Casual's Top 50 Games of All Time

[Casual 731]

#50

 

Super Mario RPG

 

 

Bringing up the rear, I think this is the first JRPG I ever actually played any decent amount of. At the time I didn't realize the significance of Nintendo working with Square on an RPG starring Mario, but I'm glad they did it because without Mario on the cover I doubt I'd have ever got this game. This put Square and JRPGs on my radar and was the main reason I'd end up playing FFVI and Chrono Trigger. I remember it not clicking with me right away, I was still pretty much playing sidescrollers and sports games at this point in my life. Once everything started to make sense though, I was hooked. By far the biggest world I'd ever experienced in a video game at that point in time and the battle system felt super engaging. I would love to see a modern take on this one. 

 

Great music too, which is gonna be a staple for most games on my list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#49

 

Donkey Kong 64

 

 

Probably one of the more objectively not so great games on the list, but damn if I didn't love it as a kid. This is one of the first games I remember scouring the internet about before it was even released. DKC and Banjo Kazooie were already two of my most adored games (not to spoil the list) so this was a slam dunk in my eyes. The expansion pack just added to the hype. I got it for Christmas that year and didn't stop playing it for months. The first game that I got 100% in, all 201 bananas. I even spent hours on the little arcade games that they included. In retrospect it wasn't a great game, more bloat than Banjo Tooie and the Kong switching system and duplication of pickups was pretty awful. But just having a 3D adventure in the Donkey Kong universe was good enough at the time. 

 

The music wasn't quite on the Banjo and DKC tier but it was still pretty great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#48

 

Rollercoaster Tycoon

 

 

I'm 99% sure my sister and I got this game in a cereal box or some shit. If I'm right, it might be the most value I've ever gotten out of a game. This game was another sort of first for me, I hadn't played any sim style games and even at this point I didn't have a good PC so I'd only dabbled in a couple games (won't mention which). The PC was good enough to run this one though and I'd spend days of my life perfecting parks. I never really bothered with the story/missions, but the amount of freedom you got in the custom mode was nuts to me at that age. I mostly just tried to make as many of my attendees as possible puke. Another series which could till be good to this day but has been tainted with low effort cash ins. 

 

 

 

 

[Hot Sauce 2,730]

3 minutes ago, Casual said:

#49

Donkey Kong 64

[Casual 731]

3 minutes ago, Hot Sauce said:

I never said the games would all be good. You're in for a ride. 

[Delita 698]

3 minutes ago, Hot Sauce said:

I remember being so hyped for it after Banjo kazooie and being a big fan of dk but man did I end up hating that game.

[Delita 698]

Phantasy Star Online I and II was my jam though. Fuck that makes me sad thinking about those times and how long ago it was

[Casual 731]

4 minutes ago, Delita said:

I remember being so hyped for it after Banjo kazooie and being a big fan of dk but man did I end up hating that game.

Yeah, in retrospect the hype of a 3D DK blinded me from a lot of the failures of the game. Also, being young and having near infinite time to play made the bloat a bit more tolerable. 

[Ike★ 2,908]

10 minutes ago, Delita said:

Phantasy Star Online I and II was my jam though. Fuck that makes me sad thinking about those times and how long ago it was

Dreamcast brought us the first true online game to consoles. Crazy that it’s been 20 years since then. 

[Goukosan 2,255]

36 minutes ago, kaz said:

this list is atrocious  its like you only ever played games on ninty consoles 

It's a list of some of the best games I've played all time.  It's not a list of all the good games I've played.  Not my fault historically Nintendo games are typically higher quality. 

 

 

Where is your list? 

 

 

[Sabo 442]

Dreamcast really was ahead of the curve in a few ways. Makes you wonder if the PS2 came out a year later and the Dreamcast had that extra year to establish itself, how different would the gaming landscape be today? 

[Casual 731]

1 minute ago, Goukosan said:

It's a list of some of the best games I've played all time.  It's not a list of all the good games I've played.  Not my fault historically Nintendo games are typically higher quality. 

 

 

Where is your list? 

 

 

 

Yeah. One thing I realized when putting my list together was how dominated it was by certain platforms. But that's because it's a list based on MY top games, not the games that I objectively think are the best of all time. Tried to be pretty honest on that end. Until I was like 10 or so the games I played were mostly what my parents ended up getting me for Christmas/Birthdays. From 10-14 I was a bit more "in the loop" so I'd ask for specific things, but I was still mostly just getting a couple games a year and then renting a handful more. At that point I generally had my own money though so I started to experience exponentially more. 

