IGN's Top 100 Games

[Hawki]

http://au.ign.com/lists/top-100-games

So, it's that time of year again. The time where an arbitrary list is taken off the Internet, we get to laugh, to cry, to love, and see how "with it" we are, either by being with the crowd, or hipsters. Also, debate/discussion, because they're always nice to have.

So, similar to the Game Informer one, let's see how "with it" I am:

Spoiler

97) Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (um, really? I mean, I like the game, but I wouldn't put it in the top 100 of anything, or even a top 10 list of RTS games. And where's Warcraft III?)

90) League of Legends (I can understand why it's here from the cultural/influence standpoint, but...HotS is better. Suck it!)

88) Soulcalibur (sorry, I still write is as "Soul Calibur." But while not the best SC game IMO, it's still a damn solid one)

82) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (this is...fine, I guess? Not sure if it would be top 100 material)

79) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (the best game of all time is listed as #79? Shame! Shame!)

78) GoldenEye (Love this game, but, um...okay, I can roll with this)

77) Super Smash Brothers Melee (pretty much)

73) Battlefield 1942 (not the best Battlefield game, but I get why it's here)

67) Donkey Kong (yeah, fine, moving on)

63) Fallout 3 (bleh)

62) Banjo-Kazooie (good fun)

61) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (it was fun, but top 100 fun?)

59) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (y'know, you better have 3 at some point on this list if you're including this game and Vice City)

58) Mass Effect (hell yes!)

52) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (sigh...okay, it's good, but let's just say I put it in the "overrated" thread for a reason)

47) Counter-Strike (get why it's here, but not my thing)

44) Resident Evil REmake (#2 RE game, so...sure)

43) Diablo II (fine...)

42) StarCraft (have a feeling I won't be seeing SC2 on this list, which sucks, but SC1 is still damn solid)

41) World of Warcraft (you going for a Blizz trifecta around 40? Okay, fine, get why it's here)

39) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (game is good, but why MGS2?)

37) Mass Effect 2 (played about 20 minutes, so...yay?)

36) Pokemon Yellow (I liked Yellow, but...seriously? I'd still put Red and Blue above it)

33) Metroid Prime (bleh)

32) Resident Evil 4 (hell yes!)

30) Metal Gear Solid (ah, there we go)

27) BioShock (Mr. Bubbles!)

23) Halo 2 (why the heck is Halo 2 here? Fine, whatever)

21) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (SNAAAKE EATER!)

19) Doom (yeah, sure, whatever)

15) Street Fighter II (not my thing, but, sure)

13) Halo: Combat Evolved (well, if Halo 2 was here, this had to be here as well)

10) Super Mario 64 ("Here we go!")

8) Half-Life 2 (no. Just no.)

7) Tetris (yeah, sure, I get it)

5) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (sigh...)

4) Super Metroid (Zero Mission and Fusion are better, yadda yadda yadda)

2) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (love this game, but #2?)

1) Super Mario World (huh?! Also, insert complaint about all these Mario games and no Sonic ones)

So, 39/100. Well, it's better than my Game Informer Score of around 20%.

That said, this list is weird. I get that a lot of this is down to personal preference, but even so, per the above comments, some of the entries I just don't get, at least in comparison to their contemporaries.

But that's just me.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Why would you put Pokemon Blue and Red above Yellow?

I assume your not a fan of having Pikachu behind you at all times?

 

[Hawki]

Why would you put Pokemon Blue and Red above Yellow?

I assume your not a fan of having Pikachu behind you at all times?

Yellow is fun enough, but I can't call it better than Red/Blue for two reasons. The first is that Yellow is basically an expansion of these games - it adds stuff on what they built, but the additions aren't so significant that it feels like a significant evolution. If Yellow is the icing, Red/Blue is the actual cake. The icing may be nice, but the cake is far more impressive.

