Without a doubt the most significant event of 2026 continues to unfold before you!
Which is all to say that err... in these troubled times with chaos and tumult besieging the world, is it not comforting to retreat into the warm embrace of a list of random things ranked by a random person on the internet? A well-ordered sequential listing of favourite video games say?
That's right you don't need to say anything in response to that entirely rhetorical question although the comments sections is indeed available below. Yes, truly not all heroes wear capes and I do what I can to bring my own special brand of joy to the world. So what made 'the list' from ranks #80 to #71? Let's go see...
#80: No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (2010)
I'm not sure if there was a vast realm of difference between the original 2007 Nintendo Wii release of No More Heroes and the re-release for PS3 and Xbox 360 that would arrive a few years later. Outside of maybe slight improvements to the presentation and motion control I'm not seeing much that changes the core experience but nonetheless this is the version I played and so this is the one that gets ranked. I may have mentioned Grasshopper Manufacture and developer Suda51 around these here parts before and I think this game may have been my introduction to the over-the-top and frequently unhinged sensibility he seems to be known for these days.
You are Travis Touchdown, a slacker wannabe badass with a laser sword that is definitely not a lightsaber. You get inexplicably mixed up in a league full of assassins and much carnage ensues as you hack, slash and parry your way through successive levels in and around his hometown of Santa Destroy. It's bright, it's colourful and it's kinda stupid. Also endearing as hell once you get into the rhythm of what's before you here.
It gets a spot in my list for its vicarious thrills and playful subversion of expectations. Travis is accepting assassin work because he's run out of money and can't buy any wrestling or anime collectibles. Yes we've all been there and yes it doesn't take itself too seriously. The gameplay is well balanced with good variety of moves, counter-moves and super moves etc. The difficulty curve hits just right and overall the game doesn't overstay the welcome. Just a memorable fun experience that stuck out for me.
#79: F-Zero (1990)
High speed anti-gravity racing is a genre that will never fail to get at least some of my attention during those rare moments when I get to play such games these days. F-Zero was not a game I played on my SNES back in the day, this would be another series I discovered thanks to emulation. By the time I played it, I may have even already sampled Wipeout on the original PlayStation and whilst I enjoyed that game, its almost vertical difficulty curve took some getting used to. Less so with F-Zero, I won't say it was an easier game but it certainly felt more accomodating of the player whilst keeping the breakneck sense of pace and adrenaline intact.
There was something far more approachable about F-Zero that didn't compromise on the experience. Iconic Mode 7 presentation with a colourful world utilised the best of the tech available at the time and just when you think you've cracked it, you find yourself in second place speeding to the finishing line in another nail biting finish. There's an enjoyable to and fro as competing racers pass each other by and even with the more basic presentation of the time there is something cathartic when the inevitable moment comes where someone's vehicle takes a bad corner and bursts into flame.
Nintendo have let the series languish in modern times and it hasn't had a brand new entry since F-Zero Climax in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance which I sunk a lot of hours into. Another series then where I am hoping for an unlikely return but when Mario generates as much money as he does I imagine Nintendo aren't losing any sleep over the lack of new F-Zero games in the world. Guess I'll make do with all the other F-Zero games on the Nintendo Classics service for now.
#78: Fallout 2 (1998)
Controversial choice I think? Maybe? I'm not sure. I mean it's my list so it goes where it goes but now that I am looking at it on my screen I do find myself deliberating over the question once more. The first Fallout already popped up in Part 2 of this countdown and that felt like a safe spot given the age and jankiness of the experience. Alas for all of my affection for the sequel a lot of the same criticisms do apply here as well.
That's not to say Fallout 2 isn't an improvement because its actually a model sequel in a lot of ways. Expanding upon the post apocalyptic retro futuristic world of the original game, adding more choice and variety, giving the setting something of a sense of hope and levity as well. If the first game could perhaps feel pretty heavy, Fallout 2 rebalanced the tone and made this world a little more well rounded. There was a touch more warmth, a touch more humour. Now given that we are talking about the nuclear apocalypse, some might say that it should feel bleak and heavy and I'm not unsympathetic to that view. However so much of what would become the core identity of the Fallout series starts with Fallout 2 with numerous elements becoming intrinsic to the games that came later, not to mention that TV series I really need to get around to watching.
On the flip side, it is indeed janky, awkward and fiddly. No getting around that it's a product very strictly of its time and as such the basic act of playing it can itself become a chore. It's not a game I imagine will be picked up and played in 2026 without a great deal of pre-preperation beforehand. As with the first game the difficulty spikes towards the end of the game can be absurd unless you happen to have presiently planned ahead for them or otherwise and more realistically you have spoiled the end of the game for yourself. Overall though and stepping back, its an important game for me but with the caveats above I feel I have chosen the right spot for this one.
#77: Stories Untold (2017)
One of the more recent additions to my all-time favourites and a game I gave my thoughts on during one of my end of year round-ups not too long ago. Stories Untold wraps you up in a warm sense of nostalgia for 1980's Britain and then turns it on its head to tell a horror story thats gets more unsettling as you proceed.
