WK's Top something or other... let's just say "games" and call it good list.

[Wolf Kanno]

So a few years back, a couple members of this forum started their own top 100 lists and posted them on the forum. I was also working on a list but a combination of laziness, foggy memory, and being too busy at the time, cause me to never finish it.

Well all the stars aligned, and I was finally able to get this list done more or less. As per usual for these sorts of things, this is just my opinion so don't get too bent out of shape if a game you loved is ranked lower than you feel like it should be, and I'm sure I'm going to have several non-surprising omissions of super popular games most of you consider to be the best thing ever.

On the other hand, I think my list has a couple surprise entries and may even mention a game or two no one has heard of, or at least completely forgot about up until now. With all this said, I will say right now that my list is pretty fluid and simply based on my mood at the time. Something I may ranks as #75 could easily be jumped into the Top 20 if I'm in the throes of playing the game. In fact, it's probably safe to say that only the top ten is mostly set in stone and even then, I've got a few recent entries that may worm their way up there.

I'll get the first entry up later tonight, and I basically plan to put at least one entry up a day.

P.S. My only goal for this list is to get it done in half the time it took BoB to finish his list.
101=???
105: Final Fantasy Legend/SaGa 1 and 2
104: Trials of Mana
103: Silent Hill
102: Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
101: Romancing Saga 2

100-90
100. Galaga
99. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
98. Empire
97. Mass Effect
96. Cyber Troopers: Virtual On
95. Star Ocean: The Second Story
94. Pokémon Red and Blue (Gen 1)
93. Contra III: The Alien Wars
92. Pac-Man
91. Legend of Mana *Updated*
90. Amplitude

89-80
89. The Last Story
88. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
87. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
86. Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
85. Chrono Cross
84. Wild Arms 2nd Ignition
83. Xenoblade Chronicles
82. Sid Meier's Colonization
81. No More Heroes
80. Robotech: Battlecry

79-70
79. Um Jammer Lammy
78. Mega Man X4
77. Super Mario Bros. 2
76. BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception
75. Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas
74. The World Ends With You
73. Sly Cooper and Theivius Racconus
72. Tetris
71 Sonic the Hedgehog
70. Aliens (Arcade)

69-60
69. Gauntlet
68. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
67. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
66. Final Fantasy V
65. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
64. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
63. Shin Megami Tensei IV
62. Catherine
61. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
60. Brave Fencer Musashi

59-50
59. Journey
58. Dark Souls *Updated*
57. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
56. Front Mission 3
55. Breath of Fire IV
54. Super Mario Bros. 3
53. Final Fantasy XII
52. Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
51. Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille Zur Macht
50. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter

49-40
49. The Legend of Zelda
48. MechCommander
47. Armored Core 2 *Updated*
46. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake *Updated*
45. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
44. Bloodborne
43. Dragon Quest III
42. Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete
41. Super Mario World
40. Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals

39-30
39. X-Men Arcade
38. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade
37. Castlevania
36. Breath of Fire II
35. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
34. Wild ARMS
33. Final Fantasy IX
32. Secret of Mana *updated*
31. DuckTales
30. Dance Dance Revolution series

29-20
29. Street Fighter II: Turbo
28. Suikoden III
27. Final Fantasy IV
26. Super Metroid
25. Civilization II
24. Persona 5
23. Street Fighter Alpha series
22. Mega Man X
21. Gitaroo Man
20. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

19-11
19. Ico
18. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
17. Silent Hill 2
16. Vagrant Story
15. Breath of Fire III
14. Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment
13. Suikoden V
12. Shadow of the Colossus
11. Metal Gear Solid

10-1
10. Final Fantasy Tactics
9. Suikoden & Suikoden II
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past *Updated*
7. Mega Man 2
6. Persona 3
5. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
4. Xenogears
3. Final Fantasy VI
2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
1. Chrono Trigger


**************************************************************************************
I've begun working on some updates for a few entries on this list. If you want to hear more about a particular entry, just post a response to this thread. I will mark which entries I've updated to make this easier.

