Empire 100 Greatest Game

June 9, 2009

Another list from Empire Magazine and I’m not surprised if it gets tons of objection. I’m not a hard core gamer so I can’t tell whether the game should be on this list or not. But it’s good enough to see games that I loved playing when I was young. If you are too lazy to browse the list one by one on their site then better check this out.

 

94. Bomberman

One of the most famous series in the history of digital entertainment, Bomberman has appeared on pretty much every gaming machine since its Japanese debut. But while the hot-headed hero has often been franchised out into 3D adventures and other genres in recent years, the classic maze game - where players drop bombs that explode down corridors and take out everything in their wake - is fiendishly simple, rewarding and addictive, especially in the demented multiplayer mode.

Memorable for…
Aliases. Bomberman was most famous on the NES, but actually appeared on the first generation of British home computers, including the ZX Spectrum. Although, for licensing reasons, it was known as Eric And The Floaters on the Speccy. Yes, really.

 

89. Counter Strike

Originally developed as a Half-Life mod, Counter-Strike went on to become a huge commercial success in its own right. Splitting players into teams of counter-terrorism agents and bands of hardened guerrillas, the game’s ‘die once and wait it out’ format was as unforgiving as it was addictive and added an increased level of tension to the gun-happy gameplay. The game went mainstream with Counter-Strike: Source and continues to enjoy a faithful following even amidst the likes of Gears of War, Halo and Call Of Duty4.

Memorable for…
Controversy. It’s been said that the Chinese government used Counter-Strike as a tool for tactical training, and the game sparked further muttering when it was claimed to have influenced Seung-Hui Cho, who massacred 32 people at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University in 2007. However, neither of these claims has ever been substantiated.

84. Super Contra

When it comes to classic side-scrolling blasters, they don’t get more savage than Super Contra. Better known on these shores as Probotector II, the game updated the familiar formula with inclined surfaces, upgradeable weapons and top-down sequences that brought variety to the relentless carnage, keeping the repetitive action fresh and ensuring players stuck around to save the day. The mega shell, a smart bomb that instantly killed all enemies on the screen, was also a guilty gaming pleasure and the stuff of console legend.

Memorable for…
Unnecessary censorship. For its European release, the realistic characters of the Japanese and American versions were replaced by robots, which the publishers hoped would offset criticism of the game’s remorseless violence.

76. Donkey Kong Country

Little known fact: Donkey Kong Country was originally designed by developer Rare to be a Mario game. However, once Nintendo saw the jaw-dropping graphics and how their British partners were squeezing every last bit of juice from the Super NES, they panicked and demanded that new heroes be shoehorned into the game, lest punters avoid buying the upcoming N64 as there was clearly life left in their old console. Despite Mario’s absence, though, DKC was one of the best platformers of the 16-bit era, and one of the finest 2D adventures ever released.

Memorable for…
Gasp… the graphics! Even as every British gamer drooled over tantalising screen shots of the first wave of Japanese PlayStation titles, DKC’s visuals were enough to inspire Mario fanboys to save their cash for Nintendo’s next console.

 

38. The Sims

Created by Will Wright - whose SimCity had already made him a gaming superstar - The Sims gave players an opportunity to play God and lord it over a gaggle of virtual people. But while the world The Sims created was fun to spend time in - and the developers created an intuitive set of tools to interact with its inhabitants - its biggest triumph was opening up the world of video gaming to a wider audience and attracting more female players than any other title. In fact, EA, publishers of The Sims, now reckon the audience for their game is now split 50/50.

Memorable for…
Simlish - a language used by the characters that blends Ukrainian, French and Tagalog (a major language in the Philippines). Nowadays, every self-respecting band from The Flaming Lips to the Black Eyed Peas has recorded a track sung in the imaginary dialect.

 

6. Street Fighter

Beat-em-ups are big business these days, but every fighting game currently on the market owes its existence to Street Fighter II. Taking a genre made enjoyable by the simple charms of Yie Ar Kung Fu or IK+ and adding a whole new dimension of gameplay, Capcom’s sequel elevated the 2D fighter to the realm of art form. Special moves, tactical depth that could put most strategy games to shame and the most enjoyable two player entertainment the SNES had yet to offer, SFII was a gaming sensation that went on to spawn more sequels and alternate editions than almost any other title in history, culminating in this year’s Street Fighter IV.

Memorable for…
The level of detail. Your game may essentially be fireball, fireball, dragon punch, sweep, but for the pros SF is broken down to a microscopic level. Tournament players go so far as to count animation frames, using to-the-millisecond timing to crush their enemies, see them driven before them and hear the lamentation of their women. Or something.

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