Famitsu readers' top 100 games of all time!

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:10 am

1. Final Fantasy X (2001)
2. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
3. Dragon Quest III (1988)
4. Dragon Quest VIII (2004)
5. Machi (1998)
6. Final Fantasy IV (1991)
7. Tactics Ogre (1995)
8. Final Fantasy III (1990)
9. Dragon Quest VII (2000)
10. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

11. Dragon Quest V (1992)
12. Far East of Eden 2 (1992)
13. Sakura Taisen (1996)
14. Dragon Quest IV (1990)
15. Final Fantasy V (1992)
16. Xenogears (1998)
17. Dragon Quest II (1987)
18. Sakura Taisen III (2002)
19. Kingdom Hearts (2002)
20. Streetfighter II (1992)

21. Super Mario Bros (1985)
22. Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
23. Toki Meki Memorial (1995)
24. Final Fantasy IX (2000)
25. Final Fantasy VI(1994)
26. Metal Gear Solid 3 (2004)
27. Valkyrie Profile (1999)
28. Chrono Trigger (1995)
29. Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
30. Dragon Quest (1986)

31. Zelda 3 (1991)
32. Final Fantasy X-2 (2003)
33. Resident Evil (1996)
34. Dragon Quest VI (1995)
35. F-Zero (1990)
36. Sakura Taisen II (1998)
37. Mother 2 (1994)
38. Mother (1989)
39. Virtua Fighter (1994)
40. Dragon Quest 5 (PS2 remake) 2004

41. Zelda Windwaker (2002)
42. Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001)
43. Animal Crossing (DS) 2005
44. Tales of the Abyss (2005)
45. Ogre Battle (1993)
46. Legend of Zelda (1986)
47. Virtua Fighter 2 (1995)
48. Mysterious Dungeon 2 (1995)
49. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
50. Metal Gear Solid (1998)

51. Pokemon Red and Green (1996)
52. Y's 1 and 2 (1989)
53. Romancing Saga (1992)
54. Toke Meke Memorial (PC Engine) 94
55. Super Robot Taisen Alpha (2000)
56. Resident Evil 2 (1998)
57. Tales of Eternia (2000)
58. Digital Devil Saga Megami Tensei II (1990)
59. Shin Megami Tensei (1992)
60. Final Fantasy II (1988)

61. Super Mario World (1990)
62. To Heart II (2004)
63. Final Fantasy (1987)
64. Puyo Puyo (1992)
65. Family Stadium Pro Baseball (1986)
66. Wizardry (1987)
67. Hokkaido Murder Mystery (1987)
68. Fire Emblem (1994)
69. Super Mario Kart (1992)
70. Dynasty Warriors 4 (2003)

71. Monster Hunter (2004)
72. Best Play Pro Baseball (1988)
73. Grandia (1997)
74. Resident Evil 4 (GC) 2005
75. Gran Turismo 4 (2004)
76. GTA: Vice City (2004)
77. Super Monaco GP (1990)
78. Torneko Mysterious Dungeon (1993)
79. Tales of Destiny (1997)
80. Streetfighter 2 Turbo (1993)

81. Dynasty Warriors III (2001)
82. Final Fight (1990)
83. Monster Hunter Portable (2005)
84. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
85. Minster Hunter G (2005)
86. Mysterious Dungeon 2 (2000)
87. Kung Fu (1985)
88. Toke Meke Memorial (Saturn) (1996)
89. Tales of Destiny II (2002)
90. Kamaitachi No Yoru (1994)

91. Sakura Taisen IV (2002)
92. Tales of Rebirth (2004)
93. Sim City (1991)
94. Saga 2 (1990)
95. Pro Baseball Family Stadium 87
96. Tetris (Gameboy) (1989)
97. Secret of Mana (1993)
98. Gradius (1986)
99. Super Mario Bros III (1988)
100. Resident Evil IV (PS2) 2005

Discuss.

benj · Post by **benj** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:28 am

They sure like their RPGs... I always wondered how anyone can consider FF IV being better than V and VI. I think it's the weakest out ouf this three.

MSZ · Post by **MSZ** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:33 am

This is so wrong...only 1 SRW made it and GTAVC is on the list as well?

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:36 am

ergh, seems like bad taste is more widespread than I thought. Many dubious choices there. Like for example too many RPGs, and what's the first Gradius doing there? It's hardly the best in the series.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:44 am

At least Gradius clocked in higher than Super Mario Bros 3, which is a respectable 99!

Still, must sting to be beaten by three versions of Tokimeki Memorial.

MSZ wrote:GTAVC is on the list as well?

Japan loves GTA.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:55 am

benj wrote:They sure like their RPGs...