[Pumpkin]

[Karifean]

What an original idea.

Looking forward to it =P

[Vyk]

I'll be paying attention intently

[Slothy]

Half the time it took bob? I look forward to seeing this finished by mid 2025.

[Wolf Kanno]

Let's just get started, then.

#100

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There are maybe two or three old school arcade titles I will always drop everything to play if I find them in some dusty old bar or retro arcade. Galaga is one of those games, easily my favorite top down shooter in the arcade scene, I would spend my youth in old arcades and bowling alleys pumping quarters into this machine for another shot at the Hi-Score.

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I love the fact that enemy ships can steal your own fighter and if you had the lives to spare you could let them and rescue them for double or even triple fire. It gave a real nice high rick, high reward payoff that I love in games. It's a game I grew up with and even as I write this entry, I can still hear the sound effects playing in my head. If I ever achieve my dream of building my own private arcade, you can bet your ass this game will be there.

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[Wolf Kanno]

W~POST!

Okay so the first post was a little light on commentary but let's be honest, there isn't much to say about Galaga, it wears its little heart (and gameplay) on its sleeves. So let's try a meatier entry.

#99

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Oh, Assassin's Creed, in the midway point of my cold relationship with the PS3, I picked up the original Assassin's Creed, which turned out to be an interesting if a bit overly tedious game about secret societies battling things out throughout history. The ending was such a tease, I took advantage of the fact that Brotherhood had released not long ago to pick up ACII and that game was pretty phenomenal. Fast-forward a few years, and we have Revelations, the final game in the main Ezio trilogy, which also happens to be Altair's swan song as well.

AC has always been a series I felt had great potential but seemed to always shoot itself in the foot one way or the other. While ACII was a better game all around, the plot was a bit by the book and the story was told in a very jarring way thanks to all these historical moments happening years apart and the creators being a little too thick to figure out a way to tell you what Ezio did in the meantime. Brotherhood was a typical sequel with a very similar plot to ACII and mostly feeling like a lost chapter that got pulled from ACII due to running out of time and simply adding a few vehicle missions and the assassin's guild to cover up its weak story and absolutely buggy gameplay. Revelations for me was that rare moment when the stars aligned, and I felt that Ubisoft actually got their trout together and made a game that was as fun as ACII but had the more gripping story of AC1.

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The main point of praise I feel the game has is finally nailing the narrative. Revelations deals with four very different plot threads. For Desmond, he's in a coma thanks to his not girlfriend, and we finally get to meet Subject 16, an enigmatic former test subject for Abstergo Industries whose past lives dives led him to the truth about the world and kind of drove him mad thanks to spending too much time in his ancestors memories. Having built a digital copy of his sane self before dropping off the deep end, he meets up with Desmond and finally fills him in on all the conspiracy nonsense. These sections are also filled with a very clever first person platforming dungeon where Ubisoft, after three games with him no less, decide to finally go into Desmond's backstory beyond a few words here and there, and it's honestly pretty good. This is probably the only game that made me actually care for the doofus though I would be lying if I said I didn't love Subject 16 more.

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As typical of the series, to get back to the real world, Desmond needs to once again dive into Ezio's memories, and we're brought to Ezio's final days as an Assassin, as he comes to Constantinople to retrieve Altair's treasure and gain access to his Apple of Eden. By this point, Constantinople has been conquered by the Turks and is in the midst of a transitional period from its Eastern European owners. Ezio quickly finds himself embroiled in court politics as the two ruling brothers plot against each other, with the Assassin's and Templars picking sides. I love the fact this story brings us back to AC1's narrative concerning the shadow war and the idea that the Assassin's and Templars both have their faults. Ezio's previous plots had been with obviously evil villains, so to jump into a narrative where you find yourself being suspicious of everyone was much appreciative. Of course, this being Ezio, he has another plot involving him charming a local woman who runs a bookstore, which Ezio uses to help him decipher the clues left by the Polo brothers regarding Altair's treasure. The story is generally sweet and helps to add levity between Desmond's introspective journey of the mind and the Real Politck stuff going on among the Turks and Janissary.

