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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 20 | THE ESSENTIAL 100, PART TWO
1UP's Essential 100, Part Two
More of the most important games of all time, as chosen by you!
Last month, we kicked off our Essential 100 series with its first chapter, a series of retrospectives on the games ranked from 100 through 76. This week, we continue the countdown with our second installment, which covers numbers 75 through 51. Every day this week, we'll publish another five retrospectives (in sequence) counting down your picks and ours.
The rankings in part one seemed to inspire a bit of criticism, which is almost inevitably the case when countdowns and rankings are involved. But in this case, that negativity is misplaced, because these rankings are everyone's choice! The Essential 100 is easily the most democratic thing that's ever happened at 1UP. Both the readers and the creators of 1UP came together to build this list. If you don't like the results, it's as much your fault as it is ours!
Here's how we built this list. Months ago, we posted polls via blogs, boards, and social media to grill 1UP readers on their picks for most important games ever. Meanwhile, 1UP editors and contributors created their own list. We tallied up the results, creating two lists of 100 games apiece (the readers' list and the editors' list), then added up the combined total score of each game from the two lists (one point for entry 100, two points for entry 99, etc.) and reranked them into a single unified list. This combined list gives equal weight to contributor and community picks, meaning the Essential 100 isn't simply the results of 1UP's staff lording over things from on high. You helped shape this series, too, and we couldn't have predicted the outcome. Your input kept things interesting.
We won't pretend it's a perfect list. Given the caprices of the site's writers and audience, it skews toward console-based. Key games that had a tremendous impact in countries besides the U.S. won't always receive the recognition they deserve; for instance, UK classic Elite is nowhere to be seen. Chalk it up the foibles of mortality. We'd still stack this list up against any other, because it was shaped with the input of hundreds of people, which makes for a pretty healthy statisical sample. Read through this week's entries and see if you agree. -- Jeremy Parish
MONDAY, AUGUST 20
One of the most notable uses of hell as other people left an indelible mark on the rest series.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21
If you want to know why Sony ruled the 32-bit generation, the proof is in the puppy.
No. 66: Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Westwood Studios' classic RTS pushed an entire genre forward with Cold War kitsch.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22
Capcom's second attempt at survival horror had the protégé besting his master.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24
Sega's ambitious action adventure didn't catch on as intended, but the series brought many ideas to the forefront.
With arcade immediacy and PC depth, Metroid demonstrated the unique potential of consoles.
Capcom's second step away from survival horror rescued the action genre on PS2.
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Comments (19)
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My VIGs (Very Important Games) On This List
Posted: Jan 20, 2014 12:00AM PST by KENSHERMAN
My most important games on this list are #52 -54, 60, 67 - 69, and 72. 60 is addictive and OMG 52 and 53 are my heart!
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or not
Posted: Aug 27, 2012 12:00AM PST by SuperSledge
I didn't choose these games
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Well
Posted: Aug 28, 2012 12:00AM PST by Maver1ck_Zer0
did you vote? If not you probably shouldn't be complaining.
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Looking forward to seeing where...
Posted: Aug 26, 2012 12:00AM PST by Hunterman328
... or if Star Control 1 or 2, Herzog Zwei, X-Wing vs Tie Fighter, and Below the Root makke the list, if they haven't already, I'll have to check.
I can't imagine anything but Pong as number 1, but with lists like this you never know. It could end up being Pooyans.
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one man's top 100 list is exactly that: One man's own list.
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by HappyGreggy
One man's top 100 could very well be another person's list of games to avoid...
I respect the fact that the author presents positive aspects of each game that have been described.
IMHO, there are games here that don't really belong on any top 100 list... I think that the widely varying age differences between generations of gamers cause these discrepancies.
For example, to one person Bioshock can be a masterpiece, and to another it's just another trivial me-too FPS without interest. And both are right.
This is clearly not anywhere near the definitive top 100 because it's too polarized through the eyes of a single person or a very limited group.
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I See What You're Saying. . .
