Personal Favorite Top 25 GOAT games (2024 Update)

[stratogustav]

These are the games I absolutely love and bring joy to my heart:

1. The King Of Fighters XIII

2. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2

3. Street Fighter III 3rd Strike

4. Capcom Vs. SNK 2

5. Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection

6. Mortal Kombat 3

7. Mortal Kombat II

8. Killer Instinct

9. Super Mario World

10. Super Mario Bros.

11. Metal Slug

12. Gradius V

13. F-Zero GX

14. Contra Shattered Soldier

15. Castlevania Lament Of Innocence

16. Shadow Of The Colossus

17. The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time

18. Ninja Gaiden Sigma

19. Super Mario 64

20. Super Mario Bros. 3

21. Sonic The Hedgehog

22. Mega Man X

23. Ikaruga

24. GoldenEye James Bond 007

25. Kid Icarus Of Myths And Monsters

As of 2024 these are the games that still produce for me that warm feeling as when I first discovered them.

 

[-Troopa-]

It's hard to rank these in order. I'd probably move things around every time I look at the list. But here are the top 25.

Halo 3
Overcooked 2
Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut
Halo 2
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Rocket League
WWF No Mercy
Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition
Super Mario World
Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto 5
Rock Band 2
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Marvel's Spider-Man
Horizon Zero Dawn
World of Warcraft
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy IV
Cuphead
The Witcher 3
Helldivers 2
Halo Infinite
Hades
NBA 2K11

 

[1CreditBlades]

I made a top 100 in December 2023.

1. The Wonderful 101: Remastered
2. Wild Guns Reloaded
3. Mushihimesama
4. Volgarr the Viking
5. Resident Evil
6. Super Mario Bros.
7. Brandish: The Dark Revenant
8. Crypt of the NecroDancer
9. OutRun
10. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve
11. Silent Hill
12. ZeroRanger
13. Ghosts 'n Goblins
14. Virtua Cop
15. Sin and Punishment
16. Windjammers
17. Space Harrier
18. DoDonPachi DaiOuJou
19. Super Mario Bros. 3
20. Super Mario World
21. Resident Evil 2
22. Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection
23. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
24. The Evil Within
25. Super Metroid
26. Batsugun
27. Vanquish
28. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
29. Super Mario Galaxy 2
30. God Hand
31. Contra
32. F-Zero GX
33. After Burner Climax
34. Virtua Cop 2
35. Super Hang-On
36. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
37. Blazing Star
38. Silent Hill 3
39. Shinobi
40. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
41. Viewtiful Joe
42. Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
43. Elevator Action Returns
44. Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi
45. Judgment
46. Catherine
47. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
48. Resident Evil 4
49. Threes!
50. Pocky & Rocky
51. Demon's Crest
52. Rhythm Tengoku
53. Contra ReBirth
54. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
55. Katamari Damacy Reroll
56. Mega Man Zero
57. Battle Circuit
58. Alien vs. Predator
59. Armed Police Batrider
60. Strider
61. Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
62. Shenmue
63. Radiant Historia
64. Ico
65. Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion
66. Hard Corps: Uprising
67. Stephen's Sausage Roll
68. Mega Man
69. ESP Ra.De.
70. Yakuza 2
71. Fight'N Rage
72. Castlevania
73. Shadow Dancer
74. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
75. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors
76. Crazy Taxi
77. AM2R: Return of Samus
78. Super Hexagon
79. Shenmue II
80. Metal Gear Solid
81. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
82. Brandish 2: The Planet Buster
83. Contra: Hard Corps
84. Yakuza 0
85. Metroid Dread
86. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
87. Mushihime-sama Futari
88. The Last Guardian
89. Lost Judgment
90. Sunset Riders
91. Final Fight
92. Rhythm Heaven
93. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
94. Virtua Racing
95. OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
96. Shadow of the Colossus
97. Armored Core
98. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
99. Resonance of Fate
100. Armored Core 2

 

[stratogustav]

It's hard to rank these in order. I'd probably move things around every time I look at the list. But here are the top 25.