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Finally, we have Altair, Ezio pulls a Desmond and finds special discs that Altair left behind, so his ancestors could relive his memories. Ezio watches as Altair loses his family and the Assassin's themselves from his poor management skills and being too busy studying the Apple of Eden to realize how jealous his fellow brothers were becoming of him. The story is pretty tragic and has some of the most clever gameplay moments in these sequences. Ultimately, all the story threads wind up in a pretty satisfactory way. The feuding brothers of the palace end up double-crossing him and Ezio ends up leaving the city in a more chaotic state than he hoped, making him question if the brotherhoods methods are always the right course. He gets the girl and goes off to marry her and retire to have a family. We learn how Altair met his end, and Desmond wakes up and learns what he needs to do to save the world from a silly prophecy made by a precursor, possibly alien race, whom all the old gods of myth and antiquity were apparently based on and named after. Overall, it has been the only AC game I've played where I didn't have any serious plot grievances with.

The game side of things was pretty cool as well, not much has changed from previous entries, but the game is noticeably less buggy than Brotherhood and ACIII. I loved the fact that a lot more went into the Brotherhood aspect of the game. In addition to recruiting people, these people have their own mini-stories when you assign them to take charge of sections of the Assassin's controlled parts of the city, so it really felt like a part of the world instead of a poorly implemented manager game. With that said, the Tower defense mini-games are terrible and the only saving grace for them is that you only have to do it once and afterward you can let your A.I. companions deal with the rest.

Bombs were the new gimmick added to the game, and while they don't add a lot, I missed them around the time ACIII came around because they did have some cool uses. The more useful tool was the hook blade you could use to slide down various lines throughout the city for quick travel and high speed ambushes. The game also vastly improved the A.I. with the Janissary being serious threats who couldn't be easily instantly killed. While the game wasn't a major change from its predecessors, the little touches helped take a series I always felt was a bit rough around the edges, and finally polish it into something really accessible. So yeah, story and gameplay together help rank this game as my favorite in the series and the one I would most likely replay in the future.

[Wolf Kanno]

98.

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Let me introduce you to what is most likely the first computer game I ever played that wasn't some lame educational game from school. Before Sid Meier created the Civilization series, we had Empire. It kind of plays like a very early form of Civ, minus the cultural city building and pacifist options of winning the game. Instead, you start with a base and build up your army to conquer the damn world. Like Civilization, the world is unknown, but you can build submarines and airplanes to explore and uncover enemy empires to do battle with.

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It's not the most complex game as you can see from the screenshots, but I loved that I could name everything and as you gain more bases, you can build more types of units than simple tanks and infantry. Eventually you'll carve out your own empire, and I think this may have actually been one of the first non-multiplayer games I ever won. I still have fond memories of playing this over at my Dad's place when I was growing up. There isn't much too else to say about the game as it was pretty simple, and you can only find it now on retro sites, but if you ever do find it, give it a shot because it's a fun little diversion.

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[Wolf Kanno]

97.

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Mass Effect

Something that I always found odd about the RPG genre is the lack of Sci-Fi titles. Yes, you have your Fallout's and your Star Wars titles about, but it's rare to find a Sci-Fi RPG that can mimic the same scope and world building like classic works such as Star Trek, Babylon 5, and even the Alien franchise. So I was pretty happy to hear about Mass Effect.

I have never played many BioWare titles, I had jumped to console exclusivity with my gaming during the companies Golden Era of the late 90s early 00s; so ME proved to be my first real foray with the company, and I was pleasantly surprised. While this spanned a pretty popular trilogy, only the first game made it to my list. The sequels simply lacked what I was looking for in a good sci-fi RPG. In the major fan spectrum, I'm more of a Star Wars fan than a Trekkie, but I can get down with the Trekkies when I need to, and sometimes I'm just in the mood for the slower more political drama they offer over Star Wars High Fantasy in Space shtick. That's what ME1 offered, and I lapped it up.

