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Ocarina of Time — Best Game Ever?

Posted by Zonk on from the british-like-the-poncy-elves dept.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the best game yet made, according to a list compiled by readers and writers of the lauded British gaming magazine Edge. Their list of the hundred best games ever is top-heavy with Nintendo titles, a full five out of the top ten being released to a Nintendo platform. Obviously, this sort of thing can get contentious, and CNet's Crave blog spoke up quickly with a contrary opinion. "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is truly a masterpiece that should be thought of as one of the greatest games ever created. But to call it the greatest game of all time is a serious misstatement. Unlike Super Mario Bros., Ocarina of Time was released in an era where video games were booming and sales were on the rise. Simply put, everyone was playing video games, and the game was the best of its time. But no other game in history--Ocarina of Time included--was able to save an entire industry from almost guaranteed destruction the way Super Mario Bros. did, and it is for this reason that we should all give ol' Mario and Luigi credit where it's due." Let's hear it, then. What game deserves to top a list of the 100 best games ever made?

23 of 615 comments (clear)

  1. Counter-Strike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is clearly the best game ever made. With billions of player mins per month and timeless gameplay, it seems that CS will never die. How many millions of people still play Mario bros?

    1. Re:Counter-Strike by Trogre · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Which is well and good for people who like those kinds of games, but some of us like games to be sophisticated simulations that give a sense of immersion as if we are actually in a new environment. Back in the 90s this used to be called Virtual Reality, or Quake :) Currently such games are often still labelled FPSs or flight sims and for that no console even now comes close to a PC.

      And please don't bring out the old strawman that every FPS player is a pimply case-modding adrenaline junkie. You may as well say that everyone who drives a decent car is a boy racer.

      Sure I like the odd 1992-era candyland bubblegum game from time to time and that's when I break out my console, but for my style of serious gaming let's just say I'm apparently not Nintendo's target market.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    2. Re:Counter-Strike by Frogbert · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I'm sorry but I'm going to have to call bullshit. Check out the statistics: http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=stats Currently Counterstrike and Counterstrike source make up around 8 billion minutes of play time per month. Steam has 3,046,980 unique players per month on average, and I'd hazard a guess and say the 95% of them play CS at least some of the time. Counterstrike is an 8 year old game, and it is still getting that level of play. Sorry but there is no way that SMB has had more play time.

    3. Re:Counter-Strike by CastrTroy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Walk up to 100 random people on the street, and ask them if they've heard of a video game, called Counterstrike. And if they have heard of it, have they played it. Now ask the same about Mario. Seriously, I know that Counterstrike is a good game, but apart from the people who do play it, most people have never even heard of it.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    4. Re:Counter-Strike by Cadallin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Precisely what I was thinking. FPS enthusiasts usually come in two types: the graphics whore, and now the Drunk Frat Guy who discovered deathmatch with Halo and thinks Microsoft invented the FPS. The Trouble is, both of these are tiny niche markets, yet they dominate the direction of the industry, that is, if you listen to the hype machine and ignore who's raking in the sales and profits. I wish the gaming industry would discover the long tail theory. There's plenty of ready made markets that could support titles in the range of $1million to $5million in development costs, and they go completely ignored. If some companies would start producing really slick, well polished, 2D Adventure, RPG, and Strategy games, they would probably meet with a lot of success without much outlay.

  2. Half-life by Riverman5 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Half-life goes at the top of my list.

    1. Re:Half-life by arth1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Half-Life is too short. Like the games it build on (Doom and Quake), it's a relatively short adventure. Impressive, yes, but short. I doubt many people spent months of actual playing time with it -- they either completed it, and spent a few hours more fooling around, or they gave up.

      For finite games, I would think the original Tomb Raider has racked up way more man hours of play time, not to say anything about Super Mario, and, yes, Zelda.

      For open-ended games, I can't think of many that were more addictive than Elite. And yes, that is old school. If you missed it the first time around, too bad - it won't appeal to those who think anisotropic filtering makes a difference. It's wireframes, and your imagination does all the shading much better than any graphics card can.

      Anyhow, it's hard to say what the best game of all times is. Di gustibus non disputandum est, and all that. What's clearer is the Biggest Flop of all time. It has to be Daitakana.

      *Art, going back to play "A Mind Forever Voyaging"...

  3. Ocarina of Time by maestro371 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the _only_ game that I had trouble leaving for hours at a time. In my humble opinion, it is by far the best that has been. I would include Psychonauts and Warcraft 3 to round out my top 3.

    1. Re:Ocarina of Time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      You know what though? I thought the exact opposite. The graphics were really good. I think back to the N64, and PS1.. and Saturn, and I think about how 3d was handled on all of those systems. OOT was great. Shading, Character Design, Atmosphere.. it was all breathtaking. Storyline was epic, and people really took to the main character's mannerisms. Mainly because the sound and character animations were so top notch.

      I think people are either actively or slightly actively looking for bad graphics when they play this game. It's extremely easy to overlook the limitations when playing.

  4. Huh? Is This Only Console Cames? by Plekto · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There seems to be an utter lack of PC titles from the 70s, 80, or most of the 90s.

    Elite? Command and Conquer? Doom? Temple of Aphsai? Ultima IV? Zork?(anything by Infocom?)...

    Or any other systems of note. Marathon? Tempest?(the original), Defender? Mortal Kombat? The list of things that they didn't even include is amazing. Almost as amazing as the just that made most of the top twenty.

