Readers Of EDGE Consider Ocarina Of Time And Mario 64 To Be The Best Games Of The Last 20 Years

You know them EDGE readers. All top quality people! ... why yes, I do read EDGE every month, thanks for asking!

And for good reason! Those games are true gems.

Portal is on the list but Portal 2 is not. Huh.
I've played several games on this list and they were pretty great.

@Trululu While Portal 2 was amazing, Portal one was just so much better just by the fact that it was new and interesting while portal 2 you knew what you where getting into. While still interesting i think portal 2 relied on the comedy for its greatness more then say the mechanics(not saying they are bad).

That list is just plain good. Even though i have no idea what Halo is doing in there. They should just replace that pile of crap with Metroid Prime.

Those 2 games changed the entire industry and it's incredible that they both were created by the same people with the direction of Miyamoto-Sensei.

Half Life 2 came in 3rd place = Half Life 3 confirmed!!!

I can't really argue with the list except I never really rated FF7. Nice to see a genuine variety of games in there though. Mario Kart and Lemmings deserved a slot!

I rate Nights into Dreams more than Mario 64. (Finished Mario 64 once with all the Stars and never had any desire to play it again at all).

Think I like Shenmue more than Ocarina of Time as well (Probably because I have played Zelda more).

Good list. I would place Super Mario Galaxy higher, though. And F-Zero GX deserved a spot as it is the BEST RACING GAME OF ALL TIME, guess not too many people actually got to play it. And Sonic the Hedgehog on the Mega Drive is one of the greatest platformers.

The Last of Us, obviously hasn't had the test of time.

You can't really argue about the first two.

Needs more sidescrolling! But other than that, pretty tight list.

Why is the Last of Us up there? It came out like less than six months ago, certainly not as revolutionary as the rest of the games on this list.

Also, no Metroid Prime? That's sort of surprising.

Beautiful selection of all types of games! Nice!

It doesn't have a single fighting game or shmup. Or a Metal Slug game. Loads of them are very similar to each other.

@unrandomsam I have Shenmue knocking about somewhere, few other Dreamcast games too, Soul Reaver, Sonic Adventure among others

Wow, my two fav games of all time are 1st and 2nd ..what a surprise
Guess I have good taste.

@MJKOP Shenmue is one of the very few games I own where I think every single part of it is the absolute best they could do. (Ocarina of Time they could have required the 8MB to get the field of view bigger like in Majora's Mask - Used a much bigger cart to have more at the quality of the town). I suppose even that the original vision was the first and second one as one game. (And the EU version of the second I have has no English voice track).

..I'd put Mario Galaxy higher up though - yes, I am biased, as I haven't played all the games on the list that are higher than Galaxy, but I mean..c'mon
Super Mario Galaxy took 3D platforming to a whole new dimension, and made a SD game look HD. What have the others done (places 3 - 9)?

I'm not sure I would put Super Mario 64 on that list. It was mind-blowingly revolutionary, but it hasn't aged very well, so I wouldn't call it one of the "greatest" games. I feel like a game needs to stand the test of time to really be great, like OoT. But that's just me.

No Super Metroid? Really? Thats really surprising to me.

I'm a big fan of Edge, and think it's a pretty solid list.

Yeah good list. Maybe Metroid Prime and Pokemon red/blue could have made the list. And my personal favorite Banjo-Kazooie. That game took Mario 64 and improved everything. Graphics, Gameplay, Music, Level Design, Characters and the list goes on and on. Very underrated imo.

For once, there's a list that I can mostly agree with! Sure there might be some things missing that I would put on there, and some on there I didn't particularly like, but this list actually makes sense and doesn't just seem like a stupid popularity contest made up of games from the last five years.

@unrandomsam shenmue undoubtedly deserves a spot in that list

No.13 & 8 two of my all time favourite PS2 Games

@DerpSandwich To me Super Mario 64 holds up much better today than Ocarina of Time. I can play and truly enjoy SM64 to this day, can't say the same about the original OoT. Hence, there was a real need for it to be remade on 3DS, and what a fantastic remake that was.

@Guitardude7 Have you played it? The game received numerous perfect scores, they don't just had out 10 out of 10's to everyone. I havn't played it yet but everyone I've asked about it says its one of the best games they've ever played

I really can't complain about anything on that list. Games everyone should play!

Replace Halo with Metroid Prime. Otherwise, great list!

Galaxy>SM64

They say best when what it seems more like is most influential. (For a certain subset of genre's).

