1. Pac-Man
   Frogger
2. Ms. Pac-Man
   Dig Dug

While you may have gotten a high score in Pac-Man, you probably haven't been able to get the game's true highest possible score of 3,333,360 points. This rare feat was first accomplished by Billy Mitchell in July 1999 - a full 19 years after the game's initial release.

1. Burger Time
   Donkey Kong
2. Super Mario Bros.
   Dragon's Lair

Donkey Kong was the first time we met Mario and Donkey Kong. It wouldn't be the last by a long shot.

1. Contra
   Final Fight
2. Cobra
   Joust

While Konami's Contra is an excellent game, it will forever be associated with it's famous cheat code which when entered at the game's title screen would give players 30 lives. Contra was actually the second game to use the code - Gradius used it first in the NES version in 1986. You know the code right? Say it with me. UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A

1. Vanguard
   Defender
2. Angry Birds
   Joust

Get above the other guy and spear him, then pick up the egg. Joust sounds easy, right? Not so much.

1. Super Mario Bros.
   Joust
2. Donkey Kong
   Burger Time

Players today have gotten so good at Super Mario Bros. that the game can be completed in an unassisted speedrun in under five minutes. Crazy.

1. Silent Hill
   Resident Evil
2. Doom
   Gears of War

The dialog was stilted. The camera was fixed. The controls were more fit for a tank. None of this mattered in the face of Resident Evil's expertly delivered jump-scares.

1. Unreal Tournament 2004
   Wolfenstein: The New Order
2. The Darkness 2
   Superhot

Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014) is the seventh game in the Wolfenstein series. Players are tasked with stopping Nazi world domination in an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War II.

1. Qix
   Breakout!
2. Tetris
   Asteroids

Fun Fact: Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak was so good at Tetris that Nintendo Power Magazine banned him from submitting high scores for publication. Undeterred, Steve submitted Tetris scores with his name spelled backwards ("Evets Kainzow") - and it worked!

1. Tron 2.0
   Call of Duty: Black Ops III
2. Perfect Dark
   Resistance 3

Perfect Dark (2000) is often referred to as a spiritual successor to GoldenEye 007. A prequel, Perfect Dark Zero, was released in 2005 and a remastered version of the original in 2010.

1. Zork
   Conquest
2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
   M.U.L.E.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a real system seller for the Nintendo 64. My roommate at the time purchased his N64 the day Ocarina came out just to play the game.

1. Galaga '88
   Vanguard
2. Defender
   Space Invaders

A space shooter game with a 3-D aspect, Galaga '88 was a real quarter eater. Namco released this one to follow Galaxian, Galaga, and Gaplus.

1. Star Wars Battlefront
   Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
2. BioShock Infinite
   Titanfall 2

BioShock Infinite was honored with numerous Game of the Year awards following its release in 2013. Among those it won were ones from Electronic Gaming Monthly, the Associated Press, CNN and Forbes.

1. Space Invaders
   Asteroids
2. Tempest
   Star Wars

Were you a "shoot them as fast as I can" player, or did you wait for the bonus saucers to rack up extra points? Different strategies could be used to beat Space Invaders.

1. Bulletstorm
   PlanetSide
2. Natural Selection 2
   Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Bulletstorm (2011) comes from People Can Fly, a Polish video game developer and Epic Games, an American company. Bulletstorm stands out among the first-person shooter genre thanks to the style and off-color humor injected into the gameplay.

1. Outrun
   Spy Hunter
2. Super Mario Kart
   Super Mario Bros.

This game took racing to a whole new level, with players able to sabotage each other and split-screen racing. Super Mario Kart was first released in 1992.

1. Virtua Cop
   GoldenEye 007
2. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
   Silent Hill

This was a groundbreaking game, showing how well a first-person shooter could work as a console game. GoldenEye 007 was based on the 1995 James Bond movie, GoldenEye, in case you were wondering.

1. TimeSplitters 2
   Alien: Isolation
2. Crysis
   Shadow Warrior

The original TimeSplitters game was released in 2000, with TimeSplitters 2 coming out in 2002. It was followed by a third installment, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect in 2005. All three games ranked highly among gamers and game critics.

