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TOP 100 VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME

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#60: Space Harrier Company: Sega    System: Arcade During the 1980's, Sega's Master System was a distant second in popularity to Nintendo's Entertainment System, but they were undoubtedly one of the kings of the arcade - and Space Harrier was one of their flagships. Designed by the legendary Yu Suzuki, it featured colorful graphics, digitized voices, and, most importantly, blistering 3D action that still holds up to this day. The game's popularity remains so high some twenty years after its' initial release that it can be seen in the Xbox game Shenmue II, and it was also recently remade for the Playstation 2.

#59: Elevator Action Company: Taito    System: Arcade Most early platforming games had a cartoony and non-violent feel. While no one is going to mistake Elevator Action for something like Doom, the ability to shoot and kill your "human" opponents added a whole new dimension to the genre. No longer did players have to resort to simply running away - now the hunted could become the hunter.

#58: Strider Company: Capcom    System: Arcade One of the most imaginative platformers ever made, Strider cast the player as a sword-wielding vigilante trying to destroy a strange group of bio-mechanical villains in futuristic Russia... and the Amazon, where the player battles huge women while riding on top of giant dinosaurs. Yeah, it's strange, but the lush graphics and inventive gameplay (which allows Strider to grapple onto most any surface and obtain robot sidekicks) make this one of the most unique games ever in the genre.

#57: Tempest Company: Atari    System: Arcade While it was Tempest's unique and colorful vector graphics that brought you in, it was the non-stop and addictive shooting action that made you come back for more - much more. With a one-of-a-kind design and a rotary controller that allowed for lightning-fast movement, Tempest's aracde experience is still something that can never be replicated, even with the huge processing power of today's home systems.

#56: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Company: UbiSoft    System: Xbox For years, the only game that would come to players' minds when they thought of the stealth genre was Metal Gear Solid. That all changed overnight with Splinter Cell. With jaw-dropping graphics, tight gameplay and a story that was a perfect fit for a post-9/11 world, Splinter Cell proved a worthy competitor for MGS's throne. And best of all, it didn't feature any white-haired guys running around in their birthday suits.

#55: Operation Wolf Company: Taito    System: Arcade Ah, yes, the joys of the 1980's, when it was socially acceptable to mow down communists with a machine gun in the name of fun and the American Way. Operation Wolf's story was the usual "save the hostages" rubbish prevalent in just about every other game of the era, but you weren't playing this to expand your mind. Sporting a huge monitor and a life-size replica of an Uzi, Operation Wolf stood out from all of the other light gun-based games of the time, and remains one of the best representations of this genre. Even though there have been huge leaps in graphical technology and gimmickry (such as force feedback and motion sensors) of light gun games, there are still very few of them that can match the intensity that could be had here.

#54: Wipeout XL Company: Psygnosis    System: Playstation Wipeout XL was one of the first 32-bit games that clearly showed how advanced this generation of games had become versus their 16-bit counterparts. The game was (and still is) one of the fastest racing games ever created, and its' soundtrack, which sported a full selection of licensed tunes from well-known techno artists like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, gave the intense races even more energy.

#53: Streets of Rage Company: Sega    System: Genesis Beat-em-ups were one of the most popular genres of the late 1980's and early 1990's. So, when Capcom signed an exclusive license for the mega-popular Final Fight to the Super Nintendo system, Sega created their own take on the genre. Streets of Rage, while at first being viewed as a Final Fight ripoff, would go on to become one of the most popular franchises of the period. In fact, the game's loyal fans have been petitioning Sega for years to issue a remake on one of today's systems. While the graphics weren't quite as nice as Final Fight, Streets of Rage certainly held its' own with some of the nicest stuff seen on the Genesis. And when you add in a deep list of moves and weapons, multiple characters, two-player action, and Yuzo Kashiro's amazing musical score, you get one of the best games the genre has ever produced.

#52: Tomb Raider Company: Eidos    System: Playstation Unfortunately, the Tomb Raider franchise is now viewed as a joke, due to the increasing of Lara Croft's bust size while the quality of the games has decreased - not to mention the two movies based on the series, which were not very well recieved by either fans of the series or just gamers in general. Still, despite this, the original entry still remains one of the most ground-breaking games ever. With detailed 3D graphics that allowed the player to explore massive (for the time) levels, and unique gameplay that combined puzzle-solving, platforming, and shooting, Tomb Raider set the bar very high for the 3D adventure genre. Even though it has now been eclipsed in the popular conciousness by other games, Tomb Raider still holds thrills in store for today's player, especially segments like the one where Lara must unexpectedly fight a T-Rex.

#51: Tecmo Bowl Company: Tecmo    System: NES While it was only a minor hit in the arcades, on the NES, Tecmo Bowl created a phenomenon that lasts to this day. Unlike other football games of the era, Tecmo Bowl had real teams and real players. It was also the first football game to try and capture the feel of a TV broadcast, with short cutscenes that occurred after important plays and at halftime. Tecmo Bowl also introduced stat tracking, which would become a staple of sports games in the years to come. And with a play style that allows newbies to just pick it up and play, while offering strategy for veterans that have been playing it for years, Tecmo Bowl (even though it has since been overshadowed by the Madden franchise) remains a popular staple in dorm rooms all across the country. Some inventive players even go so far as to hack the game to update the rosters each and every year - a true testament to this game's legacy.

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