God I hate these Top 100 Lists. Not because they number the games wrong, or omit key games, but of the inevitable backlash they endure from our happy and always intelligent flock, the Internet. Some were so mad that they got pissed off at the site they read the list on, even when it wasn’t originally written by that specific site.
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If you’re man enough to go through every single game and not have some derogative comment after, then I will let you view the winners, courtesy of Next-Gen.biz.
As I went through the list, I started to see what they were trying to do. You’ll see that EDGE included Super Mario World as the sole 2D Mario platformer. Surprisingly, Super Mario Bros 1. and 3 did not make the list. To me, this says the best game in the series gets the only nod for the franchise. In many respects, Super Mario World is the pinnacle of 2D Mario platforming. It’s a million times better than SMB 1, and is the evolution of 3. Hence, World is the best one.
They did include Yoshi’s Island (listed at #11), but that’s an offshoot of the series, and is damn good enough to be included as a separate entry.
My hypothesis is also proven by the fact that Half Life 1 is not featured at all on the list. Half Life 2 is the better one, so it gets the nod. Doom II, with no Doom 1. Super Mario Kart, with no Mario Kart DS. Oblivion, with no Morrowind.
It’s a different variation on the generic Top 100 list, but I’ll leave it up to you to say if it’s actually a better way to handle them.
One thing we do have to remember is there are more than 100 greatest games of all time. You simply cannot fit them all in with just 100 spots. Also, these lists are not as solid as the Bible. I recently asked the question of what makes a game “the greatest game of all time,” and no one could agree on what it was. It’s basically a really good game, but with a healthy dose of opinion. I would prefer to see Silent Hill 2 way higher on the list, but I’m sure some would disagree with me.
For what it’s worth, EDGE did a good job with the list. It has most of the titles that I would have on a Top 100 list, even though I would change some of the ordering. I mean, Metroid Prime at 23? Pulleeeassee.
Wait a minute. They didn’t even include Eternal Darkness!!! ZOMG, this is fuckng bullsh1t! Next-Gan blows, I cant believe this lisst was evin made!
[Pic courtesy of EDGE and Next-Gen]
Not only that but the Sims wasn’t on there either. As far as user generated content goes, that game has led the way. I was also disappointed by a couple other of their choices.
When Next Generation magazine did a top 100 list once they actually put (series) by each franchise, which was good because it was explicit, and because it meant that Mario and Zelda could get in the top 3. Its hard to argue against them being at least in the top 10 when you weigh all the games together as a lump sum.
I have yet to find any place where they put forward the criteria for this list beyond essentially saying it came from “reader votes, insiders, and staff members”. If it was purely vote based, that would account for some of the oddities, but surely if the publication itself was involved in creating the list, they must have had some guidelines…I just can’t figure out what they might have been based on the results. Also, their screenshot for Shenmue is actually from Shenmue II.
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