Which is the Best Video Game in the World?

The game set new standards for video games on so many levels, from its horrifying forms of self-augmentation, to its ecology of intersectional enemy behaviors and its sublime ways of channeling what amounted to a withering deconstruction of extremist modes of thought.

ESPN NFL 2K5
Madden NFL fans, true football gaming fanatics know this is the best gridiron game ever made. Released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, ESPN NFL 2K5 featured a standout franchise-building mode and in-game on-air talent from the eponymous sports network. It also marked a watershed moment in sports gaming lore

Publisher Sega priced the game at just $19.99, a fraction of what EA was charging for Madden NFL at the time. A frightened EA later scooped up the exclusive rights to the NFL and its players, making Madden the only name in town.

Pokémon Go is as relevant for what happens outside of the game as what happens in it. A game that can only be played by exploring the world around you,

Pong
Snicker all you want about its two-dimensional graphics, Pong deserves a slot on this list because, as the first arcade cabinet to catch fire with the mainstream, it’s arguably most responsible for the modern video gaming phenomenon.

A table tennis simulator developed by Atari and first released in 1972, the multiplayer game consisted of a pair of dial-controlled paddles and a bouncing ball—just enough to qualify it as the first sports video game

The popularity of the arcade version led to an in-home setup that was sold by Sears in 1975.

And when imitators including Coleco and Nintendo followed, the first shots were fired in the console wars. Sure, by today’s standards it’s not as riveting as others on this list, but then that largely depends on who you’re playing against.

There are few games I remember playing for the first time as vividly as Final Fantasy VII. After an opening cinematic that absolutely melted my brain, I watched slack-jawed as a soldier named Cloud and his Avalanche buddies leapt off a train and embarked on their grand adventure through Midgar and beyond. Sure, in retrospect, better RPGs came before it (Chrono Trigger), and better RPGs have come after it (Persona 5), but the depth in which FFVII resonated with me at the time was unparalleled.

Castlevania
Pushing the limits of the NES’s 8-bit architecture, 1987’s Castlevania was a monster of a game, with stirring graphics, sophisticated physics (for such an early platformer) and unforgettable music that perfectly matched the title’s creepy feel.

Galaga is the closest gaming has ever brought me to zen. I just sort of fall into a semi-conscious groove, and all the sweeping enemy formations, bonus stages, stolen fighters, and near-death experiences blend together into a cacophony of frenetic arcade action and then melt away into nirvanic bliss.

While nowhere as frightening as the yet-to-surface survival horror genre, it offered an experience in stark contrast to Nintendo’s whimsical Super Mario games.

Exploring Dracula’s castle as vampire hunter Simon Belmont, players ran into some pretty haggard stuff. Bloodstained gates greet players off the bat, holy water and crosses were throwing weapons, and, oh yeah, you have to beat Death—and that’s not even the final boss.

Portal 2
Portal‘s unexpected balance of wit, dark comedy and captivating, reality-bending puzzles made it a surprise hit in 2007.

Its sequel, Portal 2, built on that success by adding additional polish and puzzles that were more involved and complex when it launched in 2011. 3 million copies of Portal 2 were reportedly sold within three months of the game’s launch, proving that the franchise had turned into much more than just a casual puzzle game

Pacman gets the 20 spot because it’s an ancient arcade game that everyone played at least once at the local roller rink before it closed down for good like 15 years ago.

Wii sports is an undeniably great time. If Pacman could be more like Wii sports, maybe the roller rink wouldn’t have shut down, and maybe Pacman would have a better spot on the list. But no, only Wii sports can be like Wii sports.

Braid
Jonathan Blow’s elliptical time-bending 2008 side-scroller was for many a tale of heartbreak and disruption that touched on various cultural grievances. Blow pushed back, suggesting such interpretations were too simplistic.

Some of the entries on this list make more sense as the whole franchise rather than an individual game. Sonic, for example, probably rose to popularity on the Sega Genesis and the Game Gear. Not so much on the Dreamcast (RIP sega systems). People recognize him, though. Maybe he just has one of those faces.

This is the one game that, no matter how many times you get it to go into the swimming pool and take the ladder away, will not die. We won’t lie, we pumped plenty of hours into constructing our own homes, putting dirty dishes on the floor, rose budding, and setting the kitchen on fire.

Whatever the case, Braid plays like nothing else, the act of a mind capable of magisterially subverting conventional design ideas and player expectations while embedding concepts as grand as the nature of reality in the gameplay itself.

No Man’s Sky co-creator Sean Murray compares Braid to a time machine: “It’s like Blow went back to the aesthetic of the late ‘80s and created a rift in time, like an alternate universe where we’d have gone in a different direction.

Because Braid could have existed on the Amiga, and at the time it would have blown people’s minds. It would have completely changed how games developed.

Super Mario Bros! A timeless classic, everyone knows who they are. Now the argument could be made that people only know of the Mario Bros because of that smash-hit, live-action film that came out in 1993.

Fallout 3
Interplay’s original Fallout arrived like a cloudburst after a PC roleplaying drought in the mid-1990s.