It's difficult to imagine where video games would be today without Shigeru Miyamoto. Would Grand Theft Auto IV exist without the three-dimensional world pioneered by Super Mario 64 in 1996? More importantly, how well would 3D games play without Miyamoto's innovations? Would there be item upgrades to unlock new areas of a game as popularized by Zelda in 1987? Would there be side-scrollers? Would there be action-adventure games? Would the platform genre exist at all?
Would we use "1-up" to reference an extra life as opposed to its original meaning of "player one's turn"? Would there be analog sticks? Would there be motion-controls? Would video games have rebounded from the 1983 crash? Would there be Nintendo?
Some younger gamers may grow tired of the continual industry praise and glowing respect given to Miyamoto, but his far-reaching influence is ever present, whether you play his games or not. To pay homage to his numerous contributions, here are his 10 greatest games by today's standards, taking into consideration his entire 84 game library either as a designer, director, or watchful producer.
