All right, here it is. As of 2008, I have played a total of 20 years of video games. From the days of 1988 when I first picked up my first Nintendo Controller until 2008 when I picked up my drum sticks for my drum pads, I bring to you Joe Nowinski's Top Ten Best Video Games of All Time.
10. Grand Theft Auto 4. The 4th (actually more like 7th or 8th) installment of the series is a movie that you get to play and enjoy. You follow Niko Bellic,a Russian immigrant who tries and makes it in the underbelly of Liberty City. This game is near the peak of perfection for the GTA series. The game is an expirience, and an artistic journey in its own right. The mob/ crime/ action/ thriller styles and genres give every moment of GTA authentic charm that is some of the best atmosphere ever to be concieved. Also, the reproduction of 4 out of the 5 areas of New York, plus the inclusion of a New Jersey make this number 10 best games of all time. The world is engrossing and familiar while the game provides a gaming expirience unmatched by its predecesors and competitors.
9. Command and Conquer (PC)- This game not only revolutionized real time strategy, the combination of action, an original story, great live and voice acting, balance, and online play make this number 9. The Story of GDI vs. Nod brought you to the commanding poisiton of either army. With the introduction of the fictional material, Tiberium, C&C harvested a great alternate reality that commented on politics of the day while providing a wonderful playability.
8.Star Fox 64 (N64)- This wonderful addition to the Nintendo 64 library provided a series out of Star Fox. Originally a concept drawn up for the SNES, the Nintendo 64 used the 3D-rendering of the original and amped it with a vast world of memorable characters and great voice acting. The game play was solid, and included a very capable multiplayer, and a array of different craft and challenges. Star Fox 64 gets the vote for number 8 because of its great platforming capability, its great array of characters, and its multiplayer potential. Not to mention making it the FIRST game to include the Rumble Pak, a really cool (yet entirely useless) expirience that has been emulated until today.
7. Half-Life 2/CS/DOD/Team Fortress Mods (PC)- Two words. Gordan Freeman. With his return in HF2, we see a progression in the world of Half Life. These games get to be put together, as they can be considered mods of the original idea. Though all these games are sequels of their originals, the one thing that binds them stronger to the great game is a one word concept: Source. Source defined modern ideas of physics in video games, and also the way of portraying realistic gaming expiriences. Half-Life 2 allows for a near VR expirience as you follow one of the great silent heroes on his quest to rid the earth of the Combine and it's leader. Half Life 2 and its mods recieve the 7 spot.
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)- This is the only Wii game on here, and really it doesn't even scratch the surface of the awesomeness of the Wii. Brawl is an encompassing saga of a collection of 30 characters that have spanned the Nintendo Universe that are stuck in a collective fight against the forces of an unknown entity with help from the evil bosses each world. Brawl is a game that takes the greatness of both previous games and turns in to an entirely new expirience. Controls we're tightened and expanded to make the expirience of brawl easy for beginners but unexplicitly expert for masters. Ranging from Mario to Link to Mr. Game and Watch, to Solid Snake, to Sonic the Hedgehog, the game is a true fighting game that proved to be the opposite of all other fighters. This Nintendo Hodgepoge earns the 6th spot for wonderful character selection, very good inlay story, and gameplay that is unmatched.
Now we get into the big ones. the top 5. We start it off.
5. Chrono Trigger(SNES)- This was a game that was a simple miracle. The makers of Final Fantasy, Square, changed their strategy with their RPG's by implementing a string of wonderful story (A staple of all Square video games) with revolutionary gaming elements for the genre. The story follow's Crono, a sword-weilding youth who travels through time to defeat Lavos with characters spanning every epoc in the world. Eventually the story deepens into one of the greatest pieces of art that graced a video game season. Chrono Trigger gets the first of the top five best games of all time. The ability to find up to 8 alternate endings provided one of the most unique expirience in the video game world. Though the game didn't cause the biggest waves in popular cirlces, the games shattered expectations in the industry for RPG's on the console.
4. Rock Band 1 & 2 (XBOX 360, PS2, PS3, WII) The pinnacle of music rhythm games in video games. Rock Band provides the ability for 1-4 players to emulate their favorite musicians as a singer, bassist, guitarist, and drummer. The game literally revolutionized both the music and video game industry. Harmonix (Makers of Guitar Hero, which should belong on this list, but just couldn't beat out Halo.) picked some of the best songs of all time and let you play or sing with it. THe game also paved the way for incredible amounts of Downloadable Content, which is currently becoming the most popular way to enjoy games. All in all, the amount of hours anyone will end up playing Rock Band is proportionate to their love of music, and because people love music, the hour level will be high. This is the ultimate game for music fans who want to be musicians (which is most of us). Rock Band is number four on the best games of all time because of it's soundtrack, its playability, and its replayability. People will be playing Rock Band for another 20 years as the song number increases and music changes.
We have a tie for third.
3. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)- This game is the most selling game of all time. Not only that, it is the quinessential platformer that lets you follow Mario and Luigi along their path to defeat Bowser and his minions (7 of Bowser's kids along with armies of koopas and goombas) to save Princess Toadstool. This game earns the third spot in a tie because it is timeless in all forms. Everything about this game was amazing, if not perfect. It inspired hundred games ahead of it, and truly installed the Italian plumber and his brother in the limelight for all of video gaming. Mario Bros. revolutionized gaming, Mario 3 perfected it.
3. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)- Speaking of Revolutionizing video gaming, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Times follows the other truly iconic video gaming legend Nintendo created and the true silent hero: Link. LoZ:OT followed Link as a child where he learns Gannondorf is trying to capture the Ocarina in order to get the legendary Triforce. Here we see the modern version of Link used in several other games. As the story progresses, the Master Sword (the weapon to destroy evil) bring Link 7 years in the future in which is controlled by the Evil King Gannondorf. Aided by Sheik and Zelda (who are the same, as Zelda can transform her form and self with magic), Link defeats the evil king to seal him away for good. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time is tied in 3rd because it is truly a game that is both powerful and exciting. Side-quests and mini games also provided one of the most magnificent worlds created in modern video gaming. It has been re-released almost 5 times on many different platforms and mediums, and continues to be one of the highest rated and highest selling game of all time. It is true art in its conception and story telling.
2. Final Fantasy VII (PS)- If one is going to discuss art, then you cannot leave out my Number 2 of Best Games of All Time. Final Fantasy VII is a perfect piece of an RPG. Not only did it bring RPG's into 3-d, but Final Fantasy VII explored the best of what the PlayStation could do, and truly grounded that platform in glory. In truth, Final Fantasy would cover most of the top 10, as the bulk of them are some of the most well made games of all time. VII, however, provided the most advanced world and gameplay the series had seen, or probably will ever see. It followed the story of Cloud Strife against the powers of Shinra, which leads him to his nemesis, the near-god Sephiroth. Along with a truly dynamic, provoking love story, wonderful cast of characters, and art to rival the masterpieces of the 20th century, Cloud Strike defeats Sephirorth, who kills Aeris (love interest of Cloud and last surviving member of ancient race who can save the world), and launches Meteor unto the planet. The most impressive work in the piece is the psychological study of Cloud himself, as his journey truly became an epic play where all characters journeyed with him. Final Fantasy is number 2, and truly a near perfect modern game.
1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)- So we reached number 1. MGS4. Truly a masterpiece on a scale unbeknownst by any game ever made. This game is the cullmination of video gaming so far. It is perfect in almost everyway. The story follows Solid Snake, stricken with a aging disease, to find Liquid Ocelot in order to kill him to stop his eventual takeover of the Patriots, and the world. The game combines everything of a Third to First person shooter, a espionage game, and adventure game, and truly makes the best game ever. With a selection of over 40 weapons, the inclusion of humor, and the melodramic story following a list of characters based in history, Metal Gear Solid four is the endpoint of the Metal Gear universe start with the original MG on NES. It takes every story so far and combines them into what is the finale of one of the greatest series in the history of entertainment. The game keeps you on your toes every minute while providing you with a one of a kind cinematic expirience that is pretty much unknown to all other games. On top of that, the amount of action and gameplay perfection you expirience is unmatched. MGS4 recieves from me the best game ever.
And now lets have a couple honorable mentions
1. Nox (PC)- This game won't be found on ANY list anywhere, and needs to be said that it is one of the coolest games ever. It takes a young man named Jack who watches TV and transports him to the land of Nox with a strange Captain who allows you to choose between three types of character to defeat Hecuba, a Necromancer from the North who wants to kill those who are against her. On top of that, the game provided a varied and pretty amazing multiplayer concept for it's time, and gets on my list of honorable mentions.
2. Pokemon Red/Blue (GB)- This has to be somewhere here. It's easily one of the most profitable series's ever, and to be honest, is just a wonderful game. The ability to evolve your cute little monsters to be terrifying destruct beasts and control them at your whim pinned you up against your most hated rival, Gary, on a quest to defeat 8 gym leaders to beat the pokemon elite. It brought to a truly realistic magical realm, which we all wanted to be part of.
3. Halo (XBOX)- Halo took the First Person Shooter and added cocaine and love. The engrossing story and strong protagonist was supplimented with some of the best physics work and simple array of rules and weapons that provided Halo with some of the best gameplay ever to grace gamers. Halo's true gem, however, was the amazing multiplayer. Allowing up to 16 players in a console game to play head to head complimented the smooth and accurate shooting quality that Halo three proved to be superior to all predecesors and peers. Halo earns an honorable mention for bringing FPS to the PS2/XBOX/GC generation in a glimmering light, as well as starting a cult story of Master Cheif, one of the great protagonists of gaming.
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