52 Most Important Games of All Time

[jcalder8]

I like how they listed the selection criteria at the start of the list and then apparently went on to completely abrogate its points.

What? No love for blue hedgehogs?

And if I had a quarter for every time the list used some hyperbole along the lines of "changed the face of gaming", "changed the way we look at gaming" etc. I'm betting I'd have something in the neighborhood of four dollars.

Totally what I was thinking.

I love how they list Metroid and Mario on the same page, how does that conflict with what they said for their first criteria.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I was expecting to see the list of games on the Action 52.

[Frica89]

All lists come with inevitable bitching, but that was one of the worst I've ever seen. GTA III #1??? WTF? And Enter the fucking Matrix should be nowhere near anything like this.

[bangtango]

What? No love for blue hedgehogs?

Nope. This is what Gamepro says.

"The GamePro editors generally decided that, in order to make a spot on the list, the game had to meet the following criteria:
-Have a lasting influence that's still observed in modern gaming

This automatically rules out huge but largely irrelevant series like Sonic the Hedgehog (which sprung from the same pool as Super Mario Bros. anyway). Ditto for Castlevania."

To be honest, I agree to some extent. No point to have numerous platform games on there if their intent is to highlight 52 games that are supposed to be independent of each other.

I'd love to try Mystery House sometime, though.

[cyberfluxor]

GTA III #1??? WTF? And Enter the fucking Matrix should be nowhere near anything like this.

Yup yup. I was liking it somewhat until the mid-30's then it fell apart. I was wondering how in the hell some of those games were even getting listed when there are far more important game releases out there. Very little Taito and Sega love, what about SNK? No Street Fighter?... This list needs a serious rehaul. Retract featured article!

[pogo]

Yup yup. I was liking it somewhat until the mid-30's then it fell apart. I was wondering how in the hell some of those games were even getting listed when there are far more important game releases out there. Very little Taito and Sega love, what about SNK? No Street Fighter?... This list needs a serious rehaul. Retract featured article!

Street Fighter II is in #17, but alot of other games are missing for sure.

[bangtango]

Quotes from the countdown:

#37. "Without Devil May Cry, games like Ninja Gaiden and God of War simply would not exist."
-I know they are referring to the newer Ninja Gaiden games but I am pretty sure the arcade and NES versions of Ninja Gaiden don't owe anything to Devil May Cry.

#24. "But why is Resident Evil 4 on the list and not the first game? Because RE 4 was the series' pinnacle, expanding on the stuff that worked (suspense, action, and a customizeable arsenal) and leaving out the stuff that didn't (god-awful dialogue, slowly shuffling zombies, and the ink-ribbon game saves)."
-I thought the zombies were all right.

#14. "The Final Fantasy series had become irrelevant in America and the PlayStation was losing ground to the superior technology of the N64....."
-I didn't know the N64 actually put the Playstation on the ropes.

#6. "If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Pac-Man must have one hell of an ego -- the format was borrowed, evolved or outright stolen by dozens of imitators"
-Well, they got that one right.

#1. "The open-ended sandbox design of GTA III was a masterstroke, allowing the player an unprecedented degree of freedom to play as they choose. Whether following the main plot or ignoring it, players were free to indulge in any number of diversions at whatever level of morality they found comfortable."
-Didn't this very design feature already get used in Sid Meier's Pirates/Pirates/Pirates Gold (whatever you want to call it)? You didn't have to follow the plot of that game either and could attack any of the 4 nations.

[FantasiaWHT]

To be honest, I agree to some extent. No point to have numerous platform games on there if their intent is to highlight 52 games that are supposed to be independent of each other.

And yet, somehow both Halo AND Halo 2 made it on to the list

[bangtango]

And yet, somehow both Halo AND Halo 2 made it on to the list

Yeah, I noticed that myself. What can you do, though? Give thanks that more than one GTA or Tony Hawk didn't make it on there.

As for stuff like Castlevania and Sonic, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these writers only played the recent 3D titles in those two series and based their quick dismissal of both franchises on those games.

[swlovinist]

Well, frankly we are all going to have gripes with the list, mine would be that Sega was under represented.

[Steven]

I'll copy and paste what I posted a few days another at a different board also on the topic of GamePro... doesn't have anything to do with the top 52 list though, more of general thoughts on GP

---

GamePro was moderately decent and tolerable back in the early days (pre 94, 93-ish) but even back then I always saw it as a poor man's good mag. I too have never once seen anyone pontificate on what a sweet mag GamePro once was, because it never really was. At best it was decent, but yeah I agree that the review system always sucked and the "feel" just wasn't there.

I got a year's subscription of GamePro when I joined Game Crazy's MVP club last April. Got my last GP issue a couple weeks back. Wow. The mag has gone to absolute shit. It's so damn small, width by length. Then the page content doesn't even top 100. And the pages are thin as hell. Nothing like GameFan's old glossy thick-ish pages. What a joke. I barely read any of the 12 issues. Literally flipped through each one in 5 minutes, and dumped it in the garbage. It is an insult to quality gaming mags everywhere.

GameFan or EGM during the 16-bit era -- now those were some fuckin' good game mags. Sega Saturn Mag tops 'em all though.

[Push Upstairs]

I take offense about the lack of SEGA, however putting "Enter the Matrix" on the list just pours salt on the wounds.

And it ranked better than "Duke3D"

BURN THE WITCHES, I SAY!

[bangtango]

I take offense about the lack of SEGA, however putting "Enter the Matrix" on the list just pours salt on the wounds!

Maybe Gamepro is into a little revisionist history regarding Sega. Part of a slow process and secret strategy to cover up the fact they ever existed or made any good games along the line

[Push Upstairs]

Maybe Gamepro just sucks.

[Lothars]

And yet, somehow both Halo AND Halo 2 made it on to the list

Which IMO ruins the list don't include Halo and Halo 2 include one at the most or even better neither of them.

[bangtango]

Maybe Gamepro just sucks.

True. It isn't all bad, though. Perhaps someone reading the list has never heard of 2-3 of those games. So if it makes people who read it try one or two of the games mentioned to see what they are like, then that is the best thing that could come from that countdown. Sure, it'd be "better" if they bothered to mention some Sega classics but the people who visit this web site know the truth and what that list should really look like. It won't change anyone's mind around here about what the most important games are. Mystery House looks neat, though.

[Griking]

There's no wall in hell that GTA is the most important game ever. And Madden #2? Perhaps the list STARTED with the most important games and worked down.

Enter the Matrix? Kung Fu? WTF?

Where's Ultima and Wizardry?

Shouldn't Space Invaders and Combat be on the list?

RE4? It was a good game but one of the most important ever?

How cane a game that's pnly a year old be one of the most important already? Bah, the was obviously written by someone too young to recognize an actually important game.

[Kevincal]

These lists are like a group of 5 old guys gathering all of the most beautiful women in the world in a room, and closing their eyes and picking 50 of them...I say, there should be some kind of worldwide vote of gamers to determine a REAL list of greatest games of all time, with a meaningfull order to them. Now THAT would be cool...

[Push Upstairs]

Does Gamepro still use those aliases for writers and fill their articles with lame puns?

[RugalSizzler]

Gamepro pulls this every now again. Personally who still reads Game pro?

I remember then for there cool layout and short but sweet previews. Now everything is 3d and Qaurk it is like what is the point to Gamepro?