40.
Oregon Trail
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There were many different versions of this starting with the text-only and moving up to the full color GS version (pictured here). Most people probably remember playing it at school because of it's educational nature, but rather then simply showing you stuff about the trip, it makes you act it out. You can see the results of setting your rations too low, or spending too much money, or not getting enough supplies. And when you failed and died the game even let you decide what to put on your headstone. I have very rarely seen an educational game that works, and of those, this is the best.
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39.
Drol
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I'm not sure how original this game was at the time, but one thing that seemed to come from it was the idea of having 'cute' characters. Drol was cute, and even the enemies were too. I don't really mean that they were cuddly, but more that they were great to look at and gave the game a feeling of warmth. The sound of the 'curtains' opening and closing are still stuck in my head. Great memories playing this game with my sisters watching.
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38.
Final Fantasy II
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The storyline for an rpg doesn't get any better then this. Characters are killed, sacrifice themselves, and become traitors. The dialogue is way over the top with over dramatization, but it all works. I had so much fun going through this game and actually felt for the characters when they would go through their trauma.
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37.
NBA Jam
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It's very hard to capture team sports on a computer. When you're playing these sports in real life you can only control yourself, and you have to expect that your teammates can handle their own bodies without you telling them where to go. Games have always had a hard time simulating this experience, and when they do get close too many times it can end up being frustrating with not much going on and plays not working out. When you're playing this is okay because you're working so hard you don't notice (setting a pic is fun in a real game but boring on the computer). NBA Jam fixed all of that and allowed plays to happen that were fun to watch and take part in. You could even play a form of defense that was fun in itself and no one had to put too much thought into it. The Dreamcast basketball game is the closest to real life and it does a great job, but it still lacks the fun of jumping from the top of the key to do a 720 in the air before coming down to light the hoop on fire.
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36.
Dung Beetles
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If all there was to this game was the creepy "We Gotcha!" voices when you were dead then it would still rank on this list. Essentially pacman that doesn't let you see the surrounding area because of the large magnified box. The enemies follow your trail, so you need to try to shake them off by taking side paths and hoping for luck in your favor. So much fun, too bad the second level is essentially impossible.
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35.
Baldur's Gate II
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Where this game really shines is the multiplayer mode. I enjoyed playing the game with one player, but it's nothing compared to the excitement of real time action with others. It feels really good when you know that you saved your party, and very cool when someone saves you. The game itself is a full world filled with characters with personalities, books that you can read, special weapons, plot twists, and everything that you could want. This game was the last one to make the list and was hard to place.
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34.
Space Quest 3
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The one annoying thing about Sierra games was that the ports from the PC to the Amiga were not upgraded to take advantage of the better graphics and sound. I couldn't bring myself to play King's Quest or any of the others because of this. Space Quest 3 was different, it actually put in the effort to look good. with great results. Maybe because I didn't play any other Sierra games I didn't get bored of the format, but I had lots of fun with this. My friends and I played every day after school and would phone back and forth to find out if the other person had gotten past a hard part yet.
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33.
NHL 2001
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EA has put out a new NHL game a year for a while now, but I think that this is the best one (the graphics haven't seemed to get much better since). One timers are the name of the game here and there's something exciting about seeing weird guys streak down to put perfectly passed pucks in the net. Of course the only thing better then that is having a heavy hitting defensemen come out and smash the guy getting the pass.
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32.
Puzzle Bubble
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This is the one game that I have spent literally hours at in an arcade. Something about the way that you can almost become 'one' with the machine. When you get into it you don't even look at the angles anymore and just feel where they need to go. Also strategy plays a huge part and in the upper levels if you miss one shot or plan just one bubble poorly you'll end up loosing. The only arcade game that I've ever finished.
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31.
Spare Change
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I'll bet that if I played the jukebox music of this game in my house that everyone would know what it was from. It's a really simple but addictive game where you need to run around taking coins and putting them in the bank. The problem is that there are little guys who take the coins from you and the bank, so you need to keep them busy. If you put a coin in the jukebox the music will play and they will dance, or you can make the phone ring and they'll talk to each other. You can risk some coins by gambling to get more or just place them in and hope that you can fill it up quickly. Another great example of taking limited computing power and coming up with a fantastic concept.
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