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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
this is currently extremely accurate.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Fuuuuu I completely forgot about that one. Added it to my honourable mentions, though I doubt it matters for the tally.
Incendiary
Banned
I've been putting off making my list because I just can't decide which games I want to put on it. This generation was basically my formative generation for gaming. The first generation I had more than one console and bought my own games - I didn't just get what my parents were okay with me having. Sigh. Difficult putting all these wonderful games in order.
updated!
also, there is now at least a top 10 for the sega saturn. the saturn is actually well-represented through multiplatform releases, especially thanks to the pc and arcade, but as far as saturn-only games there aren't a whole lot.
it is really interesting to see the amiga cd-32 pop up every now and again. still kind of amazed the neo geo pocket/color hasn't made any list in any way though.
A Black Falcon
Member
I presume that expansions count as a part of the base game? They really aren't separate games.
Anyway, having to mix PC and console games is kind of cruel, that makes this so difficult. The late '90s were the peak of the PC gaming industry, though, so the PC rightfully takes up a majority of the spots on my top 10. This era was the best gaming has seen, most of my favorites games ever are from this period...
1. Starcraft (& Brood War expansion) (PC) - SC is the best game ever made, by a sizable margin. I don't think anything will ever be able to match it for me.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - An obvious choice for best console game, but it is the correct one.
3. Civilization II (& expansions) (PC) - The best TBS ever, Civ II is an absolute work of genius and a near-perfect masterpiece.
4. Planescape: Torment (PC) - Best story ever in a game.
5. San Francisco Rush 2049 (N64) - Best racing game ever made for any platform.
6. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (& Mysteries of the Sith expansion) (PC) - My favorite FPS ever made. Best level designs in the genre!
7. Super Mario 64 (N64) - The best 3d platformer ever.
8. Grim Fandango (PC) - My favorite adventure game ever.
9. Baldur's Gate (& Tales of the Sword Coast expansion) (PC) - One of the greatest all-time classic RPGs. The Infinity Engine is the best RPG engine ever, and combat in these games is unmatched. The depth of the Forgotten Realms world's backstory also adds a lot to the game versus worlds created just for a videogame.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) - Choosing a game for 10th place was near-impossible, so whether it really deserves it or not I picked this one. I do think this is a pretty incredible game and one of the best Zelda games ever.
X. TIE Fighter for Windows 95 (PC) - Great but the original version is even better.
X. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GB/C) - As above, incredible game, but I like the B&W version slightly more.
X. The Last Blade (NGPC) - The best handheld-exclusive fighting game I have played, though the Neo-Geo versions are even better.
X. Metal Slug: First Mission (NGPC) - Second Mission is probably just as great, but I haven't played much of it. This is much more of a platform-action game than the run & gun Neo-Geo titles.
X. F-Zero X (N64) - One of the top contenders for #10. Nintendo's best racing game ever.
X. Mole Mania (GB) - This game shouldn't be here because the original GB shouldn't count for this list, but Mole Mania is an outstanding puzzle-action game so as long as the second half of the GB's life is included for some reason, here this game is.
X. Hexcite (GB/C) - And here is another game I considered for the top 10! This is one of my favorite digital boardgames ever.
Everything above this point is 10/10 material for its platform; below are 9.5-9.9/10 games by my count. I know I grade a bit easy, and I do probably grade different platforms a bit differently.
X. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (GBC)
X. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (PC)
X. Bionic Commando: Elite Forces (GBC) - This game is absolutely incredible, one of my favorite platformers ever.
X. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
X. Wipeout 64 (N64)
X. Goemon's Great Adventure (N64) - More top 10 material, this is my favorite 2.5d platformer ever.
X. Paper Mario (N64)
X. Panzer Dragoon (Saturn)
X. Threads of Fate (PS1) - The PS1's best game.
X. Lords of the Realm II (& Siege Pack) (PC)
X. Rayman 2 (PC) - Maybe still the second best 3d platformer ever!
X. Half-Life (PC)
X. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) - The critics are all wrong, DK64 is one of the greats of the genre.
X. Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei (Saturn)
X. Tempest X3 (PS1)
X. Star Ocean: The Second Story (PS1)
X. Perfect Dark (N64)
X. Ogre Battle 64 (N64)
X. Donkey Kong Country (GBC)
X. Heroes of Might & Magic II (PC) (with expansion)
X. NetStorm: Islands at War (PC) - The best RTS ever that was not made by Blizzard.
X. Unreal Tournament (PC)
X. Mega Man X4 (PC) (also on PS1/Saturn)
X. Terra Nova (PC)
X. The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
Choosing which game to pick for 10th place is really hard! There were at least five or ten great options...
