German Man!ac Magazine votes 100 best games ever

[tom]

After living in England for 17 years (1987 - 2004), I left the UK to help a friend setting up in France. I was gonna move on back to my homeland Germany (as I am German) afterwards, but I liked it in France very much, so I decided to stay awhile (nice wine and cute girls do the trick). Hey, and as there are no more border controls, Europe is as one, I now live in France and I am looking for a place to live in Germany.

Anyhow, I decided to brush up on some German gaming mags, and found a nifty little title called 'MAN!AC' (notice the '!' in the title, very clever us Germans!!!!), produced by my old friend I know since the 80s, when he was working for Happy Computer and Power Play, Martin Gaksch.

MAN!AC Magazine, one of the leading German multi format console gaming mags recently listed in issue 143 the 'Top 100 Best Console/Arcade Games of all times'. (Issue 144 out this month) These are the Top 100 Best Games in their, the magazine's opinion, not the readers, as opposed in UKs Retro Gamer a while ago, and no Computer titles were used (although Populous, Sensible Soccer and Lemmings are pure Amiga highlights, and not of those systems mentioned in the listing. And surely The Sims and Sim City are more PC faves than on console).

Please note that this is not a pure Retro Top 100, as new and newish titles are included, and they also list Games as 'one' when meant as a Series (for example Zelda is covered as 'one', but the date states '1986 - 2005). Most of the console names are supposed to be the highlight of the mentioned game in the series, eg Game No 1: Super Mario from 1985 to 2005 = Mario 64 on N64.

Also interesting, due to the high German censorship laws (one of the highest in Europe), games which are on the 'Index', are not allowed to be mentioned, eg Goldeneye, surely a Top 100 entry.

A little note on German censorship laws: In 1985 the new 'Law for the protection of minors in Public' was introduced. This Law moved all arcade machines into 'over 18' arcade places and killed off the coin-up industry.
Even earlier, home video games were rated into 4 categories, and this is still relevant today:
Legal, Age-Rated, Indexed, Illegal.

Indexed games: According to the German gaming magazine Bravo ScreenFun, all games that are put on the 'Index' cannot be advertised, not mentioned in game reviews, nor to be displayed in shop windows or store displays or even talked about (Well, feels a bit like 'Adolf's alive and kicking). Basically, they have to be sold 'under the counter', and only to adults. If 'indexed' games are purchased via mail-order, a passport is required upon receipt for proof of age. Indexed games can be cut or uncut. Games in this category are for example: Goldeneye, River Raid (Yes, that's VCS River Raid!!). German gaming magazine GEE mentions that almost 400 games are on this so-called 'Index'.

Illegal games: They are what it says, Illegal. Games in this category are for example: PC Wolfenstein, due to the Nazi reference (which is irrelevant nowadays, as WWII related history has been made legal).

Legal: They are what it says, Legal. Categories Legal and Age-rated are basically the same.

Age-rated (5 USK categories: all ages, 6, 12, 16, adult only): Most 'age-rated' games are sold to the appropriate age group, and can be censored and/or cut, especially in the '18 adult only' rating category. Most recent example: Resident Evil 4 (German version on GC). Also look www.usk.de for more information.

Due to these laws (index and illegal) many games don't even get released in Germany in the first place.

Different laws for different countries, and if you live near the border of Austria, Luxembourg or Switzerland or France, you can nip over pick up the games mostly uncensored anyway.

Anyway, enough of this, here's the Top 100, as voted by the German gaming magazine MAN!AC, surely some weird choices are included, but nevertheless, enjoy and discuss.

