Best Video Game Superlatives of All Time Awards

[Abe Sargent]

Hello!

I was thinking about my Top Video Games Series I have done across fourth different dynasties that I think were pretty fun and that I enjoyed. Earlier today I was thinking about the best video game superlatives of all time, and I thought that a look at the Best Of for various categories would be really cool! I could do an ongoing look at the Best of various categories, and then my award and why I think that games deserves it.

Here are my first four VGing dynasties:


The 30 Best Games - Abe's Top 30 Video Games of All Time - Front Office Football Central

The next 30 Games -
The Next 30: Abe's Top Video Games of All Time #62-#33 - Front Office Football Central

Back to 100 Games -

The Last 37 - The Last of Abe's Top 100 Video Games - All Done! - Front Office Football Central

Best 25 Games in the last 5 years

The Next 25 Video Games - UPDATED For 2015 - Front Office Football Central


Okay, I wanted to start with a good example, so I am going to run one superlative today, The Best Music in Video Gaming, and look at nomiations and my award tonight.


Awards:


Best Use of Music, All Time - Civilization IV
Best Story, All Time - Knights of the Old Republic
Best Most Influential Game of All Time - Half-Life
Best Casual Game of All Time - Tetris

[Abe Sargent]

The Best Use of Music in a Video Game, All Time


Our Nominations Are....

Civilization IV
Heroes of Might and Magic II
The Legend of Zelda
My Singing Monsters
To the Moon
Tropico


Why these six games?



Civilization IV - The main theme of Baba Yetu has won a Grammy.

Baba Yetu is the first song from a Video Game to be so honored, potentially knocking down doors for others to follow:



Heroes of Might and Magic II
HOMMII plays into an interesting place as a strategy and fantasy game. But what makes the music stand out is that it uses a different type and style of music for the game that perfectly blends fantasy and adventure that is not commonly seen in music - opera. The operatic soundtrack features a number of distinct and intriguing combinations that truly stood above peers.

Here is the Sorceress Town Theme as one example of operatic take successfully meshing the genre:




The Legend of Zelda - No theme song in the history of gaming is more iconic than the original Zelda. There is a soulful quality to it that came across even on the NES that just hit you in a way that no other theme song has before or since. It has game.




My Singing Monsters - This casual gaming app for mobile games has an entire game structure where you build up various islands over time, and each island has a different song that, as different mosters are placed, will build up the song until you have an intricately woven song, and you can turn off different monsters to hear others and solo other parts. It's use of music and songs is very different.

Here's one example of a built-up island, but again, you can choose to turn on and off certain monsters to get their voice added.




To the Moon - Because of the theatric qualities of the game, To the Moon uses music to showcase different character's feelings, thoughts, and core characteristics. In particular, River's Song is key part of the character, and appears at key times in the game, tying the various flavor aspects of the game perfectly together.





Tropico - Tropico is a great example of a game where the flavor of a game was evinced in everything, and the soundtrack was a perfect example of that. It used a heavy Caribbean latin tango soundtrack with more than two hours of songs included. It's also my favorite soundtrack as well, and I now own hundreds of songs in this genre in my iTunes, in case you care.

Here's the entire soundtrack. Hit play, and dance away.





Now which of those six will win? What was the best music out there for a video game? What did I miss? Of those six, which would you choose?


Oh, and by the way, I thought about Audiosurf becuase of how cool the idea of riding your own music is, but it's not creating it's own soundtrack, and seems like a cheat next to TLOZ or Baba Yetu, you know? For similar reasons, Guitar Hero and such aren't here either.

[Abe Sargent]

So which game wins, and why?

Great question!

Let's work backwards.

The first game out is To the Moon. While River's Song is certainly compelling, and its use of songs is more advanced than a lot of games, its not even the best theme song in the list, let alone the soundtrack and use of the song. It's out.


All five of our remaining candidates are reqlly high quality and could win this. They include flavor, opera, icons, great use of music in the game, and a Grammy award.