Rondo of Blood / Super Metroid. (Or I suppose Symphony of the Night which I don't really like that much). How many boring Metroidvania's do we have these days ?

I've seen worse lists. At least Super Mario 64 is there (one spot lower than it should be). If anyone wants the TRUE top 20 list, let me know and I'll give it to you.

@Samurai_Goroh Man, I'm the exact opposite. OoT always feels fun and intuitive and grand, whereas SM64 is just clumsy and overly simple. Mario just slips and slides around the map, sometimes plummeting off the edge just because you stepped onto a slightly angular piece of ground and got sliding. But to each his own!

Solid list. If only it excluded pre-Playstation, that is.

Also, I'm entirely too offended by the choice of Half Life 2 over the incomparable original. Not too fond of BioShock over System Shock, either. And Vice City... Really?

Halo and Goldeneye, but no Quake? Quake was better than those two put together!

Finally people who understand me XD

@unrandomsam I did not even finished Mario 64.

@Guitardude7 Well probably it isn't your cup of tea that just like saying "so what's makes mario games any special his games are hella overrated and nothing but rehashed titles with the name Mario" understand its just gamer opinions.

I can never agree with top games lists. The only two I would count among the best are SMG and FFVII. But that's just me.

@DerpSandwich I just have to say, I've re-played SM64 every year or two for 15 years. It brings me complete joy laced with a hint of frustration (like every great game should) every single time.

I'm still astounded by the elegant, yet unhinged level design. Still blown away by the amount and variety of challenges packed into each relatively compact level. Having played it so thoroughly, I'm not sure of another 3D platformer that comes close.

I'll acknowledge a level of nostalgia; however, as much as I want to peg Galaxy as the pinnacle, it simply doesn't inspire the same joy when I attempt to replay it. Can't put my finger on it exactly, but the level design just doesn't reach offer a comparable playground of exploration. It's more like a playground of concepts... I suppose the levels are maybe too focused by comparison and certainly become far more tedious over time.

I'm not down with asking the public about the best stuff from "the last X years."

Contemporary games will ALWAYS butt in just because of awareness.

They should have asked about the best games from the decade that ended ten years ago, or five years ago.

@ACK I certainly get one wallop of a dose of nostalgia whenever I pop the game in, for sure! Nothing takes me back to my childhood like that castle theme.

While getting a lot of the stars is a bit too easy and simple for me, I really do love and miss the open level design. Everyone gets on my case when I dis Galaxy (and more recently 3D World), but I haven't greatly enjoyed a Mario game since Sunshine. I value exploration over all things, so none of the Mario games since have been able to capture the same feeling in me as 64 and Sunshine. It makes me sad that they probably won't ever return to the formula. They seem bent on making everything fun but super linear.

@Tasuki SM64 is the game that clarified what 3D gameplay could offer. There are so many innovations packed into that one game it's hard to know where to begin... Analog control, free-roaming, camera control, vertically-oriented 3D level design, underwater control, incredibly varied goals, etc...

None of the rules governing 3D game design were established until SM64 was released. It could be argued there has never been such a leap forward precipitated by one game since.

Man, Castlevania Symphony of the Night did not make the list. That's a pity, its the best game of its genre, and honestly the only game of its type that is better than Super Metroid.

Such a shame, because Symphony of the Night remains my favorite game of all time.

Why does it never makes these lists?

@Caryslan I ask the same question why Shenmue didn't make the list either so I didn't even comment LOL.

@D3athBr1ng3r187 There are no Sega games on that list, which kinda bums me out. I grew up on Sega consoles, and they have produced some of the best and most innovative games in the history of the business that can stand up to even the best Nintendo has to offer. Why do they never make these lists? I know its reader voted, but surely these gamers played Sega games back in the day.

I could name several Sega games that deserve to be on that list.

A good list, sad that Chrono Trigger is the only 2D game up there as Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (the Sega Saturn version) were also 2 really great games that are more deserving in the top ten than games like Halo and The Last of Us (good games, just not that good to be in the top ten here, any game that needs DLC doesn't belong up there imo). Also get rid of either Super Mario Galaxy or Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, we don't need two franchise hogging all the great spots.

I think Halo deserves to be there. It's incredibly important to the console FPS.
Surprisingly good list overall. The top five are brilliant games and it's good that Chrono Trigger is recognised. I would have sneaked Final Fantasy VI in there also.

