Space Invaders was an arcade game released in Japan by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was a space shooting game that was insanely popular back in the day. In fact, in Japan, the game was so popular that it led to a coin shortage prompting a production increase for the 100-yen coin. It's amazingly fun gameplay, and large fan base are the main reasons the game is still relevant. As simple as this game was, it still holds up today and can be found in most modern arcades. If you haven't played it, then you must have some really overprotective parents because it's practically everywhere. Haven't heard of it? What universe do you live in! 

Back in 1983 Atari released Star Wars, (often referred to as Atari Star Wars). It was the first licensed Star Wars video game and could be found in arcades all around. It featured a cockpit like layout, with a yoke for steering with a couple buttons for shooting. The player would play through the assault on the death star. The first person rail shooter became extremely popular leading to most arcades refusing to buy the conversion kit for its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. Due to its success, many arcades worried if they changed it to The Empire Strikes Back, they would lose the revenue generated by Star Wars. The game did get a port to the Atari 2600 but it wasn't that great.

Rock Band 3 was actually rereleased multiple times because of company changes. The large amount of songs and fun gameplay was one of the main reasons for the game's success. The player got to use a guitar controller which had multi colored buttons that they would press to the beat of the song. Rock Band has alway been a successful series but three showed just how good a music game can be. 

Wii Sports was insanely popular back in 2006. It brought the hobby of gaming into many "non gamers" hands and instantly made them understand the meaning of video games. The game was about playing your favorite sports with the Wiimote! Who doesn't love that. As simple as the game was, it is one of the many reasons the Wii sold so well. If you can get elders to love the system, you're an incredible company with an amazing business team. 

Back in 2010, BioWare (with the help of a still non corrupt Electronic Arts), developed a follow up to the popular role playing shooter "Mass Effect '' The game sold well and was loved by it's fans. The gameplay and story were on point, and it seemed that the Mass Effect series would go on to become just as beloved as Halo. The plot was set in the 22nd century, where humanity is threatened by a species known as the Collectors. This game Really helped Unreal Engine 3 demonstrate how good Unreal actually was. 

Asteroids was a very popular game back in 1979 and is still one of the best arcade games around. Flying around as the triangular spaceship blasting your way through an asteroid belt proved to be way more fun than initially predicted, and so Asteroids became the game we all know and love today. It's definitely worth the extra arcade tokens. The official world record for highest score of 41,336,440 set by 15-year-old Scott Safran, is the longest-standing record in gaming history. It was set in 1982, and hasn't been beat since. 

In 1991 Sega created the first platformer to compete with the Italian plumber. Sonic the Hedgehog was released for the Sega Genesis (Master System) and it was amazing. The character was instantly a fan favorite, and it's safe to say that the Genesis wouldn't have gotten very far without it. The Sonic franchise has seen better days and had some horrific games, but this one is definitely worth a try. 

Undertail is a "retro style" rpg that was released in 2015 and is somewhat of a cult classic. The game became one of the most critically acclaimed games of the year. The 8-bit style graphics really help to make the game feel special. It's almost a throwback to when that style was common. Undertale is easily one of the best and most memorable titles released over the past decade. 

Donkey Kong Country had a huge marketing campaign related to the game's "amazing graphics". Back in 1994, it was a good looking title.  The platforming was great, and the controls were good. It even had a TV series! The game is on most Nintendo platforms in some way shape or form, and is one that people keep coming back to time and time again. Donkey Kong Country is a gem, and it always will be. 

Grim Fandango was released on the day of the dead since that's what the game is about. The game was so good it earned itself a faithful remaster in 2014. The title was published by LucasArts in an attempt to make a 3 dimensional game, and they succeeded, although it had to rely on pre-rendered static backgrounds. 

Dead Space was a survival horror game told through a third person perspective. The game went on to have 2 sequels, and a canceled fourth title. Dead Space even won the BAFTA Games Award for Audio Achievement, and a few others too. The setting was perfect. Players would navigate the spaceship Ishimura, completing objectives, solving puzzles, fighting enemies, etc. If you haven't played it, and are a fan of horror games, give this one a try. 

The first version of the game was created in 1977, and 1979, while it's actual release was sometime in 1980. It is one of the First interactive fiction games ever, and operates like most of those old games do. For example, The Oregon Trail. Zork is text based. The game was created using the MDL programming language on a DEC PDP-10 computer running the Z-machine engine. Zork is sort of an oddball because the name "Zork" came from slang used at MIT for unfished piece of software. The game is sort of a legend nowadays.

Gone Home is a first-person exploration game, about mystery and discovery. It stands as one of the finest Indie titles ever created. It won many awards, and excelled to critical acclaim. The environments perfectly matched the gameplay style and flow of the game. Despite the controversies, Gone Home is a game worth your time. 

Mortal Kombat is a fighting game you probably all know by now due to its immense popularity. The game had some controversies over the gore shown, but overall it plays nicely. The characters are memorable, the maps are okay, and it runs well. Mortal Kombat is a staple of the fighting genre. Also, Mortal Combat was the first game to show blood and gore to such a degree that it is single handedly responsible for the creation of rating systems like the ESRB and PEGI, companies where the only purpose is to inform people what content is featured in games. 

