7 Perfect Video Games Everyone Should Play at Least Once

It's 2017, and video games have been around commercially now for almost 46 years. Over that time they've changed from single-screen games with primitive graphics into almost photorealistic virtual worlds for us to explore.

And yet along the way, the best game designers have embraced the limitations of the medium to create masterworks that transcend technology and become timeless in their appeal.

In the slideshow ahead, I'll examine seven of them. In my opinion, these games are perfect in their original forms with their original graphics and presentation. With one possible exception (the RPG in the list), I think all of them will always be effective and fun regardless of the age in which they are played, even 100 years from now—assuming they are played by humans.

I've been thinking a lot over the years about lists of "best" and "greatest" video games—about how they hit the mark or fall short. Ultimately, personal judgment and subjectivity always comes into play, so we'll never know for certain which games are truly the best. The same goes for these "perfect" games. They are classics, no doubt, but obviously this list stems from my history-minded point of view.

Of course, these are not the only perfect video games. There are more out there, and I would love to hear about what you think are perfect, timeless games in the comments when you are done reading.

(For more, check out our roundup of the Best PC Games.)

1. Tecmo Super Bowl (NES, 1991)

Few sports video games have the die-hard following that Tecmo Super Bowl has inspired. Appearing late in the NES console's lifecycle, it hit on a brilliant balance of strategy, action, and graphics that keeps bringing players back even as newer and ever-more-realistic football games launch every year. Some players even modify the game ROM every year to update the teams to match current NFL rosters. That's a good game.

2. Earthbound (Super NES, 1995)

About a decade ago, video game journalists commonly argued about identifying the "Citizen Kane of video games"—some artistic masterpiece that would make the medium come into its own. Well, I'm not sure we'll ever find one since video games aren't like films, but Earthbound reminds me of a classic film masterpiece. Its quirky-but-endearing graphics and setting combined with second-to-none writing and localization/translation work make Earthbound a title that will be studied far into the future as an example of a narrative RPG that gets everything right.

3. Ms. Pac-Man (Arcade, 1982)

Few games are as perfect as Ms. Pac-Man. This improvement upon its nearly perfect predecessor, Pac-Man, is so well thought out that it remains the best-selling standalone arcade game unit in the US to this day (and is still frequently seen actively in use in public spaces). With four mazes and ghost AI randomization, it will always be fun to play in its iconic original arcade form, pixelated graphics and everything. In fact, its graphics are so iconic that tampering with them now would be sacrilege.

4. Doom (PC, 1993)

Id Software hit on something special when it crafted Doom: a combination of fluid action, vivid illustrations, enveloping sound and music, and a gory storyline that lets us vent aggression in a satisfying way—like an electronic punching bag. Even 24 years after its release, many still play it in its original form. It has an overall cohesiveness and polish that makes its pixelated graphics not a liability but a key part of the experience.

5. River Raid (Atari 2600, 1982)

When Carol Shaw, one of the first female video game designers, developed this classic shooter, she pushed the technological limits of the Atari 2600 and struck gold. The game procedurally generates the map as you advance, allowing for deep gameplay with a minimum of code. The combination of dodging ships and helicopters, shooting nearly everything in your path, and refueling your fighter just in time with an accelerating control makes for a timeless game. It will always be a blast to play.

6. Pong (Arcade, 1972)

One of the most simple video games of all time—and only the second commercial arcade video game ever launched—is still one of the most timeless and perfect. Atari's Pong pulls off a gameplay miracle with only two on-screen paddles, a ball, and a net. It has the perfect balance of "easy to learn, difficult to master" that made it an arcade (then home) smash hit throughout the early and mid-1970s. Even in 2017, try to get your hands on a cheap Pong clone console and play with a friend. I guarantee you will have fun.

7. Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)

I mentioned the Citizen Kane of video games earlier, and if I had to name the most groundbreaking home video game of all time, I'd say it's Super Mario Bros. It catalyzed a titanic genre shift in the game industry that moved games away from arcade-like single-screen scorefests and into free-roaming platform exploration at a more leisurely pace. It spawned hundreds of clones, launched a huge series of spin-offs, re-launched a dead American video game market, and financed a video game empire.

It's also a perfect video game—as fun to play in its original form today as it was in 1985. Technically, it's flawless. Its controls, graphics, and sound are all spot-on and could not get any better for its narrative purpose.