So here is my final list:
99. Rayman 2
98. Quake 2
92. Wipeout 3
86. Perfect Dark
80. Ninja Gaiden Black
79. Secret of Mana
76. Final Fantasy VII
75. Goldeneye 007
73. Resident Evil
69. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
68. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
66. Burnout 3: Takedown
61. Phantasy Star IV
60. Prince of Persia
59. Command & Conquer: Red Alert
55. Final Fantasy II
51. Sonic the Hedgehog
50. Super Smash Bros.
48. Shining Force II
46. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
41. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
39. Super Mario Bros. 3
35. Grand Theft Auto III
32. Halo: Combat Evolved
31. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
27. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
26. Half-Life
25. SimCity 2000
23. Super Mario Kart
20. Metal Gear Solid
19. Doom
18. Chrono Trigger
17. Super Mario World
10. Resident Evil 4
9. Final Fantasy III
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
5. Super Mario 64
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Tetris
1. Super Mario Bros.
Total: 40
Playing 40% of the titles is pretty good.
Thoughts:
Metal Gear Solid is too low at 20, it ticks all the boxes and it was easily the best PSX game released and well before its time when compared to its peers. Chrono Trigger is another game that should be higher than 18.
No Morrowind or Soul Calibur is a severe weakness. Both should be top 20 at least. Soul Calibur received perfect 10s across the board and was absurdly better than its competition at the time of its release.
RE4 should not be anywhere near the top 10 based on what they stated the list should be based on. It stands out as being a bizarre selection in comparison to those that surround it.
The nostalgia factor in this list is huge. Many of the top ranked games have not only aged poorly but are not even the best titles released in their respective franchises. The problem with basing a list on nostalgia is that the experience that warrants the ranking is only meaningful if you played the games at the time of release. For example someone who played OoT in 1998 will probably view it as a far more outstanding title than someone who played it for the first time in 2003. As a result nostalgia based rankings are highly controversial.
For me, I think a Top 100 based purely on quality would be more interesting (and even more controversial :D).
