It's all gonna be the same at the top end either way, but the representation of smaller, but quality, games is all but erased with this system. In addition only ten encourages more tactical voting rather than games you may actually like. Thanks for the effort Ani, but for what it is I hope someone else steps up for Gen 4.
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GAF Games o' Gen 5 (PSX/N64/SAT and more) Voting Thread -Read the First Post!-
- Thread starter AniHawk
- Start date
It's all gonna be the same at the top end either way, but the representation of smaller, but quality, games is all but erased with this system. In addition only ten encourages more tactical voting rather than games you may actually like. Thanks for the effort Ani, but for what it is I hope someone else steps up for Gen 4.
Nocturnowl
Member
You know I planned to try and tackle some more notable PS1 games before we got around to making this list coming off the Gen 6 thread earlier this year and all I actually managed to do was have Final Fantasy 9, Suikoden and Crash Team Racing sitting on my vita with nary a dent made in any of them (actually I've yet to even start FF9...).
Instead I got distracted by replaying Rare's N64 collectathons, nostalgia you fiendish foe, alternatively it's all Grant Kirkhope's fault.
Speaking of which while I'm here I've got to ask if we've got another Soundtrack of the fifth generation thread to accompany this one in the works? if not I'll consider taking on that task.
Instead I got distracted by replaying Rare's N64 collectathons, nostalgia you fiendish foe, alternatively it's all Grant Kirkhope's fault.
Speaking of which while I'm here I've got to ask if we've got another Soundtrack of the fifth generation thread to accompany this one in the works? if not I'll consider taking on that task.
Hmm... this is a hard one. Even though this is the era that I mostly grew up with, I spent most of it renting games and didn't really spend a whole lot of time with any one game. I have since gone back and played a number of games, but that only makes it a little bit easier.
I guess I'll do my best.
1. Super Mario 64 ; This game revolutionized 3D gaming. I don't think there will ever be another game that makes as much of an impact as this game. Before this, it was all tank controls and fixed cameras. Then Mario 64 came along and introduced fully analog controls and a free roaming camera. And not only was it influential, but as a game in and of itself, it was fantastic. There was so much about the castle and its levels to explore and figure out, and I don't think there's been another game quite like it since.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Like Mario 64, this game was revolutionary and innovative. No game before had quite the epic feeling that this game delivered. Nintendo could have easily ruined Zelda with its first foray into the third dimension, as many other developers did with many other 2D games that transitioned into 3D, but they didn't. They nailed it. I don't think it's still the best 3D Zelda, but I would argue that it's still the most balanced and still the best place to start if one's looking to get into the 3D Zelda series.
3. Banjo-Kazooie ; Simply one of the best collect-a-thon style platformers, and it comes with a lot of heart and charm and humor. I love the bear and the bird.
4. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; There was a huge void left in this generation by the absence of a Metroid game. Fortunately, Konami was there to help fill that void with this total revamp of the Castlevania series. It's not quite as good as Super Metroid, but it's up there.
5. Rayman 2 ; Unlike many platformers of this generation, Rayman 2 decided to stick to the linear level formula. And you know what? It worked out great. Rayman 2 is a damn fine platformer. Not exactly innovative or revolutionary, but what it does, it does well.
6. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back ; Crash took a different approach to the 3D platformer than most other games. Instead of changing much in transitioning the genre to 3D, it just said, "Hey, let's keep that gameplay, but just add a third dimension and change the camera." And it worked great! Crash 2 is easily the best of the series; Crash 1 has a horrible save system, and Crash 3 had too many mini-game levels.
7. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards ; I was a huge fan of Kirby as a kid, so this was one of the few N64 games I actually saved up my money to buy. And I loved it! Unlike most games of the generation, Kirby decided to stick with 2D gameplay, so it played similarly to previous games in the series. But they added one major mechanic: The ability to combine powers! This led to all sorts of new abilities, some completely useless, some ridiculously overpowered, but almost all of them interesting in their own way.
8. Paper Mario ; I don't like RPGs. I don't like random encounters and turn-based battles and way too much text. But... Paper Mario is an exception. There are no random encounters. The battles are turn-based, but interactive. The writing isn't dreary and too serious, but funny and entertaining. Paper Mario is an RPG even I like.
9. Super Smash Bros. ; I'm not sure how I could ignore the biggest multiplayer game of my childhood, and the first game I preordered. It doesn't quite hold up today compared to its successors, but it's still a great game.
10. Pokemon Red/Blue ; I said before that I don't like RPGs. And that's true. I don't like them... anymore. But there was a time, around 1998-2000, that Pokemon was my LIFE. I'm not sure I could go back and enjoy the series nearly as much as I did back then, but I can't deny how much enjoyment I got out of Pokemon Red at the time.
I guess I'll do my best.
1. Super Mario 64 ; This game revolutionized 3D gaming. I don't think there will ever be another game that makes as much of an impact as this game. Before this, it was all tank controls and fixed cameras. Then Mario 64 came along and introduced fully analog controls and a free roaming camera. And not only was it influential, but as a game in and of itself, it was fantastic. There was so much about the castle and its levels to explore and figure out, and I don't think there's been another game quite like it since.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Like Mario 64, this game was revolutionary and innovative. No game before had quite the epic feeling that this game delivered. Nintendo could have easily ruined Zelda with its first foray into the third dimension, as many other developers did with many other 2D games that transitioned into 3D, but they didn't. They nailed it. I don't think it's still the best 3D Zelda, but I would argue that it's still the most balanced and still the best place to start if one's looking to get into the 3D Zelda series.
3. Banjo-Kazooie ; Simply one of the best collect-a-thon style platformers, and it comes with a lot of heart and charm and humor. I love the bear and the bird.
4. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; There was a huge void left in this generation by the absence of a Metroid game. Fortunately, Konami was there to help fill that void with this total revamp of the Castlevania series. It's not quite as good as Super Metroid, but it's up there.
5. Rayman 2 ; Unlike many platformers of this generation, Rayman 2 decided to stick to the linear level formula. And you know what? It worked out great. Rayman 2 is a damn fine platformer. Not exactly innovative or revolutionary, but what it does, it does well.
6. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back ; Crash took a different approach to the 3D platformer than most other games. Instead of changing much in transitioning the genre to 3D, it just said, "Hey, let's keep that gameplay, but just add a third dimension and change the camera." And it worked great! Crash 2 is easily the best of the series; Crash 1 has a horrible save system, and Crash 3 had too many mini-game levels.
7. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards ; I was a huge fan of Kirby as a kid, so this was one of the few N64 games I actually saved up my money to buy. And I loved it! Unlike most games of the generation, Kirby decided to stick with 2D gameplay, so it played similarly to previous games in the series. But they added one major mechanic: The ability to combine powers! This led to all sorts of new abilities, some completely useless, some ridiculously overpowered, but almost all of them interesting in their own way.
8. Paper Mario ; I don't like RPGs. I don't like random encounters and turn-based battles and way too much text. But... Paper Mario is an exception. There are no random encounters. The battles are turn-based, but interactive. The writing isn't dreary and too serious, but funny and entertaining. Paper Mario is an RPG even I like.
9. Super Smash Bros. ; I'm not sure how I could ignore the biggest multiplayer game of my childhood, and the first game I preordered. It doesn't quite hold up today compared to its successors, but it's still a great game.
10. Pokemon Red/Blue ; I said before that I don't like RPGs. And that's true. I don't like them... anymore. But there was a time, around 1998-2000, that Pokemon was my LIFE. I'm not sure I could go back and enjoy the series nearly as much as I did back then, but I can't deny how much enjoyment I got out of Pokemon Red at the time.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Holy balls this will be a bloodbath; gen6 was stroger on the polish side but gen5 was stronger on the pc side making it a tie. And they were BOTH beast mode.
I know the #1 but 2-10 might as well be a tie.
I know the #1 but 2-10 might as well be a tie.
1. Marathon: Infinity
The best multi-player shooter, a great dungeon crawler, the best videogame plot, the best editing tools, and the best single-player mods
2. Marathon 2: Durandal
The best shooter campaign
3. Super Mario 64
Still the best 3d character movement and still the only camera system that properly balances user preferences with designer intentions
4. Myth: The Fallen Lords
I've given up on every RTS, MOBA, and "Total War" game because they just made me wish I was playing Myth. It's also the first game that did online multiplayer perfectly (oh, and your gameplay was always being recorded so you could always save anything cool as it happened... by default, in 1997)
5. Thief: The Dark Project
Still the only good stealth game.
6. Riven: The Sequel to Myst
The best "the entire game is one big puzzle" game.
7. Quake III Arena
8. Mario Kart 64
Still the best couch multiplayer game
9. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Still the most epic adventure game
10. Silent Hill
Still the best horror game.
Honorable Mentions:
Xenogears and Suikoden II, the best JRPG stories/characters/music/atmosphere
Battle Garegga, the best arcade shoot em up
Wave Race 64 and Beetle Adventure Racing, racing games which have still never been topped in their niches
Duke Nukem 3D, Descent II, and Half Life
The best multi-player shooter, a great dungeon crawler, the best videogame plot, the best editing tools, and the best single-player mods
2. Marathon 2: Durandal
The best shooter campaign
3. Super Mario 64
Still the best 3d character movement and still the only camera system that properly balances user preferences with designer intentions
4. Myth: The Fallen Lords
I've given up on every RTS, MOBA, and "Total War" game because they just made me wish I was playing Myth. It's also the first game that did online multiplayer perfectly (oh, and your gameplay was always being recorded so you could always save anything cool as it happened... by default, in 1997)
5. Thief: The Dark Project
Still the only good stealth game.
6. Riven: The Sequel to Myst
The best "the entire game is one big puzzle" game.
7. Quake III Arena
8. Mario Kart 64
Still the best couch multiplayer game
9. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Still the most epic adventure game
10. Silent Hill
Still the best horror game.
Honorable Mentions:
Xenogears and Suikoden II, the best JRPG stories/characters/music/atmosphere
Battle Garegga, the best arcade shoot em up
Wave Race 64 and Beetle Adventure Racing, racing games which have still never been topped in their niches
Duke Nukem 3D, Descent II, and Half Life
my plan is to do gen 4 sometime early next year followed by gen 7 maybe a year from now, if the mods are cool with everything. judging by the response to this thread, i don't think i'll run gen 4 as long as a month. maybe two weeks for voting instead of four.
30 games is absurd and hard to track. you can list 30 games for your own list - go ahead and keep 20 to the honorable mentions, but having 30 games on a list would not turn the list into a wonderful world of unexpected delights as you seem to imagine.
1. Suikoden II - Probably my favourite game ever tbh. The story is awesome (a mature jrpg story!) and the base building aspect and huge and varied cast of characters are a great diversion. Plus the 2d graphics hold up better than all of the 3d games on the system today.
2. Final Fantasy VIII - I know the story gets a lot of hate, but imo it's just crazy enough to work. I love the world Square created here, so many great locations supported by the best game soundtrack ever. Also Triple Triad alone is better than most other games.
3. Final Fantasy VII - Yeah, not much to be said about this one.
4. Final Fantasy IX - Capping off Squares awesome run on the PS1. So much charm in this game.
5. Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - Always thought this was cooler than OoT thanks to the darker weirder atmosphere.
6. NiGHTS: Into Dreams - I had no idea what I was doing as a kid, but it was fun as hell.
7. Championship Manager 2 - I would have died from sleep deprivation if my parents had let me play this for as long as I wanted to back in the day.
8. Metal Gear Solid - Took me a while to get into this one as a kid, I spent an awfully long time in the area at the beginning where you need to get the elevator lol. I eventually got the hang of it and it was great, though since surpassed in every way by SoL.
9. Suikoden - Like Suikoden II but 8 spots lower.
10. Wipeout 2097 - goat racing game.
2. Final Fantasy VIII - I know the story gets a lot of hate, but imo it's just crazy enough to work. I love the world Square created here, so many great locations supported by the best game soundtrack ever. Also Triple Triad alone is better than most other games.
3. Final Fantasy VII - Yeah, not much to be said about this one.
4. Final Fantasy IX - Capping off Squares awesome run on the PS1. So much charm in this game.
5. Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - Always thought this was cooler than OoT thanks to the darker weirder atmosphere.
6. NiGHTS: Into Dreams - I had no idea what I was doing as a kid, but it was fun as hell.
7. Championship Manager 2 - I would have died from sleep deprivation if my parents had let me play this for as long as I wanted to back in the day.
8. Metal Gear Solid - Took me a while to get into this one as a kid, I spent an awfully long time in the area at the beginning where you need to get the elevator lol. I eventually got the hang of it and it was great, though since surpassed in every way by SoL.
9. Suikoden - Like Suikoden II but 8 spots lower.
10. Wipeout 2097 - goat racing game.
dark schala is way too busy to head one up. if you want to do it i don't think there would be any objections to it.
How would Gen 7 list work? Cross-gen titles should surely count and there are still significant titles coming this year like MGS5 and Persona 5, wouldn't next year be too soon? On the other hand it's hard to classify MGS V as last-gen title, but technically it's playable on old consoles.
Bizarre that 360 gets such a major release after almost 10 years on the market. Last gen GoW2 felt like it came out late but it's not even remotely comparable to what happened this time.
IAmRandom31
Banned
This will be tough, and I will likely change the list around quite a bit. But here it goes for my first edit off the top of my head.
1;
I still remember popping this cartridge into my N64. I had been following the game ever since seeing the first screenshot in a EGM one day. I knew it was going to be something truly special, groundbreaking, memorable. I loved Link to the Past and thinking of having a grand adventure as Link inside a 3D landscape was just too much for my young mind to handle. So, I went and picked this title up the moment I got home from school the day I finally had gathered up enough funds from mowing local lawns and saving allowance money. Threw it into the system that night and was greeted to the epic moon over the hill on the horizon, the music and link riding Epona across the hillside. Instantly fell in love. And will never forget the moment the 3D world came alive as the fairy started flying around as it headed into Link's home. Was absolutely awestruck and that did not stop once before the end credit's hit. A true gaming masterpiece of this industry.
2;
Final Fantasy VII. I remember getting a game called Tobal #1 because it had the demo for this game as a bonus disc. Final Fantasy VI was a game I had put countless hours into and I knew I wanted FFVII the moment it hit. I still remember seeing the N64 screenshot in one of the gaming magazines at the time thinking oh man, I am going to get a Virtual 64 the moment this hits! But boom, the announcement came it was hitting the Playstation ( which I had already bought for Twisted Metal ) and I was floored. Never thought that was going to happen. I played the demo atleast 200 times just to watch the Leviathan summon over and over and over again. Few games grab you from the VERY FIRST SOUNDS as the intro startup, but this is one of them. Just like Zelda: OOT above, I was hooked from the very first tones of the intro music. From the very first CGI video, from the very first glimpse at Aeris or Cloud. I did not put this game down for weeks straight and probably played through it 10 straight times trying to figure out all the little secrets. Phenomenal JRPG that will live on as one of, if not the, greatest of all time.
