drawing on a number of measurable habits. Pure meta brilliance.

49. THE FIRST ISSUE OF GAMES?
THE MOMENT: 2002, the first issue of games? is published with Splinter Cell adorning the cover.
WHY? Because without it you wouldn’t be reading these words right now.

48. PS2'S DVD DRIVE
THE MOMENT: Sony releases its latest console boasting a DVD drive that gives it a technological edge over its competitors.
WHY? The DVD drive changed everything for developers. It opened up possibilities for storage and enhanced graphics and characterisation. No looking back.

47. HAIL TO THE CHIEF

THE MOMENT: Halo is released on Microsoft’s Xbox console and the world pays attention. The first-person shooter wasn’t just for PC gamers any more – Halo made sure of that.
WHY? Halo’s release marked more than just a coming of age for developer Bungie – it was a game that proved the first-person shooter could not only work on consoles, but – in some ways – also  outshine their PC predecessors. Halo’s open-ended level design showed other designers that an FPS didn’t just have to operate in a corridor, and the repercussions of the game’s innovative vehicular combat are still felt in releases to this day.

46. THE GOLD NINTENDO QUALITY SEAL
THE MOMENT: When Nintendo was resilient in the face of the market crash and ensured that its software met a high standard, marking it with a gold seal.
WHY? First used by Nintendo of America, it was later used by Nintendo of Europe and was a promise of quality after certain negatively received games such as Custer’s Revenge. This push for quality control lead to some of the most groundbreaking games of all time.

45. PC BECOMES BETTER THAN CONSOLE
THE MOMENT: When 3D graphics cards became affordable in the mid-Nineties, and PC gaming opened up.
WHY? With more personal computers capable of advanced graphics, the PC became the technological leader in the games industry.

44. MUD CLEANS UP
THE MOMENT: Multiplayer text adventures that incorporated multiple genre elements become quite important…
WHY? Games like World Of Warcraft and EverQuest wouldn’t be possible without the transformative impact MUDs had on a generation of developers.

43. CAN IT RUN CRYSIS
THE MOMENT: Crytek releases Crysis and everyone questioned the quality of their PC hardware.
WHY? With the enhanced graphical capabilities, this was the start of the PC’s comeback.

42. THE NO RUSSIAN MISSION
THE MOMENT: An early scene in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 put you in the shoes of a terrorist tasked with brutally gunning down civilians in an airport.
WHY? It was tabloid-baiting controversy; the type that propelled GTA to the top of the charts in the early Nineties. Publishers once again started to exploit gratuitous content to publicise their products.

41. BECOMING A FAKE ROCK GOD
THE MOMENT: The release of a game that enabled players to pick up plastic instruments and attempt to play along to popular music.
WHY? The oversaturation of Guitar Hero and Rock Band was a lesson in mistreating brands and undervaluing consumers. Still, it was fun while it lasted.

40. VISUAL UPGRADES
THE MOMENT: Publishers re-release their old products with a shiny HD spiff-job.
WHY? It gave birth to a cynical business model that grows ever more dubious as Rockstar, Sony and Square Enix released enhanced versions of games less than a year after their release.

39. GAMING ENTERS MAINSTREAM TV
THE MOMENT: When South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone showed they understand videogames.
WHY? The entertainment industry outside of videogames has proven time and time again it doesn’t understand the medium. With knowledge and love, South Park episodes like Make Love Not
Warcraft satirised our passion brilliantly.

38. THE PSN HACKING SCANDAL
THE MOMENT: Hacker group Anonymous break through Sony’s firewall and take down the PlayStation Network.
WHY? It was a huge blow for Sony and it took years to rebuild consumer trust.

37. NEW REWARDS
THE MOMENT: Xbox introduced Achievements, creating a new type of challenge for players, and an addictive way to push players to finish games.
WHY? It changed the way videogames are played and designed. With an Achievement or Trophy, developers could lead gamers to explore every inch of the game world.

36. THE CASUAL GAMER
THE MOMENT: Nintendo’s new console broadens the appeal of gamers and invites everyone and their gran to play along.
WHY? Casual gaming became very big business, an untapped market much more fruitful than previous thought. It turns out that gaming is something for everyone.

35. GAMING BECOMES A SPORT
THE MOMENT: When professional gaming evolved to new heights, with millions around the world
watching competitions.
WHY? While its still in its infancy, eSports is poised to launch competitive gaming into the stratosphere.

34. TECHNOLOGY MAKES MORE EMOTIVE GAMES
THE MOMENT: As mo-cap and more advanced animation technology becomes standard, acting enters the forefront of videogame storytelling. WHY? As the medium demands quality performances from its triple-A games, giving actors like Nolan North and Troy Baker celebrity status is justified.

33. 3D IN YOUR HANDS
THE MOMENT: As 3D gaming fails on home consoles, Nintendo brings it to the handheld with spectacular results, proving it wasn’t just a gimmick.
WHY? One of the few innovations that felt worthwhile in recent years, the Nintendo 3DS took gamers into a new dimension.

32. THE VIDEOGAME CRASH OF 1983
THE MOMENT: After a raft of poor software due to a lack of quality control, the US games industry suffered an inevitable collapse in 1984.
WHY? Quality over quantity became the new mantra. It would take Nintendo’s guiding hand to get the industry back on track.

31. AN EVOLUTION OF GAMING FORM

THE MOMENT: A text-based game called Zork changed the face of game design forever.
WHY? Zork ’s undulating world of mystery and intrigue enraptured players without the need for graphics. This was all about the storytelling.

30. FIRST USE OF MOTION CAPTURE
THE MOMENT: Rise Of The Robots wasn’t the most memorable game but it was the first to implement motion capture into a videogame.
WHY? Motion capture would be essential for realism, while rudimentary here, it was the beginning of a new age of animation.

29. THE FIRST VIDEOGAME CONSOLE
THE MOMENT: Ralph Baer releases the world’s first home videogame console, the Magnavox Odyssey.
WHY? Not only was it a breakthrough moment, but Baer’s design was hugely farsighted, shaping many of the games we play today – from genres like sports to online experiences.

28. ULTIMATE CONTROL
THE MOMENT: The PlayStation controller enhances player control with the inclusion of two thumbcontrolled analogue sticks.
WHY? It set the industry standard for ergonomic precision and player control. Sony hasn’t dared to radically alter the design since.

27. NINTENDO’S LOSS IS SONY’S GAIN
THE MOMENT: After several years of development, Nintendo and Sony fail to come to a deal over a CD add-on, and the rest is history…
WHY? If the deal between the two companies had gone through, it’s unlikely that Sony would have entered the console marketplace when it did – the very fact that it ended up releasing the PlayStation redirected the gaming industry and made it a far more mainstream affair, specifically in the West.
The move to CD also allowed Sony to poach the blockbuster Final Fantasy VII from Nintendo – a game whose graphics solidly established Sony as the best console-makers at the time. If Nintendo had managed to hold onto Final Fantasy, we’d have a very different industry history.

