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What was your favorite game released that year? 1996 edition (56k)
- Thread starter Theslammer
- Start date
runnin_blue
Banned
I'm pretty sure I worded it as in "wtf?" at the dad. Read it again. That's what I meant anyway.
Fucking lol! That's pretty awesome. My only gaming memory with my dad is playing Air, Sea Battle on Atari 2600. He hasn't touched a game since and your dad was printing walkthroughs hahaha. I really like that.
daTRUballin
Member
I'm glad the board members have enjoyed it! I've had a lot of fun making them and I have ideas of what to do past this series, but as long as people are having fun, they'll keep going.
And holy crap, you're young! I just turned 30 two days ago and you weren't even born in 96. =P
Haha yeah. I'm probably amongst the youngest here on GAF. Will be turning 20 here in a couple months. You're pretty much exactly a decade older than I am!
But seriously, this series is pretty great! Admittedly, I haven't really gotten around to reading much of these or posting much in them in fact. I'll definitely have to get around to checking more of these out. I'm really curious about those ideas for the future you're talking about though. Any hints as to what it will be or anything? I'm intrigued.
Theslammer
Member
I actually like 2010/2011/2013/2015 better than 1996. =P
Haha yeah. I'm probably amongst the youngest here on GAF. Will be turning 20 here in a couple months. You're pretty much exactly a decade older than I am!
But seriously, this series is pretty great! Admittedly, I haven't really gotten around to reading much of these or posting much in them in fact. I'll definitely have to get around to checking more of these out. I'm really curious about those ideas for the future you're talking about though. Any hints as to what it will be or anything? I'm intrigued.
You'll see.
daTRUballin
Member
I actually like 2010/2011/2013/2015 better than 1996. =P
You'll see.
Haha fair enough. Looking forward to seeing what it will be!
MoneyLaunderer
Member
Super Mario RPG
Duke Nukem 3D
Tomb Raider
Resident Evil
Duke Nukem 3D
Tomb Raider
Resident Evil
Alter_Fridge
Member
Aussie here so Mario was 97
I really can't split
Red Alert
Diablo
Warcraft 2
Warcraft 2 if you make me choose 1 with a BFG pointed at my head
I really can't split
Red Alert
Diablo
Warcraft 2
Warcraft 2 if you make me choose 1 with a BFG pointed at my head
biggersmaller
Banned
I only had a Saturn in 1996. So at the time? Nights
Counting games from '96 I played in later years? Mario 64.
Counting games from '96 I played in later years? Mario 64.
Feeroper
Member
So much good stuff to choose from here, but I have to say that the choice was easy in the end - Super Mario 64.
That game was pure magic and joy, and made me feel like a kid again playing Super Mario Bros 1 for the first time. It opened the door to how a 3D environment could work and everything about it felt like a fairy tale made real. It was one of those gaming moments in your life that you know you will never forget.
That game was pure magic and joy, and made me feel like a kid again playing Super Mario Bros 1 for the first time. It opened the door to how a 3D environment could work and everything about it felt like a fairy tale made real. It was one of those gaming moments in your life that you know you will never forget.
Alter_Fridge
Member
Alter_Fridge
Member
That was my exact experience except I was 14
Obvious watershed year. The clear winner is Mario 64. But like some others I'm a Euro peasant at a time when Nintendo was full on lol screw you Europe.
So for me it's interesting to note that this year was full PC gaming. Duke Nukem and Daggerfall would've not been far behind Mario 64 anyway.
(Mario 64)
1. Duke Nukem 3D
2. The Elder Scrolls Daggerfall
(Mario Kart 64)
3. Diablo
(Pilotwings 64)
4. Tomb Raider
5. Resident Evil
So for me it's interesting to note that this year was full PC gaming. Duke Nukem and Daggerfall would've not been far behind Mario 64 anyway.
(Mario 64)
1. Duke Nukem 3D
2. The Elder Scrolls Daggerfall
(Mario Kart 64)
3. Diablo
(Pilotwings 64)
4. Tomb Raider
5. Resident Evil
I knew that before but yeah it was way after I had bought and played the 64 sequel. I think I saw once someone playing it on GB but didn't even try it myself.
BuckRobotron
Member
Panzer Dragoon Zwei, easily. Add: must still give shoutout to Wave Race 64.
