A perfect 10

[oldskool]

Very difficult to give something a perfect 10, and can only be rated on personal terms because not everyone has the same tastes. I mean I can appreciate a game like Sega Rally because technically speaking a stunning conversion on the Saturn, but I would never consider it a 10.

For me Yoshi's Island and Baldur's Gate remain the closest games I would consider giving a 10. IMO

[Brats]

I think a 10/10 game can have flaws. It is often the case that games that stretch themselves will have chinks in their armour. The question is whether those chinks affect the overall experience, or whether they can be accepted or avoided. Games are unique in the sense that the player can pick and choose the parts they want to play. If you don't like Halo's library level (and who does) then just don't play it. Simple.

Oblivion has more flaws in it than most games. It's bugged, it's engine over stretches in some places, it crashes, etc. etc. But imo it's not what it gets wrong, but what it gets right.

But then I've always been a fan of things that really push themselves and crash through barriers with sometimes messy results than something that plays it safe and perfect.

[Matteh]

For me 10/10 dosent mean perfection, just means its very, very good.

[Kieran76]

Champ Manager 2.

[thebuddahman]

I thought this thread was going to be about The Beautiful South!

Anyway, I would have to agree with Brats that '10/10' games are definately allowed to have some flaws, as it makes them the game it is.

For me, Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece and undoubtedly my 10/10 game yet it had that infuriating Water Temple. Even so, it was the challenge of that temple and beating it that makes me look back on it with a degree of fondness. If that makes any sense!

[Dogg Thang]

For me a 10 should mean perfection. But, with that, I mean a perfect example of what it sets out to achieve. If there is a part of a game that could be done better then clearly it should be given a 9 as the room for improvement needs somewhere to go. A 10 says to me that it simply can't get any better.

The original Tetris for me is a 10. It needed nothing more. It set out to be a simple, addictive puzzle game and achieved that with no glitches, missed opportunities or whatever.

A game that is mostly excellent but is let down by boring bits or glitches or whatever does not deserve a 10. This is all in my own opinion of what a 10 should mean of course. This thread clearly shows how people would give a 10 to a game that is no doubt excellent while still being let down in certain areas.

But then, in my marking system, a 5 should not be a crappy score. A 5 should be middle of the road average. How 7/10 ever became a bad score is beyond me. It pretty much means that 1-5 are pointless ratings as they all mean 'crap'.

[Concept]

I kind of agree with that, but it'd be more on the technical consistency front for me. Not on complete technical mastery of a platform, but on the game being stable and consistent in its approach. Just to use ICO as an example again...

It's clearly not the most technically advanced game on the PS2 (low resolution, low far background poly models), but compared to SotC, for example, it has a high level of technical consistency.

Load times are fast and unobtrusive, there are no glaring LoD changes or frame-rate issues. So even though it may not be pushing the hardware to its limits you can enter into its world and suspend disbelief based on an awareness of reliability.

The likes of Resident Evil 4, Killer7, Viewtiful Joe... all of Capcom's heavy hitters this generation (yet to play Okami) have been examples of amazing art and game design backed up by fundamentally solid uses of technology.

I do realise other people may have an alternative take, i.e. that games which really push the boat out... Oblivion, San Andreas, Shenmue, SotC when it comes to the technology should be awared 10 on sheer application of ambition.

[Peekay]

I remember people used to write in to SSM complaining if a games was given 80% as that was "an average score".

Words fail me.

[Kubrick]

Tetris
Super Mario World
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario 64
Radiant Silvergun
Rainbow Islands
R-TYPE

I wish Nintendo still made 10/10 games.

[sj33]

I remember people used to write in to SSM complaining if a games was given 80% as that was "an average score".

Words fail me.

Well, remember STCC was pretty much hated at SSM, and that got 79%

Thing is, in SSM at least, we were so used to getting 90%+ quality titles - and the games deserved them, that anything below that was kinda seen as mediocre. The bar was pushed up a notch, the likes of Sega, Treasure, Capcom etc had pretty much covered every genre with 90%+ titles that others had to compete, and failed. They were right - Actua Soccer wasn't bad, but why would a Saturn owner buy it when SWWS was better? The score sorta reflected that, though maybe they should have took titles on their own merits.
I remember thinking 90% (or was it 91%) for Burning Rangers was harsh.

[marcus]

I dunno, Halo probably, SF2 on the SNES. Starglider 2 on the Amiga. Mario 64 was probably there also.

For me a 10 game means exactly that, a 10 game.

[NekoFever]

10/10 does not mean perfect and I hate when people suggest that it does. Reviews are entirely subjective and so to suggest that a game is perfect is just silly. They can say that it's revolutionary or a classic, but sticking a number on it and then arguing that it has no flaws (that's what "perfect" means, after all) is asinine. Ten is just an indicator that it's likely to be one of the best games ever made.

Anyway, there are a few that I'd give it to:

• Super Mario 64 - No explanation needed, really.
• Goldeneye 007 - I think this deserves a hell of a lot of the credit for making the FPS such a massive genre now. It raised the bar on so many levels: doing an FPS on a console; making a great film tie-in; making multiplayer an integral part of the experience; giving an action game colossal replay value.
• Tetris - The quintessential puzzle game. The fact that it's still fresh and playable today shows how close to perfect this game is.
• World of Warcraft - MMORPGs seem to be the new FPS when it comes to what everyone's playing and this did (and continues to do) to that genre what Goldeneye did for the FPS: it takes what was done before, refines it, and then runs and runs. Six million subscribers can't be wrong.
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - A lot of people give me a funny look when I say this one but I'll try and explain it. I'd say that when it comes to purity of gameplay THPS2 is up there with Tetris, but they also manage to imbue it with a ton of variety. I don't like skating and the culture that surrounds it, but this is one of the elite few games that I've played for over 100 hours.
• Pokemon - For similar reasons to those mentioned above. Even the greats of the RPG genre can't boast the appeal that this had.

I can probably think of more, but that's off the top of my head.

[sj33]

Looking back, I can't believe how stunning Goldeneye was. Compare it to the kind of FPS's released in 1997 and.... Christ.

I love what Lobotomy did with Duke and Quake on the Saturn at the same time, but in terms of quality games themselves, Goldeneye shattered the genre.

['Press Start']

A gaming 10 to me means these few things
* You hope your not getting near the end as this gaming experince is like no other. You wish there was more levels or a hidden area you have not found. Something that will allow you to stay in that world longer.
* You lose yourself within the game, forgetting time only to briefly snap out of your trance to realise your bladder is going to burst or your dying of dehydration
* You get a warm fuzzy feeling as you slump into the couch and the title screen comes up and the magical words 'Continue game' are highlighted.
* When you have finished it you are gutted. Everytime you look at the game after that you wish you never played it so you could play it again.

Here is my 10s:
ICO
Dragons Quest 8
Halo
GTA: Vice City (the music, the sunsets, the neon lights!)
Goldeye
Mario 64
Super Mario World
Final Fantasy 3 (6 in Japan)
Chrono Trigger
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Resident Evil 4
Valkyrie Profile

To me 10/10 means I would/could not think of anything else I would add/change in the game.

[Kubrick]

A 10/10 game should be one that is timeless.

So well-designed that it'll still be impressive and as good to play decades later. Something like GoldenEye was a 10, but not anymore i feel. I doubt I would want to be playing it in 20 years time unless I wanted a nostalgia trip.