26. HOW TO SELL A GAMES CONSOLE

THE MOMENT: Released in 1989 with Tetris, the Game Boy goes on to become one of the best-selling videogame consoles of all time.
WHY? The perfect mix of hardware and software that made a truly gamechanging package.

25. RISE AND FALL OF NINTENDO
THE MOMENT: Nintendo continues to attract criticism over its dwindling hardware sales with the
lacklustre release of the Wii U, and its subsequent media confusion.
WHY? The company’s unwavering persistence and constant reinvention means that it’s never too late for Nintendo to turn its fortunes.

24. GAMES BECOME BIGGER THAN FILMS

THE MOMENT: With the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Call Of Duty, videogames become a more profitable industry than movies and music.
WHY? Videogames became not just a hobby for hermits living in their parent’s basement; this is an industry dominating the globe.

23. TOYS AND GAMES UNITE TO SELL MILLIONS
THE MOMENT: The launch of Skylanders bridges the gap between toys and interactive entertainment.
WHY? A multi-million dollar concept that exploited a gap in the market, appealing to an entirely new type of gamer.

22. LET’S PLAY
THE MOMENT: YouTube, Twitch, Machinima. Video content is the definitive force of a new
generation of videogame consumers.
WHY? Videogame critique evolves into YouTube stars and Twitch streams. For better or worse? You decide.

21.THE GAME MAKER
THE MOMENT: Epic launches its Unreal Engine, making an accessible toolkit for developers across the world. WHY? It almost became the industrystandard game engine. The Unreal Engine is responsible for bringing some of the most memorable gaming experiences to life.

20. GAMING IS REDEFINED BY APPLE
THE MOMENT: When Apple released the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) in 2008, mobile gaming changed. WHY? Mobile games existed before, but the release of the SDK matched with
Apple’s intuitive touchscreen and digital distribution platform was a flashpoint in the medium.

19. COMPLETING A MARIO LEVEL

THE MOMENT: Stepping inside the Mushroom Kingdom, stomping on Goombas and jumping for the flagpole.
WHY? This was where adventure gaming began for many. As influential as it was exhilarating, it’s game design at its purest.

18. BAT AND BALL
THE MOMENT: Pong: the ball goes left, the ball goes right, the ball goes left… oh, you get the idea.
WHY? It generated the type of massmedia buzz that sent consumers into a frenzy. Videogames had arrived.

17. SEGA’S SWANSONG
THE MOMENT: The last console Sega manufactured, the Dreamcast, was as innovative as it
was overlooked.
WHY? Its major contribution can’t be overstated: it brought online gaming into the living room with its built-in modem.

16. MULTIPLAYER GAMING ENTERS THE HOME
THE MOMENT: Out of the arcade and into the living room, Street Fighter II is the most influential beat-’em-up of all time.
WHY? It helped to re-popularise multiplayer gaming both at home and in the arcade, making it a driving force in the industry.

15. THE FIRST LICENSED GAME
THE MOMENT: Raiders Of The Lost Ark was the first game to take its content officially from an outside source.
WHY? There’s been some huge money exchanged for movie licensed – like Atari securing ET for $23 million. It remains big business to this day.

14. THE LAUNCH OF WORLD OF WARCRAFT

THE MOMENT: World Of Warcraft brought to life a world unlike anything else that came before it. It was huge, deep, and connected millions.
WHY? It’s one of the most important games of all time. A spare timeconsuming fantasyland that galvanised the MMO genre, it achieved the Guinness World Record for being ‘the most popular MMORPG’ based on subscribers. It expanded beyond just gaming, catching the attention of Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park, catching the attention of sociologists who were keen to see how online life emulated real life, and market analysts who closely observe how gold farming and money changes hands in the virtual world.

13. STEAM ARRIVES
THE MOMENT: Just prior to the launch of Half-Life 2 Valve releases a new digital distribution
platform, Steam.
WHY? A huge innovative platform that didn’t just offer downloadable games but a raft of accessible features aimed at both developers and the community.

12. MINECRAFT CHANGES THE WORLD

THE MOMENT: A retro-inspired game that enabled players to break wood and build houses. What’s all the fuss about?
WHY? The survival-horror/education/creative experience has so many applications that it has transcended ‘gaming’ altogether. One of the most versatile games that exists, if you can get past the look of it, it’s a joy to explore.

11. THE BIRTH OF THE FPS
THE MOMENT: With BFG in hand and a horde of demons running towards you thirsty for blood, the first-person shooter was born. Doom came bursting onto the gaming scene, unapologetically and brilliantly violent.
WHY? Aside from more-or-less inventing the first-person shooter, Doom also pioneered online distribution, online communities and modding.

10. GTA REFINES OPEN-WORLD GAMING
THE MOMENT: Stepping onto the streets of Liberty City for the first time was an awe-inspiring experience. The first 3D Grand Theft Auto not only blew the door wide open for open-world gaming, but it also found a place for mature storytelling.
WHY? Grand Theft Auto has become an industry juggernaut and there are few games that can claim to have had such a pervasive influence over the medium in the last decade. What DMA Design (and
later Rockstar) achieved was nothing short of extraordinary.

9. THE MODERN GAMES CONSOLE
THE MOMENT: When your home videogame console wasn’t just capable of playing videogames but could play a whole host of media. From DVDs to Bluray and now to television streaming apps
and exclusive video content, videogame consoles no longer exist; they’re only a part of the multimedia entertainment hubs we find ourselves with.
WHY? Both Microsoft and Sony have spent the past few years emphasising how important multimedia is for the future of gaming. Integrating TV functionality, securing exclusive deals with the likes of ESPN and Netflix. It’s the beginning of a path that leads to the ‘No Console’ generation – videogames simply being streamed through your television.

8. THE 3D PLATFORMER

THE MOMENT: Bounding from the 2D platformer into the vibrant world of 3D, Super Mario 64 reimagined both Mario and the whole platformer genre he popularised. With seemingly
infinite potential of computer graphics, designers were suddenly only limited by their imagination.
WHY? In a time before Super Mario 64, 3D graphics were basic and mostly restricted to a two-dimensional plane. Super Mario 64 rewrote the book of game design, founding the third-person action game and introducing analogue control. Nearly twenty years on, this excellent
game has rarely been bettered.

7. GAMERS GET CONNECTED
THE MOMENT: Whether it’s downloading content, playing others online or just exchanging barbs on a forum, the role that interconnectivity has had in the formation of videogames has been second to none.
WHY? While the internet, and our subsequent involvement with other gamers hasn’t always had a direct impact on gaming, it’s hard to think of a single facet of videogame culture that doesn’t
involve the internet in some fashion.

