Leftwich's Top 100 Games of All Time

[BrntO4Life]

I couldn't beat HL without flying through the walls.

[SethMode]

The thing about Half-Life which confused me/blew my mind at the time was that the game did such an amazing job of guiding your down a linear path without making you realize that it was linear. So many times as a teenager I would think that I was breaking the game in order to accomplish something, to the point where I would second guess if I was actually going the right way. Fantastic game, and obviously that point itself has become basically a Valve staple.

[Bmore]

83
Half-life
Platform: PC/PS2



Wow to think that this game was pretty much the beginning of a lot of FPS’s. I understand Doom, Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein came before Half-life but Half-life actually gave FPS’s a story, puzzles and keeping the player involved even through cut-scenes.



I luckily had a PC good enough to run Half-life when it debuted but I knew a lot of friends who would come over for hours just to watch me play. This game was pretty damn groundbreaking for the time. The story was amazing for the time and the action was top notch throughout the entire game. Some scenes were “disturbing” while some were funny. It was the first time I was actually engrossed by a first person shooter. I was playing to complete the story and not to just shoot people in the head. Among other great things about this game, Dr. Gordon Freeman is an instantly recognizable name in video games mainly because the developers at valve made us care about his health and well being. The story isn’t the longest but the amount of expansions that came from this game is a amazing. The expansions are great but the community mods were even more so, especially the mod that took multiplayer gaming to the next level. That game is simply known as Counterstrike. Unfortunately I don’t wanna talk about Counterstrike just yet, you’ll find out why at a later date.

Please do not sleep on this game if you have never played it. The graphics may look lackluster today but you can get this game on steam for dirt cheap and it’s worth at least one play through. Hell the story and gameplay is better than a lot of shit videogame companies shove down our throats these days.

Half Life Trailer by James Benson - YouTube

If HL2 doesn't make the list now... it will be a travesty.

[Leftwich]

81
Sim City 2000

Platform: Mac/PC/N64/Playstation/SNES/Saturn



When making this list I sat and debated what Sim City game I would include. I thought I could go with the original but it was too basic. I was thinking Sim City 3000 since it had superior graphics to the rest of the series up until 4. It wasn’t gonna be Sim City 4 because I didn’t spend as much time with that one as I thought. So I instead went with Sim City 2000 because it is the only game I have ever owned on more than 2 consoles.



I literally played this game till I fell asleep on multiple occasions. I first got this game on my SNES and thought having a Sim City game on my SNES was the best thing since sliced bread. I’d literally play for 6 hours or more every sitting just trying to improve my city and get more citizens. I played so much until I think I got my Playstation. When I got my Playstation I found out this was on it so I searched around, this was the time before Amazon for all you kiddies. I finally found it at Funcoland and played it just as much as the SNES version. It still had last generation graphics but I didn’t care, the amount of detail you could put into a city was mind boggling. You can place your mayor’s house anywhere in the city, progress with technology and cause natural disasters just in case your citizens get out of line. Sim City 2000 is the biggest leap in game play in the entire Sim City franchise. Granted Sim City 4 took a huge graphical leap; Sim City 2000 tightened up the game play and still kept it somewhat pretty.

Sim City isn’t for everyone. It can be quite intimidating to the average gamer along with frustrating, boring and bland just to name a few more adjectives. The beauty of this game is the reward of having a bustling metropolis that you created and can destroy if you see fit. It is the quintessential God game for people seeking to satisfy that thrill.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luLgpEQl8HQ"]Sim City 2000 on PS3 in HD 720p - YouTube[/ame]

[Leftwich]

80
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Platform: Playstation 2/Xbox/GBA/PC/Gamecube



I originally got this game as a Christmas gift from my father. Before it came out I had little to no interest in this game. I think I started playing this game because I was super bored and felt like playing an adventure game. Boy did I not know what I was getting myself into. In my opinion this game is the spiritual predecessor to another great franchise, Assassins’ Creed.



I had originally played the very first Prince of Persia 10 years before this one came out and as much praise as it got, I wasn’t impressed. I wasn’t a fan of the original’s art style and puzzles but as I dove deeper and deeper into The Sands of Time I started to discover that this was an amazing beautiful (for the time) and for the most part challenging. The real selling point for this game with me is that I am a trial and error gamer. I try all the options I can until I find the right one even if I have to die trying. The real selling point on how good this game was is the fact that you can rewind time even if just in a limited capacity. If you fell down a crevice or got gutted by an enemy you have a ten second window to rewind time and fix your error. I don’t care how good of a gamer you are; you used the rewind ability a few times. I have to really like a story to enjoy a game and luckily Prince of Persia had just that, a great story. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but it’s pretty good for a game about the Middle East.