Halo 3
Overcooked 2
Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut
Halo 2
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Rocket League
WWF No Mercy
Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition
Super Mario World
Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto 5
Rock Band 2
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Marvel's Spider-Man
Horizon Zero Dawn
World of Warcraft
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy IV
Cuphead
The Witcher 3
Helldivers 2
Halo Infinite
Hades
NBA 2K11

I played Overcooked 2 before, it is definitely a solid game. Cuphead is great too. I see you have many newer games there, which is always a good thing because it means games are still having a big impact on you.

 

[stratogustav]

I made a top 100 in December 2023.

2. Wild Guns Reloaded
3. Mushihimesama
9. OutRun
14. Virtua Cop
15. Sin and Punishment
17. Space Harrier
18. DoDonPachi DaiOuJou
26. Batsugun
28. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
33. After Burner Climax
35. Super Hang-On
37. Blazing Star
43. Elevator Action Returns
44. Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi
53. Contra ReBirth
57. Battle Circuit
59. Armed Police Batrider
65. Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion
69. ESP Ra.De.
73. Shadow Dancer
75. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors
87. Mushihime-sama Futari
90. Sunset Riders
94. Virtua Racing
95. OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast

These are games I never expect to rank on people's list, so it is nice to see them getting recognition from someone.

 

[stratogustav]

I feel the best way to make these top 25 lists is to try not to think what other people say about what games are cool, or what games got good reviews, or what games are popular. Just think about how you feel when you put the game again, how good does it make you feel, and rank the games based on that.

If they are popular, if people think they are cool, or they got good reviews, it is not surprising that these are also the games that produce that nice feeling when you play them, so it is completely normal if they overlap sometimes, but how you personally feel about each game is what really matters when it comes to ranking these titles.

 

[1CreditBlades]

These are games I never expect to rank on people's list, so it is nice to see them getting recognition from someone.

I was probably modest with how many CAVE games I included since I tried to keep it fairly varied.

 

[stratogustav]

I was probably modest with how many CAVE games I included since I tried to keep it fairly varied.

It seems all those companies that came from Toaplan cannot do wrong, DNF Duel from 8ing is amazing, just like Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and so it is Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Tamsoft has a lot of cool releases, Takumi came up with the fantastic Giga Wing games, Gazelle has the excellent Sailor Moon beat 'em up, and Cave is not the exception, everything they put out is beyond amazing.

 

[gronik]

1. Nintendo game 1

2. Nintendo game 2

3. Nintendo game 3

4. Nintendo game 4

5. Nintendo game 5

6. Nintendo game 6

7. Nintendo game 7

8. Nintendo game 8

9. Nintendo game 9

10. Nintendo game 10

11. Nintendo game 11

12. Nintendo game 12

13. Nintendo game 13

14. Nintendo game 14

15. Nintendo game 15

16. Nintendo game 16

17. Nintendo game 17

18. Nintendo game 18

19. Nintendo game 19

20. Nintendo game 20

21. Nintendo game 21

22. Nintendo game 22

23. Nintendo game 23

24. Nintendo game 24

25. Nintendo game 25
The only games worth playing are NINTENDO games Even when i play a game like TEKKEN 8, really i'm just thinking about Nintendo game and Nintendo characters, then after a while i just stop playing that game that isn't Nintendo game and start doing what i should have originally and playing a good proper game, a NINTENDO game

 

[stratogustav]

Nintendo is great, and personally if I only had Nintendo games I probably may be just fine, but at the same time I know for sure that I would still be missing dearly and in great manner Sega, Konami, Capcom, SNK, Namco, Taito, Tecmo, etc., games.

