I enjoy making “Top X” lists, and tempted by a friendly tweet some time ago I decided to make a “Top 100” list of games.
I’ve ordered these games from “Enjoyed the Most to ‘Least'”. How enjoyable a game was to me can depend on a variety of factors, most notably:
- how much time I spend enjoying the game
- how much it allowed me to enjoy it together with friends
- how much the game “stood out” in story or gameplay
I’ve tried as best as I could to compensate for the recency effect and the fact that games from the 90’s are hard to compare to today’s triple-A titles. This is in fact so hard, that you might get a slightly different ordering depending on when you’d ask me. For that reason, everything below the first 20 or so games is in “unordered” buckets.
Let’s get to it!
Top 5! Best of the Best
1. [PC] Commander Keen
All episodes, but my preference would be in this order: 3, 2, 6, 1, 5, 4. (Keen Dreams sucked big time!)
2. [PC] Warcraft 2
So. Many. Hours. Against the CPU. Against my dad. Against my friends. Plain fantastic game!
3. [N64] Golden Eye 64
Four-player-split-screen-james-bond-themed-3d-shooter. What more is there to add!?
4. [PC] World of Warcraft
The sheer number of hours of gaming pleasure with this title makes it a must for the top 10. Favorite expansion would be Wrath of the Lich King, mostly because that’s when most of my real life friends also played the game (I’ve played Burning Legion through Cataclysm).
5. [N64] Zelda: Ocarina of Time
There’s something intrinsically great about this game that requires me to place it in a top 10.
6 – 20: Fantastic games
6. [PC] Dota 2
With over 1700 hours played to date it’s hard to deny that I’ve enjoyed this game. A lot.
7. [PC] Warcraft 3
Great gameplay, great story!
8. [PC] Prince of Persia (the original)
I still have dreams and nightmares about this game.
9. [Amiga] Impossible Mission
The first Amiga title on this list. Spending weekends at my uncle’s place just playing these games: amazing!
10. [PC] Neverwinter Nights 1
A very good game, but it’s on this list because I had some awesome full-weekend complete co-op playthroughs that were fantastic.
11. [AMIGA] Menace
R-Type clone I absolutely loved.
12. [PC] Wolfenstein 3D
Didn’t even play this game that much, if it weren’t for playing the home brew levels my friends made for each other.
13. [PC] Hollow Knight
Played only recently, but gameplay was brilliant.
14. [PC] Heroes of the Storm
Quit the game multiple times because it was too addictive, so it deserves its spot.
15. [PC] GTA: San Andreas
Really got me into the sandbox genre.
16. [AMIGA] Klax
Tetris on steroids!
17. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy
The gameplay of this game was just phenomenal.
18. [PC] Whacky Wheels
Yes, I enjoyed this more than Mario Kart. Bite me!
19. [GAMEBOY] Tetris
Dragged me through some long trips that would’ve otherwise been quite tedious.
20. [PC] Duke Nukem 3D
Hail to the king, baby! First co-op 3D shooter with amazing level design.
21 – 50: Great Games
[N64] Super Mario 64
[AMIGA] Emerald Mine
[PC/RIFT] Robo Recall
[PC] Supaplex
[SNES] Super Mario World
[PC] Assassin’s Creed 1
[PC] Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit
[PC] Starcraft 2
[PC] Super Meat Boy
[PC] Amnesia: The Dark Descent
[PC] Mass Effect 2
[PC] Mark of the Ninja
[PC] Mother Goose
[PC] Trackmania Nations
[PC] Awesomenauts
[PC] Left 4 Dead 2
[PC] Civilization 4
[PC] Fallout 3
[PC] Batman: Arkham City (2011)
[PC] Portal 2
[PC] Portal 1
[N64] F-Zero X
[N64] Wipeout 64
[PC] Reunion
[PC] Guildwars 2
[PC] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
[PC] Assassin’s Creed 2
[SNES] Super Mario Kart
[PC] Fighter’s Destiny
[PC] Fez
51 – 100: Good Games
[PC] Braid
[PC] Fallout New Vegas
[PC] Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
[PC] Centurion: Defender of Rome
[WII] Zelda: Twilight Princess
[PC] Jazz Jackrabbit
[GAMECUBE] Soul Calibur 2
[PC] Starcraft 1
[WII] WarioWare Smooth Moves
[PC] Doom 2
[NES] Super Mario 1
[GAMECUBE] Ikaruga
[PC] Quake 2
[PC] Quake 1
[PC] Company of Heroes 1
[PC] Arkanoid
[PC] Lemmings
[PC] Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
[PC] Ski or Die
[PC] Secret Agent
[AMIGA] Marble Madness
[PC] Thomas was Alone
[PC] Sim City 2000
[PC] Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
[GAMEBOY] Super Mario Land
[PC] Magicka
[SNES] Street Fighter 2
[PC] World of Goo
[SNES] Mortal Combat 2
[PC] Worms
[PC] Skyroads
[PC] One Must Fall 2097
[PC] Boppin
[PC] Divinity: Original Sin
[PC] Duke Nukem 2
[GAMEBOY] Super Mario Land 2
[PC] Killer Instinct Gold
[PC] Captain Comic
[PC] Volfied
[PC] Leisure Suit Larry 1
[N64] Diddy Kong Racing
[AMIGA] Firepower
[N64] Super Mario Kart 64
[PC] Mega Race
[PC] Prehistorik
[PC] Bioshock 2
[GAMEBOY] Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
[PC] Quake 3 Arena
[PC] Sim City 1
[PC] Skyrim
Honorable Mentions
Here’s all the games I also quite enjoyed, but didn’t make the list on the particular day I decided to make it. But it’s a tough call vs some of the 51-100 games.
[PC] Descent
[SNES] NBA Jam
[PC] Dungeon Keeper 2
[PC] Settlers 2
[PC] The Incredible Machine
[PC] Battle Chess
[AMIGA] Micky Mouse
[PC] Hugo’s House of Horrors
[PC] Carmageddon
[PC] Tomb Raider (original)
[AMIGA] Pacman
[ATARI] COMBAT
[PC] Dragon Age 2
[PC] Flatout 2
[PC] Destruction Derby 2
[PC] Age of Empires
[PC] Limbo
[PC] Paladins
[PC] Guns of Icarus
[PC] Primal Rage
[PC] Skunny Kart
[GAMEBOY] Pipe Dream
[PC] Doom 1
[PC] Dragon Age 3 Inquisition
[PC] MDK 1
[PC] Bastion
[PC] Preshistorik 2
[PC] Prince of Persia 2
[PC] Duke Nukem 1
[PC] Virtual Karts
[PC] VVVVVV
[NES] Double Dragon 2
[PC] Warcraft 1
[PC] California Games
[PC] Unreal Tournament
[PC] Resident Evil 7
[PC] Trackmania 2
And that’s it! So, tell me about your favorite games now…