60. Blood (Monolith, 1997)
The Build engine may have looked just a bit dated by 1997, especially since Quake was the hot new game on the market, but Blood proved that superior design could more than make up for older tech. Blood is a master class of horror elements, with a grim, creepy atmosphere and enemies like giant spiders, gargoyles, cultists and flame-spewing cerberus dogs, all with the same immersive and surprisingly realistic level design that made Duke Nukem 3D work so well. The weapons are equally inventive, with mundane options like a shotgun and tommy gun taking a back seat to weapons like a flare gun or a spray can/lighter to ignite enemies, a voodoo doll that inflicts extra damage to undead/magical enemies (but will damage you if you stab it when no enemies are onscreen) and a crazy-looking skull staff called the Life Leech that doubles as a stationary sentry gun. The game was exceptionally tough (not aided by a bug that would cause the difficulty level to cycle every time one loaded a save), but the sheer inspiration behind its design is something that must be seen. It's just a shame the sequel (Blood II: The Chosen) was such a mess. As for the sequel's expansion... well, "avoid at all costs" is about the kindest thing that can be said for that.
59. Ys III: The Oath in Felghana (Nihon Falcom, 2005)
A remake of 1991's Wanderers from Ys, though it did away with the controversial rework into a sidescrolling platformer design and went back to the more fast-paced action Ys became known for. They take the same engine from Ark of Napishtim and rework it substantially to further emphasize the combat, with some downright crazy, fast-paced platforming and combat that requires well-timed dodges, strikes and effective use of all your moves to survive, and actually encouraging you to blast through enemies as quickly as possible with cumulative attack, defense and experience bonuses. And of course the game's music is simply phenomenal, with a hard rock/metal bent to typical fantasy soundtracks.
58. Shadowgate (Zojoi, 2014)
An updated remake of the classic point-and-click adventure game from the 1980s, Shadowgate's 2014 iteration was downright inspired. The game's narrative was significantly expanded over its predecessor, new puzzles and obstacles were added, and elements of the original were changed up a lot, meaning that the old solutions to puzzles no longer work (and, in fact, will frequently result in your death). The game also features multiple difficulty levels that further shuffle puzzles and clues as well as lend some replay value to a genre largely lacking in it. And of course, the remixed music and updated visuals effectively portray a grim atmosphere that only makes the game's story even more compelling. Bring on the remake of Beyond Shadowgate!
57. Freedom Planet (GalaxyTrail, 2014)
Beginning life as a Sonic the Hedgehog fangame, Freedom Planet quickly turned into something grander - an homage to Sega Genesis era action games in general, working in elements of games like Rocket Knight Adventures and a dash of Treasure style action as well. There are three playable characters - Sash Lilac (who has a speed dash and a spinning cyclone), Carol Tea (who fights with short-ranged claw swipes and can ride a motorcycle that both makes her faster and gives her stronger attacks) and Milla Basset (who can hover for short distances as well as summon magical barriers and cubes, which serve as both projectiles and a short-ranged but powerful burst attack). The fast-paced action and fluid animation also fit the aesthetic perfectly, creating a game that's flashy and intense and whose puzzles don't intrude on the fast pace.
56. SimTower/Yoot Tower (OpenBook/OPeNBooK9003, 1994/1998)
Despite the name, SimTower technically isn't part of the Maxis software toy line. Rather, it was developed by Yutaka "Yoot" Saito, released in Japan as "The Tower" and published by Maxis in the rest of the world using their Sim brand. It was an easy mistake to make though, considering you can pretty accurately describe it as "SimCity crammed into a single building". You build an ever-expanding tower, provide it amenities like condos, apartment buildings, fast food chains, offices, retail outlets, movie theaters and so forth, keep them all connected via stairs and elevators, and try to keep your revenue in the black, which largely entails keeping tenant stress at manageable levels. Tenants complain about noise, lengthy trips to their dwellings and unclean rooms (and may move out if they're not fixed) and various disasters can strike at random, like fires or terrorists planting bombs and demanding a hefty ransom. The sequel, localized by Sega as "Yoot Tower", is more of the same, though with new amenities to build and several scenarios with distinct goals, like a tourist resort at Kegon Falls and a Hawaiian hotel. A number of expansions were released in Japan centered on new locations like the Statue of Liberty and Kyoto Station which likewise have their own amenities and sets of goals to meet, but sadly none of these ever got brought over. An unfortunately never-patched bug in the Windows version also causes the program to crash whenever you load a save for the Kegon Falls scenario, and it also doesn't look quite as nice as its Mac counterpart, so play the Mac version of Yoot Tower if at all possible.
55. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos/The Frozen Throne (Blizzard, 2002/2003)
Warcraft was one of Blizzard's earliest hits; an early real-time strategy game with two long and varied campaigns and plenty of charm and atmosphere. The sequel offered a vastly improved UI, faster pace and larger-scale battles, and Warcraft III certainly upped the ante too. The total number of playable factions was raised to four (adding the corpse-manipulating Undead and nature-oriented Night Elves) and some RPG elements were worked into the proceedings - each army gets their own unique "hero units" that power up after defeating foes, carry an inventory of items (like stat boosting equipment or potions to recover HP) and have powerful spells that can quickly turn the tide of battles. The Frozen Throne is a great expansion too, adding new units for each army, two neutral factions (the Naga and the Dranei), reintroducing naval battles, and of course continuing the storyline from the original game. It's just a shame that Activision has seen fit to taint its legacy with the absolutely wretched "remaster" called Warcraft III: Reforged, which not only has mountains of bugs and glitches, but you can't even play the original version online anymore AND they get dibs on any custom games you make with their engine. Nice one, morons!
54. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (LucasArts, 1991)
Monkey Island was never Lucasarts' best selling franchise, but its irreverent humor, strong atmosphere and well-crafted puzzles gave it enough of a following to get several sequels over the years. Monkey Island 2 follows Guybrush Threepwood on his quest to find the lost treasure of Big Whoop, running afoul of his once-vanquished nemesis LeChuck on the way. With more clever design, hilarious dialog and plenty of jokes tied to creative puzzles and a strong narrative, it's another solid title. It would also be the last game in the series that Ron Gilbert would work on for nearly thirty years, eventually returning to the series with 2022's Return to Monkey Island.
53. Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga (Dancing Dragon Games, 2022)
Another example of a game clearly inspired by classics of the genre (Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle in particular), but which ends up being so well-made that it stands out and becomes a fantastic title in itself. Case in point, you move across the map with your squads (consisting of up to nine units of varying classes), capturing towns, utilizing strongholds and terrain to give themselves an advantage in skirmishes, and exploring characters through mid-battle dialog scenes. Battles get surprisingly large in scale (sometimes overwhelmingly so), though you get powers to do things like grant units extra turns or deal damage over a large area to help speed things up or get yourself out of a jam. A wonderful and engrossing strategy RPG.
52. Ion Fury (Voidpoint, 2019)
The prequel to the 2016 flop "Bombshell" but thankfully it succeeds in every way its predecessor failed, bringing back the Build Engine with all the panache and clever design that made games like Duke Nukem and Blood great in the first place. Fast-paced action in surprisingly realistic environments (well, as much as a twenty-four year old engine can muster, at least) with a huge number of interactive objects, secrets to find, clever enemy designs, tons of references to old 3D Realms games and a cool wisecracking protagonist, as well as some new features for the engine like climbable ladders and alt-fire for almost every weapon. It may not be the modern era's prettiest shooter, but I was having too much fun with it to care. Ion Fury is the long-lost cousin of all the classic '90s shooters.
51. Serious Sam (Croteam, 2001)
In the late '90s tiny Croatian studio Croteam decided that shooters had gotten too brown, gritty and slow-paced in recent years, and set out to rectify that with their debut game, Serious Sam. Not only did it look fantastic for the time, with enormous environments that were bright, colorful and intricately detailed, but it never lost a beat despite its action being downright manic. Even with the huge open areas, impressive visual effects and the fact that literally hundreds of enemies can be rushing you all at once, there's virtually no slowdown or framerate stutters. There's tons of hidden secrets in every level a la Doom or Wolfenstein, and the gameplay is reminiscent of classic arcade shooters like Smash TV - smooth-controlling, fast paced and uncomplicated, but certainly not easy. Learning enemy patterns, rationing pickups, using the right weapon in the right situation, prioritizing threats and of course circle-strafing constantly quickly become key to survival. A game where you somehow feel totally overwhelmed and completely in control at the same time, Serious Sam is a rush.
Another example of a game clearly inspired by classics of the genre (Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle in particular), but which ends up being so well-made that it stands out and becomes a fantastic title in itself. Case in point, you move across the map with your squads (consisting of up to nine units of varying classes), capturing towns, utilizing strongholds and terrain to give themselves an advantage in skirmishes, and exploring characters through mid-battle dialog scenes. Battles get surprisingly large in scale (sometimes overwhelmingly so), though you get powers to do things like grant units extra turns or deal damage over a large area to help speed things up or get yourself out of a jam. A wonderful and engrossing strategy RPG.