 

[1CreditBlades]

1. Nintendo game 1

2. Nintendo game 2

3. Nintendo game 3

4. Nintendo game 4

5. Nintendo game 5

6. Nintendo game 6

7. Nintendo game 7

8. Nintendo game 8

9. Nintendo game 9

10. Nintendo game 10

11. Nintendo game 11

12. Nintendo game 12

13. Nintendo game 13

14. Nintendo game 14

15. Nintendo game 15

16. Nintendo game 16

17. Nintendo game 17

18. Nintendo game 18

19. Nintendo game 19

20. Nintendo game 20

21. Nintendo game 21

22. Nintendo game 22

23. Nintendo game 23

24. Nintendo game 24

25. Nintendo game 25
The only games worth playing are NINTENDO games Even when i play a game like TEKKEN 8, really i'm just thinking about Nintendo game and Nintendo characters, then after a while i just stop playing that game that isn't Nintendo game and start doing what i should have originally and playing a good proper game, a NINTENDO game

Holy shit. What a worthless post.

 

[gronik]

Holy shit. What a worthless post.

well that was the objective that day. I was penalised for saying something against the word of Nintendo and so I went on a "love Nintendo" binge

I've got a proper top 101 laying around i'll put it here :

Tekken
GTA 3
Simon The Sorcerer
Tetris 1989
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
Bust a Move 4
Super Mario Sunshine
Tekken 2
Wii Sports
Jak and Daxter
Crash Bandicoot 2
Shenmue 1
The Elder Scrolls Oblivion
Saints Row 2
Fable the lost chapters
Discworld Noir
Twisted Metal
Crash Bandicoot the Wrath of Cortex
GTA SA
GTA V
GTA Vice City
Shenmue 2
Fire Emblem Awakening
Tekken Tag Tournament
Tekken 3
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition
Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance
Fable 2
Devil's Third
Conker's Bad Furday: Live and Reloaded
Uncharted 4
Tekken 4
Virtua fighter 5 Showdown
Tekken 5
Illusion of Gaia/Time
Tekken 6
Tekken 7
Tekken Advance
GTA IV
Dungeon Keeper 2
Black and White
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2/ Yuris Revenge
Tomb Raider
Heavy Metal GeoMatrix
SeaMan
Pokemon X
Max Payne
Legacy of Kain Blood Omen 2
ShadowMan
Half Life /2
Halo
Pong 1972
Halo 3
Red Dead Redemption 2
Dead or Alive 3
Final Fantasy X
Doom/Doom II
Unreal Tournament
Outrun 2
Day of The Tentacle
The Longest Journey: Dreamfall
Escape from Monkey Island
Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2
DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Sam and Max Hit the Road
Rocket League
Bayonetta
RUNE
Runescape
Guild War 2
The Lord of the Rings Online
Team Fortress Classic
Quake 3 Team Arena
Star Fox Adventures
Lands of Lore the Throne of Chaos
Might and Magic 6: the Mandate of heaven
Kings Field IV
TimeSplitters 2
007 GoldenEye
Burnout 3 Takedown
GUN
The Getaway
Scarface the World is yours
DIE HARD TRILOGY
Judgement
Yakuza 0
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Bros
Mr Bones
Super Mario Bros Advance
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
MotorStorm
Heavenly Sword
The Simpsons Road Rage
Sonic Adventure
Simon the Sorcerer 2
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
F Zero
NeverWinter Nights
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

I highlighted what I consider to be the top 25 for me.

 

[1CreditBlades]

well that was the objective that day. I was penalised for saying something against the word of Nintendo and so I went on a "love Nintendo" binge

I've got a proper top 101 laying around i'll put it here :

Devil's Third
Virtua Fighter 5
Outrun 2
Die Hard Trilogy

Wasn't expecting to see these. Good stuff.

 

[gencid]

It's always hard for me to curb my favorite games of all time list to a Top 25, so what I will do instead is list Top 25 franchises/series of all time with my favorite game from the series representing each franchise.

