Rllmuk Top 100 Games 2017

[Loik V credern]

16 hours ago, nakamura said:

.I wrote this about it two years ago.

 

http://www.retrocollect.com/Articles/debate-is-goldeneye-64-actually-an-arcade-game.html

 

I hoped that would be longer ! But yeah I agree - I picked up the N64 Retrogamer collection book where there was a feature on GoldenEye revealing so many tricks the developers used to make it work. The game being influenced by Virtual Cop 2 was new to me. I genuinely was thrilled playing Frigate. I don't play FPSs anymore, I hate ragdoll physics for one. I only ever played a few. Zero Tolerance, Doom, Quake was like a horror, Time Splitters was so much irreverent fun. And then adventure FPSs, war FPSs where the focus was elsewhere and you're covering bigger areas. Halo prompted the coinage of '15 seconds of fun' in repetition, but I never got it. Shooting aliens was never nearly as satisfying. The controls were superb, but strafing as in GoldenEye as you unload onto a group of soldiers ? It didn't compare, Halo.

 

It just never got old, ever. I just loved shooting those soldiers. 

 

I don't think games age - I think if they were playable then they're playable now. Tomb Raider was never playable. I was in awe of it, but I didn't play the hell out of it like I did GoldenEye. Perfect Dark had framerate issues that on the higher difficulty settings meant accuracy wasn't easy. GoldenEye had slowdown during multiple explosions but that was it. Perfect Dark was obviously one of the most creatively ambitious games ever, but like with Time Splitters 2 the designers lose sight of the immediacy that the previous game enjoyed. I guess the limitations and lack of time made for smaller levels and more enemies to make up for less mission objectives, and story related stuff that just ends up getting the way of what you yearn for, which is being confined with too many enemies to handle.

[cerseis eyebrows]

Playing Horizon Zero Dawn at the moment. It's really fun! It's certainly better than Red Dead, which I ditched. The combats actually tense and exciting! 

[nakamura]

4 minutes ago, pervent aline perio grow d said:

 

I hoped that would be longer ! But yeah I agree - I picked up the N64 Retrogamer collection book where there was a feature on GoldenEye revealing so many tricks the developers used to make it work. The game being influenced by Virtual Cop 2 was new to me. I genuinely was thrilled playing Frigate. I don't play FPSs anymore, I hate ragdoll physics for one. I only ever played a few. Zero Tolerance, Doom, Quake was like a horror, Time Splitters was so much irreverent fun. And then adventure FPSs, war FPSs where the focus was elsewhere and you're covering bigger areas. Halo prompted the coinage of '15 seconds of fun' in repetition, but I never got it. Shooting aliens was never nearly as satisfying. The controls were superb, but strafing as in GoldenEye as you unload onto a group of soldiers ? It didn't compare, Halo.

 

It just never got old, ever. I just loved shooting those soldiers. 

 

I don't think games age - I think if they were playable then they're playable now. Tomb Raider was never playable. I was in awe of it, but I didn't play the hell out of it like I did GoldenEye. Perfect Dark had framerate issues that on the higher difficulty settings meant accuracy wasn't easy. GoldenEye had slowdown during multiple explosions but that was it. Perfect Dark was obviously one of the most creatively ambitious games ever, but like with Time Splitters 2 the designers lose sight of the immediacy that the previous game enjoyed. I guess the limitations and lack of time made for smaller levels and more enemies to make up for less mission objectives, and story related stuff that just ends up getting the way of what you yearn for, which is being confined with too many enemies to handle.

I actually found out about the Virtua Cop stuff the night I published it. I sent it to @striderto read and then he told me.

 

Goldeneye is so much better that people seem to give credit for. It was a truly amazing videogame and still remains so today. The structure and ways you can play the game never get old. It's much better than Perfect Dark, that lacked consistency and had far too many performance issues. 

 

 

[Benny]

TIME FOR A BONUS ROUND!

 

The following games were either one vote away or a hair's breadth from hitting the runner's up list. Slightly different top 20 orderings even could have seen many of them included. So think of them as the rest of those great games the forum loves but were not able to be included on a technicality. All of these games included had at least 5 votes, compared to a few games in the top 100 that even only had 4 votes at times.

 

Overwatch

 

 

Original format: PC/PS4/XBone. Released: 2016

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

As we take a break and a moment to reflect on all the amazing games that have come out in the last few years, it’s Overwatch that I have kept going back to, time and time again. The sheer exuberance of the characters and the almost fighting game like balance of the abilities is truly something special, which no amount of toxic playerbase can take away.