3;
Specifically Twisted Metal 2, but Twisted Metal was the game that got me to spend my Christmas wish on the Playstation. I was 12 years old, having owned the Genesis as my primary system the generation prior ( along with the SNES when FFVI released ), so I was getting to that age where you start to feel like you are growing up a bit. My friends were all playing Tecmo Bowl still or Punch Out or Madden and anytime they would come over and see me playing Link to the Past or Mario or Toe Jam and Earl, you got those looks and the immediate " hey put on madden! " comments. With the Playstation though, it was marketed straight away for " Generation X " and maturing kids. Just like me! When I saw Twisted Metal at my local electronics boutique playing, I was in shock. The game was so graphic, so visually impressive, but so much f'in fun. Nothing could prepare me for the story though. It was so incredibly good. It was one of the few games of its type where I actually wanted to beat the game with each character souly to see how Calypso f'ed with them. Twisted Metal 2 though was the cream of the crop of the entire series. Perfection in level design. Every stage filled with secrets. Every vehicle fine tuned to perfection with the controls and the various special moves you could perform. Co-Op was insanely fun. The music was great, the voice acting was great, the CG was great, the level design was great. It all just came together perfectly. Still one of my favorite's of all time.
4;
As a skater kid growing up, growing up with that culture, this game hit a cord with me that few have through my lifetime ( the last being Skate or Die ). It felt like a game that was made just for me. We had a half-pipe hand built in the backyard, I had a Tony Hawk board with special wheels and hand designed paint job and all that jazz. Board was probably $400 altogether. My favorite movie of the time was anything related to skating or sports. I used to watch a show that would profile all the latest skaters in California and Seattle and abroad and would try to mimic them as best as I could on my little 7 foot half pipe. That was just me back then. Rock music, baggy clothes, skateboard in hand and care-free attitude. This game, when it hit, almost had me give up actual skating because I played it so much lol. Trying to nail that perfect line and that perfect combo was an addiction. All my friends came over to play it. At one point I threw a party just to play this game, over 40 people showing up. Imagine 40 kids ages 16-20 all going nuts over a videogame and fighting to take turns and show off their skills to everyone else. Pure insane fun this game was. THPS2 being my favorite in the series.
5;
I had played Metal Gear on my NES back in the day ( even bought a turbo controller to put in passwords super fast to see what secrets I could unlock ) but was never really interested in the game as a whole. It was pretty cool though with the stealth gameplay. When I saw the screenshots though of this upcoming Metal Gear Solid in a magazine I was in awe. One of the few times back then graphics alone had me interested in a project. I wanted this game just to show my friends to be honest. The stealth gameplay aspect didn't grab my attention much back then. But man, when I picked this game up, and saw the pure fantasy mixed with futuristic reality it nailed a piece of my soul I never knew I had. Been hooked on the series ever since . Oh ... and come on. You felt Snakes heartbeat VERY REALISTICALLY through the rumble. The first time I laid down prone on the ground and felt Snakes heartbeat through the controller that realistically I dropped my f'in controller and thought WTF IS THIS SHIT. I handed it off to my brother and parents and they all looked at me like I was f'in insane for playing such a game, like Snakes soul was trapped in my controller or some shit. And then there is Psycho Mantis. Perhaps the greatest boss fight in the history of gaming to this point. I mean come on, the way you had to beat him. Instantly put Hideo Kojima as one of the most brilliant directors of games in my book. Instant Classic.
6;
I had been playing the Tekken games on my Playstation for awhile, ever since playing it in an Arcade one day. When I saw Tekken hit the Playstation, instantly rented it and eventually bought it. Same with Tekken 2. But nothing prepared me, or most others for that matter, for Eddie. Eddie is perhaps one of the most defining characters of a game series as there ever has been. He was to Tekken as Ryu was to Street Fighter. Everyone wanted to play as him, to perfect him. Everyone wanted to show off their skills as him in the arcade and in the home Playstation version. The games lineup was just phenomenal from top to bottom really but Eddie man, just badass.
7;
Tough choice between this and FF Tactics but in the end, I enjoyed my overall experience with Vandal Hearts much more then I did with FF Tactics. Vandal Hearts was well written, well drawn, and just insanely fun to play. I had loved SRPG's since Shining Force and Dark Wizard, and this was like the genre perfected for me. I remember staying up many nights till 3:00am on a school night trying to beat the next level. The experience was short, but it was one of the best the genre had to offer at the time. FF Tactics was definitely deeper and more in depth and much longer, but Vandal Hearts was just the better overall start to finish experience for me.
8;
The sub-genre that Metroid / Super Metroid created, Castlevania Symphony of the Night perfected. Going beyond just sheer gameplay, this game had style, it had RPG elements, it had amazing animation and graphics, and a masterpiece of a soundtrack. Really the soundtrack has to be heard while playing to get the FULL enjoyment out of it, but when a masterpiece track like Requiem for a Dream exists on your tracklist, you are already near the tops of all time. But mixed with the ambiance created by the tunes along with the solid gameplay, amazing level design. Man. This one is one for the ages. Perhaps the greatest 2D game ever created.
9;
10;
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1;
LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME ( N64 )
I still remember popping this cartridge into my N64. I had been following the game ever since seeing the first screenshot in a EGM one day. I knew it was going to be something truly special, groundbreaking, memorable. I loved Link to the Past and thinking of having a grand adventure as Link inside a 3D landscape was just too much for my young mind to handle. So, I went and picked this title up the moment I got home from school the day I finally had gathered up enough funds from mowing local lawns and saving allowance money. Threw it into the system that night and was greeted to the epic moon over the hill on the horizon, the music and link riding Epona across the hillside. Instantly fell in love. And will never forget the moment the 3D world came alive as the fairy started flying around as it headed into Link's home. Was absolutely awestruck and that did not stop once before the end credit's hit. A true gaming masterpiece of this industry.
2;
FINAL FANTASY VII ( PLAYSTATION )
Final Fantasy VII. I remember getting a game called Tobal #1 because it had the demo for this game as a bonus disc. Final Fantasy VI was a game I had put countless hours into and I knew I wanted FFVII the moment it hit. I still remember seeing the N64 screenshot in one of the gaming magazines at the time thinking oh man, I am going to get a Virtual 64 the moment this hits! But boom, the announcement came it was hitting the Playstation ( which I had already bought for Twisted Metal ) and I was floored. Never thought that was going to happen. I played the demo atleast 200 times just to watch the Leviathan summon over and over and over again. Few games grab you from the VERY FIRST SOUNDS as the intro startup, but this is one of them. Just like Zelda: OOT above, I was hooked from the very first tones of the intro music. From the very first CGI video, from the very first glimpse at Aeris or Cloud. I did not put this game down for weeks straight and probably played through it 10 straight times trying to figure out all the little secrets. Phenomenal JRPG that will live on as one of, if not the, greatest of all time.
3;
TWISTED METAL 2 ( PLAYSTATION )
Specifically Twisted Metal 2, but Twisted Metal was the game that got me to spend my Christmas wish on the Playstation. I was 12 years old, having owned the Genesis as my primary system the generation prior ( along with the SNES when FFVI released ), so I was getting to that age where you start to feel like you are growing up a bit. My friends were all playing Tecmo Bowl still or Punch Out or Madden and anytime they would come over and see me playing Link to the Past or Mario or Toe Jam and Earl, you got those looks and the immediate " hey put on madden! " comments. With the Playstation though, it was marketed straight away for " Generation X " and maturing kids. Just like me! When I saw Twisted Metal at my local electronics boutique playing, I was in shock. The game was so graphic, so visually impressive, but so much f'in fun. Nothing could prepare me for the story though. It was so incredibly good. It was one of the few games of its type where I actually wanted to beat the game with each character souly to see how Calypso f'ed with them. Twisted Metal 2 though was the cream of the crop of the entire series. Perfection in level design. Every stage filled with secrets. Every vehicle fine tuned to perfection with the controls and the various special moves you could perform. Co-Op was insanely fun. The music was great, the voice acting was great, the CG was great, the level design was great. It all just came together perfectly. Still one of my favorite's of all time.
4;
TONY HAWKS PRO SKATER 2 ( PLAYSTATION )
As a skater kid growing up, growing up with that culture, this game hit a cord with me that few have through my lifetime ( the last being Skate or Die ). It felt like a game that was made just for me. We had a half-pipe hand built in the backyard, I had a Tony Hawk board with special wheels and hand designed paint job and all that jazz. Board was probably $400 altogether. My favorite movie of the time was anything related to skating or sports. I used to watch a show that would profile all the latest skaters in California and Seattle and abroad and would try to mimic them as best as I could on my little 7 foot half pipe. That was just me back then. Rock music, baggy clothes, skateboard in hand and care-free attitude. This game, when it hit, almost had me give up actual skating because I played it so much lol. Trying to nail that perfect line and that perfect combo was an addiction. All my friends came over to play it. At one point I threw a party just to play this game, over 40 people showing up. Imagine 40 kids ages 16-20 all going nuts over a videogame and fighting to take turns and show off their skills to everyone else. Pure insane fun this game was. THPS2 being my favorite in the series.
5;
METAL GEAR SOLID ( PLAYSTATION )
I had played Metal Gear on my NES back in the day ( even bought a turbo controller to put in passwords super fast to see what secrets I could unlock ) but was never really interested in the game as a whole. It was pretty cool though with the stealth gameplay. When I saw the screenshots though of this upcoming Metal Gear Solid in a magazine I was in awe. One of the few times back then graphics alone had me interested in a project. I wanted this game just to show my friends to be honest. The stealth gameplay aspect didn't grab my attention much back then. But man, when I picked this game up, and saw the pure fantasy mixed with futuristic reality it nailed a piece of my soul I never knew I had. Been hooked on the series ever since . Oh ... and come on. You felt Snakes heartbeat VERY REALISTICALLY through the rumble. The first time I laid down prone on the ground and felt Snakes heartbeat through the controller that realistically I dropped my f'in controller and thought WTF IS THIS SHIT. I handed it off to my brother and parents and they all looked at me like I was f'in insane for playing such a game, like Snakes soul was trapped in my controller or some shit. And then there is Psycho Mantis. Perhaps the greatest boss fight in the history of gaming to this point. I mean come on, the way you had to beat him. Instantly put Hideo Kojima as one of the most brilliant directors of games in my book. Instant Classic.
6;
TEKKEN 3 ( PLAYSTATION )
I had been playing the Tekken games on my Playstation for awhile, ever since playing it in an Arcade one day. When I saw Tekken hit the Playstation, instantly rented it and eventually bought it. Same with Tekken 2. But nothing prepared me, or most others for that matter, for Eddie. Eddie is perhaps one of the most defining characters of a game series as there ever has been. He was to Tekken as Ryu was to Street Fighter. Everyone wanted to play as him, to perfect him. Everyone wanted to show off their skills as him in the arcade and in the home Playstation version. The games lineup was just phenomenal from top to bottom really but Eddie man, just badass.
7;
VANDAL HEARTS ( PLAYSTATION )
Tough choice between this and FF Tactics but in the end, I enjoyed my overall experience with Vandal Hearts much more then I did with FF Tactics. Vandal Hearts was well written, well drawn, and just insanely fun to play. I had loved SRPG's since Shining Force and Dark Wizard, and this was like the genre perfected for me. I remember staying up many nights till 3:00am on a school night trying to beat the next level. The experience was short, but it was one of the best the genre had to offer at the time. FF Tactics was definitely deeper and more in depth and much longer, but Vandal Hearts was just the better overall start to finish experience for me.
8;
CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT ( PLAYSTATION )
The sub-genre that Metroid / Super Metroid created, Castlevania Symphony of the Night perfected. Going beyond just sheer gameplay, this game had style, it had RPG elements, it had amazing animation and graphics, and a masterpiece of a soundtrack. Really the soundtrack has to be heard while playing to get the FULL enjoyment out of it, but when a masterpiece track like Requiem for a Dream exists on your tracklist, you are already near the tops of all time. But mixed with the ambiance created by the tunes along with the solid gameplay, amazing level design. Man. This one is one for the ages. Perhaps the greatest 2D game ever created.
9;
10;
Placeholder
tav7623
Member
During this gen I was predominantly a PS1 player as it was the only system I owned (though I would get to play a few N64 games during that time frame since my cousins owned the system) and I wasn't a big PC gamer as the only PC we had was my parents which was used primarily for school work (though I did have a PC game for it in the form of Test Drive 5, which I thought had a pretty awesome soundtrack) so about 80 - 90% of these will be PS1 games and there will be a lot of nostalgia factoring into my list.
1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - This game is pretty much one of my all time favorite video games and for good reason as it features excellent gameplay, level & character design, and music not to mention secrets galore. Even though this Gen is known for 3D I feel it's best game is this amazing 2D platformer.
2. Super Mario 64 - During this gen I didn't own an N64 (though I do now), but my cousins did so when I'd visit them/spend the night I'd get to play this amazing game (as well as Goldeneye 007 & Mario Kart 64) which I found to be fun, but challenging (mostly because of the camera which took some getting use to) game worth of it's praise.
3. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - When it comes to the best Resident Evil game to come out this gen most people tend to say Resident Evil 2, but I personally feel that Resident Evil 3 is better. Even though the game was considered an afterthought by Capcom who was busy working on Code Veronica for the Dreamcast it contained a number of innovations that imo put it above RE 2. Namely the dodge mechanic, destructible environmental objects (exploding barrels) that damaged nearby enemies, a 180 move button, ammo creation, and a relentless pursuer capable of following you through rooms in the form of the Nemesis creature. It also imo had an amazing opening intro and even though it's story is a bit of a mess taking place before & after the events of RE 2 it still ranks higher than some of the more "recent" games in the series.
4. Parasite Eve - I'm not a big RPG fan since most of them tend to be turn based (or a variant there of such as the "Active Battle System", which I personally tend to find as being a slow & archaic battle system), but I am a big fan of most things horror so I was kinda shocked when legendary RPG maker Squaresoft decided to make this hybrid RPG/Survival Horror game. Due to my love/enjoyment of horror entertainment I decided to give this game a go when it came out despite it being an RPG and I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised by this game, which today is pretty much the only Squaresoft RPG (or RPG's in general) that I've actually beaten (though I have come close to beating both FFX & Bravely Default) so far.
5. Metal Gear Solid - I first saw/heard about this game in the pages of the Sept 1998 issue of EGM (which I actually still have) and was almost instantly intrigued by the game. A few months later I would get the game as a present and boy little did I know that I was gonna be in for a wild (an awesome) ride. This game like for so many was my first real introduction to the Metal Gear series and the work of Hideo Kojima, whose work I continue to follow to this day.