Next down is My Singing Monsters. Great idea, fun casual game for iphone and such, but not enough to clock here. Popular game though!

That leaves four...


And next out is Tropico. My personal favorite soundtrack and it's a real winner flavor, and that's flavor-ful flavor, flavor flavor. But flavor only gets you so far. I love it, but I can't let my personal view affect this.


That leaves Zelda, Civ IV, and HOMM2


Next...

[Abe Sargent]

What's left?

Next out is HOMM2. Being different was great. Opera in a fantasy game? Tell me more! It works. Very very well. I have all of the tracks from my CD copied into iTunes and more today. All powerful stuff. But not at the level of Zelda and Civ IV. Sorry.


So..........................


The winner?











Civilization IV


It's not just Baba Yetu, although that's a good place to start. When you win a Grammy, you are going to be a heavy contender. But Civ IV is also the best World Music soundtrack, both of the series and generaly at ca[ptureing everything else.

The full soundtrack is here:



I defy you to find a better, higher quality soundtrack to a game. Especially with a Grammy in your corner!






Now, sorry TLOZ! Dude, you have a couple of solid works there including the dungeon theme, but there's something special with Civ IV that you can't touch. Sorry Zelda!



Dungeon Theme:






Meanwhile, check out more of HOMM2 for more operatic goodness if you aren't familiarr with the series:

Knights:



Barbarians:



Warlocks:



Wizards:



Necromancers:




Thanks for reading the first win for Civ IV! Thoughts? Who would have been your choice? I intend to do best Story, character, and WTF moment. What else would you like me to do a superlative award for?

[Groundhog]

Interesting idea! I've actually opened Tropico and paused a game just to have the music on in the background while working on something else.

For my money though, I don't think anything can top Ocarina of Time. I still listen to the Symphonic version of the soundtrack on occasion going on almost 20 years after it was released.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Interesting idea! I've actually opened Tropico and paused a game just to have the music on in the background while working on something else.

For my money though, I don't think anything can top Ocarina of Time. I still listen to the Symphonic version of the soundtrack on occasion going on almost 20 years after it was released.

Glad you liked it so far! I think Civ IV was such an obvious win that I led with the music prize. Glad you liked Ocarina! It was a solid game, sure!

[Abe Sargent]

Next up...


Best Overall Story, All Time


This award looks at the video games that had the best overall story from beginning to end.

Good story crafting is not a part of a lot of games. Early video games didn't really care. What's the story of Pac-Man or Asteroids or Donkey Kong? For many genres, stories aren't something we really care about as much either. Sports? Sim? I mean, what's the story of SimCity or Madden?

And many stories aren't ' "good" stories, they are just derivative spinning of the wheel, like King's Quest, X-Com or Might and Magic. There's not a lot of meat to the bone.

But that has changed. Stories have increasingly become a key part of gaming at all levels. And thus, the value of a story that'd really compelling is important to the story. Even casual games have a lot of story these days, like builders and match 3 games and hidden object games.

So strap on in to the best stories in gaming history!

The Nominees for Best Story

Bioshock
Life is Strange
Knights of the Old Republic
Planescape: Torment
To the Moon
This War of Mine


Why these games?


Bioshock - Bioshock attempts to break out of the normal story telling convention by using great mythic arcs to show how bad man can be, and how off putting we can be. Just as we think we have found enlightenment and the true path, we are set back in major ways. There is a powerful mythic underpinning to the story that is deep.


Life is Strange - Ah yes, Life is Strange. Using time travel inventively to get information on someone and then use it on them to bond with them, you get a lot more character development than you would normally expect. It plays well with the genre, pushing a story that is not expected when you begin to reveal your time-bending prowess, but deep nonetheless, and requires an ultimate sacrifice.


Knights of the Old Republic - KOTOR is more authentically Star Wars than any Star Wars movie, it's that tethered to the franchise's core of redemption.