Pokemon was a franchise developed by Gamefreak, published by nintendo for the Nintendo GameBoy in 1996. It breathed new life into the GameBoy. The fact that the GameBoy got way more popular after nearly half a decade into its lifespan is incredible. Pokemon is an rpg, where you run around catching and training pokemon. Red and Blue were great, and large for a handheld game. It encouraged trading through the GameBoy's "link cable", the system's only form of multiplayer. Pokemon is one of the best rpgs and has plenty of content to complete. Besides, after the main story you can try to catch all 150 pokemon! 

The first Mario Kart game was released on the SNES and was quickly accepted into the Nintendo family of popular first party games. It was perfect for having friends over. It had its issues, but nonetheless is still a great game and can make for extremely fun times. Apart from the drifting. That just sucked. It utilized a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that improved floating point calculations assisting three-dimensional math. Super Mario Kart went on the become the most popular DSP chip cartridge on the SNES.

Castlevania is an action based platformer released in japan for Family Computer Disk System video game console, or FAMICOM, and was later ported to the NES in America and Europe. The game got popular because of its action and (at the time) stunning gameplay. 

Pong was the first commercially successful video game, and ran on the Magnavox Odyssey. The game was a simple adaptation of pingpong, but it was its simplicity that led to its success. It was easy to port to different systems, was fun to play, and isn't difficult to run. Pong paved the path for the game industry to evolve, and if it weren't for Pong, games might not be the way they are today. 

Fallout 4 has some issues due to Bethesda only updating their Creation Engine for over a decade, yeah, it's the same engine that Oblivion used in 2006. This led to a lot of glitches and many other issues, but the game is still great. Fallout 4 is an action RPG that has a massive amount of things to do. It gives the player the freedom to do almost whatever they want, plus has an interesting story. It eventually got DLC and expanded the game even more. Despite it's many bugs and issues, it is still a thousand times better than Fallout: 76, and is an awesome game that will be cherished.

The Oregon Trail is a series of educational video games released in the 70's. It was a text based game and pushed the limits of computer gaming back in the 1970's while it was still relevant. There isn't really much to say about it. It has since been ported to thousands of devices, and is insanely easy to reproduce. It has become a classic, and will always be remembered. 

Developed for the PlayStation 3, LittleBigPlanet is a puzzle platforming game that took PS3 players by surprise. It wasn't the best platformer, and it definitely wasn't the greatest game to play. It was the game's look and feel that made it a success. It was really fun to play, even if the controls weren't all that great.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the oldest flight simulator franchises. Flight Sim X was one of the most played flight simulators for over a decade. The game features most of the large airports and a LOT of smaller ones. There are over 6 DLCs and the game was supported for 10 years. It is truly one of if not the best flight simulator of all time.

The Rise of the Tomb Raider was the sequel to the 2013 reboot, Tomb Raider, and was incredible for its graphics and gameplay. It has been used as a benchmarking tool for years, and is the best Tomb Raider of the decade. The Shadow of the Tomb Raider is disliked because people are getting bored of Tomb Raider. There are 12 games, and the last 3 have played almost identically and do little to change it. Overall, it is easily one of the best of the rebooted series. 

In 2007, Valve decided to make a more cartoony style for Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress was a military based multiplayer shooter game released in 1996. TF2 was different, and WAY more fun. There are multiple classes to play as, and the game never fails to entertain. Many people still play it, partially due to it being free, making it really easy to obtain. If you haven't tried it, why not? It's free.

Released in 1999, Counter Strike became popular for its fun multiplayer. It played a lot like Team Fortress classic, and was very competitive. Even though it mostly involved LAN based gameplay, it was still fun. Counter Strike was the most popular online action/shooter game on PC, and eventually made a console debut exclusively on Xbox. The console version was less popular, but still helped to popularize Xbox Live as a service.

An insanely fun action-adventure game released in 2012, Dishonored is set in a plague-ridden city called Dunwall. Playing as the bodyguard to the Empress of Isles, you have to fight your way out of a lot of sticky situations. The game never fails to entertain, and has incredible gameplay. It's definitely worth playing.

Black Flag is easily one of the best in the Assassin's Creed franchise, and is even considered to be one of the best pirate games of all time. The story of Edward Kenway is one about a homesick pirate who wants to live a life free of risks. He's cocky, but through the game he meets the assassins and becomes one. There is a perfected naval combat system that is very fun and exciting. The voice acting is incredible, and makes other games seem weak and is easily one of the best parts of the game. Also all of the characters see, believable with their real world motives and emotions. Assassin's Creed IV is one of the best pirate stories ever told, and has earned its spot here on this list. 

Overwatch is a first person shooter that immediately became one of the most popular esports games. It took over Twitch, YouTube, and other streaming services. It is easy to get into, and runs reasonably well. There are different classes and characters to play as. A bit of strategy can help the game be more fun too. Overwatch can be fun with or without voice chat too. It's just a good game.

Soulcalibur is a 3D weapons-based fighting game where the objective is to defeat Nightmare in order to get a weapon called the Soul Edge. The game was ported to the Dreamcast as a launch title with improved features.  Soulcalibur was a new take on fighting games with a 3D view, with a 2D/3D  style of sprites. It is one of the best 3D fighting games of all time.

Thief II came out in 2000, and follows Garrett the thief who works in a steampunk metropolis called the City. The developers listened to player feedback and focused on urban stealth and used less monsters and maze-like missions. The gameplay is very fun and takes a bit of thinking. Thief II was a massive success and will always be a fan-favorite. When compared to Thief, the sequel wins in every category and the story actually has a direction and seems to know where it's going.