Second part is that even then, Yellow doesn't add that much stuff and arguably takes away stuff as well. Yes, it's nice to see Pikachu with you, and Team Rocket show up, but these aren't that significant. Also, with Red and Blue, you needed to trade with only one game. With Yellow, you need to trade with Red AND Blue to complete your Pokedex. Yes, it's nice to be able to get the starter Pokemon all in the same game (though if you want to use them, you'll have to grind your arse off), but with Yellow, you're basically taking gimmicks for a less complete game.

Even then, as a side note, I'd put Gold/Silver above them. Yes, Gen 1 was more groundbreaking and has far more nostalgia attached, but Gen 2 adds a lot more, and I'd argue is the better game for it.

 

[sXeth]

I probably preferred Warcraft 2 to 3, but that's cause 3 felt more like a weird reskin of Starcraft in the main, and I found the hero/creep stuff just awkward and annoying.

Anyhow

Spoiler

#88 Soulcalibur - I'm prettysure the next one (Soulcalibur 3 if I'm not messing up the weird numbering cause of the name change) was the interesting one, but whatever.

#85 - Inside. Blech.

#83 - System Shock 2. Well, I already covered this one in the overrated thread, feel free to go find the post there. Quick summary, System Shock was groundbreaking and innovative. System Shock 2 was a pile of jank that had no business being that way given the advancement of things by the time it came out.

#79 - Wind Waker. Sure, the half-finished (or cut because the Gamecube couldn't handle it) game is one of the best of all time. Right. Fun concept, charming visual design. But anemic as hell.

#78 - Goldeneye. I guess influence wise its fine. It was probably the first big shooter for consoles. You need a certain nostalgia to consider it "great" though.

#76 Skyrim. Which one, hah. I personally was introduced to Skyrim on the PS3, which couldn't be played for more then 5 minutes before reducing to 0.7 fps or so for prettymuch 6 or 7 months into its release. Also the main quest broke 6 different times when it finally did get rendered playable later.

#64 Rock Band. I dunno why you wouldn't go with 2, which was miles more polished, or 3 which actually expanded with the keyboards and real guitars. Maybe we're doing that influence thing again.

#59 San Andreas. Serious question, can you name a singular quality design choice in this game? From the silly stat grinding minigames, to the awful mandatory flying school section, to the bargain bin (even for GTA) plot and characters. The article mostly seems fixated on how big the map was.

#51 Overwatch. Again, what version? Putting the console price fixing BS (attempted on PC too) aside. The launch version was an anemic game, missing basic fixtures of its genre. 40% of the articles own entry is gushing about the rich backstory that literally does not exist in the game itself.

#49 Baldurs Gate 2. Actually a pretty good game. Some definite balance wonkiness (especially in Throne of Bhaal). Literally contributes basically nothing to the series its the largest chapter of somehow. Also Bioware's weird fanfiction esque party members is in full effect here.

#31 Witcher 3. I'd like some (quality) gameplay in my 40 hour movie thanks. Yes I know I'm not the target audience here, clearly. I wouldn't bother commenting on it if it'd been lower in the list somewhere.

#26 Breath of the Wild. I'd like some gamepl--- wait already used that one. So we have the "groundbreaking" open world Zelda (they've all been open world in the main series, but sure). Facilitating this, we decided to get rid of the Metroidvania elements, take out all the fun and versatile gadget mechanics, remove dungeons entirely. So we're down to Zelda's combat, a *decent* system at best, but made awkward by your weapons breaking, and a monotonous grind loop where you farm a bare handful of recolored enemies for drops like it was an MMO. Also some puzzle chambers that seem like they came from a concept for some other tabled game, until those run out less then a third through and they become another repeated fight or straight up empty rooms. And koroks that repeat the same 3 puzzles, until they also run out of ideas and start just being under random rocks.

#24 Minecraft. I just have to reiterate here, which variation. Thats a lot of variance. There's merit here for obvious known reason, but there's also a tremendous potential gap between the first release of Minecraft, current Minecraft, mobile Minecraft, Minecraft on PC with 1 billion mods, etc.

#20 Last of Us. I'd like some gamep---. Okay this has mostly decent gameplay. Not good enough gameplay to be top 20 though. Makes for amusing videos of watching Ellie just run aimlessly through swarms of enemies though.

