80: Warlords II
- Year: 1993
- System: PC
I'd play until inevitably, I would run out of units and die. I couldn't figure out how I was expected to win because the instructions were so obtuse.
And then I discovered Gamefaqs.
And then I started realizing checking out the ruins would get you treasure and maybe allies. And then I figured out how to make more units. And eventually I got really good at the game.
79: Cup Head
- Year: 2017
- System: Xbox One
Cup Head started as a vague promise of this really cool art style that mimicked 1920s cartoons. Then 
there seemed to be development trouble. Rumors start coming out that there wasn't much of a game there.
Well there's the right amount of game. Sure, I could take a little more platforming, but you're going to be banging your head up against difficult boss fights. You need little bite sized pieces.
But Cup Head is one of those ridiculously hard games where you don't feel like you got cheated. When you die, you died because of your hubris. You tried to get another shot in when you knew you shouldn't have and you paid for it.
78: Call of Duty IV: Modern Warfare
- Year: 2007
- System: Xbox 360
At some point, they stopped counting my play time in hours and switched to days. By the end of my Call of Duty reign, I had well over 8 days of multiplayer play time, I had unlocked every achievement in the single player, and I was so good by the end, I played local multiplayer, 3 vs 1, and I was winning.
It cannot be stated what the single player campaign did. The first time you saw the nuke blow the helicopter out of the sky or you're laying on the street while the bad guy goes one by one executing your teammates, these were cultural touchstones. Not to mention the campaign introduced some of the most iconic characters in gaming in Price and Soap.
77: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Year: 1992
- System: Genesis
Wanna know what's faster and more extreme than Sonic the Hedgehog? Sonic the Hedgehog 2!
When most people think of the classic Sonic levels, they tend to come from Sonic 2. Emerald Hill Zone was perfected 2 in. Casino Zone, Mystic Cave. Sonic 2 introduced Tails, the charged spin, and probably the most classic Sonic tracks.
And in a household where you had siblings, having the multiplayer option, even if you had to play Sonic in 3 frames per second, was necessary.
And if you had an extra young brother like I did, you could convince him that playing as Tails was just as good as playing as Sonic.
76: Knights of the Old Republic
- Year: 2003
- System: Xbox
Stayed up until 2 am playing.
Next night, 6 pack of Asahi and KOTOR in the bathtub.
KOTOR still sucks you in. the world was the most fully realized Star Wars world at the time. And it's a shame we'll never get a third single player experience, at least not one that can live up to expectations.
The combat definitely didn't age well. It could use an overhaul. But ultimately the storys, the side missions, the settings, everything holds up.
75: Deception IV: Blood Ties
- Year: 2014
- System: Vita
You were born of part of the devil's soul. Apparently crusaders don't like that because they come to 
your castle and try to kill you over and over again.
Deception IV is a strategy game where you lay traps and trick your enemies into falling into the insane combos you created. Maybe you freeze someone, then drop hot lava on them. Maybe you use a spring board floor trap to throw a guy into an electric chair.
Deception builds all of this tension as you're trying to keep space between you and the enemies, but keep them close enough to know where they are. If you get a few rooms ahead, they may pop out of a door when you don't expect it.
74: Portal 2
- Year: 2011
- System: PC
Portal 2 was something to behold. It was basically Jurassic Park long after the dinosaurs escaped, but with humor and a portal gun.
Portal 2 also introduced co-op and cross-play in an era where there wasn't cross-play.
We all know the joke that Valve can't count to 3, but I would love to have a new Portal game, maybe in VR even.
73: Blades of Steel
- Year: 1987
- System: NES
The NES was such a great systems because you were forced into simplicity. You had two buttons and a 
directional pad.
Blades of Steel really benefited from the simplicity. Pass and shoot, punch and uppercut.
They also did the thing that most sports games of the NES era did and stayed away from any licensing and just had vague cities that had similar colors to NHL teams.
If I had to guess, Blades of Steel is probably the NES game I've played the most. It was more or less the go-to game every Saturday morning.
72: Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions
- Year: 2010
- System: PS3
Usually this manifests itself in extra costumes in games or somethings fantastic films like Into the Spiderverse.
Well, in 2010, it manifested into a great Spider-man game where you played as one of 4 Spider-men (?) each with a very distinct feeling game. The Amazing Spider-man plays like a classic beat-em-up, Noir was a stealth game, and 2099 was a hyperfast anti-gravity action game.
71: WWF Royal Rumble
- Year: 1993
- System: Genesis
Remember that terrible WWF game for the NES? You know, Wrestlemania? The one that had Hulk 
Hogan ripping his shirt off on the cover?
Remember how bad it way?
Pro-wrestling was better, but not great. In fact, it wasn't until the WWF Royal Rumble game that I thought wrestling games could actually work.
Instead of just having punches, kicks, and special moves, Sculpture Software created a system that was used in some aspects for the next decade, the tug-of-war system. When when you grappled, whoever was able to push their button and a direction the fastest would win, and you would throw the opponent against the ropes or body slam them.
But the bread and butter was my favorite wrestling gimmick to this day, the Royal Rumble. There's nothing better than getting to count down with the crowd and see all the superstars in one match.
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