Dungeon Master. Game Master. Master Chief. Master Hand. Master Sword.
What is Link without the Master Sword? What is this group of games without the Master List?
The term Master plays such a significant role in science fiction and high fantasy, but that single word means so much in the world of gaming. What upgrade is greater than the Master version of any given weapon, vehicle, or ability? With that being said, we decided to use a complicated point system to take the 125 entries on this list, and create a true 25 greatest. (I’d like to remind you that for us greatest means favorite, not best!) Let’s get to it.
Honorable Mentions:
There were eight different Star Wars titles that were mentioned. There was only one Star Trek.
Sid Meier’s games were all over this list. His name appeared more than Mario.
Only two number one games (Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy VIII) did not make this list.
Only 21 out of the 125 entries were repeated at least once! That means over 100 entries were completely unique.
Skyrim, Mario Kart, Resident Evil 4, and World of Warcraft fell just outside the top 10. KOTOR II would have made number 6, but we decided to only allow one entry per series on the final list due to the allocation of points when Brain Trust members listed a whole series as an entry.
10. The Secret of Monkey Island (1990) – 33 points.
9. Star Wars: Dark Forces (Jedi Knight Series) (1995) – 35 points.
8. Bioshock (2007) – 39 points.
7. Sid Meier’s Civilization 2 (1996) – 40 points.
6. Final Fantasy VII (1997) – 42 points.
5. Dragon Age: Origins (2009) – 53 points.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) – 69 points.
3. Mass Effect 2 (2010) – 70 points.
2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) – 76 points.
1. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002) – 94 points. The only game to appear on everyone’s top 25. (It appeared as a split entry on Po’s with Skyrim.)
Are any of your favorite games on the list? If we told you that you could only play ten games for the rest of your life, are any of these on your shelf?
Let us know because for us, playing video games and being inspired to save the world, is an amazing way to stay hungry and fit!
