The Official UKFF Top 50 Games List

[tiger_rick]

Great job, black2, you are the fucking man.

 

Here's my list. It's weighted towards sports games, sorry.

 

1. Championship Manager 2001/02

 

The best, most playable, most addictive, most downright satisfying game of the best series of football games ever made. This game was perfect; it was the peak of Football Manager games. There is a fine line between a game being realistic and allowing you to feel like you are really the manager and a game requiring so much attention that it just becomes impossible to play.

 

2. WWF Wrestling Challenge (Arcade)

 

This game was just light years ahead of anything else around when it was made. The graphics were incredible and the game play was difficult to believe. Money was a luxury when I was a kid and this thing could make me put my precious cash into it, one 20p after another. It was like a drug habit. I would've robbed my granny to play this game but fortunately, she paid me for doing the garden and going for the papers, so I didn't have to mug her.

 

3. Olympic Gold (1992)

 

The master system had a few beauties but none better than this. There was a way to win this game, it involved rubbing 2 fingers across the A & B buttons really fast instead of tapping them. This required you to put a sock on your hand to stop friction burns but we'd play it for so long that the sock would eventually melt away and we'd get blisters. I can only think of one game I’ve ever owned that caused me to blister my hands, ruin my socks and break two joypads. This is it.

 

4. Sensible Soccer

 

A revolutionary football sim. Better than anything that came before it and anything that came after it for the next 5 years. Everything from the real life data, the overhead view, the editing mode, the swerve shots and the slew of red cards made this incredible. Officially the best use of pixels ever.

 

5. Championship Manager 93/94

 

For it's time, a remarkable game. More addictive than anything I'd encountered in my life up to that point. In the first 16 years of my life, there were only 2 things I'd rather do in life than kick a football about, kiss girls and play Champ Manager. It was just words on a screen when it came down to it, lots of people didn't get it but to the wannabe football manager, it was amazing.

 

6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)

 

Still my favourite platform/shoot 'em up game ever. Again, a game that you would happily waste weeks and weeks of pocket money trying to crack. As the "Continue?" message counted down from 10, I'd race around the arcade shouting "Mam, can I have another 20p, please? Please, just one more?". Also, at a time when fun multi-player games were quite rare, this allowed you to have 4 players at once. Incredible.

 

7. Horace goes Skiing (Speccy)

 

The speccy had a lot of decent games, despite the limitations but this was the best of the lot. All you had to do was get your little bundle of pixels across a road and then ski down a hill without breaking your leg. In today’s world, kids would probably rather hang themselves than play this but back then, it was hours and hours of fun. Even after you'd done it, you still wanted to do it faster and faster and faster.

 

8. Pro-Evolution Soccer 5

 

The peak of the series. Pro-evo is the undisputed king of footy sims in the 21st century and this beauty was the pick of the lot. Realistically frustrating and incredibly playable. "Just one more game!"

 

9. Mario-Kart (N64)

 

I love driving games but this is my favourite. The driving aspect is pretty safe but the characters, the obstacles and the weapons combined with a terrific multi player mode make this an awesome game to play over and over.

 

10. Tetris

 

Freakishly playable. A game that's always different and you can play over and over again. The bit where the blocks start falling too fast to be able to react to them is mind boggling but ace.

 

11. Sonic 2 (Megadrive)

 

Fantastic, fast paced, game, better than anything I'd seen on a home games machine to that point. So many different ways to complete each level, always something new to find on each go and really cute lickle animals thrown in for good measure.

 

12. The Ninja (Sega Master System)

 

Frustrating piece of crap this but brilliantly playable. Some bits just seemed impossible, trying to react to 3 or 4 baddies at once with accurate throws of the ninja star. I never completed it, I was too crap but I did love trying.

 

13. Streets Of Rage

 

Just beats out Street Fighter and Rampage on my list. The two player mode was great. Terrific fun with loads of action.

 

14. Theme Park

 

Just a bit preferable to Sim City for me. Loved this game. Who wouldn't want to make a theme park? Ultra playable, stood up to tons and tons of repeat play and offered great rewards for sticking with it. The in ride graphics were crap but everything else was great.

 

15. Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker (Amiga)

 

Terrific sports sim. Sports games are my favourite and I could've picked loads but I like this one. The animation was fun, the game play was excellent and it felt like playing snooker. Also featured good AI players which is a rarity, they tend to vary little between someone who can pot a ball from anywhere and someone who deliberately mishits everything.