#17. GTA V. Has no business being in a top 50. Hell, I'm not sure why they put it on here. The article text literally is a marketing blurb. Shiny graphics seems to be the predominant theme in said blurb. Are we including GTA Online? Cause that literally didn't come with the game originally. I assume they are cause they mention heists as a plural, when they only appeared as bookends in the original game.

#16 Dark Souls. Sure. If you're going to put DS on here, I'd have gone with the third one for the polished version, but sure.

The top 10 is the same old same old, prettymuch. Both LttP and Ocarina is redundant. The list compiler has a weird obsession with Mario.

The list as a whole tells me its from someone who picked up gaming in the mid-late 90s, since it only acknowledges the most blatant of things before that. Clearly started with a SNES, and doesn't seem to have touched SEGA before its demise. Heavily consolized in general. Seems a little lacking in the modern era too.

 

[Worgen]

Didn't you make this same thread like 2 weeks ago?

 

[Hawki]

Didn't you make this same thread like 2 weeks ago?

That was for Game Informer, and a top 300 rather than 100.

 

[Rangaman]

Ah, IGN. My Most-Hated gaming outlet of all time. Let's see what your list has to offer.

Spoiler

100. Pokemon GO-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANO

97. Warcraft II-Sure, but where's WCIII?

94. Monkey Island 2-Based on how low this game is, I can already tell I'm going to hate this list.

92. Fallout 2-Just repeat the last thing I said.

91. Undertale-Love this game, it should've been higher IMO.

85. Inside-LIMBO is better. Much better.

83. System Shock 2-Again, I have many problems with how low this is.

82. GTA: Vice City-This is a Nintendo fanboy's list, isn't it?

79. Zelda: The Wind Waker-Great cartoon, bland game. Next.

78. Goldeneye-I guess under 50 is all the self-restraint this guy could handle

76. Skyrim-Why not?

72. DOTA 2-Why?

67. Donkey Kong-The Game Boy version is better.

63. Fallout 3-H O W D A R E Y O U P U T T H I S F U C K I N G G A M E A B O V E F A L L O U T 2

60. Silent Hill 2-Friendly reminder: they put Tetris above this.

59. GTA: San Andreas-I swear to god, if you guys put GTA V above this...

52. Zelda: Majora's Mask-"Let's put the actual best Zelda game at 52 so we can rave about OoT and ALttP some more! DUUURR!"

51. Overwatch-Fuck off.

49. Baldur's Gate II-Fuck you fucking face, IGN/You're a cocksucking ass-licking IGN.

45. Earthbound-Have I mentioned how angry this list is making me?

38. Final Fantasy VI-Chrono Trigger is better.

35. The Legend of Zelda-And so begins the saga of Mario game-Zelda game-Mario game-Zelda game.

34. Bloodbourne-Okay, fair enough.

31. The Witcher 3-Really?

23. Halo 2-(choking noises)

22. Half-Life-You shits put HL2 in the Top Ten, didn't you?

20. The Last of Us-I mean...do I have to explain my issues with this?

18. Chrono Trigger-Huh, guess you guys agreed with me for once.

17. GTA V-#%$&@*#$*&$**#&#*&#%##*&#&#%*&#*@(@&$^#$%#&^%#*$&^

16. Dark Souls-My favorite, but I guess not everyone has to share my opinion.

14. Super Mario Bros.-The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of videogames. In that critics are still praising it, long after the rest of the world has moved the fuck on.

13. Halo: CE-(furious choking noises)

11. Portal 2-The first one is better

9. Red Dead Redemption-Ok, fine.

8. Half-Life 2-FUCKING CALLED IT!

7. Tetris-You cannot be serious.

6. Super Mario Bros 3-Is it really that good though?

5. Zelda: A Link to the Past-(heavy sigh)

4. Super Metroid-Obligatory "Zero Mission is better" post

3. Portal-Okay, we agreed on something again.

2. Zelda: Ocarina of Time-But wait, what did you guys put at num-

1. Super Mario World-Yeah, no.

Meh, pretty much what I expected. Nintendo games from the late 80s-late 90s primarily, with as little input from MS and PCs as possible. I think people really need to learn to move the fuck on from that period of gaming history, or at least admit that Nintendo weren't the only company out there at that time.