6. Tomb Raider 2 - This game was the first Playstation game I ever bought (I had gotten the system the day before as a Christmas present from my parents since our Genesis had died a few months earlier) and personally I feel it was a pretty good choice for a first game. Like so many PS1 game sequels this game was much much better than it's predecessor in so many ways and made it an instant classic for the system.
7. Tomba - Lately (as in the past 5 years or so) this game has been (rightfully) getting a lot of love, but back when it came out in 1997 - 98 it was a little known 2.5D platformer/RPG and I personally would have missed this amazing little game with the funky protagonist if not for my little sister who wanted to rent it from Blockbuster (we would later buy a used copy of the game,without the manual sadly, for $8 from that very same Blockbuster a few years later) all because the main character had pink hair.
8. Tekken 3 - By far the best game in the series on the PS1 this game was both fun and frustrating (fuck you Bosconovich & Gon), it introduced some of my favorite characters to the series such as Jin & Hwoarang, and had 2 pretty good unlockable modes (beat em up Tekken Force and Tekken ball) that were a blast to playthrough once you unlocked them.
9. Mario Kart 64 - At the time I didn't play many kart games and had only played a few racing games so when I first played this game at my cousins house it was a bit of a blast. This game was soo much fun that everytime we'd visit our cousins this game was almost always the first game we'd play (later in the evening we'd play Goldeneye 007 multiplayer) when we got there
10. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped - I'm a big fan of platformers and one of the first games we (my little sister & I) got for the PS1 was Crash Bandicoot. While I am a fan of all three PS1 Crash games, my favorite has to be Crash 3: Warped which imo had better levels and better overall gameplay mechanics than the 2 previous games in the series.
X. Street Fighter Alpha 3 - Prior to playing this game I hadn't been a big fan of the Street Fighter series (I was more of a Mortal Kombat kind of guy) but decided to give the series another chance with this game and boy am I glad I did as I found this game to be a phenomenal fighting game.
X. Silent Hill - Like so many people at the time I first played this classic survival horror game by renting it from my local Blockbuster and was blown away by how scary it was. This game when I first played it both scared the fuck out of me and frustrated me as there were segments (mostly in the
) that were very difficult for me to figure out/get around at the time.
X. Dino Crisis - At this time I was big on Capcom's survival horror titles and a big fan of the movie Jurassic Park so when I heard that Capcom was making a Dino Survival Horror title I was giddy. I ended up buying this game day one (which was awesome cause it came with a demo for RE 3) and did not regret it as it was (imo) a fun survival horror title.
X. WWF Smackdown! - Prior to this game coming out most wrestling games were (imo) pretty shitty mostly due to bad controls. This game by Yukes & THQ featured a fun, but simplified control scheme, was the first wrestling game to have an extensive season mode, and had backstage areas you could fight in.
X. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare - This game while considered by many to be a RE clone was imo one of the underrated survival horror titles for the PS1 as it had some cool mechanics (light interaction like using light to solve puzzles or find objects hidden in the environment) that other PS1 games (to my knowledge) didn't try/couldn't do.
1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - This game is pretty much one of my all time favorite video games and for good reason as it features excellent gameplay, level & character design, and music not to mention secrets galore. Even though this Gen is known for 3D I feel it's best game is this amazing 2D platformer.
2. Super Mario 64 - During this gen I didn't own an N64 (though I do now), but my cousins did so when I'd visit them/spend the night I'd get to play this amazing game (as well as Goldeneye 007 & Mario Kart 64) which I found to be fun, but challenging (mostly because of the camera which took some getting use to) game worth of it's praise.
3. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - When it comes to the best Resident Evil game to come out this gen most people tend to say Resident Evil 2, but I personally feel that Resident Evil 3 is better. Even though the game was considered an afterthought by Capcom who was busy working on Code Veronica for the Dreamcast it contained a number of innovations that imo put it above RE 2. Namely the dodge mechanic, destructible environmental objects (exploding barrels) that damaged nearby enemies, a 180 move button, ammo creation, and a relentless pursuer capable of following you through rooms in the form of the Nemesis creature. It also imo had an amazing opening intro and even though it's story is a bit of a mess taking place before & after the events of RE 2 it still ranks higher than some of the more "recent" games in the series.
4. Parasite Eve - I'm not a big RPG fan since most of them tend to be turn based (or a variant there of such as the "Active Battle System", which I personally tend to find as being a slow & archaic battle system), but I am a big fan of most things horror so I was kinda shocked when legendary RPG maker Squaresoft decided to make this hybrid RPG/Survival Horror game. Due to my love/enjoyment of horror entertainment I decided to give this game a go when it came out despite it being an RPG and I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised by this game, which today is pretty much the only Squaresoft RPG (or RPG's in general) that I've actually beaten (though I have come close to beating both FFX & Bravely Default) so far.
5. Metal Gear Solid - I first saw/heard about this game in the pages of the Sept 1998 issue of EGM (which I actually still have) and was almost instantly intrigued by the game. A few months later I would get the game as a present and boy little did I know that I was gonna be in for a wild (an awesome) ride. This game like for so many was my first real introduction to the Metal Gear series and the work of Hideo Kojima, whose work I continue to follow to this day.
6. Tomb Raider 2 - This game was the first Playstation game I ever bought (I had gotten the system the day before as a Christmas present from my parents since our Genesis had died a few months earlier) and personally I feel it was a pretty good choice for a first game. Like so many PS1 game sequels this game was much much better than it's predecessor in so many ways and made it an instant classic for the system.
7. Tomba - Lately (as in the past 5 years or so) this game has been (rightfully) getting a lot of love, but back when it came out in 1997 - 98 it was a little known 2.5D platformer/RPG and I personally would have missed this amazing little game with the funky protagonist if not for my little sister who wanted to rent it from Blockbuster (we would later buy a used copy of the game,without the manual sadly, for $8 from that very same Blockbuster a few years later) all because the main character had pink hair.
8. Tekken 3 - By far the best game in the series on the PS1 this game was both fun and frustrating (fuck you Bosconovich & Gon), it introduced some of my favorite characters to the series such as Jin & Hwoarang, and had 2 pretty good unlockable modes (beat em up Tekken Force and Tekken ball) that were a blast to playthrough once you unlocked them.
9. Mario Kart 64 - At the time I didn't play many kart games and had only played a few racing games so when I first played this game at my cousins house it was a bit of a blast. This game was soo much fun that everytime we'd visit our cousins this game was almost always the first game we'd play (later in the evening we'd play Goldeneye 007 multiplayer) when we got there
10. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped - I'm a big fan of platformers and one of the first games we (my little sister & I) got for the PS1 was Crash Bandicoot. While I am a fan of all three PS1 Crash games, my favorite has to be Crash 3: Warped which imo had better levels and better overall gameplay mechanics than the 2 previous games in the series.
X. Street Fighter Alpha 3 - Prior to playing this game I hadn't been a big fan of the Street Fighter series (I was more of a Mortal Kombat kind of guy) but decided to give the series another chance with this game and boy am I glad I did as I found this game to be a phenomenal fighting game.
X. Silent Hill - Like so many people at the time I first played this classic survival horror game by renting it from my local Blockbuster and was blown away by how scary it was. This game when I first played it both scared the fuck out of me and frustrated me as there were segments (mostly in the
school/nightmare school
X. Dino Crisis - At this time I was big on Capcom's survival horror titles and a big fan of the movie Jurassic Park so when I heard that Capcom was making a Dino Survival Horror title I was giddy. I ended up buying this game day one (which was awesome cause it came with a demo for RE 3) and did not regret it as it was (imo) a fun survival horror title.
X. WWF Smackdown! - Prior to this game coming out most wrestling games were (imo) pretty shitty mostly due to bad controls. This game by Yukes & THQ featured a fun, but simplified control scheme, was the first wrestling game to have an extensive season mode, and had backstage areas you could fight in.
X. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare - This game while considered by many to be a RE clone was imo one of the underrated survival horror titles for the PS1 as it had some cool mechanics (light interaction like using light to solve puzzles or find objects hidden in the environment) that other PS1 games (to my knowledge) didn't try/couldn't do.
So don't do this? It's a popularity contest. The games at the top of the list don't win anything, so what's the point of "tactical voting"?
Reserve-... nah. I'm gong to keep making this joke :3
I had my top eight pop in my head straight away but the last two gave me trouble so I took them off my honorable mentions list and slapped them on there. That ain't a good look.
10. Final Fantasy VII ; has Tifa, umph
9. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Forcing cute monsters to enter battle is back with bigger the fanfare, bigger everything. Day/night cycles suck. The game's bigger but the second half with the Kanto half might as well not even exist when the level scaling doesn't accommodate your team's levels. Still, RIP Satoru Iwata and thanks for somehow cramming Kanto in there when the failures at Game Freak couldn't.
8. Paper Mario ; I played this after Thousand-Year Door and it's apparent to me I would have liked the QoL additions that TTYD added. Combat, music, plot, partners are all lower quality, comparatively. By itself, it's darn good and worth a mention
7. Final Fantasy VIII ; My favorite PS1 FF. Here almost entirely for the Junction System which is broken as heck. And that's a good thing. I like breaking stuff. The beginning is kinda grindy to prepare getting broken but it's smooth sailing after. Also has Quistis. Wears glasses and uses a whip, I can't.
6. Mega Man Xtreme 2 ; The downports of these Mega Man games are my favorite because they're simple in every single way. Everything in the games are straightforward like level, progression and boss design. Even the upgrade system is simple. Just stack all the attack boosts and watch bosses HP drop to zero in 2-3 hits.
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ; The best Harry Potter game in existence is on the GBC. Surprisingly has really good use of color. And it really shows when you explore Hogwarts in its entirety. As for following the book/movies, I gotta give the devs credit.
4. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow ; Sequels usually add something to the original game by adding all the stuff they couldn't before. RBY -> GSC is one instance where I prefer the first game. Too much useless stuff in the sequel. The combat system is kinda kooky at first glance and it's extremely broken when you stumble upon that "everything wrong with RBY" picture. Nevertheless, what a grand adventure to have as a kid. Some kid chilling with an NES in the bedroom to travelling all around the region to become the best trainer. Almost fairy tale-like.
3. Super Mario 64 ; Getting all 120 Stars is one of my crowning achievements as a kid. It's not like it's anything special when most other kids my age did the same thing but look, I thought 120 was a lot of stars and to see my star count reach that number slowly but surely filled me with glee.
2. Pokemon Trading Card Game ; The hallmark of card games in video game form. The music is indisputably amazing. The nuances of the real life game translates perfectly in a cartridge. Ronald is a moron. Pokemon TCG has it all. The beginning is really slow with the snail pace text speed but after you finish that practice duel, sky's the limit. You're given a deck and free to battle anyone. Win booster packs, update your deck, battle some more. I still get a thrill at bringing out evolved Pokemon fast and raining (heh, Blastoise deck is nice thanks to its ability) death on my opponent who can't fight back with their weak basics and taking prize card after prize card.
Some of the hardest battle themes your eardrums can handle
Club Leader
Grandmaster
It's incredibly disappointing the sequel never made it. It did what GSC couldn't; add a second island with a ton of content. You can play as a chick too. The original didn't really have a plot (collect medals and get the Legendary Cards) but here, Team Great Rocket must be defeated as they kidnapped the Club Leaders.
Here, listen to this and this is just the scrub TR music. I kid you not.
TR normal battle
and
Castle
Yep, I really got rep TCG2. It is worth playing and then some.
1. Diddy Kong Racing ; I got Pokemon TCG wearing the card game crown so I got DKR tricked out with the purest jewelry possible as it's still the best kart racer out there.
In a kart racer, I'd have to argue the most important aspect to be the handling. As someone who only used light and medium characters in the game, DKR handles very well. Wasn't really too patient as a kid so I didn't take the time to learn how to properly play as Krunch and his fellow heavyweights. The level design in the most, for half of it, is basic with very few sharp turns. Only when you reach the endgame where you expect nasty curves left and right, playing light characters is a blessing. And it feels so good to hit those turns and hit them right. Using the hovercraft is kinda iffy but if you drift, they handle almost as well as the kart and plane. Oh, I didn't mention the three vehicles? There it is. And the cool thing is some levels in the game give you a choice to run more than one vehicle. For example, in Hot Top Volcano, the hovercraft is harder to play than the plane due to the plane path not really being subject to the harsh lava waves. Though there are obstacles like pillars and bridges to compensate. So to me, I thought it was really cool to have such courses offer different ways to challenge you no matter what vehicle you picked.
For story progression, you're placed in a large island where you can travel almost anywhere on your choice of vehicle can take you. You must collect balloons by winning races to open new areas. If you're an utter masochist, you can take a kart out to sea and slowly make it to the one of the four subworlds, which is on a smaller island. Try it out but it'll be really boring. At first, you have no choice but to race really simple courses in the Dinosaur subworld but you start to collect more balloons and start entering more challenging races. At the end of each subworld is the boss of that domain and that's where your skills are put to the test. Seriously, they put up a good challenge. Triceratops (hitting him with missiles is so satisfying) and Octopus dudes can take a hike. Walrus is probably the easiest and the Dragon is rough when you get hit by the fog. Vehicles are locked per boss so if your plane handling isn't on point, you better forget about racing Dragon. Eventually, you end up in space (don't ask me how) where the levels get bigger in scale giving you more routes to take or get smaller and tighter where good turns are rewarded. In the end, the game has really darn good progression. You WILL get better at handling all vehicle types and the bosses act as a test to see if you're good to proceed to the next area.
To top it all off, David Wise composed the soundtrack. Yeah. Bro, wherever you are, this game's soundtrack, I can't even. Childhood jams right here.
Fossil Canyon
Frosty Village - the definitive Christmas song
Pirate Lagoon
Greenwood Village
Star City
x. Crash Team Racing ; It's like DKR, except worse in everything
x. Final Fantasy IX ; With a battle system this slow, no thanks. For a one and done, it's good.
x. Mega Man Legends ; 3D Mega Man. I should get around getting the strongest weapon so I can manhandle the final boss
x. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; It's OK
x. Pokemon Puzzle Challenge ; My mind can't wrap itself with all those different swapping techniques
x. Pokemon Puzzle League ; So freaking hard. Respect to those that can conquer the League.
x. Pokemon Snap ; Closest thing I'll get to a real life Pokemon tour
x. Yoshi's Story ; I don't know if I can dock points for this when half the reason it sucks is because of the controller and battling it
x. Mario Party 3 ; Best Mario Party. I probably remember it best for the Mt. Rushmore but with Mario characters. I think I liked the minigames in here the best. I don't really remember because Mario Party minigames are homogeneous.
x. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets ; Another case where the sequel pales to the original.