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I sometimes wonder what it was about the first game I loved so much that the sequels lacked, and I think it was the world building and big picture elements of the story. ME1 paints a world that is kind of bigger than any one person, and by the time ME3 rolls around, the story is more about Shepard being some Space Messiah and fighting a war with Cthulhu Spawn. I was more invested in the Quarian Conflict, the Genophage and Krogan issue, humanity trying to find their place in a galactic empire that was both indignant of humans and leery of their accomplishments. It was just a really cool setting and I loved exploring the world to discover more. This was what set the game apart for me was that I honestly wanted to learn more about the world and the greater political dramas, and sadly, I never felt the same in the sequels.

My issue is the sequels kind of made these issues take a backseat to the more boring Reaper story, which was initially interesting when they were basically Cthulhu, but quickly lost their luster as the sequels kept expanding on them until they didn't feel quite as threatening as they did in the original. It took the entire Citadel fleet sacrificing their lives for a Pyrrhic victory in ME1 to beat Sovereign, and then you kill one directory with a handful of squad mates in ME2, and then you're killing them left and right by ME3.

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I appreciate the Shepard of ME1 a bit more as well. Shepard was simply unique for both being the first human Spectre and the Prothean Beacon giving them visions of an apocalypse that everyone thinks is too silly to be true. Watching them fight through centuries of alien political drama, shady corporations, the prejudice between humans and the Citadel races, and a two-faced council that was fine with you seeking Saren but kept ignoring your pleas about the Reaper threat; was a bit more engaging from a story standpoint than dealing with the Space KKK in ME2 and watching everyone, and their mother worship the ground you walk on while you hastily resolve all the subplots before the disappointing ending. ME1 simply told a better story, and did a better job slowly bringing you into a world that felt very real. It helps the gameplay also showed this, with the level design being built around the idea of the setting and not what would be convenient for the shoot-outs. I couldn't even tell you much about combat in ME2 cause all the battles blurred together after a while, but I can still tell you about being jumped in the Citadel by Saren's forces, the nice shoot out at the shady bar in the same place, the cool Aliens knockoff in Noveria and the pod people stuff going on Feros, frankly the planets you visit were just more memorable to me in this game than the sequels, barring the home worlds for the Krogan and Quarians.

I also appreciate the fact the game at least attempts to be a more even-handed RPG/Third-Person shooter hybrid, whereas the sequels lean a bit more on the shooting than the RPG customization. Furthermore, I could never even find decent armor for Tali in ME1, but at least I had the option, and that's saying something cause ME1 inventory system was terrible. The less said about the Mako the better. The sequels played better, but I felt your customization options took you further in this game than the later entries. Also, I prefer the overheat mechanic over the "scrounge for ammo/heat sinks" of the later installments.

Overall, I appreciate the fact that ME1 felt like a superb Sci-Fi novel which built an interesting and engaging world with several possibilities and different Sci-Fi type stories sprinkled throughout. I also simply found the game a bit more fun, if a lot more clunky, than its sequels.

[Pumpkin]

I havent played ME1, just 2

[Wolf Kanno]

I havent played ME1, just 2

It's a bit clunkier than the more streamlined ME2 and 3, but it feels more like an RPG to me than they did, since it has traditional armor and weapon customization for the whole party. You haven't lived until you send Garrus into battle with a white and hot pink armor set.

You also get to experience Wrex in his full glory and a less mopey Ashley.

[Wolf Kanno]

96.

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Oh Virtual On, one of my all-time favorite Sega Arcade games. This game was a favorite of mine and a friend back in high school, and we would both always take the time to play a few rounds whenever we found the machine. We're both big mecha fans, so the awesome mecha designs and quirky battle mechanics made the game really stand out for the two of us. It also taps into my love for fighting games.