Well, that's been the case for some time; years back when few RPGs were released in the West (and even then they were often heavily localized), they were still consistent top sellers in Japan, and afaik that trend hasn't changed.

UFO wrote:...and what's the first Gradius doing there? It's hardly the best in the series.

It seems this bunch have gone with the first games in the series, rather than listing sequels despite improvements, in several instances...the only 2D fighter I see is the original SF2 (#20), and the only 3D fighter is the original Virtua Fighter (#39). Same seems to go for Sonic (#49), Pokemon (#51), and Puyo Puyo (#64...it outranks Tetris [which barely made the list] by a wide margin). Super Mario Bros. in particular also outranks its sequels. This isn't the case 100 percent of the time (the later Zeldas, FFs, and DQs are above the originals), but at least some of the voters seemed to place the most emphasis on the ones that started it all, so to speak.

Perhaps the thing that most surprised me here was the inclusion of several dating games on the list (especially from the Tokimeki Memorial series)...I'd heard that such games are popular in Japan, but popular enough to make several showings on a "Favorite Games of All Time" list? I honestly can't say I expected that...

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:56 am

Well, Machi was made by Chunsoft, who made some Dragon Quest games, so at least that mystery is solved...

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:05 am

famitsu readers sure like games where you just press x a lot and don't really have to pay attention to what's on the screen

jp · Post by jp » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:07 am

Twiddle wrote:famitsu readers sure like games where you just press x a lot and don't really have to pay attention to what's on the screen

Indeed. It amazes me Famitsu is held in such high regard, especially when one of the shittiest Final Fantasy games ever is their fanbase's number 1 game. Ugh.

benj · Post by **benj** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:10 am

BulletMagnet wrote:Perhaps the thing that most surprised me here was the inclusion of several dating games on the list (especially from the Tokimeki Memorial series)...I'd heard that such games are popular in Japan, but popular enough to make several showings on a "Favorite Games of All Time" list? I honestly can't say I expected that...

To be honest, you could find a few dating sims on my personal Top 100 too.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:24 am

Well, Tokimeki Memorial has like 20 sequels/ports/remakes so it doesn't seem too surprising there.

I'm surprised at the lack of Sega support. Only 1 Sonic game (and the first at that?), no Sega RPGs. Also, the most popular racers are F-Zero and GT4?? No Mario Kart. Fire Emblem is surprisingly unrepresented.

FFIV and V being ahead of FFVI isn't surprising at all; looks like oldschool JP players have better taste than US RPGers.

Did anybody expect Machi to be that high up there?

TalkingOctopus · Post by **TalkingOctopus** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:34 am

jp wrote:
Twiddle wrote:famitsu readers sure like games where you just press x a lot and don't really have to pay attention to what's on the screen
Indeed. It amazes me Famitsu is held in such high regard, especially when one of the shittiest Final Fantasy games ever is their fanbase's number 1 game. Ugh.

I think it's crazy Final Fantasy X-2 made the list at all. I couldn't even get past the first few hours. Maybe something was lost in translation

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:41 am

Ganelon wrote:FFIV and V being ahead of FFVI isn't surprising at all; looks like oldschool JP players have better taste than US RPGers.

IV is a simple RPG with a simple plot, V is a refined and somewhat deep RPG with a simple plot, and VI is a simple RPG with a more complex plot.

V I can understand. IV is nostalgia.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:32 am

IV is epic throughout, V is exotic throughout, VI...has no definition throughout. Complexity has no relation to quality.

benj · Post by **benj** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:50 am

For me, the most remarkable thing about FF IV was the spoony bard bit. It's like a fantasy novel from an author you never heard of that you bought for cheap at your local supermarket. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about it, neither the gameplay nor the plot. I really can't see it being more epic than VI. And gameplay wise it was a step back after FF III.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:10 am

...

While I know that's from a respected magazine in Japan, and perhaps it's just the experiences I've had, but that list reeks to high hell of Gamfaqs fanboyism. The sheer number of Square, Enix and Nintendo titles in the upper slots there is disheartening.

Edit: Spelling... twice. How sad is that?

