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[Pinko Marx]

Ok TIME, I see you baby.

 

[Maintenance]

Bow to your king Tetris.

Top 10 is on point, the rest is crap though.

 

[Hoo-doo]

The fuck.

People already seemed to have forgotten about Rise of the Tomb Raider a month after it came out.
Makes zero sense to put it in between timeless classics like Half-Life 2 and freaking Space Invaders. It's certainly not a game that we'll still be talking about years later.

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

Tetris in its rightful place.

Top 10 is fair enough but after that some of the choices feel a bit weird. I'm not just talking about the lack of any Last of Us in case you were wondering.

Why so much hate for ROTTR here?
It's best TR game in more than 10 years, i honestly don't see what's wrong with it. Game deserves to be on the list, maybe not in TOP 20, but there really isn't anything wrong with game being on the list. I repeat it's best TR game in more than 10 years and this is deserved.

Just asking for avatar quotes.

 

[Sanctuary]

Why am I not surprised at the number 2&3 games? Not saying they don't deserve it, but they pretty much always end up somewhere in the top three of every single list of ever.
Regardless, that's a very good list and hard to argue with.

 

[Version 3.0]

How does the oregon trail hold up? still nice gameplay for todays standards?

That's what jumped out at me first. In a word, no. I expect it's included because it's so old and successful. But its gameplay is mostly answering prompts with number keys. The only exception, IIRC, is the hunting bit. I first played it in...1981 or 1982, probably, and even then I didn't think much of it.

 

[Sanctuary]

That's what jumped out at me first. In a word, no. I expect it's included because it's so old and successful. But its gameplay is mostly answering prompts with number keys. The only exception, IIRC, is the hunting bit. I first played it in...1981 or 1982, probably, and even then I didn't think much of it.

It's on the list for the very same reason Citizen Kane is still held in such high regard today, despite it being boring as shit to watch. This list isn't about games that still feel fresh today. It was also one of the biggest games during its era, and practically every single school that had computers had it too.

 

[NeoRaider]

Just asking for avatar quotes.

You can say what you want but i think that i am competent to say this, since i played every TR game that is released ever. Some more than once.

 

[Last Hearth]

Why so much hate for ROTTR here?
It's best TR game in more than 10 years, i honestly don't see what's wrong with it. Game deserves to be on the list, maybe not in TOP 20, but there really isn't anything wrong with game being on the list. I repeat it's best TR game in more than 10 years and this is deserved.

Don't hate it, but it's not even one of the top 100 games of all time, much less top 20.

 

[Vlaphor]

This is a weird list. I wouldn't call it the "best" games, but you could make a statement on most influential in some regards.

As for Rise of the Tomb Raider being on there...I just don't even know. The gameplay is entirely average, I wouldn't even put it in the top eighteen Tomb Raider games (much less top eighteen of all time), and ROTR's NuLara is the worst protagonist in any game ever. I know this may sound silly, but combine this bizarre placement with that one organization giving ROTR best story over Witcher 3 and I'm starting to think there may be some conspiracy to make this game seem more important that it really is.

Spoiler

I know there actually isn't, but I also don't think this game has anything at all in it to justify this level of acknowledgement

 

[Hazmat]

Why so much hate for ROTTR here?
It's best TR game in more than 10 years, i honestly don't see what's wrong with it. Game deserves to be on the list, maybe not in TOP 20, but there really isn't anything wrong with game being on the list. I repeat it's best TR game in more than 10 years and this is deserved.

I don't think people are hating on it, just on the idea that it's the 18th best game ever made. Everyone has different tastes, but the idea that a group of people reached a consensus that there are only 17 games ever that are better than Rise of the Tomb Raider is absurd.

 

[maxcriden]

That is one americany nintendo-ass list but regardless i treat such lists as 'must play' and th overall list is good

Barely any Nintendo is in the list beyond the top 10.

 

[Certinty]

No GTA V in that top 10 and I'm out.

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

Well, at least 2 of their 10 is part of my top 5.

1. Half-Life
2. Diablo II
3. DOOM
4. World of Warcraft
5. LoZ: ALttP

 

[phanphare]

Why am I not surprised at the number 2&3 games? Not saying they don't deserve it, but they pretty much always end up somewhere in the top three of every single list of ever.
Regardless, that's a very good list and hard to argue with.

just be happy that tetris got the top spot instead of one of them

 

[Skatterd]

I love Rise of the Tomb Raider, but looking at the rest of the list and what they've interpreted best to mean (read: influential) why the heck is it here?

 

[NeoRaider]

Don't hate it, but it's not even one of the top 100 games of all time, much less top 20.

It's just an opinion of (i guess few) ppl about their favorite games ever. That's all.

 

[Dr.Hadji]

8. Super Mario Bros.
7. The Legend of Zelda

I know OG LoZ has been getting some new love in the last few years but come on. Over SMB? The phenom that has been the cornerstone of one of the old gaming companies? The dude that showed up at the Olympics? That and NES Mario >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NES Zelda.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

No Jet Moto? For shame.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

"5. Ms. Pacman"

What in tarnation is this Sjw GAAAAARBAGE /s

 

[OnPoint]

9. The Oregon Trail

I have fond memories of this. But nope.

