The Top 10 Best Games Of All Time

360 Magazine: Best game ever? Best game of all time? Here's our rundown of the top 10... a list that has caused actual fisticuffs here at 360 Magazine.

[Dailynch]

I don't know about some of these. What about any of the Uncharted games!

[Al80]

It's an Xbox 360 site, so I guess they weren't allowed!

[jimmins]

The list starts with MGS on PS1, soooooooooo...

[blaaah]

The only game that deserves the top spot on such a list is Super Mario Bros considering that it was a masterpiece of its time and what it did for the industry as a whole.

HL2 is definitely a top 10er though.. I would personally rank the games as:

1. Super Mario Bros
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. Super Metroid
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2
5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
6. Chrono Trigger
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
8. Super Mario 64
9. StarCraft II Wings of Liberty
10. Half Life 2

[arjman]

@blaaah
Obvious Ninty fanboy is obvious

[_Aarix_]

Uncharted is not the greatest game in the world.

[showtimefolks]

Half life
GTA:SA
GTA:VC
Uncharted 2
MGS Snake Eater
ZELDA
Mass effect series

GTA 4 should not be on this list what so ever. it's a good game but not top 10 material

[Dee_91]

1.dylan
2.dylan
3.dylan
4.dylan
5,dylan

lets see how many of you get that joke

[morganfell]

No System Shock 1 or 2 invalidates the list. No Starcraft 1 means they were not thinking when they wrote the piece.

Half Life 1. Period.

The inexperience of the writer is obvious.

[chainer3000]

@Dmarc

I SPIT HOT FIRE

[Darrius Cole]

Portal 2, Syrim, GTA IV, better than MGS...No Way in hell.

[MaxXAttaxX]

You could try to make your Nintendo bias less obvious by being more reasonable.

SMB1 is not the best game ever(of it's time). Doing something first doesn't mean it was done best.
SMB3 is from the same generation and destroys SMB1 on every single aspect. Level design, visuals, music, gameplay/power ups, etc.

@ _Aarix_
And neither is your game of choice.
I wouldn't put HL2 as #1 since I found it unappealing and the main character quite boring.

Then again, all of these "Top 10 Best" lists are entirely subjective in the first place, with varying personal tastes and opinions.

[guitarded77]

Here's my list

1. Subjective pick
2. Subjective pick
3. Subjective pick
4. Subjective pick
5. Subjective pick
6. Subjective pick
7. Subjective pick
8. Subjective pick
9. Subjective pick
10. Subjective pick

Wow!!! It's exactly the same as everyone else's list.

[Blaine]

@Guitarded:

+bub

[detroit2cali]

When i saw the GTA IV pic instead of GTA SA I knew this list would suck.

@Dmarc
chappelle show >

[Fylus]

1. Overseer
2. Overseer
3. Overseer
4. Overseer
5. Overseer

[Danteh]

My list:

10. Bioshock
9. Pokemon R/B/Y
8. Devil May Cry
7. Uncharted 2
6. Final Fantasy X
5. Super Mario Bros 3
4. God of War II
3. Little Big Planet
2. Metal Gear Solid 4
1. Zelda: Ocarina of Time

[Kurt Russell]

Not a top 10 list but a list of games better than the articles, in no particular order

- Shenmue
- Street Fighter 2 Turbo
- Killer Intinct
- Syndicate
- Conkers Bad Fur Day
- Monkey Island
- System Shock
- Half Life
- Silent Hill 2
- Bolder Dash

Subjective list is subjective.

[DragonKnight]

My top 10 list.

*insert 10 games here*

In my opinion, we are so lucky to be able to have such an entertaining pastime with literally thousands of options that not only is it impossible to make a universally agreed upon list of only 10, but it's also pointless as there are just too many games and too many different opinions.

That feel you get when play...

[Al80]

"typical childish response, Al80"

Have you ever worked for a single-format magazine or website? Because I have, and if I'd have attempted to place an exclusive game from a rival console in a list like this, I'd have been shown the door.

Just sayin

[Hanif-876]

Nope, GTA IV should of been first. I know that some people will disagree but everyone have their different preferences in games i tend to just go for the ones that aim to be realistic. In fact, my friend brought over MW3 to my house yesterday because i had a couple of friends over and i strictly told him not to use my profile to play that crap in which he did (motherF&cker ). I'm more of a Battlefield 3 guy in fact its the only FPS that i play. Why, you ask? because just like my statement above its just a grown man's game bullet drop, realistic gun recoil, tactical approach to win (team work), dynamic audio, best looking FPS animations, best FPS graphics and just an all out warfare with tanks, jets, apache etc.