I have a lot of PS1 games that I haven't beat. Some of those could probably make their way into my top 10 but too late ¯\_(ツ
_/¯
I had my top eight pop in my head straight away but the last two gave me trouble so I took them off my honorable mentions list and slapped them on there. That ain't a good look.
10. Final Fantasy VII ; has Tifa, umph
9. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Forcing cute monsters to enter battle is back with bigger the fanfare, bigger everything. Day/night cycles suck. The game's bigger but the second half with the Kanto half might as well not even exist when the level scaling doesn't accommodate your team's levels. Still, RIP Satoru Iwata and thanks for somehow cramming Kanto in there when the failures at Game Freak couldn't.
8. Paper Mario ; I played this after Thousand-Year Door and it's apparent to me I would have liked the QoL additions that TTYD added. Combat, music, plot, partners are all lower quality, comparatively. By itself, it's darn good and worth a mention
7. Final Fantasy VIII ; My favorite PS1 FF. Here almost entirely for the Junction System which is broken as heck. And that's a good thing. I like breaking stuff. The beginning is kinda grindy to prepare getting broken but it's smooth sailing after. Also has Quistis. Wears glasses and uses a whip, I can't.
6. Mega Man Xtreme 2 ; The downports of these Mega Man games are my favorite because they're simple in every single way. Everything in the games are straightforward like level, progression and boss design. Even the upgrade system is simple. Just stack all the attack boosts and watch bosses HP drop to zero in 2-3 hits.
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ; The best Harry Potter game in existence is on the GBC. Surprisingly has really good use of color. And it really shows when you explore Hogwarts in its entirety. As for following the book/movies, I gotta give the devs credit.
4. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow ; Sequels usually add something to the original game by adding all the stuff they couldn't before. RBY -> GSC is one instance where I prefer the first game. Too much useless stuff in the sequel. The combat system is kinda kooky at first glance and it's extremely broken when you stumble upon that "everything wrong with RBY" picture. Nevertheless, what a grand adventure to have as a kid. Some kid chilling with an NES in the bedroom to travelling all around the region to become the best trainer. Almost fairy tale-like.
3. Super Mario 64 ; Getting all 120 Stars is one of my crowning achievements as a kid. It's not like it's anything special when most other kids my age did the same thing but look, I thought 120 was a lot of stars and to see my star count reach that number slowly but surely filled me with glee.
2. Pokemon Trading Card Game ; The hallmark of card games in video game form. The music is indisputably amazing. The nuances of the real life game translates perfectly in a cartridge. Ronald is a moron. Pokemon TCG has it all. The beginning is really slow with the snail pace text speed but after you finish that practice duel, sky's the limit. You're given a deck and free to battle anyone. Win booster packs, update your deck, battle some more. I still get a thrill at bringing out evolved Pokemon fast and raining (heh, Blastoise deck is nice thanks to its ability) death on my opponent who can't fight back with their weak basics and taking prize card after prize card.
Some of the hardest battle themes your eardrums can handle
Club Leader
Grandmaster
It's incredibly disappointing the sequel never made it. It did what GSC couldn't; add a second island with a ton of content. You can play as a chick too. The original didn't really have a plot (collect medals and get the Legendary Cards) but here, Team Great Rocket must be defeated as they kidnapped the Club Leaders.
Here, listen to this and this is just the scrub TR music. I kid you not.
TR normal battle
and
Castle
Yep, I really got rep TCG2. It is worth playing and then some.
1. Diddy Kong Racing ; I got Pokemon TCG wearing the card game crown so I got DKR tricked out with the purest jewelry possible as it's still the best kart racer out there.
In a kart racer, I'd have to argue the most important aspect to be the handling. As someone who only used light and medium characters in the game, DKR handles very well. Wasn't really too patient as a kid so I didn't take the time to learn how to properly play as Krunch and his fellow heavyweights. The level design in the most, for half of it, is basic with very few sharp turns. Only when you reach the endgame where you expect nasty curves left and right, playing light characters is a blessing. And it feels so good to hit those turns and hit them right. Using the hovercraft is kinda iffy but if you drift, they handle almost as well as the kart and plane. Oh, I didn't mention the three vehicles? There it is. And the cool thing is some levels in the game give you a choice to run more than one vehicle. For example, in Hot Top Volcano, the hovercraft is harder to play than the plane due to the plane path not really being subject to the harsh lava waves. Though there are obstacles like pillars and bridges to compensate. So to me, I thought it was really cool to have such courses offer different ways to challenge you no matter what vehicle you picked.
For story progression, you're placed in a large island where you can travel almost anywhere on your choice of vehicle can take you. You must collect balloons by winning races to open new areas. If you're an utter masochist, you can take a kart out to sea and slowly make it to the one of the four subworlds, which is on a smaller island. Try it out but it'll be really boring. At first, you have no choice but to race really simple courses in the Dinosaur subworld but you start to collect more balloons and start entering more challenging races. At the end of each subworld is the boss of that domain and that's where your skills are put to the test. Seriously, they put up a good challenge. Triceratops (hitting him with missiles is so satisfying) and Octopus dudes can take a hike. Walrus is probably the easiest and the Dragon is rough when you get hit by the fog. Vehicles are locked per boss so if your plane handling isn't on point, you better forget about racing Dragon. Eventually, you end up in space (don't ask me how) where the levels get bigger in scale giving you more routes to take or get smaller and tighter where good turns are rewarded. In the end, the game has really darn good progression. You WILL get better at handling all vehicle types and the bosses act as a test to see if you're good to proceed to the next area.
To top it all off, David Wise composed the soundtrack. Yeah. Bro, wherever you are, this game's soundtrack, I can't even. Childhood jams right here.
Fossil Canyon
Frosty Village - the definitive Christmas song
Pirate Lagoon
Greenwood Village
Star City
x. Crash Team Racing ; It's like DKR, except worse in everything
x. Final Fantasy IX ; With a battle system this slow, no thanks. For a one and done, it's good.
x. Mega Man Legends ; 3D Mega Man. I should get around getting the strongest weapon so I can manhandle the final boss
x. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; It's OK
x. Pokemon Puzzle Challenge ; My mind can't wrap itself with all those different swapping techniques
x. Pokemon Puzzle League ; So freaking hard. Respect to those that can conquer the League.
x. Pokemon Snap ; Closest thing I'll get to a real life Pokemon tour
x. Yoshi's Story ; I don't know if I can dock points for this when half the reason it sucks is because of the controller and battling it
x. Mario Party 3 ; Best Mario Party. I probably remember it best for the Mt. Rushmore but with Mario characters. I think I liked the minigames in here the best. I don't really remember because Mario Party minigames are homogeneous.
x. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets ; Another case where the sequel pales to the original.
I have a lot of PS1 games that I haven't beat. Some of those could probably make their way into my top 10 but too late ¯\_(ツ
_/¯there was crossgen in gen 6 too. the way it worked was that you had to play that specific version of the game. so if you played re2 on the dc or gamecube, it was allowed in as long as it was that specific version of the game you were talking about. if people want to extol the virtues of persona 5 or metal gear solid v because they played them on ps3, i won't stop them.
Stilton Disco
Member
We'll this is a bloody nightmare to sort out. 5th gen is still unmatched, a golden age with far, far too many classics to just pick ten really, but by golly I'll give it a good shot!
1: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Not just the best Zelda game ever, but flat out the best game Nintendo have ever produced. It's a dark twisted fairy tale with more character and life to it than pretty much any other game in existence, taking a mature, narrative driven exploration of life, death and how people give it all meaning, and combining it all with a far more polished and improved take on OoT's gameplay and set up.
To this day, my favourite game of all time.
2: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
The best Resident Evil. The original, 2, REmake and 4 are all contenders, but no other entry combines quite such an oppressive, apocalyptic atmosphere, wealth of (often sadly unique) innovations, and the single most intimidating and terrifying monster in the history of the medium. Plus sassy, melodramatic, boob tube and a mini skirt in a zombie plague Jill is the best her character has ever been. A similar level of insane lack of regard for logic and safety Leon displays in later games, combined with a righteous combination of anger and depression make her just a joy to steer through Raccoon Cities death rattles.
Combined with the replayability of unlockables, multiple choices and routes through the events, and the debut of The Mercanaries mode, for me cement Jill's solo title as the Queen of Survival horror.
3: Metal Gear Solid
MGS changed how I view games as an artistic medium. Hell, it changed games, full stop.
It's the first game that ever made me cry. That I felt a strong enough sense of empathy for it's characters, that I had had a real world physical reaction to their stories.
It was James Bond mixed with sci fi through from the mind of a mad genius, and it's incredible.
4: Final Fantasy VIII
First of all, yes, Squall is an insufferable wanker. Secondly, Rinoa can fuck right off and die in a fire. I'd have rather Squall romanced Headmaster Cid, or a dead sodding Tonberry, over that irritating moron.
But gods damn it, I love every single other thing about FF8. From the mad technology meets magic meets Harry Potter universe, through the bayshit insane story and cast of endearing weirdos, to the super convoluted and needlessly long winded junctioning system.
I spent literally hundreds of hours playing this game, over and over. I did every single quest, unlocked every secret, killed every enemy, and maxed out every stat.
All while using Rinoa as little as was physically possible.
FF7 might be more iconic, and FF9 the better game mechanically, but FF8 will always be the unassailable pinnacle of JRPG's for me.
5: Command and Conquer: Red Alert.
The sound of a Tesla Coil firing still to this day brings me almost sexual pleasure.
Be it on PC or PS1 (I owned it on both), this was my friends and I's multiplayer game of choice after MK8, mixed with whacky revisionist history, alternate universes and using a literal army of dogs to distract flame towers while I attacked them with rocket troopers.
RTS perfection.
6: Tomb Raider 2
Tomb Raider was a revelation in the possibilities for games having complex, 3 dimensional puzzle platforming.
Tomb Raider 2 delivered on every promise the first game made but couldn't keep, and has left me a life long fan of Tomb Raider, and it's living embodiment of murder, action adventure heroine Lara Croft, the ultimate combination of English aristocracy and just not having a single fuck to give.
She also drank Lucozade, and I fucking love Lucozade.
7: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
A game about a zombie, soul eating vampire with wings and an energy sword trying to kill the git responsible for crippling and killing him, while eating his brothers, switching between the world of the living and the dead, becoming a messianic figure to the last humans, all while running around an insanely rich, detailed world with no loading screens.
I'm still slightly astonished by it.
8: Colony Wars: Vengeance.
Branching storylines and a delightfully twisted, darkly political story of hatred played out while flying spaceships about blowing shit up. Still my all time space fighter game, and the reason I'm so excited by No Man's Sky.
9: Dino Crisis
Resident Evil with Dinosaurs! And a lippy, gun wielding redheaded protaganist!
Special mention to DC2, which was almost as good, but just not quite as memorable, inspite of being in some ways more fun.
10: Pokemon Silver
Still the best Pokemon game. Made far greater strides, and brought more improvements, than the rest of the franchise combined.
I still to this day use the team I assembled in the game. Charizard, Ampharos, Kingdra, Scizor and Tyranitar. Gods amongst monsters, and always in my heart, if not in my handheld.
1: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Not just the best Zelda game ever, but flat out the best game Nintendo have ever produced. It's a dark twisted fairy tale with more character and life to it than pretty much any other game in existence, taking a mature, narrative driven exploration of life, death and how people give it all meaning, and combining it all with a far more polished and improved take on OoT's gameplay and set up.
To this day, my favourite game of all time.
2: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
The best Resident Evil. The original, 2, REmake and 4 are all contenders, but no other entry combines quite such an oppressive, apocalyptic atmosphere, wealth of (often sadly unique) innovations, and the single most intimidating and terrifying monster in the history of the medium. Plus sassy, melodramatic, boob tube and a mini skirt in a zombie plague Jill is the best her character has ever been. A similar level of insane lack of regard for logic and safety Leon displays in later games, combined with a righteous combination of anger and depression make her just a joy to steer through Raccoon Cities death rattles.
Combined with the replayability of unlockables, multiple choices and routes through the events, and the debut of The Mercanaries mode, for me cement Jill's solo title as the Queen of Survival horror.
3: Metal Gear Solid
MGS changed how I view games as an artistic medium. Hell, it changed games, full stop.
It's the first game that ever made me cry. That I felt a strong enough sense of empathy for it's characters, that I had had a real world physical reaction to their stories.
It was James Bond mixed with sci fi through from the mind of a mad genius, and it's incredible.
4: Final Fantasy VIII
First of all, yes, Squall is an insufferable wanker. Secondly, Rinoa can fuck right off and die in a fire. I'd have rather Squall romanced Headmaster Cid, or a dead sodding Tonberry, over that irritating moron.
But gods damn it, I love every single other thing about FF8. From the mad technology meets magic meets Harry Potter universe, through the bayshit insane story and cast of endearing weirdos, to the super convoluted and needlessly long winded junctioning system.
I spent literally hundreds of hours playing this game, over and over. I did every single quest, unlocked every secret, killed every enemy, and maxed out every stat.
All while using Rinoa as little as was physically possible.
FF7 might be more iconic, and FF9 the better game mechanically, but FF8 will always be the unassailable pinnacle of JRPG's for me.
5: Command and Conquer: Red Alert.
The sound of a Tesla Coil firing still to this day brings me almost sexual pleasure.
Be it on PC or PS1 (I owned it on both), this was my friends and I's multiplayer game of choice after MK8, mixed with whacky revisionist history, alternate universes and using a literal army of dogs to distract flame towers while I attacked them with rocket troopers.
RTS perfection.
6: Tomb Raider 2
Tomb Raider was a revelation in the possibilities for games having complex, 3 dimensional puzzle platforming.
Tomb Raider 2 delivered on every promise the first game made but couldn't keep, and has left me a life long fan of Tomb Raider, and it's living embodiment of murder, action adventure heroine Lara Croft, the ultimate combination of English aristocracy and just not having a single fuck to give.
She also drank Lucozade, and I fucking love Lucozade.
7: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.
A game about a zombie, soul eating vampire with wings and an energy sword trying to kill the git responsible for crippling and killing him, while eating his brothers, switching between the world of the living and the dead, becoming a messianic figure to the last humans, all while running around an insanely rich, detailed world with no loading screens.
I'm still slightly astonished by it.
8: Colony Wars: Vengeance.
Branching storylines and a delightfully twisted, darkly political story of hatred played out while flying spaceships about blowing shit up. Still my all time space fighter game, and the reason I'm so excited by No Man's Sky.
9: Dino Crisis
Resident Evil with Dinosaurs! And a lippy, gun wielding redheaded protaganist!
Special mention to DC2, which was almost as good, but just not quite as memorable, inspite of being in some ways more fun.
