It’s fascinating how my tastes for some of these games can change from week to week. When this list was built, I was pretty happy with it, but now a few weeks later while I’m actually writing out the paragraphs of text, I find myself questioning some of my choices. Rock Band at #70? Above Final Fantasy X? Seems strange, but hey. No one ever accused me of making sense before, and they surely aren’t going to start now!

70 – Rock Band

Year Released: 2007 | Platform: Xbox 360

Rock Band, developed by Harmonix, built off the success of Guitar Hero, which focused only on guitar-based gameplay, Rock Band expanded the experience by incorporating drums, bass, and vocals, turning what was an addicting solo game into a full-band performance. It quickly became a popular party game in my house, bringing over friends and coworkers alike, who all loved to play.

This was the first time I realized that experience matters in video games. I was able to pick up and start off on medium difficulty, then progressed up to hard fairly quickly. A friend of mine who did not play video games, struggled endlessly on easy.

I am musically challenged in real life, so I really appreciated Rock Band giving me the opportunity to be a bit of a rock star in my living room.

69 – Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Year Released: 2003 | Platform: Nintendo GameCube

Starting off with a negative, to get the full experience of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, you 4 Game Boy Advance and 4 link cables and 3 friends. I mostly played the game solo, but I did have a few experiences playing with one other, and boy was that fun.

In Crystal Chronicles, you helm a crystal caravan. A deadly miasma has swallowed the land, and it’s only repelled by these giant crystals. Unfortunately, these crystals need to be recharged each year, so enters the crystal caravan. They adventure across the world, collecting what they need to recharge the crystal. When playing solo, a computer controlled moogle carries the torch that keeps the miasma around your party at bay, but in multiplayer, someone has to carry it. On the plus side, if playing with the GBAs, everyone’s screen gives them some unique information, like a map, or items. Players can cast the same spell on the same spot to power it up (turning a fire spell into fira or firaga).

Despite not having friends or the necessary peripherals, I loved Crystal Chronicles. The general aesthetic of hope in a ruined world was charming. The music was rustic and beautiful, and I always wanted to go back and play this more with a full party of characters. Alas, it was not meant to be.

68 – Tales of Vesperia

Year Released: 2008 | Platform: Xbox 360

Tales of Vesperia was the second Tales of game I ever played, right after Tales of Symphonia. While the combat felt a less exciting, the graphics were certianly improved. The story felt a lot more mature and dark in this entry, especially with the main character, Yuri. An ex-knight now vigilante/hero of the common folk, he takes problems and injustice into his own hands and deals out justice as he sees fit.

Yuri is constantly torn between doing the right thing, and following the law. A perfect chaotic good protagonist, who is constantly clashing up against his lawful good friend/rival, Flynn. As with most good JRPGs, the journey and growth of each of the characters is the real joy of the game, and the cast of Tales of Vesperia have some significant growth.

67 – Super Mario 64

Year Released: 1996 | Platform: Nintendo 64

Honestly, this would have been much further back on my list if I hadn’t just replayed it with my 4-year-old. Super Mario 64 represents a major leap forward in platforming games, beautifully transitioning from the 2d space into the third dimension. The worlds are unique and fun to explore, the music remains a favourite to this day, and honestly, it’s just fun to play. It has been really special to see my daughter go from learning how to use the joystick, to being able to navigate the castle to get to the world she wants, then hands the controller over to me to tackle the hard parts.

66 – Hollow Knight

Year Released: 2017 | Platform: PC

Hollow Knight, developed by Team Cherry, is a masterpiece in the Metroidvania genre. The hand-drawn art, evocative music, and intricate world design really set it apart from the crowd. The atmosphere of Hollow Knight is eerie and mysterious, drawing players into a haunting, underground kingdom filled with secrets, challenges, and rich lore.

Moving on from the excellent aesthetic, Hollow Knight has tight, responsive platforming with an unforgiving difficulty curve, particularly in its combat and navigation, which is constantly testing your skills and patience. Despite the challenges, the reward of unlocking new areas, abilities, and discovering secrets creates a constant sense of progress and accomplishment. This is what a labour of love looks like.

65 -Thomas Was Alone

Year Released: 2012 | Platform: PC

Can you fall in love with a square?

Mechanically, Thomas was Alone is one of the simplest platformers I’ve ever experienced. You’re just a square, moving and jumping. Other squares come in and out, offering different shapes to help traverse the platforming section. It’s clean and minimalistic. Thematically, the narration gives each of these squares character and personality, and it’s done so brilliantly, that you’re left mourning when a square goes away. A beautiful example of what story can accomplish, and how you don’t NEED beautiful graphics to feel emotionally connected to a character.

64 – Left 4 Dead 2

Year Released: 2009 | Platform: PC

Left 4 Dead is a cooperative survival shooter game, and Left 4 Dead 2 improves upon the original in every way. Eventually, the characters and levels from the first game were just ported right in, so two games for the price of one!

Left 4 Dead 2 plays much better with a group of friends. The goal of the game is to run through a map, collection weapons and gear, and battling hordes of fast moving zombies to get to the safe house, which acts as a checkpoint. In the final chapter, you’re tasked with surviving and accomplishing goals until an escape vehicle arrives to rescue the party.

It’s hard to find a better couch coop game than Left 4 Dead 2. It’s frantic, fast paced, and requires teamwork, especially when one of the special zombies gets their greedy little claws into your skin. Surviving feels like an accomplishment, and you feel like an unstoppable team when you overcome all that the game throws at you.

63 – The Messenger

Year Released: 2018 | Platform: PC

This is one of the few games I’ve actually covered in detail on this blog before.

Another metroidvania like Hollow Knight, The Messenger felts like a product of passion. Sabotage Studios wanted to create a fun game that paid homage to the games that made us who we are today. I highly recommend checking out my review if you’re intrigued, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend playing The Messenger game to completion.

62 – Mario Strikers Charged

Year Released: 2007 | Platform: Nintendo Wii

I think the first video game I ever covered on this blog was Mario Strikers: Battle League for the Nintendo Switch, because by the time I finished playing it, I had emotions. Angry ones. But let’s not dwell on those. Mario Strikers Charged is battle soccer mario game for the Nintendo Wii. This edition added charged shots, which when executed properly, launched the character into the air, and fired off like, 9 shots on the goal. The game then switched to the goalie, who using motion controls, had to defend the net.

This entry is entirely thanks to the competitive friends I had at the time, and the joy we got from utterly destroying each other.

61 – RollerCoaster Tycoon 2

Year Released: 1999 | Platform: PC

Alright, this was one of the very few PC games that I had as a kid. Of course, one of the earliest memories is my sister and I rigging the rollercoasters to launch off the ends of the tracks, and dropping the unhappy customers into a pit from which they can’t escape. As I got older, though, my sister and I worked together to complete all the maps, which sometimes required some very specific finagling. Like putting a “No Entry” banner in front of the exit at just the right moment so that we’d get our population goal before our approval rating plummeted.

RollerCoaster Tycoon is a game best enjoyed with a cold drink in one hand, and a whole day of time to waste, as it really can and will just take over your whole day. It’s fun designing your own roller coasters, even if no one will go on them, and planning out a park is a joy once the whole thing comes together.