InfiniteCombo
Banned
Several of my sentimental (and actual) favorites are on that list. Impossible to choose a single one. In no particular order of preference:
Resident Evil was the start of an amazing path that is still going strong 21 years later, as it is my favorite video game series of all time. The game was truly never "scary" even to young me, but the resource constraints (limited ammo/herbs/ribbons/inventory space/etc) and the enemy encounters definitely raised the tension. Amazing soundtrack to boot. I still play it to this day; REmake hasn't made this game obsolete for me.
Donkey Kong Country 3, is, in my eyes, still the absolute best DKC game. Everything about this game is spot on: the difficulty curve, the amazing "dark" soundtrack, level design that ranks with the best 2D platformers, just the right amount of collectibles that actually require some platforming skill, etc etc.
Street Fighter Zero 2 has arguably the best atmosphere of any Street Fighter game. It's got the best combination of a classic (but not overloaded) character roster, beautiful bright visuals, a fighting engine that was fun for casuals but also had depth for more advanced players (Custom Combos hnnnnggggg), to this day the best overall soundtrack, and a pretty competent Saturn port with one of the best art galleries I've seen in a classic fighting game. Between this game and Street Fighter III: New Generation, Capcom blew their load as far as presentation and atmosphere, and they never recovered.
Talking about atmosphere... My young self could not handle how exciting and epic these battles felt:
Resident Evil was the start of an amazing path that is still going strong 21 years later, as it is my favorite video game series of all time. The game was truly never "scary" even to young me, but the resource constraints (limited ammo/herbs/ribbons/inventory space/etc) and the enemy encounters definitely raised the tension. Amazing soundtrack to boot. I still play it to this day; REmake hasn't made this game obsolete for me.
Donkey Kong Country 3, is, in my eyes, still the absolute best DKC game. Everything about this game is spot on: the difficulty curve, the amazing "dark" soundtrack, level design that ranks with the best 2D platformers, just the right amount of collectibles that actually require some platforming skill, etc etc.
Street Fighter Zero 2 has arguably the best atmosphere of any Street Fighter game. It's got the best combination of a classic (but not overloaded) character roster, beautiful bright visuals, a fighting engine that was fun for casuals but also had depth for more advanced players (Custom Combos hnnnnggggg), to this day the best overall soundtrack, and a pretty competent Saturn port with one of the best art galleries I've seen in a classic fighting game. Between this game and Street Fighter III: New Generation, Capcom blew their load as far as presentation and atmosphere, and they never recovered.
Talking about atmosphere... My young self could not handle how exciting and epic these battles felt:
biggersmaller
Banned
It was a great year for games, although 1998 was the best.
razorblade79
Member
In 1996 for me it was a tie between Duke Nukem 3D and Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries. Super Mario 64 is right behind those. Duke3D was my go to game after school. I played through the first campaign on the highest difficulty on a daily basis (without saving or anything). I created a bunch of levels (single and multiplayer) and the game dominated all our LANs. MW2Mercs was a dream come true being a BattleTech fan. It had all I wanted from the tabletop included while still having the good stuff from MW2. Such a great game. When it comes to simulations it's still up there with TIE Fighter even though it probably has aged worse. I don't think I need to say much about Mario64. It was a really fun game and technically impressive at the time.
Worth mentioning are also Diablo, Magic Carpet 2 and WarCraft 2 which I all played a ton. Diablo is still my favourite in the series for it's pacing and it's whole atmosphere which is really different to 2 and 3. WC2 was a big step up from 1 and SVGA was impressive at the time but I prefered C&C over fantasy stuff. And finally Magic Carpet 2 felt like it could almost have been a Nintendo game but was just lacking that final bit of polish in the mission and campaign design. It was good but it could have been amazing.
Writing this I was trying to come up with a reason to include Quake but back then I really didn't enjoy the brown color palette and thought the single player while alright was kind of lacking compared to something like Duke3D. It had excellent sound and monster design but everything else was just ok. I guess in hindsight it's technically impressive and it was well regarded for it's multiplayer but at the time it was just the new game from the Doom guys without being as fun as Doom 2 IMO.
Worth mentioning are also Diablo, Magic Carpet 2 and WarCraft 2 which I all played a ton. Diablo is still my favourite in the series for it's pacing and it's whole atmosphere which is really different to 2 and 3. WC2 was a big step up from 1 and SVGA was impressive at the time but I prefered C&C over fantasy stuff. And finally Magic Carpet 2 felt like it could almost have been a Nintendo game but was just lacking that final bit of polish in the mission and campaign design. It was good but it could have been amazing.
