The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has been voted the greatest video game of all time by readers of EDGE magazine.
The 10-year-old role-playing action game for the Nintendo 64 games console helped usher in a new era of three-dimension gaming.
The game was also one of only five titles that ever received the full ten out of ten review score from the leading video game publication.
Five of the top 10 games were made only for Nintendo, including the fantastic Super Mario 64 and Super Metroid.
The full list of 100 titles has been compiled in a special edition of EDGE magazine (EDGE Presents: The 100 Best Videogames), which is available on sale at your local newsagents on July 3rd.
Tony Mott, editor-in-chief of EDGE, said: “If you were new to video games and were going to go out and buy 100 games to make an instant collection, then these would be the games to buy.”
He added: “Ocarina of Time is nearly 10 years old, but its position at the top slot in EDGE’s 100 Best Videogames shows that great game design does not age.
“In visual terms, it obviously cannot compete with today’s Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 productions, but, as with many classics, its appeal is about so much more than its appearance.”
Only one PC title made the top ten and that is the sublime first person shooter Half Life 2. Surprisingly, there was only one Xbox game that made the elite list – Halo.
As for the next generation of video games, only five made it in the top 100. These include Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (rank 15th), Oblivion (rank 19th), Virtua Fighter 5 (in 38th spot), Virtua Tennis 3 (at number 80) with Crackdown just making the cut in 100th position.
Mott commented: “Crackdown hasn’t been around long but has proved itself to be a very good game. It will be interesting to see people’s reaction to that. If we did this poll in five year’s time, I would hope to see more PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games in the list. But I don’t think anyone would argue we have seen that many classics in this new generation.”
The list was drawn together in three stages - thousands of reader votes, combined with expert opinion in the games industry and finally input from EDGE’s own editorial team.
The editor-in-chief said Ocarina of Time was the reader favourite as well as the overall winner. Mott said: “It appeared not long after games made the shift to 3D; everyone was wondering if it could make the transition. It was a very ambitious game. The way they were able to engineer it in a 3D context was a success; it worked brilliantly well.”
But he said the intention behind the poll was not to create a “nostalgia festival”.
“These games had to stand up today. People will be surprised by the small amount of very old games that have made it through. Often these types of lists are full of games like Space Invaders and Pong - which we recognise as classics, as important games - but they don’t necessarily stand up to play today.”
He added: “I love the fact that old games are being made available to audiences via Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and through compilations but I am not convinced that younger players will play them and appreciate them in the way we did the first time round.
“It’s very hard for younger players who play something graphically-rich like Gears of War to then play something like Robotron. I think it will be for the greater good of the industry when more effort is put into the content of games than the way they are presented visually.”
The five titles to have received a maximum review score from the magazine are: Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Half-Life 2, Gran Turismo, Super Mario 64 and Halo.
So a fantastic achievement for Link. Do you think this is the best Zelda game in the series? Please share as your views.
The top ten games ever:
1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina
2. Resident Evil 4
3. Super Mario 64
4. Half Life 2
5. Super Mario World
6. Zelda: A Link to the Past
7. Halo: Combat Evolved
8. Final Fantasy XII
9. Tetris
10. Super Metroid
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Josh says:
Yeah, good list. But MGS needed to be in it :P.
Jul 02, 2007, 5:07 pmJosh says:
I think OoT deserved it. The top 10 list is pretty good, but MGS needed to be in it :p
Jul 02, 2007, 5:08 pmNeoBlade says:
Here is my comment about it from the forum…
I agree with that list as if anyone pushed me, I would put Zelda: Ocarina of Time as number one too. I would probably have Super Mario 64 second as well and I think it is a little odd not to see a FF7 in the top ten but understandable.
Resi Evil 4 though as second is a surprise although I’d put it somewhere in the top ten also. The thing is, this is a list of the greatest games of all time and NOT the best selling or most popular. Hopefully everyone knows the difference there ^_^
I think many of the younger generation of gamers missed out a lot of technical aspects when it comes to videogame design, especially when considering the leap from 2D to 3D. Look at how Sega have struggled to re-invent the Sonic series from the same dimensions.
Also missing out is the state of games back then. Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a decade old. Mario 64 older still. Was there anything like it? The inventions of things like Z-Targeting has created a solution to many 3D issues in combat and has been copied since. Same for using effects when in combat, by having the screen go letterboxed, focusing only on Link and the opponent.
