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Hey out there in cartoon land! We at the Animation Revelation super-site of strange opinions and totally normal tastes bring you our choices for the top 100 video games of all time! We tried to keep listings to the original (or specifically ranked) version of the game to keep the listing straightforward just in case you may feel the need to look into the listed choices further. We even went so far as to attempt to get gameplay footage without distracting commentary playing over them. It was carefully considered and chosen and should hopefully satisfy all the gamers out there as well as those who prefer talking about video games instead of playing them.
Why video games? Because we always like doing things a bit different!
Why 100 instead of 65 like our cartoon list? Because there are a LOT more video games than cartoons to choose from.
Why should you care? Well, we can’t make you care, but we hope you like our choices.
How did we come across these 100 games? After much deliberation and debate, the staffers of many different tastes cobbled this together while we attempted to score each game on an arbitrary 300 point scale then partially and objectively threw out terrible games we didn’t like. But seriously, we just talked it out a good while and chose accordingly. This is obviously an opinion list, so don’t be offended when Ms. Pac-Man doesn’t make #1. It doesn’t mean it isn’t a great game, it is that we simply liked other games better and found they merited higher rankings.
On the other hand, if you question why a game you’ve never heard of is even on the list, then maybe you should play it before screaming about it not belonging here. You might be surprised at what you’re missing out on, and it might actually be better than what you were hoping for. Without further ado- let’s begin!
#100
Ms. Pac-Man
Developer: Bally/Midway, General Computer Corporation
Publisher: Namco
Genre: Adventure, Platformer
Release Date: 1982
Platforms: Arcade, XBLA
Mobile
Originally done by the General Computer Corporation while tinkering with a programming kit for the original Pac-Man, this spin-off game has come to surpass the original in terms of gameplay and arguably popularity period. The level designs are more challenging and intuitive than in the original, the cinematics are more fun, and it gives you more of a chance to collect fruit, as they bounce throughout the game. Either of the originals are worth playing, but it’s Ms. Pac-Man that took more of our quarters. ~ Avaitor
#99
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment / Universal Interactive Studios
Genre: Platformer, Action
Release Date: 1997
Platforms: PlayStation, PlayStation Network
Crash Bandicoot came out in a strange time for the platformer genre. Mario had Super Mario 64 which was so different, Mega Man was all over the map, Bubsy 3D scarred us, and new entries like Klonoa and Tomba! were keeping it more traditional. Crash Bandicoot was not actually made to be a Mario killer, despite what some revisionists will tell you. Naughty Dog being smart, saw Sony as an up-and-comer in the console area and realized that Nintendo has Mario, Sega has Sonic, and Sony had…? In other words, this was their chance to break out. The original Crash Bandicoot was a great start, but it had problems that prevented it from truly grabbing hold. But Naughty Dog being smart, again, found all these issues and fixed them all in the 1997 sequel to the original surprise hit. Crash Bandicoot stood out for being a 3D platformer that was traditional, and the sequel also achieved this but with a far greater batting average. All levels were point A to B affairs with secrets to find in each, and lots of hopping and bashing obstacles to progress along with some fun out of control Polar Bear levels, fun gimmicks, masterfully hard secret levels, and the usual tight gameplay (but smoother) the series was specializing in.