Writing this I was trying to come up with a reason to include Quake but back then I really didn't enjoy the brown color palette and thought the single player while alright was kind of lacking compared to something like Duke3D. It had excellent sound and monster design but everything else was just ok. I guess in hindsight it's technically impressive and it was well regarded for it's multiplayer but at the time it was just the new game from the Doom guys without being as fun as Doom 2 IMO.
Aggelos
Member
Truly, many great games back in 1996. Bought my PS1 back then
It's hard to pick up one. I think I would go for the one that had the deepest impression within me. The impact wasn't about having fun and pleasure, it was about dread, fear, terror, panic, immersiveness, claustrophobia, a morbid curiosity to go through the story, a morbid wonder to fight the monsters under the most terrifying circumstances (narrow and dark corridors, ghoulish and spooky rooms etc), a constant fixation to dive deeper into the world of horror even if that would have meant to see your hands shaking combined with fearful screams and gasps, even when I put the PS1 gamepad down and wasn't playing the game I still kept thinking about it's world and setting, thinking about routes and ways to fight the monsters, dodge them and so forth.
Biohazard, a.k.a. Resident Evil, was the game that made me feel all those sentiments. It was a second-to-none experience back then
I think my tiny little pencil drawing here, would be a tribute to the terrifying zombie artworkd of 1996.
It's hard to pick up one. I think I would go for the one that had the deepest impression within me. The impact wasn't about having fun and pleasure, it was about dread, fear, terror, panic, immersiveness, claustrophobia, a morbid curiosity to go through the story, a morbid wonder to fight the monsters under the most terrifying circumstances (narrow and dark corridors, ghoulish and spooky rooms etc), a constant fixation to dive deeper into the world of horror even if that would have meant to see your hands shaking combined with fearful screams and gasps, even when I put the PS1 gamepad down and wasn't playing the game I still kept thinking about it's world and setting, thinking about routes and ways to fight the monsters, dodge them and so forth.
Biohazard, a.k.a. Resident Evil, was the game that made me feel all those sentiments. It was a second-to-none experience back then
I think my tiny little pencil drawing here, would be a tribute to the terrifying zombie artworkd of 1996.
TheWhiteWolf
Banned
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
1996 was an influential year for games almost by default because it was the year everyone was trying to figure out the best way to do 3D.
Super Mario 64 introduced the manually-controlled camera, and it's level design was an inspiration on numerous 3D games
Quake popularized online multiplayer deathmatch by making it easier to connect, and its online community popularized the use of "WASD" for FPS games.
Resident Evil became the most recognizable horror video game series, and was possibly the first video game to have a jump scare.
Tomb Raider became video game's most recognizable playable female character, and its game design paved the way for Assassin's Creed and Uncharted.
But I only had an SNES in 1996, so my most-played game from that year was Kirby Super Star. Poor Kirby regularly ushers Nintendo consoles and handhelds into retirement with a solid showcase nobody sees because they've moved on to the next gen system.
Super Mario 64 introduced the manually-controlled camera, and it's level design was an inspiration on numerous 3D games
Quake popularized online multiplayer deathmatch by making it easier to connect, and its online community popularized the use of "WASD" for FPS games.
Resident Evil became the most recognizable horror video game series, and was possibly the first video game to have a jump scare.
Tomb Raider became video game's most recognizable playable female character, and its game design paved the way for Assassin's Creed and Uncharted.
But I only had an SNES in 1996, so my most-played game from that year was Kirby Super Star. Poor Kirby regularly ushers Nintendo consoles and handhelds into retirement with a solid showcase nobody sees because they've moved on to the next gen system.
Sir Ilpalazzo
Member
Final Doom. The best official classic Doom release (at least Plutonia is; not as big of a fan of Evilution).
Hard to deny the quality of Quake and Battle Garegga, though.
My top game of 1996 was definitely Tekken 2 - it was the game that made me fall in love with fighting games, and as such was literally life changing. I probably put more hours into it than everything else in 1996 combined.
Runners up go to Crash Bandicoot, Wipeout XL, and Suikoden (although technically I think I played Suikoden at the very beginning of 1997). I didn't play Super Mario RPG until much later (last year), but it was excellent as well.
I was at the height of my immature high school PlayStation fanboy phase in 1996, so I missed out on pretty much everything N64 - definitely one of my gaming regrets.
Runners up go to Crash Bandicoot, Wipeout XL, and Suikoden (although technically I think I played Suikoden at the very beginning of 1997). I didn't play Super Mario RPG until much later (last year), but it was excellent as well.
I was at the height of my immature high school PlayStation fanboy phase in 1996, so I missed out on pretty much everything N64 - definitely one of my gaming regrets.