70. 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.
69. Abuse (Crack dot Com, 1996)
A run-and-gun shooter that plays like one part Contra, one part Doom and one part Smash TV, Abuse was like nothing else on PC at the time. Basically a 2D platformer with 360-degree movement and aiming via the mouse, the game took advantage by having enemies be fast and ruthless and come at you from every angle, quickly overwhelming you if you weren't careful. Of course, it also took cues from games like Doom with multiple hidden secrets and powerups to find in each stage and even a few alternate pathways to discover. Its source code has also been released, allowing it to get ports to multiple platforms, so there's no excuse to not check out Abuse.
68. Torchlight II (Runic Games, 2012)
There are quite a few Diablo-styled action dungeon crawlers on the PC, but for my money, one of the best is Torchlight II. Created by a team partly made up of former Blizzard North (Diablo I) staff, Torchlight 2 takes everything that made Diablo a hit and cranks it up to eleven. Combat is fast and frantic, the four playable classes in the game can be customized in any way the player wishes, and online multiplayer (sorely missing from the first game) is now back in full force. The game even has full support for player mods which can even be used in online games, though all players must have the same set of mods installed in order to play together. Some other clever tweaks, like each player finding separate loot drops and being able to send your pet back to town with a haul of items to trade in for cash or potions, also make sure that the action remains constant throughout. Torchlight II is just pure fun.
67. The Curse of Monkey Island (LucasArts, 1997)
The Monkey Island series is a beloved classic among adventure game fans; following the exploits of the bumbling wannabe-pirate Guybrush Threepwood, he seeks to win the affections of Elaine Marley and frequently clashes with his nemesis, the evil undead pirate LeChuck. Curse took the series in a bold new direction with a fresh visual style, plenty of animated cutscenes and perfectly cast voiceover complementing the humor throughout. The scenarios are as absurd as ever - this time with Guybrush trying to reverse a voodoo curse he's unintentionally afflicted Elaine with - and that of course lends itself to plenty of laughs. The interface was newly reworked too, using a simpler "verb coin" with three general commands instead of the array of commands from earlier SCUMM games. The puzzles definitely didn't suffer for it, though - you're still in for a challenge, especially in "Mega Monkey" mode.
66. Loom (LucasArts, 1990)
Another excellent point-and-click adventure from LucasArts, Loom takes the player on a trip through a wonderfully-realized dark fantasy world full of striking visuals, dense lore and an unforgettable cast of characters. Some surprisingly unique mechanics, too, as you don't really follow the usual pick-up-an-item-and-use-it-elsewhere format seen in most games of this type. Instead, you utilize Bobbin's distaff and play magical 'drafts' with a variety of effects; turning straw into gold, opening things, dyeing objects, and so forth, and often you can play them backwards to get the opposite effect (though some are palindromic and thus cannot be used this way). Some inspired voiceover and detailed VGA visuals (for the later versions) completed the package and made it a delightful experience.
65. 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 the inevitable chaos 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.
64. Lode Runner On-Line: The Mad Monks' Revenge (Presage Software, 1995)
Lode Runner was a fast-paced puzzle platformer from 1983 where the player must maneuver around a maze avoiding enemies, collecting all the gold and escaping up the ladder that appears once it's all collected - a bit like Pac-Man in premise. Besides avoiding enemies, you can also dig holes to temporarily trap them or fall through one yourself to reach buried gold pieces or make a quick escape to a lower level, though you also had to be careful not to trap yourself in the process. Mad Monks' Revenge is an update of 1994's Lode Runner: the Legend Returns, rewriting it in 32-bit code and fixing several of its bugs, adding new features like keys, doors, bombs and vanishing blocks and enabling two player co-op, and a level editor allows for not only custom stages, but branching paths through said stages. A fun, addictive little title; so much so that it's gotten a full
fan-remake that adds even more features (including co-op for up to four players!).
63. 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.
62. 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!
61. 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!
There are quite a few Diablo-styled action dungeon crawlers on the PC, but for my money, one of the best is Torchlight II. Created by a team partly made up of former Blizzard North (Diablo I) staff, Torchlight 2 takes everything that made Diablo a hit and cranks it up to eleven. Combat is fast and frantic, the four playable classes in the game can be customized in any way the player wishes, and online multiplayer (sorely missing from the first game) is now back in full force. The game even has full support for player mods which can even be used in online games, though all players must have the same set of mods installed in order to play together. Some other clever tweaks, like each player finding separate loot drops and being able to send your pet back to town with a haul of items to trade in for cash or potions, also make sure that the action remains constant throughout. Torchlight II is just pure fun.
