We’ve all played games that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Call them hits, killer apps, classics or whatever else you want. The fact of the matter is the impacts these games make on their audiences go deeper than any honorific some arbitrary organization can decorate them with.
Here are some of the games that, in my mind, surpass GotY and secure their place in history for the years to come.
Most Culturally Significant Games of last Generation #
These games deserve mentioning first and foremost, because without them, it’s possible that the rest of the games on this list may never have been created – or if they had, they might not have turned out the way they are now.
Super Mario Bros. introduced videogames to the world on a massive scale, being the most-sold videogame franchise to date. To put that in perspective, the eponymous mascot of the franchise is more recognized than Mickey Mouse.
Tetris and Space Invaders both deserve a spot on the list for their ubiquity and seniority. If your parents played games in their youth, these were the Portal and DOTA gamesof their generation. To be recognizable by nothing other than monochromatic, pixelated shapes takes serious clout.
Pokémon, the youngest in this section, is also the only videogame franchise to have been the feature cover on Time magazine, and the only one to have its fandom perpetualized by mainstream media with its own specific name, “Pokémania.”
Commander Keen brought the popular platformer elements of Super Mario Bros. to the PC, while at the same time taking advantage of the then state-of-the-art EGA graphics on DOS. Thanks to this series, the brand new startup, id Software, went on to create…
Doom. No list is complete without it. Yes, Wolfenstein came first, but Doom revolutionized the FPS genre by introducing the entire sci-fi/horror genre, networked multiplayer, and customized content, now popularly referred to by PC gamers as “mods.” It also was the first game to use the term “Deathmatch.”
Wasteland is the precursor to the Fallout games, and in many ways to the entire lineup of good PC RPGs in general. It was one of the first cRPGs to feature smart NPCs (who could refuse to relinquish items) and a persistent game world.
Sam & Max Hit the Road was the 9th game to use the SCUMM engine, which ran such classics as Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. What distinguishes it from the rest is that it was one of the first games ever to have full voice acting.
Wing Commander did what its predecessor Elite couldn’t: bring space simulation games to a wider audience. It eventually came to inspire games like Descent: Freespace, Freelancer, X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter, the X series, and just about every space combat game ever released since 1990.
Best Anger Management Therapies of this Generation #
These are the games that have caused a steady rise in hypertension conditions over the years. The idea of “competitive multiplayer” predates even the first videogame, and the truth is that it provides a challenge and satisfaction like none other. If you’re any good at it, that is.
Call of Duty just might be the social phenomenon that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick loves to talk about. Within 5 days after release, Black Ops sold better than any movie, book or video game sale, ever. At the end of the first day, the 2.6 million players who bought it spent more than 5.9 million man-hours cursing and yelling into their microphones.
Starcraft is more than a game. It was, in 1998, the RTS that all others would be compared to. It became the de facto game for professional cybersports tournaments around the world. It still is associated with the Korean identity, and perhaps 90% of those who play it would ragequit after the first five minutes against a Seoul sister half their age. Speaking of ragequit…
Team Fortress 2 predicted the severe amount of anger it would cause and helped turn “ragequit” into an accepted meme by making it of the Scout’s vocal taunts as well as a user disconnection message. Now that it’s F2P, TF2 matches seem to produce more QQ and less pew pew, which should not in any way hide its greatness.
Left 4 Dead helps redirect much of the competitive frustration away from human opponents and towards the mystical AI Director. It brings friends together as they race to revive their incapacitated comrades and drives them apart as they realize it’s easier to leave their less competent party members as zombie bait.
Best Mindgasms of this Generation #
Just when you thought you had the game all figured out, it pulls a fast one on you. You might say you saw it coming a mile away, or scoff at the cheesiness of its big reveal, but we all know you felt that tingle down your spine, that telltale sign of your mind being blown away.
American McGee’s Alice is a twisted, chaotic, and wonderful rendition of a classic story. Alice, the once innocent and curious young girl, grew up insane after her entire family died in a house fire. Though sinister and macabre, the sequel, Madness Returns, is even darker.
BioShock’s plot twist is equal parts unexpected and foreshadowed, a blend that is difficult to achieve and probably not worth striving for in a medium where it would fly over many gamers’ heads. Would you kindly pay more attention to the story the next time you play this masterpiece?
Metal Gear Solid sold PSXs, PS2s, and PS3s everywhere as fans followed the series in attempts to both show their support for its continued development as well as figure out just what the heck was going on. Aside from all the craziness going on within the Metal Gear world itself, director Hideo Kojima isn’t the type to shy away from breaking the fourth wall to get at his audience.
Eternal Darkness went commercially unnoticed, partly because it was on the GameCube and partly because it was Nintendo’s first try at publishing an M-rated title. It puts MGS’s fourth wall-breaking efforts to shame. Depending on how low the “sanity meter” gets, effects such as camera angle-skewing, bodiless whispering and crying, wall-bleeding and ceiling-climbing happen; and sometimes, the game’s volume is reduced, with accompanying fake TV volume indicator.
Diablo 2 isn’t particularly known for its mind-blowing plot or atmosphere, but for the state of loot-driven lunacy it induces in its players. Seriously, no game since its release has had a random loot feature in it without being referred to as “Diablo-esque” or similar. For its item system alone, and the addiction it causes, it deserves a spot in this list.
Portal couldn’t have been more of a success even if it tried. It spawned a boatload of memes, a cult of cube-loving fans, and its own sequel, which makes it difficult to believe that it started out as filler for The Orange Box. Aside from the obvious brain crunching required in solving its puzzles, the fact that it was a sleeper hit made by a development team of 10 people – most of them fresh hires from the team that developed Portal’s independent inspiration, Narbacular Drop.
Best Games You’ve Never Heard Of this Generation #
Some of the best games come from the smallest companies, or even individual people just doing what they love. Independent game development has picked up pace in recent years due to the increase in digital distribution platforms, so here’s a nod to the little guys.
Minecraft and Terraria were mentioned to you at least once, perhaps by that over-enthusiastic gamer friend or in that blog you never admit to reading. Both are adventure/exploration games with emphasis on crafting tools to shape the entire game world. Think Lego, but less expensive.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a terrifying, horrifying, depressing game. If you dare play it, you will be rewarded with one of the scariest experiences of your life.
Cave Story, on the other hand, is upbeat and energetic in execution, yet somber in meaning. In this platformer/shoot-em-up you control Quote, a robot who has lost his memory, as he strives to save the deceptively cute Mimigas. They look like bunnies, so you should play this game.
The Chzo Mythos / John DeFoe Series might be confused with H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, which would be a fair representation of how engrossing this series is. Spanning five games, each connected in some way, the series is the work of the infamous Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw of Zero Punctuation.