Name: Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
Platform: PS2
Developer: SEGA-AM2
Publisher: SEGA
Year Released: 2003
Why it Made the Top 100 List: The Virtua Fighter Series absolutely needs to be represented any Top 100 list. For anyone who popped in Virtua Fighter 1 when they opened up their SEGA Saturn, fighting games on home consoles would never be the same. VF4 Evo is the ultimate iteration of this game with the smoothest graphics, tightest gameplay, and a ridiculous number of modes. The Kumite mode is one of the best single player fighting game options ever created and the inclusion of the 10th Anniversary edition will make any SEGA fan misty eyed.

Name: DOOM
Platform: PC
Developer: id Software
Publisher: id Software
Year Released: 1993
Why it Made the Top 100 List: Distributed as freeware less than a year after its predecessor Wolfenstein 3-D, Doom was the full Monty. The dark, disturbing hell-based theme, coupled with distinctly memorable sound effects from doorways opening, to hissing, howling and gnashing creatures, put atmosphere in the first-person shooter genre. Doom was packed with dozens of levels, awesome guns (the shotgun, plasma rifle, and BFG, for example) and adrenaline-pumping action. You couldn't look up, but it didn't matter. The game challenged your skills, saturated you with then-awesome graphics and sound, and genuinely burned into your subconscious. The fact that you could play multiplayer deathmatches via LAN vaulted this first-person shooter into gamers' hearts and minds forever.

Name: Madden NFL 2004
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: Tiburon
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Year Released: 2003
Why it Made the Top 100 List: Arguably the best game in the ground-breaking Madden series, in 2004, gamers not only had a chance to own their own football videogame, but get a taste of what it's like to own their own NFL franchise. From increasing the price of popcorn to moving your team to a new city or even building a new stadium from the luxury suites down, the choice is finally yours. On the field, gameplay was enhanced to new levels, adding Playmaker controls on offense to give quarterbacks the ability to point to receivers and change their routes on the fly -- or roll out of the pocket and call for specific blocks to run for the first down. There's just so much to this game, it's no wonder that it's one of the most played videogames in the history of the genre.

Name: Wave Race 64
Platform: Nintendo 64
Developer: EAD, Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Year Released: 1996
Why it Made the Top 100 List: The first and best of the jet ski games, Wave Race 64, a first-wave launch title Nintendo's cartridge-based system, incorporated water physics into racing unlike any game before it, or any since. The simple concept of racing on jet skis was complicated by changing wave patterns, swells, and rising tides, and Nintendo added its trademark depth to broaden and deepen the unique racer. The trick-based mini-games were addicting, the levels well thought out, and the constant spontaneity of the waves always made things challenging. The fact that you could unlock a rideable dolphin was icing on the cake.

Name: Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Platform: PC
Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Year Released: 1996
Why it Made the Top 100 List: Westwood's Command & Conquer series -- born into a great tradition of like RTS experiences first established by the seminal Dune 2 -- has always offered a robust sort of real-time strategy. But while the original C&C; often found itself contending with Blizzard's Warcraft brand for supremacy, Red Alert really had no equal. Westwood's alternate history RTS presented unparalleled strategy that perfectly married currently-applicable RTS interface conventions with diverse units to create some utterly compelling gameplay. When taken online or played over LAN, Red Alert simply excelled. Broken alliances and heedless harvester rushes still bring tears to our eyes. It didn't start the genre, but it probably started the crazy.

Name: Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
Platform: PC
Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Virgin Games
Year Released: 1992
Why it Made the Top 100 List: While Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty wasn't technically the first real-time strategy game, it established the model that nearly all RTS games have followed ever since. In addition to managing a variety of units, players had to harvest resources, build massive bases (complete with a technology tree), and pretty much do everything else that we've come to expect from the genre. Dune II also benefited from some great production values, with fabulous music and an in-game helper (called a Mentat) who explained many of the concepts needed to win. Though it only had the slightest connection to the Dune novels, it was a great game the paved the way for all other RTS games to come.

Name: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Platform: Multiple Systems
Developer: Neversoft
Publisher: Activision
Year Released: 2000
Why it Made the Top 100 List: It's much more complicated than this, but the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater melded smart gameplay, great physics, a spot-on camera system, and an extreme sports mentality into a game that revolutionized action and sports games forever. The skating was fast, the levels smart, and the music raunchy, punk, and in-your-face. It was sheer brilliance, but it was a mostly vertical skate experience. The second game, arriving only one year later, took the level design and the play experience to new heights with the addition of the manual, a simple move that connected street tricks, and totally changed the experience. Connecting all your moves with the manual folded street tricks with the vertical play and launched the Tony Hawk series into history.

Name: God of War
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: SCE Studios Santa Monica
Publisher: SCEA
Year Released: 2005
Why it Made the Top 100 List: Just when action games seemed to be running out of gas, Sony dropped this doozey on us. God of War takes the best elements of Devil May Cry, Rygar and Castlevania and then makes them better. By using ancient Greek mythology as the backdrop, this game plays like an interactive version of Clash of the Titans. In it we follow Kratos, a cursed warrior who must kill a god to earn freedom from his own nightmarish past. His best assets are a pair of mystical chain-linked blades that coincidentally lend themselves well to elaborate combo weaving. Because of that and a thousand other things, it's nearly impossible to limit oneself to only an hour of playing this amazing game. We rarely find games that indulge violence the way God of War does and it's even rarer for us to find one that does it so masterfully.

Name: Resident Evil 4
Platform: GameCube
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Year Released: 2005
Why it Made our Top 100 List: Capcom took a risk with its creepy survival horror sequel, Resident Evil 4, because the game did not follow the franchise's template. Rather, it threw out the old mechanics and dunked players directly into a frenzied new environment filled with all-new scares. No zombies and fewer cheap frights. Instead, hero Leon S. Kennedy was forced to run for his very life -- crazed villagers and monstrous villains giving chase. The title's new 3D camera system and quickened control mechanics made for a more intuitive Resident Evil experience than ever, and the game's unparalleled graphics pushed the limits of this generation's technology.

Name: SimCity 2000
Platform: PC
Developer: Maxis
Publisher: Maxis
Year Released: 1993
Why it Made the Top 100 List: While any particular SimCity will probably be a fun little game, it was this version that really captures the charm of the series. For the first time, you had neighboring cities you could trade with, entertaining and informative newspapers you could read, the ability to build zones of different densities, all of which really added to the experience without introducing new problems. There were also subways to take the pressure off of surface transportation, new types of buildings to enrich the populace. If that's not enough, there was the Urban Renewal Kit add-on that allowed you to create your own content and refine the original templates.