1:Starcraft -
2:Warcraft III
3:Final Fantasy VII
4:Zelda OT
5:Spiderman 2
6:Duck Hunt
7:Super Dokeny Kong Country
8:Goldeneye
9:Xenosaga
10:Metal Gear Solid

Nice idea - I'm gonna take a shot at writing up mine, I don't know if I'll actually get to ten, but I'll try to be detailed, and give a little summary at the end of each.

1. Prince of Persia (the original), and to a lesser extent, PoP2. This was a very elegant game design, and was very well implemented. Although the graphics weren't that great (if you look at them, they're quite pixellated), and only use 16 colours, but they're still very good. If you look at the characters, you can always tell what they're doing (I believe mostly thanks to the rotoscoped animation). The game has very few controls, and yet covers all the required actions of the prince. Also, the fact that a single game only runs for 60 minutes at most, succesful or otherwise. The time limit is a bit longer than an average player needs to finish the game, but short enough to provide a good challenge if a few mistakes are made. Also, the story, although quite stereotypical (rescue the princess from the badguy), is very well told, and doesn't interrupt gameplay excessively at any point. If you die, you are almost instantly returned to the start of the current level/section, so it doesn't interrupt gameplay too much.

Play this one for: simple, elegant design; well presented non-intrusive storyline; excellent use of rather restricted graphics capabilities.

2. Tetris. This game is based on a very simple concept, and anyone can understand how to play after only a very brief explanation. It's even quite easy for someone who's never played or seen the game before to figure out the objective simply by trying. It can be run on just about any system, as the processing, graphics and memory requirements are very low (look at the version that shipped with the Gameboy for example). When you lose, it's incredibly easy and fast to get back into a new game, encouraging players to give it 'one more try' to beat thier previous/highest score.

Play this one for: extreme replay value; simple intuitive design.

3. Pacman. Again, this game is very simple to understand, and anyone can learn to play within moments. It's a very hard game to master though, as at the higher levels it gets very tricky. The ghosts almost seem to work together, in a reasonably intelligent fashion, in spite of the fact that they're actually only following a few very simple rules. Once again, it's very easy to get started again if you lose.

Play this one for: emergent behavior among ghost 'characters'.

4. Starcraft. In my opinion, one of the best RTS games out there. It doesn't drastically break away from whats done in other games within the genre, so for an RTS player, the learning curve is quite shallow. As RTS storylines go, the Starcraft one is quite well thought out and interesting, and is nicely presented. The cutscenes and mission briefings don't overly detract from gameplay. As for gameplay itself, the three teams seem quite well balanced, but actually seem to play differently, unlike the stat-cloned teams presented in many RTS games. Each side has something unique to consider while playing as/against them. The protoss carrier tends to unbalance the game somewhat, but I must admit is a pretty fun unit. Through battlenet, multiplay is easily accessible, and through the regular updates, the game is kept pretty fair.

Play this one for: balanced gameplay; truly different gameplay mechanics for each team; well presented storyline.

5. Baldur's Gate (and BGII). A very well made CRPG. The controlls are quite complex, but an in game mechanism for learning these is provided (the little 'quests' and training within Candlekeep), and players can become familiar with the the interface and controls fairly quickly. Quite a large storyline is presented, mostly during gameplay, with only a few 'cutscenes' interupting the player. A wide range of spells and abilities is provided, and there are plenty of varied enemies, sometimes requiring slightly different tactics from the player. A large world is provided for the player to explore, with numerous side quests. Although this game suffers from many (if not all) of the problems faced by other CRPGs, it is an excellent conversion to computer of the AD&D game.

Play this one for: in game player 'training'; well presented large scale storyline; fairly good character development.

6. Worms (any of the non-3d versions). These games, although violent, present it in a very comical manner which is generally acceptable to children. A wide range of different weapons are presented, and different maps with different settings may require players to adapt a slightly different style. Excellent for 'hotseat' style multiplay, playing from a single computer. Unlocking special features encourages players to play the missions. Many players will never realise it, but these games cover quite deep/dark themes in a very lighthearted way, using the cute animations/SFX and humour to effectively cover it up. Controls are fairly simple, but allow access to a range of different weapons. Mastering this game is a great challenge.

