The Strong Museum’s World Video Game Hall of Fame, based in Rochester, New York, has inducted 36 games since it began in 2015. Now it includes three seminal games, all deserving of their place.
Nintendo’s 1998 classic was the first 3D Zelda game, setting the template for future 3D action-adventure games to this day. It also remains the highest scoring game of all time (according to Metacritic) and is widely considered one of the best games ever made. Ms. Pac-Man was the follow up to the dot-eating arcade classic, famous for its improved gameplay and female lead character. Civilization was the first in Sid Meier’s expansive and ambitious empire-building series, released back in 1991. Inspired by board games like Risk, it helped set the template for future strategy titles. These three games join the likes of Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto 3, Doom, Pong, and plenty more. The original Legend of Zelda for the NES and Pac-Man are both included, making these the only two series with more than one entry. You can check out the full list on the Strong Museum website. The inclusion of Ms. Pac-Man follows an ongoing rights dispute over ownership of the character. In Bandai Namco’s Arcade Archives: Pac-Land game she’s been replaced by Pac-Mom.
