BAFTA poll crowns Shenmue as the all-time most influential game, surpassing Doom.

The most influential game of all time is Yu Suzuki’s 1999 proto open world Gashapon ’em up Shenmue, according to a public poll held by BAFTA. To claim that top spot in the top five, it beat out Doom, Super Mario Bros, Half-Life, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Minecraft hovered around the winners table laughing loudly at everyone’s jokes at number six. At number 11, Tetris had to sit on a bin because all the chairs had been taken. Dark Souls paced up and down the corridor complaining that everyone had nicked its outfit idea in 18th place, tailed in 19th by Grand Theft Auto 3. Full results below in descending order.

If you’re wondering why Henry has come to see us – riding atop a muzzled Super Mario 64, no less – Polygon’s Oli Welsh reckons its evidence of “brigading among passionate game fans,” and, yep, sounds about right. I’m not sure KCD 2 has been out long enough to influence anything outside its own DLC. Baldur’s Gate 3 at 16 is also a weird one. It’s that big number ‘3’ that gives it away.

As for Shenmue, I can see it, even if I’m not sure it would have been my pick. I’ve long held that Yakuza 0 is, within a certain console tradition of RPG-tinted action adventures, the most and possibly best example of its kind ever made, and that’s a lineage you can trace directly back to Shenmue, not least for Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi’s own involvement in the 1999 game. Less subjectively, Shenmue’s NPC and simulation elements were a big deal for the time, especially for console. “The game popularised the use of Quick Time Events (QTEs),” BAFTA say.

That might not be something to celebrate for some of you, but I’m just going to say it: I like QTEs. I remember first properly encountering them in Resident Evil 4 and excitedly telling a mate “it’s like a cutscene, but you can die if you don’t press the right buttons!”. Then again, I’m also a fan of Dragon’s Lair and old adventure games that killed you every five minutes in different ways like 1998’s X-Files. Bring back annoying deaths as a form of collectible, I say.

“I am deeply honoured and grateful that Shenmue has been selected as the Most Influential Video Game of All Time,” said Yu Suzuki. “At its inception, we set out to explore the question, “How real can a game become?”, aiming to portray a world and story unprecedented in scale and detail. This distinction serves as a powerful reminder that the challenge we embraced continues to resonate with and inspire so many people even today. It is truly the greatest of encouragement”.

If you got the chance to crowbar one game on to BAFTA’s list and no-one could do anything about it, what would it be? Me? I’m still waiting for the world to catch up and recognise the importance of Cool Spot. Never has a game influenced so many to say, sure, I’ll have a 7UP if literally nothing else is available.