Anyway, having to mix PC and console games is kind of cruel, that makes this so difficult. The late '90s were the peak of the PC gaming industry, though, so the PC rightfully takes up a majority of the spots on my top 10. This era was the best gaming has seen, most of my favorites games ever are from this period...
1. Starcraft (& Brood War expansion) (PC) - SC is the best game ever made, by a sizable margin. I don't think anything will ever be able to match it for me.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - An obvious choice for best console game, but it is the correct one.
3. Civilization II (& expansions) (PC) - The best TBS ever, Civ II is an absolute work of genius and a near-perfect masterpiece.
4. Planescape: Torment (PC) - Best story ever in a game.
5. San Francisco Rush 2049 (N64) - Best racing game ever made for any platform.
6. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (& Mysteries of the Sith expansion) (PC) - My favorite FPS ever made. Best level designs in the genre!
7. Super Mario 64 (N64) - The best 3d platformer ever.
8. Grim Fandango (PC) - My favorite adventure game ever.
9. Baldur's Gate (& Tales of the Sword Coast expansion) (PC) - One of the greatest all-time classic RPGs. The Infinity Engine is the best RPG engine ever, and combat in these games is unmatched. The depth of the Forgotten Realms world's backstory also adds a lot to the game versus worlds created just for a videogame.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) - Choosing a game for 10th place was near-impossible, so whether it really deserves it or not I picked this one. I do think this is a pretty incredible game and one of the best Zelda games ever.
X. TIE Fighter for Windows 95 (PC) - Great but the original version is even better.
X. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GB/C) - As above, incredible game, but I like the B&W version slightly more.
X. The Last Blade (NGPC) - The best handheld-exclusive fighting game I have played, though the Neo-Geo versions are even better.
X. Metal Slug: First Mission (NGPC) - Second Mission is probably just as great, but I haven't played much of it. This is much more of a platform-action game than the run & gun Neo-Geo titles.
X. F-Zero X (N64) - One of the top contenders for #10. Nintendo's best racing game ever.
X. Mole Mania (GB) - This game shouldn't be here because the original GB shouldn't count for this list, but Mole Mania is an outstanding puzzle-action game so as long as the second half of the GB's life is included for some reason, here this game is.
X. Hexcite (GB/C) - And here is another game I considered for the top 10! This is one of my favorite digital boardgames ever.
Everything above this point is 10/10 material for its platform; below are 9.5-9.9/10 games by my count. I know I grade a bit easy, and I do probably grade different platforms a bit differently.
X. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (GBC)
X. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (PC)
X. Bionic Commando: Elite Forces (GBC) - This game is absolutely incredible, one of my favorite platformers ever.
X. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
X. Wipeout 64 (N64)
X. Goemon's Great Adventure (N64) - More top 10 material, this is my favorite 2.5d platformer ever.
X. Paper Mario (N64)
X. Panzer Dragoon (Saturn)
X. Threads of Fate (PS1) - The PS1's best game.
X. Lords of the Realm II (& Siege Pack) (PC)
X. Rayman 2 (PC) - Maybe still the second best 3d platformer ever!
X. Half-Life (PC)
X. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) - The critics are all wrong, DK64 is one of the greats of the genre.
X. Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei (Saturn)
X. Tempest X3 (PS1)
X. Star Ocean: The Second Story (PS1)
X. Perfect Dark (N64)
X. Ogre Battle 64 (N64)
X. Donkey Kong Country (GBC)
X. Heroes of Might & Magic II (PC) (with expansion)
X. NetStorm: Islands at War (PC) - The best RTS ever that was not made by Blizzard.
X. Unreal Tournament (PC)
X. Mega Man X4 (PC) (also on PS1/Saturn)
X. Terra Nova (PC)
X. The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
Choosing which game to pick for 10th place is really hard! There were at least five or ten great options...
A Black Falcon
Member
So BG1 then. But seriously, that's the problem with trying to break PC games up into generations, it does not work very well at all. PC games from 2000 aren't much if at all different from games from '99.