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by Pacario
...but any fair-minded, objective individual would have to at least admit that Bioshock was an ambitious, quality title.
The subjective element might lie instead in whether the game truly belongs on a Top 100 list, but calling Bioshock "trivial" or "me-too" would be disingenuous and simply wrong.
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No, it's not far from wrong
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by Apathetic_Prick
Bioshock was intended as a spiritual successor to the System Shock franchise, and in that respects, it emulates a lot of ideas presented in those games. So did Doom 3So did Deus Ex. The guys who made Bioshock also made System Shock 2; they didn't make the first one. No FPS today has even come close to achieving what the original System Shock did, in body or spirit.
Further, they botched the "all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful" opponent fo Ayn Rand with a penis. There's plenty of that in any Terry Goodkind or Tom Clancy novel.
That said, Pacario, just because people lack the knowledge and experience does not mean that they should write off those who do. It's great that you have an opinion, but it sounds like you need a little more experience to back it up. It doesn't just talk.
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"Trivial" and "Me-Too"
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by Pacario
Bioshock is one of the most creative games of this generation, with an intelligent, philosophical story (relatively speaking), intriguing mechanics, a haunting, immersive atmosphere, and top notch production values. The game isn't flawless, of course, but it stands as a highpoint of design for this generation in many areas.
And yes, the System Shock series is excellent, but it's been well over ten years since the last one and neither detracts from Bioshock's own contribution to the form. And remember, Bioshock is primarily a console title, and by that standard, the game was pretty groundbreaking.
Nevertheless, if you really want to label Bioshock as 'me-too' and 'trivial' despite its many merits, then be my guest. But I'm glad you aren't out there reviewing games for a living.
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Bioshock wasn't THAT creative...
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by Bandersnatch786
Nor was the "story" any sort of good. It was extremely predictable. Even though I enjoyed playing through the game, I didn't find anything original about it. The only "creativity" I see in Bioshock is 2K's execution of meshing all those gameplay elements (again, which were not original) together.
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But Successfully...
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by Pacario
..."meshing all those gameplay elements" together is kind of the trick, isn't it? And in 2007, the compelling, tightly intertwined, survival horror(ish) experience Bioshock provided was unlike anything else on the console market, especially from a first-person perspective.
Here's hoping Bioshock Infinite retains the original's magic of weaving an interesting narrative with a captivating, fantastical world.
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title
Posted: Aug 22, 2012 12:00AM PST by bullet656
Any list that claims to be the definitive (or essential) list of anything that is opinion is exaggerating. I think most people know this. Of course this list is based on the opinions of the people who made it. But it’s more than just one person’s opinion. They asked for lists from the 1up community in a blog and in the threads. If you go back and look at them a bunch of people responded. Everyone in the 1up office also made lists, and they combined the two to come up with this list. That’s a pretty good and interesting way to do this, in my opinion. If I remember correctly, Jeremy explained how they put it together in the comments sections of the cover story of games 100-75.*
*edit. Well, that's what I get for reading the comments before the article. He actually explains it in the text of this very article also.
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As for Bioshock
Posted: Aug 22, 2012 12:00AM PST by bullet656
I have to sort of agree. It would probably be somewhere around 73 on my list of favorite games, but I don’t think it belongs on this list of games that are supposed to be the most important games ever. But then again, that’s just my opinion. Obviously others disagree.
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I have the right to dislike Bioshock !!
Posted: Sep 04, 2012 12:00AM PST by stf111
''For example, to one person Bioshock can be a masterpiece, and to another it's just another trivial me-too FPS without interest. And both are right.'' Great comment, spot on. Some people think it is a masterpiece while others like me find it very average. I hope my profile does not get deleted again for disrespecting Bioshock.
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Essential Games or Essential Series?
Posted: Aug 21, 2012 12:00AM PST by Pacario
Because the King's Quest piece (#74) examines the entire series, not a specific game in the series. Which, from looking at all the other individual entries on the list, seems like a contradiction in terms.
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