SimCity 2000 was developed by Maxis for PC and Macintosh in 1993, later coming to systems like the SNES and Saturn in 1995 and PlayStation in 1996. The game is played in an isometric view rather than the top down view of its predecessor. SimCity 2000 is the basis on which most (if not all) city building games are built. SimCity redefined the city building genre and will go down in history. 

Inside is a platforming puzzle game developed for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and later was ported to IOS and the Nintendo Switch. The player controls a dystopian world solving environmental puzzles. It's a unique game and is definitely worth checking out. The game was built on a custom engine, but the dev team switched to Unity to simplify development. 

A Link to the Past (or "The Legend of Zelda:  The Triforce of the Gods" in Japan) was the 3rd entry to the Zelda franchise, with a massive graphics improvement over the last game. It proved to be an instant success for Nintendo, as everyone wanted to play it. Almost everything the series is known for comes from this game. The Master sword, parallel worlds, all of it. A Link to the Past was ported to the Game Boy Advanced in a bundle with 4 swords, and has been ported to almost every Nintendo system (excluding the DS) that Nintendo has produced after. 

Super Mario Bros. 3 was one of Nintendo's flagship NES titles. Mario 3 introduced many new power ups, and is often considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. Once again, it's up to Mario and Luigi to save princess Toadstool from Bowser. Nintendo perfected the side scrolling platformer action we love, and Super Mario Bros. 3 was their finest yet. 

Street Fighter II has been remade WAY too many times to be still called Street Fighter II. It's been on literally every device that can play games and is still fun as hell. The Street Fighter series consists of a basic combat system. Mostly button mashing. There's not much to say about it, it's been around long enough that most people have been around to see a remake.

Bloodborne is an action role-playing game developed for the PS4 in 2015. It follows a hunter through a bunch of locations that are way too hard to spell or pronounce. The game involves a customizable character who is played in a 3rd person perspective. There is lots (as in, over 40 hours) to do in Bloodborne and it is extremely fun. It's worth a playthrough. It's worth noting that Bloodborne has better combat than Dark Souls, and has more move variety. 

An indie adventure game developed by Thatgamecompany and Santa Monica Studio, was published for the PS3 in 2012 and later came to PS4 in 2015. You play as a robed figure in a large desert, traveling towards the mountains. You can meet other people on their way, and players can travel together, but cannot communicate with text or chat or even see each other's names until after the game credits. The only way of communication is through a musical chime that changes pieces of cloth throughout the game. 

In 2013, the Tomb Raider franchise got a much needed reboot that did not disappoint. The game was insanely fun, and the story was good too. The rebooted franchise was good at first, and then when it came to the 3rd game it had lost its excitement. The new gameplay mechanics and graphics made the game sell well at launch. 

The Resident Evil series is known for its survival horror style gameplay. Resident Evil 2 is no exception. In 1998 the game was released for the PlayStation. It received acclaim for its atmosphere, graphics, and setting, and scenarios. The gameplay also got critically acclaimed. Resident Evil 2 was remade for the Xbox One, PC, and PS4 in 2019. 

Contra released on the NES, and was one of the most popular shooters at the time. The game could have been the reason the shooter genre took off in the first place, apart from Metroid. Contra is an action game where you run around shooting. It's a run-and-gun platformer. Contra is actually really addictive because you keep wanting to get further and further. It's worth a try. 

In 1997 a role playing game came out that taught every 90's child what it feels like to lose someone. That game was Final Fantasy VII. The game is constantly thought of as one of the best moments in gaming from the 90's. The boss fights aren't tedious, and the gameplay is fun. People look back on it with fond memories because of the fun, lasting experience. It received a remake in 2020 that is still adding more to the classic game. 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a 2015 action role-playing game with a vast open world. Similar to games like Skyrem, the world is full of life and things to do. It's based on the book series and has been used as a benchmarking tool for computers since it was released. The Witcher 3 was released for Xbox One, PS4 PC, and has since come to the Nintendo Switch, and numerous other systems.  This game was leagues ahead of CD Projekt Red's 2020 Game, Cyberpunk 2077. That was just a buggy and broken mess.

Tecmo Bowl is an American football game that was released on the NES in 1987. The game was fun for gamers and football fans alike. It provided a unique way to enjoy football at the time, and has inspired many other football games to come. It has been ported to many devices including the 3DS and Wii U.

World of Warcraft is a massive multiplayer RPG that came out in 2004. The game still has a massive fan base and has carved its own little spot into gaming history. It is one of the longest running multiplayer games that still has an existing player base. The game constantly gets new DLC and the addictive RPG elements get people to keep playing. Blizzard helped make an animated portion of the game for the South Park season 10 episode Make Love, Not Warcraft.

In 2007, Valve released Portal, a first person puzzle game that involved the use of portals to complete tasks. Portal takes place in the Half-Life timeline in the Aperture Science lab. GLADOS the computer AI wants to test you and will test you until you die. Portal is insanely fun, and the story (while subtle) is very intriguing. 

Gran Turismo 3 is a racing game released for the PS2 in 2001. The game features lots of (at the time) detailed car models and tracks. It's more fun than even some modern racing titles. Many children spent hours playing GT3, and it's part of the reasons the PS2 took off. The GT series has had some mediocre games recently, which is why it may be a good idea to check this one out. If you're a racing fan, GT3 is a guaranteed fun couple of hours. 

