Top 10 computer console games

2. The Legend of Zelda
Shaun Nichols: Many will take issue with having Zelda as only the second best game of all time, and I can understand why. While it may not have had the financial impact of other games, many will argue that pound for pound no game was as exquisitely crafted as The Legend of Zelda.

For the younger readers out there, the game placed you in the character of Link, a young hero charged with assembling the triforce of power and saving Princess Zelda. In the process, you navigate a surprisingly vast and engrossing story for a game that could be stored on a floppy disc.

Legend of Zelda introduced the console world to a basic blueprint that is still used in console RPGs today. The player could freely navigate the world, talk to various other characters, gather items and solve puzzles, all while fighting enemies in a fast-paced action-style format.

Many will declare the Zelda games to be Shigeru Miyamoto's crowning achievement. Pretty impressive when you consider that his portfolio includes the likes of Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros.

Iain Thomson: Miyamoto's contribution to gaming should not be denied, but I suspect it's not going to get him that many dates in the Japanese scene.

Zelda was another step down the road to making computer games accessible to all. There's only so many people you can get to blow things up, but do it in a cuddly fashion and you've got a best seller on your hands.

Although the gameplay could at best be described as fluffy, it was nevertheless fluffy enough to entice people who wouldn't otherwise have been gamers to strap on a handset and get to it. The phenomenal success of the game shows just how successful that strategy was.

1. Super Mario Bros
Shaun Nichols: It's a bit of a stretch to say that Super Mario Bros saved the entire console gaming industry, but not much of one.

In the early 1980s there were dozens of different home computing and gaming consoles all going for the same market. Price wars, diluted game quality and bad business decisions helped create a perfect storm in 1983 with what would be known as the 'great video game crash'.

With the North American market in particular left as a gaming wasteland, Nintendo eyed a move into the home market. To do so, the company needed a big draw to sell the system. Enter legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

The result was the 1985 release of Super Mario Bros. Perhaps the most important game of all time, it was also the best selling for two decades. It made Nintendo to de facto king of the market and, despite arguably superior challenging consoles in the 1990s and 2000s, helped the company remain the huge name it is today.

Mario is no longer a character as much as it is a brand. The characters from the original game have appeared in everything from racing games to fighting games to sports titles. Twenty-five years later, that little plumber with the red hat has become the most recognised image in video games.

Iain Thomson: I originally argued against Super Mario Bros for the top spot. He was just too damn cute to be a console game hero.

Yes, the game had some depth. The mushroom eating was a good direct reference to Alice in Wonderland and the gameplay owes a lot to Donkey Kong and other Miyamoto games (seriously mate, learn to code jumping properly). Nevertheless Mario introduced a whole generation to computer gaming in a way that no other game has.

In an era when computer games were all about blood and guts, Mario showed the world that you could win a computer game without spilling your opponent's blood all over the screen. People spent hours working out how to save the princess and get maximum points in a way that hadn't hit gamers for some time.

I may not like the game personally, but it was a major point in gaming history.