1. Final Fight
   Street Fighter
2. Mortal Kombat
   Fatal Fury

Mortal Kombat was released in 1992. Initially a second banana to Street Fighter, this game became insanely popular and spawned movies.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
   Mario Bros.
2. Donkey Kong
   Super Mario Bros.

Originally named "Jumpman", Nintendo changed the character's name to "Mario" after Mario Segale - the Italian-American landlord who paid the team an angry visit when Nintendo was behind on rent.

1. Q-Bert
   Dig Dug
2. Mine Crazy
   Ghouls 'N Ghosts

Many of us spent many quarters trying to beat this game. Time management is key. Namco first released Dig Dug in 1982.

1. Dishonored
   Battlefield 1
2. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
   Destiny

Although it bears the title “Battlefield 1,” this game which was released in 2016, is actually the 15th installment in the Battlefield series. The first game, Battlefield 1942, was released in 2002.

1. Gauntlet
   Doom
2. Age of Empires
   Castlevania

For a great conversation starter try this: "Original Doom. Chainsaw or shotgun? Discuss." Doom was one of the seminal first-person shooter games and spawned a movie of its own. Doom the movie was released in 2005.

1. Zeno Clash
   S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
2. Overwatch
   The Operative: No One Lives Forever 2

Game developers ACE Team put out Zeno Clash as its debut game in 2009. It received above average positive reviews and the ACE Team later developed a sequel titled Zeno Clash II (2013).

1. Super Mario World
   Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Mario Kart
   Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo released Super Mario World in 1990 as a launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). This wide-ranging game brought in characters from the entire Nintendo universe and ate up players' weekends.

1. Silent Hill
   Tomb Raider
2. Tombs of Athos
   Pitfall

Many people may know the Angelina Jolie movie better than the game, which is a shame because Tomb Raider is a really fun ride. The Lara Croft character first entered the gaming world in 1996. The series was rebooted to great success in 2013 by Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix.

1. Burger Time
   Joust
2. Paperboy
   Spy Hunter

Paperboy was a fun game! Just pedal the bike, throw the papers and commit random acts of vandalism as you go along.

1. Fatal Fury
   Mortal Kombat
2. Street Fighter
   Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja

The deluxe arcade version of the original Street Fighter used two mechanical "punch buttons" which allowed the player to deliver light/medium/heavy kicks and punches depending on how hard they smashed the buttons.

1. Halo
   Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
2. Destiny
   Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The original game in the Halo series, Halo: Combat Evolved, came out in 2001 to rave reviews from gamers and game critics. It spawned an extremely successful franchise of graphic novels, action figures, toy vehicles and at least six other video games.

1. Legend of Zelda
   Chrono Trigger
2. Final Fantasy
   Secret of Mana

Chrono Trigger is at the top of my "desert island games" list. To make this game Square assembled a "Dream Team" of famous designers, notably Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of Final Fantasy), Yuji Horii (creator of Dragon Quest), and Akira Toriyama (character designer for Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest).

1. Double Dragon
   Final Fight
2. Fighters Destiny
   Mortal Kombat

Double Dragon, starring brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee, made the transition from arcade to console games pretty smoothly. It was first released in 1987.

1. Aliens versus Predator
   SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle
2. Crysis
   Left 4 Dead 2

There are three main games in the Crysis series, to date, with a fourth game, Crysis Warhead (2008) issued as a standalone expansion to the original Crysis game from 2007.

1. Grand Prix Circuit
   Spy Hunter
2. Hang-On
   Pole Position

It seemed maddeningly simple: Mash the accelerator pedal at the right time and win all the races. It wasn't. Pole Position was first released in 1982 by Namco.

1. Pokemon Red and Blue
   Pokemon Yellow
2. Pokemon GO
   Little Monsters

You modern-day Pokemon catchers might not know that the game dates back years. Pokemon Red and Blue used the link cable to connect two Game Boys for battles. In Japan, it was released as Pokemon Red and Green.