Planescape: Torment - When you lay aside the normal issue of death in a game, you allow yourself to be free to fully explore characters. And in this was one of the first where your choices mattered. Who are you?

To the Moon - I suspect this will likely be the last nomination for To the Moon for a while. But the story is really the best part about this game. It's the best game I ever read. The story here, without spoilers, still resonates deeply long after the game session ended.


This War of Mine - By lashing this game to the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia republic, this strategy game puts you in the role of War Survivors who have to make tough moral decisions to survive the war. Are you going to take medicine from old people who will likely die without it? Are you going to help children who need it? It's a strong game with a strong sense of the true Hell of War that nothing else really can convey.

[Izulde]

The Final Fantasy series would like a word with you about your omitting them completely from the OST list. I do love Tropico's OST myself, though - very relaxing.

To The Moon of course belongs in the Best Story nominee list, but I personally wouldn't include any of the others. It's not that they're bad - it's just that there's lots I rate higher (starting with Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and The Wolf Among Us, just to name three off the top of my head).

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Izulde

The Final Fantasy series would like a word with you about your omitting them completely from the OST list. I do love Tropico's OST myself, though - very relaxing.

To The Moon of course belongs in the Best Story nominee list, but I personally wouldn't include any of the others. It's not that they're bad - it's just that there's lots I rate higher (starting with Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and The Wolf Among Us, just to name three off the top of my head).

Heya, thanks for reading thus far!

I'm surprised you don't like a lot of my options for story...

[Abe Sargent]

On that note, let's begin to winnow down some of these awards:


This War of Mine - You did a good job. But you are a strategy game with a limited story. Visceral? Real? Uncomfortable? Sure! But not at the level of the other five.



Life is Strange - You are probably just happy to be nominated. You have a strong story, lots of development, but you aren't the top choice either. Thanks for playing though!


And that leaves four! Bioshock, KOTOR, To the Moon, and Torment.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let's knock off two more...


Bioshock - A very literary plot, but it's not one of the best stories of all time, sorry.


Planescape: Torment - All Torment is, is story. High quality character development. But at the end of the day, I consider it the 3rd best story I've played. Not bad! But not winning....


So what next? Of KOTOR and TTM, who is winning? Who has the best story?

[Groundhog]

I find This War of Mine an odd choice to be honest! Good game, and although its been awhile since I fired it up, I don't even remember there being a story!

Fallout: New Vegas would have to be one of my all time faves re: story and setting.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I find This War of Mine an odd choice to be honest! Good game, and although its been awhile since I fired it up, I don't even remember there being a story!

Fallout: New Vegas would have to be one of my all time faves re: story and setting.

I hear ya. NV is my fav of the series.

I do have, shortlisted for future, best world and Best use of IP in my gaming stuff as well.

[Abe Sargent]

Time for the win....



Best Use of Story, All Time:


Knights of the Old Republic

KOTOR is not an amazing game. Neither was it's competition of To the Moon. No one will remember KOTOR years down the road as this amazing gaming experience. Linking D&D rules to the Star Wars universe made no sense, and the game is pretty tame compared to other RPGS of the time.

But...

where Kotor wins is its story. That's what makes it great. I've read maybe 20 Star Wars novels, around 20 comics, watched every film, played many video games and watched every episode of the TV animated Clone Wars stuff. This is the single best story in the franchise I ever encountered, period. No story is more evocative of the flavor and character of Star wars than KOTOR.

And that's what it'll be remembered as.

I got my retired father to play it and love it because of the story. I have brought others to the game because of the story. It's an amazing fleshed out story. Story. Story.

And that's pretty much all KOTOR has. Mechanics? Meh. Game? Meh. Story? OMG!

You earned it!


Okay, let's do my next one...

[Abe Sargent]

Best Most Influential Game of All Time


A lot of people talk about the most influential game of all time. So, I want to take a look at games that were hugely influential as well as a blast to play. They need to have both going for them.

