RAND00M said:
Damn.I can´t,because i haven't played them all.
Zweiblumen said:
I've only played three of those games, and considering I haven't finished any of them (although you don't really 'finish' tetris) I won't vote.
If you haven't played all of these games, you really should pick them up somehow. Every single one of them holds up to today's games. They're still fun to play, and if you haven't played every one of them you are really missing out.
Now its time for question and answer!
Perception said:
Who the heck is "the industry"?
Out of these games, less than half had any major impact in terms of breaking new ground, and most of the things they did have been done much better later on.
Legend of Zelda: I guess the ocarina was interesting, true.
GoldenEye: 007 was admittedly interesting, in that it largely introduced FPS games to consoles.
Resident Evil 4: Not sure. It was well received, but apart from being well executed there was little "new" to the game.
Super Metroid: A well executed action game, which received rave reviews. Still, it didn't really introduce anything new in my eyes.
Tetris: Yeah, I agree here, if nothing else then just on the basis of its staying power.
Final Fantasy 7: Nah. Brought early 3D puke-o-vision to the FF franchise. I think they wouldn't have lost much by staying with sprites for another while.
Doom: I had a lot of fun with this game. Really introduced deathmatch into commercial games, and felt a lot more playable than Wolfenstein 3D did.
Super Mario 64: Okay, a 3D platformer. Interesting I guess, but I don't see a way to justify including this, but not including the one that started it all: Super Mario Bros.
Personally, I believe the list should have been better spread across genres, and with focus on games that really "did" something for the medium, rather than a random assortment of games that were "good". "Good" is in the eye of the beholder, but most can recognize that games like Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Zork, Rogue/Moria, Ultima, Doom, DIKU-MUD, Elite and so forth added something new to the medium - regardless of whether or not someone else did it better later on.
First of all, read the post. It's not my list. You may even want to follow the link if you're interested. The 'industry' is the gaming industry in the form of magainzes, websites, and new articles. That's where the lists were derived from. But allow me to explain why the listed games have such staying power and universal popularity as I think your post is a common complaint here - especially from gamers that may have missed every generation from the N64/PS1 back to the beginning.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: This was the definitive action RPG, and many say it still is. It took everything that made 2D Zelda great and transferred it perfectly into 3D. The controls were divine, the world was large and interesting, and the story was just plain fascinating. This set the standards for 3D adventure games.
GoldenEye 007: Yes, it did introduce FPS games to consoles but it wasn't just about that. It was about introducing the concept of deathmatch to people. This was a time when deathmatches over the internet weren't really feasible for most people - so when people got together to play GoldenEye it was a new experience for many of us. The controls were perfect, the weapons were varied and interesting, the unlockables were tons of fun, and the levels were very well designed. No deathmatch game has yet matched the joy and frustration I would feel when my good friend would plant proximity mines on every weapon spawn point in a level. I broke a controller over his knee once. True story.
Resident Evil 4: While I wouldn't personally include this in my list of top games, it was important as it more or less perfected the controls and set up for a 3rd person shooter. The over the shoulder camera was great, and the sheer amount of stuff you can unlock made the game have an incredibly high replay factor, which is something we don't see enough of these days.
Super Metroid: This is the best 2D platformer ever made. I don't usually make definitive statements like that, but I don't imagine many people will disagree with me. It is the standard by which all other 2D platformers are judged. The controls, the depth, the variety, everything about it is downright amazing. The pinnacle of a genre that dominated the first decade of gaming definitely deserves a spot close to the top.
Tetris: Everyone has played this. People who have never picked up any other video game in their entire lives have played this. It's pretty much the first puzzle game that we were aware of, and in many people's eyes it is still the best. Again, it's the pinnacle of a genre.
Final Fantasy 7: This one is controversial today mostly due to the influence of Advent Children. People who didn't play FF7 when it came out don't understand the impact this game had on the RPG genre. Forget the story for a moment. This game brought near perfection to the young genre of 3D RPGs. The world was massive and interesting, there were hidden quests bosses and characters to find, there was a whole slew of minigames that you could distract yourself with, the spells looked awesome for the time, the graphics were far superior to any other RPGs on the PS1 at the time, and so on. While I prefer 6 to 7, 7 was the game that showed everyone how RPGs could work in a 3D environment - and just how deep you could make a game when given the option of developing on discs.
DOOM: It's the Beatles of FPS games. Not a single FPS exists today that doesn't owe something to DOOM. Like Tetris, I shouldn't even have to argue for this game. The main thing that DOOM brought was a heavy emphasis on clever level design. Secret doors, hidden passageways, monsters in areas you didn't even know existed. To this day I haven't been able to find 100% of the secrets in DOOM. While Wolfenstein was a just a series of interlocking rooms, DOOM brought the importance of level design to the forefront of gaming.
Super Mario 64: Though it was the release title for the N64, it is still the best 3D platformer that I can think of. Like Super Metroid with 2D platformers, Super Mario 64 set the standards for all games in the genre. The controls were perfect, the level design was awesome, everything it did was almost to perfection for a 3D platformer - and it was pretty much the first one! Its insane to think how well this game holds up considering it was a release title.
Eric_Autopsy said:
So you totally forgot System Shock (and 2)?
No, you tosser. Read the effing post. (sorry but I'm sick of responding to the "zomg you forgot this game!" posts. I'm sure you're not actually a tosser.)