Not to be confused with 1983's Spelunker (though it was the inspiration behind it), Spelunky is an indie 2D platforming made by Derek Yu and published as freeware for Windows. The code for the PC version released in 2008, and later an enhanced version came to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It also came to Xbox one (backwards compatible) and PS4. A remake of the original was made for Chrome OS called Spelunky HTML5. Players control a Spelunker exploring a series of caves collecting treasures, fighting enemies, saving damsels in distress, and avoiding traps. The caves are procedurally generated, meaning that each playthrough is unique and different. Spelunky is a hard game, when you die you're dead. You lose all your stuff and there are no saves. Critics fell in love with its gameplay, atmosphere and design, and it is referred to by some to be one of the greatest games of all time.

Pitfall was a popular game released for the Atari 2600 in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and has to jump over pits collecting treasure in a jungle for 20 minutes while avoiding falling into a pit.  Pitfall became one of the best selling games on the Atari, and has also been ported to numerous other consoles. There is no doubt about it that Pitfall helped define the side-scrolling genre.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is often considered to be the best LEGO game, and even one of, if not, the best Star Wars games. The LEGO games are known for their childish humor and comedic take on gameplay and story. The levels are all unique and fun (even though some can be tedious), and never disappoints. The Complete Saga has the player play through the first 6 films of the Star Wars franchise and there's lots of things to do after completing all the levels. 

Left 4 Dead is a 2008 multiplayer survival horror game developed and published by Valve. Much like any game produced by Valve, it was an insanely fun experience. The game was well received for its cooperative play and movie-like experience. While the game may not look that impressive, it's the gameplay that makes up for it. If you're a fan of the survival horror genre, definitely give this one a try. 

Call of Duty 4 was the first COD game that didn't involve a world war II setting. It was a refresher to the series and did many new things to the gameplay, while also retaining the things that people loved the Call of Duty games for. The new modern storyline was action packed and fun as always. The REAL reason the game took off was it's multiplayer. The multiplayer was INSANELY addictive and fun. Modern Warfare is responsible for most of the features we see in modern COD games too. 

Minecraft is a sandbox game that gives players the freedom to explore it's worlds in search of items. Players can do whatever they want in creative, or spend hours grinding in survival. The game was originally developed by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, hence the name Java Edition, and was later ported to almost everything. The ports were written in C++, and Notch sold Mojang to Microsoft for 2 billion dollars. Since its release in 2009, Minecraft has become the best selling videogame ever.

In 2011, Valve released a sequel to Portal, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that the game became an instant success. GLADOS is back, the puzzles are insane, the story is more elaborate than the first game, and the graphics still hold up to today's standards. Portal 2 was a remarkable achievement that earned its place on this list. Not to mention it has a multiplayer mode that actually has a story. 

In 2002, Electronic Arts released a small game that took the world by storm. That game was Battlefield 1942. Players would have different classes, such as infantry: tank, scout, assault (and so on) along with the ability to pilot various world war II vehicles such as bombers and fighter craft, navigating capital ships, submarines, and aircraft carriers. All the maps are based on real world locations and they are massive. The game supported 64 players simultaneously on one map, which led to the start of the large multiplayer modes found in a lot of multiplayer games after its release. 

Diablo II is a hack-and-slash game developed for PC, mac OS, and classic mac OS in 2000. Building on its predecessor Diablo (1997), Diablo II was the one of the most popular titles 2000, and has been cited as one of the best games of all time. Some of the reasons for its success was its continuation of the popular themes for the first game, and its inclusion of Blizzard's free online service. The game had an expansion, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and led to the sequel, Diablo III. 

Halo 2. Where to start, umm....It's amazing. Halo 2 was Bungie's sequel to the popular Halo: Combat Evolved. The game went through many development issues and is often considered the worst crunch times of any game. The story was cut off and many times ideas got erased because they were written on whiteboards. Despite its development issues, the game released to record sales and received critical acclaim. The story followed The Master Chief, but also allowed you to play as The Arbiter, the alien responsible for the loss of the Halo ring. The biggest feature of Halo 2 was it's online multiplayer. Halo 2's amazing storytelling was also a contributing factor to its success. It has the best story of any Halo game. It is also a  major reason Xbox live was a success, and when the servers shut down, some people refused to turn off the Xbox until months after it shut down. 

The Nintendo 64 was the first fully 3D console, and with it came many classic 3D titles, and Mario 64 is no exception. Super Mario 64 was the first 3D installment in the Mario franchise. It involved a lot of 3D platforming, and it worked really well. The camera system doesn't work well and shows its age along with the graphics, but Super Mario 64 still holds its place on the list of best N64 games, as well as the list of best games in general. 

There were rumors of an open world Zelda game for many years after Nintendo stated they were working on their most ambitious project in 2013. It was a Wii U title planned for 2015, but got delayed and launched alongside the switch in 2017. The game's massive open world granted Zelda fans the freedom they'd always wanted. The ability to climb any object, and go anywhere you want was incredible. Most Switch owners have either played BOTW, or have it in their own collection. 

Smash Melee is the sequel to the N64 smash hit, Super Smash Bros. This time it came with many new improvements, new mechanics, and new characters. It's fighting gameplay was fun as always, and thanks to the power of the GameCube, it looked and played better at a resolution of 853x480 pixels, which at the time, was pretty crisp. Smash Melee still has a consistent fan base, and there are still competitions (non-official) for it. 

