Every four years, the Football World Cup mobilizes fans from all over the planet with exciting games, great stories and unlikely heroes who come up in times of difficulty to save the day. Although the game industry does not have an event even close in terms of popularity, cultural impact and reach, several of the best electronic games ever released have arrived in Cup years.

To get an idea, franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Metro id, Mario, Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, Red Dead Redemption, Castlemaine and God of War had some of their best games just in years when the World Cup was played.

MGG azil has prepared a list recalling some of the best and most important games released since 1978, highlighting both the quality of the games itself and the cultural impact they had.

1978

  • Space invades-one of the greatest hits in the history of arcade, Space Invaders was a real fever. Shoot’em up precursor, the game developed by Tito was released for arcades and Atari consoles and became the best-selling game in history until then. Destroying land invading aliens shooting with one nine was a proposal that won millions of players around the world.

1982

  • Pitfall-A of the most important platform games of all time, Pitfall may have been dated a few years after its release, but it was one of the most striking games in the early 1980s. With a simple proposal, which consisted of skipping wells with The aid of a rope and collecting all the treasures of a jungle in 20 minutes, the title developed by David Crane was a real fever and, undoubtedly, one of the greatest games of his time.

1986

  • The Legend of Zelda-The Game that kicked the franchise The Legend of Zelda is also one of the first open world games ever made. With freedom of exploitation hitherto never seen, the player freely controlled link for the game’s dungeons until it collects all items, defeating Canon and rescuing Princess Zelda to restore peace in Rule.
  • Metroid-other jewel from Nintendo 1986, Primer Metro id was another game that founded the bases of the genre that would later be known as Metroidvania and, like the first The Legend of Zelda, stood out for the freedom given to the player in a while of games marked by very linear campaigns. In his adventure, Camus Ran explores the hostile planet of Zebus to the final confrontation with Mother ain.
  • Castlevania-In a year marked by the origin of iconic franchises, the first Castlavania is a true class of phase designs, and memo with a relatively short campaign, made the Simon Belmont hunt to Count Dracula memorable in several, especially aspects, especially In the great fight for the standards of the time, neat setting and challenging campaign.

nineteen ninety

  • Super Mario World-EM 1990, Mario was already one of the most important franchises of the games, and Super Mario World expanded and improved the formula of the previous platform games of the series and ought a series of improvements, such as Joshi and a series of Secret passages that opened the way to new phases. The game was Super Nintendo’s flagship.
  • Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen -Considered Super Nintendo’s best RPG, Dragon Quest IV is also one of the most acclaimed titles of the iconic franchise created by the old Unix. Praised by the depth of history and variety of options in the characteristic shift combat of the time, Dragon Quest IV has a campaign that can easily go from 30 hours, a differential and the most Super Nintendo games.
  • F-zero-scored as one of the best racing games of all time, F-Zero enchanted with its quick gameplay, cutting-edge graphics and 3D effects that made the Nintendo game one of the most acclaimed of all time

1994

  • Super Metro id the first Metro id created the genus Metroidvania, Super Metro id is, for many fans to this day, the definitive game of the franchise. With total freedom of exploitation and a setting that is still a reference for 2D Action and Adventure Games, Super Metro id is considered one of the best and most important games of all time, and if The Game Awards existed in 1994, the title Definitive of the hunter of rewards Camus Ran would be a very strong candidate for the game of the year
  • Final Fantasy Vi-Para many fans, Final Fantasy VI is still the best game in the classic franchise, whether for history, for having one of the best casts in the history of the series, the best main villain of any Final Fantasy (Kafka) or Gameplay where most characters have some feature that will be decisive at more challenging moments. To this day, there are fans who dream of a remake of the game with graphics worthy of the new generation of consoles, but nothing indicates that this will happen.
  • Donkey Kong Country-Revolutionary for Platform genre in the 1990s, Donkey Kong Country shone in 1994 not only for being an exceptional game of the genre, but also for presenting charts with characters and scenarios with effects and three-dimensional perspective without prejudice to game performance In Super Nintendo. Created by others Chris and Tim Stamper, the rare game to this day is a reference for the platform genre and still has a long campaign for a title of the time, with no less than 40 phases, and is the third best-selling game in SNES, with 9.3 million copies sold.

