10 Best Video Games Ever Made (Until You Played Them Again)

8. Metroid

GTA 3
Nintendo

The original NES library was, and this cannot be overstated, the most important collection of games in the history of the medium. Games so influential that we're still working off the notes taken from their success decades ago. But that doesn't mean they've all aged as well as Super Mario Bros.

The original Metroid is shockingly primitive compared to later entries, which is weird considering every Metroid game is fundamentally the same all the way back to the original. But the first Metroid, while having its own atmospheric charms, just doesn't hold up when visited today. Stiff controls, samey corridor level design that's easy to get lost in, boring enemies, and a map that's only outmatched in how useless it is by a later entry on this list.

Metroid paved the way for a lot of things in the gaming industry, which Super Metroid would then proceed to solidify. But there's very little, if any, reason to go back to the original today.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?