1. PlanetSide
   Far Cry
2. Marathon Infinity
   Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Far Cry is a prolific series of games, with the very first installment, Far Cry, having been released in 2004. The franchise has a total of 11 games, so far, with more in the works.

1. NBA Basketball
   Double Dribble
2. One on One: Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird
   NBA Jam

NBA Jam did for video basketball what the Madden series did for video football, although over time Madden has held up better. It was released by Midway in 1993.

1. DOOM
   Team Fortress 2
2. F.E.A.R.
   Dishonored

This 2005 game’s name stands for “First Encounter Assault Recon.” It is followed by two sequels, thus far, with the third one stylized as F.3.A.R. The second game was F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.

1. Defender
   Final Fight
2. Space Invaders
   Galaga

This space fight game offered the fun of having a larger alien ship "capture" your fighter, which you could then rescue for double power. Galaga was released by Namco in 1981.

1. Tempest
   Battlezone
2. Asteroids
   Space Duel

1979's Asteroids is an oldie but a goodie. Were you one of the players who rocketed around the game field, or did you stay mostly in the center?

1. Qix
   Q*bert
2. Vanguard
   Tetris

Who remembers the "plunk" noise when you put a quarter in the game? Q*bert was one of the most popular arcade games of the '80s.

1. Paperboy
   Super Mario Bros.
2. Frogger
   Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega needed a weapon to combat Mario in the 90's console wars, so Sonic the Hedgehog was born and was a real hit. Sega also coined the term "Blast Processing" which was slightly less real.

1. Unreal Tournament 2004
   Overwatch
2. Zeno Clash
   Shadow Warrior

This team-based multiplayer online game was released in 2016 by Blizzard Entertainment. It was designed for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows.

1. Asterix
   Pitfall
2. Berzerk
   Crystal Castles

Pitfall! is a true classic, released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1982. Who didn't spend hours trying to get the little guy to grab the rope just right to swing over the pit?

1. Wizards & Warriors
   Trojan
2. Rygar
   Castlevania

If you played Rygar, you were in on the early days of the console games. It was a side-scrolling adventure game with a very intricate Japanese backstory. Tecmo gave the concept another try with Rygar: The Legendary Adventure which was released in the USA in 2002.

1. Grand Theft Auto
   Spy Hunter
2. Outrun
   Psycho Bus

Grand Theft Auto made major waves in 1997 for its language and the nature of the violence, but that only made sales go higher. Since then the series has been going strong, with many celebrities lending their voices to the game, including Samuel L. Jackson, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Debbie Harry, and Axl Rose.

1. Cobra
   Metal Gear Solid
2. Contra
   Halo: Combat Evolved

Great fighting action and a solid plotline made Metal Gear Solid a great entry in a series that began back in the early days of video games. Konami first released this one in 1998.

1. Shootout
   Super Tennis
2. Pong
   Breakout

Here it is, the original home video game! If you've got one of the old ones around and it still works, you're sitting on a gold mine. Pong was created by Atari engineer Allan Alcorn.

1. Team Fortress 2
   Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
2. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
   Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter

The first Serious Sam game is made up of two episodes. They are Serious Sam: The First Encounter (2001) and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (2002). Two sequels followed, as well as several versions of each game.

1. Metroid
   Metal Gear
2. Planetfall
   Mega Man 2

Mega Man 2 is the best Mega Man game. While this may seem like an opinion, trust me, it is a fact. The only non-fantastic thing about Mega Man 2 us the box art for the USA version of the game. It was, however, an improvement over the so-horrible-it's-almost-funny-actually-no-it's-really-horrible USA box art for Mega Man 1.

1. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
   DOOM
2. Aliens versus Predator
   Rising Storm

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege was released in 2015 as the eleventh game in the Rainbow Six series. The series is part of the Rainbow Six media franchise which began with the 1998 publication of Clancy’s techno-thriller novel of the same name.

1. F.E.A.R.
   Marathon Infinity
2. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
   Half-Life 2

The Half-Life series, so far, consists of two main games. The second game, Half-Life 2 (2004), was extremely well received by gamers and game critics, going on to win numerous “Game of the Year” awards.