What's your top 3 games by decade?

70s - Breakout, Asteroids, Sprint 2

80s - Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros, Tetris

90s - Quake III Arena, Sonic The Hedgehog, Tomb Raider 1

2000s - GTA III, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

2010s - Red Dead Redemption, Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

80s - Contra, Final Fight, Snatcher

90s - Pokemon R/G/B/Y, Street Fighter II, Super Mario 64 (Sry StarCraft)

00s - FFX, MGS2, Silent Hill 2 (Sry Persona 3, Killer7)

10s - Gravity Rush 2, MGS5, Portal 2

90's: Star Fox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, and Pokemon Blue.

00's: Devil May Cry 3, Kingdom Hearts II, and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal.

10's: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Senran Kagura: Estival Versus.

80's - Tough to say, since everything was hard for me so I largely took to what I liked or understood. Super Mario Bros is number 1 with a bullet because of how much time I spent playing it with my mom, then I would say Tetris on the Game Boy, and probably Duck Hunt, honestly. It doesn't hold up well, but I have a lot more fond memories of it than say, Zelda.

90's - The toughest for me. Chrono Trigger and Mario World are definitely on it. The rest is just a nightmare of having to choose very nostalgia heavy games for me, but I think that I'll go with Final Fantasy 6.

00's - There are some good games here, but far fewer than in the 90's when I was in my own "golden age" of gaming. Mass Effect, Planescape: Torment ( know it technically came out in 99, but I didn't play it 2001 or so), and Baldur's Gate 2, I think.

10's - This one is weirdly easier for me: Super Meat Boy, DOOM, and the Witcher 3.

Lots of hard choices, the 90s in particular is stacked and it feels weird not to put Doom or UT99 there, but also couldn't pick them over any of the three I chose. I'd also take Civilization: Call to Power II over Civ III, but that was another 90s game, so ... Civ III was the only other one I felt comfortable representing the franchise with. Also, the 10s are much too recent (and ongoing) to make any definite picks for. Like, I could imagine Overload on there when looking back in a few years, but it's definitely not a flawless game and I don't really know how I'll feel about it in a year.

70s: Colossal Cave Adventure, Depthcharge, subLogic Flight Simulator

80s: Elite, Populous, Prince of Persia

90s: Wing Commander, Descent 2, Command & Conquer

00s: Crysis, Sid Meier's Civilization III, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

10s: Dragon's Dogma, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Evochron Legacy

It hurts my head to even think about answering this.

I'm just gonna do 90s, 00s, and 10s. I don't think I've played and enjoyed enough stuff from the other decades to build solid lists.

1990s:

1. System Shock 2
2. Day of the Tentacle
3. X-Com: Terror From the Deep

2000s:

1. Braid
2. BioShock
3. Metroid Fusion

2010s so far...:

1. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
2. Ghost Trick
3. SOMA

Damn, tough question. Here are the first ones that come to mind in order

90s:LTTP, Super Metroid, Super Mario World

00s:Halo 2, Deus Ex, KOTOR

10s:Skyrim, Rocket League, Dishonored 2

90s: Metal Gear Solid, Mario World, Tony Hawks Pro Skater

00's: Metal Gear solid 2-4, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto 4

10s: Red Dead 2, Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3

'80s: Tetris, Defender, Super Mario Bros. 3

'90s: Planescape Torment, Symphony of the Night, Castle of Illusion

'00s: Jet Set Radio Future, Kingdom Hearts 2, The Orange Box

2010s: Mass Effect 2, Dark Souls, Witcher 3

I could name 50 for each, though.

2010s

1) Skyrim

2) Farcry

3) Asassin Screed

80's: Punch Out, Out Run, SimCity

90's: Castlevania SotN, FF7, Baldur's Gate1+2

00's: Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, S.T.A.L.K.E.R SoC

10's: Bioshock Infinite, Witcher 3, Hotline Miami

A whole lotta nerds in this thread!

This is impossible.

80's: Super Mario Bros. 3, Sinistar, Ultima 4

90's: Super Metroid, System Shock 2, Mega Man X

00's: Fire Emblem, Persona 4, The Sims 2

10's: Mass Effect 2, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nier Automata.

My own list makes me furious. How dare I leave off Sly Cooper 2!? etc. grumble, grumble.

ummm...

