Popularity, Acclaim, Impact

Note: Games are based when they are released in North America

1990

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Wing Commander
3. Final Fantasy
4. Mega Man 3
5. The Secret of Monkey Island
6. Dr. Mario
7. Super Contra
8. Snake's Revenge
9. Railroad Tycoon
10. Bonk's Adventure

1991

1. Street Fighter II
2. Super Mario World
3. Sonic the Hedgehog
4. Tecmo Super Bowl
5. Final Fantasy IV
6. Sid Meier's Civilization
7. Super Castlevania IV
8. F-Zero
9. Battletoads
10. ActRaiser

1992

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
2. Super Mario Kart
3. Wolfenstein 3D
4. Mortal Kombat
5. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
6. Alone in the Dark
7. Ultima VII: The Black Gate
8. Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
9. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
10. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

1993

1. Doom
2. Myst
3. Secret of Mana
4. Virtua Fighter
5. Mortal Kombat II
6. Starfox
7. Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle
8. Syndicate
9. The 7th Guest
10. Kirby's Adventure

1994

1. Super Metroid
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. X-COM: UFO Defense
4. Donkey Kong Country
5. Sonic the Hedgehog 3
6. Doom II: Hell on Earth
7. Star Wars: TIE Fighter
8. Killer Instinct
9. Earthworm Jim
10. Mega Man X

1995

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
3. Earthbound
4. Mortal Kombat 3
5. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
6. Full Throttle
7. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
8. Twisted Metal
9. Rayman
10. Command & Conquer

1996

1. Super Mario 64
2. Quake
3. Sid Meier's Civilization II
4. Tomb Raider
5. Resident Evil
6. Diablo
7. Crash Bandicoot
8. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
9. Duke Nukem 3D
10. Nights Into Dreams

1997

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. GoldenEye 007
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
4. Gran Turismo
5. Fallout
6. Mario Kart 64
7. Quake II
8. Starfox 64
9. Age of Empires
10. Ultima Online

1998

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Metal Gear Solid
3. Half-Life
4. Starcraft
5. Pokémon Red and Blue
6. Resident Evil 2
7. Panzer Dragoon Saga
8. Grim Fandango
9. Banjo-Kazooie
10. Thief: The Dark Project

1999

1. SoulCalibur
2. System Shock 2
3. EverQuest
4. Unreal Tournament
5. Silent Hill
6. Planescrape: Torment
7. Final Fantasy VIII
8. Super Smash Bros.
9. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
10. Medal of Honor

2000

1. The Sims
2. Deus Ex
3. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
5. Shenmue
6. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
7. Diablo II
8. Perfect Dark
9. Chrono Cross
10. Final Fantasy IX

2001

1. Grand Theft Auto III
2. Halo: Combat Evolved
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee
4. Ico
5. Final Fantasy X
6. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
7. Silent Hill 2
8. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
9. Devil May Cry
10. Conker’s Bad Fur Day

2002

1. Metroid Prime
2. Kingdom Hearts
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
4. Battlefield 1942
5. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
6. Super Mario Sunshine
7. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
8. Splinter Cell
9. Animal Crossing
10. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

2003
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
4. Viewtiful Joe
5. Call of Duty
6. SoulCalibur II
7. Mario Kart: Double Dash
8. Beyond Good and Evil
9. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
10. Silent Hill 3

2004

1. Half-Life 2
2. World of Warcraft
3. Halo 2
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
6. Burnout 3: Takedown
7. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
8. Katamari Damacy
9. Fable
10. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

2005

1. Resident Evil 4
2. God of War
3. Shadow of the Colossus
4. Guitar Hero
5. Psychonauts
6. Mario Kart DS
7. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
8. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
9. Devil May Cry 3
10. Jade Empire

2006

1. Gears of War
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
4. Okami
5. Wii Sports
6. Final Fantasy XII
7. New Super Mario Bros.
8. Guitar Hero II
9. Dead Rising
10. Kingdom Hearts II

2007

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
2. Bioshock
3. Super Mario Galaxy
4. Portal
5. Halo 3
6. Mass Effect
7. Rock Band
8. God of War II
9. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
10. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