6. THE BEGINNING OF THE MMO
THE MOMENT: When Ultima Online was launched and created the first widely popular massively-multiplayer online game. Players quest and interact with each other in an involving, richly detailed world where they can fully inhabit a new identity in a virtual landscape.
WHY? The popularity of Ultima Online and the level of immersion that the MMO offered caught the attention of other developers. The influence could be felt far and wide, paving the way for EverQuest
and the ubiquitous World Of Warcraft.

5. HANDHELD CONSOLES
THE MOMENT: Various LED, VFD and LCD handheld games appeared over the years, but it was Nintendo’s continued ingenuity that resulted in the Game Boy that made the handheld console such a
fundamental part of the industry.
WHY? Why is the handheld console place substantially higher than the home console on the list? Well, it’s had the more overriding influence on gaming through the years than any other hardware.
Looking at today’s mobile, touchscreen and downloadable games, the handheld market has had the biggest impact on the industry at large.

4. E3 ESTABLISHES THE GAMES INDUSTRY
THE MOMENT: The Electronic Entertainment Expo is established in 1995, a trade fair hosting the world’s media that promotes the latest industry innovations and software. At first a gaudy cockfight
that evolved into the most important industry event on the calendar.
WHY? It established the games industry as we know it. It wasn’t just a trade show; it was a statement of intent. Once E3 was established, gaming had its own voice and a publicity machine that dwarfed all other entertainment sectors. Gaming was now a force of nature.

3. TOUCH CONTROLS REDEFINE GAMING

THE MOMENT: Devices boasting touchscreen functionality offer a unique way for players to interact with games. Designers suddenly had a completely new way to interpret the medium, which
had its own unique creative advantages and limitations.
WHY? While the use of touchscreen on devices such as the Nintendo DS was fairly basic, it wasn’t until tablet and mobile devices became more advanced that it had a wider impact on gaming. A whole
new generation of gamers are being raised by touchscreen devices and the transformative impact this will have has merely been hinted at to date.

2. SOCIAL GAMING BECOMES THE FUTURE

THE MOMENT: FarmVille and Candy Crush Saga become both hugely popular and massive money-spinners overnight, proving that social media is a legitimate gaming platform.
WHY? Social media has always been a powerful ally of videogames but the assimilation of gaming and social media platforms has opened up the marketplace to a wealth of potential. While browserbased games have yet to capture the imagination of hardcore gamers, it won’t be long before the concepts used in Facebook games ebb into traditional platform titles.

1. SPACE INVADERS

THE MOMENT: By the time Space Invaders reached arcades in the late Seventies, space fever had gripped America. Star Wars and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind had both proved to be huge successes at the US movie box office and there was an appetite for more space-set adventures.

At the time most other coin-ops were grounded in reality – either sports or racing simulators, with maybe the odd Western shootout. Space Invaders offered players a world completely unlike their own. Waves of extra-terrestrial enemies fall down the screen, its thematic structure presenting a underlining narrative that was uncommon at the time.

It was an original, inventing genres, introducing tropes that we’ve all grown familiar with over time –
player lives, enemies returning fire – and popularised the concept of achieving a high score (while also recording score data to the internal memory). The open-ended nature of the gameplay and the allure of leaving your own mark on the scoreboard attracted queues of curious patrons eager to see what all the fuss was about. It epitomised the sense of community that defined the arcade years.

WHY? Space Invaders was the game that brought the industry in the big leagues. Everyone started to pay attention after Space Invaders; people wanted to play it, businesses wanted to invest. It catapulted the entire medium into the spotlight.

The game would justify the top spot on this list for the sheer number of advancements it made in the industry both in the arcade and home consoles. However, the wider cultural impact that the game had is a far better testament to the work of creator Tomohiro Nishikado. With a suite of easily recognisable sprites and simple but engaging visual design, Space Invaders became the first global gaming brand. Hundreds of articles were generated in both print and television media, while merchandise opportunities swelled, emphasising its impact on popular culture. In 1980 Atari hosted The Space Invaders Tournament, the first electronic sports event of its kind.

Without Space Invaders it might have been years before videogames grew to such a level of  prominence, or for developers to understand the broader appeal that the medium had. The impact that Space Invaders had on videogames has been compared to that of The Beatles in the pop music industry. That might be a grand statement but one thing is for certain: without Space Invaders the industry would be a very different place today and a little worse for it.

