Top 25 Games Of All Time (5-1)
Each Wednesday for the past few weeks, I've counted down my favorite 25 titles from throughout the 30 years I've been playing video games. The rankings are more personal than objective - it's not just how well-made, fun, or groundbreaking they were at the time, but also how much nostalgia they inspire for me personally.
Previous entries:
Honorable Mention
Games 25-21
Games 20-16
Games 15-11
Games 10-6
Top 25 Games Of All Time:
Games 5 through 1
5. NCAA Football 2003 (Xbox) - July 2002
At first glance, the first NCAA Football game for Xbox was simply a way to immerse myself into the world of college football like never before. I could stage my own Iron Bowl any time of the day or night, complete with TV-style presentation, chanting fans, fight songs, and play-by-play from ESPN Gameday's commentary team.
I could also play as any 1A school like Troy, plus several of the smaller universities like Alabama State.
Then I got into prep athlete recruiting during the offseason. Everything's a blur after that - a blur of scouting and giving pitches to athletes until the wee hours of the morning, trying to land that one blue chipper who could turn my program around. And then excitedly trying out my new toys on my first opponent of the following season, watching my freshman RB run roughshod over their defense. No experience I've ever had in video games has been as addictive as recruiting in NCAA Foootball 2003.
I forgot what the sun looked like. And my wife.
4. Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) - Jan. 2001
As the first online console RPG, everything about this game was magic, from the silky smooth, space-age interface to the trance-inducing background music.
One of my most memorable moments in gaming is the first time I met a longtime friend from high school online and hacked and slashed through the futuristic levels alongside him. There was no voice chatting in the game - only a keyboard interface, emoticons, and shortcuts to quick phrases like "Hi." But that somehow made people's natural personalities come through even more clearly. We met new friends, and shared laughs and adventures. We discovered rare treasures, explored the game world together, and formed bonds.
In the dying days of the Dreamcast, this game introduced the world to the best aspects of the social experience that people would become hooked on years later in games like Everquest and World of Warcraft.
3. Rock Band (Xbox 360) - Nov. 2007
I was skeptical when I read that a music/rhythm game would be released alongside a complete set of instruments - guitar, mic, and drums.
Thirty seconds into the first song I wasn't skeptical anymore. Two years later, not only am I still playing, my whole family plays the game regularly (see embedded video below).
Playing this game with a group almost feels like discovering multiplayer for the first time. It's an entirely new level of interacting with other players and with your favorite songs. You can even fool yourself into thinking you look cool while doing it.
How good is it? It turned us into the Partridge Family.
2. Hardball! (Commodore 64) - 1985
Hardball! for the Commodore 64 was fifteen years ahead of its time in gameplay and presentation when it came out in the mid-1980s.
It featured two full rosters, complete with bench players, that could be mixed and matched. The pitching and hitting interface felt impossibly perfect - better than some baseball games 25 years later - and the gameplay as a whole was perfectly balanced. You could play with a friend or take on the computer, and both were equally satisfying.
Even today I can watch gameplay videos of Hardball! and I desperately want to start playing. No sports game since has come close in terms of capturing my imagination the way this one did.
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox) - July 2003
The most well-written story in the history of the Star Wars franchise never appeared on the big screen. It was here, on this game disc.
This sweeping, epic tale of alliances and betrayals, romance and tragedy centered on you, or, specifically, the character you created at the beginning of this action/role-playing game. In the years before The Phantom Menance, you man a Millenium Falcon-type ship and journey across a series of worlds, train to become a Jedi, avoid (or battle... or join with) the Sith, and ultimately decide the course of the galaxy.
Gameplay plays out in cinematic fashion, featuring a revolutionary mix exploration, strategy, and real-time combat that is easy for anyone to pick up and play. You interact with other characters through dialogue choices that can change the story, and that dialogue itself plays out in some of the best ensemble voice acting in gaming history.
But the story is the star, and it features the perfect mix of poignant and moving subplots, truly smart and surprising twists, and hilariously irreverent comedy ("I did it all for the Wookies").
