Since gaming is such a diverse artform, and since technical progress has such an outsized impact on the end result, this is a really difficult question. Compare it to film, where even some of the earliest masterpieces has more in common with modern films than the equivalent computer games do.
A movie like Citizen Kane can still stand shoulder to shoulder with The Godfather, despite being separated by 30 years. The same just cannot be said for Pong and Top Spin, despite being separated by the same amount of time.
Which brings me to genres. Sure, films cover a diverse range of genres too, but they still share common DNA in terms of story telling, dramatic tension, the three act structure, etc. So the experience of watching a sports film will share more similarities with a relationship drama, than the gaming equivalents. For example, Bull Durham and Revolutionary Road vs. MLB The Show and It Takes Two.
And I haven’t even brought up single player vs multiplayer, co-op vs. competitive, online vs offline, etc. All aspects of gaming which further complicates the question.
Point is, comparing games is not even apples and oranges, it’s apples and accordions.
Anyway, with all that said, it’s still an interesting topic for conversation, and I guess for me it would just boil down to the question:
What games do I have the fondest memories of playing?
In order of release, going back to when I first started playing videogames, I think a starting point for me would look something like this:
- The Legend of Zelda (1986)
- Tetris (1987)
- Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! (1987)
- Street Rod (1989)
- Conquests of the Longbow (1991)
- The Secret of Monkey Island 2 (1991)
- Day of the Tentacle (1993)
- Syndicate (1993)
- NHL Hockey (1994) (aka NHL '94 for PC)
- Diablo (1996)
- The Sims (2000)
- Fable (2001)
- Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
- Rainbow Six 3 (2003)
- Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (2006)
- Oblivion (2006)
- Gears of War (2006)
- Red Dead Redemption (2010)
- Skyrim (2011)
- Red Dead Redemption II (2018)
Looking over the list, I feel like there’s only really a couple of contenders for GOAT for me. It’s really between Tetris, and Day of the Tentacle. I say that because those are two games I’ve come back to several times over the years and they have never failed to entertain me. Whereas with most other games, if I choose to give them another go years down the road, it tends to be for a quick nostalgia fix, but I don’t spend any quality time with them. This is not true for either Tetris or DoTT.
I’m tempted to pick Tetris due to its near infinite replayability, and its simple-but-hard-to-master gameplay. But the story, art, and humour of Day of the Tentacle is just so perfect, and it’s what’s brought me back to it probably 5-6 times over the years, and each time I’ve played through it from start to finish.
So, yeah, my pick for GOAT is gonna have to go to Day of the Tentacle. And as luck would have it, the remastered version is available on Game Pass. That’s the last one I played, and it’s a great way to experience the game. I had the commentary track turned on, and I highly recommend doing that for any fan of the game.
Sorry for the novella. And kudos if you made it this far.