source game tm

50 BEST VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME

1. Joust	2. Mappy
Joust is a game where knights ride on top of gigantic birds and kill each other in gladiatorial combat. Everybody is equipped with a lance, which sticks out a few pixels from their head. The goal is to collide with other jousters, ensuring that your lance is above theirs, which will then kill them. Bouncing on their heads, of course, will work just as well. It's a different formula from many arcade games from the era like Pac-Man, which typically put the player in weakened state. In Joust, most everyone is on the same playing level. That’s the theory theory, anyway. The key to Joust is learning how to keep your bird under control. There is only a single button – "flap" – which will propel your bird every so slightly into the air. With a few more presses, you take your steed higher into the sky, allowing you to stay airborne. In addition to fighting against gravity, you're also dealing with inertia. Build up enough speed and you'll find yourself careening across the arena, wrapping around the screen as you disappear off one side and reappear on the other. It’s a surefire way to make yourself dizzy until you skid to a stop.	Namco is one of the great golden age arcade developers, largely known for Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and Galaxian. However, their secret best title is Mappy, a cute cat and mouse platformer with vague influences from some of their more popular titles. The goal, as the titular policemouse, is to collect a series of items strewn about the level while avoiding a miniature army of thieving cats. The stage is divided into several floors, and the only methods of traversal are trampolines strewn about. As with many classic games of the era, Mappy cannot directly attack his opponents, but there are a few tricks he can use against them – particularly, the many doors spread around. Only Mappy can open and close doors, so he can use them strategically to divert enemies or knock them off their feet, if they're close enough. Additionally, Mappy is invincible while bouncing on trampolines. Just on these terms, Mappy is a fun game, but there are numerous layers to the scoring strategy.
3. Bubble Bobble	4. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
When it was released in 1986, Bubble Bobble was hardly at the edge of technology. Platform games with single-screen levels had been introduced with Donkey Kong five years earlier, and were already on their way out. Yet Bubble Bobble was so brilliant, it powered a small renaissance for the genre, and was followed by many clones and sequels. It’s a prime example of how you can turn a simple and straightforward concept into a mega hit and instant classic with cute, recognizable characters (some taken over from Taito's earlier game Chack'n Pop), and countless small, but clever modifications on a limited rule set.	The Geometry Wars series had an inauspicious start as a minigame buried within Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox. An homage to classic twin-stick shooters like Robotron 2084, and perfectly adapted for a dual analog controller, you controlled a little weaponized claw as you blew up lots of other geometric shapes, created in the vector style of games like Tempest. It was fleshed out considerably and released separately at the launch of the Xbox 360, where, even as a cheapie download title, it was the best game on the platform for months, inspiring legions of new twin-stick shooter clones.
5. PacMan Championship Edition DX+	6. TxK
Despite being one of the most popular games of all time, Namco has long struggled to make sequels to Pac-Man. Outside of the American-developed Ms. Pac-Man, the results have been unfulfilling, gimmicky spin-offs (Pac-Man Jr., Pac and Pal), games that completely changed genres (like the oddball graphic adventure Pac-Man 2), or 3D platformers (Pac-Man World). Pac-Man Championship Edition, released in 2007, is one of the few games that’s not only a suitable iteration of the original, but also the rare modern reinvention that actually bests it. This was later followed up by DX and DX+ editions, adding even more content.	David Theurer's 1981 arcade game, Tempest, was one of the first real 3D shooters. Creating what's now known as the "tube shooter" subgenre, you control a little claw-shaped ship as it travels along the outside of a web, shooting at enemies that spawn from the other end. It's one of the bestgames of the golden era of arcade gaming, in part due to the sharp, colorful, vector graphics. However, due to both the display and the rotating knob controller, Tempest never quite got a decent home port. That is, until Jeff Minter created an update for the Jaguar, Tempest 2000.
7. Super Mario Bros. 3	8. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
In the context of NES platformers, Super MarioBros. 3 decimates its competition. Even compared to other games in the series, it's a gigantic step upward from the frustrating Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, and the diversionary (through still excellent) American sequel. Compared to the original game, the screen scrolls in all directions, allowing for more open and less confining stages, including tense levels where the screen automatically scrolls. The map allows alternative routes to the end of each world, with challenging castles at the mid-way points, and airship stages that culminate in fights against one of Bowser's seven children. Put simply, it’s far more expansive than almost any other similar game on the 8-bit platform.	In North America, Yoshi's Island is known as "Super Mario World 2", presenting it as a sequel to the legendary SNES launch game. While perhaps thought necessary from a marketing standpoint, it does an injustice to how unique this title is, as it iterates Mario tropes (and characters) in incredibly creative ways. In truth, Yoshi's Island is a prequel. The hero, of course, is Yoshi (defined as a whole species of differently colored, but otherwise identical dinosaurs), tasked with escorting a diaper-clad Baby Mario away from danger. Yoshi is better prepared for direct conflict than the Mario Bros., able to eat almost any enemy and produce an egg, which can then be thrown as a weapon.
9. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	10. Sonic CD
When it was released in 1994 for the SNES, Donkey Kong Country wowed gaming audiences with its impressive CG graphics and fantastic soundtrack. Still, there was some resentment against it – it was simpler than Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros. games, and was criticized as a case of style over substance. Fast forward 20 years to 2014, and the tides have drastically turned. Nintendo’s prolific New Super Mario Bros. series is fun, but safe and uninspired; meanwhile, the Donkey Kong Country series, out of the hands of original developers Rare and placed in the care of Retro Studios, has created better crafted games. Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii was very, very good, yet it suffered in a few areas – the forced waggle controls were lame, the music was forgettable, and the levels lacked creativity. Every issue was fixed in its Wii U sequel, Tropical Freeze.	The third game released in the classic Sega series, Sonic CD, has always been an oddball, especially when you consider the system it spawned from. Even among Sonic fans, it can be a rather divisive game, given how different it is from those that followed. It's that sort of weirdness that makes it so memorable, though, even among a set of such great games, and there's no doubt that it's one of the shining gems of the Sega CD. From a gameplay perspective, Sonic CD almost feels like a more polished version of the first game. Sonic has his spin dash attack as introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but it's not quite as quick to use as in the later entries. The general pace is somewhat slower as well, with more emphasis on platforming and exploration than your average Sonicgame.
11. Klonoa: The Door to Phantomile	12. Super Meat Boy