  5. Nintendo games by gustgr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Titles released by Nintendo usually do not have that super-duper-ultra virtual reality and graphics effects, like those for Playstation or X-Box, however, they are FUN. You don't need fancy and world-like effects with physics simulation to enjoy a title, you just need to be entertained by the plot and by the universe it immerses you. Nintendo is an odd company on that issue. I love their titles above all else.

    I would not consider only Ocarina of Time as the masterpiece of Nintendo, but it is a hell of a game. Very fair list.

  6. Reordering the list by Kuku_monroe · · Score: 0, Interesting

    3. Super Mario 64

    1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina

    9. Tetris

    5. Super Mario World

    2. Resident Evil 4

    4. Half Life 2

    6. Zelda: A Link to the Past

    8. Final Fantasy XII

    7. Halo: Combat Evolved

    10. Super Metroid

    Honorable mention to:

    Pikmin

    Katamari Damacy

    --
    //WR
  7. Super Mario 64 by mushadv · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Perhaps even more innovative and just as fun, but with wider appeal.

    Metroid Prime and Mega Man 2 hit #2 and #3 on my personal list, respectively.

  8. Re:Huh? Is This Only Console Cames? by spoco2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Look at who it's compiled by.

    ALWAYS look at the source of any 'list', 'survey', or stats.

    This is Edge, it's by far a console heavy magazine, they only really have PC there to try and make 'everyone' buy it.

    No, they're not an unbiased source for this sort of list.

    I far more trust the opinions of sites like http://gamespot.com/ or the like, as they have true PC sections.

  9. Re:What's with the obsession of "BEST"? by arodland · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Because that one isn't very interesting, or fun. "Best" is good for an interesting argument, discussion, flamefest on slashdot, whatever. "Most popular according to polls" is just a bunch of numbers. The best argument you can scare up is to insult the polling techniques. :)

  10. Re:Crave Misunderstanding by Lewisham · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Mod parent up!

    Every single article I've read about this poll gets confused and doesn't mention that it is a poll on games that must stand up today, which is why Pong or Doom aren't in the Top 10. Which of course, has lead to everyone to go off on a tangent and say silly things like "Mario Bros 1 should be number 1" and things.

    This wasn't helped by the BBC deciding to choose a misleading headline and then burying this information at the bottom. I guess "journalists" don't read past the first two paragraphs anymore.

  11. Re:Starcraft by Rebelgecko · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I definitely have to agree with Starcraft. Despite being 10 years old, it still has a huge fanbase, especially in South Korea where it is played professionally and where some of the players make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. This very second over 24,000 people are playing Starcraft online.

    --
    CATS/Diebold '08- All your vote are belong to us!
  12. Re:BGOAT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I concur. This list is shit. The listing of Elder Scrolls IV and not listing of Fallout II, Baldur's Gate II, or Planescape: Torment makes the CRPG element of this list lose any sense of credibility. There is obviously no methodology. Could any gamer with a sense of history omit Adventure or Zork? How about Space Invaders? The Bard's Tale? Without some methodology this list is nothing more than one of Zonk's fanboy countdowns.

  13. RE 4 at #2?? by KIFulgore · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Pffft, what a crock. The Resident Evil series did more to destroy clean 3D movement in games than any other series. I can't forgive the series for that. Mario 64 and Metroid Prime both blow away RE4.

    And SMB belongs in the top 10.

    Ocarina of Time is right where it belongs, at #1. It's funny the reviewer says "to call it the greatest game of all time is a serious misstatement," because as we all know, video game ratings lists are Serious Business (R).

    --
    - For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
  14. UK gaming rag ignores Bullfrog??? by *weasel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No Magic Carpet.
    No Dungeon Keeper.
    No Theme Hospital.
    No Syndicate.
    No Populous.

    Furthermore: No X-Com, No Ultima IV and No Fallout.

    Almost all lists like this are complete pap, but you simply cannot omit 5 top-50 titles and 3 more that are easily top-10 contenders. Not when you're presenting a list like this with a straight face. I know we bag on gaming 'journalism' for being a joke, but this isn't even funny.
    It's just kinda sad.

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  15. Best Game Designer... by Franklin+Brauner · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Best game seems too subjective to choose any single title, but I'm of the opinion that Shigeru Miyamoto is without compare in the industry, both for his artistic achievements, and how well he has advanced the grammar and cinematic language of interactive storytelling. For sure one of his titles deserves to be on the top of any list.
    --
    Franklin Brauner

  16. Elite by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't know how popular this was outside the US but Elite will definitely get my vote for most game play ever per Kb of memory. The old BBC cassette version packed it all into less than 32Kb of memory via creative use of the built in random number generator. I've never yet seen a game that was so far ahead of the competition.

  17. Re:Bah! by Teancum · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was going to suggest the original Cruther's ADVENT, but Space War does beat ADVENT by almost (not quite) a decade.

    The classic Oregon Trail (mentioned just a bit ago here on /.) on a mainframe would be in a similar league of hard core classic games. I also remember another fun one what was global thermonuclear war, where you played the part of the USA going after Russia in a full out nuclear war lanuching MIRVs, ICBMs, and Bombers against Russian cities. You "won" if you could wipe out the Russians before you lost everybody in your own cities, and it introduced to me the ideas of overkill and megatonnage.

    This list also missed the whole 8-bit microcomputer era, so I'm not surprised they missed even earlier classics.