Since 1996, GameSpot has only ever awarded 10/10 review scores to 16 games. In the video above, we take a trip down memory lane to showcase all 16--from 1998's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to 2019's Disco Elysium.
At GameSpot, we don't believe that any game is perfect. No game, no matter how good it is, can be said to have absolutely zero flaws. So a game that receives a 10/10 review score on GameSpot is described as "essential," not "perfect." A 10/10 score is given to a game that is so good that--at the time the game was released--it's an experience that is essential to play, likely because the game does something that will have a long-standing and positive effect on the gaming industry.
A recent example of this is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which delivered an open-world RPG experience filled with engaging battles, well-written storytelling, compelling choices and in-game romances, and incredible side missions--all on a level that had never been seen prior to the game's release. Considering the state of most of the open-world RPGs that have come out after it, ranging from Mass Effect: Andromeda to GreedFall, you could argue that we still haven't. So, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a testament to what open-world RPGs can be, a golden standard for the genre until something even better comes along.
Though 2019 saw GameSpot assign two 10/10 review scores, only one was to a game: Disco Elysium. The other was given to Joker, the first 10/10 score GameSpot has ever given to a movie.