Ostensibly you're a guy going to his old family home after a period of unexplained absense. You boot up your non-branded Commodore and start to play the game complete with all the on-screen prompts and loading screens complete with modem noise for period authenticity. You play an adventure game, selecting from the available on-screen prompts about a guy entering an abandoned house. Then the penny drops and you realise the game may be playing you.
It's a hell of a start and being as non-spoilery as I can be I can say the quality stays pretty good throughout all the various stories told here. Granted you probably needed to live through some of the history here to really get the references but the focus is very much on analogue nostalgia and the era of cassette-based gaming. The text is descriptive, the visuals are often rudimentary, the sound is basic but effective and it all feeds into a growing mood of unease as you peel back the central mystery tying it all together.
That it all comes together to tell a story that blurs the lines between game and life is the cherry on the cake here. I found this game to be an engaging, original experience. More advanced than the games it was referencing but still tapping into the idea of those games rather well. Truly a love letter to an often under-appreciated era of game development and a good idea well executed.
#76: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003)
Speaking of well executed! No wait I'm getting that feeling again? The one where I second guess myself about these rankings. I'll have you know I've gone through this list repeatedly. There's a lot to say about Max Payne's first sequel. It retains the noir stylings and presentation, it has a big jump in graphical fidelity, it builds on the success of the first game with a slightly more layered tale of betrayal and revenge. Oh and the bullet time mechanic remains as the core part of what is possibly the most badass gameplay loop in gaming.
It only speaks to the greater quality of the games to come that this game isn't ranked higher here. It really does everything right but is it more than the sum of its parts? Which is to say, if you put everything together is it better than the original game before it or the third game which would come some time later? I'm not convinced myself. I feel like the first game had greater dramatic weight to it but in a more rudimentary engine. The third game on the other hand provided a more well rounded main character which leaves the second game feeling a little like an awkward middle child in some ways. Accomplished but not exemplary.
It improves on a great many things on the game that came before it but maybe just misses the mark by a fraction when it comes to memorable shoot outs and set pieces. However and conversely I think you can also start to see Remedy's cinematic inspirations take shape here even more so than the first game. Overall this is a game I hold dear to my heart for a great many reasons. It's grim but witty, the action flows well from encounter to encounter and it leaves you wanting more by the end. A lot of modern games could learn to find the art of that I think.
#75: Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004)
Oh man this one stings a little. Unreal Tournament or rather any of its immediate sequels were really a subgenre of online shooter all to themselves. I absolutely adored these games back in the early noughties and when I think of them I think of the 2004 edition as I think it's the one that by far ate into most of my free time back when I was in university. In some ways the late 90's felt like a crazy test bed of ideas for first person shooters and what you could do with them online and by the time this game came out I think Epic Games had fine tuned their take on it for brutal effect.
Big, loud and over the top. Rocket launchers and deep throated announcers proclaiming 'TRIPLE KILL!', double jumps, rocket jumps, zero gravity, capture the flag. Not to mention a seriously under-rated soundtrack. It was the complete package in the age before companies like Epic would dissassemble such parts into pieces to be bought seperately. The presentation, the music, the sheer visceral thrill of the entire experience lending itself to just one more go at 1AM when you should be really heading to bed before class in the morning.
Then Unreal Tournament III happened and sadly flopped and that would turn out to be pretty much that. The series was just left out to die and lo here I am all these years later wishing Epic would have a come to Jesus moment and relaunch this game in the live service era. I would gladly provide them battle pass money for this kind of experience again. The closest thing to it in modern times was the multiplayer component of DOOM (2016) but that didn't fully substitute for what once was. Naturally Epic is riding the Fortnite train and probably in no rush to do so but given the current trend to make everything a live service in modern gaming it does surprise me that they would simply sit on something like Unreal Tournament and do nothing with it.
#74: Dead Rising (2006)
2006 was a good Christmas for me. The year I got an Xbox 360 alongside Mass Effect, Gears of War and the first Dead Rising. Now all of these games have their fans and they all became beloved series in due time but out of these three games I think it was Dead Rising that impressed me the most by its sheer ambition and what it was able to pull off on the hardware. The leap between the console generations here was profound. Consider the PS2 as the most popular reference point for the graphical power of the sixth generation of consoles and then leap forward into the era of HD gaming. This was a pretty mind blowing leap back then and the early games to arrive wasted little time in vindicating a lot of sudden upgrades to HDTV's.
You get zombies, crowds of them, hordes of them all in an open world shopping mall. Just the thought of it would have been considered ridiculous a few years prior and yet here it was. So many enemies to mow down, chainsaw or drive through all whilst navigating hazards to your wellbeing from the living and the dead alike. The story wasn't high art but the protagonist was good natured enough and the imposition of a mostly well judged time limit added just enough urgency to things to get you moving.
It's not a series I've kept up with over the years as Microsoft fumbled the transition to the Xbox One era and lost me along the way. The first sequel was a lot of fun, switching the action to Vegas and providing a pretty fun multiplayer game show component that combined zombies with American Gladiators. Other than that though I should probably revisit this one at some point especially as it got the remake treatment in recent times. Still though, the original stands as a testament to a very particular moment in gaming. A whole lot was changing but here we had a concrete evidence of raw power and technical innovation driving real steps forward in game design.