 

sprite: “Oooh, controversial.  Sometimes it absolutely does my head in, but the fact is I've played it for a year and 3 months consistently, sometimes for so many hours my eyes went blurry.  Much fun has been had.  And it's so pick up and play approachable that it will introduce a lot of people to the genre who never considered it before.”

 

Jolly: “Winston, the cheerful, blue space gorilla who is definitely not inspired by Beast from X-Men, opens Overwatch with a stirring call to arms. I've played this game an awful bloody lot (it completely dominated my Summer of '16, to the point that over games just felt like they were getting in the way) but I still occasionally feel the need to sit through his lovable half-Churchill-the-man and half-Churchill-the-dog schtick. It's a perfect appetiser for the game ahead; offering the chance to shine but also promising the awesome, high-fiving potential of good teamwork. And it's in the classic curriculum vitae attributes of working well in a group but also independently, that make Overwatch so incredibly addictive. It's impossible to succeed alone, you have to work together. But when you send D.Va's exploding mech into the middle of a bunch of foo's you'll feel like a total dude. Or perhaps you'll proudly toot Bastion's kazoo, transform into a tank, turn the game into your favour, and nod and smile like they do on the telly. Or maybe you'll produce a gauntlet of Symettra's turrets so deviously placed you'll have no choice but to leap from the sofa, beat your chest and proudly declare that this is your house. Maybe you'll get the Play of the Game, maybe you won't, but at some point you will likely have felt like a total hero AND like a cog in a unstoppable machine. You're in the God damn Overwatch, man, and sweet Jesus it feels good.”

 

 

Quake 3: Arena

 

 

Original format: PC. Released: 1999

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

Back in the day this was THE online frag-em-up, and to my mind more pure and more perfect than Unreal Tournament. It was endless brilliant gibbing fun. It’s a shame this style of game has fallen out of favour of late.

 

bradigor: “My introduction into online FPS on a console using a Dreamcast. Probably not the greatest online FPS of all time, but one that holds a special place in my heart.”

 

 

 

F-Zero

 

 

Original format: SNES. Released: 1990

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

Perhaps now eclipsed by its younger and fresher and faster children, this is still a punishingly hard and satisfying racer.

 

nakamura: “I still adore this and it's still plays incredibly well. Super Play have reviewed it twice and got it wrong both times. It is challenging, exciting and requires real skill to beat. One of the first home console racers I can remember where it actually felt like you are in a race.”

 

 

 

Everybody's Golf World Tour (5 votes)

 

 

Original format: PS3. Released: 2007

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

A completely new one to me that I have not played, in fact I don’t think I played any of the series, but you lot voted for so many Everybody’s Golf games it’s kind of sad it didn’t get into the list.

 

bradigor again: “Again, looking back I have sunk a crap ton of time into this and despite not being great at it, this is a comfort game, one I can happily go back to time and time again. The core game is repetitive and simple, but that simplicity works wonderfully well and make repeating the same process over and over never get dull.”

 

 

Soul Calibur

 

 

Original format: Dreamcast. Released: 1999

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: 89, number of votes: 5.)

 

No longer having the clout it once did, I still think the original Soul Calibur was the best ever in the series, as it got gradually watered down and spoiled. I said this in 2015:

 

“While this originally came out in the Arcade in 1998, the Dreamcast version is the reference here. Why? Well, vastly improved graphics, stupendously huge amounts of single player longevity due to the amazing mission mode, and the fact that you can play it with the Dreamcast fishing controller all add up.

 

After numerous sequels, the original Soul Calibur is still the one that stands the test of time. Namco had a rather distressing desire to add ever more absurd characters to each iteration and the balance of the game was also all over the place in later installments, so if you want the purest Calibur experience, go for this.

 

Back then, there was nothing like it visually - the attract sequence on the Dreamcast could even be edited to add all of your favourite characters to the mix, and it is still impressive to watch today. Unusually for a fighting game, the soundtrack was incredibly epic and beautifully composed, and combined with the fact that it was actually a viable single player experience it felt like a tremendously high budget, meaty package. The fighting system was a brilliantly elegant mix of horizontal and vertical weapon swings, parries, and careful use of 3D space. Many a match would be won to a ring out using the shape of the stages to your advantage.

 

It’s a shame the sequels never quite lived up to the incalculable heights reached by the original Dreamcast release, but for many fans the soul still burns…”

 

Darwok: “I was really tempted to put Soul Edge, which I still prefer for the music and elements like weapon clashes and losing your weapon entirely, but you can't deny the massive step forward that Soul Calibur made. It just screamed quality. Another one that is sad to reflect on in hindsight, with where Namco ended up taking it.”