25. Gears 5: Hivebusters
24. Okami
23. Super Smash Bros Brawl
22. Chrono Trigger
21. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
20. Shadow of the Colossus
19. Ninja Gaiden II: Dark Sword of Chaos
18. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
17. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
16. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
15. Devil May Cry
14. Resident Evil 4
13. Hi-Fi Rush
12. Bioshock
11. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
10. Final Fantasy VII Remake
09. Super Mario Galaxy
08. Rygar
07. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
06. God of War II
05. Donkey Kong Country
04. Mortal Kombat II
03. Super Metroid
02. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
01. Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past

 

[stratogustav]

well that was the objective that day. I was penalised for saying something against the word of Nintendo and so I went on a "love Nintendo" binge

I've got a proper top 101 laying around i'll put it here :

Tekken
Tekken 2
Tekken Tag Tournament
Tekken 3
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition
Tekken 4
Virtua fighter 5 Showdown
Tekken 5
Tekken 6
Tekken 7
Dead or Alive 3
DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball

I highlighted what I consider to be the top 25 for me.

Nice ones!

 

[stratogustav]

It's always hard for me to curb my favorite games of all time list to a Top 25, so what I will do instead is list Top 25 franchises/series of all time with my favorite game from the series representing each franchise.

25. Gears 5: Hivebusters
24. Okami
23. Super Smash Bros Brawl
22. Chrono Trigger
21. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
20. Shadow of the Colossus
19. Ninja Gaiden II: Dark Sword of Chaos
18. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
17. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
16. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
15. Devil May Cry
14. Resident Evil 4
13. Hi-Fi Rush
12. Bioshock
11. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
10. Final Fantasy VII Remake
09. Super Mario Galaxy
08. Rygar
07. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
06. God of War II
05. Donkey Kong Country
04. Mortal Kombat II
03. Super Metroid
02. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
01. Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past

I appreciate you giving it a try to place them in order. I mean it changes all the time for all of us, but it is always interesting to check once in a while how things rank for us.

 

[gencid]

I appreciate you giving it a try to place them in order. I mean it changes all the time for all of us, but it is always interesting to check once in a while how things rank for us.

Sure thing, I did not want the list to be dominated by just a couple of franchises. The lowest game on that list is a 9.5/10 and the Top 7 are 10/10.

 

[stratogustav]

Sure thing, I did not want the list to be dominated by just a couple of franchises. The lowest game on that list is a 9.5/10 and the Top 7 are 10/10.

I mean, if the same franchise has all your top 25 games, it is all good by me.

 

[gencid]

I mean, if the same franchise has all your top 25 games, it is all good by me.

OK, since you asked,

25. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (9.7/10)
24. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (9.7/10)
23. Final Fantasy VII Remake (9.7/10)
22. Super Mario Galaxy (9.7/10)
21. Metal Gear Solid (9.7/10)
20. Bioshock (9.7/10)
19. Metroid Prime Remastered (9.8/10)
18. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Liberty (9.8/10)
17. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (9.8/10)
16. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD (9.8/10)
15. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (9.8/10)
14. God of War (2005) (9.8/10)
13. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (9.9/10)
12. Rygar (9.9/10)
11. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (9.9/10)
10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (10/10)
09. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (10/10)
08. God of War II (10/10)
07. Donkey Kong Country (10/10)
06. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (10/10)
05. Mortal Kombat II (10/10)
04. Super Metroid (10/10)
03. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (10/10)
02. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (10/10)
01. Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past (10/10)

 

[stratogustav]

To be fair it is surprising how there are no more IPs that have the care Zelda has for its games. The closest I can think of is probably Shadow Of The Colossus. I feel that's a type of game that can be explored and exploited a lot more with many different ideas from Japanese mainstream devs.

 

[MatthewGavin10]

I did not rank the games, but here are my Top 25 games that I could think of right off the top of my head.


Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario World
Halo 2
Halo 3
God of War (2005)
God of War II
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy X
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Metroid Prime
Ninja Gaiden (2004)
SoulCalibur
Goldeneye 007
Perfect Dark
Gears of War 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Bioshock
Psychonauts 2
NFL 2k1