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.