Amit Amola
Hey...you all have played games in your childhood...and you love games right. I couldn't imagine a kid's life without these games. Here's a nostalgic retreat for everyone where I present top 26 classic games of all time.
Max Payne is a third-person shooter video game developed Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers on July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the Game Boy Advance were published by Rockstar Games. A Mac OS port was published on July 16, 2002 by MacSoft. There were plans for a Dreamcast version of Max Payne, but they were canceled due to the discontinuation of the console. The game was re-released on April 27, 2009 as a downloadable game in the Xbox Originals program for the Xbox 360. The game was also re-released in the spring of 2012 as a downloadable game in the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3 under the PS2 classics banner, iOS and on Android.
The game centers around the NYPD Detective Max Payne, who attempts to avenge the murder of his family. It features a gritty neo-noir style and uses graphic novel panels (with voice-overs) in place of animated cutscenes to narrate the game, as it draws inspiration from hard-boiled detective novels by authors like Mickey Spillane. The game contains many allusions to Norse mythology, particularly the myth of Ragnarök, and several of the names used in the game are those of the Norse gods and mythos. The gameplay is heavily influenced by the Hong Kong action cinema genre, particularly the work of director John Woo, and it was the first game to feature the bullet time effect popularized by The Matrix.
Max Payne received very positive reviews and was praised for its exciting gunplay and use of noir storytelling devices. Critically acclaimed, the game won a large number of accolades, including the BAFTA Award. As of 2011, the Max Payne game franchise has sold over 7.5 million copies. It also inspired a feature film under the same title.
Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. It was licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway and released in October 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture. Upon its release, the game – and subsequent Pac-Man derivatives – became a social phenomenon that sold a large amount of merchandise and also inspired, among other things, an animated television series and a top-ten hit single.
When Pac-Man was released, the most popular arcade video games were space shooters, in particular Space Invaders and Asteroids. The most visible minority were sports games that were mostly derivatives of Pong. Pac-Man succeeded by creating a new genre and appealing to both genders. Pac-Man is often credited with being a landmark in video game history, and is among the most famous arcade games of all time. It is also one of the highest-grossing video games of all time, having generated more than $2.5 billion in quarters by the 1990s.
The character has appeared in more than 30 officially licensed game spin-offs, as well as in numerous unauthorized clones and bootlegs. According to the Davie-Brown Index, Pac-Man has the highest brand awareness of any video game character among American consumers, recognized by 94 percent of them. Pac-Man is one of the longest running video game franchises from the golden age of video arcade games. It is part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Mario is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise by Nintendo, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the eponymous protagonist of the series, he has a younger brother Luigi. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom, he repeatedly rescues Princess Peach from the Koopa villain Bowser and stops his numerous plans to destroy him and take over the kingdom.
The Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 210 million units, Outside of the Super Mario platform series, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing video games such as Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, and educational games, such as Mario Is Missing! and Mario's Time Machine. He has inspired television shows, film, comics and a line of licensed merchandise. Since 1995, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.
The Legend of Zelda is a high fantasy themed action-adventure game series created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and Eiji Aonuma. It was developed and published by Nintendo, with some portable installments outsourced to Flagship/Capcom, Vanpool, and Grezzo. Its gameplay is a mixture of action, adventure, and puzzle solving. It is one of Nintendo's most important and popular franchises.
The series centers on Link, the playable character. Link is often given the task of rescuing Princess Zelda and Hyrule from Ganondorf, a Gerudo thief who is the primary antagonist of the series. However, other settings and antagonists have appeared throughout the games, with Vaati being a strong secondary antagonist during the lifespan of the Game Boy Advance. The stories commonly involve a relic known as the Triforce, a set of three omnipotent golden triangles. The protagonist in each game is usually not the same incarnation of Link, but a few exceptions do exist.
The Legend of Zelda series consists of 17 official games on all of Nintendo's major consoles, as well as several spin-offs. An American animated series based on the games aired in 1989, and individual manga adaptations which are officially endorsed and commissioned by Nintendo have been produced in Japan since 1997. As of 2011, the series had sold over 67 million copies.