[Laxman]

Thats taking it a bit far isnt it? Having the game played on your profile isnt going to hurt anyone is it? Seriously dude... thats just stupid.

[TheFirstClassic]

"I know that some people will disagree but everyone have their different preferences in games i tend to just go for the ones that aim to be realistic."

Kratos is your avatar...and he ain't realistic.
Personally, I think there is more room for creativity in unrealistic games, so I tend to like them better. In a realistic shooter, you know what the guns, enviroments, characters etc will all be like, in a sci fi shooter something can suprise you.

That doesn't mean unrealistic>realistic every time of course, depends on the implementation. Just my opinion of course.

[Hanif-876]

I don't want all my PSN friends sending me invites for that game. I'll never buy a Call of Duty game until they stop selling the same game since COD4 which i really liked at the time. However, its been the same game with new maps ever since then. Also, since i bought Battlefield Bad Company 2 and how amazing it was and still is with all the destruction and whatnot, i'm kinda spoiled and won't settle for anything less.

[JoySticksFTW]

I don't know about GTAIV

It's even the best GTA

[JoySticksFTW]

Man, I just saw what I typed

Meant to say GTAIV is NOT even the best in the series. How can it be on the greatest of all time list?

[meetajhu]

1.360magazine.co.uk

[The_Devil_Hunter]

Hahaha nice!

[Big_Dom]

This site is a candidate.

[Pikajew]

Uncharted is a great series but not the best of all time, there are a lot better games

[The_Devil_Hunter]

Its definitely good but Uncharted 3 and 2 are among my favorite games of all time, while I still think the series is too young to be considered a top ten series. Its at no way a top series to some....yet..

[andibandit]

You are right, no doubt that uncharted3 is one of the best games out there at this moment, but this list is "All time" and i dont see uncharted on that one.

I would've liked to see baldurs gate 2 up there.

[SnotyTheRocket]

Exactly what I was thinking. I was like UNCHARTED 2, Y U NO ON
LIST.

[SnotyTheRocket]

Ha ha ha, funny guy. If you played it (probably have) then you KNOW it's deserves a spot, so don't go calling me a fanboy just for saying a well deserving game should be on the list.

[TradingWarStories]

@dmarc haha i got that! btw isn't it dylon?

[Justsayin]

No GOLDEN EYE(N64)? Weak!

[Tanir]

um half life 2 and portal def shouldnt be on that list wtf

[SnotyTheRocket]

Is that a joke? I can't tell.

[xflo360]

Here are my top10 games...

1. Tomb raider ( Saturn, ps1 )
2. Metroid prime ( GC )
3. Nights into dreams ( Saturn )
4. Uncharted 2 ( ps3 )
5. Final fantasy 7 ( ps1 )
6. Mario 64 ( n64 )
7. Shenmue ( dreamcast )
8. Gran turismo 2 ( ps1 )
9. Zelda windwaker ( GC )
10. Metal gear solid ( ps1 )

[Biglet]

Half-Life over HL2 any day. I appreciate the use of Havok physics but that wasn't Valve's proprietary technology, whereas Half-Life brought us seamless level design that is a hallmark of intelligent shooters today.

[lastdual]

I agree that HL1 had a bigger impact on the industry, although I seem to have an easier time relplayng HL2 (and Episode 2) today. Black Mesa was awesome, but the alien world of HL1's end game was less so.

At least there's a Thief game on the list! I really want to commend the guy for that, but being a diehard Thief fan, it pains me to see Deadly Shadows listed instead of Thief 1 or 2...

[Al80]

"The list starts with MGS on PS1, soooooooooo... "

It's quite different to big up something that's available on a current machine though

[DonaldBeck]

metal gear solid 1

demons souls

uncharted 2

shadow of the colossus

mario brothers

legend of zelda, ocarina of time.

[andibandit]

judging from your list you cant be more than 16 years old.

[caseh]

Urrrgh, GTA4?

GTA 3 was much better as was Vice City.

the list is also missing one of the following:

A Final Fantasy game

[Fishy Fingers]

LOL... Nice edit just as I was replaying..