 

[Squilookle]

People still visit IGN?

IGN is still around?

 

[Bedinsis]

I object to this list's conceptualization. How on Earth to you say anything meaningful about the position of game A and game B if they are in wildly different genres and try to evoke different feelings in the players? It's probably more accurate to call it a list of 100 collectively considered great games.

People still visit IGN?

IGN is still around?

You're in a glass house, throwing rocks around.

 

[Trunkage]

Ah, IGN. My Most-Hated gaming outlet of all time. Let's see what your list has to offer.

Spoiler

100. Pokemon GO-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANO

97. Warcraft II-Sure, but where's WCIII?

94. Monkey Island 2-Based on how low this game is, I can already tell I'm going to hate this list.

92. Fallout 2-Just repeat the last thing I said.

91. Undertale-Love this game, it should've been higher IMO.

85. Inside-LIMBO is better. Much better.

83. System Shock 2-Again, I have many problems with how low this is.

82. GTA: Vice City-This is a Nintendo fanboy's list, isn't it?

79. Zelda: The Wind Waker-Great cartoon, bland game. Next.

78. Goldeneye-I guess under 50 is all the self-restraint this guy could handle

76. Skyrim-Why not?

72. DOTA 2-Why?

67. Donkey Kong-The Game Boy version is better.

63. Fallout 3-H O W D A R E Y O U P U T T H I S F U C K I N G G A M E A B O V E F A L L O U T 2

60. Silent Hill 2-Friendly reminder: they put Tetris above this.

59. GTA: San Andreas-I swear to god, if you guys put GTA V above this...

52. Zelda: Majora's Mask-"Let's put the actual best Zelda game at 52 so we can rave about OoT and ALttP some more! DUUURR!"

51. Overwatch-Fuck off.

49. Baldur's Gate II-Fuck you fucking face, IGN/You're a cocksucking ass-licking IGN.

45. Earthbound-Have I mentioned how angry this list is making me?

38. Final Fantasy VI-Chrono Trigger is better.

35. The Legend of Zelda-And so begins the saga of Mario game-Zelda game-Mario game-Zelda game.

34. Bloodbourne-Okay, fair enough.

31. The Witcher 3-Really?

23. Halo 2-(choking noises)

22. Half-Life-You shits put HL2 in the Top Ten, didn't you?

20. The Last of Us-I mean...do I have to explain my issues with this?

18. Chrono Trigger-Huh, guess you guys agreed with me for once.

17. GTA V-#%$&@*#$*&$**#&#*&#%##*&#&#%*&#*@(@&$^#$%#&^%#*$&^

16. Dark Souls-My favorite, but I guess not everyone has to share my opinion.

14. Super Mario Bros.-The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of videogames. In that critics are still praising it, long after the rest of the world has moved the fuck on.

13. Halo: CE-(furious choking noises)

11. Portal 2-The first one is better

9. Red Dead Redemption-Ok, fine.

8. Half-Life 2-FUCKING CALLED IT!

7. Tetris-You cannot be serious.

6. Super Mario Bros 3-Is it really that good though?

5. Zelda: A Link to the Past-(heavy sigh)

4. Super Metroid-Obligatory "Zero Mission is better" post

3. Portal-Okay, we agreed on something again.

2. Zelda: Ocarina of Time-But wait, what did you guys put at num-

1. Super Mario World-Yeah, no.

Meh, pretty much what I expected. Nintendo games from the late 80s-late 90s primarily, with as little input from MS and PCs as possible. I think people really need to learn to move the fuck on from that period of gaming history, or at least admit that Nintendo weren't the only company out there at that time.

Man, do you like any games? You like, what, 7?

Also, Fallout 3 will always beat 2 because 2 is the worst in the series. I surprised NV isn't here though. My fav is still F1 and I will never like Avellone as much since he wrecked Fallout with 2.

