This is the first installment in a new series I’m calling SJAL (Sweet Jeezus, Another List). I’ve read more top <insert number here, bonus points if it’s not 10>  game lists than I can remember or would ever bother to count. So today we’ll try something a bit different. I’m only going to do 5 (mostly because I’m lazy) and the games are going to be ranked based their lasting impact (in my humble opinion). These games also introduced me to specific genres, so I’ll be including another game I consider to be a worthy modern successor (spiritual, sequel, or otherwise) with each one. Here they be…

#5 – System Shock 2: August 11, 1999

Genre: FPS with RPG elements and an objective other than a mindless bloodbath…

This spot should probably be reserved for the original System Shock, but…err…well…I never played it. Tragic, I know. Shock 2 was groundbreaking to me for several reasons. For one, it was the first FPS I played that required some strategy beyond “I will now enter room X in level Y and make soup with this chain gun.” It also blended RPG elements seamlessly into an FPS, giving the player some customization options and making them crucial to completing the game. But what really sticks out about the game almost 10 years later is the atmosphere. The game was actually flat out f’in creepy. If you’ve never played, I highly recommend it even today. See if you can get the midwife’s voice out of your head afterward.

Worthy Successor: Bioshock. In fact, I’d say its too much like Shock 2. Yahtzee has more on the subject.

#4 – Doom: December 10, 1993

Genre: FPS where the objective IS a mindless bloodbath…

I doubt this needs much explanation. Doom is THE original FPS and gave us such wonderful gifts as fragging and the deathmatch. It also boasted an incredible game engine and was my very first experience with multiplayer. I remember spending the first 10 min with the game sitting next to a close friend. We just ran our space marine’s back in forth in front of each other, mesmerized by the fact that movement on one machine actually translated to the other screen. I wish I was still as easily impressed.

Worthy Successor: Painkiller. Again, Yahtzee has details.

#3 – Civilization: 1991

Genre: Turn based strategy…

This might have been the first game I played on my own PC (I got to try SimCity on a friends machine sometime earlier). Civ was an ambitious game of great depth and scale. From the first simple warrior units all the way to the nukes, an entire game could easily take weeks to finish if played an hour or so each night. It was also a game of complex choices that allowed a player to define victory through scientific achievement, diplomacy, or military might. Of course, the best game experiences had a good mix of all three.

Worthy Successor: Civilization IV. It improves the game play that made the original so enjoyable and (finally!) has excellent multiplayer support out of the box.

#2 – Warcraft: January 15, 1994

Genre: Old school real time strategy…

This one easily makes the list not only as my first experience with a real time strategy game, but also as the primary motivation behind upgrading my Packard Bell with a 14.4 modem (ahh, sweet memories). This game existed in a time of very straightforward RTS titles. Two warring factions, each with a handful of units, fought on small battlefields for control of very sparse resources. It was a wonderful and bloody adventure with an equally impressive sequel. It also started an obsession with Blizzard’s work that I still have to this day.

Worthy Successor: Age of Empires III. Warcraft III would seem like a more logical choice, but I actually grew to enjoy the Age series a bit more while I was in college. Starcraft II will inevitably change this I’m sure.

#1 – Diablo: January 2, 1997

Genre: Rabid mouse-button click fest in the form of a dungeon crawling RPG…

This game gets the top spot for many reasons. Aside from being horribly addictive, it was also the first RPG I remember playing with randomly generated dungeons & loot, as well as 4 player cooperative play. The last of these cannot be understated, as coop play is often sorely missed in quite a few otherwise great games. I’m hoping Left 4 Dead reminds people of how coop can be done with spectacular results. My friends and I actually suffered through the latency and connection issues of a daisy-chained serial cable link to play Diablo in coop mode…that’s how good it was. The prefix and suffix system used to generate random and unique items was also a brilliant stroke that is still used today.

Worthy Successor: Dungeon Siege II. I’m guessing this will change when Diablo III is released (in 2020 I imagine).