Contra known as Probotector and occasionally Gryzor in Europe and Oceania, is a 1987 run and gun action game developed and published by Konami originally released as a coin-operated arcade game on February 20, 1987. A home version was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, along with ports for various computer formats, including the MSX2. The home versions were localized in the PAL region as Gryzor on the various computer formats and as Probotector on the NES, released later. Several Contra sequels were produced following the original game.
Prince of Persia is a fantasy platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games.
After the original release on the Apple II, Prince of Persia was ported to a wide range of platforms. The game managed to surprise and captivate the player despite being at first glance, repetitive. This was achieved by interspersing intelligent puzzles and deadly traps all along the path the player-controlled Prince had to take to complete the game—all this packaged in fluid, lifelike motion.
Prince of Persia influenced a sub-genre known as the cinematic platformer, which imitated the sprawling non-scrolling levels, fluid animation, and control style.
Street Fighter commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of fighting games by Capcom. The game's playable characters originate from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style. It is Capcom's second best-selling franchise, enjoying significant success all around the world.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. First released in North America, Europe, and Australia on June 23, 1991, the game is the first installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, chronicling the adventures of the titular character in his quest to defeat the series' antagonist Dr. Robotnik. The game's story focuses on Sonic's efforts to stop Dr. Robotnik's plans for world domination, release the animals Dr. Robotnik has trapped, and collect six magical emeralds known as the Chaos Emeralds.
Development of Sonic the Hedgehog began in 1990, when Sega ordered its AM8 development team to develop a game featuring a mascot for the company. After a hedgehog was decided on as the main character, the development group was renamed Sonic Team.
Sonic the Hedgehog received positive reviews from critics, who praised the game's visuals and its sense of speed. It was commercially successful, increasing the popularity of the Mega Drive/Genesis and establishing Sonic the Hedgehog as the company's mascot. Its success led to the development of subsequent games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, as well as the creation of a media franchise of spin-off products featuring the character.
Tekken is a fighting game franchise created, developed and published by Namco (later Namco Bandai Games). Beginning with the original Tekken in 1994, the series has received several sequels as well as updates and spin-off titles. The series has also been adapted into three films and other media. The series' official English name is always written in all-capital letters (TEKKEN, abbreviated to TK).
The story in each game in the main series documents the events of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, hosted by the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation. The prize is typically control of the company, which then allows the winner to host the following tournament.
Halo: Combat Evolved is a 2001 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as an exclusive launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is considered the platform's "killer app." More than five million copies were sold worldwide by November 2005. Microsoft released versions of the game for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2003, and the surrounding storyline was adapted and elaborated into a series of novels, comic books, and live action web shorts. The game was later released as an Xbox Original for download onto an Xbox 360 HDD.
Halo is set in the twenty-sixth century, with the player assuming the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier. The player is accompanied by Cortana, an artificial intelligence who occupies Master Chief's neural interface. Players battle various aliens as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo, a ring-shaped artificial world. The game has been praised for elements such as its story, the variety of strategies players can employ, and its multiplayer mode; however, the repetition of its level design was criticized by some reviewers.
Halo has been praised as one of the best and most important video games of all time, and was ranked by IGN as the fourth best first-person shooter of all time. The game's popularity has led to labels such as "Halo clone" and "Halo killer," applied respectively to games either similar to or anticipated to be better than it. In addition, the game inspired and was used in the fan-created Red vs. Blue video series, which is credited as the "first big success" of machinima (the technique of using real-time 3D engines, often from video games, to create animated films). A high-definition remake, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, was released on the 10th anniversary of the original game's release, and will be re-released as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on November 11, 2014.
Devil May Cry is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. While the game primarily focuses on swordfighting, the player gains new weapons after beating the game's bosses resulting in a variety of combos to perform.
Set in modern times on the fictional Mallet Island, the story centers on Dante, a demon hunter who uses his business to get his revenge on the demons after losing his brother and mother. He meets a woman named Trish who takes him on a journey to defeat the demon lord Mundus. The story is told primarily through a mixture of cutscenes, which use the game's engine and several pre-rendered full motion videos.
The game was originally conceived in 1999 as Resident Evil 4. Due to the staff feeling it would not fit the Resident Evil franchise, the idea was scrapped and was made its own story. Devil May Cry received prominent coverage in the video game media due to the impact it had in the action game genre, its high difficulty and the high overall scores from professional reviewers. The game has sold more than two million copies and spawned multiple Capcom-developed sequels and prequels.