100......Pong..........Arcade
99.......Time Crisis.....PS2
98.......Robotron......Arcade
97.......EyeToy: Play......PS2
96.......Neutopia.......PC Engine
95.......Ice Hockey.......NES
94.......Qix......Arcade
93.......Xenogears.......PSX
92.......Power Stone.......DC
91.......Pilotwings 64......N64
90.......NBA Jam..........Arcade
89.......Crash Bandicoot.......PSX
88.......Galaga.........Arcade
87.......Silent Hill.......PS2
86.......Conker's Bad Fur Day.....N64
85.......Star Wars:Knights of the Old.....Xbox
84.......Burnout...........various
83.......Shining Force..........MD
82.......Pikmin..........Gamecube
81.......Wave Race.......N64
80.......Top Spin........Xbox
79.......Wonderboy......Arcade
78.......Bomberman......Saturn
77.......King of Fighters.......Aracde
76.......Dead or Alive..........PS2
75.......Raiden...........Arcade
74.......Prince of Persia......various
73.......Wipeout..........PSX
72.......Fire Emblem.......NES
71.......Diddy Kong Racing........N64
70.......Sonic............MD
69.......Punch-Out!.........NES
68.......Daisenryaku-Serie........MD
67.......Karate Champ...........Arcade
66.......Castlevania...........PSX
65.......Sokoban............PC Engine
64.......Perfect Dark..........N64
63.......Sensible Soccer......Sega Mega-CD
62.......Metal Slug...........Arcade
61.......Dragon Quest..........PS2
60.......Bubble Bobble.......Arcade
59.......Track & Field ......Arcade
58.......God of War..........PS2
57.......Virtua Tennis.......DC
56.......Shinobi...........MD
55.......Shenmue.........DC
54.......Colin McRea Rally......Xbox
53.......F-Zero.........SNES
52.......Die Sims (The)......various
51.......Final Fight.......Arcade
50.......Sim City...........PSX
49.......Lemmings.........PSX
48.......Nectaris............PC Engine
47.......FIFA Soccer...........3DO
46.......Sega Rally............Arcade
45.......Paper Mario.........Gamecube
44.......Tekken.............PS2
43.......Splinter Cell..........Xbox
42.......R-Type............Arcade
41.......Medal of Honor.........PS2
40.......Secret of Mana..........SNES
39.......Doom 3.............Xbox
38.......Project Gotham Racing.......Xbox
37.......NHL..............MD
36.......ESPN NBA........DC
35.......Vagrant Story.......PSX
34.......Soul Edge...........DC (Soul Calibur)
33.......Probotector.........SNES
32.......Final Fantasy Tactics........PSX
31.......Pitfall!.............VCS
30.......Populous..........PC Engine
29.......Bust-A-Move......Arcade
28.......Fatal Fury..........Arcade
27.......Decathlon...........VCS
26.......Chono Trigger.............SNES
25.......Donkey Kong Country........SNES
24.......Ridge Racer.......PSP
23.......Gradius.........NES
22.......OutRun.......Arcade
21.......Metroid........Gamecube
20.......Halo...............Xbox
19.......Virtua Fighters.....Arcade
18.......Metal Gear..........PSX
17.......Space Invaders......Arcade
16.......Tomb Raider..........PSX
15.......Super Mario Kart........SNES
14.......Wars-Series.........GB
13.......Pokemon...........GB
12.......Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.......PS2
11.......Resident Evil 4 (German version)......Gamecube
10.......Pro Evolution Soccer.....PS2
9........Final Fantasy.......PSX (FFVII)
8........Pac-Man...........Arcade
7........Donkey Kong.........Arcade
6........Street Fighter.........Arcade
5........Gran Turismo.......PS2
4........GTA..............PSX
3........Zelda...........N64 (Ocarina)
2........Tetris.............GB
1........Super Mario.........N64 (Mario 64)

Thomas Holzer

[anagrama]

It was compiled by the magazine staff rather than a public vote then?
I dunno - while polls like this are always interesting, especially for the regional differences, I'd be much more interested in seeing what German gamers would vote for rather than a select handful of staff picking the games they remember from their youth aswell as the obvious "compulsory" choices.

And where the fuck is Nights?

[hydr0x]

heh, the issue is old already, i was actually thinking about posting the list too but decided i'm too lazy

[IntvGene]

Well, it's an interesting list and I do love to analyze these things for some reason.

First of all, they do have a much better breadth of choices overall. It's nice to see Pong, arcades, and modern systems on there, rather than just the token choices to represent an entire era.

There is a European flair for sure.. such as Pro Evolution soccer being so high. What's with Outrun up there too? It was a great game, but not that great.

Decathlon is higher than Track N Field, but it is essentially a derivative of the arcade game.

Ridge Racer for the PSP! That's a little premature. I guess the editors like driving games, because there are way too many in this list.

I think it is interesting to see this list, and thanks for posting it. I wish there were still some INTV games such as Utopia, etc. But, they stilll added a couple of better choices. I also wish that they would have added the computers to see how it would have changed things (especially with the C64, Spectrum, ST, etc.). And, it's a shame about River Raid..

