I must say, despite the fact that I have never read a full issue of EDGE Magazine,  I have more respect for them than nearly every other video game publication out there just from what I’ve read online. They just have a more respectable nature about them.  Once again I have to point out the whole “It doesn’t matter what the magazines and websites say all that matters are what games are your favorites” nature that I have, but once again I just think these lists can be pretty fun. And EDGE Magazine seems quite fond of making these lists, as they did it previously in 2004 and 2007. But their list is a bit different this time around and they have even dubbed it “the 100 best games to play today” which is more or less a way of saying it’s a best game ever list without outright saying it. Without further waisting your time, here’s the list (with some commentary).

100:  R4: Ridge Racer type 4 (PS1)  “It’s Ridge Racer…Riiiidge Racer!”

99: Far Cry (PC) “German FPS Classic!”

98: Star Fox 64 (N64)  “….DO A BARREL ROLL!”

97: Resident Evil (PS1) “The game that created a genre.”

96:  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)  “There are no vampires in this Twilight.”

95:  Football Manager 2009 (PC/Mac) “Football!!”

94:  Space Giraffe (360/PC) “I don’t know much about this one but the name intrigues me.”

93: The Sims 2 (PC) “Because your real life just isn’t interesting enough…”

92: Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii) “See Sims 2 caption.”

91: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (PS2,Xbox,PC) ” Tom Clancy does games too!”

90: Braid (360) “Independant side-scroller for the 360! Sorry I can’t think of anything.”

89: Final Fantasy VI (III in Japan) (SNES) “Better than VII!”

88:  Panel De Pon (various) “One of the all time greatest puzzle games. Made even better when it was transformed into Tetris Attack!”

87: Doom II (PC) “The pioneer for the FPS continued.”

86:  Singstar (PS2) “….Yep…”

85:  The Secret of Monkey Island (PC) “Comical adventure from LucasArts. Shame about that fourth one…”

84:  God of War (PS2) “Ripping apart Greek monsters like there’s no tomorrow.”

83:  Peggle (PC) “Charming.”

82:  Sam & Max Hit the Road (PC) “Hit the road Jack!”

81: Silent Hill 2 (PS2) “Creeeeeeeeeeepy…..”

80: Quake III (PC) “A little known fact: The Quaker outmeal guy has a meanstreak.”

79: Pac-Man: Championchip edition (360) “The reimagining of a classic.”

78:  UFO: Enemy Unknown (PC) “E.T. can’t be trusted!”

77: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64) “Cult favorite Zelda!”

76: Planescape: Torment (PC) “Tormenting..the…Planescape…I think my imagination’s broke..”

75:  F-Zero GX (Gamecube) “So hard but so additcing.”

74: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (various) “No Peasant’s Quest this time around unfortunately..”

73:  Frequency (PS2) “Not the movie.”

72: Skate 2 (PS3,360) “Look out Tony Hawk.”

71:  Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (Various) “Not Ridge Racer.”

70:  Daytona USA (arcade) “I remember this! Daytooooonaaaaaaaa!”

69:  Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) “Better than Melee! Wario and Olimar for the win!”

68:  Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) “An artistic achievement.”

67:  Chrono Trigger (SNES) “The RPG classic and the only thing besides Back to the Future where time travel makes sense.”

66:  Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (various) “The game that brought Prince of Persia back on the gaming scene.”

65:  Thief II: The Metal Age (PC) He stole that guy’s PIZZA!”

64: Puyo Puyo Fever (various) “A puzzle classic.”

63: Lemmings (various) “I loved those little guys.”

62: Ninja Gaiden II (360) “giant bosses and ninja’s galore!”

61: Robotron 2084 (arcade) “Despit having the name “Tron” in the title, it has nothing to do with Space Paranoids.”

60: Puzzle Bobble (various) “I loved this game!”

59:  Viewtiful Joe (Gamecube) “One of the Gamecube’s best games. Here’s hoping they make the third one.”

58:  Gears of War 2 (360) “Lol Chainsaw Gun!”

57: Deus Ex (PC) “Deus Ex Machina!”

56: Counter-Strike Source (PC) ” Get out of there it’s gonna blow!”

55: Pokemon Yellow Version (Gameboy) “It’s what would happen if Red/Blue version merged with the TV show.”

54:  Ico (PS2) “Another artistic achievement. Shadow of the Colossus’ precurser.”

53:  Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3) “From the makers of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter.”

52:  Fable II (360) “Better received than the first.”

51: R-Type Final (PS2) “A modern day 2D shooter classic.”

50: Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (Gamecube) “Revamped PS1 icon on the Gamecube.”

49:  Rez HD (360) “Wasn’t Rez the bad guy’s name from Gex?”

48:  Final Fantasy VII (PS1) ” The game that made RPGs popular in the west.”