10: Pokemon Silver
Still the best Pokemon game. Made far greater strides, and brought more improvements, than the rest of the franchise combined.
I still to this day use the team I assembled in the game. Charizard, Ampharos, Kingdra, Scizor and Tyranitar. Gods amongst monsters, and always in my heart, if not in my handheld.
hemtae
Member
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time One of Nintendos greatest accomplishments in a catalogue full of gamings greatest accomplishments. Also possibly the best game in a series that is full of claimants to the best game ever crown. This game did practically nothing wrong and a whole lot right. It is so good that it guaranteed that all future Zelda games would be compared to it whether or not they were even trying to be it in the first place. It also validated Miyamotos idea of A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.
2. Super Mario 64 Apart from being a superb platformer without taking anything else into account, the historical significance cannot be overstated. It was a hallmark of design in everything related to platforming including 3D graphics, camera system, and the movement. Also the non-linear level design has still yet to be matched even among Nintendos other great platforming games.
3. Planescape: Torment In the fifteen years since this has released, it is still unsurpassed in the writing department. Its thoroughly deserves the top spot of the countless best writing and best RPGs list it is put on. Torment: Tides of Numenera has put together a team of talent to rival the Dream Team of Chrono Trigger. Maybe a king might be toppled in the near future.
4. Grim Fandango The last classic adventure game made by LucasArts, kings of the adventure genre for a decade, and probably the greatest one. Unfortunately it never sold much prompting LucasArts to throw it into a hole that took the combined might of Tim Schaefer, Sony, and Disney to rescue it from.
5. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Sid Meier is one of the greatest game designers alive and this is one of the best games his name ever got attached to. Hopefully, Firaxis can pull a Civilization V and right the ship of Beyond Earth with a few expansions so it can become worthy of the Alpha Centauri successor marketing label they put on it.
6. Fallout 2 I could have just as easily put its predecessor in this slot but ultimately the vastness and ambition of Fallout 2 won out over the atmosphere and historical significance of Fallout 1. Everything that an RPG should be is what the first two Fallout games are. Hopefully Bethesda can get closer to those games now that they have New Vegas as a blueprint and experience from Fallout 3.
7. X-COM: UFO Defense Another influential strategy game from MicroPose and Julian Gollops magnum opus. Strategy gaming would not be the same as it as today without it and not for the better either. Directly, we wouldnt have XCOM: Enemy Unknown or Xenonauts which both openly built on the foundation that this game laid.
8. Thief: The Dark Project This set the standard by which all stealth games should be measured. Unfortunately in its seventeen years of existence only one game has managed that task and that was its sequel in 2000. Obviously stealth games were a mistake. They are nothing but trash. Or I guess you could agree with the rosier outlook that the Looking Glass Studios were at least fifteen years ahead of their time and their death is one of the gaming industries biggest tragedies.
9. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Oh Crash, what have they done to you. It may not have been able to stand up the platform mascot juggernaut that was Mario but you still deserved better than to be unwanted by your old parents and mistreated by your new ones.
10. Beneath a Steel Sky I decided to try this game when I was bored one day and wanted to see what exactly those free games from GOG were. It turns out this one was a pretty great science fiction adventure game from way back. Who knew? Probably a bunch of people but thats not the point. The point is I was a fool to doubt the free games on GOG.
x. Banjo-Kazooie
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Full Throttle
x. Heroes of Might and Magic III
2. Super Mario 64 Apart from being a superb platformer without taking anything else into account, the historical significance cannot be overstated. It was a hallmark of design in everything related to platforming including 3D graphics, camera system, and the movement. Also the non-linear level design has still yet to be matched even among Nintendos other great platforming games.
3. Planescape: Torment In the fifteen years since this has released, it is still unsurpassed in the writing department. Its thoroughly deserves the top spot of the countless best writing and best RPGs list it is put on. Torment: Tides of Numenera has put together a team of talent to rival the Dream Team of Chrono Trigger. Maybe a king might be toppled in the near future.
4. Grim Fandango The last classic adventure game made by LucasArts, kings of the adventure genre for a decade, and probably the greatest one. Unfortunately it never sold much prompting LucasArts to throw it into a hole that took the combined might of Tim Schaefer, Sony, and Disney to rescue it from.
5. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Sid Meier is one of the greatest game designers alive and this is one of the best games his name ever got attached to. Hopefully, Firaxis can pull a Civilization V and right the ship of Beyond Earth with a few expansions so it can become worthy of the Alpha Centauri successor marketing label they put on it.
6. Fallout 2 I could have just as easily put its predecessor in this slot but ultimately the vastness and ambition of Fallout 2 won out over the atmosphere and historical significance of Fallout 1. Everything that an RPG should be is what the first two Fallout games are. Hopefully Bethesda can get closer to those games now that they have New Vegas as a blueprint and experience from Fallout 3.
7. X-COM: UFO Defense Another influential strategy game from MicroPose and Julian Gollops magnum opus. Strategy gaming would not be the same as it as today without it and not for the better either. Directly, we wouldnt have XCOM: Enemy Unknown or Xenonauts which both openly built on the foundation that this game laid.
8. Thief: The Dark Project This set the standard by which all stealth games should be measured. Unfortunately in its seventeen years of existence only one game has managed that task and that was its sequel in 2000. Obviously stealth games were a mistake. They are nothing but trash. Or I guess you could agree with the rosier outlook that the Looking Glass Studios were at least fifteen years ahead of their time and their death is one of the gaming industries biggest tragedies.
9. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Oh Crash, what have they done to you. It may not have been able to stand up the platform mascot juggernaut that was Mario but you still deserved better than to be unwanted by your old parents and mistreated by your new ones.
10. Beneath a Steel Sky I decided to try this game when I was bored one day and wanted to see what exactly those free games from GOG were. It turns out this one was a pretty great science fiction adventure game from way back. Who knew? Probably a bunch of people but thats not the point. The point is I was a fool to doubt the free games on GOG.
x. Banjo-Kazooie
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Full Throttle
x. Heroes of Might and Magic III
I haven't played a lot of games of this generation. I'm only 21 years old so I was only 8 at the tail end of this generation. So these are just childhood games I loved and some shooters I went back and played.
I started to try and rank games I haven't played that are so well received...but I can't honestly. This generation has aged the worst of all for me to go back and play a lot of games.
1.Half Life A revolutionary shooter that really changed shooters to be how they are today. I went back and played this a few years back and it held up really well.
2.Super Mario 64 The first 3D collectathon and a very good one at that, I rank this higher then my personal favorite collectathons because it was first.
3.Spyro the Dragon 2: Riptos Rage My personal favorite 3D platformer. It had more unique gameplay then Spyro 1 and more diverse worlds then Spyro 1. I think this is also much better then Spyro 3...because the other playable characters really killed Spyro 3 for me. Spyro 2 is the best just straight Spyro game there is.
4.Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Pretty much the same story as Spyro 2. Crash 3 was annoying with the vehicle levels, where as Crash 2 just had much more fun straight Crash gameplay. Crash 1 was underwhelming and not very diverse with worlds and such, same as Spyro 1.
5.Quake II Fun multiplayer shooter I've played at LAN parties a few times, of this generation its the best multiplayer shooter.
6.Crash Team Racing Best kart racer on the console imo. Have had a lot of fun couch times playing this game.
7.Twisted Metal III Despite the controls being weird, best Twisted Metal game. Every time I hear Superbeast I think of this game.
Honorable Mentions
x.Spyro The Dragon: I love it, but it has a lot of flaws to be considered.
x.Counter Strike: Technically a mod not an actual game.
I started to try and rank games I haven't played that are so well received...but I can't honestly. This generation has aged the worst of all for me to go back and play a lot of games.
1.Half Life A revolutionary shooter that really changed shooters to be how they are today. I went back and played this a few years back and it held up really well.
2.Super Mario 64 The first 3D collectathon and a very good one at that, I rank this higher then my personal favorite collectathons because it was first.
3.Spyro the Dragon 2: Riptos Rage My personal favorite 3D platformer. It had more unique gameplay then Spyro 1 and more diverse worlds then Spyro 1. I think this is also much better then Spyro 3...because the other playable characters really killed Spyro 3 for me. Spyro 2 is the best just straight Spyro game there is.
4.Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Pretty much the same story as Spyro 2. Crash 3 was annoying with the vehicle levels, where as Crash 2 just had much more fun straight Crash gameplay. Crash 1 was underwhelming and not very diverse with worlds and such, same as Spyro 1.
5.Quake II Fun multiplayer shooter I've played at LAN parties a few times, of this generation its the best multiplayer shooter.
6.Crash Team Racing Best kart racer on the console imo. Have had a lot of fun couch times playing this game.
7.Twisted Metal III Despite the controls being weird, best Twisted Metal game. Every time I hear Superbeast I think of this game.
Honorable Mentions
x.Spyro The Dragon: I love it, but it has a lot of flaws to be considered.
x.Counter Strike: Technically a mod not an actual game.
Spieler Eins
Member
1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ; After OoT, the team was clearly given free reign to do whatever the fuck they wanted with the Zelda series. This title is weird, dark and depressing. The dungeons are decent, but that's not what this game is about. It's about exploring the world and interacting with the citizens. This game still has the best world building in a videogame, regardless of its small size. The groundhog-day mechanic is ingenious and allows for a full-fledged life-cycle for each NPC, also interacting with other NPCs, and you eventually intervening after studying the world. Most of the NPCs have a decent story to tell and there's tons of things to discover.
This year unfortunately the remake dumbed down the core of the game, but the original version is still the GOAT.
2. Resident Evil 2 ; This game is still lots of fun, because of magnificent pacing and level design, plus a system of NG+ walkthroughs providing extremely different experiences. The OST is legendary and sets a moody tone, the jump scares are actually quite clever and they will get you. Despite starting in a zombie-infested town, this game quickly returns to the strenghts of its predecessor and has you guiding through wonderfully ridiculous locations (which is even made fun of within the game) in a metroidvania-esque fashion, with minor puzzle solving and some dangerous encounters.
3. Paper Mario ; Despite ultimately becoming a tad redundant after a near identical sequel came out, which just happens to be a little shinier, this is still a great RPG regardless. There's tons of variety and creativity in the environments and gameplay, plus the Mario RPGs obviously make turn-based battles a little more fun by adding micro-games within the system. The writing and humour were top notch and the paper aesthetics still novel back in the day.
4. Super Mario 64 ; The revolution. Bob-omb battlefield might still be one of the best sandboxes out there, especially with those controls.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; The second revolution, I still discovered so many new things in a 3DS replay.
6. Silent Hill ; There's no nostalgia involved for me, I've only played it recently and this is still one of the most terrifying games. I've always found the gameplay of this series weaker than Resident Evil, however, the atmosphere is still one of a kind, truly horrifying and bizarre.
7. Banjo-Kazooie ; If you want a platformer featuring cartoon animals, this is probably your best choice. There's definitely still something to the old Rareware style. Despite lots of collecting, there's still interesting level design compared to something like Spyro and even though I might prefer certain things in Tooie, the latter had some rather bad gameplay parts too (FPS sections).
8. Final Fantasy VII ; The perfect balance between old FF tropes and a fresh premise, before Nomura went into full insanity mode. The backgrounds still look nice today, the OST is obviously amazing and steampunk's always nice. The blocky characters and cartoony feel is definitely a plus, since it still held back the later FF melodrama. The battle system was streamlined compared to older FF titles, but I actually welcome that and it's still very fun and hence a great beginner's RPG.
9. Rayman 2: The Great Escape ; Great linear, semi-open 3D platforming in a moody setting, before the series went full goofball. The pirate designs are classic too, although Rayman still looked a little dumb back then.
10. Diddy Kong Racing ; The idea of a singleplayer adventure in a racing game is still quite novel today, so is switching between three completely different vehicle types. That makes up for somewhat floaty controls you need to get used to. This game also gets really challenging. The soundtrack is as great as you'd expect from Rareware.
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; A classic Metroidvania with a classic soundtrack, however I'm not very fond of anything revolving around the inverted castle.
x. Klonoa ; Probably the smartest use of 2,5D platforming gameplay, even today.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
This one is harder for me to do because a lot of these games I played on the N64 I haven't played in a long ass time so I'm not sure where to put them. The PS1 games are fresh and all I played on Gameboy Color was Pokemon and like 4 hours of Oracle of Seasons.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
1. Super Mario 64 ; Never again can we make such a large leap in gaming like the jump to full 3D with Super Mario 64. I remember reading in a magazine that it would take the experienced player 100 hours to fully complete this game. And they probably weren't far off. It was a truly new way to play games that the world had yet to see, and it was absolutely magical. I was 10 or 11 when the N64 came out, and I couldn't afford one of my own, so I would play at my friends house constantly. I can't even say how many hours we put into this game trying to clear it. They are some of my very best gaming memories. We got to 119 stars about three or four times, always having trouble getting the 100 coins on Tick Tock Clock, only for his three year old niece to keep deleting our save file. We got upset at her of course, but I think we were both secretly happy for an excuse to play through the game again. Everything about it was magical... The music, the graphics, the course design, the way Mario moved, the puzzles, Princess Peach's Castle, the Bowser fights. Of course you can pick this game apart and see how flawed it is in this day and age. The camera is terrible, and you can even argue that it's not a Mario game. But none of that mattered when this game came out. It was a masterpiece that will never be matched again.
2. Resident Evil 2
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
6. Silent Hill
7. Mario Kart 64
8. Twisted Metal 2
9. Mega Man 8
10. Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Honorable Mentions
x. Pandemonium!
x. Resident Evil
x. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
x. NFL Blitz
x. NBA Hangtime
x. Loaded
x. GoldenEye 007
x. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
x. Road Rash 3D
x. Donkey Kong 64
x. Super Smash Bros.
I'll update with more comments as I have time to write them.
2. Resident Evil 2
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
6. Silent Hill
7. Mario Kart 64
8. Twisted Metal 2
9. Mega Man 8
10. Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Honorable Mentions
x. Pandemonium!
x. Resident Evil
x. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
x. NFL Blitz
x. NBA Hangtime
x. Loaded
x. GoldenEye 007
x. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
x. Road Rash 3D
x. Donkey Kong 64
x. Super Smash Bros.
I'll update with more comments as I have time to write them.
I never once said 30 because 30 probably is a little too much. But I still do think 30 would produce some much nicer things than 10. 15-25 would be the sweetspot and while I understand part of the reason this is ten is so it's easier for you to keep track of, that would be null if you had access to the automated system used for the GOTY counts. I might still vote because I do want a say in this GOTY vote but it's still disappointing in my eyes.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I did play Oregon Trail during this generation. Does Oregon Trail count?