Unfortunately, it seemed that after this, Naughty Dog began to focus more and more on theatrics and not as much on level design and somewhat less on originality. But in many ways, Crash Bandicoot 2 remains their best and most concise statement of intent, and proved that these up-and-comers were a force to be reckoned with. ~ Spark Of Spirit
#98
Power Stone 2
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Fighting, Brawler
Release Date: 2000
Platforms: Dreamcast, Arcade
At a time when Capcom was a more respected company that wasn’t so obsessed with engaging in shoddy business practices, they were known for releasing a plethora of great, unique, and innovative games. The Power Stone games fall into this category, as there are no other fighting games like them on the planet. Rather than focus on hardcore mechanics and extremely competitive gameplay, they chose to focus on fun and chaos, and resulted in a game with some truly addicting multiplayer experiences. However, Power Stone 2 in particular brought the series’ potential to its pinnacle. The game overflows with creativity to the point of insanity. Rather than having sterile environments where you simply just take turns trading blows with up to 3 other opponents, the background is always active and even forces players to move between settings in certain stages. Any and all objects can be interacted with, to either be used as weapons, shields, or just for hilarious side-effects. Vehicles and turrets can be commandeered and used against opponents, and just about anything and everything that you can think of goes in this game. The highlight of the game is when you collect 3 Power Stones in an intense battle, which allows you to temporarily transform one of the many quirky characters you’re playing as into their ultimate forms and allows you to wreak havoc with their special attacks. On top of its addicting multiplayer are layers of content and literally hundreds of unlockables to keep you addicted for hours to days to weeks on end. This is a game that favors a fun experience over making a technical and serious fighter, and its an effort that pays off as its certainly one of the 100 most “fun” experiences you can find in all of gaming. ~ Ensatsu-ken
#97
Hitman: Blood Money
Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Eidos
Genre: Stealth
Release Date: 2006
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox 360
PlayStation 2, Xbox
The best-realized social stealth game of all time, Hitman: Blood Money presents gamers with the tools to do what they’ve always desired deep down… get paid to kill people! All joking aside, this really is one of the deepest and most engrossing stealth titles you’ll find anywhere. While the previous entries in the series were rather obtuse and hard to get into (but damn good), Blood Money manages to be very accessible without ever holding the player’s hand (outside of the tutorial). More a puzzle game than a full-on murder simulator, Hitman encourages quick & clever thinking, precise timing, and a little patience – all of which are necessary to successfully attain the highest rank and pull off killings professionally. ~ Foggle
#96
Donkey Kong (’94)
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Puzzle Platformer
Release Date: 1994
Platforms: Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
Everyone remembers Donkey Kong, one of the best arcade games of all time. Many also missed out on this remake of the arcade classic for the Game Boy that improved upon the original in every way. Starting off with the 4 original arcade levels (with a better and surprisingly versatile moveset) the game quickly opens up into over 100 levels of puzzles, action, and platforming that takes the original Donkey Kong and pushes it to 11. The original Game Boy version included a color mode when used with the SNES’s Super Game Boy attachment, but the game itself didn’t receive much attention from Nintendo years after its release other than a Virtual Console release on the 3DS. After one direct sequel (Mario Vs. Donkey Kong) which spun off into a Lemmings-style puzzle game, this style of game has yet to bettered in the puzzle platformer realm, and is one of the best portable games of all time. ~ Spark Of Spirit
#95
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Genre: Action-Adventure, Side-Scroller, Platformer
Release Date: 1990
Platforms: Nintendo Entertainment System, Wii
PC, Amiga
Continuing the adventures of the legendary master ninja Ryu Hayabusa, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos sees our hero take action once again to stop the rising of a new evil. Take everything that the first Ninja Gaiden on the NES did right and improve on it in every conceivable way, and on top of it add in one of the coolest power-ups in all of old-school gaming, and you have yourself one of the best ninja action games ever created. First and foremost, the game succeeds at allowing players to feel like what any kid at heart would think of as a ninja. You can perform over-the-top acrobatics, scale walls, and slay any foe that stands in your way with your lethal Dragon Sword. Ninja Gaiden II achieves these feats with spot-on controls, challenging but also well-structured level design, and tough but engaging enemies and bosses. It was a step forward for the series in every regard, and offered up an adrenaline filled rush of action that simply no other game could at the time, and still to this day few can match its fury. It was creative on top of that, adding in whether conditions and original power-ups, the most memorable and useful of which being Ryu’s ability to summon clones to help him fight against the evil forces that stood in his way. To put it simply, Ninja Gaiden II was every kids’ dream game, except when the reality hit of just how hard it was to beat. However, with challenge came rewarding gameplay, and unlike the first game NG2 saw fit to somewhat tone down the difficulty through more balanced gameplay and less cheap deaths. Add onto that a more engaging story than the first game (for its time), and you have the recipe for a successful sequel in every regard. ~ Ensatsu-ken