 

[StoOgE]

I haven't played it, but there's a bunch of classic games and then Rise of the Tomb Raider at #18, lol. Talk about a hard right.

I think that probably has to do with the fact that it was bringing a previous poster child of everything wrong about male focused exclusionary gaming into the new century.

I don't think it's one of the 50 "best" games ever made, but this seems more to be the '50 most influential games' list, and you could make the argument that ROTR was the tip of the spear in more inclusive gaming and because of the franchises previous position as male gaze on steroids, is a fairly important game in that regard.

I would point towards Mirror's Edge or Beyond Good and Evil as the tip of that spear, but they were relatively minor releases in the scheme of a main stream publication.

 

[Sanctuary]

8. Super Mario Bros.
7. The Legend of Zelda

I know OG LoZ has been getting some new love in the last few years but come on. Over SMB? The phenom that has been the cornerstone of one of the old gaming companies? The dude that showed up at the Olympics? That and NES Mario >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NES Zelda.

I honestly expected Super Mario Bros. to be in the number one position. Still, you have to consider that this list doesn't necessarily mean one game is vastly superior than another, or even superior at all. What if they were all considered equally influential, how could you honestly rank them in any way other than random? In the case of those two games, it's like deciding between two of your favorites.

I have fond memories of this. But nope.

Yep, because there was nothing else like it during its era. In terms of PC games, it was HUGE.

http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue...ons/10021/the-lasting-legacy-of-oregon-trail/

The spirit of play, or taking enjoyment from trial and error, is at the heart of how people learn. It’s also at the heart of how successful educational video games are created.

The Oregon Trail and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? have long been respected for their ability to take American history and geography and turn them into engaging, educational games. Neither game was the product of a formal, academic endeavor or tied to a research method for measuring the efficacy of the game as a learning tool.

Yet academia is where a healthy portion of the discourse about educational games, or the larger category of serious games, takes place today. At both South by Southwest and the 2014 Games for Health conference, academics discussed cognitive research, case studies, and the challenges of designing games for education.

What is often missing from these conversations about the gamification of education, however, is the role of fun. It’s easier to try to couch the goal of an educational game in terms of lesson plans and teaching efficacy than how entertaining the game will be. Unless the game is enjoyable though, it’s not going to engage students. That’s the Catch-22 of educational game design.

The solution may be to worry less at the beginning about what a game actually teaches and instead make sure it’s a game in the first place.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Reads more like "50 games that the most people have heard of"

Which is a valid discussion (importance/influence), but not the same as "best"

It's on the list for the very same reason Citizen Kane is still held in such high regard today, despite it being boring as shit to watch.

Whoa whoa whoa. That's... debatable, at the least.

 

[Gurnlei]

Pretty good list coming from Time. Can make a case for that top 10 being near perfect.

 

[Altairre]

Why so much hate for ROTTR here?
It's best TR game in more than 10 years, i honestly don't see what's wrong with it. Game deserves to be on the list, maybe not in TOP 20, but there really isn't anything wrong with game being on the list. I repeat it's best TR game in more than 10 years and this is deserved.

RotTR is not even the better of the two new Tomb Raider games though.

 

[Mivey]

They really chose Kings Quest 3? Weird, I'd thought that among KQ fans 5 and 6 reigned supreme.

 

[jacobeid]

This list....oy. haha

 

[Rhoc]

Mhh some choices are weird like Counter-Strike at 15 should probably in the Top 10. And Rise of the Tomb Raider should not be at 18 in my opinion not even Top 50.
The Top 5 i can agree with.

 

[StoOgE]

I honestly expected Super Mario Bros. to be in the number one position. Still, you have to consider that this list doesn't necessarily mean one game is vastly superior than another, or even superior at all. What if they were all considered equally influential, how could you honestly rank them in any way other than random? In the case of those two games, it's like deciding between two of your favorites.

I would also argue that the staying power of the Zelda gameplay model has been more long lived than 2d platformers.

Mario wasn't the first, but was the face that launched a thousand ships. And by the late 90s the platformer as we know it is largely a dead franchise after dominating the marketplace for ever (along with the side scrolling beat 'em up). LoZ really was the first action RPG most people every played, and it is in the bones of most large releases now.

I STRONGLY prefer the Mario franchise over Zelda. But I don't disagree with the rankings given the way this list appears to be about longevity, importance and lasting influence.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I think that probably has to do with the fact that it was bringing a previous poster child of everything wrong about male focused exclusionary gaming into the new century.

I don't think it's one of the 50 "best" games ever made, but this seems more to be the '50 most influential games' list, and you could make the argument that ROTR was the tip of the spear in more inclusive gaming and because of the franchises previous position as male gaze on steroids, is a fairly important game in that regard.

I would point towards Mirror's Edge or Beyond Good and Evil as the tip of that spear, but they were relatively minor releases in the scheme of a main stream publication.