Play this one for: fun, family friendly presentation of violent gameplay; well presented and somewhat unusual graphical style.


Hrm, and it seems that's all the games I can think of to list for now, I'll definately come back if I think of more though. Oh, and could we see some more of the reasoning behind your selections from those of you who havn't presented it if you have time?

Quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
Only one vote for Ultima series? Ultima 4 and Ultima 7 are absolutely amazing RPGs, better gameplay then any I've seen.

Do tell what exactly you thought made the gameplay so brilliant then, I'd be quite interested to read it. I unfortunately havn't played any of the series myself, excepting Ultima Online.

Top game: Chrono Trigger - I've played this game more then fifteen times through (easily), and I STILL haven't discovered everything to it. Disagree? Try this: go back through the game and *deliberately* try to mess things up - ie, go through the portal to the future, and then back to the present. They really cover everything.

2nd. FF7 - one of the first 3D RPGs, and one of the best RPGs to date. It also deals with some very complex issues in a compelling manner (without turning the game into a documentary, I might add).

3rd. Fallout 2 - better then Fallout 1... in many ways just because there's MORE XD. Ironically I preferred Fallout 1's character design.

4th. Xenogears - some of the best dialog and use of music I've ever seen in a game. (could also desperately benefit from anti-aliasing or higher resolution modes, but hey, it's a ps game ;) ).

5th. Half-Life - If you want to make a good FPS, you've got to start here. Half-Life 2 is equally noteworthy (plus the gravity gun is one of the coolest ideas I've seen for an FPS).

6th. System Shock 2 - Why hasn't this appeared yet? SS2, apart from perhaps being the most pirated game in existence, gave an excellent blend of horror, FPS, and RPG style gaming. Also noteworthy is Clive Barker's Undying.

7th. NeverWinter Nights - If you want to make a flexible RPG, then you HAVE to look at the way this was designed. In this regard the game is absolutely beautiful. (It would have benefitted from a slightly darker feel me thinks).

8th. Unreal Tournament (99) - Excellent example of a dark, gritty FPS to actually contain a STORYLINE while retaining an arena-like system of gameplay. UT2k3 fell pathetically short in this aspect, while UT2k4 came close to matching UT99's level of atmosphere (wasn't dark and gritty enough in a lot of the character design and levels - although some were perfect).


9th. Fallout Tactics - The perfect example of how NOT to design an editor for the public.

10th. Chrono Cross - Excellent example of depth and replayability. Tons of side branches, if you look for them.

(For RTSs, I vote Age of Empires 2, for being original enough to not have you harvest a stupidly generic resource like Blizzard did. Sorry, but it's true.)

Quote:Original post by HeavyBlade
(For RTSs, I vote Age of Empires 2, for being original enough to not have you harvest a stupidly generic resource like Blizzard did. Sorry, but it's true.)

I wouldn't say the resource system in AOE2 is that much better than in Blizzard games. While it's a little more detailed, it isn't what you could call a spectacular improvement. Take a look at the games:

Warcraft II:
-Oil
-Gold
-Wood

(* denotes an item that is also on the WC2 list)
AOEII:
-Wood (*)
-Food (* (not on the list per se, but you needed farms if you'll recall))
-Gold (*)
-Stone

So really, each of those 2 has one item that the other doesn't. AOEII has more overall resources, which could be considered both good (more realistic), or bad (more complexity). The food in WC2 is produced at a building rather than collected, whereas AOE has some variation in the sources. I wouldn't say overall that AOE has it that much better though if you actually consider both of those systems.

Quote:
6th. System Shock 2 - Why hasn't this appeared yet? SS2, apart from perhaps being the most pirated game in existence, gave an excellent blend of horror, FPS, and RPG style gaming.

Yes, this was indeed an excellent game, which had slipped my mind. This had quite a good storyline, with a few twists into it. Gameplay wasn't the same constantly, and could be extremely varied depending on what type of character was chosen. Playing coop (added in one of the patches) with one of each character type is brilliant. A very dark atmosphere was well presented through useage of both sound and graphics. The character advancement was quite detailed, but not overly complex.