Hm, I wish I could participate in this, but to be honest I just don't feel qualified with how many gen 5 games I've played. Maybe if this was done in a year and a half or so from now, by then I'll have played more gen 5 games (Majora's Mask, the GBC Zeldas, the Banjo games, FF 8 and 9, Xenogears, Suikoden 1 and 2, Chrono Cross, Persona 2, Blast Corps, and Conker's Bad Fur Day are all games I want to play sometime within the next couple years or so, though realistically I probably won't get to them all). For now I'll just follow this thread.
themagicalkitsune
Member
I will rectify that when I post my list. It should also account for your glaring omission of Breath of Fire 3.
Sumio Mondo
Member
1. Metal Gear Solid (PSX); I still remember I played this by renting it because I thought the front cover looked so cool (with the Shinkawa artwork). I hadn't even heard of it before. And I was just so involved into the storyline that I just became obsessed with everything Hideo Kojima and have been ever since. This game changed everything for me; now i could see games as cinematic experiences, I had never experienced anything quite like it before. I loved the mysterious, snowy atmosphere, the sombre tone, the strange and interesting mysterious characters and I honestly still do think the storyline is still one of the best in gaming. It's just so tight and Kojima has never topped it. As a game designer, he's experimented aplenty since, but as a writer, yeah, never has he been better (I loved Snatcher and MGS2 as well). I don't think there's ever been a more interesting group of villains in a game since FOXHOUND & Gray Fox, either, they're just so iconic. Heck, the entire cast is, so many badasses and cool characters. I love the music a lot too, it's just so...distinct and really wraps you up into the atmosphere, even now. I also feel that the boss battles are just from start to finish amazing. I loved the gameplay so much that I felt that the VR Missions they sold later were a real treat too. It's practically facing Shenmue as my favourite game of all time. Best short game ever made!
2. Resident Evil 2 (PSX); I'm tempted to call this the best game sequel of all time...Hideki Kamiya has never topped this game, imo. I remember playing the game years ago when I was around 9 at a friend's and being absolutely terrified. I had nightmares of Mr. X and zombie dogs chasing after me for weeks after that. I didn't play it for real until after my first Resident Evil game that I got, which was Resident Evil 4. After I beat RE4, I looked to the old games, beat RE1 on PSX and got RE2 straight after I beat RE1. I immediately recognised Mr. X and those childhood scars that were still there. i enjoyed getting my revenge. I was honestly blown away to learn how many scenarios the game had. RE3 I loved too, but RE2 is just a far larger game with tighter design and introduced us to Raccoon City in all of its glory first. RE3 sort of felt like another scenario released as a separate game. Not that I was complaining, I'd certainly take more of Raccoon City than any of the boring locations RE6 threw at us.
I just thought that RE2 really is one of the most replayable survival horror games out there, mainly thanks in large part to the 4 different scenarios and just how frigging good the design of the game is, from top to bottom. I can still play the game now and it just feels tight.
...Capcom were just on a roll back then.
3. Vagrant Story (PSX); Possibly my favourite Squaresoft game, although it is close between this and FFXII, Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics. There's something that links all of these masterpieces together - Yasumi Matsuno. I loved this game as soon as I watched the badass intro to the end and immediately took to the hybrid battle system right away. It just had the right balance between being action based and strategic and satisfying feedback from attacking enemies. The storyline is just a really tightly woven narrative that towards the end was obviously cut short (since things start to end abruptly) but Matsuno still proves his worth as a master of atmosphere and characterisation. I still hope for a sequel, even now.
4. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64); Nintendo took me on a whirlwind of adventure back then. I had never been on into "fantasy" novels or games back when I had an N64, but this game changed that. It opened my eyes to just how magnificent these fantasy adventures can be. I enjoyed every area and every dungeon from start to finish, which I can't really say about any other Zelda games I have played. My only prior Zelda game was Link's Awakening on OG Game Boy, which I never finished, but did enjoy. This game was just next level "holy shit". I was constantly wowed and just believed Nintendo could just do no wrong. Majora's Mask didn't captivate me nearly as much as this game and it just felt...weird whereas this game just felt charming and warm. Well, the Child Link sections did, the Adult Link sections were a wonderful game changer. Ganon has never felt so intimidating since either, imo. I enjoyed traversing Hyrule and my feelings for the game were reaffirmed when I played the 3DS remake. It's still my favourite Zelda and favourite Nintendo game.
5. Mischief Makers (N64); Treasure's finest moment. And they've had many. I enjoyed every aspect of this game and just became obsessed. It's probably my personal pick as favourite "action platformer" ever made. Marina is one of gaming's unsung heroines and the adventure (which is often weird) we are taken on is just brilliant.
6. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSX); ATLUS released one final game for PSX and it was this game. Similarly to Parasite Eve, this never got a PAL release, but again, am incredibly glad this came to PSN so I could finish the story started in Innocent Sin on my PSP (another really good ATLUS game). This game improved on Innocent Sin in practically every aspect. Tighter storyline, better music, better dungeons, more demons, less frequent random battles and a branching path to take. Plus the only Persona (and one of the very, very few JRPGs in general) to feature a cast of adults as the protagonists. I especially enjoy the atmosphere of these old ATLUS games and this one is probably the best of that era. This game just rocks.
7. Front Mission 3 (PSX); During an era where Squaresoft were pumping out quality after quality title, they released this SRPG game which really fell under the radar. Never even heard of it until a few years ago. Well, through this game, I became the Front Mission nut i am nowadays. Branchings storyline and ending, a vast resource of mech customisation, beautiful artwork, funky 90s music, the Network forum, the vast amount of maps and just how fun the SRPG combat is.
8. Deception 3 (PSX); Probably next to Fatal Frame 3/Project Zero 3 as my favourite Tecmo game of all time. It is easily my favourite game of the Deception series. This game just perfects on the previous titles in every single way - more traps, better enemy variety, best music in the series, best atmosphere (Gothic as hell, so grim and dark) and the scenario is underrated. Makoto Shibata is one of gaming's unsung heroes. Master director.
9. Parasite Eve (PSX); This game never came out in PAL territory, so I only played it after it came out on PSN. But oh man, was it worth the extremely long wait! What a masterpiece. One of the Square's best games. The atmosphere, music and unique battle system still stands up.
10. Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars (N64); Probably my second favourite Nintendo game up to this point, after Ocarina of Time. I already gained my love for the rail shooter genre thanks in large part to Space Harrier and Panzer Dragoon and this just took it to the next level. The amount of variety, enemies and bosses was just insane. Then I learned there was two other paths I could take and an expert mode (I managed to get gold stars on all of them) it just blew me away. It's basically Saturday Morning Cartoon: The Video Game but as a rail shooter which favours skill and offers brilliant boss battles. I hope Zero is even half as good as this game.
Honourable Mentions:
Hell Night/Dark Messiah (PSX) - Incredibly overlooked survival horror game by ATLUS.
Koudelka (PSX) - Really underrated survival horror game that has SRPG combat. I loved these experimental games we used to get back then. If you enjoy Gothic Horror atmosphere and aesthetics, this is the game for you. I also enjoyed the combat more than I was expecting too. The dialogue and voice acting was also far better than nay other survival horror game from that era too.
Enemy Zero (Saturn) - Sadly been forgotten with time, but this was practically the original version of Alien: Isolation. Never felt more vulnerable in a horror game. The save/load system was brutal and the atmosphere was really quiet and eerie. Kenji Eno was in his prime in this era.
Shining Force 3 (Saturn) - Only played a bit of it, but love what I have played since it reminds me of an era of pure gaming bliss. I just know i am going to love the shit out of this game.
Mega Man Legends (PSX) - Classic Capcom. Charming and fun all the way through. Still not played Tron Bonne or the sequels. One day, one day.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PSX) - An incredible game from Capcom in an era where they could do no wrong. Nemesis truly is one of gaming's most intimidating (and persistent) antagonists.
Echo Night (PSX) - A mysterious adventure game by From Software in an era where they were still not very popular. It's a real treat and wonderful, short adventure.
Super Mario 64 (N64) - I was blown away by this game since it was honestly my first ever exposure to the world of 3D gaming back when I was a small lad. It honestly felt like the greatest leap from 2D Mario to this...only reason it's not on the list is because I haven't played it in so, so long. Can't let my list be ruled by nostalgia. I just remember this game being so well varied and fun that I devoted all of my waking hours as a kid to this game, searching for all of the Stars, hidden areas and secrets. Great memories that will stay with me forever.
Goldeneye (N64) - Was my first exposure to First Person gaming and what a blast it was! Rare were in their prime in this era. The campaign was really fun and the multiplayer was amazing, I had never experienced anything like it before. A landmark moment for me as a gamer.
Turok (N64) - About as good as games with dinosaurs in it ever got and the game was so atmospheric and fun to play.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64) - One of the finest games Konami ever put out. And that's a statement (they could do no wrong for me until the PS3/360/Wii era). Everything they made was just exuding quality back then and prior. This is one of the most charming and funny games I played as a kid and I still hold it up as an underrated gem.
Galerians (PSX) - Just played this a couple of years ago and it is basically Akira: The Video Game (based more on the Manga story). It has this strange, weird vibe running throughout it and the scenario is well done. It's really flawed in some ways, but I like the game a lot.
Silent Bomber (PSX) - Another one of those "forgotten gems" and CyberConnect are still one of my favourite developers. I would love to see a new version some day, it's still unique to this day.
2. Resident Evil 2 (PSX); I'm tempted to call this the best game sequel of all time...Hideki Kamiya has never topped this game, imo. I remember playing the game years ago when I was around 9 at a friend's and being absolutely terrified. I had nightmares of Mr. X and zombie dogs chasing after me for weeks after that. I didn't play it for real until after my first Resident Evil game that I got, which was Resident Evil 4. After I beat RE4, I looked to the old games, beat RE1 on PSX and got RE2 straight after I beat RE1. I immediately recognised Mr. X and those childhood scars that were still there. i enjoyed getting my revenge. I was honestly blown away to learn how many scenarios the game had. RE3 I loved too, but RE2 is just a far larger game with tighter design and introduced us to Raccoon City in all of its glory first. RE3 sort of felt like another scenario released as a separate game. Not that I was complaining, I'd certainly take more of Raccoon City than any of the boring locations RE6 threw at us.
I just thought that RE2 really is one of the most replayable survival horror games out there, mainly thanks in large part to the 4 different scenarios and just how frigging good the design of the game is, from top to bottom. I can still play the game now and it just feels tight.
...Capcom were just on a roll back then.
3. Vagrant Story (PSX); Possibly my favourite Squaresoft game, although it is close between this and FFXII, Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics. There's something that links all of these masterpieces together - Yasumi Matsuno. I loved this game as soon as I watched the badass intro to the end and immediately took to the hybrid battle system right away. It just had the right balance between being action based and strategic and satisfying feedback from attacking enemies. The storyline is just a really tightly woven narrative that towards the end was obviously cut short (since things start to end abruptly) but Matsuno still proves his worth as a master of atmosphere and characterisation. I still hope for a sequel, even now.
4. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64); Nintendo took me on a whirlwind of adventure back then. I had never been on into "fantasy" novels or games back when I had an N64, but this game changed that. It opened my eyes to just how magnificent these fantasy adventures can be. I enjoyed every area and every dungeon from start to finish, which I can't really say about any other Zelda games I have played. My only prior Zelda game was Link's Awakening on OG Game Boy, which I never finished, but did enjoy. This game was just next level "holy shit". I was constantly wowed and just believed Nintendo could just do no wrong. Majora's Mask didn't captivate me nearly as much as this game and it just felt...weird whereas this game just felt charming and warm. Well, the Child Link sections did, the Adult Link sections were a wonderful game changer. Ganon has never felt so intimidating since either, imo. I enjoyed traversing Hyrule and my feelings for the game were reaffirmed when I played the 3DS remake. It's still my favourite Zelda and favourite Nintendo game.
5. Mischief Makers (N64); Treasure's finest moment. And they've had many. I enjoyed every aspect of this game and just became obsessed. It's probably my personal pick as favourite "action platformer" ever made. Marina is one of gaming's unsung heroines and the adventure (which is often weird) we are taken on is just brilliant.
6. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSX); ATLUS released one final game for PSX and it was this game. Similarly to Parasite Eve, this never got a PAL release, but again, am incredibly glad this came to PSN so I could finish the story started in Innocent Sin on my PSP (another really good ATLUS game). This game improved on Innocent Sin in practically every aspect. Tighter storyline, better music, better dungeons, more demons, less frequent random battles and a branching path to take. Plus the only Persona (and one of the very, very few JRPGs in general) to feature a cast of adults as the protagonists. I especially enjoy the atmosphere of these old ATLUS games and this one is probably the best of that era. This game just rocks.
7. Front Mission 3 (PSX); During an era where Squaresoft were pumping out quality after quality title, they released this SRPG game which really fell under the radar. Never even heard of it until a few years ago. Well, through this game, I became the Front Mission nut i am nowadays. Branchings storyline and ending, a vast resource of mech customisation, beautiful artwork, funky 90s music, the Network forum, the vast amount of maps and just how fun the SRPG combat is.
8. Deception 3 (PSX); Probably next to Fatal Frame 3/Project Zero 3 as my favourite Tecmo game of all time. It is easily my favourite game of the Deception series. This game just perfects on the previous titles in every single way - more traps, better enemy variety, best music in the series, best atmosphere (Gothic as hell, so grim and dark) and the scenario is underrated. Makoto Shibata is one of gaming's unsung heroes. Master director.
9. Parasite Eve (PSX); This game never came out in PAL territory, so I only played it after it came out on PSN. But oh man, was it worth the extremely long wait! What a masterpiece. One of the Square's best games. The atmosphere, music and unique battle system still stands up.
10. Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars (N64); Probably my second favourite Nintendo game up to this point, after Ocarina of Time. I already gained my love for the rail shooter genre thanks in large part to Space Harrier and Panzer Dragoon and this just took it to the next level. The amount of variety, enemies and bosses was just insane. Then I learned there was two other paths I could take and an expert mode (I managed to get gold stars on all of them) it just blew me away. It's basically Saturday Morning Cartoon: The Video Game but as a rail shooter which favours skill and offers brilliant boss battles. I hope Zero is even half as good as this game.
Honourable Mentions:
Hell Night/Dark Messiah (PSX) - Incredibly overlooked survival horror game by ATLUS.
Koudelka (PSX) - Really underrated survival horror game that has SRPG combat. I loved these experimental games we used to get back then. If you enjoy Gothic Horror atmosphere and aesthetics, this is the game for you. I also enjoyed the combat more than I was expecting too. The dialogue and voice acting was also far better than nay other survival horror game from that era too.
Enemy Zero (Saturn) - Sadly been forgotten with time, but this was practically the original version of Alien: Isolation. Never felt more vulnerable in a horror game. The save/load system was brutal and the atmosphere was really quiet and eerie. Kenji Eno was in his prime in this era.