Hudson's Adventure Island, also known simply as Adventure Island, is a side-scrolling platform game produced by Hudson Soft that was first released in Japan for the Famicom and MSX on September 12, 1986. It was later released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System on September 1988 and in the PAL region in 1992 under the title of Adventure Island Classic.
Adventure Island is an adaptation of the arcade game Wonder Boy, originally published by Sega for developer Escape (now known as Westone Bit Entertainment). Adventure Island was followed by a series of sequels that were independently developed by Hudson Soft.
Bomberman is a strategic, maze-based video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. The original game was published in 1983 and new games have been published at irregular intervals ever since. Several titles in the 2000s were published by fellow Japanese game company Konami, who gained full control of the franchise when they purchased and absorbed Hudson in 2012. Today, Bomberman has featured in over 70 different games on numerous platforms (including all Nintendo platforms save for the 3DS and Wii U), as well as several anime and manga. His franchise is one of the most commercially successful of all time.
Released by SEGA, this game came out after its movie release.
Age of Empires (often abbreviated to AoE) is a history-based real-time strategy video game released in 1997. Developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Ensemble was still an independent company, later acquired by Microsoft. The game uses the Genie, a 2D sprite-based game engine. The game allows the user to act as the leader of an ancient civilization by advancing it through four ages (the Stone, Tool, Bronze, and Iron Ages), gaining access to new and improved units with each advance. It was later ported to Pocket PCs with Windows, resulting in a version very similar to the PC game.
Originally touted as Civilization meets Warcraft, some reviewers felt that the game failed to live up to these expectations when it was released. Despite this, it received generally good reviews, and the expansion pack Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome was released in 1998. Both the original Age of Empires and the expansion pack were later released as "The Gold Edition".
Call of Duty is a 2003 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine. It was accompanied in September 2004 by an expansion pack, Call of Duty: United Offensive, which was produced by Activision, and developed by Gray Matter Interactive, with contributions from Pi Studios. Call of Duty is similar in theme and gameplay to Medal of Honor, as it is made out of single-player campaigns and missions. However, unlike Medal of Honor, the war is seen not just from the viewpoint of an American soldier but also from the viewpoint of British, Canadian, and Soviet soldiers.
The game was somewhat unusual at the time in that throughout the single-player mode the player is joined by computer-controlled allies who range in quantity from two infantrymen (in some of the British missions) to an entire regiment of tanks (in the Soviet missions). The computer-controlled allies will support the actual player during the missions. They also further the game's goal of providing an immersive and realistic experience; that is, soldiers in World War II were usually part of a larger group, as opposed to the "lone wolf" seen in video games such as Medal of Honor. However, there are some missions where the player is alone.
Counter-Strike is a first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation. It was initially developed and released as a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe in 1999, before Le and Cliffe were hired and the game's intellectual property acquired. Counter-Strike was first released by Valve on the Microsoft Windows platform in 2000. The game later spawned a franchise, and is the first installment in the Counter-Strike series. Several remakes and Ports of Counter-Strike have been released on the Xbox console, as well as OS X and Linux.
Set in various locations around the globe, players assume the roles of members of combating teams that include counter-terrorists and terrorists. During each independent match, the two teams of five players are tasked with defeating the other by the means of either achieving the map's objectives, or else killing the enemy combatants. Each player may customize their arsenal of weapons and accessories at the beginning of every match, with the currency earned through each map reset, killing other players and achieving objectives.
As of August 2011, the Counter-Strike franchise has sold over 25 million units.
Dangerous Dave is a 1988 computer game by John Romero. It was developed for the Apple II and DOS as an example game to accompany his article about his GraBASIC, an Applesoft BASIC add-on, for the UpTime disk magazine.
A classic puzzel game like pacman.
Doom is a 1993 science fiction horror-themed first-person shooter (FPS) video game by id Software. It is considered one of the most significant and influential titles in the video game industry, for having ushered in the popularity of the first-person shooter genre. The original game is divided into three nine-level episodes and distributed via shareware and mail order. The Ultimate Doom, an updated release of the original game featuring a fourth episode, was released in 1995 and sold at retail.
