The Absolute Best Video Games Of All Time Ranked

Since their earliest days, video games have grown from a niche industry to a global phenomenon. From mobile apps to console titles to PC games, there are more ways to get into gaming than ever before. With so many options, though, figuring out your next favorite title can be almost overwhelming — especially in today's day and age, where getting your hands on a great game is as easy as pressing a few buttons on your controller!

With that in mind, you can never go wrong with the classics, whether you're playing them for the first time or revisiting them for your 20th playthrough. And, while no two games are created equal — and every gamer has their own idea of what constitutes a "classic" — there are a handful of titles that most gaming aficionados can agree are near masterpieces. These are the 98 best video games of all time ranked.

#Ranking #VideoGames #Zelda

98. Ms. Pac-Man | 0:00
97. RollerCoaster Tycoon | 0:44
96. Galaga | 1:18
95. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors | 1:53
94. Myst | 2:29
93. Firewatch | 3:06
92. The World Ends With You | 3:43
91. Spec Ops: The Line | 4:19
90. Sam & Max Save the World | 5:00
89. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | 5:39
88. Sly 2: Band of Thieves | 6:05
87. Journey | 6:41
86. Gears of War 3 | 7:26
85. Hades | 7:59
84. Viewtiful Joe | 8:34
83. Devil May Cry 5 | 9:05
82. Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King | 9:42
81. Team Fortress 2 | 10:26
80. Hollow Knight | 11:10
79. Borderlands 2 | 11:43
78. Kentucky Route Zero | 12:16
77. Doki Doki Literature Club | 12:52
76. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal | 13:28
75. Okami | 14:06
74. Batman: Arkham City | 14:36
73. Horizon Zero Dawn | 15:09
72. Psychonauts | 15:43
71. Outer Wilds | 16:24
70. Dead Cells | 17:09
69. Fire Emblem: Three Houses | 17:43
68. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life | 18:21
67. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl | 18:54
66. Shin Megami Tensei 5 | 19:22
65. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | 20:06
64. Katamari Damacy | 20:34
63. Alan Wake | 21:09
62. Grim Fandango | 21:47
61. Undertale | 22:23
60. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem | 23:02
59. Pokémon Legends: Arceus | 23:38
58. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic | 24:11
57. Persona 4 | 24:57
56. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | 25:33
55. Yakuza 0 | 26:01
54. Harvest Moon 64 | 26:41
53. Fallout: New Vegas | 27:11
52. Pikmin | 27:50
51. Tekken 3 | 28:31
50. StarCraft 2 | 29:00
49. BioShock | 29:34
48. Grand Theft Auto 4 | 30:03
47. Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 30:46
46. God of War (2018) | 31:21
45. Metal Gear Solid | 31:56
44. Bloodborne | 32:35
43. System Shock 2 | 33:02
42. Earthbound | 33:37
41. Donkey Kong Country | 34:12
40. Tetris | 34:45
39. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 35:20
38. The Sims | 35:56
37. League of Legends | 36:27
36. Diablo 2 | 37:02
35. Elden Ring | 37:43
34. Persona 5 Royal | 38:20
33. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 | 39:02
32. Doom | 39:47
31. Super Mario Bros. | 40:27
30. Fallout 3 | 40:59
29. Resident Evil 4 | 41:37
28. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | 42:23
27. Super Mario Galaxy 2 | 42:56
26. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | 43:32
25. Grand Theft Auto 5 | 44:17
24. Super Smash Bros. Melee | 44:55
23. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | 45:28
22. Silent Hill 2 | 46:12
21. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim | 46:50
20. Metroid Prime | 47:27
19. World of Warcraft | 47:58
18. Halo 3 | 48:40
17. Zelda: Ocarina of Time | 49:13
16. Half-Life 2 | 48:44
15. Dark Souls | 50:34
14. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | 51:12
13. Street Fighter 2 | 51:40
12. Red Dead Redemption 2 | 52:19
11. Minecraft | 53:05
10. Shadow of the Colossus | 53:36
9. Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green | 54:13
8. Chrono Trigger | 54:39
7. Final Fantasy 7 | 55:21
6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | 55:52
5. Super Metroid | 56:32
4. Portal 2 | 57:03
3. The Last of Us | 57:35
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | 58:07
1. Super Mario 64 | 58:46

[Looper]

What best video games of all time do you think should’ve made this list?

