The greatest console video game of all-time.
You read it right. According to Guinness World Records, Super Mario Kart is the top dog in console games. Many people will be surprised with this pick over many classic games, but the contributors for the Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition has based their results on the initial impact and its lasting legacy.
Super Mario Kart has the world's most prolific video game character in Mario who has starred in over 116 games. It is the best-selling racing game on the Nintendo 64 (over 9 million units), Super Nintendo (8 million units), Gamecube (around 7 million units), and the DS (10 million units).
The world's most ported game, Tetris, grabs the second spot. The simple yet addictive game is available on over 59 different consoles. Grand Theft Auto snags the bronze medal. The world's most controversial game (Hot Coffee and the recent Hot Sausage) receives close to perfect scores on every review and Guinness has recognized GTAIV as the fastest selling video game of all-time.
Rounding out the rest of the top ten are the following video games:
Super Mario World (4th), Legend Of Zelda:Ocarina Of Time (5th), Halo (6th), Resident Evil IV (7th), Final Fantasy XII (8th), Street Fighter II (9th), and Goldeneye (10th).
Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, said of the selection process: "We knew this would be a complex task so we invited a crack team of industry experts to form a judging panel - and the result is a "top 50" list of games ranked both on their importance and on how fun they are to play."
Here is the best of the rest:
Super Mario 64 (11th), Tomb Raider (12th). Metal Gear Solid (13th), Call of Duty 4 (14th), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (15th), GTA San Andreas (16th), Super Mario Bros (17th), Zelda: A Link to the Past (18th), Gran Turismo (19th), Final Fantasy VII (20th), Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (21th), The Orange Box (22th), Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga (23th), Tekken 2 (24th), Wii Sports (25th), Pokemon Red/Blue (26th), Guitar Hero (27th), Project Gotham Racing 4 (28th), Super Mario Galaxy (29th), Resident Evil (30th), Ico (31th), Chrono Trigger (32th), Gunstar Heroes (33th), Soul Calibur (34th), Advance Wars (35th), Ridge Racer (36th), Super Metroid (37th), Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (38th), GTA Vice City (39th), BioShock (40th), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (41th), The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (42th), God of War (43th), Sega Rally Championship (44th), Starfox 64 (45th), Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (46th), WarioWare Inc (47th), Saturn Bomberman (48th), Crash Bandicoot (49th) and Outrun 2 (50th).
Just like any lists, especially greatest of all-time lists, there is always controversy surrounding it. I will not be surprised by anyone who believes Super Mario Kart does not deserve the top spot, but it deserves it. Holding selling records on 4 different consoles is nothing short of astonishing and there is no denying the gameplay and enjoyment you would receive from playing Super Mario Kart. I became one-sixth owner of the Gamecube version after my friends and I raised enough money to purchase SMK. Some surprisingly noticeable missing games on here are Mortal Kombat, Mega Man 2, Contra, Diablo (1st appeared on Playstation), Sonic the Hedgehog (1st of the series), Donkey Kong Country, Pong, Ninja Gaiden, and Splinter Cell.
Based on the system used by Guinness, it is hard to argue about some of the games on the list. My list would have been Friday the 13th, Custer's Revenge, the next Dynasty Warriors that bound to come, and the fantastic Waterworld game based off the greatest movie of all-time. But I guess you can't win them all. What games do you think are missing?
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