@Caryslan So true I grew mostly on Genesis too and NES so I probably know what games you are going to choose. But you see my picture it represents one of my favorite SEGA titles Gunstar Heroes also the category of this lineup is kinda biased Halo, Red Dead Redemption, BIOSHOCK........., Resident Evil 4 derp, and The Last of Us ok nothing wrong with these titles but they is too soon to each other to be called "Best Games of all Time". Same you stated I have PLENTY of titles that I played growing up I could have named that deserve to be on this list and more.

@Trululu Yeah!, Like Super Mario Galaxy is on there, but not Galaxy 2? Dx

I agree with the top two but Banjo Kazooie should have been on there too.

@Pro-N-Gamer no shenmue ? hmm

Ocarina of Time as the best game in 20 years? That's... disappointing...

@X-Factor I personally didn't care for either two or Sunshine. M64 was the last good Mario game in my mind.

Goldeneye over Perfect Dark....sigh....

@NoUsernameHere Why? Because they aren't Nintendo games?

Some of those games on that list are considered the greatest games of all time.

Surprised to see The Last Of Us on there, don't get me wrong it's a great game and I enjoyed it myself but I don't hear many talk about it after they did a single play through. And where oh where is FF VI?

Can't argue with Ocarina of Time at 1#, and I'm glad Majora's Mask made it on the list as well. Those two are my favorite games of all time!

That said, Xenoblade definitely would have deserved a top 10 spot as well.

Super Metroid and Metroid Prime are glaring absences. While my top 20 would look radically different, the games I think are most understandable on the list are:
19 - The Legend of Zelda: Marjoa's Mask
8 - Shadow of the Colossus
7 - Goldeneye 007
5 - Resident Evil 4
2 - Super Mario 64
1 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

@Captain_Balko It revolutionised what a story can do in a video game,it deserves its place

Magnificent. People still appreciate good games... However, how in the WORLD did MM get 19th? Ocarina of Time got 1st... I'd have that spot for it's sequel.

Mario 64 would be mine.

Back in the 90's that game blew everything else away and I still think it is the best Mario to date as it is the only 3D Mario with full 3D camera and movement throughout the whole game...

Twilight Princess and Wind Waker belong on that list. The original Diablo was also legendary.

Man what a great list

This is greatest games people. Not most nostalgic or revolutionary. Just because its old and made by nintendo doesnt mean its great

Can't argue with most of those choices. Wish I could play shadow of the colossus

My only change might have been putting Diablo 2 in there somewhere, but WoW probably deserves to be above Diablo 2 (never played WoW, knew I would be hooked).

I also felt that Mario Kart 64 deserved a mention.

And I hear some people questioning why some sequels lost out to the original... I guess you have to take into account the context when these games were released. Mario 64 for example was the first genuine 3D platformer and it ticked all the boxes. There was nothing like it when it came out it was completely revolutionary, and to pick the game up today for the first time and play it, you just don't capture what it did for the game industry.

Wow. Mario 64 and Zelda OOT have retained the 'greatest game ever' tag at the end of the first generation of HD consoles. Says it all, really.

No Fire Emblem Awakening?! Okay.. 😐 Guess I have to make my own list with Blackjack and Awakening.

I'm tired of people telling me Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 are all that good.
Opinons aside, both games have aged horribly. The controls are wobbly, the hitboxes are rough, and both games suffer from quite a handful of bugs, though only one for each title has game-breaker status.
The entire praise for Mario and Zelda on N64 generally lives off of the fact that both games were among the very first of their kind back then (3D platformer and 3D action adventure), but compared to later games (notably Wind Waker and Super Mario Sunshine), it's obvious that the details of both genres weren't well-defined back then.
I don't know what makes people think those two games are supposedly better than their successors, but I'm pretty sure these votes stem halfway from nostalgia, while the other half is that they were new in the sense that nobody had this kind of experience before, so there were absolutley no expectations to surpass.

Needs Duke Nukem 3D, Xenoblade, and replace 7 with FFVI.

No games from the "Mega Man" or "Castlevania" series? No versions of "Tetris", either? Insulting!

Ocarina of Time I can agree with, but I think Super Mario 64 is both dull and overrated. Probably my least favorite 3D Mario game. Thing that get's me though is that OoT is such a cliched choice for best game.

And why isn't Super Metroid on this list?! That is TRULY the best game of all time!

I'm glad to see Chrono Trigger up there though!

I think this list is fair

Thats a pretty good list, but mine would be very different, even while including a lot of the games on it.

Meh. I don't like the list at all.

