EGM's Top 100

Unlike Game Informer, which opened voting to readers, EGM decided to tackle the list themselves. Also unlike GI, they didn't consider every possible platform (such as arcade and PC games). The EGM list only covers console games. And as you can see from the list, they apparently love the SNES.

Here's how the editors prefaced their selections: "So what do we mean by best? Simple. In the words of industry icon Trip Hawkins, 'What gamers care about most is gameplay.' We couldn't agree more. EGM staffers spent days scrawling the names of their favorite games for every console. Then, to be sure we were picking only the best games, we asked, 'Which 100 of these would we want to take with us if we were abducted by aliens?' Our only restrictions were that the games had to come out in the United States and must be in stores by October. We also treated the games in compilations as individual titles. A few months ago, we began inviting programmers, producers, and other industry bigwigs to contribute their picks for - as we put it - the 'Top 10 Greatest Games in the Galaxy.' "

So here you have it... another Top 100 list. Enjoy!

EGM Top 100 Video Games (1997)

1 Tetris many
2 Super Mario Brothers 3 NES/SNES
3 Zelda: Link to the Past SNES
4 Super Mario 64 N64
5 Street Fighter II Turbo SNES
6 Super Metroid SNES
7 Yoshi's Island SNES
8 Contra III Alien Wars SNES
9 Final Fantasy III SNES
10 Saturn Bomberman Saturn
11 Super Mario World SNES
12 Castlevania Symphony of the Night PSX
13 Zelda NES
14 Super Mario 2 (Lost Levels) SNES
15 Super Mario Kart SNES
16 Tetris Attack SNES
17 Sonic CD Sega CD
18 F-Zero SNES
19 Madden NFL 98 PSX/Saturn
20 Super Castlevania IV SNES
21 Final Fantasy VII PSX
22 Super Ghouls 'N' Ghosts SNES
23 R-Type III SNES
24 International SuperStar Soccer 64 N64
25 Goldeneye 007 N64
26 Super Mario RPG SNES
27 Gunstar Heroes Genesis
28 Zelda: Link's Awakening Game Boy
29 Chrono Trigger SNES
30 Phantasy Star II Genesis
31 NFL Gameday 98 PSX
32 Bionic Commando NES
33 NBA Live 97 PSX
34 Kid Icarus NES
35 Metal Gear NES
36 Street Fighter Alpha 2 Saturn
37 Super Mario Bros NES/SNES
38 Ys Books I and II TurboGrafx-CD
39 Star Fox 64 N64
40 Lunar: Eternal Blue Sega CD
41 Arkanoid NES
42 Strider Genesis
43 Herzog Zwei Genesis
44 Metroid NES
45 Contra NES
46 Space MegaForce SNES
47 Ghouls 'n Ghosts Genesis
48 Military Madness TurboGrafx-16
49 Mario Kart 64 N64
50 Devil's Crush TurboGrafx-16
51 Tekken 2 PSX
52 RC Pro Am NES
53 Gate of Thunder TurboGrafx-CD
54 Tomb Raider PSX
55 Dragon Force Saturn
56 Super Punch-Out!! SNES
57 Castlevania III NES
58 Dragon Warrior IV NES
59 Thunder Force III Genesis
60 Shining Force II Genesis
61 NHL Hockey 94 Genesis
62 Phantasy Star SMS
63 Return Fire 3DO
64 Twisted Metal 2 PSX
65 Tecmo Super Bowl NES
66 Guardian Heroes Saturn
67 Donkey Kong Game Boy
68 WaveRace 64 N64
69 Snatcher Sega CD
70 NiGHTS Saturn
71 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Genesis
72 Zelda II NES
73 Mega Man 2 NES
74 Worldwide Soccer 97 Saturn
75 ActRaiser SNES
76 Life Force NES
77 Blazing Lazers TurboGrafx-16
78 Mega Man X4 Saturn/PSX
79 Virtua Fighter 2 Saturn
80 Legendary Axe TurboGrafx-16
81 Sega Championship Rally Saturn
82 Jumping Flash! 2 PSX
83 Revenge of Shinobi Genesis
84 Kirby's Adv / Mean Bean Machine SNES/Genesis
85 Bonk's Adventure TurboGrafx-16
86 Galactic Attack Saturn
87 Baseball Stars NES
88 Ninja Gaiden II NES
89 Ms Pac-Man Genesis/SNES
90 Panzer Dragoon Zwei Saturn
91 Axelay SNES
92 Flashback Genesis
93 Blast Corps N64
94 Ice Hockey NES
95 DecAthlete Saturn
96 WipeOut XL PSX
97 MLB 98 PSX
98 Virtua Cop 2 Saturn
99 Samurai Showdown Neo-Geo
100 Qix NES

System Counts:

1. SNES 24
2. NES 22
3. Saturn 14
4. Genesis 13
5. PSX 12
6. N64 7
7. TurboGrafx-16 5
8. Sega CD 3
. Game Boy 3
10. TurboGrafx-CD 2
11. SMS 1
. 3DO 1
. Neo-Geo 1

EGM Top 100 last updated 12/11/01