You don't need company to live through the greatest gaming experiences. This Top 50 gathers the best retro games built for a single player, from adventures and RPGs to solitary challenges, based on RomWize's reassessed scores. For each title: its current score, its versions, their rarity and their collector value.
"The cel-shaded Zelda that first split fans then won them over. Archipelago world crossed by sea, animation of rare expressiveness and dungeons of mad elegance. Some stretches at sea drag a touch, yet the voyage has become a timeless classic."
"The dark, grown-up Zelda that closes the GameCube era in style. Twilit world, wolf transformation and long, sumptuous dungeons. Slower opening than other entries but the whole package aims true and lands. A great Zelda, set apart in the series."
"Zelda A Link to the Past & Four Swords on GBA, ALTTP in portable form with a new multiplayer mode. ALTTP remains an absolute masterpiece. Four Swords mode is a delightful bonus."
"A darker, more singular follow-up to Ocarina of Time. Three days looping endlessly to save Termina, forty-two masks with astonishing powers, dungeons tighter but brilliantly designed. A Zelda of rare melancholy, more demanding and more mysterious than its predecessor, rightly cult."
"Absolute peak of the Splinter Cell saga. Sam Fisher at his most agile, multi-approach missions, unprecedented online co-op. Physics and light systems perfected. Adult and tense political narrative. The best stealth game of the Xbox generation, full stop."
"Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain is Kojima's last MGS with Big Boss in 1984 in Afghanistan and Africa. Revolutionary open world MGS, gigantic Mother Base, missions with infinite approaches. A major work."
"The original Japanese version of Castlevania Symphony of the Night, an absolute masterpiece and one of the greatest games ever made. Labyrinthine exploration, deep RPG elements, sublime art direction and legendary soundtrack. The definitive Metroidvania, still unsurpassed today."
"Absolute masterpiece from Santa Monica Studio. Kratos, a revenge-driven Spartan warrior, tears through Greek gods in titanic confrontations. Epic staging, ingenious puzzles and snappy gameplay make it one of the finest experiences on PS2."
"A fascinating one-of-a-kind metroidvania. Its cryptic logic rewards observation over combat, and every secret unfolds into a trickier one. The contemplative pace won't suit everyone, but the eerie pixel-art atmosphere is utterly absorbing."
"A genre touchstone, sublime on Switch. The hand-drawn world and the melancholy soaking through Hallownest are unforgettable. The lack of a map in fresh areas can frustrate, but the exploration and combat are exquisitely tuned."
