90. Super Mario RPG (ArtePiazza, 2023)
A dream people have been screaming about for almost thirty years finally became a reality when Nintendo announced the Mario RPG remake. Developed by ArtePiazza (who also worked on several of the Dragon Quest remakes), the game is gorgeously animated, has some amazing updated music and a few new mechanics added; successfully timing attacks and blocks builds up a Chain that steadily grants bonuses to your party, and Triple Attacks - something similar to a limit break which slowly charges as you fight your way through battles. And of course, there's no shortage of postgame content for gamers seeking a new challenge after clearing the main game, some of which really puts your skills to the test. A faithful yet surprisingly fresh remake of a classic.
89. NieR: Automata (PlatinumGames, PS4/PC)Gamers in the PS2/PS3 era probably remember a little company called Cavia, known for making games replete with dark themes and complex characters, but unfortunately masked beneath a layer of mediocre gameplay that made them rather difficult to endure. But with their bankruptcy, staff and IPs falling to Marvelous and development for Automata being farmed out to PlatinumGames, many people finally got the chance to see Yoko Taro's true genius on display. Case in point, NieR: Automata is not just an enjoyable game that combines elements of open-world games, character action titles and RPGs, but also a strong story with a surreal atmosphere and some very memorable characters. Set all of that on the backdrop of some beautiful environments and an absolutely amazing soundtrack, and you have what is easily the finest title ever associated with Cavia's name. As well as one of the greatest emotional rides I've ever experienced in a game.
88. DOOM (Id Software, 1993)
DOOM was an amazing title at the time of its release for its realistic 3D environments, fast-paced action and varied gameplay, combining elements of puzzle-solving with run and gun action against hordes of enemies. But when you added on online deathmatches and the ability to create custom maps, the game's replay value rocketed through the roof, and even today it remains an incredibly fun experience, spawning hundreds of thousands of custom maps and countless player mods that remix the experience into something completely new. Surpassed in technology but still unmatched in gameplay, DOOM is a truly immortal game.
The debut title of Treasure (an independent company spun-off from industry giant Konami) and still one of their finest titles, showing the world that "
blast processing" wasn't just a marketing gimmick and that the Sega Genesis most definitely could tread ground that the SNES couldn't by providing incredibly fluid animation and fast-paced gameplay that its competitor simply could not match. All that and it was a pretty damn fun game too, having one or two players combine four different weapon types in any way they pleased (resulting in things like steerable firewalls, homing lasers and a short ranged beam of lightning) and blasting their way through hordes of enemies and countless over-the-top boss battles. This really was a game that made even the most die-hard of Nintendo fans just a
little green with envy, whether they admitted it or not.
86. Shantae: Half Genie Hero (WayForward, Wii U/PS4/Vita/Xbox One/PC)Shantae is a wonderful and charming series with a fun cast of characters, a strong sense of humor and polished metroidvania style gameplay. Half-Genie Hero revamps the format into something slightly more akin to Mega Man, having a relatively linear, stage-based format but granting the player new powers each time they complete a stage, which in turn allows them to revisit previous levels to find new secrets, greatly improving the overall feel and pace of the game. Then you add in some stellar music and fluid, gorgeous 2D animation, and you have my favorite game of the series by far.
85. The World Ends With You (Square Enix/Jupiter, 2008)
A unique and interesting action-RPG that set out to take advantage of the Nintendo DS console's unique capabilities in every way it could. It certainly succeeded in most fronts; the killer soundtrack aided by the DS's surprisingly good sound fidelity, gameplay that took advantage of touch-screen, microphone and even the DS's sleep feature to great effect. Combat was the prime example, with the player controlling two characters concurrently - one on the top screen with buttons, the other on the bottom screen using touch-screen gestures to evade attacks and activate 'pins' to attack in various ways - drawing lines, slashing through enemies, pressing down to set them ablaze, and so forth. Each time a character successfully landed a combo, they would pass a 'light puck' to the character on the other screen, enabling them to do more damage and rack up some enormous combos for extra combat rewards. A really fun take on RPG design and a modern rejuvenation for the genre.
84. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Eluisive Age Definitive Edition (Square Enix, 2019)
Dragon Quest is a series that was largely ignored in the west for a long time, but XI was the first in over a decade to really take off and become regarded as one of the genre's finest. It's easy to see why, too - while the core design, aesthetics and even sound effects and music cues have stayed unchanged for over three decades now, the game is so finely polished and flawlessly executed in every respect that they add to its overall charm, not subtract from it. The characters are fantastic, the writing is solid and Akira Toriyama's distinct character designs are brought to life with expressive animations and great voiceover. There is still a heavy focus on monster killing and item farming, though you can greatly speed up the combat and even assign party members to AI control to quickly blaze through mundane fights and switch back to manual on the fly whenever necessary. The game even pays homage to all of its predecessors with a game-spanning questline where you set the past straight, which is just awesome. Lots of companies are content to just make cynical cashins that look the part but are no fun to actually experience, but Dragon Quest XI gets it, embodying everything great about old-school RPGs while working in enough quality-of-life features to ensure that it remains fun to even the most jaded modern RPG fan.
83. Streets of Rage 2 (Sega AM7/Ancient, 1992)
Streets of Rage 2 is considered by many to be the greatest beat-em-up ever made. I don't know if I quite agree with that, but there's no denying that it is a very worthwhile addition to the genre. Take the usual beat-em-up formula, add in a huge variety of crazy enemies (including robots, jetpack guys and ninjas), and complete the package with challenging gameplay, detailed and well animated characters, and a fantastic soundtrack that pushed the Sega Genesis platform to its limits thanks to composer Yuzo Koshiro, and you've got one hell of a good time. A game which truly highlight Sega and the Genesis platform at their best in every respect.
82. Portal 2 (Valve, 2011)
Portal was a surprise hit when it was included with the Orange Box collection - a short action-puzzler where you use the titular portal gun to move about, avoid hazards and take advantage of physics to clear various rooms and obstacles. All with an underpinned sense of dry humor and a snowballing feeling of dread as you slowly discovered what was really going on. A sequel seemed unnecessary, but Valve managed to make it work, adding in new mechanics like lasers, tractor beams, light bridges and "repulsion gel" (which makes any surface it's painted on springy) to add new layers of challenge to the puzzles. The storytelling is just as outlandish as ever, now with the comically deranged CEO of Aperture, Cave Johnson, taking the central role in the narrative, and a two-player co-op mode and easy to use custom map-builder add tons of replayability. Valve may not take the shot often, but they always hit when they do.
81. Age of Empires II: the Age of Kings Definitive Edition (Ensemble Studios, 1999/2019)
Age of Empires is one of the biggest names in real time strategy, and it's easy to see why when you pick it up and play. A clever blend of elements from Warcraft and Sid Meier's Civilization, you gather resources to build up towns and cities, train your units, and advance through five Ages that allow not just for new buildings and units, but substantial upgrades to your existing ones. Like Civ, there are also multiple paths to victory - military conquest, building a Wonder and having it stand for a set period of time, or collecting all religious artifacts that appear on the map and stationing them in a monastery. There are many other game modes too, like "Regicide" (with players eliminated when they lose all their Kings or town centers), King of the Hill and Defend the Wonder (where one team begins with a wonder and the other teams ally to defeat them). Also like Civ, each civilization has unique exclusive units and architecture, giving the game a lot of flavor, variety and strategy.
Gamers in the PS2/PS3 era probably remember a little company called Cavia, known for making games replete with dark themes and complex characters, but unfortunately masked beneath a layer of mediocre gameplay that made them rather difficult to endure. But with their bankruptcy, staff and IPs falling to Marvelous and development for Automata being farmed out to PlatinumGames, many people finally got the chance to see Yoko Taro's true genius on display. Case in point, NieR: Automata is not just an enjoyable game that combines elements of open-world games, character action titles and RPGs, but also a strong story with a surreal atmosphere and some very memorable characters. Set all of that on the backdrop of some beautiful environments and an absolutely amazing soundtrack, and you have what is easily the finest title ever associated with Cavia's name. As well as one of the greatest emotional rides I've ever experienced in a game.
Shantae is a wonderful and charming series with a fun cast of characters, a strong sense of humor and polished metroidvania style gameplay. Half-Genie Hero revamps the format into something slightly more akin to Mega Man, having a relatively linear, stage-based format but granting the player new powers each time they complete a stage, which in turn allows them to revisit previous levels to find new secrets, greatly improving the overall feel and pace of the game. Then you add in some stellar music and fluid, gorgeous 2D animation, and you have my favorite game of the series by far.