"Needs a Mario game... A Zelda game"

Commented before reading huh. That GTAIV pic must of got to you ;)

[caseh]

lmao kinda, I breezed through the list but I was thinking of mario kart, mario bros and zelda link to the past were missing then double checked and saw there were one or two games from the N64. :)

I'd still put Mario kart and Zelda 3 in there myself though, and probably FF3 :D

[Venoxn4g]

GTA4 :D GTA4 is booooooooooooooooooooooooring and slow :)

[Brownghost]

Needs FF7

[cyguration]

Try playing Vice City again....nostalgia is sometimes best kept in memory.

I, much like you, went back to play GTA Vice City because of all the "fun times" I had with the game but after playing GTA IV it's nearly impossible to play Vice City again...the car physics are crazy bad and the mechanics are dreadful.

At the time of its release, Vice City was great. But after experiencing Euphoria and more advanced vehicle physics and gunplay it's impossible for me to play the older GTA games now.

[Fishy Fingers]

Some good choices in there, of course, in my opinion, some pretty poor ones also. But then it isnt my list so meh.

[jthamind]

GTAIV, Skyrim and Portal 2 on a best game ever list? is this a joke?

[caseh]

Notice how only one or two games (Thief and DOTT) preceed the N64 as the oldest platform the game appeared on.

I wouldn't take it personal, how the creator of the list failed to mention even a single SNES game says to me he's probably 15 if that. :)

[frostypants]

Pretty sure that Thief: Deadly Shadows was post N64 era. The original Thief is older, though.

[Big_Dom]

Well that just sums up this site, sites like it, and writers of opinion related lists like this, as it usually shows up their age (usually about 15) and their cluelessnes of the gaming industry in general. Gaming just doesn't exist beyond either the PS3 or PS3/Xbox era to them, hence the absolutely ridiculous crying when any of the Uncharted series, Killzone, or Halo series get omitted. Those games wouldn't be anywhere near my list if I were to make one, especially KZ and Uncharted. They've done absolutely nothing new to bring the industry forward. Anyone who wants to argue with that can disagree away. I know there should be a good few.

Oh, and as good as Skyrim is, and it is a masterpiece of a game, it should not be on a list of the top 10 games of all time. There are much more games that are more important and not necessarily better.

[Captain Qwark 9]

1. ITS AN OPINION!

2. things don't have to be old to be considered some of the best. example, dark souls

my list now.....

1. MGS for PS1
2. Super Mario 3
3. River City Ransom
4. Castlevania SOTN
5. Mass effect
6. Star wars KOTOR
7. Morrowind
8. Skyrim
9. Dark Souls
10. Chrono Cross

not really in order and im sure there are some that are missing but thats my top ten off the top of my head

[TABSF]

Its all subjective

I would say its hard to find a 10 top, played to many great games over the years.

[bozebo]

this ^

[majiebeast]

Where is super metroid what a shitty list.

[spacedelete]

One of the worst best game lists ever even worse than IGN's best game ever lists.

here is what it should be like.

GTA San Andreas
MGS3 Snake Eater
Zelda Wind Waker
Resident Evil 4
MGS1
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Galaxy 2
GTA Vice City
Call of Duty 4
God of War 2

To be honest most of the best games I've ever played were on PS2 so yeah. Nice try 360 site.

[Hudahudahuda]

We have very similer taste. As a matter of fact, id only take out galaxy 2 and cod 4 and replace them with sonic 2 and demons souls.

[tigertron]

I was actually half way through making my own list, when it occurred to me that this is all opinion based - so there is no right and wrong answer. No one will ever be able to tell you what the best games of all time are.

Whatever you put as your top 10, you're going to get agrees, but a butt load of disagrees.

[spacedelete]

but there are some games which you cannot deny were fantastic. look at Super Mario Galaxy 2. who is a gamer and doesn't like that ?

[Studio-YaMi]

I'm a gamer and I love it !
(finished it too and got all the green stars :D !)

BUT that doesn't mean that there aren't other gamers who don't like platforming genre or just hate Mario's character or dislikes the cartoony look of the game,you can't judge a gamer just because he doesn't like something that you like.

[TheFirstClassic]

I haven't played Mario Galaxy 2 yet, but I didn't like Galaxy 1 all that much. I felt like the controls were simplified from mario 64 and sunshine, you couldn't even dive anymore if I remember correctly, and the levels felt more linear so it kind of took away the fun of exploration the other two titles had. Of course who knows, I may just be holding on to nostalgia or something.