[shshscca]

I didn’t know it was possible to make a all time video game list worse than IGN’s

[isky]

No Mass Effect and NieR: Automata is an actual crime.

[bigwizzle]

My buddy first showed me Journey a couple years ago. He just started the game up, tossed me the sticks, and started making sushi. 10 minutes in and I was hooked. A very satisfying game to complete. I shared the game with my son and he loved it. He really enjoyed the story and musical score. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

[Elevat_KG]

I feel as time goes on, more and more people forget how truly amazing ocarina of time was. It used to be considered the greatest game ever by the majority. To not have ocarina in the top five let alone top 10 is just disrespectful. The game was ahead of its time. The story was simply poetic and it just redefined the action/adventure genre for years to come. People like to throw around the word “overrated” which I feel has swayed a lot of people to hop on that bandwagon but this game has been rated so high for so long for a reason.

[thewalkingthrones]

GTA San Andreas was a great game in it's day.

[romanrhodes]

Where the hell is Mass Effect 2?? Are you insane?

[samkelomthembu]

what happened to: Half life, Unreal tournament, crash bandicoot, mortal kombat??

[wgarma]

Mario Kart, Marvels Spiderman, Far Cry 3, Doom Eternal, Until Dawn, Outlast. The should be in that list

[oratios]

Age of empires, Total War, Assassins' Creed franchises had to be at the top 20. Some of these games are 20+ years old and they deserve a place here.

[whenisdinner]

My question is where the fuck is Halo 2? Why is only Halo 3 here? Halo 2 literally changed the industry forever. Everything people give Modern Warfare credit for Halo 2 did first. It can be argued that Halo is even more influential than Halo 2 was. The amount of Innovations Halo brought to the industry is literally equal to Mario 64

[MarsMountain]

Deus Ex, Dishonored, Prey 2006 and Prey 2017 were really good games. Also Vampire Bloodlines.

[graduator]

Shows how these subjective these lists really are

[turkish]

To me gears of War and hellblade senua's sacrifice has to be on a top 100 list but a top video game list is all relative, you can only judge the games you've played

[marquesdesade.]

Bioshock and MGS3 isn't at least on top 20 it's an unforgivable crime; despite, you probably live in an alternative world where Mario 64 and TLOU is better than Dark Souls, Silent Hill 2 and FFVII.

[ROADRUNNER-fqdo]

I am beyond happy to see one of the Sly games listed

[karthikg.r.s]

The Witcher 3 should have been way higher in the list

[Noazzark]

Dragon's Dogma, Majora's Mask + Twilight Princess, Paper Mario Thousand Year door, The Metal Slug series, Luigi's Mansion, Nier series, Super mario Sunshine, Rampage, Conker's bad fur day, Mario Kart (double dash for me), Kirby's dreamland, Megaman series, Skyrim (can't remember if that was in there), Pokemon Snap (original one), Star Fox 64, Wii Sports, Mass Effect series (mostly 1-2), Dishonored (stealth games kick my ass most of the time), Soul Calibur 2 and mortal kombat, Star wars Rogue Squadron 2, Legend of Zelda Minish Cap, Demon's Souls, maybe Infamous, Guitar Hero / off the top of my head

[JediKnight]

Where is Super Mario World, Mario Odyssey, Sonic Generations, Mortal Kombat series, Megaman, Star Wars: Battlefront?

[limpt]

Baldur's Gate, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Dota 2, Counterstrike, Prince of Persia, Monkey Island, XCOM, Civilization, Age of empire. No way that these games didn't make the top 100 but some of the indie games are!