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:18 am

For comparison, here's GameFAQs' top 100 games of all time, as chosen by its readers:

#1: Final Fantasy VII - PS
#2: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - N64
#3: Chrono Trigger - SNES
#4: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - SNES
#5: Super Mario Bros. 3 - NES
#6: Super Smash Bros. Melee - GC
#7: GoldenEye 007 - N64
#8: Metal Gear Solid - PS
#9: Halo: Combat Evolved - XBOX
#10: Final Fantasy III - SNES
#11: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - PS2
#12: Final Fantasy X - PS2
#13: Super Mario 64 - N64
#14: Resident Evil 4 - GC
#15: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - PS
#16: Kingdom Hearts - PS2
#17: Final Fantasy VIII - PS
#18: Starcraft - PC
#19: Final Fantasy Tactics - PS
#20: Diablo II - PC
#21: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - PS2
#22: Super Mario Bros. - NES
#23: Super Mario World - SNES
#24: Super Metroid - SNES
#25: Half-Life 2 - PC
#26: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - SNES
#27: Grand Theft Auto III - PS2
#28: Pokemon Red - GB
#29: Metroid Prime - GC
#30: The Legend of Zelda - NES
#31: Half-Life - PC
#32: Xenogears - PS
#33: Doom - PC
#34: Tetris - GB
#35: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - PS2
#36: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - XBOX
#37: EarthBound - SNES
#38: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - GEN
#39: World of Warcraft - PC
#40: Devil May Cry - PS2
#41: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - PS2
#42: Final Fantasy IX - PS
#43: Chrono Cross - PS
#44: Perfect Dark - N64
#45: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - GC
#46: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - N64
#47: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior - ARC
#48: God of War - PS2
#49: Half-Life: Counter-Strike - PC
#50: Final Fantasy II - SNES
#51: Soul Calibur - DC
#52: Secret of Mana - SNES
#53: Resident Evil - PS
#54: Fire Emblem - GBA
#55: Advance Wars - GBA
#56: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings - PC
#57: Suikoden II - PS
#58: Mortal Kombat - ARC
#59: Pokemon Gold - GBC
#60: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - PC
#61: Super Mario Kart - SNES
#62: Burnout 3: Takedown - PS2
#63: Contra - NES
#64: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - PC
#65: Metroid - NES
#66: Pac-Man - ARC
#67: Deus Ex - PC
#68: Skies of Arcadia - DC
#69: Shenmue - DC
#70: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - PS
#71: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - NES
#72: Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec - PS2
#73: Fallout 2 - PC
#74: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - GC
#75: Command & Conquer Red Alert - PC
#76: Final Fantasy - NES
#77: Dragon Warrior - NES
#78: Battlefield 1942 - PC
#79: ICO - PS2
#80: Call of Duty - PC
#81: Tales of Symphonia - GC
#82: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - SNES
#83: Tekken 3 - PS
#84: Tecmo Super Bowl - NES
#85: Halo 2 - XBOX
#86: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - PS2
#87: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - XBOX
#88: Gunstar Heroes - GEN
#89: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - GBA
#90: Unreal Tournament 2004 - PC
#91: Madden NFL 2004 - PS2
#92: Gran Turismo - PS
#93: Phantasy Star IV - GEN
#94: Shining Force II - GEN
#95: Vagrant Story - PS
#96: Grim Fandango - PC
#97: NiGHTS Into Dreams... - SAT
#98: Shining Force - GEN
#99: F-Zero - SNES
#100: X-COM: UFO Defense - PC

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:21 am

Ganelon wrote:IV is epic throughout, V is exotic throughout, VI...has no definition throughout. Complexity has no relation to quality.

VI has a shitty central plot. That said, the central plot is the least important part of FFVI's narrative. If you went into it looking for that, I can imagine why it let you down. I'm not even a fan of VI but it definitely has definition.

And I agree with Benj, IV was dimestore fantasy, told badly. It's important in how it compares to RPGs of its era, and where it took the franchise, but on its own merits... blah.

benj · Post by **benj** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:25 am

The Coop wrote:...

Perhaps it's just the experiences I've had, but that list reeks to high hell of Gamfaqs fanboyism. The sheer number of Square, Enix and Nintendo titles there is disheartening.

Maybe the games these companies made are so popular because they are actually good. Ever considered this possibility? It's not automatically "fanboyism" just because you don't agree with it. Hell, a lot of these games I don't care about, but I'm sure the people who voted for them had their reasons.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:30 am

It's still absolutely ridiculous to say that 11 of the top 20 best games ever made belong to two franchises from what is now the same company. I mean, that does go beyond "they make good games."

benj · Post by **benj** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:47 am

Maybe I'm just naive, but I have a hard time imagining that someone would vote for a game he/she didn't enjoy, just because it is made by a certain company. Maybe some people force themself to like them, I don't know. And tbh the last FF I played through was VI, so I can't say anything about the quality of VII upwards. But I'm really tired of reading the word fanboy whenever certain companies are mentioned. I mean, there must be some reason why these games have such a huge fanbase.

Darth_Arcturus · Post by **Darth_Arcturus** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:48 am

geez Final Fantasy series isn't THAT good.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:13 am

Well, I love Fritz Lang's films (he's my favorite director), but that doesn't mean I'd say his ten best movies are also the ten best movies ever made.

