What Are the Best Games of All Time on Metacritic? The Top 20, Ranked

On Metacritic’s “Best Games of All Time” list, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the highest-rated game, with a Metascore of 99. In the listing captured on October 8, 2026, SoulCalibur and Super Mario Galaxy 2 follow at 98. The ranking reflects critics’ review scores under Metacritic’s eligibility rules—not a universal answer to which game every player should choose.

Metacritic’s top 20 games by Metascore

This table records the ranking and release dates shown on Metacritic’s all-time Metascore listing as accessed October 8, 2026. Metacritic excludes titles with fewer than seven critic reviews. The list is live, so ranks and scores may change.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		AtGames Legends Flashback. HDMI Game Console with 100 Games Built-in		Buy on Amazon

What is the highest-rated game on Metacritic?

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time leads the captured all-time critic ranking at 99. SoulCalibur is second at 98, followed by Super Mario Galaxy 2, also at 98. The list places the latter ahead of Grand Theft Auto IV, which shares the score of 98.

How to read this ranking

Metascore is the critic-based list

Metacritic presents the page as “Best Games of All Time” and offers filters by platform, genre, or release year. Its listed scores and ordering are the result to consult when asking for the top games by Metascore. The captured listing states: “Titles with fewer than 7 critic reviews are excluded.”

#1 Best Overall

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User Score is a separate ranking

Metacritic’s User Score list uses ratings submitted by users, not the critic-review measure in the table. In the version accessed October 8, 2026, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads that list at 9.5, followed by Silent Hill 2 (2001) at 9.3. That page excludes titles with fewer than 50 user ratings. These different lists answer different questions; neither should be treated as a direct correction of the other.

Why the ranking can change

Metacritic’s catalog is live. Scores, eligible entries, and ordering can change as the site’s data updates, and captured versions of the page have shown different total result counts. The figures above are therefore a dated snapshot, not fixed historical rankings. Metacritic’s retrieved listing does not explain the full weighting methodology, so this article does not infer a formula beyond identifying the score source and review threshold.

Does the top-ranked game mean it is the right one for you?

Not necessarily. A high Metascore records critics’ aggregate reception under the listing’s rules; it does not establish that a game suits your preferred genre, is accessible to you, is available on your hardware, or is the best choice among particular editions. Use the ranking as a starting point, then check the platform and edition you can actually play and whether the game matches your tastes.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1

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