[M-A-G]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Can you believe that it's only less than a week away? And we've got the new year not too long after? Where does the time go? Hopefully it goes by with us doing cool shit! Like maybe last week's Batman: Arkham City? It's cool, right? Well, let's see what the leaderboard has to say about the matter:


Rate the Game Results

1. Super Mario World (4.81)
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (4.8)
4. Hitman: Codename 47 (4.75)
5. Mass Effect (4.75)
6. Goldeneye 007 (4.72)
7. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)
8. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)
9. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (4.61)
10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (4.5)
11. Portal (4.5)
12. Red Dead Redemption (4.5)
13. Chrono Trigger (4.5)
14. Final Fantasy 3 (4.5)
15. Silent Hill 3 (4.5)
16. Mega Man 2 (4.44)
17. Donkey Kong Country (4.44)
18. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)
19. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)
20. God of War (4.4)
21. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4.4)
22. Mega Man X (4.36)
23. Metal Gear Solid (4.33)
24. Batman: Arkham City (4.33)
25. BioShock (4.33)
26. Ōkami (4.33)
27. Perfect Dark (4.3)
28. Shadow of the Colossus (4.28)
29. The Last of Us (4.28)
30. Mega Man 3 (4.16)
31. Super Castlevania 4 (4.16)
32. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (4.16)
33. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)
34. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)
35. Resident Evil 2 (4.14)
36. Mario Party (4.125)
37. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)
38. Super Mario 64 (4.07)
39. Grand Theft Auto 3 (4.06)
40. The Legend of Zelda (4.06)
41. NBA Jam (4.05)
42. Super Mario Kart (4.0)
43. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (4.0)
44. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (4.0)
45. Super Smash Bros. (4.0)
46. Super Metroid (4.0)
47. Star Fox 64 (4.0)
48. The Simpsons (4.0)
49. Resident Evil 4 (4.0)
50. EarthBound (4.0)
51. Fallout 3 (4.0)
52. Mirror's Edge (4.0)
53. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (4.0)
54. Donkey Kong Country 2 (4.0)
55. X-Men Legends (4.0)
56. Banjo-Kazooie (4.0)
57. Dishonored (4.0)
58. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)
59. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)
60. Mega Man (3.89)
61. Castlevania (3.86)
62. Contra (3.86)
63. Devil May Cry (3.86)
64. Half-Life 2 (3.85)
65. Half-Life (3.83)
66. Final Fantasy 8 (3.83)
67. Infamous (3.83)
68. SimCity 2000 (3.8)
69. Final Fight (3.8)
70. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)
71. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)
72. Double Dragon (3.75)
73. Tomb Raider (2013) (3.75)
74. Max Payne (3.75)
75. Fallout 4 (3.75)
76. Tetris (3.69)
77. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)
78. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3.66)
79. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (3.66)
80. Alan Wake (3.66)
81. Diablo (3.66)
82. Xenoblade Chronicles (3.66)
83. F.E.A.R. (3.66)
84. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (3.66)
85. Mortal Kombat (3.65)
86. Doom (3.625)
87. StarFox (3.61)
88. X-Men (3.6)
89. Resident Evil (3.58)
90. Kirby's Adventure (3.57)
91. Daytona USA (3.5)
92. Ninja Gaiden (3.5)
93. Samurai Shodown (3.5)
94. Burnout Paradise (3.5)
95. Thief: The Dark Project (3.5)
96. Dark Souls (3.5)
97. Shinobi (3.5)
98. Unreal Tournament (3.5)
99. Battletoads (3.42)
100. Dead Space (3.4)
101. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)
102. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)
103. Crash Bandicoot (3.33)
104. Mortal Kombat (2011) (3.33)
105. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.33)
106. Wolfenstein 3D (3.33)
107. Dead Island (3.33)
108. Left 4 Dead (3.33)
109. Nights Into Dreams (3.33)
110. Condemned: Criminal Origins (3.33)
111. Gauntlet Legends (3.28)
112. Gears of War (3.27)
113. Tekken Tag Tournament (3.25)
114. Borderlands (3.22)
115. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (3.22)
116. Duke Nukem 3D (3.2)
117. Darkstalkers (3.2)
118. Quake (3.2)
119. Halo 3 (3.16)
120. SoulCalibur (3.16)
121. Pac-Man (3.125)
122. Killer Instinct (3.11)
123. Virtua Fighter (3.09)
124. Rock Band (3.09)
125. Earthworm Jim (3.0)
126. Metroid (3.0)
127. Time Crisis (3.0)
128. Tekken (3.0)
129. Halo 2 (3.0)
130. Syphon Filter (3.0)
131. Gex (3.0)
132. Destiny (3.0)
133. The Secret of Monkey Island (3.0)
134. Army of Two (3.0)
135. Sonic Adventure (3.0)
136. Shenmue (3.0)
137. Guitar Hero (2.875)
138. Ecco the Dolphin (2.85)
139. Streets of Rage (2.84)
140. Altered Beast (2.8)
141. Bayonetta (2.75)
142. Command & Conquer (2.75)
143. ToeJam & Earl (2.75)
144. Jet Set Radio (2.75)
145. Assassin's Creed (2.71)
146. Gauntlet (2.71)
147. Street Fighter Alpha (2.71)
148. Dead Rising (2.71)
149. Bionic Commando (2.66)
150. Saints Row (2.66)
151. The Sims (2.6)
152. Killer Instinct 2 (2.6)
153. Silent Hill (2.6)
154. Tomb Raider (2.55)
155. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)
156. Twisted Metal (2.42) 157. Crackdown (2.42)
158. Golden Axe (2.33)
159. Gran Turismo (2.3)
160. The Secret of Mana (2.2)
161. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)
162. Panzer Dragoon (1.5)


While not receiving a high amount of play time amongst us here, those who did give it a whirl also gave it enough love to send Batman: Arkham City leaping well above and beyond the original game, landing at number 24. More work for me? Sure, but for a game like this? Worth it. This actually means that Arkham City ranks as the highest superhero game we've tackled. Oh, just wait until we do Superman 64!

Well, that's as good a segue way as any into what comes next. And that being, uh, what comes next here on Rate the Game?!? Have a .gif of the bowl!

via GIPHY

There we go. Well, this week it's time for us to dust off our old PCs and strategizing neurons. If there was any major staple of PC gaming in the nineties other than Doom and Command & Conquer, it's this lovely time killer from Blizzard. Forget orcs and fantasy settings from Warcraft. It's Zergs and outer space RTS environments with StarCraft! Considered one of the best things to ever happen to gaming, not just real-time strategy, this sucker was a cornerstone for Blizzard. But you all get the final say in the matter. How much of an impact did StarCraft have on you? Let's do this thing we do called Rate the Game and let's hash it out below. Until next week. Happy holidays!