September has officially become IGN’s Best Video Game of All Time Bracket Month, and that means we need YOU to help us decide which of the 64 games selected by IGN staff really are the very best.
Throughout the month, we’re tallying our followers’ votes across IGN.com (On the bottom of this page!), and IGN’s YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram accounts to determine which game is the actual best and is capable of beating all others in a March Madness-style bracket tournament. We’ve sorted these 64 games into four randomly selected groups, and we’ve then ranked those games in the groups by what we believe are the best of the best.
We’ve included games from all systems and generations, and we really wanted to try to pick many of the most beloved games from all different types of genres. While voting officially begins tomorrow, September 10, you can get a headstart by voting in all of the first round's 32 matchups on the bottom of this page. The polls will close at the end of the day on September 11, and voting for the second round, which will see the 32 games with the top vote counts moving forward, will begin on Tuesday, September 14. The full schedule is as follows;
- Friday, September 10 – Round of 64 Voting Begins
- Tuesday, September 14 – Round of 32 Voting Begins
- Thursday, September 16 – Round of 16 Voting Begins
- Monday, September 20 – Round of 8 Voting Begins
- Thursday, September 23 – Round of 4 Voting Begins
- Monday, September 27 – Round of 2 Voting Begins
- Wednesday, September 29 – Winner Declared!
Now onto the first round. We’ve decided to call the groups by their #1 seed, so we will begin on the top left of the bracket with The Red Dead Redemption Group. While Rockstar’s legendary western took the top spot, there are some big challengers it will have to beat to make it to the next round. Not only will it have to secure victory over the likes of Journey, Chrono Trigger, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but it will have to contend with the ever-growing popularity of Fortnite.
Oh, did we forget to mention it also has to beat World of Warcraft, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and the multiplayer classic title Goldeneye 007 for Nintendo 64? That’s a tough one.
The bottom left of the bracket is The Portal 2 Bracket, and it also includes some timeless classics like 2018’s God of War, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – aka the game that has been on everything including Amazon Alexa.
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, which is perhaps the most iconic “one… more… turn…” game, also stands tall in this round alongside BioShock, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Inside, and Minecraft – the game that has sold over 200 million copies worldwide.
The top right of the bracket is The Super Mario World Bracket and that classic SNES title made it to the top of IGN’s Top 100 games of all time list and starts off on top of this bracket in this tournament. There are some other big Nintendo games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokemon Yellow, and Super Mario 64, so it does have its work cut out for it.
It will also have to compete with the likes of The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Halo 2, and Grand Theft Auto V – which itself has sold over 150 million copies worldwide.
Lastly, we have The Super Metroid Bracket, which is another legendary game from Nintendo taking one of the top spots of this list. Not only will it have to potentially face off against other Metroidvanias like Metroid Prime and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but it won’t be able to take the crown if it can’t beat The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Final Fantasy 7, Bloodborne, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Tetris.
Remember, you only have until September 11 to cast your votes below or on IGN’s YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for this first round, so be sure to choose carefully and let us know which game you think will claim the ultimate prize and why you chose the games you chose in the comments below!
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.