I am 30 years old, 20 of them have been spent (intermittently) playing various video games. I started on the Samurai 8 bit consoles during my time in the 2nd standard. Graduated to the PC during my early teens, then the PS2 in my college years, onwards to owning a PSP and then a Xbox 360, during my bachelore days, and now I am a proud owner of a PS4 and a Nintendo Switch while I double time as a husband. Needless to say I have no taste (or loyalty), and have played a LOT of games.
So when this idea of making all time list was making the rounds, I was apprehensive of the idea, pretty confident I would spend most of my time fiddling my thumb and worrying about what to include and what not to. Surprisingly though, when I started making the actual list, the top 5 were pretty much clear to me, and it took me around 15 minutes to come up with them. Here they are in chronological order of their release:
1) Contra
I played a lot of 8 bit games back in the day. Mario, Tetris, Spartan X, Tank 1990, Duck Hunt, Darkwing Duck, Islander, Road Racer; the list goes on and on. But the one game that appealed to me during my formative years was obviosuly Contra. 2 guys with guns, taking on men, machine and aliens. It was just fun at its most basic level. And it was co-op, so I could team up with my brother. The first goal was obviously beating the game, which we did after multiple tries using a mode which granted us 30 lives or so. The next hurdle was beating it Vanilla (i.e. with just 2 lives each) and its hard to explain this feeling of utter elation when that happened. No walkthroughs, no cheats, just pure skill.
P.S I believe that mid level laser in Laser Zone (L-6) is still to this day, the toughest thing to jump over in 1 life.
2) Diablo 2
Anyone who knows anything about my gaming habits knows I am a RPG dude. This is primarily because RPG are mostly long, immersive in nature and have the best risk-reward system than any other genre. But my leaning towards RPG, are also because of Diablo 2. A game that I play, again and again and again. A game that I re-played as recently as 2017, and still loved every moment of it. A game which is long, is extremely immersive and has the best risk-reward system I have ever seen.
P.S. there is no COW level.
P.P.S. That was sarcasm
P.P.P.S. But seriosuly. There is no COW level.
3) Smackdown Here Comes The Pain
How do I know gaming is fun with friends. Because I have played Smackdown Here Comes The Pain alongside 5 of them. This happened during the time when you could extend the number of controllers connected to a PS2, with those crazy adapters which meant that me and my cousins pulled multiple all-nighters playing those chaotic Ladder matches. This also happened during the time, when I would be consistently short of money, so I would hustle other kids at the arcades out of their money in a variety of wrestling matches (loose 2, bet big on the 3rd one and whoop their asses). Smackdown was fast paced, arcade like with an easy control scheme and had a visecral feel to the chair shots. And that tense button mashing when you want to kick out of a 3 count. Its was nerve racking. Not to mention it provided that slim intersection between 2 things that I loved, Video games and Wrestling.
P.S. (Expert Advise) If someone picks Brock Lesnar, Goldberg IS your only option.
4) God Of War 2
I did not know that you could batter a man’s head with a door while button mashing, Kratos going faster depending how fast I mash the button. The second thing I noticed was how God Of War seems to save its epic panaroma shots during gameplay rather than cutscenes even though it was just Kratos walking from end of the screen to another. Its easiest to explain why I like God Of War 2, and yet its the most toughest, cause at its core, its not the game design, the mythical lore, or the game mechanics. God Of War 2 makes it to the list because its the first one from the franchise that I ever played, and then I ended up playing all of them after that, even the one that came out on mobile.
P.S. Its Kratos, the biggest bad-ass in the history of video games (in my opinion). And given that he is a selfish, brute with no mercy or sense of justice and a bully most times, says a lot about me as a person.
5) Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
When we look back this decade, and discuss the most revolutionary or the most influential video games of that period. I am willing to bet all my bitcoin (which would be worth a lot by the end of the decade) that Witcher 3 would be right up there. Dragon Age Inquisition came out within months of the Witcher 3 and it had everything expected from an AAA RPG (massive world, deep lore, polished mechanics, and huge gametime), and yet it couldn’t hold a candle to Geralt’s third adventure. Witcher 3 The Wild Hunt is a contemporary masterpiece, the narrative, the soundtrack, the voice acting, and OH MY GOD the Quest system. I do not know how long it takes for inspiration to take root, but I think no RPG after Witcher 3 should do simple fetch side quests EVER.
P.S. Team Triss forever.
So there you have it the top 5 games from the oldest editor on this site. How many have you played? What’s your top 5? Agree or disagree, and why? Let us know in the comments.
And while you are at it, check out these list from the rest of our team too, to discover even more iconic games:
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