Influential - I am looking for something that was so influential that it punches above its weight and influenced outside of its genre. Take Pole Position. It's fun! It's influential. Every racing game after has lived in its shadows. But outside of racing....? Nothing. So it's not a nominee/


Blast to Play - The game also needs to be a blast to play. Some games might be influential (cough Populous cough) but aren't always a blast of fun. I want both.


And the one that will win this may surprise you.


With that understood, here are my nominees:

Adventure
Civilization
Grand Theft Auto III
Half-Life
The Legend of Zelda
Rogue
StarCraft
Super Mario Brothers
Tetris



Why these nominees:

Adventure - This Atari game was one of the best games of it's generation on the Atari system and was hugely influential on the Adventure genre that followed.

Civilization - The influence of Civ beyond turn-based strategy was considerable, and the game's addictive qualities are quite well known.

Grand Theft Auto III - One of the best games of it's generation, heavily influential on games then and now.

Half-Life - Arguably the most iconic first person shooter, broke out of the mold of first person shooters and set the standard for every FPS to come as well as other First person games.

The Legend of Zelda - Was heavily ahead of its time and influential on everything from action RPGs to adventuring gaming. And lots of fun to boot!

Rogue - Established a standard for gaming that is still felt today.

StarCraft - Renovated real time strategies, and the balanced three different races with different units, styles and strategies and yet were even was a real development revelation.

Super Mario Brothers - Set the standards for every single platform game to come later, as well as action.

Tetris - In an era of casual gaming, it was the most iconic and powerful casual game that opened it up.

So, who is going to bring it home?

[Abe Sargent]

So what I am going to do is to pull two games off this list and I am going to do so one from the list that is the least influential and then the one from the list that's the least fun until you have 3 games left!


So let's peel the first layers of onion:


Tetris - Tetris is a ton of fun. It sold a video game system. But it's influence outside of casual gaming hasn't been as strong. Fun! But the weakest influence on this list. It's off.


Rogue - The original Rogue is a heavily influential game and the oldest game on this list. It still is felt in gaming today. But it wasn't as fun as any other game on the list, as it's was primitive and not well-designed. As a result, it's influence bar is high, but it's fun level is the weakest of these final nine. Sorry Rogue.

[Abe Sargent]

For the next two games to come off...



Adventure - Like Rogue its influential. And yet it wasn't even the most fun game on the Atari, so while it was good, well designed and such, it's the 2nd least fun game on the list after Rogue. It heads off.


Grand Theft Auto III - You cannot deny how fun this was to play. It was great! But outside of the Thug genre it helped to build, and other subgenre games, it's influence hasn't been at the level of the other games left. Goodbye GTA!

That leaves five...


Civ, Half-Life, TLOZ, StarCraft, and Super Mario. Which one makes it? What will be the next two to head home? And how pissed are you going to be when you see it?

I guess we'll see!

[Abe Sargent]

Sorry I was out for a while with a PC down and I lost this dynasty and my saved progress until it was restored today! I'll get us caught back on track.

Next two off:

Super Mario Brothers - Hugely influential on the platform genre as well as other action titles that would come. Any platform title today still retains a latent SMB feel. But outside of platform? It's influence hasn't been at the level of the other games on this list that are left. Sorry SmB!


Zelda - Sorry but it;s time to say goodbye to another NES game. Heavily influential, one of the first major console RPGs of any sort as a sort of proto-action RPG. But of the remaining four games, it's the odd one out in terms of the cross of influence and fun. All of the other three are powerfully hard hitters, and thus Zelda is heading to the bench and hits #4 on my list.

Next?

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, time to piss off everyone

Left is Civ, StarCraft and Half-Life.


#3. StarCraft -Great game, and lots of fun. Arguably South Korea's national sport, which is very very cool. But outside of the RTS genre, which is absolutely codified, it's impact, while still there, wasn't as great. It even added things to our lingo, like Zerging, but it's still not on the top two spots, sorry.