[Studio-YaMi]

Do we really need these kind of posts here on N4G ? I mean seriously I can put "ET" as (MY) best game of all time and no one can say I can't because that's (MY) opinion !

So these "lists" have nothing to give to gamers but someone's opinion on what games (HE/SHE)likes..

Which is a waste of time,thank you :P ~

[TheOtherTheoG]

I actually quite like this list, I'm playing through Thief: Deadly Shadows at the moment and it is genuinely brilliant, I'm enjoying it more than I did Chaos Theory, MGS and Blood Money. They also put Half-Life 2 first and Portal 2 in the list somewhere, which I thoroughly agree with.

[solar]

HL2 is in the correct spot. It truly is the best game of all time. And Portal 2 should also be on that list. Everything in that game was done perfect.

[Sizzon]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night?
Final Fantasy 7?
Silent Hill?
Uncharted 2?
Halo: Combat Evolved?
Halo 2?
ICO/Shadow of the Colossus?

Some of my picks, but that's a good list overall, but I wouldn't list GTA IV there, instead a better GTA game like Vice City, but MGS definitely deserves to be one of the best games ever made.

[Siren30]

My top games would include borderlands and just cause 2. Two games I almost knew nothing about until after I bought them. They turned out to be my favorite games this gen.

[dorron]

These lists are like asses...everybody's got their own!

[LettingGo]

Ugh...

[Brownghost]

Gta 4 is overrated in my opinion

[DasTier]

Portal 2 and gta 4 shouldn't be there, IMO should be replaced with RDR & halo CE

[LettingGo]

Um...

No.

[LettingGo]

If we include Episode 2, then yeah...sure. Put Half-Life 2 on there. Ocarina of Time? I've never been a huge fan. Metal Gear Solid came out around the same time and people liked OoT more? Lol. Why?!?

[Dantheman1]

Zelda oot should be no 1 it is the best game ever made and i'm an Xbox fanboy

[jjb1981]

Where's ff7 and uncharted? Half life 2 is the best game of all time!

[xflo360]

Here are my top10 games... 1. Tomb raider ( Saturn, ps1 )
2. Metroid prime ( GC )
3. Nights into dreams ( Saturn )
4. Uncharted 2 ( ps3 )
5. Final fantasy 7 ( ps1 )
6. Mario 64 ( n64 )
7. Shenmue ( dreamcast )
8. Gran turismo 2 ( ps1 )
9. Zelda windwaker ( GC )
10. Metal gear solid ( ps1 )

Honourable mentions... Jet set radio ( dreamcast ), gta San Andreas, Ico, shadow of the collosus, crackdown, super Mario all-stars, Deus ex!

[El_Barto]

3 of those are fine, but I wouldn't say any of them belong on a best of all time list.

[acemonkey]

some of them games are on my list...but the rest lol how did they make it in somebody top 10 list i will never know

[dreamoner]

Thief: Deadly Shadows was awesome tho all says prequels were better but I played deadly shadows first and it was awesome at the time. I wonder how Thief 4 is shaping up to be?..

[JellyJelly]

I'd have Shenmue on my list. That's for sure. And one of the early Baldurs Gate games.

[TopDudeMan]

Tetris? Imo I thought columns was better.

[Speakersgoinghammer]

Coming up with a top ten list of all time is absurd. Heck i'd have a hard time coming up with a top ten per generation.

[MizTv]

killzone 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jelydonut]

Day of the tenticle.. great game! Although, Maniac mansion was excellent too..

[animalia85]

1. Skyrim
2. Fallout 3
3. GTA San Andreas
4. Mass effect
5. Bioshock
6. GTA vice city
7. Batman arkham city
8. Zelda ocarina of time
9. Star wars battlefront 2
10. Elder scrolls oblivion

I have not played the top tier games from Sony this gen sadly.

[MizTv]

metroid prime 1

[Ace_Man_6]

Ha, I knew Half-Life 2 would be No. 1 and it's my #1 as well!

[mistajeff]

people bitch about valve always using a silent protagonist, but frankly, i've yet to see anyone do first-person narrative better than half life and portal. the 'shock games come close, i think, but valve still takes the... (god dammit)... cake.

[YodaCracker]

Coming up with the top 10 games of all time is a pretty difficult task and I feel I'd have to spend a lot of time to create a list that did these games justice. But two games from this gen that I'm certain would make the list are Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption. Both are truly masterpieces in every sense of the word. That simply cannot be denied.