Shining Force 3 (Saturn) - Only played a bit of it, but love what I have played since it reminds me of an era of pure gaming bliss. I just know i am going to love the shit out of this game.
Mega Man Legends (PSX) - Classic Capcom. Charming and fun all the way through. Still not played Tron Bonne or the sequels. One day, one day.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PSX) - An incredible game from Capcom in an era where they could do no wrong. Nemesis truly is one of gaming's most intimidating (and persistent) antagonists.
Echo Night (PSX) - A mysterious adventure game by From Software in an era where they were still not very popular. It's a real treat and wonderful, short adventure.
Super Mario 64 (N64) - I was blown away by this game since it was honestly my first ever exposure to the world of 3D gaming back when I was a small lad. It honestly felt like the greatest leap from 2D Mario to this...only reason it's not on the list is because I haven't played it in so, so long. Can't let my list be ruled by nostalgia. I just remember this game being so well varied and fun that I devoted all of my waking hours as a kid to this game, searching for all of the Stars, hidden areas and secrets. Great memories that will stay with me forever.
Goldeneye (N64) - Was my first exposure to First Person gaming and what a blast it was! Rare were in their prime in this era. The campaign was really fun and the multiplayer was amazing, I had never experienced anything like it before. A landmark moment for me as a gamer.
Turok (N64) - About as good as games with dinosaurs in it ever got and the game was so atmospheric and fun to play.
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64) - One of the finest games Konami ever put out. And that's a statement (they could do no wrong for me until the PS3/360/Wii era). Everything they made was just exuding quality back then and prior. This is one of the most charming and funny games I played as a kid and I still hold it up as an underrated gem.
Galerians (PSX) - Just played this a couple of years ago and it is basically Akira: The Video Game (based more on the Manga story). It has this strange, weird vibe running throughout it and the scenario is well done. It's really flawed in some ways, but I like the game a lot.
Silent Bomber (PSX) - Another one of those "forgotten gems" and CyberConnect are still one of my favourite developers. I would love to see a new version some day, it's still unique to this day.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; This just blew my mind. The time travel, the horse, Hyrule in 3D. Like Mario 64, it just changed everything for me in terms of expectations, the only downside was the huge amount of early 3D games that couldn't live up to it. Still a wonderfully paced adventure, with darkness, humour, urgency and serenity all working side-by-side.
2. Lylat Wars/Starfox 64; So replayable. Good to blast through in an afternoon thinking you've mastered it, and then good to spend weeks unlocking the different paths and finding the real challenges.
3. Front Mission 3; A real unsung gem. Two huge SRPG campaigns, with brutal mech combat that really makes the weapons feel heavy.
4. Suikoden II; Everything I love in a JRPG, with a story centred around dozens of sparsely drawn yet likable characters rather than walking cliches.
5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night; Happily showing the N64 3D Castlevanias that their direwolves were barking up the wrong tree.
6. Mario Kart 64
7. Final Fantasy IX
8. Final Fantasy Tactics
9. Alundra
10. Goldeneye
This is really hard.
2. Lylat Wars/Starfox 64; So replayable. Good to blast through in an afternoon thinking you've mastered it, and then good to spend weeks unlocking the different paths and finding the real challenges.
3. Front Mission 3; A real unsung gem. Two huge SRPG campaigns, with brutal mech combat that really makes the weapons feel heavy.
4. Suikoden II; Everything I love in a JRPG, with a story centred around dozens of sparsely drawn yet likable characters rather than walking cliches.
5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night; Happily showing the N64 3D Castlevanias that their direwolves were barking up the wrong tree.
6. Mario Kart 64
7. Final Fantasy IX
8. Final Fantasy Tactics
9. Alundra
10. Goldeneye
This is really hard.
1. Super Mario 64: This game defined and established 3d platforming and it also greatly contributed in 3d gaming in general. Nintendo got (almost) everything right from the get-go, while other developers couldn't compare with their own attempts, even if their games followed several years later.
2. Zelda: Ocarina of Time: There's not much to add here,as almost everything has been covered by others. Fantastic transition to 3d for the series, memorable dungeon and overworld design, great atmosphere, great sense of adventuring. The hype behind this game was crazy, and not only did the game live up to it, it even exceeded it.
3. Final Fantasy VII: It's far from my favorite FF by now, but still no one can deny this game's impact. It changed JRPGs and it helped to greatly popularize the whole genre. The atmosphere/setting and the OST are the game's strongest points.
4. Metal Gear Solid: I was never a huge fan of the gameplay, not even back when MGS was released, but the storytelling and the plot were unlike anything that we had seen before. A truly cinematic experience way before other console games followed a similar approach. Great concept, very good execution.
5. Vagrant Story: Squaresoft was on a roll with one great game after another around that era. Vagrant Story is one of the finest products that Square was able to deliver. Yasumi Matsuno gave us one of the best storylines ever told in an RPG, accompanied by a very ambitious and innovative, although far from perfect battle system. I miss the days when Square would release such games. Finally I should also mention the game's fantastic visuals.
6. Quake III Arena: Up to this day this is by far my favorite arena shooter and FPS in general. It's easily the most timeless game within this list, I can really go back to it any time.
7. Diddy Kong Racing: It wasn't the best multiplayer game but it sure was the best single player racing game of that era. I loved the overworld and the game's design which reminded me of Super Mario 64. I loved the multiple vehicle concept and even the soundtrack was great. Fantastic challenge and single player fun that made me spent many more hours than I ever spent on Mario Kart 64 which I only played with friends.
8. Resident Evil: This game defined a genre and a whole era. I didn't finish the game back in the day, but when I did I was impressed by its good points. The mansion design is almost iconic and definitely very well-thought. I am not the biggest fan of the actual gameplay, but Capcom got many things right with this one.
9. Monkey Island 3: The Curse of Monkey Island: After all those years it's still the most memorable adventure game that I have ever played. Tons of fun, great script, nice visuals, nice challenge... Everything felt great back then for someone inexperienced in adventure games like me.
10. F-Zero X: That sense of speed, those perfectly smooth controls and of course this absolutely great soundtrack. Great experience, countless hours spent on this game. Too bad that F-Zero GX was released and then I never looked back.
x. Goldeneye: The impact of this game was huge for the whole VG industry, and although it has aged terribly I can't deny its huge impact.
x. FF9: If one game captures the essence of the FF series then this is the one. It's just that I had to pick 7 over 9 because of its impact at the time that it was released, although now I definitely prefer 9.
x. Silent Hill: I prefer this over RE1 for its plot and OST mainly, also because of the approach to the whole horror factor. I just feel that RE1 offered more to the genre and that SH has some more striking flaws (gameplay/combat system) so in the end I went with RE for a spot in the top 10.
x: Xenogears: Unfortunately the game has its flaws, but for me it's the most memorable JRPG experience of that time. Perfect OST, fantastic plot. On the other hand there are the obvious pacing issues and some kinda bad dungeon design which is also exacerbated by the platforming elements in the game.
2. Zelda: Ocarina of Time: There's not much to add here,as almost everything has been covered by others. Fantastic transition to 3d for the series, memorable dungeon and overworld design, great atmosphere, great sense of adventuring. The hype behind this game was crazy, and not only did the game live up to it, it even exceeded it.
3. Final Fantasy VII: It's far from my favorite FF by now, but still no one can deny this game's impact. It changed JRPGs and it helped to greatly popularize the whole genre. The atmosphere/setting and the OST are the game's strongest points.
4. Metal Gear Solid: I was never a huge fan of the gameplay, not even back when MGS was released, but the storytelling and the plot were unlike anything that we had seen before. A truly cinematic experience way before other console games followed a similar approach. Great concept, very good execution.
5. Vagrant Story: Squaresoft was on a roll with one great game after another around that era. Vagrant Story is one of the finest products that Square was able to deliver. Yasumi Matsuno gave us one of the best storylines ever told in an RPG, accompanied by a very ambitious and innovative, although far from perfect battle system. I miss the days when Square would release such games. Finally I should also mention the game's fantastic visuals.
6. Quake III Arena: Up to this day this is by far my favorite arena shooter and FPS in general. It's easily the most timeless game within this list, I can really go back to it any time.
7. Diddy Kong Racing: It wasn't the best multiplayer game but it sure was the best single player racing game of that era. I loved the overworld and the game's design which reminded me of Super Mario 64. I loved the multiple vehicle concept and even the soundtrack was great. Fantastic challenge and single player fun that made me spent many more hours than I ever spent on Mario Kart 64 which I only played with friends.
8. Resident Evil: This game defined a genre and a whole era. I didn't finish the game back in the day, but when I did I was impressed by its good points. The mansion design is almost iconic and definitely very well-thought. I am not the biggest fan of the actual gameplay, but Capcom got many things right with this one.
9. Monkey Island 3: The Curse of Monkey Island: After all those years it's still the most memorable adventure game that I have ever played. Tons of fun, great script, nice visuals, nice challenge... Everything felt great back then for someone inexperienced in adventure games like me.
10. F-Zero X: That sense of speed, those perfectly smooth controls and of course this absolutely great soundtrack. Great experience, countless hours spent on this game. Too bad that F-Zero GX was released and then I never looked back
.x. Goldeneye: The impact of this game was huge for the whole VG industry, and although it has aged terribly I can't deny its huge impact.
x. FF9: If one game captures the essence of the FF series then this is the one. It's just that I had to pick 7 over 9 because of its impact at the time that it was released, although now I definitely prefer 9.
x. Silent Hill: I prefer this over RE1 for its plot and OST mainly, also because of the approach to the whole horror factor. I just feel that RE1 offered more to the genre and that SH has some more striking flaws (gameplay/combat system) so in the end I went with RE for a spot in the top 10.
x: Xenogears: Unfortunately the game has its flaws, but for me it's the most memorable JRPG experience of that time. Perfect OST, fantastic plot. On the other hand there are the obvious pacing issues and some kinda bad dungeon design which is also exacerbated by the platforming elements in the game.
timetokill
Banned
Yeah, it's been surpassed in its parts, but I think as a whole Ocarina of Time still shines. Anytime I pick up the game to play it, I'm about to enter Jabu Jabu's Belly before I know it, before I even think about taking a break. The game puts you in its flow very quickly, seamlessly, and beautifully, even surpassing its predecessors in many ways. I also feel like the fact that it's become THE prototype for Zelda, a series with no lack of incredible games, says a lot. Plus, the final battle still gives me chills to this day. Kondo really knocked it out of the park going understated on that track.AniHawk said:
It really isn't. Concerns about "tactical voting" are way overblown, based on my several years of running the yearly GOTY voting, and AniHawk has similar experience doing it as well.
1. You can list as many games as you want, honorable mentions included.
2. The format makes you actually think about what the best games were as opposed to "list every game I played from that gen."
3. Tactical voting would happen with even more games as well. It comes down to the person, and the majority of GAF users don't engage in that kind of thing. The ones that do wouldn't be deterred by having more slots available.
4. The voting threads are more interesting and valuable than the results threads. That's why we require comments.
Looking through this thread now in its infancy, you'll already see votes for games like: Broken Sword, Klonoa, Age of Empires, Darkstalkers, Wario Land 3, Legend of Dragoon (ugh, wtf -- no offense Fou-Lu), Brigandine, Daytona USA, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Digimon World, Silent Bomber, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and more. I'm not going out on a limb here to say that none of these games will be in the top 10 or even in the top 20. But they're still being voted for. Hell, there are two games in my list that I fully expect nobody else will vote for.
In other words, stop worrying and have fun.
If Age of Empires doesn't even crack the top 20, I'll never know happiness again.
FunkyDealer
Banned
I don't believe in lists, but Mario 64 is king of gen five. Pokémon is the queen.
the automated thing isn't actually automated. i know because i used it last time.
one of the baffling and most impressive things about the game is the lack of the zelda theme. ocarina of time is so strong it doesn't need to rely on such a popular staple of the series, and instead develops many of its own.
and to think this was a game heavily compromised with setback after setback, until what we got was something fairly chopped up from a much more ambitious title. it's so strange to think that with the game as praised as it is, that some on the development team might have been actually frustrated with ideas that were not able to be implemented.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
Oh man, so many games to choose from.
Majora's Mask will probably be my #1
Majora's Mask will probably be my #1
"God's Beard!"
Member
Trying to be as objective as possible:
1. Half-Life ; Revolutionized the way storytelling is told through gameplay instead of thrown at you.
2. Super Mario 64 ; Massively influential game that created the foundation for 3d action games of all types.
3. Metal Gear Solid ; First game to present itself like a major motion picture, brought massive interest to games
4. The Legend Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Established the lock-on system for action games, massively influential
5. Final Fantasy VII ; re-established the JRPG as a dominant force, used CG to generate interest from new players
6. Resident Evil ; Established Survival Horror as a genre.
7. Goldeneye 64 ; Established the console multiplayer FPS
8. Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike ; large strides in the gameplay mechanics for fighting games
9. Planescape: Torment ; a huge push forward for thoughtful stories in games
10. Tomb Raider ; first female protagonist in a major action game, pushed interest in games as a whole
1. Half-Life ; Revolutionized the way storytelling is told through gameplay instead of thrown at you.
2. Super Mario 64 ; Massively influential game that created the foundation for 3d action games of all types.
3. Metal Gear Solid ; First game to present itself like a major motion picture, brought massive interest to games
4. The Legend Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Established the lock-on system for action games, massively influential
5. Final Fantasy VII ; re-established the JRPG as a dominant force, used CG to generate interest from new players
6. Resident Evil ; Established Survival Horror as a genre.
7. Goldeneye 64 ; Established the console multiplayer FPS
8. Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike ; large strides in the gameplay mechanics for fighting games
9. Planescape: Torment ; a huge push forward for thoughtful stories in games
10. Tomb Raider ; first female protagonist in a major action game, pushed interest in games as a whole
timetokill
Banned
Very true. You can see remnants and fragments of ideas all over the game, and it's clear that Majora's Mask was made almost out of a developer need to work out some of those ideas (the Happy Mask Salesman in Ocarina of Time clearly hinted at more than what that game had), and I think a lot more was planned for Epona than what we ended up with. But it's a testament to how relentless they were in cutting things that didn't work and polishing what did. There's a lot to learn for game designers in that.
1. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; A really unique take on the Zelda formula which put the focus on the game on the characters and overworld rather than the dungeons, and succeeds spectacularly. With more serious characters and darker themes which are constantly pounded into the players head, the game creates an amazing atmosphere which is still unmatched to this day.
When playing the game for the first time, I cared less about saving the world and more about helping the various people around the world just because of how sorry I felt for them. The game even had me desperately trying to cram as much stuff into my final cycle helping as many people as I could before I finally went on to the final boss.
