51-60

51. Halo 3

Set shortly after the cliffhanger ending of Halo 2, Halo 3 follows super-soldier Master Chief in his campaign to reclaim Earth from the Covenant, a confederation of hostile alien species, stop a parasitic life form from ravaging the galaxy, and prevent a vast array of “Halos” from annihilating all living matter in the universe. Although the single-player campaign never reaches the levels of excellence established in the first two Halo games, Halo 3 boasts addictive, customizable and community-oriented multiplayer modes which give it immense replay value. Halo 3, for the first time, allows players to use special items in addition to weapons, grenades and melee weapons. These include deployable cover, regenerators, flares and “bubble shields.”

52. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

The original Prince of Persia was a different take on the platform game, one which put a special emphasis on solving puzzles and avoiding traps. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time recaptures the elements which made the original game so unique and adds several innovations, not least of which is an epic story of heroism, betrayal and sacrifice. Although the Prince occasionally engages in swordfights with ferocious enemies, his greatest antagonist is the environment. Using his agility and acrobatic skills, the Prince must run, jump, swing and climb across catwalks, castle walls, broken pillars and suspended platforms. Negotiating these hazards is a dangerous game; luckily the Prince has the “Dagger of Time,” which allows him to travel backwards in time, erasing a single mistake.

53. Ninja Gaiden

Developed by Team Ninja, the development team behind the Dead or Alive fighting games, Ninja Gaiden has a sophisticated and fluid combat system, one of the best on the Xbox or any other system. Ninja Gaiden is the story of ninja assassin Ryu Hayabusa, the hero of all three NES Ninja Gaiden titles, and his quest to avenge the slaughter of his clan. The game is divided into sixteen chapters which take place in a variety of environments: villages, cities, catacombs, even an airship. Ryu begins the game with few offensive and defensive tools, but can upgrade his arsenal, appearance and inventory by defeating enemies, solving puzzles and buying items and upgrades at shops scattered across the map. Ninja Gaiden is famous for its high level of difficulty.

54. Donkey Kong 64

Of all the Rare Nintendo 64 titles, Donkey Kong 64 probably polarizes fans to the greatest degree. Criticized, sometimes justifiably, for tediousness and excessive emphasis on backtracking, Donkey Kong 64 remains a game of epic proportions and one of the greatest platform games to grace a Nintendo console. The game follows Donkey Kong and four of his simian relatives, all of whom have unique (and upgradable) abilities. Each of the eight levels contains items or enemies that can only be collected or defeated by a certain member of the Kong family; consequently each level must be examined and reexamined. Donkey Kong 64 also, surprisingly, boasts a multiplayer mode, which features several environments, modes and all five Kongs as playable characters.

55. River Raid

Very few great games were released before the advent of the NES, but River Raid stands as a classic of the early 1980s and one of the best reasons to own an Atari 2600. In River Raid, players control an airplane that flies vertically along a river shooting down enemy planes, helicopters and boats; players can refuel by slowing down over refueling stations that appear along the river. While its graphics, sound and control scheme seem antiquated by modern standards, River Raid was technologically advanced for its time, featuring a huge amount of fixed, non-random terrain. River Raid was designed and programmed by Carol Shaw, a trailblazing woman in the video game industry and, by some accounts, the very first female video game designer.

56. Tempest 2000

The Atari Jaguar was a commercial and critical failure, but it supported a few great games in its short lifespan. Its greatest game is Tempest 2000, a reimagining of the 1981 arcade classic Tempest. Enhanced with smooth graphics and a techno soundtrack, Tempest 2000 boasts three one-player modes: Traditional Tempest, Tempest Plus, and Tempest 2000, which is a complete remake of the original coin-op classic, featuring new enemies, weapon power ups and a brand new jump move. Tempest 2000 also features a terrific two-player mode called Tempest Duel, in which players control ships at either end of a web and try to blast each other to smithereens. Each ship is equipped with a mirror which reflects enemy shots.

57. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell

As a series, Splinter Cell pales only in comparison to the stealth franchise par excellence Metal Gear; otherwise it’s as good as it gets in terms of stealth action. In the first Splinter Cell, players take on the role of Sam Fisher, a retired black ops specialist who reenters life with the NSA when two CIA agents go missing in Georgia. Although Fisher is well-armed, he is strongly discouraged from discharging his firearms; stealth and camouflage are the name of the game in Splinter Cell. Particularly important are areas that are bathed in light or shrouded in darkness. Players have access to a “light meter” which informs them to what degree Fisher is visible to the enemy. Splinter Cell features a training tutorial which helps players familiarize themselves with Fisher’s stealth moves.

58. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

Most lists of the greatest first-person shooters of the 2000s wouldn’t include Peter Jackson’s King Kong, but in reality it stands up favorably to its contemporaries. Peter Jackson’s King Kong is a collaborative effort between director Peter Jackson and one of the video game industry’s best designers Michel Ancel (Rayman 2, Beyond Good & Evil). The game is divided between first-person shooting stages and third-person action stages: in the former players control New York screenwriter Jack Driscoll; in the latter players control Kong. Although Peter Jackson’s King Kong closely follows the storyline of the movie, it features several embellishments and detours significantly from the action seen onscreen, focusing on action events which ostensibly occurred off screen.

59. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Capcom’s gaming portfolio is one of the best in the business; it owns the single-best fighting franchise, the greatest survival-horror franchise and even has had its hands in the development of three The Legend of Zelda games, including The Minish Cap. In The Minish Cap, Link has the brand-new ability to shrink down to microscopic size, helping him explore every inch of the game world, find secret items, and interact with the Picori, a friendly, mousy race of tiny creatures. Allowing Link to minimize his dimensions is a magical and very funny green hat named Ezlo, who becomes Link’s sidekick throughout the game. The game also features “kinstones,” two-part artifacts which produce items when matching pieces are combined.

60. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

The final chapter of the Metroid Prime trilogy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, is certainly the most ambitious of the series and the first to appear on the Nintendo Wii. Set several months after Metroid Prime 2, Corruption is the story of Samus Aran’s continued fight against the Space Pirates and her nemesis, Dark Samus. Unlike the previous two Metroid Prime games, which took place across several environments on a single planet, Corruption allows players to travel from planet to planet via Samus’ ship. The Wii remote and nunchuk are incorporated masterfully into Corruption: the nunchuk operates mostly as Samus’ left hand, controlling her grapple function; the Wii remote largely has the same function as a mouse in a computer first-person shooter.