The Beginning of the End!
The end starts here! Thanks for coming back to start the tail end of my countdown of the Top 100 Video Games of All Time! My previous entries can be found here:
80-71
70-61
60-51
So, let's get to it! And remember, only one game per franchise!
That's it for this week! Come back next week as we keep going on this crazy ride I call, the Top 100 Video Games of All Time!
60-51
So, let's get to it! And remember, only one game per franchise!
50. Injustice 2 - Multi
Okay, so I am a big fat comic book nerd. Heck, I'm just a big fat nerd. So, when I heard that DC was teaming up for a crossover fighting game of their own with Mortal Kombat, I was stoked. And you know what? It was FINE. But the Injustice series took the ball that was set by MK vs. DC and ran with it! Great, combo driven gameplay, a surprisingly in depth single player campaign mode, were all welcome additions, but Injustice 2 added the amazing character customization and loot drops which elevate this game over most other fighters.
49. Grand Theft Auto 5 - Multi
Vice City, you will always have a special place in my heart, but it just doesn't get any better for the GTA series than GTA 5. Three playable characters, all with their own varying levels of despicable, this game had it all. THE MOST compelling story of the series, with unique and developed characters, improved controls, graphics, a larger play area, and an AMAZING online community which lets you live out your own story and create your own legend in Los Santos all add to the already fantastic formula of guns, crime, and cars.
48. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Multi
This one is kind of a dark horse here. The Prince of Persia has had a bad reputation as of late, but in 2004, this game was AMAZING. They introduced the Sands of Time mechanic, which, let's be honest, is the greatest way to thematically add respawning into your game, and the combat gameplay set the stage for pretty much every other 3D action game to come after (I'm looking at you, Assassin's Creed). Great platforming, great game, it's just a shame that none of the sequels lived up to the original.
47. Bioshock - Multi
Before Bioshock hit the shelves, first person shooters were a pretty straightforward affair. Go to a place, shoot some guys, find some keys, open doors, repeat. But boy howdy, did things change with this game. Now there were multiple ways to go through the level. You could hack the drones, or hypnotize your enemies to fight each other, or just release a swarm of bees to sting the bad guys to death. Bioshock allowed you to create death and destruction with all that you saw before you, including the environment in situations where you could electritize pools of water! Bioshock Infinite may have added some interesting elements, but for my money, the original Bioshock is still the lord of the land. Now, would you kindly Share, Comment, and Subscribe to this blog?
46. Batman: Arkham Asylum - Multi
This game made us rethink what a Batman game could be. Before this, they were generic affairs, where Batman, and possibly Robin or Nightwing, would make their way through level after level punching and kicking endless hordes of bad guys. Fine, I guess, but that's not really what Batman does. Batman is a detective. Batman uses stealth and fear. Batman only fights if he KNOWS he's going to win. And that's what Batman: Arkham Asylum does so well. It really makes you FEEL like Batman, solving mysteries, rescuing people, and using your gadgets in unique ways. Most people would say that Arkham City is the best of the series, and I'll be honest, I loved ALL of these games, but there's just something about Arkham Asylum that makes it my favorite.
45. Shining Force 2 - Genesis
Have you played any of the Shining Force games? No, I'm not talking about ANY OTHER GAME that's made by Sega and has the word "Shining" in the title. It has to be Shining FORCE, damn it! If you haven't, you have truly missed out. This game was Sega's big RPG franchise that tried to be an answer to both of Nintendo's heavy hitters: Final Fantasy and Fire Emblem. Great tactical gameplay and a charming art style and great exploration earmark the series as one of the greatest of all time, but the storyline and randomly generated battles of Shining Force 2 elevate it just slightly over its predecessor.
44. Def Jam: Fight for NY - Multi
This was a weird franchise. As a part of EA's shortlived "EA Sports: BIG!" lineup that included games like NFL Street and SSX, the original Def Jam: Vendetta was the wrestling game of the family. But much like how mainstream sports view pro wrestling, it was very much the red-headed step child. Awkward control schemes and poor visuals ruined the experience. And then the sequel, Def Jam: Fight for NY hit. And man, what a difference! Great, intuitive controls, unique fighting styles, a FANTASTIC story mode and character customization, and the addition of environmental hazards made this game a staple of my collection. Not to mention, what other game lets you beat up Danny Trejo and Snoop Dogg?!?
43. X-Men Legends 2 - Multi
To be fair, this game hasn't aged well. But I still love X-Men Legends 2. It took the popular dungeon crawl style gameplay from games like Diablo and Baldur's Gate:Dark Alliance and expanded it to the X-Men universe. But unlike those games, X-Men Legends let you control a whole squad of characters, with the ability to switch between any of them at will. This added an extra bit of strategy, elevating this game from something that could have been rather forgettable, into something that is just great fun.
42. Plants vs. Zombies - PC
There's a zombie on my lawn! With one of the earwormiest jingles I've ever heard, Plants vs. Zombies burst onto the scene in 2009, and introduced us to the easy to learn, hard to master tower defense style gameplay that the series has become known for (save PvZ Garden Warfare). But this game is still fun to this day. The joy of collecting sun drops and spending them on new and ridiculous vegetable weaponry will never get old, especially when you add in such a charming art design.
41. Soul Calibur 2 - Gamecube
Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold! Soul Calibur 2 for the Gamecube is the greatest Soul Calibur game of all time for one reason: LINK. Sure, the second entry in the series added OTHER great features, such as team battle (which is curiously absent in subsequent games), weapon master mode, custom weapons, and brought in series standouts Raphael, Talim, Yun-seong, and Cassandra, but I mean, COME ON! LINK! The most important feature added out of them all was LINK! Other systems got Spawn or Heihachi (VOMIT), but none of them really fit into the world like Link does.
That's it for this week! Come back next week as we keep going on this crazy ride I call, the Top 100 Video Games of All Time!
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