While first and foremost respected as an arcadecentric developer, Namco has made several fascinating games for consoles. Their most impressive non-coin-op game may be Klonoa, a slightly late attempt to get in on the Sonic-esque mascot platformer craze. Nonetheless, it turned out to be a gorgeous adventure, putting 95% of all Sonic ripoffs to shame. For starters, it barely even feels like a Sonicgame, with an art direction all its own. Playing in a 2.5D perspective, the graphics still hold up remarkably well today – something that can't be said for a lot of PS1 games. With creative character designs and vibrantly colored landscapes, it's certainly more than just jagged polygons everywhere. Everything about the aesthetics, from its cute fodder enemies to the whimsical sound design, gives off an adorable charm (though things do turn remarkably more dark later on). The main gameplay gimmick here is the "Wind Bullet", a short-range projectile that balloons an enemy a la Dig Dug, and allows Klonoa to either throw the opponent or bounce off of them for a double-jump.	Super Meat Boy is the reason why, for better or worse, the "masocore" genre of gruelingly difficult games is so popular nowadays. It turned out to be a massive success story for Team Meat, and was worthy enough to be chronicled in Indie Game: The Movie. The setup here is that Meat Boy's partner, Bandage Girl, is kidnapped by the vile Dr. Fetus. This leads to more than 100 levels of pure platforming goodness, where all you need to do to survive is run, jump, and wall jump. It starts out fair at first. Before long, though, the tricks and enemies grow especially vile, like living missiles which split into six, or murderous Meat Boy clones. There's a gargantuan amount of content up front, as each normal level also has a tougher dark side variant unlocked if you beat the normal one under the par time. There are also warp zones leading off into hidden levels, where you can unlock characters from other indie games, each of which play akin to the games they're from while still adhering to this game's physics.
13. Shinobi (Arcade)	14. Strider (Arcade)
Sega's 1987 side-scroller Shinobi is remarkable for the way it plays with the conventions of both player and enemy vulnerabilities. In most games of the time, simply touching an enemy meant death, or at least taking damage. Not so for ninja hero Joe Musashi, who is merely knocked back when running into a foe, and is only killed by a weapon or physical strike. It allows for a much more gung-ho playing style that promotes forward momentum. This is important for more than one reason. While Joe has an unlimited supply of shuriken to take out enemies from a distance, many foes have shields, which prevent them from taking damage. However, if you're close enough to an enemy, you'll automatically execute a melee attack, which will either immediately kill or at least stun them, enabling an opening for a follow-up blow.	Capcom's Strider is a masterwork of character and game design. The hero, Strider Hiryu, is a ninja badass that flies straight into enemy territory with a hand glider. His sword, the Cypher, is so fast that its blade is like one continuous blur of light, slicing most mooks right in half. He can also somersault, and even climb on walls and ceilings. He even has robotic tigers and birds as sidekicks. The enemies, too, are well defined. The evil Grandmaster Meio is introduced as a cackling madman, with his twisted fingernails encircling the Earth. During the cutscenes, the villains each speak in their native language – Meio and the bounty hunter Solo speak English, the trio of Asian acrobats speak Chinese, and the Soviet premier (obviously patterned after Mikhail Gorbachev) speaks Russian, while Hiryu speaks Japanese.
15. Ninja Gaiden	16. Bionic Commando Rearmed
Ninja Gaiden is the more highly caffeinated cousin of Castlevania. It borrows its basic formula, like the sub-weapon system and the status bar, but while Konami's vampire slaying series is slow and deliberate, Tecmo's ninja slicing game traverses at a near-breathless pace. You move fast, and the enemies move faster still, but the controls are essentially perfect. Scaling walls is executed by rapidly jumping back and forth between two columns, using rad, spinning flips that defined why every kid in the 80s thought that ninjas were just the coolest thing in existence. It also demands the need for split second reflexes, lest you miss a midair slash and be knocked into a pit for the 30th time by some infernal bird. The need to push forward is highlighted by the enemy respawn points, which can trigger infinitely if you're standing at the wrong point on the screen. The music is also intense – the percussion is some of the crunchiest on the NES, with pounding drum loops and strong melodies that perfectly suit the game's speed.	Most action platform games involve running around, attacking, and jumping. Capcom's daring Bionic Commando did away with that last bit by removing the jump button, forcing the player to rappel around the landscape with a retractable arm. Its original incarnation was an innovative, yet clumsy arcadegame, but the mechanics were refined and assembled into a much better package with the NES version, which is a totally different game. The inability to jump initially proves puzzling for overcoming the most simple obstacles. It takes a bit of time to unlearn the techniques of other 2D platformers and instead think indirectly, but soon the snap-swing-go mechanics of the arm become second nature, and then almost every other game feels worse for not having it. It requires some split second reflexes, but flinging yourself from point to point – like a futuristic Tarzan, feet never hitting the ground – is some of the most fun you can have in a platformer. One of the greatest levels is a straight shot upwards, using all of the skills you've learned at this point to scale a massive tower.
17. Gimmick!	18. Castlevania Dracula X: Rondo of Blood
At first, Sunsoft's Gimmick! looks a lot like a Kirby game. The hero, Yumetarou, a wide-eyed green blob with stumpy legs, attacks by throwing glowing stars. The enemies are all toys that have come to life, and most of the levels are colorful. This is deceiving though, because Gimmick! is hard. Very hard. It's also one of the most incredibly well put together action game of the era, though. Like Sunsoft's earlier Batman: Return of the Joker, Gimmick! was designed to compete with the early generation of Genesis and SNES titles. In the end, it ends up surpassing most of them. There are only seven not-entirely-long stages, but each screen has an incredible amount of care put into it, often with superfluous but charming details. Somewhere in the second stage, there is a motionless enemy which, if you pick up the second controller, you can briefly command. If you manage to beat this stage quickly enough, you can find the level boss taking a snooze, allowing you to push him off a ledge and immediately win the level. There's a prevailing sense that some of the enemies aren't really "bad guys" per say, they just want to play with you, like the cat creatures in the third stage that bounce around then retreat after a few steps.	Konami's long-running vampire slaying series features the struggles of the Belmont family, in their quest to destroy the evil Count Dracula and his legion of movie monster-inspired villains. It's a franchise characterized by fantastic music and a high level of challenge, built upon a foundation of strong design. Castlevania: Dracula X for the PC Engine ranks as the best of the classic era of the series, before it switched gears into a more openended, RPG direction with Symphony of the Night. Initially an exotic import, teased mercilessly in magazines of the 90s, it's become more widely available thanks to a PSP remake and a Virtual Console release. The PC Engine is known for its colorful palette, and despite the dark overtones that come with gothic monster slaying, Dracula X has a bright and peppy look that makes it distinct from other Castlevania titles. The character designs are straight out of an early 90s anime OVA, with dramatic voice acting to accompany it. The music is also fantastic, with remixes of classic songs and several excellent new ones, all with an upbeat, poppy feel.
19. Demon’s Crest	20. Mega Man X
Capcom was on a roll in 1994, becoming renowned for the striking animation and bright visuals in games like Mega Man X, Darkstalkers, and Street Fighter Alpha. It's actually understandable, then, why a game like Demon's Crest would slip under the radar. It's a big departure for Capcom, with a very dour tone and a darker look than anything else the developer had put out (Resident Evil would not appear for another two years). An SNES successor to Capcom's Gargoyle's Quest games, Demon's Crest eschews most of the previous installments' role playing elements in exchange for something structurally closer to Mega Man X. Players guide Capcom's popular red gargoyle, Firebrand, through different areas, earning new weapons to use against the game's many bosses and enemies. While his animation isn't quite as smooth as that found in other Capcom games of the time, most of his abilities involve him taking on a completely different form, each with its own unique sprite. Demon's Crest's aesthetics fully deliver on the visual details, too. Backgrounds have little animation and minimal parallax, but they’re very colorful and, more importantly, each of the game's six areas sport completely different graphics.	There's much debate as to which is the best MegaMan game out of the franchise’s many subseries, but almost everyone who's played the first Mega Man X would agree that it’s one of, if not THE best. Set many years after the original games in a dire future, where mass-produced "replicate androids" (Reploids) fight against each other, X and his partner Zero attempt to take down Maverick leader Sigma. Despite the darker setting, its level structure is still classic Mega Man, where you pick your stage order between the eight Maverick leaders. Instead of just being "Something Man," the bosses are all modeled after animals with interesting designs, with names like Chill Penguin, Spark Mandrill, and Armored Armadillo. It’s a testament to the artistry that it can make innocent looking creatures seem intimidating. Even the normal enemies exhibit personality, like lumberjack-bots who chuckle if they hit you, and living robot torsos on an assembly line. As the very first Mega Mangame not on an 8-bit system, Mega Man X takes full advantage of the SNES's graphical capabilities, with smooth animation and gorgeous backgrounds.