If you’re a fan of Assassins’ Creed and have never played the game that was the spiritual predecessor to it, I would highly recommend a trip down memory lane. You can find this game on a PC somewhere or you can download the remake on the Playstation Network. I highly recommend at least one play through of this game and if you enjoy it, try the numerous sequels, including the much darker “The Warrior Within”.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhvWwUJxHtY"]Prince of Persia 1 (The Sands of Time) Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

[Leftwich]

79
Final Fantasy 3 (VI)

Platforms: SNES/Playstation/GBA/Wii VC



I’ve recently found out that Twigg hates turn based RPG’s so if you’re reading this Twigg, just skip it. Anyway Final Fantasy 3 is very confusing. It is FF6 in Japan and FF3 here in the states and Europe. I don’t know why and I don’t feel like reading an entire Wiki article to figure it out. This is the real first RPG I ever played and recently tried playing it not too long ago… not as impressed as I used to be.



Maybe it has to do with the simplistic gameplay or the graphics look extremely dated but I remember having a lot more fun with this game as a kid than I do now. Final Fantasy has always been a very story driven game and if this game was remade for modern times it would be probably the most visually stunning and intriguing stories in any game. Unfortunately the graphics in this gave deter me from the story because I can’t stand looking at the same bland expression on a sprite. Maybe I’m spoiled by how damn good games look now but I don’t know how I did it back then. This review/synopsis may sound negative but I am going to shed some light on this whole thing. For its time, Final Fantasy 3 had an absolutely huge overworld. Going from town to town trying to continue the story was extremely fun. You could talk to NPC’s and get new weapons etc. The absolute best thing about this game was that you did have a chance of different outcomes regarding a situation. This was an absolute new thing to gaming at the time and pretty much paved the road for future games.

If you’re not a fan of Final Fantasy or really any RPG for that matter you should probably just pretend you didn’t read this. This game is not for you but for the select few who haven’t played this game, you should check it out.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7a6idC9VHA"]CGR Undertow - FINAL FANTASY III for Super Nintendo Video Game Review - YouTube[/ame]

[SethMode]

79
Final Fantasy 3 (VI)

Platforms: SNES/Playstation/GBA/Wii VC



I’ve recently found out that Twigg hates turn based RPG’s so if you’re reading this Twigg, just skip it. Anyway Final Fantasy 3 is very confusing. It is FF6 in Japan and FF3 here in the states and Europe. I don’t know why and I don’t feel like reading an entire Wiki article to figure it out. This is the real first RPG I ever played and recently tried playing it not too long ago… not as impressed as I used to be.



Maybe it has to do with the simplistic gameplay or the graphics look extremely dated but I remember having a lot more fun with this game as a kid than I do now. Final Fantasy has always been a very story driven game and if this game was remade for modern times it would be probably the most visually stunning and intriguing stories in any game. Unfortunately the graphics in this gave deter me from the story because I can’t stand looking at the same bland expression on a sprite. Maybe I’m spoiled by how damn good games look now but I don’t know how I did it back then. This review/synopsis may sound negative but I am going to shed some light on this whole thing. For its time, Final Fantasy 3 had an absolutely huge overworld. Going from town to town trying to continue the story was extremely fun. You could talk to NPC’s and get new weapons etc. The absolute best thing about this game was that you did have a chance of different outcomes regarding a situation. This was an absolute new thing to gaming at the time and pretty much paved the road for future games.

If you’re not a fan of Final Fantasy or really any RPG for that matter you should probably just pretend you didn’t read this. This game is not for you but for the select few who haven’t played this game, you should check it out.

CGR Undertow - FINAL FANTASY III for Super Nintendo Video Game Review - YouTube

Would probably be much higher on my personal list as I think that it is far and away the best of the series, but still nice to see it make an appearance. I miss the days of the SNES RPGs. FF3(VI), Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Secret of Mana and Shadowrun were some of my favorite games.

[Champ]

Good shit gabe

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Leftwich]

Would probably be much higher on my personal list as I think that it is far and away the best of the series, but still nice to see it make an appearance. I miss the days of the SNES RPGs. FF3(VI), Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Secret of Mana and Shadowrun were some of my favorite games.