In 1998,  Black Isle Studios developed Fallout 2. The game takes place in a post nuclear apocalyptic environment. The Fallout franchise has always been a role-playing series, so obviously this is an RPG. While it may not look like the Fallout most people are used to, Fallout 2 contains a lot of the elements that built the franchise. People often forget about the older 2d entries in the series, but don't be mistaken because it's still one of the best Fallouts. 

The Sims 3 is a life simulation game where players create their own sims and have them live out life. They can do anything from make their sims get married, to having their sims die randomly from a crashed satellite. The unique feature about the Sims 3 is that the sims would still carry out tasks when you weren't playing the game. This meant that you might boot up the game and find your sim had moved out. The game could also be expanded via its numerous expansion packs. But in classic EA fashion, all the expansions combined would come with a very hefty price tag. 

The first 3D entry of the Mario Kart franchise started on the N64. Mario Kart 64 was praised for its fun, diverse kart racing along with its (at the time) decent graphics. It was a huge leap from Super Mario Kart on the SNES, and with it, came a large fan following. The N64 brought many new games to the table, but it's games like Mario Kart 64 that people remember. Although the game is starting to show its age with the drift mechanic and overall steering controls being less than perfect, Mario Kart 64 is still one of the best games from Nintendo, and gives us a reason to remember the N64 era of gaming. 

In 2018, Sony decided to reboot the beloved PlayStation series, God of War. Santa Monica Studios created a masterpiece of storytelling gameplay. The game is easily one of the PS4's best games. Santa Monica Studios went really in depth with the lore and backstories for God of War. While being a reboot, it's also a sequel to 2010's God of War III. The action adventure style gameplay makes this one very fun and keeps you energy rushing. 

Quake is what popularized the FPS genre of games. Built as a successor to Doom, id Software developed Quake. Unlike Doom, Quake's engine allowed for full, real-time 3D rendering, making it one of the first in its class. After Doom had popularized the online Death match, Quake added numerous multiplayer modes, and eventually became the main selling point of the game. The multiplayer did take a while to load due to it running on either LAN, or internet which in the 90's was pretty bad. Friends would often go though LAN parties where they'd all bring over their PC's and connect. Then they would all play together via LAN. 

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is often regarded to be one of the best skateboarding games ever. It's fun and wild. The player can skate around doing tricks along with actually playing through a story. The GBA version wasn't that great, but the rest were. The fact that a skateboard game has a story mode should give you all you have to know. Pro Skater 4 provides a memorable experience, and if you're into skateboarding it's worth checking it out, mainly because the stunts can be so insane that it's just funny to watch. 

Dota 2 is a multiplayer battle arena game developed by Valve. Development began in 2009 and the game launched in 2013. It is the sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) which was actually a community-created mod for Warcraft II. Two teams of five players play as powerful characters called "heroes” and have to defend their Ancient structure, while trying to capture/destroy the enemy's. Each hero has different unique abilities and stats. 

Super Mario World was the 5th installment in the Mario series. It was the first Mario on the SNES, and as most Mario games do, it was well received and became an all time favorite. Super Mario World typically had more sprites on screen thanks to the power of the Super Nintendo. Once again, Mario has to go after Bowser and the Koopalings to save Princess Peach. It's a basic Mario story, but it more than makes up for it in gameplay. The new overworld was a huge step up from Super Mario Bros. 3, and the new color pallet helped. Mario World also introduced everyone's favorite green dinosaur, Yoshi. 

Batman Arkham city is the second installment in the Batman Arkham series. The game used beautiful visuals (for the time) along with a better story than most recent DC movies. It was written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini with Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill. It featured voices from the DC animated universe like Mark Hamill and Keven Conory. Arkham City is a super prison enclosing what remains of Gotham City. Batman must find out what's going on, and fix it. Definitely the best of the Arkham trilogy. 

Resident Evil 4 is the 6th major installment in the Resident Evil series, and was originally released as a GameCube exclusive, but was later ported to other systems. Players control special agent Leon S. Kennedy, who has been sent on a mission to rescue the President's daughter after she was kidnaped by a cult. In a rural part of Europe, players would have to fight waves of villagers infected with a mind-controlling parasite. There are no crosshairs for firearms, instead there's a laser sight on every weapon.  

Skyrim released in 2011 and was remastered in 2016. The Elder Scrolls series is known for its RPG elements and gameplay, Skyrim is no exception. Players play as the main character, the Dragonborn and begin a quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater. The setting takes place 200 years after Oblivion, and takes place in Skyrim province of Tamriel. Characters can be customized and upgraded along with creating skills by completing side quests. Skyrim is a massive game and there is much to do, so if you're bored one day and have nothing better to do, you should check it out. 

The Uncharted series has gained a reputation for action-adventure stories. The player follows the story of Nathen Drake as partners with numerous other characters in search of the Cintamani Stone and city of Shambhala. They battle a mercenary group led by Zoran Lazarević, a war crime. It received critical acclaim for its elaborate set pieces, graphics, storytelling, along with its technical innovation. It sold over 7 million copies worldwide, and has won several awards. 

Knights of the Old Republic is often considered to be one of the best Star Wars games. It was a turn-based RPG that took place thousands of years before the prequels. It was developed by BioWare and gave us a look at what they prefer in their games as a lot of the game's features are used in the Mass Effect series. The story had players battle the Sith armies as a Jedi. It gave a lot of insight to the Star Wars series, and later got a sequel, Knights of the old republic II, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, along with a remake in 2011. The remake was a massive online multiplayer RPG. 