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This is also the first of the arcade games on my list where I will frankly say that the game has to be played with the original arcade controls and set-up to get the real experience. The magic just always seems to be missing when I play any of the console adaptions for it.

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Part of this is because the arcade game used two joysticks for all the movement controls, which made it a very awkward at first but incredibly fluid control scheme once you got the hang of it. Where you had the controls positioned when you pressed the trigger buttons dictated which of the mecha's three attacks you used. The graphics vary from entry and look kind of cartoonish and almost Xenogearsy in comparison to games like Armored Core, but I appreciate Sega's great visual and audio designs that kept the game being very colorful and upbeat when most Mecha games feel grim dark for reasons never really explained.

Like a lot of Japanese arcade games, there is a plot, but oddly enough I've never cared enough to really learn it since I only ever spent serious time on the arcade version. Funny enough, I was pretty excited when Xenosaga Eps. 1 had a mecha battle mode that played surprisingly similar to VO. Even talking about it now, perhaps I should look into giving the console versions another chance, since I can't really play the version I like anymore. With that said, if I ever achieve my bucket list dream of building a private arcade for myself, this game will be there for sure.

[Wolf Kanno]

95.

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Oh, Star Ocean 2, you have the distinction of being the only entry in the series I really liked. SO1 is kind of dull and the plot is a bit dumber than usual. SO3 started off promising, but a lukewarm cast, copying the same framing device as the second game, and one of the most unintentionally funny plot twists in gaming makes it very difficult to love you. SO4... kind of has the X-2 and Valkyria Chronicles issue where I can't get through ten minutes of the plot without wanting to choke the life out of the cast. I gave up by the time SO5 came out.

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So what makes this game so damn special then? It's certainly not the gameplay, I'm not a huge fan of Action-RPGs like SO and the Tales of series as I find combat gets a bit duller for me even quicker than turn base for some reason and even updating SO1's combat to SO2 couldn't save that game for me. The other features are cool, but certainly not something I feel every game needs. If anything, I'll give SO2 props for having one of the more straightforward crafting systems, but even I feel half the options are kind of useless. Of Course, I love the Private Action mechanics and I really love the fact that the game retains the whole "who joins you affects who join you later" mechanic. While the whole series has this mechanic on some level, I feel SO2 is a bit different because frankly the cast is pretty superb.

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I think that's what sets this game apart from the others. SO2 hits that nice niche of coming up with amusing characters that can draw you in and keep you invested. Claude is such a lovable goofball compared to typical hot-blooded Roddick and boring Shinji Ikari expy Fayt. Rena is more quirky than the more traditional main heroines from the series as well, though Ilia might still be the best in the series.

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The supporting cast is also great with can't find a date Celine, drunk and flirtatious Opera, badass loner swordsman Dias, quirky science chick Précis, alien reporter Chisato, and Ashton oh freaking Ashton whom the game could have been all about him and I would have stayed forever you lovable and unfortunate soul.

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SO2 also has my favorite set of mini-games in the series, with its Gold Saucer knockoff, but it has a much more challenging battle arena, the Bunny Races, freaking Iron Chef, and more hilarious Private Actions than you can shake a stick at. The best part is the goofy announcers and commentary for all the mini-games. The game also handles optional challenges better than any game I've ever played. It has its traditional super dungeon with its traditional super bosses but what's really cool is that you can undertake a side quest in the PA system that transforms the final boss into the de facto hardest boss in the game and I really appreciate this after playing FF titles where I can curb stomp the final bosses with little effort. I still wish more games did this.

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While the game still has its quirks, I feel the cast and some of the cool gameplay features make it worth checking out.

[Pumpkin]

I've played a good chunk of the remake on the PSP. Need to finish it up one day!

[Karifean]

Curious to see how long it'll take before we get to a game I've played ^^