The VGC Top 100 Best Games of All Time, #70-61
by Stephen Kelley, posted on 11 May 2009 / 54,299 Views
The VGC Top 100 Best Games of All Time, #70-61
By Stephen Kelley
Welcome , one and all, to the fourth edition of our Top 100 games countdown. This particular list carries a sense of retro gaming creeping into the countdown. As with the other lists, keep in mind that this list was voted on by you - the entire community here at VG Chartz.
70. Suikoden II
After the surprise hit of Konami’s Suikoden, they knew that they had a surefire franchise on their hands. Just like its older brother, Suikoden II appoints you to collect the “108 stars of destiny” to destroy evil once and for all, or a few years as the series has told us. Suikoden II takes place years after the events of the original Suikoden, and centers around an invasion by the Kingdom of Highland of the City States of Jowston. The series's trademark music arrangements and details to characters all return to make this one of its fans' favorite games of all time. With alternate character choices, 108 characters to collect with around 75% of them playable, this game is is hailed as one of the most flexible and engrossing games out there.
Platform PS1
69 . Bioshock
First person shooters can sometimes seem a bit derivative in their execution. Most are darkly lit gray and brown affairs, with largely the same guns, and some sort of elite group of futuristic or WWII commandos to play as. Bioshock takes this combination and slaps its face, bringing the player a solid storyline, branching paths, and a dash of survival horror flair. Set in an alternate history version of 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game so far has done very well and is now the first part of a planned trilogy, and seen as a modern classic.
Platform: X-box 360 and later PC and PS3
68. Banjo Kazooie
After the success of Donkey Kong Country , Rare was on cloud nine as one of the premier platformer developers. Seemingly out of nowhere they struck gold again with Banjo Kazooie. The game is set on Spiral Mountain, where a bear named Banjo lives with a bird named Kazooie. Gruntilda the witch kidnaps Banjo's sister, Tooty, to steal her beauty via a transformation device. Banjo and Kazooie set out on an adventure to rescue Tooty. The game went on to be a huge success for the Nintendo 64, and spawned 2 sequels, the latter being on the X-box 360 and a handheld game.
Platform: Nintendo 64
67 . Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
1996 saw the release of a game born of one of the last flings that Nintendo and Square had before Square headed for Sony territory for almost ten years. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars showcases all of the main Mario staples, including Mario, Bowser, Peach, and Toad, as well as newcomers like Geno and Mallow in a turn based RPG. The game was (at the time) one of the few instances where Mario and Bowser seemed to bury the hatchet and work together, a trend that continues to this day.
Platform: SNES
66 . Final Fantasy IV
Here we have it, one of the most beloved games in the Final Fantasy series; one that has been remade quite a few times, and is one of the few games of the series to get a true sequel. The player takes the role of Cecil, a Dark Knight from the kingdom of Baron, on his journey to save the world from the evil Golbez. Struggling to prevent Golbez from acquiring powerful Crystals, Cecil learns of his heritage and travels through three realms to battle Golbez's minions. Final Fantasy IV introduced the “Active Time Battle” (ATB) system to the series, a staple that stayed until the most recent iterations.
Platform: SNES
65. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Ah, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the game that made me a Sega fan. Taking ideas from the original game and improving on them in almost every way, Sonic 2 not only introduced a new playable character in Miles “Tails” Powers, but introduced a mechanic of tandem tag-team cooperative gameplay that has been used in many ways since then. Not only was Sonic faster this time, but the story of his epic battle with Dr. Eggman (Robotnik for us western gamers) was bigger than ever, culminating on a ship strangely similar to one dreamed up by George Lucas. For fans of fast platformers this is the watermark that all other games must try to match.
Platform: Genesis (Megadrive)
64. Shenmue 2
Do you know where I can find some sailors? With all kidding aside, Shenmue 2 is one of the best-loved games that nobody played . The reason for this was that a complex web of deals kept Shenmue 2 out of America for a few years, and it was not until an updated version rolled onto the X-box that most people got a chance to play it. European fans got all of the original goodness complete with the original Japanese audio on the Dreamcast. Shenmue 2 begins shortly after the conclusion of the first Shenmue . The game follows Ryu through Hong Kong as he looks for Master Lishao Tao, a quest imparted to him by his friend in the first game. This is so he can eventually track down the man who killed his father. Shenmue 2 is notable for its creative use of cinematic QTE (quick time events) seen very regularly in many games today.
Platform: Dreamcast
63. Doom
Here we have it the granddaddy of the first person shooter. If Wolfenstein 3-D was the Rolling Stones of First person shooters genre, Doom was definitely the Metallica. Created in 1993, Doom started a tidal wave of shooters, and almost single handedly ushered the genre into the mainstream. The story follows a team of space marines as they investigate a set of weird happenings on Mars, only to find that a portal to Hell itself has opened there. Aside from its accomplishments, no game other than possibly Mortal Kombat, has become the bane of politicians the world over, and is still cited by out of touch parents as a game that is “destroying our children.” Despite this Doom still has a cult following and even spawned a series of books, and a feature film starring The Rock and Karl Urban.
Platform: PC
62 . Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
After the success of the original Age of Empires game, it was a long wait before Ensemble Studios finished its sequel . What gamers got was improved in almost every way with more classes, missions, weapons and everything else. The Age of Kings is set in the middle Ages and contains thirteen playable civilizations from around the world. In the game, players aim to gather resources (including gold, water, food), which they use to build towns, create armies, and ultimately defeat their enemies. There are five historically-based campaigns, which constrict the player to specialized and story-backed conditions and a rich online component. This is one of the best loved strategy games of its kind out there.
Platform: PC
61. Persona 4
After the surprise hit of Atlus’ Persona 3 in the western world, the company behind Shin Megami Tensei and other RPG greats didn’t waste any time getting a new installment into the hands of western gamers. Released in 2008, Persona 4 tells the story of an unnamed protagonist who does what any kid that attends school in the Japanese countryside would do : goes to class, talks to girls, hangs out with friends, warps into the “midnight channel” to save missing people. Er-what? Fans of the series saw a game that was largely untouched graphically and combat-wise from its older brother, and that’s a good thing - why change something that works so well?
Platform: PS2
Missed one? Check out a previous installment!
Numbers 80-71
Numbers 90-81 Numbers 100-91
The VGC Top 100 Best Games of All Time is based entirely on votes by our members. The source for the list can be found here . Only games released before January 1st 2009 are included.