Never played Earthbound. Personally I'm so-so on Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. I haven't played them in probably 15 years so if i were to my opinion may change.

[JBregz]

Keep it up!

[Leftwich]

78
Forza Motorsport
Platforms: Xbox



Another racing game you say? I am a huge fan of simulation style racing games and no game since the Gran Turismo series have I loved as much as Forza. I’ve played all the Forza titles but the fourth one and the very first iteration way back on the Xbox is hands down my favorite.



I’ll openly admit that Gran Turismo is my favorite racing franchise but Forza also has a nice place in my heart. Both games have tuning, graphics and variety of cars, tracks and pretty much everything else but there is actually a few things about Forza that make it a great franchise. In every racing game with real car licenses you never got to see damage on a beautiful Porche boxter or see the quarter panel on a Dodge Super Bee dented in but with Forza you finally could. It was like breathing more life into an already thriving genre. But it didn’t stop there. Forza did yet another thing that I was a huge fan of. Forza gave players the ability to create their own designs on their cars through the use of stock decals. I mean I used to design all sorts of shit for my cars. An Orioles themed skin, Jacksonville Jaguar Jaguar.. all sorts of stuff. Those may seem gimmicky but they make it feel more real than ever and it goes to show how authentic these developers wanted to get. One final thing that I really liked about this game that I want to drive home was they fact they had the Nurburing raceway. I fucking love racing there especially in a long endurance race and Forza gave me some of the best races I’ve ever had there.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to play racing games and if you don’t, then you’re wrong. Forza was a great game and the rest of the series isn’t to be missed either. As always check below for a video.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFB41Wa7jm0"]Forza Motorsport 1 review - YouTube[/ame]

[Leftwich]

77
Contra
Platform: Too Many to Name



I believe in a previous review or in discussion I may have said I had beaten every game on this list but this is one that I have not. I know u can get all those lives with the Contra code and just make a run through the game but I never did that. Believe it or not, I’ve never entered the Contra code.



Contra takes me way back to being like 5 or 6. I remember playing this shortly before I got my SNES. For those who don’t know about Contra, What are you gay?, but for real it’s a pretty basic side scroller. You’re a marine dude with a gun and have to shoot bad guys and avoid getting shot. The frustrating thing about Contra is, one shot, you’re dead! It is frustrating as hell to die especially when you’re really far during a stage and the checkpoint wasn’t exactly close. Another thing that really made me rage was finally getting the spread shot gun and getting fucking shot. I must have thrown a million Nintendo controllers in my short time with this game. I’ll admit it though; Contra is a very classically difficult and humbling game. No matter how good of a gamer you think you are, Contra will slap you in the face. This in no way is an easy game BUT if you have a friend things get a whole hell of a lot easier. Contra was my first taste of multiplayer when my oldest sister would bully people until we got to the end in which turn we got our asses fed to us. It’s nice that Konami was able to port the multiplayer side of their arcade game to the NES. I’m sure this is a lot of people’s first try at a multiplayer game and I tip my hat to Konami for doing it.

Contra is an old-school game with an old-school difficulty. Some people who have been playing this for 20 years can do speed runs with this game which I have included below for anyone else who hasn’t seen the end of this gaming masterpiece.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBMQhKK3Ctk"]Contra Speed Run NES - YouTube[/ame]

[Twigg4075]

I could be wrong but I think Contra is the first co-op game I ever played.

That speed run was insane. But I guess all speed runs are.

Videos like that also are great reminders that while even though games back then were harder, they were sooooooooo short. It's funny hearing people complain about how short some games are these days. Even without a speed run you could beat that game in an hour easy, at least with the code.

[SethMode]

I could be wrong but I think Contra is the first co-op game I ever played.

It was either Contra or Double Dragon for me.

I beat Contra with my brother with just 3 lives without continuing. It is right up there for me with beating Mike Tyson inexplicably by decision in Punch-Out.

[Twigg4075]

It was either Contra or Double Dragon for me.

I beat Contra with my brother with just 3 lives without continuing. It is right up there for me with beating Mike Tyson inexplicably by decision in Punch-Out.

I forgot Double Dragon. That's another one.

And you sir are a god among video game men. I could never come close to beating Contra without the code and I think I came close to beating Tyson but never did.