1998

  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time-NA discussions about what is the biggest game of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is almost always remembered, and not few players classify the first 3D Adventure of Link by Rule as the most important game ever made. Revolutionary for the genre Action and Adventure, whether in combat, camera or system, and with one of the best stories in the entire franchise, the title released in November 1998 was the height of a year that for many analysts is the best at History of games.
  • Metal Gear Solid-Solidum Ocarina of Time revolutionized action and 3D adventure games, Metal Gear Solid did the same for the stealth genre (games focused on stealth approaches most of the time). Directed by Video Kolyma, the title was also extremely influential for inging a film tone with enormous competence to electronic games, something that would become a trend in the following decades.

MUST

  • Half-Life-Lançado in November 1998, Half-Life has a cultural impact on the game industry that can still be felt today in the first-person shooting genre, as a mod of this game simply gave rise to Counter-Strike. This fact, however, is just a small part of Valve’s various and huge merits, which was mechanically the peak of the genre in the 1990s, practically started the Valve Empire in the PC game market, shone for an excellent story and In addition, it gained an even better sequence, to the point that many fans continue to be ultimately begging for Half-Life 3.

2002

  • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind-A First 100% 3D Experience of The Elder Scrolls was a milestone in PC games, as well as marking the arrival of the franchise for consoles, specifically the first Xbox. With impressive graphics for the time it was released, an even more ambitious story than previous franchise games and a true revolution for the series. Morrow ind also marked Todd Howard’s debut as director of the franchise.
  • Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -in 2002, GTA was beginning to become the phenomenon of popularity that is today, but it was the release of GTA: Vice City, successor of acclaimed GTA III, which helped consolidate the franchise as one of the More popular not only from PlayStation 2, but the entire electronic game industry. With a vice city clearly inspired by 80s Miami and a technical whim rarely seen so far, the Rock star title was a sales phenomenon and had almost 18 million copies sold to this day.
  • Metro id Prime: Despite all the success of Super Metro id, Camus Ran’s saga has not won a 3D title in Nintendo 64, unlike other Nintendo weight franchises, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, F-Zero and Star Fox. At Nintendo Game Cube, however, Camus Ran won a three-dimensional adventure in Metro id Prime to the quality of Super Metro id, proving that the franchise could succeed outside 2D environments. The game masterfully explored the sense of exploitation and discovery in a story that was still at the beginning of the franchise timeline, and also shone because Retro Studios gave a much greater focus on history than any other game in the series released until then.

2006

  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess -There are other Fan’s The Legend of Zelda franchise games, Twilight Princess was arguably one of the best and most acclaimed 2006 games. With a darker and more serious atmosphere of What titles such as Ocarina of Time and The Wind Water, the 2006 title shone for the excellent combat system, the most advanced in the series so far, graphics that extracted the best of Nintendo Game cube and the possibility of Link turning into a wolf.
  • Okami-directed by Hide Kamila, franchise creator such as Devil May Cry and Bayonet ta, Okapi is constantly remembered as one of the best and most beautiful games released in the PlayStation. Art of the history of games, Okapi innovated in the industry by combining classic elements in combating action games with the ability to change the scenarios through painting on the screen.

  • Gears of War-Principal Exclusive franchise created for the Xbox 360, the first Gears of War ought freshness to the genre of shooting games. In addition to using the third-person camera, a differential from most war shooters of the time, Gears of War shone through the cover system, with the player advancing the scenery and protecting himself behind barricades and walls, by frantic gameplay, Great fights against bosses and a story that, in addition to racing the horrors of a war, focuses a lot on the friendship between characters such as Marcus Felix, Dominic Santiago, Damon Baird and Augustus Cole.

2010

  • Red Dead Redemption 1998 is considered by many to be the best year in the history of games, 2010 is one of the few that can enter this dispute as a challenger at the time, and much of this is due to the excellent Red Dead Redemption 2. After the huge Success with the GTA franchise games, Rock star has made a true masterpiece focused on the western United States. With impressive graphics, one of the best stories ever made for a game and a gameplay that recreates the atmosphere of the Old West accurately, the exciting and tragic story of John Mars ton is a milestone in the industry.
  • Mass Effect 2-2010 was really a remarkable year for those who love games rich in history, and Mass Effect 2 is another proof of that. Best game in the history of the franchise, the second chapter of the trilogy focused on/in commander Sheppard and the Normandy crew. One of the best RPGs of all time, Mass Effect 2 shone in gameplay, history, cutting-edge charts for the time and still put the responsibility for extremely difficult and often inevitably tragic consequences. A game that can easily be considered BioWare’s masterpiece in golden, and now distant times from the studio.
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2-Mary is one of the most successful franchises in games history, and the platform games of the series have always stood out for its excellence and enormous creativity. Still, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is for many fans the best game in the series, especially for improving in everything its excellent predecessor, being extremely inventive and competent in various aspects of gameplay in the campaign and shining for the huge variety of planets and the world in match.

