This is one poorly constructed list.
June 26, 2008 – 12:27 pmSo, two posts in one day. I just picked up a copy of Entertainment Weekly with a bunch of top-50 lists of the best movies, books, TV shows, musicals, and games. I am going to list some of the game highlights that I either agree with or deeply disagree with.
1 - Tetris: Don’t get me wrong, Tetris is great and deserves to be on the list, but it seems silly to me to be put at number 1. It’s almost as if the writers made the rest of the list, couldn’t think of a number 1, and decided that Tetris was like, the first game ever made or something. Whatever.
2 - Super Mario World: See, in my opinion, this should be number one the list instead of the falling block game. Nintendo called the Wii the Revolution. Super Mario is probably a better fit.
7 - Super Mario Kart: I would add to this, “Ever Mario Kart game ever made, especially Double Dash.”
8 - GoldenEye 007: This game belongs here. I fondly remember the days of GoldenEye tournaments after scouts and church. This will also go down in history of one of the three (3) good movie games in history.
9 - Grand Theft Auto IV: I’m not entirely sure why they chose this particular installment of GTA for the list. In my opinion, the original GTA III would have been a better choice, as it started the ball rolling on the open, engaging, and interactice crime-noir goodness that is Grand Theft Auto. Then again, I haven’t actually played GTA IV yet. I have it in my GameFly Q.
10 - Metal Gear Solid: I think the entire MGS franchise belongs here. Not only did it invent the stealth genre, but it remains one of the few games to have actually pulled it off. The others would be Splinter Cell and Thief. If you can think of others, I’d like to hear it.
11 - Halo: Combat Evolved: I actually don’t understand Halo or all the Halo hype. I don’t know, I would say the Halo 3 marketing campaign was more interesting than any Halo game.
17 - Sim City: Yes.
18 - Half Life: The summary in the article is best: the great legacy of this dystopian epic is how it pushed subsequent FPS’s to focus on story and character.
21 - StarCraft: This game should be higher up the list. Among my all time favorites.
23 - Deus Ex: I am unsure there is any game on the face of the planet that could be loved by me as much as this. I hate to say that I discovered this game by accident, as it was bundled with a video card that my dad had bought but never used. It was love. I knew the game had won my permanent affection when it forced me to make the decision to betray my employers (UNATCO) and broadcast an NSF transmission. It was exhilarating
24 - Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 launched the extreme sports genre, so why did they choose Pro Skater 2?
28 - Bioshock: This game is an experience. Should be higher.
30 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic With it’s Star Wars IP and complete user control of the character’s alignment, this game belongs on any list.
I’m a bit tired of writing this, but I’ll mention a few others I’m glad made the list: Psychonauts, WoW, Elder Scrolls IV, and a bunch of others. Find the list and read it.