In Doom, players assume the role of an unnamed space marine, who became popularly known as "Doomguy", fighting his way through hordes of invading demons from Hell. With one third of the game, nine levels, distributed as shareware, Doom was played by an estimated 10 million people within two years of its release, popularizing the mode of gameplay and spawning a gaming subculture. In addition to popularizing the FPS genre, it pioneered immersive 3D graphics, networked multiplayer gaming, and support for customized additions and modifications via packaged files in a data archive known as "WADs". As a sign of its effect on the industry, first-person shooter games from the genre's boom in the 1990s, helped in no small part by the game's release, became known simply as "Doom clones". Its graphic violence, as well as satanic imagery, made Doom the subject of controversy.
The Doom franchise was later continued with the follow-up Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994) and numerous mission packs, including Master Levels for Doom II (1995), and Final Doom (1996). Originally released for PC DOS, the games have later been ported to numerous other platforms. Once the game's source code was released in 1997, it spawned even more adaptations, as fans further ported the code to countless devices. The series started to lose mainstream appeal as the technology of the Doom game engine was surpassed in the mid-1990s, although fans have continued making WADs, speedruns, and modifications to the original. The franchise again received popular attention in 2004 with the release of Doom 3, a retelling of the original game using new technology, and an associated 2005 Doom motion picture. Doom 4 was announced as in production in 2008 and was later retitled simply as Doom.
Project I.G.I.: I'm Going In (released in Europe as simply Project I.G.I.) is a tactical first-person shooter developed by Innerloop Studios and released on December 15, 2000 by Eidos Interactive. Upon release the game garnered mixed reviews due to a number of shortcomings, such as poorly programmed A.I., lack of a mid-game save option, and the lack of multiplayer features. However it was praised for its superb sound design and graphics, thanks in part to its use of a proprietary game engine that was previously used in Innerloop's Joint Strike Fighter.
It was followed up in 2003 by I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike.
Hitman is a stealth video game series developed by the Danish company IO Interactive. The series is available on Microsoft Windows as well as several video game consoles, including the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game series has since expanded into a novel, Hitman: Enemy Within written by William C. Dietz, followed by Hitman: Damnation which is an official prequel to the installment, Absolution, and a Hitman film adaptation in 2007, which is loosely based on the storyline of the games. The film was negatively received, but became a financial success.
The series revolves around Agent 47 (usually simply referred to as "47" or "Mr. 47"), a cloned assassin-for-hire, whose flawless record places him in high demand among the wealthy and elite. The first original scriptwriter was Morten Iversen, who wrote the scripts for Hitman: Codename 47 and Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. He also contributed to Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money. The games feature a mix of orchestral and electronica musical scores, composed by Jesper Kyd (later noted for his work on the Assassin's Creed series). A fifth installment of the series, Hitman: Absolution, was released on November 20, 2012. The sixth Hitman game is currently in production at IO Interactive, as is a mobile and tablet turn-based strategy spin-off, Hitman Go.
Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed, later released in Japan as Road & Track Presents: Over Drivin', is a 1994 racing video game first released on the 3DO and then ported over to DOS, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It is the first title released in the Need for Speed series. The premise of the game involves racing in sport cars, including several exotic models and Japanese imports. The game was noted for its realism and audio and video commentaries. Electronic Arts teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behavior, including the mimicking of the sounds made by the vehicles' gear control levers. The game also contained precise vehicle data with spoken commentary, several "magazine style" images of each car interior and exterior and even short video clips highlighting the vehicles set to music.
Road Rash is the name of a motorcycle-racing video game series by Electronic Arts in which the player participates in violent, illegal street races. The series started on the Mega Drive and made its way to various other systems over the years. The game's title is based on the slang term for the severe friction burns that can occur in a motorcycle fall where skin comes into contact with the ground at high speed.
Six different games were released from 1991 to 1999, and an alternate version of one game was developed for the Game Boy Advance. The Mega Drive trilogy wound up in EA Replay.
Virtua Cop 2 is a light gun arcade game, released in 1995 and developed internally at Sega by their AM2 studio. It was ported to home systems on the Sega Saturn in 1996. It was released in PC in 1997 and Sega Dreamcast in 2000. It was later bundled with Virtua Cop in Virtua Cop: Elite Edition for PlayStation 2 in 2002.
The game was succeeded by Virtua Cop 3.
Life is full of challenges. Wise people choose to meet them. Foolish people choose to run from them...