21. Völgarr the Viking	22. Shovel Knight
This much is certain – there’s definitely no shortage of independent releases trying to bring back the magic of old 8- and 16-bit 2D games. Völgarr theViking is special, though, because it not only lives up to its inspirations, but surpasses most of them. Völgarr is not pretty. The sprites were obviously created with a lot of care, but the careless resizing makes them look messy. The backgrounds are just downright ugly, too. However, dismissing the game based on its looks would be one the most tragic misjudgments any fan of classic action games like Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Castlevania, or Ninja Gaiden could ever commit.	It's always a risky prospect to lean on nostalgia, as it can come off as insincere pandering if executed poorly. Such is the case with some independentgames inspired by the 8-bit NES days, but ShovelKnight completely avoids any accusations by simply being a well-made product. When an ominous tower appears, Shovel Knight, who rather comically wields a deadly digging instrument, is motivated to find out what happened to his old partner, Shield Knight. This leads him into battle against The Enchantress and eight other knights in her employ, called "The Order of No Quarter,"
23. Prince of Persia	24. Another World
Prince of Persia may be one of the most famous games ever, considered a hallmark of visual design for its time, and creating the cinematic platformer subgenre. Building off of the rotoscoping technology first exhibited in Karateka, Jordan Mechner created a more ambitious game involving as much platforming as combat, giving it an Arabian flair that’s particularly influenced by 1001 Nights. The Prince must attempt to escape the 12-stage dungeon and defeat the evil vizier Jaffar to save the Princess. The infamous one-hour time limit, requiring you to not die much in order to rescue the Princess before she is slain, makes it one of themost difficult games to conquer even today. The realistic movements and weight of the character are interesting, but take time to learn, and the many deceitful traps and increasingly difficult enemies ensure that an under-an-hour victory won't come without much practice.	Another World (also known as Out of this World and Outer World) is one of the most recognizable examples of the cinematic platformer genre, with all its usual elements: rotoscoped graphics, realistic movement (which includes jumping which is, like in real life, quite difficult to control), and a strong focus on puzzle-solving. The game's main character, Lester Chaykin, gets transported to an alternate reality as a result of a failed science experiment, and that's all the backstory we're given. The whole game is spent in this world, trying to survive – with the help of a friendly alien – and features encounters with both its hostile inhabitants and the local fauna. It's quite a minimalist setup, but the game makes the best of it by eschewing dialog and telling the story through gameplay, animations, backgrounds, and music.
25. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap	26. Super Metroid
Wonder Boy III begins as you play out the ending of its predecessor, Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Things go a little awry when, upon navigating the castle and defeating the evil Meka Dragon, the hero is cursed with an inhuman dragon form. Throughout the journey to change back into a human, the hero gains the ability to turn into other animals – beyond Lizard Man, the fire breathing form you start out as, you can become Mouse Man (to fit into small spaces and climb on certain surfaces), Piranha Man (to swim), Lion Man (to break certain bricks), and Hawk Man (to fly).	Metroid, released on the NES in 1986, is a dark, confusing, frightening game. As bounty hunter Samus Aran, clad in a robotic suit of armor, you roam through countless, nearly identical dark corridors of the planet Zebes, hunting down the evil Space Pirates and the energy sucking aliens known as Metroids. After a Game Boy sequel, the series hit astounding heights with its SNES entry, SuperMetroid. It is still a lonely, oppressive game, though its atmosphere comes from incredible design rather than technical limitations.
27. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	28. Cave Story
Symphony of the Night marks the generational transition of the Castlevania series, changing from a linear side-scroller to an exploratory action-RPG. With a structure and map screen that seems directly borrowed from Super Metroid, it's the best video game of all time that coined the "Metroidvania" term. The change was not unprecedented, considering that Castlevania II: Simon's Quest for the NES was similar, albeit more obtuse in the way that so many 8-bit RPGs are. From a story standpoint, it's the direct sequel to Castlevania Dracula X: Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine,	Independent 2D, sprite-based action-platformers seem as common today as grapes in a vineyard, but before any of them was Cave Story. Created as an unassuming personal project by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time, Cave Story gradually received notice and became the prototype for the incoming best indie video game of all time zeitgeist for the new millennium. The premise is simply named for starting in a cave and telling a story, but the plain title belies a tale fraught with several dark and twisted turns, despite its ostensibly cute art style.
29. Rogue Legacy	30. Dust: An Elysian Tail
The indie revolution in the early 2010s brought about a number of Metroidvanias and Roguelikes, so it makes perfect sense to mash them together. The result is Cellar Door's Rogue Legacy is the best video game of all time, which takes the basic action and exploration of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and combines it with a randomization element that changes both your player character and the layout of the castle. You play as a family of warriors hell-bent on making it to the end of Castle Hamson in order to uncover its mysteries. There are four areas to conquer, each with a boss, before the door is unlocked that leads to the final encounter. The first member of the family, at level 0, will probably meet their maker relatively quickly. However, your fortune and your equipment are bestowed upon the next generation of heroes, allowing you to forge new gear and build up the skill tree, which in turn strengthens the heroes, offers new abilities, and unlocks extra character classes.	Dust: An Elysian Tail is a beautiful 2D wonder, created largely by a single man, Dean Dodrill. Dean is an animator by trade, only taking up best video game development on a whim. It’s a gorgeous piece of work, with high resolution, hand-drawn characters and backgrounds, in a fantastically vibrant world. Gameplay-wise, Dust is a platformer with some light RPG elements. The influences of Super Metroid and Castlevania are obviously felt in the non-linear level design – there’s even an item named “mysterious wall chicken” – but there's still plenty about the game to make it all its own. Dodrill and co-writer Alex Kain really did something right when they created the world of Elysia. The story opens with the main character, Dust, waking up in a magical meadow with a talking sword, a flying furry sidekick named Fidget, and no memory of who he is. That all may sound rather cliché, but Dust is not your typical sword-wielding, amnesiac badass.
31. Legacy of the Wizard	32. The Guardian Legend