But if being influential has any role whatsoever in the choices of these games then how do you not include Street Fighter 2, Pole Position, Metroid, Symphony of the Night, Dragon Quest, Virtua Fighter and so? SF2 and PP would both be in the top 10 most influential games ever made.

 

[The Artisan]

played a lot of tetris during ramadan

 

[aett]

It definitely seems to be a list of influential games more than the "best" games. We wouldn't have modern gaming without SMB, but I'd rather play almost any other 2D Mario game.

And yeah, Rise of the Tomb Raider comes off as a bizarre entry, regardless of whether the list is about influence or quality.

 

[Ralemont]

I think that probably has to do with the fact that it was bringing a previous poster child of everything wrong about male focused exclusionary gaming into the new century.

I don't think it's one of the 50 "best" games ever made, but this seems more to be the '50 most influential games' list, and you could make the argument that ROTR was the tip of the spear in more inclusive gaming and because of the franchises previous position as male gaze on steroids, is a fairly important game in that regard.

I would point towards Mirror's Edge or Beyond Good and Evil as the tip of that spear, but they were relatively minor releases in the scheme of a main stream publication.

Hmm, I guess, but Rise didn't even sell particularly well. I do think the Reboot games have been positive examples of the movement you mentioned, but I'd have a hard time tracing the impact Rise had on said movement. It just kind of feels like another example to me. I'd sooner point to CRPGs like Mass Effect/Dragon Age that have a high female audience as being poster children in the recent push for female gaming inclusion.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

I have fond memories of this. But nope.

It was referenced to by possibly the greatest tv series of all time plus the nostalgia and I will let it slide.

 

[jetjevons]

The fuck.

People already seemed to have forgotten about Rise of the Tomb Raider a month after it came out.
Makes zero sense to put it in between timeless classics like Half-Life 2 and freaking Space Invaders. It's certainly not a game that we'll still be talking about years later.

No, but Tomb Raider is.

 

[Toxi]

I think that probably has to do with the fact that it was bringing a previous poster child of everything wrong about male focused exclusionary gaming into the new century.

I don't think it's one of the 50 "best" games ever made, but this seems more to be the '50 most influential games' list, and you could make the argument that ROTR was the tip of the spear in more inclusive gaming and because of the franchises previous position as male gaze on steroids, is a fairly important game in that regard.

I would point towards Mirror's Edge or Beyond Good and Evil as the tip of that spear, but they were relatively minor releases in the scheme of a main stream publication.

I don't think this list works even as "most influential". Metroid-style games are completely absent. Modern Warfare is absent. Street Fighter II is absent.

Is something like Final Fantasy VI really more influential than any of those omissions?

 

[retroman]

There are no Sega games on the list, and somehow Mortal Kombat is better/more important than Street Fighter 2.

Laughable list.

 

[chadskin]

18. Rise of the Tomb Raider

That was my first reaction upon seeing the list. I would've understood the original Tomb Raider as it was somewhat of a Halo of TPS, a genre-defining game at the time, but RotTR isn't even the best TPS I played this year.

 

[Ralemont]

I don't think this list works even as "most influential". Metroid-style games are completely absent. Modern Warfare is absent. Street Fighter II is absent.

Is Final Fantasy VI really more influential than any of those omissions?

It certainly wasn't more influential than even FF7 which is farther down on the list. 7 is what made RPG devs think RPGs had mass appeal.

 

[RetroPlayer]

No Sega Rally.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Number 1 is legit, but not the rest.

 

[Chola]

Critics need to stop putting so many 2D games on their list

 

[Vlaphor]

I honestly don't think that NuLara from ROTR is a positive female character. You might make the suggestion that NuLara from 2013 Tomb Raider was, and I can see that, but ROTR's protagonist is the whiniest and most depressing character I've ever seen in a game.

She doesn't want to be there, she doesn't want to be doing what she's doing, she hates every minute of it, and she will make sure you are aware of that. That does not sound like a strong/well written character, it just sounds like angst and anger were used as shorthand for good character motivation.

 

[jrush64]

Solid list. Surprised about the lack of a Sonic game and Street Fighter.

 

[Nere]

Bad list, the only Fallout there is Fallout 3 really? No Last of Us, no Dark Souls, no Metroid. Really bad list.

 

[Sanjuro]

I mean a female Pac-Man? The feminists are taking over!

 

[Toxi]

It certainly wasn't more influential than even FF7 which is farther down on the list. 7 is what made RPG devs think RPGs had mass appeal.

Yep. FFVI doesn't really belong high on an "influential" games list, no matter how good it is.

 

[Version 3.0]

It's on the list for the very same reason Citizen Kane is still held in such high regard today, despite it being boring as shit to watch. This list isn't about games that still feel fresh today. It was also one of the biggest games during its era, and practically every single school that had computers had it too.

It's a game everyone played, and no one liked much. It was successful because of its ubiquity in schools, not the other way around. Put it on the best Edutainment games list, and we can argue whether it's better than Carmen Sandiego. It's not one of the best games ever made.

 

[Backfoggen]

No Dead Rising and Demon's/Dark Souls or Bloodborne. Trash heap list.