60. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)

Oblivion is another game that didn’t click with me when it first released. I spent more time watching my brother play than playing myself. Something about the huge open world made me paralyzed with indecision. Thankfully, I eventually got over the hump and I can now appreciate just how amazing the Dark Brotherhood questline is. It’s easily one of my all-time favorite side quests.

59. Bioshock Infinite (2013)

Bioshock Infinite is a game that started much higher on this list, but every time I revisit the rankings, it slips a few spots. I don’t think it holds up all that well from a gameplay and plot perspective. I’m a huge Ken Levine and Irrational Games fan, and you’ll see even more Bioshock later in this list, but the spiritual successor just doesn’t have the same “it” factor as the original. I liked the addition of the speaking protagonist and it has great DLC, but there’s a bit too much “been there, done that” for it to crack the top 50.

58. Super Mario Bros (1985)

For many of us, the original Super Mario Bros is where it all began. As a Sega kid born in 1988, I came to this series a few years after the fact and from that perspective, it can be hard to go back when Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World are such better games. Still, the simple fun of a plumber running to the right and jumping on goomba heads will never get old.

57. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023)

Spider-Man 2 is fun as hell. Everything here has been improved from the first game, and even from Miles Morales (which is also a great game but didn’t crack this list). Swapping between Spider-Mans works freely as intended and it feels like there’s four times as many special abilities as before to chain combos together. I think the Venom story can be corny at times but that’s small potatoes compared to all the epic stuff that happens.

56. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021)

It’s crazy that Rift Apart isn’t my top-ranked Ratchet & Clank game, because it’s so, so good. As a well-documented hater of multiversal stories, Rift Apart makes good on the set up with a meaningful story and hugely varied worlds that actually change between universes. Rivet and Kit are great new characters, as well, and the over the top guns are as fun as ever. Getting the platinum trophy for this game was a delight.

55. Final Fantasy XII (2006)

In recent years, plenty of people have begun to come around on Final Fantasy XII, but for quite a few years, I thought it was easily the most underrated Final Fantasy game. The MMO-inspired gambit system adds such a fun layer of strategy, and while the writing is overly verbose and Vaan sucks as a protagonist, the world of the game is super diverse and Balthier is as close as we’ll ever get to having Han Solo in a Final Fantasy game.

54. Hi-Fi Rush (2023)

Hi-Fi Rush might be the only game on this list that was made by a team who was immediately shut down after making a critically and commercially successful product. It sucks, man. Hi-Fi Rush is just a fun-ass video game. It nails the rhythm-based combat that totally opens up once you commit yourself to learning the combo system. It has a super unique and stylish sense of humor that takes the corporate world to task in a jokey but poignant way. And it’s full of loveable characters that deserved a sequel.

53. GoldenEye 007 (1997)

There’s probably a fair amount of rose-tinted glasses going on here, since any video I see of GoldenEye nowadays looks pretty rough. But it’s also impossible to ignore the hours and hours of joy I had as a kid playing the local multiplayer with big head and paintball modes on. Then we’d play slaps only, like real men. The single player campaign is also an over the top blast that makes the most of the movie on which it’s based.

52. Fallout 4 (2015)

There are a few picks on this list that I’m sure will raise some eyebrows, and I still can’t believe that Fallout 4 will probably be one of them. It’s a damn good game. Some might even call it the best game of 2015 (that’s me, I did that). Sure, the settlement system is sort of half-baked, but it’s fun to experiment with. Sure, the shooting still isn’t first-person shooter worthy, but it’s easily the best in the series. Add in amazing exploration and some strong writing and Fallout 4 holds up pretty well against its predecessors.

51. Super Mario Odyssey (2017)

Pretty crazy to see my 2017 Game of the Year so relatively low on this list, but that just goes to show how many amazing games there are out there. Super Mario Odyssey is as solid and polished a 3D Mario game as you could want, but it lacks some of the imagination of some other Mario entries you’ll see on this list. Props to the Cappy system, though. Nintendo found a ton of ways to make that mechanic fun.

Head to the next page to see which games cracked the top 50!