The world of Legacy of the Wizard is a true labyrinth; almost every screen is filled with multiple secret walls, blocks you can push around, hidden items, and hordes of monsters running all over the place. Like Metroid, you explore and find upgrades to let you progress further, but here you get to play as and regularly switch between four different members of the Drasle family. Each one controls differently, and also has a selection of things to find in the dungeon that let them complete different parts of the game. The game's challenge doesn't come just from the combat or making a map, but from figuring out who is best to use in each area and how to get them there. The game has three unique features to help you out. First, each area is designed for a specific person and has a different musical theme (composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa), so you know to start looking for those quirks in the areas that only a certain family member can handle. Second, there are the blocks themselves.	The Guardian Legend is one of the coolest games on the NES. While looking at screenshots could make you dismiss Compile's 1988 greatest adventure video game of all time as a Legend of Zelda rip off, it's much more ambitious than a cheap imitator, and it definitely stands on its own. When starting the game, you’re greeted with a fast overhead shooter area similar to Compile's previous NES game, Zanac. These shooter stages move impressively fast at times, and the titular Guardian, Miria, fights through several of them throughout the game. Miria herself isn't human, but rather a heavily armed android that can transform into an equally heavily armed spaceship. The opening level ends with Miria landing on the planet Naju, an artificial world that transforms and corrupts all life it passes by, set into motion by an unnamed alien race long ago for reasons unknown.
33. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link	34. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is often regarded as the bastard child of the series (though not necessarily the worst). Most of the game is viewed from a side-scrolling perspective, with only a simple overworld to travel between locations. There are numerous towns with villagers to talk to, and you gain experience points and levels from defeating enemies. Like many others, it was very obviously inspired by Dragon Quest and the wave of RPGs that were finding great success on the Famicom. Nowadays, Nintendo is seen as such a friendly, cuddly company, it's easy to forget that their early 8-bit titles like Metroid and Nazo no Murasamejou, were brutally difficult. Zelda II falls into that same category, especially with its sprawling dungeons. You get three lives, but with bottomless pits, and the constant threat of being knocked into them, you can go through these quickly. The final dungeon is expansive, and coupled with the journey required to reach it, you can lose an hour or more if you screw up and lose all your lives.	Much of the Game Boy library ran parallel to the early days of the NES, offering exclusive sequels to 8- or 16-bit games that were not only portable but, offered their own unique experiences. Their efforts were usually great, but didn't match up to their console big brothers – almost no one would pick Super Mario Land 2 over Super Mario World. That is, except for one case – The Legend of Zelda:Link's Awakening. Descended from A Link to the Past for the SNES, long held as the best of the 2D series, we have a devout preference for the portable title, in spite of its lesser technology. For starters, Link’s Awakening is just really weird and silly. The entire game takes place with Link shipwrecked on the island of Koholint, far away from Hyrule, and with only barely a mention of the titular Zelda. The goal is to find eight instruments to awaken the Wind Fish, which is the only way Link can return home. Link comes across a number of strange people during his journey,
35. Terranigma	36. Seiken Densetsu 3
Terranigma stars a mischievous boy, named Ark by default, who one day breaks open a forbidden door and discovers a strange creature in a magic box. This freezes all inhabitants of his village deep inside the earth, except for him and the elder, who tells him to conquer five towers to free his friends. Each tower has the side effect of reviving one continent on the planet surface, and when the deed is done, Ark is sent above ground to bring back civilization to the world. This mythical task is framed in typical action-RPG terms – Ark frees the souls of living beings by defeating monsters, then proceeds to the next part of the world by interacting with the newborn plants, animals, and finally humans.	The Mana series used to be something truly special in Squaresoft’s catalog. Koichi Ishii’s magical world was more than just Final Fantasy’s more colorful cousin. Merging Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy at least halfway towards Peter Pan, the third game exhales an atmosphere of childlike wonder and mysticism, just as much as high adventure. It opens with a swarm of birds soaring into the sky from the enormous, ancient Mana Tree. They are followed by four sparkling fairies, whose journey across the clouds is then traced, accompanied by a fast, thrilling variation on the previous game’s rather laidback theme.
37. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask	38. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
The Zelda series has fallen into an uneven alternation between titles that are just gradually expanded retreads of the same core concept – A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess – and interesting experimental adventures. Majora’s Mask may look a lot like Ocarina of Time for using the same engine and some of the same assets, but under the hood, it’s one of the wild ones. By the numbers, the game seemed like a disappointment – You only get to play as child Link? Only four dungeons in a Zelda game? Majora’s Mask stretches out in a different way, though, namely over three days. More precisely, the three final days of the dying world Termina (it’s never really explained how exactly Link ended up here), which end with the creepy moon crashing down to the earth.	Few companies do action-RPGs as well as Falcom. Their mechanics are so well-defined, so satisfying, that you could strip away all of the role playing elements and still have a fantastic arcade action title on your hands. While the Ys series was long famous for its divisive (but incredibly fun) bump combat system, where you attack enemies by crashing into them at the proper angle, Falcom changed things up with the fifth game, introducing both a jump and a proper attack button. While uncharacteristically clumsy, they greatly refined this with Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, which utilized 3D graphics, but kept the same style of top-down action. The follow-up, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, is based on the same engine, but is vastly improved.
39. Mega Man Legends	40. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
By the end of the millennium, Capcom had two series with the brand name "Mega Man" on them, and they decided to add on a third take of the bluearmored hero with Mega Man Legends. While Mega Man X had similar gameplay and story ties to classic Mega Man, Legends is very far removed from the other two, and feels more like Capcom's take on a Zelda game. In a really distant future, Mega Man Volnutt travels with his team to explore ruins and excavate treasure, but he has to deal with the double threat of the Reaverbots who guard the ruins, and the Bonnes, rival pirates who wish to steal the treasure for themselves. He eventually comes across a dark secret which may spell doom for Kattelox Island. More than likely, anyone who saw this game would have wondered where the Robot Masters were at, why Mega Man doesn't steal anyone's weapons, or why he's walking around an overworld in a third-person camera, instead of avoiding spiky pits on a two-dimensional plane.	When Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain debuted on the PlayStation in 1996, there was nothing like it. Superficially a Legend of Zelda clone, it stars a bloodthirsty undead sociopath, traveling the world in an attempt to undo his curse and avenge his own death, no matter the cost. Blood Omen's striking gothic atmosphere and flowery, excellently voice acted script earned it a strong cult following, leading to the release of its sequel, Soul Reaver. It changes the viewpoint from an overhead 2D game to a fully 3D one, to great effect. Taking place long after the events of the first game, Soul Reaver begins assuming players chose the bad ending in Blood Omen, with Kain ruling over a dying world overrun with his vampire descendants. Taking place long after the events of the first game, Soul Reaver begins assuming players chose the bad ending in Blood Omen, with Kain ruling over a dying world overrun with his vampire descendants.
41. Okami	42. Shadow of the Colossus
