One gamer collected over 900 greatest games lists to create a master list of the best video games of all time. When it comes to video games, everyone has differing opinions about which titles are truly the best, but there are measurable ways to see which games have the highest scores among critics and gamers.
Review aggregate sites like OpenCritic and Metacritic keep track of new game releases and aggregate overall scores based on the numbers awarded to each title by various gaming outlets. On OpenCritic, which primarily collects data going back to 2013, the top five games of all time are Super Mario Odyssey (97), Baldur's Gate 3 (96), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (96), Red Dead Redemption 2 (95), and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (95). Metacritic has data that goes much further back, and has different rules about which publications are taken into account, and so its top five is quite a bit different, with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (99), SoulCalibur (98), Grand Theft Auto 4 (98), Super Mario Galaxy (97), and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (97).
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Of course, outlets also regularly put together lists that rank video games independent of their review aggregate scores, with all kinds of top 10, top 25, top 100, and more available online. Reddit user IlmeniAVG recently took it upon themselves to collect over 900 greatest games lists, compile the data to create a master list of the top 1,000 games, and share the top 100 from that list on Reddit (here is the full list of 1,000 games for those curious). According to their data, the top 10 best games of all time are Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario 64, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Half-Life 2, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Last of Us, Tetris, and finally, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in the top spot.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
List of 100 Best Games Ever Made
100. Donkey Kong Bananza (2025)
99. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
98. Mega Man 2 (1988)
97. Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)
96. Fortnite (2017)
95. The Sims (2000)
94. Braid (2008)
93. Persona 5 (2016)
92. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
91. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
90. Grim Fandango (1998)
89. Persona 4 / Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (2008)
88. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
87. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)
86. The Legend of Zelda (1986)
85. The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
84. Spelunky (2012)
83. Halo 3 (2007)
82. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000)
81. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
80. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
79. Undertale (2015)
78. SimCity 2000 (1993)
77. System Shock 2 (1999)
76. NieR: Automata (2017)
75. Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
74. Resident Evil (1996)
73. Inside (2016)
72. Batman: Arkham City (2011)
71. The Walking Dead (2012)
70. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
69. Outer Wilds (2019)
68. Counter-Strike / Counter-Strike 1.6 (2000)
67. Ōkami (2006)
66. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
65. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)
64. Tomb Raider (1996)
63. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
62. Disco Elysium (2019)
61. Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow (1996)
60. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
59. Overwatch (2016)
58. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
57. Ico (2001)
56. Super Mario Bros. (1985)
55. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025)
54. The Last of Us Part II (2020)
53. Fallout 3 (2008)
52. Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)
51. Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
50. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
49. Super Mario Kart (1992)
48. Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
47. Diablo II (2000)
46. Final Fantasy VI (1994)
45. Hades (2020)
44. Silent Hill 2 (2001)
43. StarCraft (1998)
42. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
41. Journey (2012)
40. Metroid Prime (2002)
39. Minecraft (2011)
38. Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)
37. Deus Ex (2000)
36. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)
35. GoldenEye 007 (1997)
34. Half-Life (1998)
33. Bloodborne (2015)
32. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)
31. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
30. Chrono Trigger (1995)
29. God of War (2018)
28. Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
27. Dark Souls (2011)
26. Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
25. Metal Gear Solid (1998)
24. Portal (2007)
23. Street Fighter II (1991)
22. Red Dead Redemption (2010)
21. Super Metroid (1994)
20. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
19. Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
18. World of Warcraft (2004)
17. Doom (1993)
16. Elden Ring (2022)
15. Portal 2 (2011)
14. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
13. BioShock (2007)
12. Mass Effect 2 (2010)
11. Shadow of the Colossus (2005)
10. Super Mario World (1990)
9. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
8. Resident Evil 4 (2005)
7. Super Mario 64 (1996)
6. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (2015)
5. Half-Life 2 (2004)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
3. The Last of Us (2013)
2. Tetris (1985)
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
The top 10 is dominated by Nintendo, with half of the picks coming from the company. Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past start the top 10, with Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time hitting the middle, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild leading the charge as the top game. Other companies represented in the top 10 include Capcom with the wildly popular Resident Evil 4, CD Projekt Red with its massive open world fantasy RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Valve's innovative FPS Half-Life 2, PlayStation's emotionally-charged horror game The Last of Us, and finally, the all-time greatest puzzle game, Tetris, originally created by Alexey Pajitnov.
There are some games that were released in 2020 and beyond represented in the top 100, including The Last of Us Part 2, Hades, Elden Ring, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Donkey Kong Bananza, and GOTY record-holder Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It would be interesting to see how the list shifts in five years time when more top lists are released with newer game releases. It seems unlikely that any game will break into the current top 10, but anything could happen.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 96%
- Released
- March 3, 2017
- ESRB
- E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
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