 

There's plenty of games that I know are probably "better" than some stuff on my list, but I'm trying to keep it to stuff that legitimately influenced my taste and played a role in my gaming journey. There's lots of classics I went back and played that I never got to play initially, and some of them made the list. But for a lot of them they just don't have that same punch when you go back to it years after the fact. 

 

Deus Ex is a good example, I know that game is fantastic and probably was mind blowing at the time. I recognized that when I played it, but I played it so far after the fact that it didn't quite have that impact for me. 

[Goukosan 2,255]

12 minutes ago, Casual said:

 

Yeah. One thing I realized when putting my list together was how dominated it was by certain platforms. But that's because it's a list based on MY top games, not the games that I objectively think are the best of all time. Tried to be pretty honest on that end. Until I was like 10 or so the games I played were mostly what my parents ended up getting me for Christmas/Birthdays. From 10-14 I was a bit more "in the loop" so I'd ask for specific things, but I was still mostly just getting a couple games a year and then renting a handful more. At that point I generally had my own money though so I started to experience exponentially more. 

 

There's plenty of games that I know are probably "better" than some stuff on my list, but I'm trying to keep it to stuff that legitimately influenced my taste and played a role in my gaming journey. There's lots of classics I went back and played that I never got to play initially, and some of them made the list. But for a lot of them they just don't have that same punch when you go back to it years after the fact. 

 

Deus Ex is a good example, I know that game is fantastic and probably was mind blowing at the time. I recognized that when I played it, but I played it so far after the fact that it didn't quite have that impact for me. 

Those were my thoughts as well. 

[Ike★ 2,908]

43 minutes ago, Sabo said:

Dreamcast really was ahead of the curve in a few ways. Makes you wonder if the PS2 came out a year later and the Dreamcast had that extra year to establish itself, how different would the gaming landscape be today? 

Nah, the same outcome probably would've happened. Sega really shit the bed and started their downfall with how they handled Saturn.

[Sabo 442]

1 minute ago, Ike said:

Nah, the same outcome probably would've happened. Sega really shit the bed and started their downfall with how they handled Saturn.

True, but I feel like if the Dreamcast really got it's fair amount of time to shine instead of being overshadowed by the PS2 launch a year later... Then maybe, just maybe the Dreamcast could've turned things around for Sega. A big "What if?" there but in retrospect, the console was definitely strong enough. 

[Quad Damage 1,730]

disgusting sheep list

[Angelfish 93]

The AKI wrestling games on the N64 are held in pretty high regard, especially No Mercy.  There's still an active modding community for No Mercy I believe.  Great rosters for both WCW and WWF back then too.

[kaz 2,439]

1 hour ago, Goukosan said:

 

Where is your list? 

 

 

maybe i post my top 20 (or less) at some time. but first I wanna see what casual has to say about each game lol. it's his thread, if everyone's doing it so detailed the thread will blow up.

[Ike★ 2,908]

10 minutes ago, Sabo said:

True, but I feel like if the Dreamcast really got it's fair amount of time to shine instead of being overshadowed by the PS2 launch a year later... Then maybe, just maybe the Dreamcast could've turned things around for Sega. A big "What if?" there but in retrospect, the console was definitely strong enough. 

I owned and loved both. They each had great exclusives that made them worth owning. NIGHTS: Into Dreams is one of my fondest gaming memories. I'd much rather still have Sega in the hardware business than MS.

[Ike★ 2,908]

8 minutes ago, Quad Damage said:

disgusting sheep list

Yeah, that top of metacritic is definitely a disgusting sheep list.

[Guest]

 top 10 personal favorites for me as of right now and not trying to be objective. Like I think Bloodborne might be the best game of all time, but it's not my favorite. RE5 though.

 

10) Super Mario World (1990)

9) Ninja Gaiden (2004)

8) Ocarina of Time (1998)

7) Super Mario 64 (1996)

5) Bloodborne (2015)

4) Street Fighter V (2016)

3) Resident Evil 4 (2005)

2) Resident Evil 5 (2009)

1) Resident Evil Remake (2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Guest

[Ike★ 2,908]

RE5? That's quite a hot take.