Write-ups for my squad so far.
1.01 Pac-Man (Arcade, 1980), Arcade
Cultural icon and outstanding video game. It toppled heavyweights, like Space Invaders and Asteroids, to stand alone as the greatest lasting symbol of the Arcade era.
2.13 Doom (PC, 1993), FPS
Not the first FPS ever (even from it’s own developer), but possibly the most important. Doom folllowed an industry pioneer (Wolfenstein 3D) by a year and improved on it in every way. Better graphics, lighting, sound. Hell, they introduced the world to “Deathmatch”. Any PC gamer that thinks FPS games should be played with a mouse and keyboard owes a debt of gratitude to Doom. It was the first to offer it as a standard set-up. Gamespy named it the greatest game of all-time in 2004.
3.01 Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out (NES, 1987), 3rd Generation
It’ll be on any kid of the 80s’ short-list if you ask them to list the greatest games of their childhood. Nothing beat the thrill of beating Tyson for the first time. It’s one thing for a game to be spectacular for it’s time. To fully realize it’s greatness, consider that it took almost 15 years (a millenium in gaming years) another boxing game to be released that was remotely as good Punch-Out. Even now, pushing a quarter-century later, it’s a short list of boxing games that are better than Punch-Out.
4.13 Pro Wrestling (NES, 1987), Sports
Maybe a reach, but for me, in 1987, if I wanted to jump into the ring and beat someone up, I’d reach for the Pro Wrestling cartridge over Punch-Out. This game was just badass and a joy to play. Simple, yet elegant. Wildy entertaining wrestlers without having to bother with licensing rights for real wrestlers. My personal favorite was The Amazon with his signature Piranha Bite move. The becomes all the more entertaining when toss your buddy controller #2 and beat the hell out of him for awhile. I’m no video game historian, but this had to be one of the best multiplayer experiences at the time. The football genre had Tecmo and Tecmo Super. The basketball genre had Double Dribble. The wrestling genre (which is now huge) had Pro Wrestling.
5.01 Need for Speed (PC, 1994) Racing
Launched a 100 million unit selling franchise, leaving every other racing franchise in the dust. The original made an attempt at more of simulation style racer, though the series later became the arcade-style racer of choice, leaving the simulation for the Gran Turismo series. The first edition incorporated police car chases, which later became a hallmark of the series with it’s Hot Pursuit editions.
6.13 Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega/Genesis, 1991) Platformer
IMO, Sonic marked the launch of the first console war as we know them today. There were certainly earlier console wars, but the losers of all of those became quickly obsolete and it’s hard to say anything about the 8-bit era was a war. It was just complete and utter annihilation. Sega entered 16-bit era with Sonic and the Genesis and for first time, gave Nintendo a worthy opponent. I grew up in a Nintendo family and I’ll never forget the first time I started hearing people telling me that Nintendo sucked and that I should go Sega. People telling you your system sucks? That tradition continues today and we have Sonic to thank for that. Along with Sonic, the fanboy was born. Sega need a character and a quality platformer to try to tackle the throne, difficult a quest as that might be. Maybe they never toppled Nintendo, but they made a worthy attempt throughout the ‘90s. Sonic got in the ring with Mario and lived to tell about it. To this day, Sonic might be Mario’s most worthy competitor yet. Sonic the Hedgehog gave people a truly fun, viable alternative to the Mario platformers. It was certainly no Mario knock-off. It couldn’t compete with Mario’s number and quality of levels, but they tried to take on the king with speed, urgency and fluidity of gameplay. Many would also say that Sonic was more challenging than the current Mario at the time. Maybe Sonic wasn’t better than Mario (though some would say so), but Sonic was the reason people bought a Genesis. Before the Genesis, only the Atari and NES ever sold more than 15 million consoles. 35 million or so Genesis’ were sold and for the first time ever, we had 2 major, viable gaming consoles to bicker about.
7.01 Mike Tyson (NES, 1987, character) Villain
Much of the reason for this pick was covered for Punch-Out. On the list of bosses you felt the most pride for beating, few top Mike Tyson. Taking puny Little Mac into the ring to beat this beast felt so overwhelming. Memorable and with odds stacked heavily against you, Mike Tyson was everything you could ever hope for from an end game boss or villain.It didn’t hurt that at the time, real-life Mike Tyson was possibly the most feared boxer in that sport’s legendary history. As an added bonus (though one I’m sure the judges are instructed to ignore), he became quite a real-life villain as well. Sent to prison for rape shortly after and in a downward spiral that few celebrities could compare to. Despite the wild success of his game that should’ve launched a major gaming franchise, Tyson’s name never appeared on another gaming title. Real life Mike Tyson was such a real-life villain that he single-handedly created then destroyed the boxing genre.
8.13 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3, 2009) Action/Adventure
This game's accolades precede it. 96 Metacritic score. Game of the Year awards from numerous sources, including Spike, AIAS Interactive, Playstation Mag and Playstation Mag UK. Had PS3 fanboys around the world thumping their ichests. Naughty Dog did it all right with this one. Compelling characters, amazing opening sequence, fantastic cut scenes, stunning graphics and environments, and a long, gripping story.
9.01 Nathan Drake (PS3, 2007, character, Uncharted series) Main Character
Handsome and funny. He’s everyman and Indiana Jones all wrapped up in one. Even the way his shirt is tucked (or not) merits a case study in game development. An unlikely hero in the video game world that can take players on a fantastic journey without the need for super speed, super strength, or crazy gadgetry weapons. For a character-driven, adventure series to work, there antagonist must be compelling and Drake is that and more.
10.13 Frogger (Arcade, 1981) Arcade
An icon of arcade era. Simple and addicting. Konami’s first big hit. No guns. No shooting. Not even a button to press. Just cross the street.
As far as I know, also the only game to star in and title a Seinfeld episode or Bad Religion song (thanks Acer).
11.01 Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (PC, 1992) Strategy/RTS
The game that really spawned the modern RTS genre and either invented or popularized many of the game elements still used today. Other RTS games that followed may have been better, but Dune II developed the blueprint that they are all based on.