The Remakes 100: 10-1
So, here we go - the final ten entries in the Remakes 100 as voted for you, the public at large. We’ve already established that Ocarina isn’t in the top ten so lets see what you voted for as the greatest games ever.
10: Starcraft
Possibly the best Real-Time Strategy game ever, and certainly so among our voters. StarCraft takes a polished game engine (honed by lessons learned in Blizzard’s early WarCraft efforts), bungs in three distinct races with completely different stratagems, and covers the whole affair in striking artwork. Played long after other RTS titles are set aside, StarCraft represents the pinnacle of the genre, at least until StarCraft 2 debuts. And as a bonus, it’s one of the few games to have its own Christmas carol as well.
9: Half Life 2
The ever so silent Gordon Freeman takes a trip into City 17 and into 9th position in our Top 100.
“I also loved the ways that the physics were explored - like the ramp puzzles. Cinderblocks. Airtight plastic barrels. Washing machines. They’re all here! And there’s nothing so awesome as killing somebody in deathmatch by chucking a toilet at them, or crushing them against a wall with a van” - Corwin B
8: Final Fantasy VII
The first Final Fantasy to reach Sony shores and evidently one of the greatest games ever according to our voters.
Over to PlayerOne to explain the appeal:
“Seriously, this game made a big impact on me at the time, and has caused me to spend hundreds of pounds on Japanese RPGs trying to recapture the same magic, mostly without success. Hard to say why this one got it so right. The music, the scale and ambition, and the actual game mechanics all seemed to come together to make it work. And of course, the fact that it was the first of its kind” - Player One
7: Super Mario World
The Mario franchise hits the SNES in style with a 7th place entry for Super Mario World. Bringing with it a fresh new look and a set of cunning level designs to keep the most ardent of platform game fans happy for many years to come.
6: R-Type
Blasting against the Bydo Empire, the classic horizontal shooter benchmark of R-Type spins its way into 6th place in our Top 100. Giger-esque visuals matched with gameplay that touches upon perfection makes this the highest ranking shooter in our list, and deservedly so.
Random List Of Death: Oddbob
- Tempest 2000
- Robotron
- I,Robot
- Technician Ted
- Star Wars Arcade
- Psychonauts
- Secret Of Monkey Island II: LeChucks Revenge
- Outrun 2
- Ikaruga
- PN03
5: Cave Story
Pixels wondrous freeware platform adventure Cave Story tucks itself into 5th place in our top 100.
“A little bit of indie gaming history. The best freeware platform adventure game ever - nuff said” - Prospero
“This was so hard I actually used a hex editor to hack it in order to finish the game. I wouldn’t go through the trouble for a lesser game.” - Vincent Xuan Feng
“Just the most charming indie game ever made, with a respectable smattering of secrets and very addictive platform gameplay.” - Graham Goring
4: Tetris
From Russia, with love. Its Tetris.
“Who cant resist packing falling blocks as neatly as possible” - Wallace McGee
“The whole idea was simply genius” - Bas De Reuver
3: Half Life
The terrible jumping towards the end of the game doesn’t appear to have phased our voters in the slightest. Our introduction into the world of Gordon Freeman crowbars its way into 3rd place in the Top 100.
“Ok, the second one had better graphics and a nice, shiny new engine but the original managed to entice me to play and complete the whole thing on every single level of ability… then make me play the multiplayer! Groundbreaking by any standard!” - Steve Godrich
2: Doom
Long before anyone turned out the lights, Doom set the standard for FPS games to come. A brutal and bloody trip into Hell itself and the game that put iD on the map.
Demons, shotguns and blood… what more could a man ask for?
“The game that revolutionized 3D action and really emphasized the importance of unnecessarily large firearms. ” - Corwin B
“We pooped our pants when we first saw this” - Trevor Storey
1: Elite
David Braben and Ian Bell’s Elite takes pride of place in our number one spot. The mix of space travel and trading captured the imagination of players back in the Eighties with its stark wireframe graphics and sandbox environment.
“Part imagination (you make your own story), vast exploration, a challenge to master (combat, docking), levels and ranking, upgrades, buy and sell narcotics, fugitive, dangerous … ace” - Andy H
“Take your time, cruise the galaxy in clean wire-frame ships (on a C64 that is), collect floating cargo, chase asteroids and watch out for witch space. ” - Wallace McGee
“Best game ever” - Thomas Taylor
“A simple a game by todays standard but back in the day I remember wanting to get home to see if I can be anything but Mostly Harmless. ” - Andrew Nixon
“The only game I played for weeks on end when the Spectrum was never turned off and I could run home from school and do a couple of drug and slave runs in my lunch break. Not so much of a game as a way of life.” - Stephen Parkes
