The best game of all time, according to Metacritic, is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which has a near-perfect score of 99. In fact, Zelda shows up 10 more times in the rankings of games with more than 90 on the esteemed media rating website. Most of the other titles rated over 90 on the site are names that will be familiar to gamers, like Metroid, Baldur’s Gate, Resident Evil, Halo, and so many other well-known games.

Not every good game can reach the same level of fame as these beloved franchises, and some of the highest-rated titles on Metacritic remain surprisingly obscure. In fact, it’s possible you’ve never even heard of these lesser-known games, ranked over 90 on Metacritic.

A Clever But Lesser-Known City-Building Roguelike

Against the Storm isn’t as well-known as some bigger titles, but those who play the 2023 game from Eremite Games tend to love it. The game has a rating of 91 on Metacritic, and isn’t so much a forgotten title as an overlooked one.

The game is a unique combination of city-building and roguelike gameplay, featuring quick, goal-oriented rounds interspersed between segments of city creation. Reviews praised Against the Storm for its innovative design, landing it a spot among the top games on Metacritic, but not quite reaching a large enough audience to be widely known.

9

Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar And Twilight of the Arnor Are Both Over 90

Two Expansions To A Lower-Rated Game

Technically, neither Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar nor Twilight of the Arnor are full games. Instead, both are expansions to Stardock’s 2006 Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords, which doesn’t quite make the cut at 86 on Metacritic. Still, if the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC could be up for Game of the Year, then it’s safe to say that these expansions also stand on their own.

The base game, a turn-based strategy set in space, has only “generally favorable” reviews, but its expansions—Twilight of the Arnor (92 on Metacritic) and Dark Avatar (91 on Metacritic)—make it onto Metacritic’s “Must-Play” list. Sandrock went on to release several more entries in the series, but the fourth title (released in 2022) wasn’t as well-received as the second game in the franchise.

8

Skies of Arcadia Was One Of The Best Dreamcast Games

Its High Rating Is Well-Deserved, But It’s Often Overlooked

Overworks was a studio within Sega that was best known for the Sakura Wars titles, but during its brief existence, it also created the RPG Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast and GameCube. Those who played Skies of Arcadia remember it fondly as a “sublime” experience, with a focus on airship-based exploration.

The title is often said to be one of the best games for the Dreamcast. Sadly, despite having a high score of 93 on Metacritic and positive reviews, the title never became as recognizable as some of the other games that members of the team went on to work for, which include Valkyria Chronicles and 7th Dragon.

7

Homeworld Revolutionized The RTS Genre

But Was Left In The Dust By Its Successors

Even if you don’t recognize the name Homeworld or its developer, Relic Entertainment, you probably know the two other big names that followed: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. The space-faring sci-fi real-time strategy game was the studio’s first game, and it went on to be the highest-rated game of 1999 on the review site.

It maintains this high rating today, sitting at a comfortable rating of 93 on Metacritic, and helped to shape the future of the RTS genre. A remaster was published in 2015 by Gearbox and Aspyr, which only helped to reinforce the title’s place in gaming history.

At the time of this writing, the Homeworld remaster, along with all other Gearbox games, is getting review-bombed due to a fan campaign to protest EULA changes, according to IGN.

A Sports Series That Fizzled Out Over Time

Sports games don’t tend to make it to “best of all time” lists, with the exclusion of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. EA’s SSX series, which stands for Snowboard Supercross, is the exception. The series released six games from 2000 to 2012, of which the first three have ratings higher than 90 on Metacritic.

The games that make the cut are the original title that started it all, SSX (93 on Metacritic), the second game, SSX Tricky (92 on Metacritic), and SSX 3 (93 on Metacritic). Subsequent games received lower and lower ratings, until the snowboarding franchise petered out and was axed by the studio in favor of more lucrative endeavors.

5

Braid Was Groundbreaking For Its Time

The Indie Boom Overshadowed Braid’s Success

In the mid-2000s, the gaming industry started to shift from large, big-budget games, to smaller titles made by independent creators. Today, many people can make their own games, and indies abound, but back around 2008 the indie boom was just starting. Braid entered the industry at exactly the right moment to make an impact.

The game, developed by Jonathan Blow under a studio named Number None, pushed the boundaries of storytelling and time-bending gameplay mechanics in video games. It was a puzzle platformer with a twist that was highly praised, earning a Metacritic score of 93. Over the next few years, indies continued to experiment, and the innovative game got buried in the landslide of independently developed games that followed.

4

Dwarf Fortress Is Beloved But Niche

Many Have Heard Of It, Not As Many Have Played It

Dwarf Fortress is a title that might look familiar, whether by name or its strikingly old-school, minimalistic style. The roguelike may look like it was developed in the early 1900s, but it was actually released by Bay 12 Games first as a free ASCII title in 2002 and then as a slightly more detailed version in 2006.

The game is beloved by many who play it and received universal acclaim on Metacritic with a score of 93. However, its steep learning curve and niche appeal make it more of a curiosity for the mainstream audience.

3

Burnout 3: Takedown Was The Best Game In A Dying Franchise

You’ll Be More Familiar With The Series That Followed

The Burnout franchise had a rough history. The first and second games in the series were developed by Criterion Games and published by Acclaim, to a lukewarm fan response. When Acclaim filed for bankruptcy and EA acquired Criterion, the new publisher managed to turn the series around and release the successful Burnout 3: Takedown.

This third game took inspiration from EA’s other hit sports game, SSX, which resulted in a 94 rating on Metacritic. Despite its success, the series never achieved a higher success than the third game, and the team behind it was eventually folded into a much more recognizable racing franchise, Need for Speed.

2

Jet Set Radio Was One-Of-A-Kind

Being Different Made It More Memorable, But Not Enough

If you took the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, hyper-stylized them, and added even more grunge and alternative influence, you’d get Jet Set Radio. The beloved game was originally developed by Smilebit and published for the Dreamcast by Sega, and drew heavy influence from American hip hop and Japanese pop culture.

The result was a brightly colored game that had players inline skating around various stages inspired by Tokyo while spraying graffiti and rocking out to a grunge soundtrack. The game’s score of 94 on Metacritic highlights how unique it was, and although it’s definitely still remembered fondly by many fans, its name is nowhere near as widely recognized as other titles with a similar rating.

1

The House in Fata Morgana Is A Very Divisive Title

The Metacritic User Score Tells The Whole Story

You might at least have heard of Jet Set Radio or SSX, but the long-titled The House in Fata Morgana – Dreams of the Revenants Edition – is the most obscure of the bunch. It’s also the highest-rated title of the bunch, with an impressive score of 96 on Metacritic. Even more surprisingly, the visual novel title started as a PC and mobile game—one of the only 90+ rated games on Metacritic to do so.

The story was published by Novectacle (now known as Novect) and told the tale of a spirit that wakes in a house in different time periods. Guided by a maid who never seems to change appearance, this spirit must figure out what happened in this mansion, solving mysteries and regain its memories.

There’s one more detail that sets The House in Fata Morgana apart from other highly-rated games on Metacritic: Its user score is an abysmal 7.0 (based on 605 ratings). The incredibly divisive nature of this game left some players in tears and others bored and confused. Regardless of what you think of it, this title remains one of the highest-ranked games of all time on Metacritic, right up there with giants like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Source: Metacritic (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15), IGN