Annie get your light gun!

63. Elf Bowling



Bet your weren’t expecting this one. A stupid holiday themed bowling game can’t be good, right?! Oh how wrong you’d be. Elves are on strike and you got an EXE in your email. Do you open it? Of course you open it. It’s 1999, baby. Elf elf, baby!

62. Area 51



Atari saved its bacon with this one. In comparison to other shooters it is pretty average, but it hit arcades at just the right time in 1995. Single handily saved Atari from going bankrupt by returning them to solvency, and putting them back at the top of the gaming industry in less than a year. And two years later, Maximum Force ended up reusing the exact same board that drove this game, which is impressive considering the short life of arcade machines in the 90s. I can't tell you how many quarters I dumped into this one, but I know it'd be one nice little nest egg if I had saved em. My childhood would have been bleaker for it, though. The truth is tough.

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

61. Primal Rage



Yet another banger from Atari makes the list. This fight game was unique in a couple of ways (I mean, dinosaurs duking it out? yes please), but primarily for its odd choice in controls. Instead of the typical fight game where direction and button presses resulted in special moves it was reversed. Hold them buttons and jank the stick (ewww ). I personally preferred these controls as they gave my uncoordinated reflexes an edge. I'd end up holding buttons for most of the match and it just seemed natural to me, so I won against right many strangers. Nothing better than schooling a teenager as a kid and them getting so mad they threaten to beat your ass. I'd just quip back "yeah, you and what dinosaur?" Oh man, looking back, I would have beat my own ass if my foot would have kicked in that direction.

This was originally developed for the 3DO. And it was so great. The age of FMV scenes tacked on to create realism. The cheesy guy with the floppy hair that would comment on what just happened. The Diablo was the only thing that would break 200mph and boy, he had a spiel about that 😄

The original DD?
@30:31 (curated selection)
@32:30 (3DO shoutout)

Of course I skipped through the whole thing and couldn’t find the 200mph club scene 😅

60. Mortal Kombat II



FINISH HIM!

59. ToeJam & Earl



One of the greatest and weirdest multiplayer game from the 90s. Collect packages, fly off the map with rocket stakes, run from Earthlings, and rebuilding the raddest spaceship in the quadrant.

58. Pokémon Pinball



Bring on the rumble pak! An engrossing pinball game that traveled well. So many vacations were spent in the car playing this one. All because I didn’t have to really read anything so I wouldn’t puke on my shoes. Great way to kill an hour in the car.

57. Spy Vs. Spy




Cut throat action to lay the most traps. And hope you don’t get killed by your own because you forgot where you set them.

56. Enclave



The Xbox introduced us to a bunch of unique exclusives (this did get ported to PC a year after release) that, I believe, allowed their beast of a machine to not be a total and utter failure. They had some very strong exclusives (I"m looking at you Halo and Fable) but this gem was a highlight for me. I played it for the PC about 5 years after its release date, but I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't looked it up. The textures were years ahead of their time, and the gameplay was quick and gritty. Tons of unlockables, some awesomely difficult boss fights, and a music score that hits far above its weight class. And they just released a HD remaster of this last month, so come join the Enclave.

55. Drakan: The Ancients' Gates



This was a blind rental from Blockbuster long before the fall. It had a dragon on the cover, so I was pretty much sold on it. Interesting back story to this is it was one of 6 exclusive titles announced at the end of 2001 by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) to kick off the start of what would be the greatest reign in gaming history: the PS2. When they launched the console there were hardly any games outside of some sports and racing titles. This was one of the first mature rated action adventure games to hit, and it was pretty great for an early release. It definitely helped solidify Sony's grasp on the industry.

54. Blade



Amazing artwork. Solid beat ‘em up mechanics. Great writing. Crunchy music. Bloodsuckers.

“Some mother****ers are always trying to ice-skate uphill.”

53. Diablo 2 + Lord of Destruction



If you didn't waste hundreds of hours playing this game in the 2000s then can you even really call yourself a gamer? If your ass didn't have a stamp that said "Property of Blizzard" then can you even really call yourself a gamer? If you didn't glitch across the map because your ping was over 1000ms can you even really call yourself a gamer? If you've never run away from cows screaming then, honestly, can you even really call yourself a gamer?

All true! Sad to see Blizzard in such a state now, because they were the undisputed king of PC gaming for a while there. Ran through this many a time, and even remember most of the bosses names to this day.

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52. Worms Armageddon



I don’t care for online multiplayer. I’ll grant that it was an inevitability for the market, but there’s no argument that’ll convince me couch co-op isn't better. Because it totally is better. And this one on N64 is king of the hill. Get three friends and duke it out in turn based action.

The PC version is far and away the best version and it recently got a HD upgrade, but N64 was a cheaper entry to the madness of Worms. I should have bought a copy because I don’t think I ever will now. I’m not paying $250+ to play by myself cause all my friends have lives now. xD

51. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos



One of the greatest games of the early 2000s. Another title from the peak of Blizzard before they decided they hate gamers and games and fun. And the Orcs sound like Yoda. So yeah, made the list this one did.

50. Cruis'n USA



Music speaks for itself here

I loved Worms. I just wish that the computer opponent had been more robust.