The best video games of all time
The top 3 according to 811 votes from people: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time · SoulCalibur · Super Mario Galaxy 2. (Updated Jan 8, 2022.)
The highest-rated games ever according to Metacritic's all-time critic scores, cross-checked with IGN's Top 100 and the games most often named among the greatest. Ordered by Metascore.
Top 20
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1
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Nintendo 64, 1998. The highest Metascore ever (99) and the template for 3D action-adventure games.
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2
SoulCalibur
Dreamcast, 1999. Metascore 98; the fighting game that showed off the Dreamcast's power.
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3
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Wii, 2010. Metascore 98; a sequel that packed even more gravity-bending platforming ideas.
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4
Grand Theft Auto IV
2008. Metascore 98; Niko Bellic's story in a hugely detailed Liberty City.
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5
Super Mario Galaxy
Wii, 2007. Metascore 97; Mario's leap into spherical planets in outer space.
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6
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Switch/Wii U, 2017. Metascore 97; an open-world Hyrule where almost anything can be climbed or tried.
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7
Super Mario Odyssey
Switch, 2017. Metascore 97; Mario's globe-trotting adventure with his cap-possessing ally Cappy.
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8
Grand Theft Auto V
2013. Metascore 97; three playable protagonists in Los Santos and one of the best-selling games ever.
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9
Metroid Prime
GameCube, 2002. Metascore 97; Samus moved to first-person without losing the series' exploration.
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10
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
PlayStation 2, 2001. Metascore 97; the peak of the arcade skateboarding series.
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11
Grand Theft Auto III
PlayStation 2, 2001. Metascore 97; the jump to a 3D open city that defined a genre.
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12
Perfect Dark
Nintendo 64, 2000. Metascore 97; Rare's spiritual successor to GoldenEye starring Joanna Dark.
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13
Halo: Combat Evolved
Xbox, 2001. Metascore 97; the shooter that made the original Xbox and console FPS mainstream.
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14
Red Dead Redemption 2
2018. Metascore 97; Rockstar's western about Arthur Morgan and the decline of the Van der Linde gang.
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15
BioShock
2007. Metascore 96; a shooter set in the underwater city of Rapture with one of gaming's best twists.
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16
GoldenEye 007
Nintendo 64, 1997. Metascore 96; the James Bond shooter that made split-screen multiplayer legendary.
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17
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
PlayStation 3, 2009. Metascore 96; Nathan Drake's cinematic hunt for Shambhala.
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18
Tekken 3
PlayStation, 1998. Metascore 96; the fighting game that brought Jin Kazama and Eddy Gordo.
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19
Mass Effect 2
2010. Metascore 96; BioWare's space opera about assembling a team for a suicide mission.
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20
Resident Evil 4
GameCube, 2005. Metascore 96; Leon S. Kennedy in rural Spain, and the over-the-shoulder camera everyone copied.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 20… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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21
Half-Life 2
PC, 2004. Metascore 96; Gordon Freeman's return, famous for its physics and the Gravity Gun.
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22
The Orange Box
2007. Metascore 96; Valve's bundle of Half-Life 2 and its episodes, Team Fortress 2 and Portal.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (10)
Coming back to this list years later and it still holds up. Ocarina remains the GOAT for me.
Breath of the Wild should be #1 now honestly.
Seven years later and this list still holds up. Ocarina forever.
No Tetris, no Doom, no Minecraft? Come on.
It's based on critic scores, those games just didn't score as high. Doesn't mean they're not great.
Half-Life 2 still holds up perfectly, replayed it last month.
GTA IV over GTA V? I'll never understand the critics on that one
Ocarina of Time at #1 will never not be correct.
This is basically the Metacritic top 20, which is fine, but SoulCalibur at #3 shows how old that ranking is.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 above Galaxy 1 is the correct opinion.