@liquiddragon: Weird, how'd that get in there?

90's - EverQuest, Metal Gear Solid, Pokemon

00's - Halo CE, ICO, Mario Galaxy

10's - The Last of Us, Witcher 3, Overwatch

Feels like the kind of question that sane people aren't meant to answer.

80's - Super Mario Bros. 3, Bubble Bobble, Tetris

90's - Starsiege: Tribes, Kirby's Dreamland 2, Xenogears

00's - Left 4 Dead, Zero Escape: 999, Power Stone 2

10's - Titanfall 2, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Nuclear Throne

Yeah this really isn't possible. I can't feel good about any of these picks considering the stuff I'm excluding. Pack it up gang video games are over.

Time to shoot from the hip...

70s - Combat, Pong, Asteroids

80s - River City Ransom, Tetris, Legend of Zelda

90s - Toe Jam and Earl, Street Fighter 2 (take your pick), Metal Gear Solid

00s - Virtual Pro Wrestling 2, Silent Hill 2, Halo:CE

10s - Witcher 3, Overwatch, The Last of Us

Sorry to my #4's, especially Ocarina of Time. Try harder next time!

80s: The Legend Of Zelda, Rygar, Super Mario Bros 2

90s: Symphony of the Night, Gabriel Knight 2, Final Fantasy VI

00s: Rock Band, Wind Waker, Shadow of the Colossus

10s: Mass Effect 2, Undertale, A Link Between Worlds

90s: Sonic II, Tetris (Game Boy), WCW Mayhem

00s: Halo 3, THPS 2, GTA IV

10s: GTA V, Destiny TKK, Red Dead Redemption 2

@liquiddragon: I take MGS as a story, a vibe, a thang. I see the orange box in there too.

70s: Some two player racing game, I can't remember...and Pong

80s: I got nothing.... maybe, Beyond Zork

90's: Diablo 2, Super Metroid, Tetris

2000's: Farcry, TW's PGA (all years)

2010's: RD 1, ME 2, Witcher 3, RD 1, Farcry 3 and 4

Honestly my memory is so bad, I had to look at others lists to even remember what I played...

80s: I was born in 1989. So Tetris?

90s: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; SimCity 2000; Pokemon Red/Blue

2000s: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; BioShock; Half-Life 2 (Age of Empires II and Dragon Age: Origins just miss the cut)

2010s: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim; Crusader Kings II; Red Dead Redemption (Civilization V and Stardew Valley get honourable mentions)

90: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of TIme, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Chrono Trigger

2000s: Halo 2, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Dragon Age Origins

2010s: Mass Effect 2, The Witcher 3, The Last of Us

1980s: The Legend of Zelda, Tetris, Defender

1990s: Super Mario World, Diablo, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

2000s: Devil May Cry 3, Final Fantasy X, World of Warcraft

2010s: Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Titanfall 2

80s - Captain Comic, Grand Prix Circuit, Super Mario Bros

90s - Grim Fandango, Heretic 2, Supreme Snowboarding

00s - GTA: San Andreas(/Vice City), World in Conflict, No One Lives Forever 2

10s - Rocket League, Dark Souls, Dota 2

I dunno.

80's - Super Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, TMNT (arcade)

90's - Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, WCW/nWo: Revenge

00's - GTAIII, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, Super Mario Galaxy

10's - WWE All Stars, Sleeping Dogs, Red Dead Redemption

Maybe?

1980s: Punch-Out!!, Mega Man 2, Blades of Steel

1990s: Mega Man 3, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

2000s: Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Jet Set Radio, Pokemon Silver

2010s: Super Street Fighter IV, Persona 5, E.X. Troopers

Each decade gets progressively harder for me as I've played more & more games as I've gotten older (and been able to afford them)

80s: The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros 3

90s: Super Mario Kart, Goldeneye, Metal Gear Solid

00s: Warcraft III, Demon's Souls, Civ 4

10s: This one is legitimately impossible.... Witcher 3, The Last of Us, Skyrim, XCom 2 ... I'm cheating, sue me

90s: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger.

00s: Wind Walker, World of Warcraft and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

10s: Witcher 2, Darksiders 1&2 and Bayonetta 1&2. I kinda cheated on this one :).