 

 

[Stanley]

14 minutes ago, G a r n e t s B a r n e t said:

Playing Horizon Zero Dawn at the moment. It's really fun! It's certainly better than Red Dead, which I ditched. The combats actually tense and exciting! 

The combat is all it's got, and that's messy and disorienting.  It doesn't hold up well at 30fps. Anyway, most other people seem to agree as it's nowhere to be seen. Flavour of the month if ever there was one.

[mdn2]

So we've got Breath of the Wild, Resident Evil 4 and what else remaining?

[Starbreaker]

3) Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

2) Wargasm 

1) Any Kw*lee game 

 

I can't see it being anything else. 

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, mdn2 said:

So we've got Breath of the Wild, Resident Evil 4 and what else remaining?

Horizon Zero Dawn.

[Benny]

I've just narrowed it down for you. Everybody's Golf is out.

[mdn2]

1 minute ago, Stanley said:

Horizon Zero Dawn.

Ah. Then I predict:

3. Horizon

2. Resident Evil 4

1. Breath of the Wild

 

With so much modern stuff in this top 100, if we do this again in a couple of years, it'll be interesting to see what sticks around.

[Benny]

Think about games that were in the 2015 list you haven't seen yet and are incredibly popular with gamers. And also games that Rllmuk have really loved recently.

[Stanley]

Just now, mdn2 said:

Ah. Then I predict:

3. Horizon

2. Resident Evil 4

1. Breath of the Wild

[spatular]

3 hours ago, Benny said:

5. Halo: Combat Evolved

 

Original format: Xbox. Released: 2001

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: 5, number of votes: 33. Voted best game of all time by: Nick R, APM, spatular, And)

 

 

not sure I should point this out as halo is ace so i don't mind...but i didn't vote for it...

[Benny]

That means it was someone else then. Anyone want to help so I don't have to scour the List?

 

EDIT: found them.

[layten]

19 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Horizon Zero Dawn.

Wasn't even game of the week on release.  

[Mr Do 71]

21 minutes ago, mdn2 said:

So we've got Breath of the Wild, Resident Evil 4 and what else remaining?

 

Dishonored. 

 

[Stanley]

Just now, PC Master Race said:

Wasn't even game of the week on release.  

[Benny]

I've got 2 more bonus rounds coming up to help you.

[CovisGod]

I’m genuinely curious as to which the 3rd of the top 3 will be....BOTW and Resi 4 are a given ? What’s missing ?

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, CovisGod said:

I’m genuinely curious as to which the 3rd of the top 3 will be....BOTW and Resi 4 are a given ? What’s missing ?

It rhymes with pooper scenario curled.

[footle]

Fzero, on the SNES mini, finally made sense of all those epilepsy warnings.

[amc]

Wait a minute! Did Horizon ZD not even make the top 100? That's pretty surprising. Yeah I know, put your money where your mouth is and vote. I've marked it on my things to do in 2018 chart.

[Benny]

BONUS ROUND 2

 

 

Halo 3: ODST

 

 

Original format: X360. Released: 2009

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

You lot do lurve your Halo games… I like the concept of this one though, and it was nice that it included Halo 3’s multiplayer stuff.

 

No one did writeups unfortunately!

 

 

 

Super Meat Boy

 

 

Original format: X360. Released: 2010

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

Despite gaining more votes than in 2015, it’s one of those games I don’t think I’ll go back to now that I’ve come away from its maddening grasp. I did a mini write up back then:

 

“Speaking of genuinely angry - here is a game designed by absolute bastards. Single screen levels of platforming pain, with the delightful touch of showing you a replay of all of the previous failed attempts together once you complete each level to rub it in. It helps that you never genuinely feel that it is not your fault however, as the controls are some of the tightest and most rewarding outside of Mario titles.”

 

Jolly (again!): “Meat Boy may always be smiling, but it's obvious within seconds of starting that he hates you and your stupid fucking fingers. This game is ridiculously hard. Outrageously tough. It features levels that surely must have been put together by a spike fetishist in a huff. It strikes me as the kind of thing that the naughty kids at Nintendo (who sit at the back of the class and throw screwed up bits of paper at Miyamoto) would make if they were allowed to stop making games about magic triangles and moustaches. It's got that same lavish level of attention; that feeling that the placement of every single platform has been agonised over; that you only really find in Mario games. Its also got that same glorious level of tactility and control. The stickiness as you slide down the walls, the softness of the landing, the flap-flapping as he breaks into a run. Meat Boy was one of the first in a revival of rock hard platformers, but unlike others that seemed to reward a measured, thoughtful response, this rewards going hell-for-leather and making quick decisions on the fly. Its retro-inspired style has been used so many times now that it feels weirdly of its time, but although Meat Boy may not be as rare as he once was he is still exceptionally well done.”

