You may want to sit down, because what I’m about to say might shock you… video games have changed and evolved tremendously since the 1990s.
Version 5.0 of the Video Game Canon was built using Best Games lists published between 1995 through 2020, and that 25-year span gives us a nice overview of the titles that game writers have loved over the years. But what if you wanted to zero in on the more recent games that benefited from all that change and evolution?
Thankfully, we can do just that. Say hello to a “Modern” filter for Version 5.0 of the Video Game Canon (V5-M from here on out).
Created using the 17 Best Games lists published between 2016 and 2020 (Version 5.0 didn’t include any lists from 2021), this remixed ranking includes many of the classics you’re used to, as well as a big focus on the groundbreaking titles of the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
Ultimately, V5-M produced an aggregated list that looks very different from the full-length Version 5.0 (or any other Version of the Video Game Canon that came before it).
Zoom in on specific portions of the Video Game Canon and explore alternate sorting options from the Version 5.0 Update with Listology 5.0.
This Listology article is based on an earlier Version of the Video Game Canon. Visit the Top 1000 to see the most recent changes to the full list.
Quick sidebar if you’ve never visited Video Game Canon before. It’s an aggregated ranking created using a formula that measures each game’s Average Ranking across every list, as well as the Appearance Frequency of how many lists it was included on. Combining these two factors gives us a numerical score for each game, the C-Score. The lower the C-Score, the higher a game is ranked on the Video Game Canon. Though games released within the last three years are excluded to remove any recency bias.
Now then, back to the regular article…
The V5-M reordering of the Video Game Canon doesn’t just affect newer games. Older games also made some big leaps as critics came to terms with exactly what they were seeing. For example, most listmakers didn’t know what to make of League of Legends or Minecraft when they were new. But as those editors came around, both games were able to stake a claim on more lists. League of Legends jumped 36 spots (to #62), while Minecraft moved 22 spots into the outermost edge of the Top 15.
Other trends stand out as you move up and down the list.
In the last five years, listmakers have recognized just how great Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is, pushing it upward 39 spots (from #116 to #77). And after decades of vote splitting among the six main entries, a consensus has finally emerged around Civilization IV as the best game in the Civilization franchise (and a huge jump from #108 to #66). Nintendo’s EarthBound was the beneficiary of an even bigger jump (from #82 to #36) thanks to its own critical reevaluation in recent years.
And there’s even a new game sitting in the #1 slot… Resident Evil 4. Here’s a few other games that showed notable improvement in the V5-M:
| GAME | VGC RANK (V5) | VGC RANK (V5-M) | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| EarthBound | 82 | 36 | ▲ 46 |
| Civilization IV | 108 | 66 | ▲ 42 |
| Mario Kart 8 (2014) / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) | 116 | 77 | ▲ 39 |
| Dishonored | 105 | 69 | ▲ 36 |
| League of Legends | 98 | 62 | ▲ 36 |
| Planescape: Torment | 104 | 68 | ▲ 36 |
| Minecraft | 37 | 15 | ▲ 22 |
| Chrono Trigger | 26 | 12 | ▲ 14 |
| Shadow of the Colossus | 14 | 8 | ▲ 6 |
| Resident Evil 4 | 2 | 1 | ▲ 1 |
We know what went up, but the games that critics have cooled on in the last five years is just as surprising:
| GAME | VGC RANK (V5) | VGC RANK (V5-M) | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | 50 | 114 | ▼ 64 |
| Grand theft Auto III | 52 | 109 | ▼ 57 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | 125 | 181 | ▼ 56 |
| Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! (1987) / Punch-Out!! (1990) | 87 | 122 | ▼ 35 |
| Ico | 51 | 84 | ▼ 33 |
| Grand theft Auto IV | 72 | 103 | ▼ 31 |
| World of Warcraft | 17 | 46 | ▼ 29 |
| Super Mario 64 | 10 | 34 | ▼ 24 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | 8 | 19 | ▼ 11 |
| Tetris | 1 | 3 | ▼ 2 |
All told, 895 total games were mentioned by at least one list during the last five years, and the complete ranking looks a little something like this:
Video Game Canon (Version 5.0): The Best Games Using Only Modern Best Games Lists Published Between 2016 and 2020 (Expand)
C-Score = Average Ranking + (100 – Appearance Frequency)