Ridge Racer - driving game (Namco)
Where would the PlayStation be if Ridge Racer had never existed? Seeing it for the first time on Sony's embryonic format was a revelation. Suddenly, the oft-heard claim of "arcade perfect!" was an incredible four-fifths true, and the gap between 16bit and 32bit formats was a chasm. A benchmark title at launch, it raised the expectations of gamers to a level that only a handful of similar titles have surpassed.

ISS series - football sims (Konami)
Future Gamer will, duly noting the subjective nature of preference, refrain from naming Konami's ISS titles as the best their genre has to offer. It would be foolish, however, to disregard the evolutionary, even revolutionary features they've introduced. Convincing goalkeepers? Defenders up for headers? The through ball? Some of the best AI routines you see in any piece of software? The list could go on and on and each ISS release is at the very least a worthy successor.

Tetris - puzzle game (Alexy Pajitnov)
Beautifully simple, charmingly basic to behold, fiendishly addictive... Tetris is that and so much more. In the next few years we'll be playing it on our mobile phones. Tetris is a timeless creation, a concept that will compel for generations to come. Now how many games, 'classic' status or not, can you say that of?

Sim City - management sim (Maxis)
The first Sim City is a design brief par excellence. With simple sprite tiles, rudimentary 'behind-the-scenes' sums and a wholesome, intriguing premise, it was - and is - a title far greater than the total worth of its constituent parts. More toy set than game, Sim City is the undisputed father of a genre. Long may we remember that.

Super Mario Brothers - platform game (Shigeru Miyamoto/Nintendo)
Super Mario Brothers is one of the most influential games in history. The irony, perhaps, is that so very many imitators missed an integral point that Shigeru Miyamoto so keenly embraced - the sheer pinpoint perfection of its design. Every power-up, every single monster and platform, was placed with absolute care and attention. To say that it stands the test of time would be needlessly rhetorical. But it does.