IGN has just published their 2005 list of top 100 games. It's a great list, well written, with lots of interesting editorial choices. It's also hard to understand the whole list because of the article format. So I created a version of their list in CSV form as well as an HTML table. The table below has the tablesort magic, click column headers to resort. Interesting to group by year, or publisher, or platform.

IGN is a great publication, you should definitely go visit their article. Their list includes box art and interesting editorial comments on each game. I'm only providing this list as a simple index into their articles.

Rank Title Year Platform Developer Publisher
1 Super Mario Bros. 1985 NES Nintendo EAD Nintendo
2 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 1998 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo
3 Tetris 1986 Multiple Systems Pajitnov/Pavlovsky/Gerasimov Various
4 Sid Meier's Civilization II 1996 PC Microprose Microprose
5 Super Mario 64 1996 Nintendo 64 Nintendo EAD Nintendo
6 Sid Meier's Pirates! 1987 PC Microprose Microprose
7 StarCraft 1997 PC Blizzard Blizzard
8 Street Fighter II 1991 Arcade Capcom Capcom
9 Star Wars: TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM 1995 PC LucasArts LucasArts
10 Super Metroid 1994 SNES Intelligent Systems Nintendo
11 Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 1992 SNES Nintendo EAD Nintendo
12 X-COM: UFO Defense 1994 PC Mythos Games Microprose
13 Chrono Trigger 1995 SNES Dream Project Squaresoft
14 Rome: Total War 2004 PC The Creative Assembly Activision
15 Super Mario Kart 1992 SNES Nintendo Nintendo
16 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 1997 PlayStation Konami Konami
17 Star Control 2 1992 PC Toys for Bob Accolade
18 ICO 2001 PlayStation 2 SCEI SCEA
19 Metal Gear Solid 1998 PlayStation Konami Konami
20 Ms. Pac Man 1981 Arcade Namco Midway
21 Deus Ex 2000 PC ION Storm Austin Eidos
22 Half-Life 1998 PC Valve Sierra Studios
23 Super Mario Bros. 3 1990 NES Nintendo Nintendo
24 Tecmo Super Bowl 1991 NES Tecmo Tecmo
25 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn 2000 PC BioWare Interplay
26 Final Fantasy II (IV) 1991 SNES SquareSoft SquareSoft
27 Burnout 3: Takedown 2004 Multiple Systems Criterion Electronic Arts
28 Half-Life 2 2004 PC Valve Vivendi Universal Games
29 GoldenEye 007 1997 Nintendo 64 Rare Nintendo
30 Halo 2001 Xbox Bungie Microsoft
31 SimCity 2000 1993 PC Maxis Maxis
32 Resident Evil 4 2005 GameCube Capcom Capcom
33 God of War 2005 PlayStation 2 SCE Studios Santa Monica SCEA
34 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 2000 Multiple Systems Neversoft Activision
35 Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty 1992 PC Westwood Studios Virgin Games
36 Command & Conquer: Red Alert 1996 PC Westwood Studios Virgin Interactive
37 Wave Race 64 1996 Nintendo 64 EAD, Nintendo Nintendo
38 Madden NFL 2004 2003 PlayStation 2 Tiburon Electronic Arts
39 DOOM 1993 PC id Software id Software
40 Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution 2003 PS2 SEGA-AM2 SEGA
41 System Shock 2 1999 PC Looking Glass/Irrational Games EA
42 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec 2001 PlayStation 2 Polyphony Digital SCE
43 Soul Calibur 1999 Dreamcast Namco Namco
44 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island 1995 SNES Nintendo EAD Nintendo
45 Battlefield 1942 2002 PC Digital Illusions CE Electronic Arts
46 Super Mario World 1991 SNES Nintendo Nintendo
47 NHL 94 1993 Sega Genesis EA Sports Electronic Arts
48 The Secret of Mana 1993 SNES Square Co. Ltd. Square Co. Ltd.
49 Grim Fandango 1998 PC LucasArts LucasArts
50 Wing Comander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi 1991 PC Origin Origin
51 Grand Theft Auto III 2001 PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC DMA Designs Rockstar Games
52 Metroid Prime 2002 GameCube Retro Studios Nintendo
53 Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 1999 PC Ensemble Studios Microsoft
54 Panzer Dragoon Saga 1998 Sega Saturn Team Andromeda Sega
55 Fallout 1997 PC Black Isle Studios Interplay
56 Final Fantasy III (VI) 1994 SNES SquareSoft SquareSoft
57 Mike Tyson's Punchout! 1987 NES Nintendo Nintendo
58 Super Smash Bros. Melee 2001 GameCube HAL Laboratory Nintendo
59 Bionic Commando 1988 NES Capcom Capcom
60 Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle 1993 PC LucasArts LucasArts
61 Sam & Max Hit the Road 1993 PC LucasArts LucasArts
62 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2003 Multiple Systems Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft
63 Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 Sega Genesis Sonic Team SEGA
64 Advance Wars 2001 GBA Intelligent Systems Nintendo
65 MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat 1995 PC Activision Activision
66 Homeworld 1999 PC Relic Sierra
67 Rayman 2: The Great Escape 2000 Multiple Systems Ubisoft Ubisoft
68 Starsiege: Tribes 1998 PC Dynamix Sierra Online
69 Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs 1990 Sega Genesis EA Sports Electronic Arts
70 Pokemon Red/Blue 1998 Game Boy Game Freak Nintendo
71 Half-Life: Counter-Strike 2000 PC Valve Sierra Studios
72 Galaga 1981 Arcade Namco Namco
73 Return Fire 1995 3DO Silent Software Prolific Publishing
74 Syndicate 1993 PC Bullfrog Electronic Arts
75 Crimson Skies 2000 PC Zipper Interactive Microsoft
76 Tetris Attack 1996 SNES Nintendo Nintendo
77 Archon: The Light and The Dark 1984 Home Computers, NES Free Fall Electronic Arts
78 Star Wars 1983 Arcade Atari Atari
79 Shining Force II 1994 Genesis Sonic Software Planning SEGA
80 Baseball Stars 1989 NES SNK SNK
81 Freedom Force 2002 PC Irrational Games Electronic Arts
82 Gunstar Heroes 1993 Sega Genesis Treasure SEGA
83 Contra 1988 NES Konami Konami
84 Ultima VII: The Black Gate 1992 PC Origin Systems Origin Systems
85 Prince of Persia 1989 Multiple Systems Jordan Mechner Broderbund
86 Final Fantasy X 2001 PlayStation 2 Square Squaresoft
87 Thief II: The Metal Age 2000 PC Looking Glass Studios Eidos
88 Final Fantasy VII 1997 PlayStation, PC Square Squaresoft
89 Alone in the Dark 1992 PC Infogrames Interplay
90 Master of Orion 1993 PC SimTex MicroProse Software
91 Virtua Tennis 2000 Dreamcast SEGA SEGA
92 Dragon Warrior 1989 NES Enix Nintendo
93 Quake II 1997 PC id Sofware Activision
94 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 1998 PC Red Storm Entertainment Red Storm Entertainment
95 Herzog Zwei 1990 Sega Genesis Technosoft Technosoft
96 Mafia 2002 PC Illusion Softworks Gathering
97 F-Zero 1990 SNES Nintendo Nintendo
98 BattleToads 1991 NES Rare TradeWest
99 Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss 1991 PC Blue Sky Productions Origin
100 River City Ransom 1990 NES Technos Japan Corp. Technos Japan Corp.

See also my blog entry.