Top 200 Games of All Time: 3 - 1 - The Finale

3. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

• Year: 2011
• System: PC

Whhhaaaaa? This is is a dumbed down game for WOW players. Where's Morrowind? Where's Elder Scrolls Online? You noob ass noob.

Morrowind didn't even have a journal. Elder Scrolls Online, although constantly evolving, is still a gate checked online MMO game. 

Skyrim did what other Elder Scrolls could not, break into the mainstream. The release was a cultural phenomenon. 

Yeah, some systems were streamlined and dumbed down, but this isn't a bad thing. To evolve, Elder Scrolls had to, and it paid off. 

I've put in somewhere around 180 hours on PC, another 40 hours on PS4, 5 hours in VR, and 80 hours

on Switch. And I'm not sick of it yet. I stare at the icon on my Switch all the time thinking about traversing the world again. 

Skyrim served a smorgashboard of giving you varying areas, call backs to older Elder Scrolls games, fresh new ideas, interesting dungeons, and political intrigue. 

And you know what? If Skyrim gets released again on PS5, I bet you'll buy it. 

Top 200 Games of All Time: 100-91

100: Zack and Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

• Year: 2007
• System: Wii

There were less than 5 games on the Wii that actually used the waggle for good. Zack and Wiki was the second best of those five after Wii Sports. 

Zack and Wiki was an interesting puzzle game. You would be introduced to a situation such as your plane crashing and you jumping out and having to find a way to slow your decent. Or a volcano with a locked door. And using the Wiimote, you would have to open an umbrella to slow your fall or grab a key and actually use it to unlock a door. 

This game does what most of those phone game advertisements promise. There's an order of operations to solve the puzzles and when you do it, it's incredibly satisfying. 

Top 200 Games of All Time: 110-101

110: NBA Jam

• Year: 1993
• System: Genesis

Tournament Edition was probably a better game, but I have better memories around the original NBA Jam. We were not a basketball family, but for some reason, this was one of the first games we got for our Genesis. 

I loved putting in codes to play as Bill Clinton. I loved keeping my on fire streak alive for five minutes against the CPU. And even though the Chicago Bulls were pretty much most over-powered team in the game, you could still put together a great defense against them.

And nothing felt better than hitting a 3 pt buzzer beater. 

I loved watching my brother jumping for the reset button at the end of a match to try and save his record from an embarrassing loss being added. 

Top 200 Games of All Time: 130-121

130: Streets of Rage 2

• Year: 1993
• System: Genesis

Streets of Rage 2 is what all beat-em-ups strive to be. An attainable win. Tough. Tons of style. That awesome 1980's movie-punk character design. Smooth frame rate. Variety of moves. And I think ultimately the most important part of a side scrolling beat-em-up, great couch co-op. 

Streets of Rage 2 really kicked off a lot of the 90s attitude. You had some American Gladiator-ass names like Stone and Blaze and Max Thunder. You had a playable character on roller blades. The entire city seemed to be made of brick held together by graffiti and hilariously translated signs like "It's Like Boo" and "Do! Baseball."