 

Edited July 6, 2009 by tiger_rick

[bAzTNM Fan]

My list:

 

1) Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 - Probably the mother of all multiplayer games. The multiplayer mode in this was executed so perfectly that I don

[Onyx2]

Here's all the genres listed by popularity. Doesn't tell you a great deal, particularly as in the modern age genres aren't quite so easy to pin down as they used to be. I also took the liberty of having 'wrestling' as its own genre due to the sheer amount of votes we were giving it. If I wasn't sure, I generally took the genre from Wiki, so "Action Driving" is GTA for example, and "Stealth Action" is MGS.

 

1. RPG

2. Platform

3. FPS

4. Fighting

5. Sport

6. Action Driving

7. Driving

8. Wrestling

9. Puzzle

10. Survival Horror

11. Point and Click

12. Stealth Action

13. Action Adventure

14. Football Management

15. Strategy

16. Rhythm Action

17. Shooter

18. RTS

19. Flight Sim

20. MMO

21. Management

22. Lightgun

23. Minigames

24. Karaoke

[Just Me]

12. The Ninja (Sega Master System)

 

Frustrating piece of crap this but brilliantly playable. Some bits just seemed impossible, trying to react to 3 or 4 baddies at once with accurate throws of the ninja star. I never completed it, I was too crap but I did love trying.

Now you're taking me back! ~

 

I never got past the bit that required crossing a stampede of horses. That was probably level 2...

[Keith Houchen]

12. The Ninja (Sega Master System)

 

Frustrating piece of crap this but brilliantly playable. Some bits just seemed impossible, trying to react to 3 or 4 baddies at once with accurate throws of the ninja star. I never completed it, I was too crap but I did love trying.

Now you're taking me back! ~

 

I never got past the bit that required crossing a stampede of horses. That was probably level 2...

According to some games magazine or other, I held the high score record for this game for about 6 months. Not because I was brilliant at it but I could only find 4 of the 5 scrolls needed to get in to the castle, as a result you warped back to level 4 with your current score intact. Repeat this until you run out of lives, take a picture of your telly and there you go, a legend in your own lunchtime.

[Onyx2]

Guess I should show my hand too:

 

1. Streets of Rage 2 I must have completed this more times than any other. A lot gets talked about the soundtrack, and that is superb, but the sound effects are overlooked. It's so visceral and meaty, every hit sounds like a head-ringing concussion which gives each blow satisfying feedback. The debug menu unlocks even more ways to enjoy it. Great with friends, great on your own... it's a classic formula which was never even copied properly, let alone developed.

 

2. TIE Fighter I am a Star Wars mark yes, but the design, setting and interface of this game is perfect. You start as a lowly cadet earning his stripes, and as you go through missions you earn stripes and friends. But the clever twist is the ongoing subplot of the Emperor's Hand, goading you into doing secret missions alongside your official business. It captured a feeling of being all alone on a crappy cargo escort mission, when suddenly a Mon Calamari cruiser hypers in with a squadron of B-Wings and it's up to you to rout them. Taking out a Star Destroyer by yourself is where it's at.

 

3. Street Fighter IV The most recent iteration of the sublime beat-em-up series, but I suspect it will continue to offer fruit. The balancing of characters is great, the system has miles of depth but crucially is open to novices, and you can stack some great character design in with that too.

 

4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City It's a groundbreaking system-selling monster and this title represents the perfect moment, adding a layer os serious/silly setting to the classic soundtrack, and the most perfect example of sandbox emergent gameplay.

 

5. Fallout 3 A mesmerising, stunning world built from the ground up. You start with a great setting and then layer a cast of hundreds into it. I

love how no two games are truly the same, and the mix of FPS and VATS is a great compromise in combat. Just a beautiful universe, and I can't wait for more content.

 

6. Silent Hill 2 Easily the best of a superb series. Chilling, thought-provoking and genuinely scary in a genre packed with pain-by-numbers yawnfests. The multiple endings, the use of light, PYRAMID HEAD~!, the multi difficult level thing

[The Dart]

I was going to vote for Perfect Dark toward the lower end of my list, between 11-15, but couldn't remember what it was called, and even when trying to look it up I still couldn't find it.

 

I guessed Goldeneye or a GTA would win. Goldeneye is such a tremendous game, me and my brother used to play it for hours. I wish I still had it.

[JLM]

Many thanks to Garrence for putting this together. Kudos for the presentation and write-ups.

 

Right, I tried to avoid commenting in the hope of doing a humongoid rundown of the top 100 (and my handful of games that didn't even make that!).

 

Here it comes y'all:

 

100. Quake

 

Classic, seminal, almost legendary, but not something I played much. Whinehouse played the Saturn version to death. I noted that it always had a great atmosphere about it. Never got to play it online (where it was huuuugely popular) and the main benefit of it in my own experience was that the Saturn version was instrumental in unlocking Death Tank.