My list would be:
1. Chrono Tirgger
2. Suikoden 2
3. Final Fantasy 7
4. Final Fantasy 5
5. Super Metroid
6. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne
7. Breath of Fire 2
8. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
9. Axelay
10. Parasite Eve 2

@Expa0 Out of all your games I've only played Chrono Trigger and Super Metroid, but those two definitely belong there!

I'd say this is a pretty solid list. The only thing I find a bit off is how the top few games also just so happen to be among the list of most critically acclaimed fan favorites. Not that I think they're undeserving of such praise, I just can't help but suspect a certain amount of bias with them all in the top 5 like that.

@timp29 Do you have a PS3? Its on an HD collection with Ico, and its also being offered for free to Playstation Plus members alongside Ico.

Convincing list, although I think that a few games, like The Last of Us, must still prove to leave a lasting impression.
Nice to see that Majora's Mask made it into the list, this really surprised me, rather than any of the more recent Zeldas (after all, especially WW and TP have a large fanbase too). This may be due to that this is the EDGE and not any other magazine.
I would also say that Perfect Dark belongs into the list much more than Goldeneye, but I'm not surprised the see the latter included.
In short, there seem to be a lot of N64 fans among the EDGE readers, while SEGA fans seem to be absent..., Shenmue anyone? Or maybe there actually were some votes for Shenmue, but they probably got divided between the first and the second game. Or maybe it just got forgotten over the years...

1.Super metroid
2.TLOZ Ocarina of time
3. Metroid prime trilogy
4. TLOZ a link to the past
5. Starfox 64
6. Super mario galaxy 1,2
7. Xenoblade chronicles
8. Secret of mana
9. Mega man x
10. Radiant silver gun
11. Sin and punishment 2
12. Ikaruga
13. TLOZ majoras mask
14. Gunstar super heroes
15. Gradius v
16. Wonderful 101 ( this should definitely be on here , especially if they included that junky "the last of us")
17. Mario 64
18. TLOZ Twilight princess
19. TLOZ Wind waker
20. Contra

This is the REAL list with every game having the potential to earn the top spot . Of course this all depends on tastes, age, and personal bias or what have you .

Why do people rank Super Metroid above Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? Super Metroid is an awesome game, but SOTN is the better game in almost every single way and improves on what Super Metroid did.

Super Metroid is the second best game in its genre, but SOTN is the undisputed king in my opinion.

@Caryslan
Well I personally prefer the faster pace Super Metroid has + I personally find a futuristic space setting much more interesting than a medieval one. Both are top tier games though.

Portal should be higher! And Majora's Mask too!

@Expa0 LOL Parasite Eve 2 suck compared to the first game but it's your opinion.

Are most of the Edge readers console players? There's a horrible lack of PC games in that list. I see maybe 2 games, but that's it. What a shame.

It looks like a good list but I think they should've put GTA San Andreas instead of Vice City.

Super Mario Galaxy is the best game of all-time in my book. And it's the highest rated game on GamesRankings.

Very good list,but the absence of Metroid Prime is very glaring.

I don't see Starcraft. This is a fun poll, but hardly reflects most of the greats. I don't know why Dark Souls or Bioshock are on here. The question was for the last 20 years, not now. Might as well put Pikmen 3 on there as number 1.

MM is my favorite Zelda, but I'm glad it made it on the list!

The last of us. Don't tell me Sony didn't pay for that one.

ICO should be #1.

While I'm sure I don't 100% agree with the list, I think it is still a very good list list.

>Not putting Final fantasy ANYWHERE on your top 20 list.
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

chrono trigger deserves a higher spot imo

I agree!!!! Mario 64 & Ocarina of Time are the best games i've played in the past 17 yrs.

@D3athBr1ng3r187
Meh. I thought PE1 was pretty disappointing, it moves like molasses and the combat really isn't interesting for me at all. the music & story is great though just like in PE2.

Where's Pokemon? :0

@Captain_Balko If you've played it you'll know why-trust me! I know it hasn't been out long but you kind of know when you're playing something that good that it will stand the test of time. Think about how you might have felt when you were playing ocarina, bet you thought that would go down in history when you played it. Know I did dude...

@Expa0 I see I think PE2 was a sign of failure for me because the game was trying to be a RE knockoff and the story didn't even make since and WTF is a NO.9 but its cool that we both at least played the series LOL so kudos to ya.

Funny how 2 Zelda's are on it but only one Galaxy... Galaxy 2 was superior in every way!! Still, happy Nintendo are taking over the list!