#2. Civilization - With a truly influential and powerful game, Civilization is an awesome game at being time-consuming. It's a good game. But it's influence outside of the strategy genre isn't as much. Sure, the occasionally RPG or something might still have something in-game similar to the Civilopedia, but the game isn't #1.

And that might make a lot of your mad, because my choice for the Best Most Influential Game of All Time is Half-Life, a choice you might not agree with, but it is the correct one.


Half-Life

First of all, Half Life actually did a course change on a burgeoning genre of the FPS, that was already codified with games like Wolfenstein 3d and Doom. And then Half Life came through and it's key was immersion and story telling. Gone are levels and getting scores and the gaming interface. You'll find items in realistic places, like ammo in ammo bins, and gone are the flip to full-motion video or anything. It pushed immersion in a major way that pushed not just FPS genres to a new level, but also every other first-person game in that followed, such as Morrowind or Fallout 3, which is still a direct follow to Half-Life. Given the huge role both FPS games and first-person generally is in today's gaming market, Half-Life is the clear winner for most influential.

It's also a Hell of a lot of fun, by the by.

So, here's to Half-Life!


Enter the hazing.

[Abe Sargent]

Next Superlative!

Best Casual Game of All Time


Here are your five nominees:

Bejeweled
Plants vs Zombies
Pokemon: Go
Pong
Tetris

Alright and here are my reasons why:


Bejeweled - Created the entire match three subgenre of casual gaming that remains one of the most common type thus far. It's impact on casual gaming is huge. It's also very addictive.

Plants vs Zombies - Unlike many casual games, was designed over years to be the perfect casual game for casual audiences while having chops for hardcore players. Very influential, very good, and a cultural touchstone of casual gaming.

Pokemon: Go - Changed causal and smart phone gaming in a major way by incorporating aspects of walking around to hatch eggs and find and catch new Pokemon, join a team, and fight for gyms. Led to stores investing in Pokemon Go technology, companies having Pokemon Go parties and more. I remember walking along a pier during the PGO craze and there were around 5 times more people there than normal - families, old people, workers, teens, and more.

Pong - You can't talk about video gaming without talking about Pong. The first generation of video gaming was all about Pong and Pong Systems. Atari's Pong was the best selling item in the Sears catalog, and it set the stage for the Gen 2 systems led by Atari. Pong still lasts in various casual games like Breakout and such.

Tetris - The casual game that really pushed casual gaming to the next level. The company that created the illegal cartridge was such a big seller that Nintendo put them out, and then made their own cartridge and used it as the system seller for release for the first Game Boy. Tetris is still one of teh best, most interesting casual games of all time.


And frankly, I think four of those games are just lights out winning options. The fifth I put in there to round out the numbers. But damn, this is a hard choice!!!

What are your thoughts?

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let's knock off two tonight,



At number five we clearly have Pokemon: Go. If the massive trends it started had continued, then sure, it's argument would have been more, but it was an amazing moment that has mostly ebbed now. The fact that the game was popular during its Beta, and most people left before it was finished also hurt.


Now the top four is here. And any of these could make it. All four have major influences, all four have huge value. Pong? Tetris? Bejeweled? Plants vs Zombies? If I called any one of those the Best Casual Game of All Time, I doubt I'd get much push back.


But Bejeweled just feels a little worse that the other three. It clocks in a little lower. A little lighter. It's fun, and it sparked the match-three phenomenon that's not going anywhere, but it's still just Bejeweled.



Now what will win of the remaining three?

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, time to declare a winner of Best Casual Game of All Time

#3. Pong - Great game, lots of fun, and arguably the most influential casual game of all time. But best? Nope!


#2. Plants vs Zombies - A very well designed game that can;t be denied and with a huge cachet of usefulness. But not #1.



#1. Tetris - Tetris is the best casual game of all time. It;s tough. But it wins. The interlocking pieces just has something magical about it that works for everyone in this conversation.

[jerremyhamston]

Great, I love these games. This game sound is my klingeltöne