2014

  • Bayonet ta 2-The Year 2014 is not exactly remembered as one of the most memorable for games, but yet some great games were released at that time. One of the highlights is Bayonet ta 2, one of the best hack and slash titles of all time. The game enhances the already excellent gameplay of the first game, with one of the best combat systems ever made, more creative puzzles and a better story than its predecessor.
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition -The Game Awards 2014 in the game of the year category, Dragon Age Inquisition is not quoted today as a memorable game, but it was really one of the best games released at the beginning of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One generation. The journey of the protagonist created by the player, the inquisitor, on Thetas continent puts us in fights against demons that come out of a slit in the sky and offers one of the best single player and multiplayer experiences of that year, whether in history or gameplay.
  • DARK SOULS FINALE WILL BE CONSIDERED FROM Software’s worst game since Japanese studio has designed for the world with Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls II is still one of the best games released in 2014. Without the direction of Hideaway Miyazaki, Dark Souls II suffered from a level irregular design in some environments and some fights against uninspired bosses, but most of the campaign is still an excellent title that shines by the level of challenge against memorable monsters and bosses.

2018

  • GOD OF WAR-GAME GAME OF THE YEAR IN THE GAME AWARDS 2018, God of War was a franchise revolution in many ways. The angry Rates of the original trilogy is now the father of the young Atreus and Laura’s husband, who at the beginning of the campaign is already dead and must have his ashes thrown on the highest mound of nine kingdoms. With several important changes in the combat system, a much better rates and a much better story than the other franchise games, the 2018 God of War ought innovations to a series that lacked it and even delivered one of the best games in the last decade.
  • Celeste-Title independent of Extremely Ok Games studio, by game designer Maddy Thomson, Celeste is not just one of the best independent games ever made, but one of the best games in recent decades. In control of the character Madeline, the player has the mission of climbing Celeste Mountain, but the level of challenge and reward of the game, besides the excellent story, does what might seem like a trivial game one of the best titles released in 2018, even in May to other weight names.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2-Successor of one of the most iconic games ever released, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most impressive technical achievements in the history of the games world. With a giant open world (for some, even too much) and extremely rich in detail, an extremely well-developed story and graphics that even today few wills can match or overcome, DR 2 may not have in Arthur Morgan as an iconic protagonist as John Mars ton But the game, whose plot takes place before the events of the first game, is deservedly acclaimed as one of the best games of all time.

2022

  • Enfilade Chronicles 3-In a year marked by polarization in the fight for the title of the year between Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarök, Enfilade Chronicles 3 ends up often forgotten, but is simply one of the best RPGs released in many and many years. Whether in history, gameplay, diversity of environments, soundtrack or missions or charisma of the characters, Monolith Soft title shines in all these aspects and offers one of the Single Player experiences of a JRPG in a long time.
  • God of War: Ragnarok-model of War Ragnarök does not ing so many innovations in relation to its predecessor, but can be superior to an excellent game in practically everything, with greater diversity of enemies, more fights against heads, greater diversity of scenarios and Environments and an even better story than the first game, and with an outcome that can surprise many players around the world. Rates and Atreus’s journey has an iconic outcome and not by chance, it is strongly quoted to the TGA 2022 game of the year.
  • Elder Ringleader Ring takes advantage of the very solid foundations created in Dark Souls and Blood borne to deliver a game that takes everything that made the other ight Software titles and surpasses them. Directed by Hideaway Miyazaki and collaboration by George R.R. Martin for the story, Elden Ring keeps the iconic fights against heads of other from other games of Software but goes beyond and delivers a game with a 100% open world, total freedom of exploitation and a story that, despite maintaining the tradition of from Requiring a player’s effort to gather pieces and have a complete plot frame, it does so more intuitively and competent than any other studio action RPG.