If this list was for the most revolutionary games of the last 20 years I'd probably agree with it a lot more. As if stands I just find it funny how people still think no game that came out in the last 20 years is better than Ocarina of time. But hey, that's what nostalgia does to you.

This is a fantastic list!

Come to think of it, I very much appreciate if these lists were just referred to as the readers' favorites. And I guess they are sometimes. People just always get up in arms and want to argue when it's referred to as a list of the "best" or "greatest" games.

Ah, half of my favorite games are on that list!

GTA V and Final Fantasy VII would be the top 2 for me. Oblivion would also have to be in there.

It's funny, I have never ever ever met anyone that thinks Vice City is better than San Andreas... but Vice City always trumps it on lists like this...

@electrolite77 FFVII is amazing. I played it for the first time this year and it was spectacular. The best video game music ever (okay, Zelda and several Mario games run it close), a near perfect combat system, a magic/ materia system that is sublime in it's simplicity, some great boss fights, an engaging plot. One of the best RPG's I have ever played.

Halo doesn't exist, Halo: Combat Evolved is the real thing.
This a spectacular fail coming from EDGE.
(yes i like EDGE because has low standards for everything, they eff-up sometimes too, but at least they're more honest from the start in making you understand that 6 is average and 7 is good)

@Caryslan

Super Metroid is rated higher than Castlevania: Symphony of the Night not because it is great but because it was able to accomplish what it could on a console that is not as powerful as the one (Sega Saturn) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was release for. Had Super Metroid being release on the N64 and not the Super NES than I would put it below Symphony of the Night. Fortunately like many will say, there won't be a Symphony of the Night if there isn't a Super Metroid. Super Metroid had used every juice the SNES could give it, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night only use half that on the Sega Saturn.

@LDXD Well, they were, but this groundbreaker status has long since faded away, and they just can't keep up with newer games nowadays. I didn't mean to say they were mediocre back then (by all means, no).

Eternal Darkness and ZombiU (yes, i.m.o.) should be in there too. I also like L.A. Noire a lot, and Hitman 2, Xenoblade and Big Bang Mini. And Wario Ware twisted. No More Heroes 2, Madworld,... Now they keep coming. But still, a very decent list.
And it's not my personal list after all.

Seems legit. Although I don't necessarily agree with the order, most of the picks up there deserve to be there. But seriously, if Halo has to be anywhere on that list, why is it so high when most of the lower ranked games are way better?

Replace Resident Evil 4 with Silent Hill 2 and Final Fantasy VII with VI and then we'll talk EDGE.

And where is Megaman X?

I knew The Last of Us would be on the list, but I really wished that it wouldn't. I will never be able to understand what people see in that game.

Oot is also my favorite! And I agree that Metroid prime (or Metroid prime 2) should have been on the list!

@NoUsernameHere Come on, I refuse to believe that. I can understand preferring one console over another. But the majority of every Playstation games are overrated?

There are hundreds of fantastic games that have come out on all Playstation systems. I can't believe you could possibly say "not bad every now and then".

@NoUsernameHere I'm not arguing at all with you at all. I'm just puzzled by your previous statements. Plus you've gone from saying most are overrated to some. Yes I agree, Nintendo makes good games, fantastic games at that. They've also made some pretty poor ones. I just think it's a bit of a ignorant statement to call the entire library of PlayStation games overrated. Or any other systems. You're entitled to your opinion of course, I was just trying to understand it.

Suprising to see The Last of Us on that list, since it hasn't been out that long (by the way, I think it deserves that spot, amazing game), also I'm surprised that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas didn't make the list.

@FishieFish Yeah that was a surprise for me too. It seems to be a general opinion that it's the best entry in the franchise. Even though personally I could never get into it.

I actually thought that ICO was fun but a bit boring after a while... Shadow of the Colossus is way more fun! Fun-wise, Resident Evil 4 is more fun. But creativity-wise, Shadow of the Colossus is better.

Aw, you Shenmue guys. I love that game too. It's one of my favorites and has some wonderful moments (that scene where he borrows the motorcycle? It's hard not to get all misty, right?)

But I really couldn't see it being a "Top 20 Games of All-Time" list.

It's fabulous, sure, but have you ever tried to get someone to play it...? I think it takes a...special person to really get psyched to guide brown leather jacket man around for a rousing round of chatting up the locals.

I love this list <3

list needs jetforce gemini, and possibly banjo kazooie...