When we look back on the 20th century and the many great experiences it gave us, we tend to think of a few favorite video games that meant the most to us. But the medium introduced more than just our personal favorites. Across platforms as diverse as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis, Game Boy, PlayStation and PC, exciting new heroes, genres, and franchises made their mark.
They laid the groundwork for not only their publishers and developers, but for the medium as a whole. Here is our list of the greatest video game franchises of the 20th century, ranked according to impact. When some of us think about video games, we picture spaceships flying through the stars, or heroes with huge swords vanquishing slimy monsters, or furry mascots leaping along platforms.
But there are other possibilities, and Electronic Arts recognized them when it released John Madden Football in 1988. The game marked the start of a series of titles made in partnership with the gregarious former player, coach, sports commentator, and turducken fan. Electronic Arts published a whole pile of sports games in general during the ‘90s, and brought fans digital versions of all their favorite athletes from various leagues.
But its partnership with the NFL proved most fruitful as the 20th century wound down and the next millennium began. Suddenly, people who didn’t love princes or galactic bounty hunters had something they recognized and loved, and they showed up in droves. No wonder there’s a Madden movie on the way.
The Blue Bomber got a rocky start, but soon made up for any deficiencies with Mega Man 2. Following that success, there was a long stretch of time when each new year brought with it a taste of action platforming perfection. The formula quickly became reliable, even as the unflappable hero found dozens of new abilities and new companions.
Each time after the first outing, eight out-of-control machines wreaked havoc in 20XX, always as part of some fiendish scheme from the devious mind of Dr. The simple concept was the basis for numerous games in the main series, and for additional releases in the Mega Man X spinoff series, as well as various other titles on home consoles and even in arcades. Mega Man’s popularity has faded more recently, though he has appeared in cartoons, as a character in the Smash Bros. games, and even has another new adventure on the way in 2027’s Mega Man: Dual Override.
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