Metroid Prime was the first 3D entry in the Metroid series and was released for the GameCube. It was an FPS game that made the world of Metroid feel all the more immersive. Because exploration takes place over the combat, Nintendo classifies Metroid Prime as a first person adventure game rather than a shooter (but that's what it is). Like the previous games, players play as bounty hunter Samus Aran. It was a success and is one of the most played GameCube titles. The GameCube didn't have many incredible 3rd party titles so it definitely helped sell Metroid copies. Metroid Prime has been acclaimed for multiple reasons and is viewed as one of the greatest games ever. 

Back in the day, the majority of people at arcades were male, but Pac-Man gained a lot of interest from females, thus leading to the creation of Ms. Pac-Man. It was very much like its predecessor, but included more levels and was more difficult. Ms. Pac-Man kept the maze-like design of the original, but included 4 mazes that changed colors after each of the game's intermission screens. Each of the ghosts have a more random movement than the original, allowing for a more advanced strategy. Ms. Pac-Man has become more common in arcades because of this, and is a classic title that will never be forgotten. 

Assassin's Creed II improved upon almost every aspect of the first game, and looked amazing at the time. The story is about Ezio Auditore, a young Spanish character who loses his father and hopes to avenge him. He finds out his dad was an assassin and takes up the creed. The game has been remastered and featured in many collections. It is definitely responsible for the success of the franchise. This game is a storytelling masterpiece and is incredible to play through. 

Metal Gear Solid 3 is an action-adventure stealth game produced by Konami Computer Entertainment for the PS2. It released in 2004 to great success and has become a classic ever since. It was a prequel to the entire Metal Gear series (despite being the 5th game) and takes place in 1964, 31 years before the first game. The great storytelling is done through cutscenes and numerous radio messages. 

Tetris is a tile matching game developed in 1984 by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. It's been in the hands of many different companies and the rights to it have bounced around a lot. It's a very simple game (even for 1984) and has been on almost everything. Players have various shapes in which they must rotate and position to stack. If players can get a complete line, that line disappears. The goal is to avoid reaching the top of the screen for as long as possible. In 1993, cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov took his Game Boy into space aboard the Soyuz TM-17 on. The Game Boy spent 196 days in space! Tetris has become one of the most well known and popular games ever to date, and it seems it will remain that way. 

Halo 3 was Bungie's last Halo game, or at least it was supposed to be. Halo 3 was the rest of Halo 2's story that had become cut off due its rushed development. The story takes place right after Halo 2's ending, and continues as the Covenant are on Earth, and looking for an artifact in Africa. Then players go to the Ark, and find that more Halo rings are being made. There's more to it but it's hard to explain it. The multiplayer was a big selling point. It allowed players to communicate with friends and have a good time. Custom matches were always a good time, and there was just so much happening with Halo 3. Halo 3 gave Xbox Live a massive boost in popularity, and is often thought of as "the golden age" of gaming. Especially online gaming. 

Half-Life was an FPS game developed by Valve in 1998, and instantly became one of the most popular and successful shooters winning over 50 game of the year awards. It was the first to incorporate a real story that mattered. Characters were well written, and the gameplay was fun. Players must escape Black Mass during alien invasion after a failed experiment involving a portal to the newly discovered xen realm.  The story is mainly told through scripted sequences, allowing for smoother gameplay. It involved multiplayer, and led to a large modding community. It later got multiple expansions developed by Gearbox Software. Half-Life is one of the best shooters, and a list of best games without it isn't a list at all. 

Red Dead Redemption is a 2010 action-adventure game published by Rockstar Games. It's the second game in the Red Dead series and was a spiritual successor to Read Dead Revolver. Set during the decline of the American frontier in 1911, a former outlaw named John Marston has his wife and son kidnaped and held for ransom by the government. The government wants Marston to act as a hired gun. He has no choice so he sets out to kill the three members of his gang. Like other games by Rockstar, Read Dead has an open world with many things to do and explore. The gameplay is much like GTA, but in the wild-west. Read Dead Redemption has become one of Rockstar's most beloved games, and belongs here on this list. 

Dark Souls is notorious for being extremely difficult and challenging to any gamer. The no-hit speedruns have been something gamers take pride in, as it shows off their skills. A spiritual successor to FromSoftware's Demon's Souls, and is the second installment in the Souls series. It takes place in the kingdom of Lordran, where the main protagonist is a cursed undead character who begins a journey to find out the fate of their kind. There's more to it, but it's too hard to describe it all here. If you're into these sorts of games then definitely give it a try. 

Back in 1997 Rare developed a game called Goldeneye 007 for the N64. It was back when video games based on movies were actually given a development of their own choice. It was based off the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye, and came out 2 years later because it was allowed to get a full development cycle unlike most newer games based on movies. It actually released just before the sequel Tomorrow Never Dies The single-player campaign has players fight as James Bond as he tries to stop a criminal syndicate from using a satellite weapon on London to make a global financial meltdown. Weird plot, but it does the job. Goldeneye also included a multiplayer mode consisting of multiple types of deathmatches and up to 4 players. Goldeneye is considered to be one of the best N64 era titles, and it most definitely is. 

Payday 2 is a cooperative FPS where players can assume the role of any of the 20 playable characters to perform heists both alone and with up to 3 teammates. The game is set 2 years after the events of the previous title, where the members of the Payday gang are traveling to the Washington metropolitan area to perform more heists. It was released in 2013 on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but later got an updated version called Crimewave Edition that came to PS4 and Xbox One. And in 2018, it received a Nintendo Switch port.

Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth installment in the Hitman series and serves as both a sequel and prequel to Hitman: Contracts. The game follows Agent 47 as he takes down targets one by one. The story is told through cutscenes narrated by a former director of the FBI to a journalist. It was a commercial success and many critics are now listing it as one of the greatest games of all time. Blood Money eventually earned itself a sequel called Hitman: Absolution.

Doom, Wolfenstein and Duke Nukem 3D are the games people think of when they remember the early days of shooters. Like Doom, Duke Nukem was a 3D FPS with lots of action. The difference was that in Duke Neukem, the protagonist was a cocky badass who ran around s and saying cheesy one liners including many pop culture references. It also created some controversy over its violence, erotic elements, and portrayal of women. The game had revolutionary graphics for the time (in the PC world) and had reflections in items like mirrors. The game was a major success. Duke Nukem II was also popular. Unfortunately, this success wasn't able to be replicated after a sequel was in development Hell for 15 years. In 2011, Duke Nukem Forever released to mostly negative results. 

In 2007 2K Games published a first person masterpiece called Bioshock. It is considered to be a "spiritual successor" to the System Shock series that many of the dev team also worked on. Bioshock includes elements from RPGs, giving players different approaches to engagements as well as moral choices like saving or killing characters. Bioshock takes place in 1960 after the main character, Jack, crashes his plane into the ocean near the bathysphere terminus that leads to the underwater city of rapture. It incorporates historical figures from the time such as Walt Disney and John D. Rockefeller, as well as uptown thinkers such as  Ayn Rand and George Orwell. 

Halo Combat Evolved was the "killer app" for the Xbox at launch. Bungie had been at work for several years, and created the masterpiece that we all know and love. The gameplay was always fair, and if players failed, it was normally their fault. Players were introduced to the Covenant, and the Halo array. There was support for up to 16 players on multiplayer as long as you had 4 Xbox's and 4 TVs to connect them via LAN. Halo CE created an experience like no other, and revolutionized the shooter genre. It was the first console shooter to use 2 control sticks, and it worked perfectly. The game utilized auto aim, which also worked seamlessly allowing for a fun gaming experience. 

The Last of Us is a 2013 action adventure game developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3. It was one of the better looking games on the system (though, it did launch near the end of the system's life cycle). Players control Joel, a smuggler who has to escort a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic America. Development began right after Uncharted 2 in 2009. The Last of Us won many awards, and excelled to critical acclaim. It eventually received a remaster for the PS4 in 2014 and is getting a complete remake in 2023 with some changes and improvements based off of the sequel.

Shadow of the Colossus (released in Japan as Wander and the Colossus) was developed for the PS2 in 2005 and is one of the better looking games on it. It was "remastered" for the PS3 in 2011, and completely remade for the PS4 in 2018. The game has been called a puzzle game since each colossus can only be defeated by attacking certain weak spots with certain actions. It boasts a MASSIVE open world that competes only with Breath of the Wild (and it beats it). It's story is subtle, but good, and the gameplay is near perfection. It is one of the only games ever to get remade 3 times and still at its core be exactly the same without any issues. Shadow of the Colossus is easily one of Sony's best exclusives. It is a console game so good that PC gamers can't ever say PC is truly a better platform because they will never experience its glory.

After the success of Grand Theft Auto 3, the world found themselves desiring another open world action packed adventure with a world that felt believable. Then, in 2002, this was achieved, by none other than Rockstar Games, with the release of GTA Vice City. Vice City is a reimagining of Miami set in 1986. In fact the dev team did extensive research on Miami to make an accurate reproduction. The game follows mobster Tommy Vercetti after he gets out of prison. He gets into some trouble after getting caught in an ambushed drug deal. He then seeks those responsible and slowly builds a criminal empire. The story had a whopping 8,000 lines of dialogue and brought about a whole new wave of controversy. GTA Vice City is Metacritic's highest rated PS2 game.

The Grand Theft Auto series has come a long way since its entry into the 3D open world genre. GTA V is no exception. It was Rockstar's biggest, most advanced game in the series. It was the first game in the franchise to include 3 protagonists with 3 stories that would merge into an epic turn of events. Gamers play as Michael De Santa, a retired bank robber, street gangster Franklin Clinton, and Trever Phillips, a psychotic arms smuggler and drug dealer. It expanded on GTA IV multiplayer, adding things like heists and missions to complete, and businesses to buy, not to mention cars, tanks, planes etc. GTA V is one of the longest running games with an active community as it constantly reaches over 100 thousand players an hour on steam. Not to mention GTA Online has made it one of the most profitable titles in the entire entertainment genre. Once again players can explore the remarkable Los Santos, but this time in HD. It really is an accurate recreation too. In 2013, launched on PS3 and Xbox 360, but struggled to hit 30 fps. It received an updated version for PS4 and Xbox One with the addition of first person mode and better graphics. This also came with a significant size change bringing it from 8gbs to 60gbs. Then in 2015, it came to PC, and is scheduled to have a release on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. 