#94
Gears Of War
Developer: Epic Games (XBOX360 version), People Can Fly (Windows PC port)
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Third Person Shooter
Release Date: 2006
Platforms: XBOX360, Windows PC
A game that probably needs no introduction, Gears of War has set itself up as one of the pioneer third person shooters of this generation of video games. Up until its release, taking cover in games of this genre were more of an after-thought than a rule, and while the idea had been experimented with before in other games, Gears of War is the first title to have successfuly ground it into the core gameplay as a solid mechanic. It perfected the art of of “stop ‘n pop” shooting, adding an element of strategy and challenge to games that has since become a rule of sorts among most games involving gun-play with heavy firearms. While Gears may not have had an interesting or even original story to tell, where its strengths lied were in its gameplay mechanics, which utilized great elements from previous popular shooting games (such as the camera-style of Resident Evil 4, and the console aiming controls from Halo) as well as expanded the depth of the genre’s gameplay with its own elements. On top of introducing the revolutionary cover system which is now used in just about every TPS game released today, it was also a great game in general with dynamic firefights, memorable boss encounters, and challenging enemies that were satisfying to mow down with your guns and occasionally with the chainsaw as well. Gears of War is very much the icon of what gamers have come to expect from a TPS in this day and age. ~ Ensatsu-ken
#93
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date: 2007
Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Mac OS X
Modern war-time shooters existed before COD4’s release, but most of them were dull and forgettable. The big sellers for FPSes were space age thrillers (they still kind of are, too) and World War II games. Heck, the first bunch of Call of Duty games were set in WWII. MW took things out to the sands of today’s conflicts, in a game that nearly made you feel like you were enlisted. The campaign is great for those who are obsessed with the specs of today, and contains enough exciting, well-written moments to make the whole experience fresh even if you pick it up today. But it’s the multiplayer that made people come back and has companies still lift from today. The sequels are just reinventing the wheel at this point, but there’s little denying the impact and quality of the first Modern Warfare. ~ Avaitor
#92
Fear Effect
Developer: Kronos Digital Entertainment
Publisher: Eidos
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: 2000
Platform: PlayStation
Fear Effect was an important release, but most people don’t know it! Indeed, Kronos’ masterpiece was the first ever video game to feature cel-shaded graphics (cue flying tomatoes from all two of you who still rag on Wind Waker for looking like a cartoon). But it wouldn’t be on this list if it was just a tech demo – ignore that screenshot, by the way; the visuals still look great… honest! – it’s also one of the finest cinematic games to ever be released. Rocking an engaging story, well-defined characters, great voice acting, and some seriously weird shit after disc 1, this action/adventure/stealth/horror/puzzle mash-up stands the test of time for its creativity alone… even if those downright heinous load times still happen to be its most fearsome enemy. ~ Foggle
#91
Pitfall!
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
Genre: Platformer, Adventure
Release Date: 1982
Platforms: Atari 2600, Intellivision, ColecoVision
Commodore 64, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Sega SG-1000
Here’s Pitfall Harry. He’s looking for treasure and he has 20 minutes to find as much as he can. Now go find that treasure!
This brilliantly simple concept for the classic Pitfall! has helped it endure 30 years since its original release on the Atari 2600 making it still quite the addicting little game. Not only that, but Pitfall! was also one of the very first games to help define the direction the industry would follow. It still followed the bite-size arcade style experience, but the beginnings of where the industry would turn was apparent as early as here. If you must play at least one game from the first generation of gaming (but you should play more), then Pitfall! is the game to play. Marking not only 30 years as one of the most important games in the industry, but also in how it still remains so timeless to this day. ~ Spark Of Spirit
And this concludes our first entry! Stay tuned for future entries to see whether your favorites rank on our list.We can’t tell you what’s coming up, but we can tell you that there quite a few surprises to be had and some great stuff to rediscover.
Have a Merry Christmas, some happy holidays, and we’ll see you next time.