The dungeons may not be the best in the series (though I love Stone Tower), but everything else in the game more than makes up for it and elevates Majora's Mask far above any other Zelda game for me.
2. Pokemon Crystal; When I was kid, this game blew my mind. It was everything I loved about gen 1, but with new pokemon, new types, a new region (plus the old one!), new moves, and everything else that we now expect to come with a new pokemon generation. But what keeps me loving this game so much so many years later mostly comes down to the world and presentation. Gen 2 has a great graphical style, fantastic music, gym leaders with a lot of character, a more interesting rival, and a lot of my favorite pokemon designs to this day.
I also liked that the game was fairly difficult compared to gen 1, though that was admittedly only because of how broken the level curve was. Plus, the finale vs Red was and still is one of the coolest ways to wrap up a game. Overall, Crystal was the perfect sequel to the gen 1 games and IMO has only been matched by its remake.
3. Paper Mario; A fun take on an RPG which gets rid of a lot of the standard JRPG conventions and makes combat simple, while also adding varied action commands to keep the player engaged in the battles. The fun of the game comes from seeing all the wacky situations Mario and friends manage to get into while trying to save the star spirits, whether it's searching a desert for an oasis, jumping into a miniature toybox world, or escaping an erupting volcano.
4. Banjo Kazooie; The original collectathon platformer and still one of the best. Exploring each world thoroughly looking for all the jiggies is a lot of fun and the actual platforming sections are naturally interwoven into the worlds rather than being laid out as specific challenges (at least most of the time). The game's sense of humor is also spot-on and things like the transformations and Grunty's Furnace Fun keep the player guessing about what could be next.
5. Banjo Tooie; The bigger and more complicated successor to BK, Banjo Tooie replaces BK's tight, compact levels with giant multilayered worlds with most jiggies typically requiring mutiple conditions be met before you can grab them. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I saw the worlds as huge overarching puzzles which you slowly solve and gain jiggies as you figure the world out part by part. Exploration is a much bigger part of Tooie and I love exploration so it never bothered me. I also loved the addition of boss battles in every world.
Was not as much a fan of the FPS sections and there were a few too many minigames in each world for my liking so I put it below BK. I go back and forth between the two quite often though.
6. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; THE Zelda game to which every other 3D Zelda will forever be measured up against. It's not my favorite but it is my first and it's still pretty amazing. Dungeon designs in this one are top notch, bosses are intimidating, and can be pretty rough the first time through, and overall the game gives a great sense of going on an adventure. It also has one best final bosses of all time; shame they completely killed the atmosphere of that fight in the 3D version.
7. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow; The original pokemon game which hooked me from the instant I started playing. By today's standards these games are pretty janky and broken but I've never been too bothered by that. Kanto is still a great region, the original 151 are still one of the best bunches of mon, the music is still ridiculously good for a GB game, and I still love that your dickwad rival who picks on you throughout the whole game somehow manages to beat the E4 before you just so you can bring his dumb ass back down to earth and earn your champion title. And, like ocarina of time, these games were fantastic for making a kid feel like they were going on an adventure
8. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards; My favorite Kirby game, mostly thanks to the awesome combination abilities. I also liked how the other partner characters assisted where they could and I really enjoyed the bosses, despite being pretty terrible at them.
I haven't played many gen 5 games.
When playing the game for the first time, I cared less about saving the world and more about helping the various people around the world just because of how sorry I felt for them. The game even had me desperately trying to cram as much stuff into my final cycle helping as many people as I could before I finally went on to the final boss.
The dungeons may not be the best in the series (though I love Stone Tower), but everything else in the game more than makes up for it and elevates Majora's Mask far above any other Zelda game for me.
2. Pokemon Crystal; When I was kid, this game blew my mind. It was everything I loved about gen 1, but with new pokemon, new types, a new region (plus the old one!), new moves, and everything else that we now expect to come with a new pokemon generation. But what keeps me loving this game so much so many years later mostly comes down to the world and presentation. Gen 2 has a great graphical style, fantastic music, gym leaders with a lot of character, a more interesting rival, and a lot of my favorite pokemon designs to this day.
I also liked that the game was fairly difficult compared to gen 1, though that was admittedly only because of how broken the level curve was. Plus, the finale vs Red was and still is one of the coolest ways to wrap up a game. Overall, Crystal was the perfect sequel to the gen 1 games and IMO has only been matched by its remake.
3. Paper Mario; A fun take on an RPG which gets rid of a lot of the standard JRPG conventions and makes combat simple, while also adding varied action commands to keep the player engaged in the battles. The fun of the game comes from seeing all the wacky situations Mario and friends manage to get into while trying to save the star spirits, whether it's searching a desert for an oasis, jumping into a miniature toybox world, or escaping an erupting volcano.
4. Banjo Kazooie; The original collectathon platformer and still one of the best. Exploring each world thoroughly looking for all the jiggies is a lot of fun and the actual platforming sections are naturally interwoven into the worlds rather than being laid out as specific challenges (at least most of the time). The game's sense of humor is also spot-on and things like the transformations and Grunty's Furnace Fun keep the player guessing about what could be next.
5. Banjo Tooie; The bigger and more complicated successor to BK, Banjo Tooie replaces BK's tight, compact levels with giant multilayered worlds with most jiggies typically requiring mutiple conditions be met before you can grab them. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I saw the worlds as huge overarching puzzles which you slowly solve and gain jiggies as you figure the world out part by part. Exploration is a much bigger part of Tooie and I love exploration so it never bothered me. I also loved the addition of boss battles in every world.
Was not as much a fan of the FPS sections and there were a few too many minigames in each world for my liking so I put it below BK. I go back and forth between the two quite often though.
6. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; THE Zelda game to which every other 3D Zelda will forever be measured up against. It's not my favorite but it is my first and it's still pretty amazing. Dungeon designs in this one are top notch, bosses are intimidating, and can be pretty rough the first time through, and overall the game gives a great sense of going on an adventure. It also has one best final bosses of all time; shame they completely killed the atmosphere of that fight in the 3D version.
7. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow; The original pokemon game which hooked me from the instant I started playing. By today's standards these games are pretty janky and broken but I've never been too bothered by that. Kanto is still a great region, the original 151 are still one of the best bunches of mon, the music is still ridiculously good for a GB game, and I still love that your dickwad rival who picks on you throughout the whole game somehow manages to beat the E4 before you just so you can bring his dumb ass back down to earth and earn your champion title. And, like ocarina of time, these games were fantastic for making a kid feel like they were going on an adventure
8. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards; My favorite Kirby game, mostly thanks to the awesome combination abilities. I also liked how the other partner characters assisted where they could and I really enjoyed the bosses, despite being pretty terrible at them.
I haven't played many gen 5 games.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ; No game has ever dared to try to be as good as Majora's Mask atmospheric wise, everything about it is just sublime. The music, three day cycle, world, characters, everything just blends into an experience that I can't believe was crafted in just a year. Majora's Mask is the reason I think videogames are special as a medium, it's just an unforgettable experience.
2. Pokemon Gold/Silver ; This game changed my life, it's just too good and they somehow improved EVERYTHING about Pokemon Red/Green.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ;
4. Mischief Makers ; I better see more votes for this masterpiece... SHAKE SHAKE!
5. Star Fox 64 ;
6. Super Mario 64 ;
7. Paper Mario ;
8. Super Smash Bros ;
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ;
10. Metal Gear Solid ;
2. Pokemon Gold/Silver ; This game changed my life, it's just too good and they somehow improved EVERYTHING about Pokemon Red/Green.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ;
4. Mischief Makers ; I better see more votes for this masterpiece... SHAKE SHAKE!
5. Star Fox 64 ;
6. Super Mario 64 ;
7. Paper Mario ;
8. Super Smash Bros ;
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ;
10. Metal Gear Solid ;
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
aren't those games just Lego stuff and Fifa?
Sumio Mondo
Member
The same goes for many games throughout generations too, though. Secret of Mana had LOADS chopped out of it (like 40% of the game according to the developers), Matsuno had to remove like over half of the scenario/storyline for Vagrant Story, Suda51 had to remove absolutely loads of story out of killer7 (which he revealed in the book "Hand in killer7"). The list goes on and on. This happens a lot with these classic games. They normally implement these ideas/concepts they had in later games.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Same as with Chrono Trigger, same as with Vagrant Story, same as with WoW. Quite why so many greats are developed under these abbreviated circumstances and still deliver amazing innovation and iteration is nuts.
kamineko
Does his best thinking in the flying car
Hard to pick just 10, but that's always the case for me. I tried to have a good mix
1) Dragon Quest VII--Breathtaking in scope and the first NA DQ in years, DQ VII was worth the wait, with a system complexity that would seem remarkable coming from DQ IV. Immensely satisfying time-sink and my favorite of Gen V
2) System Shock 2--THE POLITO FORM IS DEAD, INSECT. ARE YOU AFRAID?"
3) Fallout--Yeah, the time limit was stupid. & yes, Fallout 2 was longer and funnier. & no, you couldn't keep your dog from dying. The original Fallout, though, had a purity of vision to which it remained consistently faithful, and the result is a bleak, challenging, and utterly satisfying masterpiece. The end of the world was serious business, and Fallout took you there.
4) Planescape: Torment--A remarkable deconstruction of the familiar hero's journey, with enjoyable, rock-solid Infinity Engine mechanics.
5) Resident Evil 2--Evolving the novel "two scenario" approach of RE even further, likable "civilian" protagonists Leon and Claire experience the Raccoon City Incident from inside the city limits. Great additions to lore and two interwoven campaigns contribute to an unforgettable experience.
6) Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time--It's been reasonably suggested by many that Majora's Mask is the superior game, and this may actually be true. However, in terms of moving the medium forward, Ocarina casts a longer shadow. Like its Nintendo-published cousin Mario 64, OoT confirms Nintendo's legacy as an innovator.
7) Mario 64--Only Ocarina of Time offers a comparable source of pure gaming wonder.
8) Suikoden 2--Golden-age Konami's answer to the epic, party-based RPG capitalizes on the many strengths of it's predecessor, while delivering a deeper, more satisfying, and refined experience. Not to be missed.
9) Final Fantasy Tactics--A brutally unsentimental story, combined with an addictive implementation of the familiar job system. Pretty much perfect.
10) Metal Gear Solid--Some of the systems have aged badly, but that's just the price of innovation. One of the most important games ever made.
1) Dragon Quest VII--Breathtaking in scope and the first NA DQ in years, DQ VII was worth the wait, with a system complexity that would seem remarkable coming from DQ IV. Immensely satisfying time-sink and my favorite of Gen V
2) System Shock 2--THE POLITO FORM IS DEAD, INSECT. ARE YOU AFRAID?"
3) Fallout--Yeah, the time limit was stupid. & yes, Fallout 2 was longer and funnier. & no, you couldn't keep your dog from dying. The original Fallout, though, had a purity of vision to which it remained consistently faithful, and the result is a bleak, challenging, and utterly satisfying masterpiece. The end of the world was serious business, and Fallout took you there.
4) Planescape: Torment--A remarkable deconstruction of the familiar hero's journey, with enjoyable, rock-solid Infinity Engine mechanics.
5) Resident Evil 2--Evolving the novel "two scenario" approach of RE even further, likable "civilian" protagonists Leon and Claire experience the Raccoon City Incident from inside the city limits. Great additions to lore and two interwoven campaigns contribute to an unforgettable experience.
6) Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time--It's been reasonably suggested by many that Majora's Mask is the superior game, and this may actually be true. However, in terms of moving the medium forward, Ocarina casts a longer shadow. Like its Nintendo-published cousin Mario 64, OoT confirms Nintendo's legacy as an innovator.
7) Mario 64--Only Ocarina of Time offers a comparable source of pure gaming wonder.
8) Suikoden 2--Golden-age Konami's answer to the epic, party-based RPG capitalizes on the many strengths of it's predecessor, while delivering a deeper, more satisfying, and refined experience. Not to be missed.
9) Final Fantasy Tactics--A brutally unsentimental story, combined with an addictive implementation of the familiar job system. Pretty much perfect.
10) Metal Gear Solid--Some of the systems have aged badly, but that's just the price of innovation. One of the most important games ever made.
Nocturnowl
Member
I've got the go ahead from Schala, I'll hopefully have it up some point over the weekend.
That said it probably wont be as flashy.
JinjoUnchained
Member
1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; Revolutionary and timeless. The prototypical video game "epic adventure". But for me, this wins because it took my favorite game (ALTTP) and translated into 3D.
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: One of the two pillars of the Metroidvania genre, along with Super Metroid. Brilliant atmosphere, controls, world design, and OST. The complete package.
3. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; I'd combine this with OOT if allowed, as OOT and MM are really two halves of one experience. The time mechanic allows for one of the most alive game worlds of all time.
4. Banjo Kazooie; Took the Mario 64 formula and perfected it by adding better levels, characters, humor, camera control, and play control.
5. Super Mario 64; Did for 3D games what SMB did for 2D platformers, essentially creating a new genre with an amazing amount of polish.
6. Banjo Tooie; Great sequel to the original Banjo that added in darker humor and interconnected levels.
7. Paper Mario; Wonder visuals, game world, and fun battle system. This one helped me ease into RPGs!
8. Guardian Heroes; Gotta represent the Saturn here! Best multiplayer campaign of the generation.
9. Mario Kart 64; I still prefer the SNES original (coins and Feather for life!), but this game introduced 3D graphics, 4 player co-op, and had the best Battle Mode. Classic.
10. Star Fox 64; Still my favorite 3D space shooter of all time.
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: One of the two pillars of the Metroidvania genre, along with Super Metroid. Brilliant atmosphere, controls, world design, and OST. The complete package.
3. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; I'd combine this with OOT if allowed, as OOT and MM are really two halves of one experience. The time mechanic allows for one of the most alive game worlds of all time.
4. Banjo Kazooie; Took the Mario 64 formula and perfected it by adding better levels, characters, humor, camera control, and play control.
5. Super Mario 64; Did for 3D games what SMB did for 2D platformers, essentially creating a new genre with an amazing amount of polish.
6. Banjo Tooie; Great sequel to the original Banjo that added in darker humor and interconnected levels.
7. Paper Mario; Wonder visuals, game world, and fun battle system. This one helped me ease into RPGs!
8. Guardian Heroes; Gotta represent the Saturn here! Best multiplayer campaign of the generation.
9. Mario Kart 64; I still prefer the SNES original (coins and Feather for life!), but this game introduced 3D graphics, 4 player co-op, and had the best Battle Mode. Classic.
10. Star Fox 64; Still my favorite 3D space shooter of all time.
timetokill
Banned
Don't reserve posts, dude.
JinjoUnchained
Member
My bad, I read right over that. But I did edit in my real list immediately after, so I don't think it will be a problem. So for others who missed it and are reading this, don't do what I did and reserve a post!