The jump from 2D to 3D isn’t an easy one in terms of level design and its more than simply adding another dimension and throwing polygons at things. Resident Evil 4 then got high marks because it re-invented the tired genre with masterful controls that added new life to the game. Now Resident Evil 5 and other games are expected to use this new shift and has become the standard.
FFXII though being there also because I’d assume of the brave switch in style and indeed the re-invention of the battle system, utilising aspects of Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross and the traditional FF turn based system. The system did need changing and when I wrote my preview for it, I honestly thought people would be split 50/50 due to the change, but it has been warmly received.
If people look into this list a lot deeper than face value, I think many would agree what it has done for their respective genres and how it has influenced other games beyond.
Jul 02, 2007, 9:57 pmwalking leaf says:
The full 100 games is revealed. Personaly, I am shocked to see Square Enix’s epic Final Fantasy VII only in 18th position, as many would consider to be the best in the series. The fantastic Super Mario Kart on SNES makes the top 15 while my personal fave Animal Crossing just making the cut in the top 50.
Scanning through the list, I’ve notice Xbox games didn’t score quite highly. As expected Nintendo titles dominate from the likes of Zelda, Mario and even Wario!
The top 100:
01. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Jul 02, 2007, 5:28 am02. Resident Evil 4
03. Super Mario 64
04. Half-Life 2
05. Super Mario World
06. The Legend Of Zelda: A Link to the Past
07. Halo
08. Final Fantasy XII
09. Tetris
10. Super Metroid
11. Yoshi’s Island
12. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
13. Ico
14. Super Mario Kart
15. Pro Evolution Soccer 6
16. Street Fighter Anniversary
17. GoldenEye 007
18. Final Fantasy VII
19. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
20. Civilization IV
21. Okami
22. World Of WarCraft
23. Metroid Prime
24. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
26. Advance Wars
27. Rez
28. Perfect Dark
29. Deus Ex
30. Shadow Of The Colossus
31. Katamari Damacy
32. Project Gotham Racing 2
33. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
34. R-Type Final
35. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
36. Battlefield 2
37. StarCraft
38. Virtua Fighter 5
39. Secret Of Mana
40. Wario Ware Inc: Minigame Mania
41. Gran Turismo 4
42. Rome: Total War
43. Bomberman
44. Super Monkey Ball
45. Company Of Heroes
46. Quake III
47. Far Cry
48. Puyo Pop Fever
49. Animal Crossing
50. Shenmue
51. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
52. Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness
53. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
54. Chrono Trigger
55. Counter-Strike
56. Guitar Hero
57. Soul Calibur
58. Tempest 2000
59. StarFox 64
60. Pac-Man Vs
61. Manhunt
62. Jet Set Radio Future
63. Lumines
64. System Shock 2
65. Darwinia
66. F-Zero GX
67. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
68. GTR2
69. PilotWings 64
70. Ridge Racers 2
71. Ninja Gaiden Black
72. Killer7
73. Puzzle Bobble (aka Bust-a-Move)
74. Thief: The Dark Project
75. Burnout 2
76. Ikaruga
77. Football Manager 2007
78. Doom II
79. Secret of Monkey Island
80. Virtua Tennis 3
81. Robotron 2084
82. Lemmings
83. Nights
84. Phantasy Star Online
85. Silent Hill 2
86. Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
87. Mr. Driller
88. Sega Rally Championship
89. Tomb Raider
90. Devil May Cry
91. Super Smash Bros. Melee
92. Resident Evil
93. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
94. Gitaroo Man
95. God of War
96. Wipeout
97. Tekken 3
98. Sensible Soccer
99. Psychonauts
100. Crackdown
Snige66 says:
Well duh! But I would put SMW second with MGS on PS1 third. Goldeneye 4th. Never played any game since so mauch as these four.
Woah! Sensible Soccer 98th!! Ha what swiz!
Jul 02, 2007, 2:33 pmYink says:
Prince of persia is in there as well as okami kewl.
Jul 02, 2007, 5:13 pmVideo Games » Ocarina of Time hailed as a classic video game by EDGE readers says:
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Jul 02, 2007, 8:04 pm