Okami is the most gorgeous looking video game ever made. The world of Capcom's mythological Japan is rendered as sumi-e ink paintings, with thick brush strokes used as cel-shading, and a filter applied to make it look like a painting in motion. As the sun goddess Amaterasu, reincarnated into a white wolf, the central theme is nature. The lands are dark and cursed, until you destroy the demons that infest them and restore the world's beautiful form, with flora spreading over the landscape literally as a wave of multi-colored life. Amaterasu dashes with leaves created in her wake, and sprouts greenery by touching the ground. When fighting enemies, the serene Japanese traditional music of the overworld gives way to the fierce pounding of taiko drums, with the battlefields burning with intensity, and flames encasing the combatants. The game is structured as an action-RPG, very similar to the 3D Zelda games, right to the slightlyannoying companion that complements the silent protagonist.	A good boss battle can be quite memorable, but a bad one can sour the entire game. Shadow of theColossus foregoes regular enemies altogether, and consists almost entirely of 16 unique and amazing boss battles. The player controls Wander, a boy who has journeyed to "The Forbidden Lands" to retrieve the soul of Momo, a girl who was sacrificed for having a cursed fate. He meets a mysterious being, known as Dormin, who tells Wander that he can resurrect Momo if the 16 Colossi that inhabit the plains are slain. Wander isn't a strong, muscle-bound beefcake who laughs at the concept of stamina, though — he’s actually a rather average looking guy. His run is wild and unrefined, he gets both visibly and audibly tired after running, and he grunts while pulling himself up a ledge. Wander isn't alone in his quest, though, and is accompanied by his mare, Agro.
43. Nier	44. Bloodborne
Cavia's final game, Nier, is both their best original work and the most fleshed out. Rather than focusing on the non-stop pessimistic carnage found in their Drakengard games, Nier is structured more like a typical action-RPG. The tone of the game is less violent and more successfully melancholy than what was seen in Drakengard. Part of this is due to the writing, but part of it is also from the much more laid back structure and atmosphere. Rather than rushing from place to place only to kill, the protagonists have several towns to stop at where simple side missions can be found, along with plenty of conversation. Areas are also connected by open, outdoor expanses that are accompanied by music, triumphant and often with beautiful vocals, that is much more sweeping and hopeful than anything in Drakengard. Nier opens up with the eponymous protagonist protecting his daughter, Yonah, from otherworldly specters in a post-apocalyptic landscape.	While it doesn't have "Souls" in the title, Bloodborne is the most ambitious game so far to carry the DNA of From Software’s challenging action and atmospheric role playing series. The director of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is back for this installment, and the game definitely bears his mark. Much like how the prior games combined concepts from Shadow Tower, King's Field, and Eternal Ring, Bloodborne presents a merger of everything good from their previous Souls games. It has the large, interconnected world of Dark Souls; the intricate, winding level design of Demon's Souls; and a focus on beastly humanoids like Dark Souls 2 (though Bloodborne keeps this in the realm of werewolves and Lovecraftian horrors). One of game's most interesting features is a stat keeping track of your character's Insight.
45. Shenmue II	46. Yakuza 4
The original Shenmue was released in 1999 for the Dreamcast, the first chapter in hero Ryo Hazuki’s quest to avenge the death of his father. Though tedious at points, it did a fantastic job of replicating the texture of a small city in 80s Japan. Shenmue II, released two years later, successfully fixes every issue with the original while also delivering an excellent experience. The biggest change is the sheer size of the game, with Ryo exploring large parts of Hong Kong instead of just his home town in its predecessor. Players also get to use the game's fun combat system much more. The soundtrack is greatly improved as well, feeling reverent to Ryo's situation and surroundings without coming across as overdone.	Sega’s Yakuza series (also known as Ryu ga Gotoku) is known for its beautiful and faithful replications of modern Japan. Though not on the scale of Shenmue, they have more immediately rewarding storylines, and gameplay that melds a Japanese RPG with beat-em-up action. The fourth installment is a huge step for the franchise. Rather than just playing as reformed yakuza Kazuma Kiryu, players get to use four different characters, each with completely different attacks, stories, side quests, and mini games. It also accomplishes the impossible, in that it takes these four seemingly unrelated characters and manages to weave a single story that draws them together.
47. Red Dead Redemption	48. Contra: Shattered Soldier
Red Dead Redemption is often described as "Grand Theft Auto in the Wild West", which isn't entirely inaccurate. It does acknowledge pretty much every problem of the GTA games and irons them out, though, creating the absolute best game of Rockstar's library. The story focuses on John Marston, a former outlaw, coerced by the government into taking down his old boss. As a reticent hero with a taciturn demeanor, Marston is easily the best protagonist found in any Rockstar game. GTA has always been saddled with stories about sociopathic criminals – it's suggested in the name. As the title implies with Red Dead Redemption, however, the driving force is reconciling John's past. This comes not only by hunting down his former gang, but also by improving the lives of everyone in the frontier. This gives more weight to your decisions if you choose to play an outlaw – with an honor and a fame system, you can lose respect, offsetting any of the good deeds you've done in the main story, as well as sticking a bounty on your head. Grand Theft Auto often attempted to satirize American culture, and while occasionally funny, it was just as often moronic.	The Contra series has been a household name for action game fans since the late 80s. A rapid fire pastiche of futuristic arsenals, deadly robots, and alien monsters inspired by various films of the time, its fast action and challenging design created a legacy that influences game design to this day. With new installments released on consoles during the 90s, the series had no trouble staying in the public eye. However, after 1998’s lackluster C: TheContra Adventure (created by an outside developer), many assumed the series was dead. Four years later, Konami revealed a true sequel. Known as Shattered Soldier overseas and Shin Contra in Japan (as it was the first "true" entry developed by Konami itself for some time), this game was rightly promoted as the real deal. It's a flawless sequel that incorporates the franchise’s familiar weapons and scenarios with a significant amount of new enemies and scenery. It also serves as an ultimate refinement of what made Contra a hit in the first place. There are no overhead stages, no 3D levels there aren't even any power ups.
49. Turrican II: The Final Fight	50. Gunstar Heroes
Best action games of all time on old home computers often aren’t taken seriously, and not only among those who grew up with consoles. The lack of hardware specialization often leaves them with bad controls and middling performance. Games like the Turrican series, however, show that it doesn't always have to be like that. The Commodore 64 originals by Manfred Trenz are programming masterpieces, but it was the Amiga versions, by German studio Factor 5, which demonstrated that home computers did not need to hide from consoles when it comes to fast-paced action. Smooth and responsive gameplay combine with beautiful sprites and stunning effects to make Turrican II the killer app for the Amiga. In contrast to most Japanese offerings of the time, which were usually tightly arranged and straightforward, Turrican's stages are vast, multileveled areas with multiple paths. There are countless secret areas to find, and even merely getting to the exit often requires an extensive search. The closest equivalent on consoles, structure-wise, might be Sonic the Hedgehog, if he could mow down enemies with massive firepower.	Treasure's 16-bit classic obviously takes after Konami titles, particularly Contra, but its philosophy is much, much different. In Contra, the rules are rigidly defined – use the right weapons for the right situation and memorize the enemy patterns so you don't get hit. That last part is particularly important, considering a single tap on the shoulder by an enemy would immediately kill you. Gunstar Heroes tosses all of that out by granting a large life meter, providing for a fairly wide margin of error. It allows the game to be surprising without punishing the player for not anticipating its every move. As a result, Gunstar Heroes is a playground of destruction. One level is a long expanse filled with enemies and the simple instruction to "Destroy them all!". Through a weapon customization system involving four element types, there are 20 different weapons you can create and switch between explosive fire bullets, auto-targeting lasers, short range light swords, rapid fire machine guns all sorts of stuff. Additionally, there are a number of melee attacks, ranging from slides to body tackles, and you can even pick up enemies and flying bombs in order to throw them at one another.