47: Eve Online (PC) “Sci-fi MMOG!”

46: Disgea: Afternoon of Darkness (PSP) “a cult favorite series gets recognition!”

45: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360,PC,Ps3) “Speak up I can’t hear over the music!”

44:  Jet Set Radio Future (360) “Awesome skating game with unique visuals.”

43: Portal (PC) “The cake is a lie!”

42:  Fifa ‘09 (various) ” WOW that’s nice graphic!”

41: Race Driver: Grid (PC,PS3,360) “More good graphic.”

40: WarioWare Inc. (Gameboy Advance) “I’ma Wario, I’ma gonna win!”

39: Super Monkey Ball (Gamecube) “Super Duper!”

38: Starcraft (PC) “Enthralling Korea since 1997!”

37:  Fallout 3 (360,PS3,PC) “Nuka-cola looks tastey!”

36: Burnout Paradise (360,PS3) “Livin’ in a Burnout Paradise!”

35:  Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Ps2) “What is a man?! A miserable little pile of secrets!”

34:  Bioshock (360,PS3,PC) “Andrew Ryan = Walt Disney?”

33:  Geometry Wars Retro Evolved (360) “It’s GEO-delicious!”

32:  Team Fortress 2 (PC) “Medic!”

31: Bomberman (various) “Uni-bombing fun for the whole family!”

30: Company of Heroes (PC) “Did they have Corperation of Villains?…I didn’t think of this one.”

29:  Advance Wars (Gameboy Advance) “How Nintendo does war.”

28:  Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (PS2) “Uuughhh….I wanted to spit as soon as I saw this.”

27:  Mario Kart DS (DS) “Mario Kart + Wi Fi = ADDICTION!”

26:  Medievil II: Total War (PC)     “TO WAR! *Saruman voice*”

25:  Final Fantasy XII (PS2)   “Don’t listen to the FFVII fanboys, this is Final Fantasy at its finest!”

24:  Virtua Fighter 5 (various)  “Now feel my “Crazy Go Nuts” fighting style!”

23: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Gamecube)  “One of the best Zeldas in history complete with an unbelievably awesome visually style.”

22:  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2, Xbox,PC)   “Ruining video games one installment at a time.”

21:  Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)   “I’m still in a dreeeeam! Snake Eater!”

20:  Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) ” Why did this game sell so many copies? Because it’s AMAZING!”

19:  Civilization IV (PC)  “The product of Sid Mier’s genius.”

18:  Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360,PS3,PC)   “Highly acclaimed First-person shooter that took the Call of Duty series in a new direction.”

17:  World of Warcraft (PC)  “For the Hoarde!”

16:   Super Metroid (SNES)  “A major fan and critical favorite.”

15:   Rock Band 2  (PC,PS3,360)  “Ever wanted to be a rock star? Here is the easiest way!”

14:  Street Fighter IV (360,PS3,Arcade)  “The revival of one of gaming’s greatest franchises.”

13:  Left 4 Dead (360,PC)  “An interactive zombie thriller.”

12:  Grand Theft Auto IV (360,PS3,PC)   “My spittoon is getting pretty full by this point.”

11:  LittleBigPlanet  (PS3)   “Deep creation tool. Shallow gameplay. Way too high.”

10: Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario World 2 (SNES)   “Yoshi finally became the star in one of the greatest games ever made.”

9:  Halo 3 (360)  “The face of the Xbox 360.”

8:   Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)   “A masterpiece in every sense of the word. Star get!”

7:  Tetris  (various)   “The most addictive game in history. One of the best.”

6:   Super Mario World  (SNES)   “Everything that is good about video games can be found here. A true work of art.”

5:   The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)  “The definitive Zelda. The legend of legends, if you will.”

4:   Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube)   “Took Resident Evil in a new direction and earned many awards.”

3:    Half-Life 2 (PC)   “A first-person shooter with an engaging storyline…just saying that sentence sounds weird.”

2:    Super Mario 64 (N64)  “Mario paved the way for 3D games with this gem.”

1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)  “Link’s epic journey to save Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf became one of the N64’s most memorable games.”

There you go, EDGE Magazine’s top 100 games. I can’t say I would choose Ocarina of Time as number one, I greatly prefer A Link to the Past, but it’s not a bad game by any means whatsoever. I also wish Donkey Kong Country 2 would show up on these lists eventually, and what of Sonic, Megaman and Mario RPG? But this is EDGE’s list, not mine. All in all I think they did a really good job (except for the inclusion of Grand Theft Auto). If you want my personal take, I think numbers 8, 7, and 6 could’ve easily fit as the top three if they wanted to.

Oh, I failed to mention the very reason why EDGE did this list, it was part of their 200th issue special. So congratulations EDGE, here’s to 200 more issues.