[Daria]

Was Shining Force Gamecube your typo or the magazine's? Of all the systems the series has been released on, Cube wasn't even one of them.

[jajaja]

Super Mario 64 at #1? That doesnt seem right to me..

Otherwise, many great titles there who deserves to be on the list

[tom]

gotta check about Shining Force...could be my typo

(Doh, didn't even notice, I am getting old)

[Daria]

Super Mario 64 at #1? That doesnt seem right to me..

Otherwise, many great titles there who deserves to be on the list

Nono. They're saying the whole Mario series up to Mario 64 is the pinnacle of gaming. Basically they're giving Sunshine the shaft. :P

[MarHel78]

I have this issue at home and to me there was not much of a surprise in the ratings. Of course, the list contains some games that are not too mainstream, but who would've been surprised by Mario coming out in first place.... sacrifice to the readership IMO. Don't think that the staff put their favorites in there let alone weren't biased when compiling the list.

There are 2 other mags I read regularly: Gamefront (mailorder only) and GamePro...

[hydr0x]

There are 2 other mags I read regularly: Gamefront (mailorder only) and GamePro...

heh, i'm reading Man!ac and GamePro too, i thought about ordering Gamefront, but i just don't feel it's quite worth a subscription, i guess i'd rather subscribe to GamesTM (UK) for the money

[shvnsth]

ridge racer for psp is kinda high (as in the top 100)
but the gta and the pro evo football in the top 20 show its a euro list

[jajaja]

Super Mario 64 at #1? That doesnt seem right to me..

Otherwise, many great titles there who deserves to be on the list

Nono. They're saying the whole Mario series up to Mario 64 is the pinnacle of gaming. Basically they're giving Sunshine the shaft. :P

Might be, but it says Super Mario for N64 so I guess they mean Mario 64. It also says (Mario 64)

[anagrama]

Might be, but it says Super Mario for N64 so I guess they mean Mario 64. It also says (Mario 64)

Do you ever read a post in full before wading in with your blinkered comments?

Please note that this is not a pure Retro Top 100, as new and newish titles are included, and they also list Games as 'one' when meant as a Series (for example Zelda is covered as 'one', but the date states '1986 - 2005).

[jajaja]

Wow, can you belive it? I missread that. Amazing, I overlooked it! Can you forgive me pleeease!

What I noticed is that you look around and scan for ppl who write something just so you can comment on what their saying using alot of "" and ""
Is it really that satisfying to try to make a fool out of someone just because they say or do something "wrong" ?

[Naouruki]

ESPN NBA - on the DC?

That crap Konami game?

Rated higher than Shenmue?

This list is a pathetic joke. Goodness the sorriness of it is utterly pathetic. If this list were a dog it would have to be put down for its rabid insanity.

[hydr0x]

ESPN NBA - on the DC?

That crap Konami game?

Rated higher than Shenmue?

This list is a pathetic joke. Goodness the sorriness of it is utterly pathetic. If this list were a dog it would have to be put down for its rabid insanity.

are you high or something? what they mean is of course the NBA2k series by Sega...

[§ Gideon §]

Thanks for the explanation, Tom. It was a lot of new information to me, which I really appreciate.

I think it's strange that DOOM 3 and Perfect Dark aren't indexed while Goldeneye 64 is.

Also, this made me smile for some reason:

95.......Ice Hockey.......NES

Who would have thought, eh?

[jajaja]

Hehe you dont mess with icehockey for NES
Great game!

[Naouruki]

ESPN NBA - on the DC?

That crap Konami game?

Rated higher than Shenmue?

This list is a pathetic joke. Goodness the sorriness of it is utterly pathetic. If this list were a dog it would have to be put down for its rabid insanity.

are you high or something? what they mean is of course the NBA2k series by Sega...

Explain that man.The ESPN game was by KONAMI. VCs series was the 2K series.

And it says ESPN up there.

What a useless list, worst I have ever seen.

[hydr0x]

because afaik the NBA2k2 series got renamed to ESPN bla bla (at least over here) recently, that's why, and trust me, they are talking of the Sega series, i have the issue right next to me

and saying this is the worst 100 list ever just shows you know nothing about games, sure, it's not the best, but it's not the worst one either definetly. well, i bet you haven't seen more than 1 or 2 in your life, so what can i expect? have you even played more than 1 or 2 of the games on those lists? i doubt it