To celebrate our 10 year anniversary I think it's only fair that we do the exact same thing every video game magazine did whenever they reached a milestone... create a top 100 list. So that's what I'm going to do. I've spent the last couple weeks thinking this over and I have a list in front of me that I'm pretty happy with. No one else on earth will be happy with it, but as I always say, "fuck off it's my list and I don't give two shits what you think you little pissant." At least I think I say that.
Also, if you recall I did do a top 28 list a while back. However, that was 5 years ago and many great games have come out since, so even that top 28 has some changes in it. There's a few new games, a few games my opinions have changed on, and there was one really great one that I completely overlooked somehow when I made the list the first time. So rest assured there will be some very noticeable changes.
And it's going to go by fast. Since I've got that new job starting in just over a week, my free time may be reduced, so I'm going to try to get all 100 games posted within the next two weeks. I need to sharpen up my writing since this is a PR job so it's good practice. Writing about insurance benefits and filing medical claims is just like video games right?
100Sonic Adventure
99Kaboom
98Conquests of the Longbow
97Streets of Rage 2
96Lollipop Chainsaw
95Bloodborne
94 Crazy Taxi
93Bit.Trip.Beat
92Wii Ski & Snowboard
91RiverCity Ransom
90Dragon Quest Monsters
89Jones in the Fastlane
88Dark Cloud 2
87Professor Layton and the Curious Village
86MadWorld
85Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
84Torneko the Last Hope
83Crystal Castles
82Space Harrier
81Retro Game Challenge
80Final Fantasy VII
79Bulletstorm
78Rayman Legends
77Super Dodge Ball
76World of Goo
75The Magic of Scherazade
74Minecraft
73Fantasy Zone 2
72Golden Axe: Revege of Death Adder
71Final Fantasy Legend II
70Hotel Dusk
69Splatoon
68Pitfall
67Dragon Quest V
66SteamWorld Dig
65Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
64Order Up
63Hearthstone
62Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge
61Bayonetta
60Galaga
59 Earthbound
58Super Mario Bros.
57Wii Sports Resort
56Pac-Man CE: DX
55Trauma Team
Yes yes! Alien hominid?! Lol.
My entire list is going to be filled with spots with multiple games so I dont think you are a bitch.
Alien Hominid is cool by the way, don't be a hater.
Resident Evil 4, such an amazing game. It was the whole reason I got the GameCube when I did. I just HAD to play that game as soon as it came out.
If it wasn't, you wouldn't have got this RE4 anecdote out of it!
#4. The World Ends With You
Aside from being an incredibly fun game, there are two things amaze me about The World Ends With You. First, the game is insanely original concept. There was nothing like it before it (and really nothing since then), and yet it felt like a completely polished experience. This touch screen controlled action RPG was just about perfect right from the get-go. The story was complex, but not mind boggling (like a certain Disney-Square collaboration), the art style was wild but not off-putting, and the soundtrack... well let's just say I don't think any handheld game ever had a soundtrack that was this good. And the controls, while they took a little time to get used to, were actually very smooth once you learned what you were doing. It all made for what was maybe the most creative game Square-Enix has ever put out. And when Solo Remix, the single-screen mobile version was announced, I was as disappointed as anyone. Sequel dammit!! Just give us a fucking sequel!!! But that's where the second amazing thing happened.... they made it better. The single screen made it easier to control your partner, and suddenly combos were a bigger part of the game than ever. Remixed versions of amazing songs were somehow better than before. And finally, you could play the game on a larger screen (assuming you were using a tablet) and could really appreciate the art style that much more.
I can't honestly say I immediately was hooked on the game. In fact, I almost gave up on it during the second week, as I found the game very difficult and Joshua an unpleasant partner. Fortunately I stuck with it and everything clicked and after that it's been a favorite of mine, and my opinion of it only gets better each time I play it. Funny story though, I almost had the game taken away from me after it taught my son his first "curse word" or phrase at any rate. He used to like to play the game more for the music and colorful graphics and so on long car rides I'd let him play the game a little bit. Unfortunately the main character Neku has a bit of a mouth on him, particularly in the early part of the game and that came back to bite me in the ass when the 4 year old kid would go around shouting, "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!!" for virtually no reason at all...yeah mom didn't dig that.
#3. Dragon Quest 8
The greatest Dragon Quest game of all time. The greatest game Level-5 ever made. The best jRPG ever made. I could throw any number of superlatives at this game. It's deserving of all them. The jump from DQ7 to DQ8 was just about as dramatic as any there's ever been. It went from a PS1 game that looked like a 16-bit game to being arguably the best looking game on the PS2 with a fully orchestrated soundtrack and full voice-over acting. The game wasn't just a sequel, it was an attempt at RPG perfection and it's about as close as any game has come. The day the game came out, I took the day off of work. Nothing was going to keep me away from sitting in front of the TV all day to play it, and nothing did.
Sadness struck 7 years later though. My wife was part of an internet gift exchange group and asked if I had any old video games I could share. I gave her the names of a couple games she could send out (say goodbye to Herdy Gerdy) as well as the demo disc for Final Fantasy 12 that came along with Dragon Quest 8 if anyone wanted that. A few years later I decided it was time to play DQ8 again and when I opened the case.... it was gone. All that remained was the demo of Final Fantasy 12. DOH!!!!!! Finally last year I did get around to getting the 3DS version of the game, and it's been a mixed bag. Overall it's still great. The new playable characters are good and it's nice to no longer have to deal with random battles, but the graphics definitely took a hit and the soundtrack went from the beautiful orchestrated score to MIDI. There is also a bit more story which is nice, so it's still a worthy heir. But the day S-E decides to give the game a proper remake (possibly with the DQ11 engine) with all the enhanced features and the restored soundtrack... well it'll finally be RPG perfection.