11-20

11. Super Metroid

Set immediately after the events of Metroid II, Super Metroid once again pits the galaxy’s best bounty hunter against the Space Pirates, her perennial enemy. Samus Aran returns to Zebes, her childhood home and the site of the first Metroid game, to reclaim the last larval Metroid from Ridley and the Space Pirates. Like so many of the 16-bit installments of Nintendo franchises begun on the NES, Super Metroid features gameplay essentially similar to its predecessors with several notable innovations. The password save function of the original Metroid was discarded in favor of remote save locations and Samus was given newer and more powerful power-ups than ever before. Enemies introduced in the first Metroid game return with a vengeance in Super Metroid.

12. Banjo-Kazooie

The impressive library of Nintendo 64 games would seem much less substantial without all the contributions from Rare (then Rareware), Nintendo’s second-party game developer. Microsoft bought the company in 2002, but Rare’s best game, Banjo-Kazooie, can still be booted up on Nintendo’s 64-bit system. Players control the bear-bird duo of Banjo and Kazooie as they explore Spiral Mountain in an effort to rescue Banjo’s kid sister from the evil clutches of the witch Gruntilda. Like most Rare games, Banjo-Kazooie excels in graphics, sound and a uniquely British sense of humor. Gameplay is largely derivative of Super Mario 64, but features notable stylistic and thematic differences. Banjo-Kazooie was followed two years later by Banjo-Tooie.

13. Ico

This Playstation 2 game is a real gem, an action-adventure game stripped down to the basics. Players take control of Ico, a young boy born with horns. The customs of Ico's village dictate that every child born with horns is a bad omen and must be escorted to an isolated castle and imprisoned there. Ico is fortunate enough to escape his cell and afterward wanders through the immense fortress, where he meets Yorda, a young girl also trapped in the castle. For the rest of the game, Ico explores the castle, solving its puzzles and protecting Yorda from enemy spirits who ceaselessly try to reclaim the young girl. Ico was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who created in his game a minimalist yet immersive experience, short on story, text and music, but long on emotion and ambiance.

14. Super Mario World

Bundled with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, Super Mario World was proof of the advanced processing power of the newest Nintendo console system and an important check to the growing power and influence of Sega’s 16-bit project. Like its immediate predecessors on the NES, Super Mario World is a platform game which demands its players jump, run, duck and swim to survive hazards and enemies in each level. It retains the overland map of Super Mario Bros. 3, but makes the game world and the levels within that world much larger, more graphically detailed and more diverse: ghost houses, fortresses and castles dot the landscape. Super Mario World marks the first appearance of Yoshi, who would become one of Nintendo’s most famous mascots.

15. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Perhaps forever destined to be overshadowed by its N64 counterpart, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask is a masterwork in its own right, one which actually improves upon its predecessor in several ways. Majora’s Mask is set in Termina, a region threatened with destruction by a giant foreboding moon. Link has 72 game hours to search dungeons, find artifacts and recover masks before the moon destroys Termina; when the 72 hours near completion, Link can play the Song of Time and return to 6 a.m. on the first day. Players repeat this three-day cycle until all the game’s objectives are complete. Where masks were largely secondary in Ocarina of Time, they are essential to progress in Majora’s Mask. Using masks, Link can transform into a Deku Scrub, a Goron and a Zora.

16. Metal Gear Solid

Before the blurring of the line between video games and movies was a fait accompli, Metal Gear Solid arrived on the scene and revolutionized the industry by presenting itself in an unparalleled cinematic way. Metal Gear Solid unfolds like a billion dollar blockbuster, with first-rate voice acting and masterful camera work. Set in a remote nuclear facility in Alaska, Metal Gear Solid follows the adventures of elite soldier Solid Snake, lured out of retirement and asked to liberate the facility from members of his former squad. Apart from its ground-breaking cinematography, Metal Gear Solid effectively invented the modern stealth action game, which has become a popular sub-genre. Its descendents include Splinter Cell and Hitman.

17. BioShock

Designed with elements of survival-horror games and role-playing games, BioShock is a first-person shooter which truly transcends its genre. Players control Jack, an unlucky man whose passenger plane crashes over the Atlantic Ocean. In a nearby submarine bay he discovers passage to Rapture, a hidden city beneath the waves. Once there, Jack encounters the twisted and gruesome inhabitants of Rapture, who stop at nothing to eliminate him. Jack can interact with almost everything in the underwater metropolis, including enemies, containers, machines and audio diaries, scattered throughout the city. In Rapture, players can upgrade weapons and create custom ammunition; they can also alter Jack’s very genetic code, infusing superhuman powers into his body in the process.

18. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Unfairly criticized for its cartoonish appearance, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker features some of the most memorable and vibrant graphics of any Zelda adventure and boasts, without a doubt, the most visually expressive Link of any franchise game. Set far in the future, after Hyrule has been replaced by a great sea, The Wind Waker is the story of Link’s quest to rescue his captured sister. Unlike other Zelda games, in which Link travelled by foot or on horseback, The Wind Waker asks its players to navigate across the vast ocean in a small sailboat. Aside from its gorgeous graphics, The Wind Waker boasts a terrific soundtrack and a deep, sometimes unpredictable story complete with several mid-game revelations and a truly shocking ending.

19. Super Mario Galaxy

Over the years Mario has accumulated a long and impressive resume: plumber, tennis star, golfer, go-kart driver, doctor. Now you can add astronaut. In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario for the first time has an extraterrestrial adventure, a jaunt among the stars which owes a lot to Super Mario 64, but which dwarfs it in size and scope. Super Mario Galaxy introduces an innovative physics system to accompany its spherical platform engine, whereby Mario can circumnavigate small planetoids, all the while a gravitational pull keeping him from flying off into space. The Wii remote and nunchuk are employed conservatively in Super Mario Galaxy, used mainly to perform a spin attack or to remotely collect “star bits,” colorful star-shaped gems used to defeat enemies or bypass obstacles.

20. Soul Calibur

Many people consider Soul Calibur to be the greatest fighting game ever made. It's difficult to argue with them. Soul Calibur is the continuation of the Soul series, which debuted in arcades as Soul Edge and found a home on the Playstation console renamed as Soul Blade. Like its predecessor, Soul Calibur is a 3D weapons-based fighter. Each colorful character uses a distinct weapon and employs a specialized fighting style. Unlike its predecessor and unlike every 3D fighter to come before it, Soul Calibur introduced a revolutionary 8-way run, where fighters could move freely in three dimensions. Soul Calibur also features a “mission mode,” in which players can complete mission objectives to gain points, which can be used to purchase costumes and artwork.