What's the Best Video Game Ever?

[VideoGameCritic]

[QUOTE=soporj]Galaga.

Funny you mention Centipede...I've been playing that game a LOT (using MAME). My high score is around 60,000 and that is starting with 5 lives, so your high scores are incredible to me.

How many lives do you start with?

[/QUOTE]

Three lives!  Of course, I have the benefit of the track ball.

And for all you lame people out there who are dodging the question - name a game and run with it!  Nobody is going to hold your feet to the fire.

[will]

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]And for all you lame people out there who are dodging the question - name a game and run with it!  Nobody is going to hold your feet to the fire. [/QUOTE]

okay

Lords Of Midnight, ZX Spectrum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lords_of_Midnight
http://www.crashonline.org.uk/07/midnight.htm

Still play it.

[Cody]

  I'm  putting up the later released version of Super Mario All Stars that includes Super Mario World for the SNES as one of the games I think is the best ever. Just think, many people put up Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros. 3 as the best game ever, but what about getting those games and Super Maro Bros. 2, the real Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario World on one cartridge with updated graphics and sound?
  

[JustLikeHeaven1]

Mine probably changes every other week, but this is the one that sticks out to me at the moment.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)

It was between this and Super Metroid and since I'm more of a horror guy than a Sci-fi guy I had to go with SOTN.

Symphony of the Night is gaming perfection to me.  It blended oldschool 2D graphics with brand new gameplay elements and excellent level design.  It had tons of secrets, replay value and most importantly it was simply a joy to play and explore.

[JasonhasRSI1]

In my opinion, the greatest game ever made needs to be instantly fun and addicting the moment you lay hands to it, with an elegant enough control scheme and presentation to hold up for many, many years. So I'm going with Tecmo Super Bowl. Years ahead of its time and still great fun to this day, it's a game that never gets old and achievements near perfect balance between simplicity and nuanced, skill-based gameplay.

[ajsmart1]

[QUOTE]

And for all you lame people out there who are dodging the question - name a game and run with it!  Nobody is going to hold your feet to the fire.

[/QUOTE]

Maybe not the best game ever but certainly in my book it is... the arcade version of Strider.  I still play it all the time on the PS1, but playing this game on the arcade standup is pure bliss.  I love wailing the attack button.  Strider Hiryu will swing that sword as fast as you can mash that button. 

It's got it all: fast paced non-stop action, cool sound effects and music, and you're fighting communists

[BigOldCar]

Critic, you're absolutely right about Centipede being that rare game that crosses the gender divide.  I'd never even heard of it (I was like ten at the time) before this woman at the church community center started talking about how much she enjoyed it.

However, the answer to your question... the greatest game ever... Ever, in all the history of video games... indeed, the history of the WORLD... bar none, hands down, is... is...

TETRIS!  Doesn't matter what version, what console.  Tetris just rules.  It just RULES, I tell you!  It's so simple it's even been successfully ported to keychains, for goodness sake.  It was even backwards ported to the 2600 (homebrew, sure, but what other modern game can you say that about?)

Tetris is the best thing to come out of Russia since Vodka.  Oh, and rocketry.

[Steerforth]

Edward is right - of course it is Mario 64!

Even though  I love 2-d Marios, M64  did so much right the first time and broke so much new ground, I have to give it top billing.

Mario's moveset is perfect, the level design is great, the music is wonderful, the art style is very fun. You would never confuse Mario 64 with anthing else, it is the essential videogame. Perfect example of starting with a game mechanic first and then building the game around it, instead of the other way around. 

Galaxy has big shoes to fill. Sunshine was a superb game, but standing in M64's shadow made it look small, similar to people dissing Windwaker because it wasn't OoTime. s there a better indicator of greatness than that?

[andrew]

Man that question is hard. As of know I'm stuck between the arcade version of pole position 2 and baseball stars on the nes.

[Koopa W.]

[QUOTE=feilong80][QUOTE=Koopa W.]

The Guitar Hero franchise, hands down.

[/QUOTE]

Really? I mean, you would pick this over dozens of legendary games from past and present? It is certainly important, but best ever?

Hard to fathom. I'd like to hear you defense of this choice. It is maybe the only one that doesn't make some kind of sense to me. The game is fun, but it is a rhythm game (already been done, even the guitar idea) and wasn't even considered the best game of the year in the year it came out. I wild success for Harmonix, but I'm not sure that an argument for best video game of all time can be found. Best music game, yeah. But you arguing for this is like trying to argue for Oregon Trail, IMO.

-Rob
[/QUOTE]

Yeah. It's my favorite game franchise and all 3 iterations released so far are in my top 10 for sure. I am absolutely obsessed with music. Particuarly the kind with badass guitar riffs. I can't play the guitar myself, so the games are probably the closest I'm ever gonna get. Add in the coolest controller and best gameplay ever with some nice, yet simple, graphics, and you got the best games ever.