Wolfenstein 3D was the first FPS to popularize the genre, and much like Doom, it ran on a 2D engine. It was inspired by the 1981 title Castle Wolfenstein. It was developed to be a fast 3D engine that restricted views to a single plane, thus technically being a 2D game.  Wolfenstein revolutionized the gaming industry, as many rushed to upgrade their computers to play it. It was fun, and at the time, was the most gore anyone had seen in a game. The SNES versions were censored, and removed all Nazi symbolism, along with Hitler's name being changed to Staatmeister and the removal of his mustache. 

In the 80's arcades were growing steadily, but that all changed with Nintendo's new game, Donkey Kong. In 1981, Nintendo released a game where a giant ape (Donkey Kong) is holding princess Pauline captive. It is up to the player to go through an obstacle course with barrels to jump over and ladders to climb, and powerups to grab. Players control a character who was originally unnamed, but became known as Jump Man, but was later changed to the character we all know and love, Mario. Donkey Kong is considered part of "the golden age" of gaming. It is truly a masterpiece that changed the video game world forever. 

Doom took the world by storm in 1993. It was controversial because of it's violence. Many kids sat in their rooms all day on their dos machines playing doom. While it wasn't the first FPS game, it was by  far the best at the time. Doom gave the illusion of having a 3rd dimension even though it ran on a 2d game engine. The trick lies within the walls, the walls were built to look like they had multiple levels, which is why you can shoot straight and kill an enemy in the next story. The stairs weren't stairs, it just looked like it. Doom revolutionized the shooter genre and without it we may have never seen games like Halo or Call of Duty.

Dungeon Keeper is a strategy game released by EA in 1997 for MS DOS and Windows 95. Players build and manage dungeons recruiting minions to protect the dungeon and find supplies. The Dungeon Heart represents the player's connection to the world, and if the heart gets destroyed, then the player loses. It's simple, but once the game picks up, it becomes complex and requires thought to plan out every move and becomes an ultimate strategy game, but is still easy to pick up and play when bored or in need of a quick bit of fun. It's complex, but doesn't ever get so tedious that it gets frustrating. 

Why is it that Valve has so many games on this list? In 2004, Valve released the sequel to the critically acclaimed first person shooter Half-Life. It, like every other Valve game, became a major success. Half-Life 2 follows Gordon Freeman as he ventures through the cities and towns to reach his final destination as he is followed by the G-Man who is always lurking in that shadows. The earth is now infested with an alien civilization called the Combine. Loveable characters like Alyx Vance and her pet robot named Dog help to make the story feel like a perfect game. The infamous Gravity Gun was introduced here. A weapon that defies physics and can manipulate objects. Half-Life 2 had an advanced physics engine, allowing for more realistic engagements. Players could pick up, throw, smash, and hide behind all sorts of small and large objects. Half-Life 2 also received 2 major expansions, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and Half-Life 2 Episode 2. Both of which were continuations of the main story.

In 2018, Rockstar Games finally released the long awaited Red Dead Redemption 2. Though named Red Dead 2, the game actually serves as a prequel to Red Dead Redemption. Set in 1899, outlaw Arthur Morgan, a member of Van der Linde gang travels through a fictional representation of Western, Midwestern, and Southern United States. The story also follows John Marston, the protagonist of the first game. Red Dead 2 has some of the most realistic graphics one will ever see. It truly is amazing. The game runs well despite it having insanely good graphics and the open world feels alive. Red dead 2 included an online mode with Red Dead Online to (hopefully) create a cash grab like GTA Online, but that wasn't the case. There are too many things to do in this game. Red Dead Redemption 2 shows that Rockstar only makes games so that they can one up they're previous titles. Nothing but the best. 

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks, Fallout: New Vegas was released to the public in 2010. It immediately took off with people playing it everywhere. Not much changed from other Fallout games, but the map reached all over a region consisting of Arizona, California and Nevada. It was a spinoff title that ended up becoming a fan favorite and is more popular than most in the mainline series. It's set in a world that became a separate timeline due to the Atomic Age of technology. This led to a global nuclear apocalypse in 2077 called "The Great War". That's all that will be said about the story because it is honestly too good to spoil. Just play the game. Later, Obsidian Entertainment moved away from Bethesda and in 2019, they created The Outer Worlds. 

San Andreas is thought to be one of the greatest games of all time. Despite its controversies, San Andreas deserves its place on this list. For starters, the massive open world pushed the Xbox and PS2 to their limits. For the first time in a GTA game players could fly airplanes, along with all the other land vehicles. Sometimes planes would be necessary due to the map size. The state of San Andreas consisted of 3 cities. Los Santos, San Fierro, and Los Venturas. All the cities were based on real world locations, and even featured landmarks like the Griffith Observatory. The all powerful Jet Pack was one of the most popular items in any game. The game had so many quotable moments too. Big Smoke's drive through order in particular has become one of the most quoted scenes in gaming history. GTA San Andreas contained a whopping 100 missions to complete. This game provided so much to do, so many places to go, and so many characters to love, that it became a staple of the sixth console generation. 

Ocarina of Time is considered by most to be the greatest game of all time, and is credited its amazing story and for being the first Zelda game playable in 3 dimensions. It's combat was great, the puzzles were fun and it was just overall a good game. The game's 3DS remaster was Amazing too, with improved camera controls and just overall better gameplay (even though pretty much the same). The reason most people say Breath of the Wild was so much better is because they played it first. If they played Ocarina before, they might look past all the technical limitations that it had. There isn't much more to say about Ocarina of Time, most everything has already been said. Just check it out. If you haven't played it yet, THAN YOU MUST DO IT RIGHT NOW!