In any case, I just think the amazing lack of diversity is hilarious.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:29 am

benj wrote:
The Coop wrote:...

Perhaps it's just the experiences I've had, but that list reeks to high hell of Gamfaqs fanboyism. The sheer number of Square, Enix and Nintendo titles there is disheartening.
Maybe the games these companies made are so popular because they are actually good. Ever considered this possibility? It's not automatically "fanboyism" just because you don't agree with it. Hell, a lot of these games I don't care about, but I'm sure the people who voted for them had their reasons.

I never said it was fanboyism, simply that it smelled (looked) like it. There's a difference between the two notions. Of course, over the years, Nintendo, Square and Enix have usually had the "loudest" Internet fanbase. As a result, whenever a list like the one above gets made, you get folks honestly claiming "FANBOYISM!" as the reason for the list, along with those, like yourself, who burst out at the mere mention of the term because of it's overuse. I've seen many lists that were made by people with a heavy, heavy bias against anything not made by the Big N, or Square-Enix, and that Famitsu list was like a flashback because of the similarities. But let me say again, I never said it was fanboyism. Only that it "smelled" like it.

Now sure, there are lots of fun and timeless classics there. Unlike a lot of folks it seems, I don't hate any one game maker. Nintendo, Square, Enix, Sega, Taito, Irem, Technosoft, Capcom, Konami, id, Telenet... there are hundreds of companies that've made scores of amazing games over the last 30 years. I'd play them all if I had the means to do it. But that list from Famitsu is like so many other lists, where once you get near the top, Nintendo and their ex-licensees take over. It makes you wonder sometimes if anyone in the last five years ever played anything other than what has always been the same "top" games from the "top" companies. Hell, some lists make you question if they ever owned anything other than a Nintendo system... which in truth, is something that Famitsu's list made me wonder by the time I got to #50.

While it is true that my own personal list would be different, whose wouldn't be? Ask different people, and you'll get many different answers as far as what their favorite games are. But somehow, these magazine lists stay the same in more ways than they differ each year. It's almost like they ask the same small group of people. That, or it's the same small group of people who look for these kinds of things to take part in. Now keep in mind that I'm not saying that's what happens, only that it seems like it, as the results stay so similar year after year.

Anyway, I hope that clarifies my first response to the list, and the reasoning behind it. I'm no fanboy, or anti-fanboy. I'm just recounting what that list reminds me of based on what I've seen over the last few years of Internet surfing. Cool?

benj · Post by **benj** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:49 am

I'm cool. I really didn't mean to attack you, nor did I feel attacked. And I too think there are too many Squenix games up there (or RPGs for that matter). Makes you wonder what happened to all the other genres, doesn't it? All I wanted to say was that the people who voted probably enjoyed the games they voted for. Do they need to broaden their gaming horizon? Probably, but that's another matter. Sorry for sounding a bit harsh.

Post by **Ghegs** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:08 am

benj wrote:Do they need to broaden their gaming horizon? Probably, but that's another matter.

Well, we don't know that. That list is not the opinion of one single person, it's the average of thousands (if not millions) of people who submitted their favourite games. Those are simply the games that got the most votes, I'm sure a lot of people voted for more "hardcore" games as well. They simply didn't get enough votes to reach the 100 most voted -list. And I'm not one bit surprised at that.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:01 pm

Interesting list. Yeah, FFX in the top spot is pretty laughable in my opinion. I find it interesting that there are only 3 Western-developed games on the list (that I can spot): Simcity, GTA:VC, and Wizardry-- although Wizardry is listed as 1987, so that probably refers to the Famicom version or something. I guess Tetris is on there too if you wanna count that.

Also, this list is for console games only, right?

umi · Post by **umi** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:20 pm

Worst... top 100 list... ever... :/

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:28 pm

BulletMagnet wrote:
UFO wrote:...and what's the first Gradius doing there? It's hardly the best in the series.
It seems this bunch have gone with the first games in the series, rather than listing sequels despite improvements, in several instances...the only 2D fighter I see is the original SF2 (#20), and the only 3D fighter is the original Virtua Fighter (#39) . Same seems to go for Sonic (#49), Pokemon (#51), and Puyo Puyo (#64...it outranks Tetris [which barely made the list] by a wide margin). Super Mario Bros. in particular also outranks its sequels.

Virtua Fighter 2 clocked in at number 47... which is odd as I always thought that it was the more highly regarded game in the series.

Also, SF2 Turbo clocked in at number 80.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:13 pm

Kiken wrote:Virtua Fighter 2 clocked in at number 47...Also, SF2 Turbo clocked in at number 80.

...

...eeeeyep, time to see the ol' optometrist again.