It's a game that's compatible with Xbox 360, and my wife and I are currently playing through again. I've lost count of how many times we've finished it, but I doubt this play-through will be the last.
Previous entries:
Honorable Mention
Games 25-21
Games 20-16
Games 15-11
Games 10-6
Top 25 Games Of All Time:
Games 5 through 1
5. NCAA Football 2003 (Xbox) - July 2002
At first glance, the first NCAA Football game for Xbox was simply a way to immerse myself into the world of college football like never before. I could stage my own Iron Bowl any time of the day or night, complete with TV-style presentation, chanting fans, fight songs, and play-by-play from ESPN Gameday's commentary team.
I could also play as any 1A school like Troy, plus several of the smaller universities like Alabama State.
Then I got into prep athlete recruiting during the offseason. Everything's a blur after that - a blur of scouting and giving pitches to athletes until the wee hours of the morning, trying to land that one blue chipper who could turn my program around. And then excitedly trying out my new toys on my first opponent of the following season, watching my freshman RB run roughshod over their defense. No experience I've ever had in video games has been as addictive as recruiting in NCAA Foootball 2003.
I forgot what the sun looked like. And my wife.
4. Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) - Jan. 2001
As the first online console RPG, everything about this game was magic, from the silky smooth, space-age interface to the trance-inducing background music.
One of my most memorable moments in gaming is the first time I met a longtime friend from high school online and hacked and slashed through the futuristic levels alongside him. There was no voice chatting in the game - only a keyboard interface, emoticons, and shortcuts to quick phrases like "Hi." But that somehow made people's natural personalities come through even more clearly. We met new friends, and shared laughs and adventures. We discovered rare treasures, explored the game world together, and formed bonds.
In the dying days of the Dreamcast, this game introduced the world to the best aspects of the social experience that people would become hooked on years later in games like Everquest and World of Warcraft.
3. Rock Band (Xbox 360) - Nov. 2007
I was skeptical when I read that a music/rhythm game would be released alongside a complete set of instruments - guitar, mic, and drums.
Thirty seconds into the first song I wasn't skeptical anymore. Two years later, not only am I still playing, my whole family plays the game regularly (see embedded video below).
Playing this game with a group almost feels like discovering multiplayer for the first time. It's an entirely new level of interacting with other players and with your favorite songs. You can even fool yourself into thinking you look cool while doing it.
How good is it? It turned us into the Partridge Family.
2. Hardball! (Commodore 64) - 1985
Hardball! for the Commodore 64 was fifteen years ahead of its time in gameplay and presentation when it came out in the mid-1980s.
It featured two full rosters, complete with bench players, that could be mixed and matched. The pitching and hitting interface felt impossibly perfect - better than some baseball games 25 years later - and the gameplay as a whole was perfectly balanced. You could play with a friend or take on the computer, and both were equally satisfying.
Even today I can watch gameplay videos of Hardball! and I desperately want to start playing. No sports game since has come close in terms of capturing my imagination the way this one did.
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox) - July 2003
The most well-written story in the history of the Star Wars franchise never appeared on the big screen. It was here, on this game disc.
This sweeping, epic tale of alliances and betrayals, romance and tragedy centered on you, or, specifically, the character you created at the beginning of this action/role-playing game. In the years before The Phantom Menance, you man a Millenium Falcon-type ship and journey across a series of worlds, train to become a Jedi, avoid (or battle... or join with) the Sith, and ultimately decide the course of the galaxy.
Gameplay plays out in cinematic fashion, featuring a revolutionary mix exploration, strategy, and real-time combat that is easy for anyone to pick up and play. You interact with other characters through dialogue choices that can change the story, and that dialogue itself plays out in some of the best ensemble voice acting in gaming history.
But the story is the star, and it features the perfect mix of poignant and moving subplots, truly smart and surprising twists, and hilariously irreverent comedy ("I did it all for the Wookies").
It's a game that's compatible with Xbox 360, and my wife and I are currently playing through again. I've lost count of how many times we've finished it, but I doubt this play-through will be the last.
posted by Brad at
10:57 AM
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