Also, most old Marios are pretty trash. People who say that Nintendo make the same game over and over clearly haven't gone back to play the old ones.

System Shock 2 was a good game back in the day but it is literal trash today. Thank god they upgraded to Bioshock.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

System Shock 2 was a good game back in the day but it is literal trash today. Thank god they upgraded to Bioshock.

Upgrade?

you mean making level design incredibly linear and simple? removing RPG elements? having bad shooting mechanics?

Bioshock is poor mans System shock 2. even its twist is incredibly predictable.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

This regular activity of listiclising things (and indeed the reading of others' listiclising of things) appears to create more hassle than it would ever be worth. The only way to win is to not play at all, abandon all ye fettered numbers 'n with us swim amongst the ambrosial curds of the resplendent abstract!

 

[Squilookle]

I object to this list's conceptualization. How on Earth to you say anything meaningful about the position of game A and game B if they are in wildly different genres and try to evoke different feelings in the players? It's probably more accurate to call it a list of 100 collectively considered great games.

People still visit IGN?

IGN is still around?

You're in a glass house, throwing rocks around.

That isn't even close to how the metaphor goes, but I see no issue with doing what you've described (metaphorically).

 

[Bedinsis]

I object to this list's conceptualization. How on Earth to you say anything meaningful about the position of game A and game B if they are in wildly different genres and try to evoke different feelings in the players? It's probably more accurate to call it a list of 100 collectively considered great games.

People still visit IGN?

IGN is still around?

You're in a glass house, throwing rocks around.

That isn't even close to how the metaphor goes, but I see no issue with doing what you've described (metaphorically).

Neither do I. Why isn't the metaphor appropriate for this situation?

 

[Squilookle]

Well there's two ways one can read the metaphor- the first is don't be a hypocrite. It doesn't work here because I don't run a gaming website that has listed the top 100 games of all time. If I did, and I was slagging off IGN, then yeah, that would be very poor form.

The second definition is 'don't dish it out if you can't take it.' And since I couldn't care less what IGN thinks of me, that doesn't really work either.

 

[Bedinsis]

I was referring to you slagging off IGN with questioning if it still exists while being on the increasingly irrelevant escapist website.

 

[Yoshi178]

#100- Pokemon Go

fucking dropped instantly.

and i was hoping to at least read up to the number 80 pick before losing interest.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

How are you still surprised by these sort of ratings.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

This again eh? Well, as per last time this is what I personally think of the ones I've played.

Spoiler

99 Final Fantasy VII: can fuck off
96 Star Wars: TIE Fighter: Decent, especially cool for the time.
88 Soulcalibur: makes it easy to look badass
78 GoldenEye 007: An old favourite
76 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Good, even if I'm not too fond of the setting
73 Battlefield 1942: eh, online multiplayer.
67 Donkey Kong: It's donkey Kong.
66 Team Fortress 2. Meh, online multiplayer
63 Fallout 3: In my top 5
59 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Meh. Not the games fault though, just my interests at the time.
58 Mass Effect: Never got on with Bioware games
57 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, good stuff.
50 Deus Ex: Played too late and on playstation.
44 Resident Evil: Classic.
40 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Never got on with Bioware games
32 Resident Evil 4: Nope, I'm out.
25 Sid Meier's Civilization IV: all time favourite
24 Minecraft: only fun with friends
22 Half-Life: Played too late.
19 Doom: Never really liked any FPS pre goldeneye.
17 Grand Theft Auto V: Good, great even, but the multiplayer is again only fun with friends.
15 Street Fighter II: Even taking the nostalgia goggles off, it's still a fun game
14 Super Mario Bros.
07 Tetris: It's Tetris

 

[McElroy]

Another one of these boring lists. Not just boring, simply pointless. Most of them simply can't be compared and even games in the same genre tilted the scale differently because one was made after the other etc. Some of that old crap people today wouldn't touch with a 50-meter pole but they're there because of nostalgia cred or whatever-the-hell, which would be all fine, BUT you just can't put "was much enjoyed at the time" against some contemporary online-game and give it a score above or below it!