 

99. Silent Hill 3

 

Love this game and I'm glad it made the 100. Number 2 quite rightly gets the lion's share of the praise, but I always felt like 3 got a bit of a raw deal. The whole haunted house sequence is absolutely amazing. Love it, and I like that it ties in so directly with the first game.

 

98. Team Fortress 2

 

Never played it. Ever. Love some of the ideas it has and it looks to have bags of personality about it too. Really must pick up the Orange Box one of these days, to try this and to play more Portal.

 

97. Grand Theft Auto

 

Fond memories of this. Good sense of humour, wonderfully rebellious and fresh when it first came out and a lot of fun to play. My favoruite GTA along with San Andreas.

 

96. Shenmue II

 

A masterpiece, probably a better game than the first one, but the first one is what initially blew me away and thus stole my vote. Agonisingly unsatisfying ending to pave way for a sequel we'll never see.

 

95. Beyond Good and Evil

 

Never played it, heard good things but I have nothing relevant to add.

 

94. Pokemon Gold / Silver

 

Pokemon is brilliant. I went with Diamond and Pearl, edging out red/blue/yellow/green which edged out these two purely because I never owned the carts for these and played them later on emulator. They become a lot less personal and thus less likely to become all time favourites when experienced like that.

 

93. The Sims

 

Bleh. I love initially building the house and designing the family, but once the game starts I get bored beyond all belief within about... ooh. three minutes. Then I kill them, which is mildly amusing. Far too successful a series in my view.

 

92. Dynasty Warriors 4

 

I love mindless, repetitive hack and slash but I've never taken to the Warrriors games. They don't hold my attention for very long. I can appreciate the appeal, I like the art style and the fun historical context, but they're not for me on the whole.

 

91. Mortal Kombat II

 

The best MK game. Memorable and sensibly sized roster, solid gameplay and fantastic atmosphere and character design. The series got watered down and devalued in every conceivable way from this point on. Even as the best MK game though, it's still a painfully average beat'emup to play and is soundly trounced by 99% of Capcom and SNK's offerings amongst others. Raiden makes AMAZING noises though. HADDIFADDIJAAAAAAAAAA. AGGIBABIYIIIIIIIIII. Beautiful.

 

90. CounterStrike

 

Not played it. Online PC FPS games have almost exclusively passed me by because I didn't have a PC or internet connection good enough, and by the time I did I had consoles that offered good online play themselves.

 

89. Sensible Soccer

 

Few games in existence are as playable as Sensi. Fast, supremely responsive and blessed with that supernatural after-touch that facilitates some of the most absurd goals you'll ever see. Love it, and pleased to see it represented a couple of times on the list.

 

 

88. Theme Hospital

 

Heh, good call. Some of the diseases and treatments were absolutely inspired and it was very addictive indeed. I preferred Theme Park but I loved this almost as much.

 

87. Donkey Kong Country 3

 

Only played this in hindsight via emulator but it's always felt like a good addition. If I'd have included a DKC it'd probably be the first one for nostalgia, but I didn't like any of them quite enough to make the voting. Mario and Sonic's 2D outings are largely better than any of these.

 

86. Pokemon Diamond / Pearl (JLM's number 8)

 

Great, great game and one that has consumed hours upon hours of boring journey time. This made my list, so here's the spiel I sent to Black2:

 

Never has an RPG hooked me and eaten up so many train journeys as Pokemon. I had Pokemon blue, but the latest incarnation on the DS is the best of the bunch for me. Love it. Turn-based battles at a pace that doesn't bore me senseless. The constant lure of more and more monsters to add to your collection, lovely aesthetics and a hell of a lot of strategy and forward planning.

 

85. Golden Axe

 

Immensely satisfying hack and slashery. The sound effects are fantastic and some of the music is great too. Gameplay is good, though unfair at times. The AI can be easily fooled into walking into pits of death, which is always good for a laugh.

 

Always thought it was a bit skewed in that Tyris is blatantly the best character. Her magic absolutely smokes the others' and her swordplay isn't nearly bad enough to balance it out. Fond memories of playing this on my Mega Drive, but Streets of Rage is so much better that there's no way I could justify listing this.

 

84. The Warriors

 

Definitely one of the best movie licensed games I've played. Not much more to add. Wouldn't have made my list but I don't begrudge it a spot.

 

83. Sensible World of Soccer 96/97

 

See comments on Sensi above.

 

82. Timesplitters 3: Future Perfect

 

Good stuff. Plenty of love for this series, though I've played number 2 the most by some distance. Insane array of characters, tongue in cheek humour, great weapon set (helped by the time travelling gimmick) and a nicely varied range of scenarios and weirdness in the campaign mode. Tremendous deathmatching fun to be had, and the extra challenge modes and other bits and pieces are great value. I enjoy killing people with the flare gun.