 

 

Diablo III

 

 

Original format: PC. Released: 2012

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

Digital crack, that’s what Diablo 3 is. I remember playing the demo and sayong to myself: you can’t get this THING, as it’s just too addictive and will consume your life. Did I listen? No.

 

Vimster: “Blizzard pulled this out of the bin and it became one of the best action RPGs around. Was addicted to this for quite some time.”

 

Sabreman: “The only real contender for that number two spot. Over the past five years I've put a scary amount of time into it, and I still regularly play it all day.”

 

 

 

F-Zero GX

 

 

Original format: GC. Released: 2003

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

It was level pegging with it’s predecessor for a while then X pulled way ahead. Still a fabulous and gorgeous racer even today, many would say this was the best version of F-Zero ever made, and it wasn’t even an entirely Nintendo product!

 

Swishing round the tracks today makes one realise just how much of a shame it was that the Gamecube wasn’t more of a success, as it played host to nearly ALL of Nintendo’s great franchises and in truly superb form too.

 

But alas, we have yet to see another F-Zero game...

 

 

 

Forza Horizon 2

 

 

Original format: X360/XBone. Released: 2014

(2015 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A, number of votes: 5.)

 

Rllmuk absolutely loves Forza. This is just the Forza game that got the most votes, so you could argue by right it should be in the top 100 somewhere… But alas, Forza fans could not agree, and it’s only just missed out on a place. I have not played it myself, but if I wanted a realistic racer, this is definitely one place I’d look.

 

sprite says: “Forza Horizon 2, the game that sold me an Xbox One.”

 

[cerseis eyebrows]

What do people think of Metroid Prime Echoes? I never really see it talked about, seems forgotten. I've got an unplayed copy somewhere, wondered if it's worth starting up.

[Stanley]

Just now, G a r n e t s B a r n e t said:

What do people think of Metroid Prime Echoes? I never really see it talked about, seems forgotten. I've got an unplayed copy somewhere, wondered if it's worth starting up.

It's superb but be warned, it's hardcore. Even by Prime's standards it's difficult. Definitely worth your time though if you're prepared to put the effort in. 

[Untogether]

1 hour ago, Benny said:

I've just narrowed it down for you. Everybody's Golf is out.

 

Bloody hell, there's some real quality that didn't even make the top 100.

 

Given current player numbers the top 3 must be:

 

3. DOTA 2

2. League of Legends

1. Player Unknown's Battlegrounds

 

Must be.

[dataDave]

24 minutes ago, G a r n e t s B a r n e t said:

What do people think of Metroid Prime Echoes? I never really see it talked about, seems forgotten. I've got an unplayed copy somewhere, wondered if it's worth starting up.

 

It's my favourite of the trilogy. Funnily enough I wrote about it last night but then my post vanished after I dropped my mobile.  

Someone mentioned that LttP's Light/Dark world gimmick has yet to be beaten - I think Prime 2 came the closest though, and Dark Aether does not fuck around. Not one bit.

[BBBBBB]

Top 3 predictions

 

3. Mario Sunshine

2. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

1. EDF: Insect Armageddon/Resi 6 (tie)

[NEG]

It wasn't on my list, but Space Giraffe still holds a special place in my heart. As away from everything as you could possibly want.

[Loik V credern]

36 minutes ago, G a r n e t s B a r n e t said:

What do people think of Metroid Prime Echoes? I never really see it talked about, seems forgotten. I've got an unplayed copy somewhere, wondered if it's worth starting up.

 

I regret not finishing it at the time, which maybe says so much for how difficult it is to navigate because i adored Metroid Prime enough to play through it 3 times, once on Hard, and it remains my second favourite game. And I was still blown away by the visual design in Echoes early on, and Sanctuary Fortress is a genuine masterpiece. The art team created everything from scratch, didn't re use assets, were insanely talented and dedicated and what they achieved in a year was phenomenal. Gaming heaven for me, other than 4 player Micro Machines, is exploring an alien world as they created them in the Prime games. No other videogame worlds comes close to me.