#73: Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
I feel like there is not a huge amount I can say about Halo that hasn't already been said in the acres and acres of praise and commentary this series has received over the years. Setting the template for what first person shooters could be on console and bringing them to parity with the PC experience was no small feat in and of itself. On top of that you have the back-story, the atmospheric presentation and the moreish multiplayer that people still rave about decades later. Yes time itself and the change in ownership of the franchise wasn't kind to Halo but once upon a time it was the reason why Microsoft ruled the console space and could make game releases and event all by themselves.
I do recall visiting my little local indie video game store at some time around 2000 or 2001 and seeing a demo unit for the original Xbox for the first time. Upon it was Halo: Combat Evolved. I remember playing it and initially struggling to get the idea of this new control scheme and two weapon setup. Other games had tried and failed but the experience just wasn't as fluid as shooters in the PC space. When it finally clicked though it came together beautifully. It feels almost like the essential case study for simplicity in game design, everything on-screen flowed, everything reacted. I can't say I got to grips with the wider world on which it all takes place during that brief time on the demo but it certainly made an indelible impression the way few games do on a first go.
As it happens I'd never own the OG Xbox but I would pick up Halo on its initial PC release a few years later and more fully appreciate what everyone was raving about and certainly the full experience did not dissapoint. It's one of those rare games I've played more than once over the years as I went back and played it again not so long ago as part of the The Master Chief Collection on Steam. It perhaps feels a touch slower in the the age of hyper fast and reflexive movement shooters but the overall package still excels itself. A pivotal one for the ages and note to self I really must get through the rest of the Master Chief Collection ASAP!
#72: Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Arkham City, a game that took the successful template laid down by Arkham Asylum and made everything a great deal bigger and better. The asylum is now a city and with it a bigger canvas to stalk the night and the many wrong-doers who inhabit it. Pretty much an all-round upgrade on the first game, developers Rocksteady gave everything a larger scale without compromising on the immediacy of the experience.
You're still this larger than life scourge of the underworld, equipped to the gills with all manner of gizmo and gadget. Whether its the impeccable time-based combos and attacks or the traversal across the city gliding on bat wings nothing else touched the Arkham games for capturing the core feeling of what a Batman game should feel like. Crime-solving felt like detective work, the stealth sections were exquisite, the combat required skill and the voice work by the main cast was absolutely incredible. Arkham City looks and feels like the hell-hole it should be but it still conceivably a place once inhabited by normal people.
Now Rocksteady would try the same approach again with Batman: Arkham Knight but as much as I enjoyed that igame, it did feel like they went too big there. In terms of scale Arkham City was the sweet spot between the games either side of it. It provided a broader canvas and a bigger playground without neglecting the elements that made Arkham Asylum work so well in the first place. A balancing act between greater ambition and the exquisite core gameplay loop that resulted in one of the best Batman games I've ever played.
#71: Mass Effect 3 (2012)
There is that argument that whatever you do for some people it will only matter what you have done for them lately... or to put it another way, can how you finish something overshadow everything else you've done with it up to that point? Let's just skip to the point: people really did not like the ending to Mass Effect 3 did they? Certainly as someone terminally online at the time it felt like there was an overwhelming hostile wave of negative reaction to the choices thrust upon you in its final moments.
Now I've long felt that the ending was pretty good myself and very much in keeping with the nature of what the good guys were up against in these games but I'll save those thoughts for its own entry elsewhere. Here and now I just want to appreciate what a piece of work it was rounding up the many, many threads established in the prior two games. Prior to Mass Effect, the idea of a save file holding onto your decisions for future games to play with had simply not been a thing and here you were seeing your choices play out over the years between games.
That aside, I think it works really well as a final chapter. A foreboding opening that's a personal favourite of mine leads us into a tale of regrouping and counter-attacking the overwhelming forces lined up against you. Almost everyone gets a moment (survival on your save file pending) and equipped with one last hope you and your gathered forces go into a final battle that very much feels like a battle for life itself. Then an implacable inhuman enemy that cares not for your notions of unity and galactic harmony gives you a simple choice and whichever choice is made, something will be lost. The more I think about it, the more I struggle to think of a definitively better ending.
All in all, it was a great game and one of my favourite finales in gaming generally. All the dramatic beats hit so well, the stakes feel real and whilst the series was now far removed from it's more RPG based predecessors, the combat and action clicked really well. Perhaps not the greatest of the trilogy, certainly some way above Mass Effect: Andromeda though. Alas who knows how Mass Effect 5 will turn out whenever that finally arrives. Finales rarely feel this epic and hard earned but here it absolutely worked, capping off one of the most ambitious attempts at world and story building I have seen in my many years of gaming.
...
Dare I say it but this list might be getting a little contentious at this point with a few selections that may roll an eyeball or two. It probably won't surprise you to learn that I am still mulling over some of these rankings even as I write them up with a few last minute changes being made to the final order.
Join me next time as we dive into the sixties with more choices liable to make you rage, laugh or just facepalm with utter conviction...
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