Thankfully, both games got the recognition they deserved. RDR rightfully holds a 95 on Metacritic and many, many GOTY awards. And GTA IV, holy crap... GTA IV is the highest rated game of the last DECADE, the best-selling GTA title, and the oldest game still ranking near the top of the Xbox LIVE activity charts. No other game almost 4 years old still has so many gamers playing it.

[Sc0pe92]

WTF how can no one mention goldeneye 64 that game clearly redefined what fps was all about.

[spektical]

my top 5 not any order:

MGS3, Super Mario 3, Uncharted 2, GTA:SA, and Age of Empires 2.

[blodulv]

Two of the main reasons why I became a life long gamer.

[BitbyDeath]

My top 10

1. Warhawk
2. Heavy Rain
3. God of War 1
4. God of War 2
5. God of War 3
6. Final Fantasy 8
7. Metal Gear Solid 1
8. Metal Gear Solid 3
9. Metal Gear Solid 4
10. Toy Story 3

[oldfriend86]

No Resident Evil? Argh

[twora]

this belongs in the top 10 worst list for top 10 games of all times list. imo..

[mistajeff]

you know, this isn't actually that bad of a list. obviously everyone's personal top 10 is going to differ drastically, i know mine would, but there wasn't anything on there that made me say "HOW THE HELL COULD YOU PUT THIS" etc etc. tetris may be an odd choice to some, but i remember when it dropped on the original clunky-ass gameboy, EVERYONE i knew played tetris. at the time, it was friggin huge. i wouldn't put it on my personal top 10, but i can definitely see why others would put it on theirs.

[n4gisatroll]

Tetris was out wayyyyyy before the gameboy. It's dinosaur old.

[mistajeff]

true, but i was too young at that point to experience it. all i remember is being about 4 years old, and everyone and (literally) their mother playing it on gameboy. that's when i got into sonic, too, on my genesis that i got for my 4th birthday, even though it was out on the sega master system before that. it all boils down to personal nostalgia, i s'pose.

[byrnezy]

It's a personal opinion at the end of the day
Mine would be very MGS heavy

[The_Devil_Hunter]

No Uncharted games on the list?..lol. To all its own I guess.

[Hooby]

metroid prime...kotor 1.....blah blah

[SSultan]

Wah wah wah. No CS?

[josephayal]

the best game is Mario 64

[bloodscorpio]

NO game this gen should be on that list PERIOD.

[n4gisatroll]

Bad list. Some of those games were good, but that doesn't mean you need all games from the 90s or early 2000s. Tetris, for example, is wayyy too over rated. It's fun, but greatest of all time great? No. The lack of playstation titles shows its bias.

[helghast102]

Skyrim? GTA IV?!
Terrible list

[PS3gamer4life]

Uncharted series
Gta sa
Gta 3
Gow3
2k basketball games
Dcuo
Kz 2

[PS3gamer4life]

Gta 4 sucks

[SephirothX21]

GTA IV is one of the best games on the list. It doesn't have 98 on metacritic for nothing. Of course many PS3 fanboys will bash the game because it ran better on the 360, had timed exclusive dlc for 360 and was the first GTA in three instalments not to be a timed exclusive on a playstation console. Many people then look at the negatives instead of the positives. There were no planes, car customisation , fewer selection of weapons than San Andreas and no countryside. They say it was a step back because of that. Yet they fail to mention the improved physics, the cover shooting, the improved car handling, the improved car damage, the amazingly atmospheric city , the choices in the story that no previous GTA game had and of course the online multiplayer that was quite fun (that no previous GTA game had either). GTA IV is the best game I've played this gen without a doubt.

[spunnups]

no Mario Kart 64?

[Laffz]

Top 10 lists are pointless since NOBODY is going to agree with you. Maybe over a year say "These are the top 10 games of 2012" because chances are the order may be different, the 10 games themselves will probably be pretty similar to most. Of all time is absurd. I'd drop FF10, FF7, and FF9 all on my list. That's 3 games from the same series in a top 10.

[PixL]

You're the only reasonable person here.

Also, that "all time" lists start with PS1 generation of games. Probably because most of you (and the author) are teenagers or in early 20s and you have no idea what games were like more than 15 years ago.

[EronY]

GTA4 lol

[SheenuTheLegend]

oh sorry for that

[2pacalypsenow]

Grand Theft Auto 4 and no deus Ex??