What are some of the best regarded video game franchises of all time? Fallout, Final Fantasy, and Call of Duty all seem like surefire bets rights? Those are all big games, but funnily enough they don't appear that many times in the top 200 on Metacritic. There are plenty of obvious franchise that do appear though. The following was comprised of one issue of a game only.
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For example, if every version of Grand Theft Auto V were in the top 200, only the top entry was counted. It should also be noted that there were a lot of ties for this list with franchises having three games. To break the ties they were averaged out to see what series qualified the most. The order then is ranked from the least amount of games to the most.
10 Madden NFL
Madden NFL appears three times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. Madden NFL 2003 is the best ranked football game in this series with a 95. The other two games are tied with 94s. Those would be Madden NFL 2002 and Madden NFL 2004. It seems like this three year span was the best year overall for the franchise and it has seen diminishing returns since.
9 Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo appears three times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. Gran Turismo has always been thought of as a console showpiece for the PlayStation consoles in terms of graphics. This was was true for the first game which got a 96 on PS1.
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The next highest was the third on PS2 followed by the second game on PS1. Are they still as influential for the PlayStation brand? They are, but other racing games have sort of sucked the wind out of their sails thanks to more consistent releases like with Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport franchise.
8 Halo
Halo appears three times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. The original release on Xbox is still ranked the best game in the series with a 97. After that is the second game with a 95 followed by the third with a 94. Those first three were influential for shooters to be accepted on consoles. Before that the genre was thought of as impossible to emulate on consoles compared to PCs.
7 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater appears three times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. The PS1 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is the second best rated game of all time on Metacritic with a 98. Multiple versions of that game actually hit the top 200 including the Game Boy Advance version. Extra trivia aside, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 got a 97. The last game then is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 with a 94.
6 God Of War
God of War appears four times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. The 2018 reboot of God of War along with the very first game are tied at a 94. After that is the second game with a 93 followed by God of War 3 with a 92. Given these numbers it would be interesting to see if the next God of War, thought to be called Ragnarok, will get tied with God of War 2 at a 93.
5 Half-Life
Half-Life appears five times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now although that number might be contested. Without a doubt the top two games are Half-Life and Half-Life 2 with 96s. Also in the 96 bracket is The Orange Bracket which includes the entirety of Half-Life 2 and its two episodes along with Portal and Team Fortress 2. As Portal is at least connected to the universe, The Orange Box should count. That said, so too should Portal 2 with a 95. The last game then is the latest with the VR exclusive, Half-Life: Alyx with a 93.
4 Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid appears five times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. Metal Gear Solid 2 is the top rated game in the series with a 96. After that is the latest main entry, Metal Gear Solid V with a 95. The other three are all tied with 94s and include the first game, the Subsistence version of Metal Gear Solid 3, and Metal Gear Solid 4. Among those games, Metal Gear Solid 4 is the one still stuck on PS3 as the others have been ported more times than one can count and or at least available on multiple consoles in the case of the latest entry.
3 Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto appears six times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. The top rated game in the series is Grand Theft Auto IV. The PS3 version of that game is the third best rated game of all time on Metacritic with a 98.
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That was closely followed by Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto III which are tied at 97. After that is San Andreas and Vice City tied at 95. The last game is the often forgotten portable spinoff, Chinatown Wars which got a 93.
2 The Legend Of Zelda
The Legend Of Zelda appears seven times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. Twenty plus years later, Ocarina of Time is still the top rated game on the website with a 99. After that is Breath of the Wild with a 97 followed by Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker both tied at 96. Next the Game Boy Advance port of A Link to the Past and then Majora’s Mask which both got a 95. The last game then is Skyward Sword with a 93.
1 Mario
Mario appears eight times in Metacritic’s top 200 list as of right now. The top three games tied at 97 are Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario Odyssey. Next, tied at 94, there is Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 which was basically the Game Boy Advance port of the SNES version of Super Mario Bros. 3 as well as Super Mario 64. The last three then are tied at 93 and are Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart Super Circuit, and Paper Mario.
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