Britannia at its most alive, baking bread and solving a murder; the RPG Richard Garriott perfected.
A thief, a princess and a return to the series' fairy-tale roots; the fans' favourite.
Four players, the blue shell and Rainbow Road; the kart racer of every dorm.
Koholint Island, a Wind Fish and a Game Boy; the dream Zelda.
Fourteen playable characters, an opera and a villain who wins halfway; the SNES peak of the series.
The sun goddess as a white wolf paints Japan back to life with a brush; Clover's art game.
Yoshi, the cape and 96 exits on the SNES; the launch title that still plays perfectly.
The SNES Hyrule with a Dark World mirror; the template every 2D Zelda follows.
Dual fighters and the captured ship; the shoot-em-up perfected.
A boy with a baseball bat in a satirical America; Nintendo's cult RPG.
A bear and a bird collect jiggies; Rare's 3D platformer at its most joyful.
True 3D, brown corridors, a Nine Inch Nails soundtrack and the birth of deathmatch.
Tidus, Yuna and the pilgrimage across Spira; the first voiced Final Fantasy.
Johto and then Kanto again, day and night; the biggest Pokemon game.
120 stars, the castle and the first analogue 3D playground.
A hundred and fifty creatures, a Game Boy and a link cable; catch them all.
A worm in a super suit; the strangest and best-animated platformer of the 16-bit era.
Build a park and lay a coaster track piece by piece; Chris Sawyer wrote almost all of it in assembly.
Ryo Hazuki in 1986 Yokosuka, forklift shifts and a revenge that took a sequel; the open-world prototype.
The 1986 original: a gold cartridge, no map and "it's dangerous to go alone".
Jumpman climbs girders to save Pauline; Mario's first appearance, 1981.
A drunk squirrel, a singing poo and a Matrix parody; Rare's adult cartoon on the N64.
James Sunderland receives a letter from his dead wife; the psychological horror game.
Do a barrel roll; Arwings, the Rumble Pak and branching routes.
Green Hill Zone at speed; Sega's answer to Mario in 1991.
Alucard explores Dracula's castle, then the castle upside down; the other half of Metroidvania.
The raccoon suit, the world map and the airships; the best NES game.
Tails, the spin dash and Chemical Plant; the best of the Genesis Sonics.
Two commandos, spread guns and the Konami code; run-and-gun at its hardest.
Time-hopping JRPG often called the greatest ever (1995).
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