Command & Conquer - real-time strategy (Westwood)
Dune 2 was the true pioneer, but Command & Conquer formalised and refined this popular genre. It's surprising to recall just how many important features and touches it introduced, from group selection to imaginative scripting and level design. Now one of the most powerful franchises in the industry, the C&C series continues to dominate the niche that it almost single-handedly popularised. Like it or not, there's a kind of justice to that.

Half-Life - first-person shoot 'em up (Valve)
Although GoldenEye was far more inventive and refined, Half-Life's subtle, yet immensely atmospheric, storyline and pseudo-contemporary maps helped make it an enormous success. Replete with touches of personality, fantastic set-pieces and a play-oriented narrative structure - whereby the story unfolds while you play, rather than forcing you to sit through 'updates' in cut-scenes - it has influenced its genre just as much as Rare's game.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - arcade adventure (Shigeru Miyamoto/Nintendo)
How, wondered keen followers of Nintendo's superlative in-house software, would Miyamoto recreate the wonderful design and 'feel' of the Zelda adventures in 3D? The answer? With unrivalled aplomb. Late as it was, Ocarina of Time was far and away better than any similar title. It still is.

Civilization 2 - strategy game (Sid Meier/Brian Reynolds)
The purpose of this feature is to discuss the games that influenced how and what we play, and so Civ 2 is a genuine contender for a Game of the Millennium award. It is, in effect, a board game writ large. It's complex but simple; multi-layered but accessibly one-dimensional; linear in progression but utterly freeform in execution; and, of course, exquisitely balanced, its every statistic and attribute perfected.

Super Sprint - racing game (Atari)
The ultimate predecessor to Micro Machines, Super Sprint was addictive and approachable. With four-player action and power-ups two defining attributes, it was a forward-thinking title, too. Remember the steering wheels on the arcade cabinet? Without Super Sprint, the history of multiplayer games, especially racing titles, could have been very different...