We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.
Here is the seventh top 7 listicle in our 7 Top 7’s event! It’s the hardest of the lists, in my opinion, which is why I ensured it was last, but let’s see how everyone did with their guesstimations… These are my 7 honorable mentions, the games that didn’t make it to my Top 111 list but should have.
#7. Nintendo Labo
Labo came as a big shock to a lot of people but Nintendo has always been sensitive toward inclusion and children, and they have a history in making toys, too. Besides, it’s kid tested and kid approved. Is it a video game? Does it deserve an honorable mention? Sure, I think so.
#6. X-Men vs Street Fighter
Later overshadowed by the mainline Marvel vs Capcom series, X-Men vs Street Fighter was my jam for many a while. I can remember seeing it for the first time around age 11 in ’96 and being blown away. Cyclops was my favorite character from the X-Men Animated Series and seeing him go toe-to-toe with Ryu was an immense surprise. I couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game but I always thought it was hyper-cool, especially with that final boss fight against a gigantic Apocalypse.
#5. Vagrant Story
I’m way too stupid to ever complete this game but by golly that doesn’t prevent me from liking it. It’s extremely complex and difficult with all its systems and sub-systems… it’s like Square took off the kid gloves, but it has such a unique presentation. Some day I’ll beat you, my old nemesis. Some day.
#4. Cosmic Star Heroine
Not every game lives up to the “retro throwback” promotional buzz-phrase, but this is one game which did it exceptionally. Nearly everything about it made it seem like it could’ve been released 20 years ago: the brevity that left you wanting more, the battle system, the characters, etc. It’s a game I’d highly recommend to those looking for a fresh taste of the past on a modern platform.
#3. Castlevania
I only got to playing this first game in the long-running series recently and I’m convinced I couldn’t have beaten it as a kid on my NES, anyway. What an iconic platformer and now I understand why. I can’t wait to play the rest of the NES Castlevanias! Thank you NES Classic!
#2. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
This is one that I’m shocked I didn’t mention in my original Top 111 favorite games list. It has to have been a mistake because IÂ adore this game! What the heck?! You dropped the frickin’ ball, Red! This game took the best of the 90s and brought it together! Rrrr!!!
#1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
This is the one title I always intended to give the #1 spot to, because I just couldn’t find the spot for it on my original list. Of course, who hasn’t heard of this game? It deserves the number one spot. To my mind, it’s the perfect way to end this list of seven lists.
AND THE WINNER IS…
Congratulations to Krystallina (@Daiyamanga) for earning a whopping 5 out of 7 points in this giveaway event! A winner is you! I’ll be contacting you about electronically delivering your $20 Amazon gift card!
Special thanks to absolutely everyone who participated! You all are amazing! Yes, ALL of you! ABXY, Alex Sigsworth, Daniel Flatt, DeQuimet, Winstolf, Normal Happenings, Games with Coffee, kmerrill, the Deviot, Rob Covell, Pikateychu, Nerd House, Mr Backlog, XLG, Proto Avi, Lightning Ellen, x8Finity, Rutana, Bathenon, Matt Doyle, Play Jak, moresleepneeded… thanks for playing!
I plan to do more giveaway events as our Patreon continues to grow!
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage, Mage Cast, or Story Mode.
Whoa, that’s me! 😃 Thank you for hosting this fun giveaway, as I enjoyed trying to get inside your mind. The Nintendo vs Square Enix for favorite developer was particularly tough!
Yay! Congratulations! How would you like me to send you the giftcard? Email? Twitter PM?
I may not have won, but I’m happy that most of my guesses were in the top 3 range.
I’d be happy with that too!
This is a very interesting selection of games. I have played Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and found it highly enjoyable. I would probably recommend that game as my favourite game. I think I remember Super Mario RPG being praised as a good quality game on this blog, so I am surprised it was not included on previous lists of the best games. I found it interesting that Castlevania was included as it was mentioned that you had not played this game when it was released, but enjoyed it when you played it much later. This seems to be the opposite to how old games are looked at, with reviewers claiming that games they enjoyed as children seem lower quality than they remembered when they play them as adults.
What are the best elements of the 90’s included in the Super Mario RPG game? What did you enjoy about Ocarina of Time?
Yeah I love both those games! Super Mario RPG brought together the JRPG 90s mindset of Square with the best of Mario on the SNES. As for Ocarina, I just really loved the sense of grandeur.
I also enjoyed the grand designs used in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time game, it is also one of the reasons I also enjoyed Twilight Princess. How did you feel about Twilight Princess?
I liked Twilight Princess just fine. I thought it was a pretty cool Zelda game.
Doh… I didn’t guess any of those, I figured those would all have been on the main list. Oh well, maybe next time.
There’s always a next time!
I was so, very close.
Yeah you actually created the #2 spot on this list. I completely thought I included SMRPG on my top 111… but I couldn’t change it since I wrote down TLOZ: Ocarina at the start of this event.