 

81. King of Colosseum II

 

Didn't play this. I do have King of Colosseum Green though, and love it. Closest thing to Firepro in 3D. I like the powerball system and the solid, weighty wrestling engine. Good stuff, though I still rate VPW2 and Firepro Returns more highly.

 

80. Grim Fandango

 

Passed me by, though I have vivid pictures of the characters from it and memories of the glowing praise it received on release. I've hardly played any of the Lucas Arts adventure games come to think of it. I've missed out.

 

79. Mega Man 2

 

I've always found the Mega Man series to be overrated and quite mediocre. Sorry.

 

78. Championship Manager 00/01

 

Not played it. Got very addicted to FM2007 though, so I can see how these games consume lives and get votes. Fair enough inclusion on that basis.

 

77. Panzer Dragoon Saga

 

Didn't play this. Something of a sin as a Saturn owner I know. Warms my heart to see any Saturn games make the list, and Whinehouse loves this game to death, so yay for it making the 100.

 

76. Guitar Hero 2

 

It is so wrong that GH 3 is in the 50 and this isn't. Better difficulty grading, note placement, set list, everything except some admittedly poor cover versions is better than GH3. Rock Band beats this, but only just.

 

75. Resident Evil

 

Modern classic. Love it. Filled with iconic moments, memorably horrific dialogue and essentially defined its genre. I prefer the Silent Hill series as a whole (Aside from Resi 4, which is fucking outstanding and even tops Silent Hill 2 for me) but I have much love for Resi. I wish I were the Master of Unlocking.

 

74. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

 

Great stuff. Damn near flawless gameplay and, like any good highscore game, fiendishly addictive. If I were to vote for an extreme/alternative sports game I'd go for the criminally underrated Freekstyle, but I have no beefz with the Hawk making the 100.

 

73. Rollercoaster Tycoonp

 

Love this. Preferred Theme Park's tongue in cheek approach, but still have a lot of time for this game too. The dark appeal of building DOOMED rollercoasters never really fades either.

 

72. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

 

Liked this a lot, particularly the art style. Didn't finish it though, and I don't like to give too strong an opinion on it because of that.

 

71. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

70. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty

 

The first MGS game just missed out on my list and is an all-time favourite, which makes it strange that I've never played the others. I own numbe 2 and number 3 but have never given them time because I have too much other stuff to do. Some day....

 

69. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi

Edited July 6, 2009 by JLM

[Chris_Stone]

100. Quake

 

Classic, seminal, almost legendary, but not something I played much. Whinehouse played the Saturn version to death. I noted that it always had a great atmosphere about it. Never got to play it online (where it was huuuugely popular) and the main benefit of it in my own experience was that the Saturn version was instrumental in unlocking Death Tank.

 

Quake is fantastic and actually made my top 15. Just as a quick note which may interest some, they rereleased Quake 3 for free with some updates over at www.quakelive.com with an all new ranking and match making system.

 

I forgot to vote for so many fantastic games which i've seen on the lists here, toe jam and earl being one of, as well as forgetting about streets of rage, how could i possibly have done that? :o

 

Anyway, good list, would be nice to see the 45 games which got voted as number 1's on peoples list though, i'm guessing quite a few appeared in the top 50 already, but still

[neil]

Wow. No DOOM in the Top 100.

 

I must be getting old.

[Chest Rockwell]

I loved DOOM, but FPS games have evolved too much since it, and there are so many better ones to choose from in recent years...

[Onyx2]

Games that got ranked first and how many times it was voted into 1st:

 

GoldenEye 007 (6)

Final Fantasy VII (4)

Streets of Rage 2 (3)

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2)

Silent Hill 2 (2)

Tetris (2)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (2)

Championship Manager 01/02 (2)

WWE SmackDown: Here Comes The Pain (2)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2)

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (2)

Madden 09 (1)

Half Life 2 (1)

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 (1)

Metal Gear Solid (1)

Frontier: Elite 2 (1)

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (1)

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi

[Just Me]

39. Shenmue (JLM's number 6)

 

Only in Harvest Moon have I spent so much time just dicking around in a game. Buying collectible capsule toys, playing arcade games, occasionally continuing the quest. A staggering achievment of a game in every respect. It's a damn shame this story will seemingly never be completed. I was hoping GTA IV might resurrect some of that magic, but it didn't even come close.

Maybe a stupid question, but have you played Yakuza/Yakuza 2? For me they're the closest thing to Shenmue, though they have pros and cons all of their own.

[FLips]

Where was Shadow of the beast? How many people voted for it

[Onyx2]

Where was Shadow of the beast? How many people voted for it

 

200, 1.