2008

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2. Grand Theft Auto IV
3. Fallout 3
4. LittleBigPlanet
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
6. Left 4 Dead
7. Braid
8. Gears of War 2
9. Dead Space
10. Mario Kart Wii

2009

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2. Assassin’s Creed II
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
5. Killzone 2
6. Borderlands
7. Street Fighter IV
8. Demon’s Souls
9. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
10. Dragon Age: Origins

2010

1. Mass Effect 2
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2
5. Halo: Reach
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops
7. God of War III
8. Heavy Rain
9. Donkey Kong Country Returns
10. Super Meat Boy

2011

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2. Batman: Arkham City
3. Portal 2
4. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
5. Gears of War 3
6. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
7. Minecraft
8. Dark Souls
9. Super Mario 3D Land
10. Infamous 2

2012

1. Dishonored
2. Journey
3. The Walking Dead
4. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
5. Far Cry 3
6. Mass Effect 3
7. Borderlands 2
8. Halo 4
9. Assassin's Creed III
10. Xenoblade Chronicles

Brilliant idea. Great stuff, Dubrow!

Are you going by North American release date btw?

P.S. What's the difference between popularity and sales?

A couple of suggestions from what I can see:

I think Crash Bandicoot should be ahead of Super Mario RPG. Even though Mario RPG takes acclaim, Crash takes popularity (6.82mil vs 2.14mil) and impact (Crash sold was the first non-Japanese game to achieve commercial success in Japan and became Sony's mascot because of its success, before the mascot era died out).

For 2002: I'd say SoulCalibur II should be on here, SM Sunshine and Eternal Darkness look too high and Vice City should be #2 I reckon, possibly even #1.

2004 is probably the list I disagree with most. The top 5 is fine, but the 2nd half looks a bit weak. I'd put Katamari Damacy in there at #6 and would put Paper Mario well before MP2, Fable or Pikmin 2.

Think Portal should definitely be ahead of Rock Band and Portal 2 ahead of Arkham City.

For 2012 I'd say something like this off the top of my head:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Dishonoured
3. Journey
4. Mass Effect 3
5. Bordelands 2
6. Halo 4
7. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
8. Far Cry 3
9. Hotline Miami
10. Assassin's Creed III

Thief: The Dark Project

At the very top, I made a note that games are based on their US release date, so yes. I kinda threw on sales as the least important type of criteria, maybe they go hand in hand, I was thinking popularity would be like how much attention it would get, plus sales.

Also, SoulCalibur II is in 2003 because the Xbox/Gamecube/PS2 retail version of the game was released in 2003 in North America

Explain that shit.

I think either Portal or Bioshock should take the top place for '07, they seem to have had the greatest lasting impact and acclaim.

Im sorry, but Morrowind is by far one of the most dissapointing games ive ever played, Sunshine just feels like a better game to me honestly

I don't know about Portal, but I was thinking the top spot should be Galaxy, Bioshock, or COD 4. I remember Galaxy being one of the highest reviewed games that year and won alot of game of the year awards, so I think most thought of it as the best game of the year.

So you're going by "feel"? Well, Sunshine was largley considered a disappointment upon release and is the least popular and acclaimed of all main console Mario games; Morrowind was huge amongst gamers when it debuted, won numerous GOY awards, and is still argued to be superior to Oblivion and is a PC RPG classic.

I really have to dissagree, Sunshine was a very playable game. Morrowind was litered with bugs, glitches, problems, ect ect to a point where the fun sucked itself out most of the time from my experience

So the rankings are based on how much you liked the games?

Warcraft III maybe should make an appearance for 2002.

No not really, that was just one example

By the way I switched it, but I still stay Morrowind wasn't that great

Good idea, now I have a reason to take off Ratchet & Clank

Ratchet & Clank should definitely be there ahead of Eternal Darkness though.

And Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly should definitely be there ahead of Silent Hill 3 in 2003. I mean PZII pretty much has the reputation as being the scariest game ever (or at least until Amnesia came out it did).