On another note, saying that Game Boy games released from '96 to '01 count makes no sense at all to me... counting the GBC, okay, but later GB games? What? That's not new hardware. If SNES or Neo-Geo games from '96 to '01 don't count, and I presume they don't, later GB games shouldn't either unless they are GB/GBC dualmode games in which case they should count as GBC games. I presume you have the cutoff for PC and arcade games because of improving technology, but the tech in the GB did not change from 1989 on.
i feel that unlike a lot of other platforms that were long-lived, the game boy had two very distinct lifetimes, which is rather strongly represented by the emergence of pokemon. i feel like the original line of game boy games were largely last-gen versions of current-gen games on a smaller screen and portable from about 1989-1995. you can see this in stuff like super mario land 2, link's awakening, donkey kong land, etc. i feel that 1996 had a lot of things happen - the absolute end of the virtual boy, the launch of pokemon, the launch of the game boy pocket, and the launch of new hardware. it's sort of a killer combination that made nintendo have to continue the line despite lacking a successor. and unlike before, games that were coming out for game boy couldn't be last gen versions of current gen games, but something different entirely. that last half of the game boy's life is what really defined what handhelds would become in the dedicated space for the next fifteen years.
GoodMorningPluto
Member
1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; One of the most influential game of all times. Nintendo layed the foundation for many 3D games to come and invented mechanics that are still used to this day. It nailed the sense of adventure with different and lively towns with lots of busy characters and had just the right pace with its dungeons constantly giving new tools to the player and having him figure out how to proceed, but never making it a chore and overstaying its welcome. Musical score was one of the Koji Kondo's best works and full of amazing melodies that are considered iconic now and make gamers drool just by listening to few notes.
2. Final Fantasy VII ;
3. Final Fantasy VIII ; Triple Triad!
4. Metal Gear Solid ; In an era when most games's story was mostly fairytales, the MGS with its theme of nuclear war came like a revelation. In lengthy and fully voiced cutscenes its characters talked about brutal aspects of war and consequences it has on world and person. There was just no game like it at that time. The game was somewhat short but that led to insane attetion to details and a lot of secrets that and tricks that only the most curious player will find.
5. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow ; First generation of pokemons, and the most iconic one. Every kid, even ones that didn't play knew about it thanks to TV series and was part of pokemon craze collecting various merchandise and playing with toys.
6. Crash Bandicoot: Warped ; I never really liked Mario aesthetics and physics, so I will go with Crash 3 as best platformer of that generation. It was a glorious evolution of previous titles that featured really varied levels full of different ideas so that the game never become boring and had funny and memorable characters with great designs.
7. Fallout 2 ; I guess the game is really dated now, but back then it was an amazing experience. I just loved travelling in its world, full of character and atmosphere, and taking on its various quests.
8. Tekken 3 ; Best fighting game on PSX, hands down. It was a graphical feat with great OST and best battle system of that era that managed to be fast and responsive unlike other tries at 3D fighters at that time.
9. Resident Evil 2 ; It was the first game my parents bought me for PSX
I was too scared to play it for years, but eventually did and was hooked at its atmosphere and puzzle structure.
10. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 ; The sequel to already great game that improved its mechanics, added few new things, featured amazing soundtrack and had great level design where everything was of use for player.
Honorable mentions:
x. Twisted Metal 2
x. Tomba 2
x. Duke Nukem 3D
x. Quake 2
x. Discworld Noir
2. Final Fantasy VII ;
3. Final Fantasy VIII ; Triple Triad!
4. Metal Gear Solid ; In an era when most games's story was mostly fairytales, the MGS with its theme of nuclear war came like a revelation. In lengthy and fully voiced cutscenes its characters talked about brutal aspects of war and consequences it has on world and person. There was just no game like it at that time. The game was somewhat short but that led to insane attetion to details and a lot of secrets that and tricks that only the most curious player will find.
5. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow ; First generation of pokemons, and the most iconic one. Every kid, even ones that didn't play knew about it thanks to TV series and was part of pokemon craze collecting various merchandise and playing with toys.
6. Crash Bandicoot: Warped ; I never really liked Mario aesthetics and physics, so I will go with Crash 3 as best platformer of that generation. It was a glorious evolution of previous titles that featured really varied levels full of different ideas so that the game never become boring and had funny and memorable characters with great designs.
7. Fallout 2 ; I guess the game is really dated now, but back then it was an amazing experience. I just loved travelling in its world, full of character and atmosphere, and taking on its various quests.
8. Tekken 3 ; Best fighting game on PSX, hands down. It was a graphical feat with great OST and best battle system of that era that managed to be fast and responsive unlike other tries at 3D fighters at that time.
9. Resident Evil 2 ; It was the first game my parents bought me for PSX
I was too scared to play it for years, but eventually did and was hooked at its atmosphere and puzzle structure.10. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 ; The sequel to already great game that improved its mechanics, added few new things, featured amazing soundtrack and had great level design where everything was of use for player.
Honorable mentions:
x. Twisted Metal 2
x. Tomba 2
x. Duke Nukem 3D
x. Quake 2
x. Discworld Noir
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
Another system I forgot about, I'll add an honourable mention right away for an NGPC game, link to my posting again here:
EDIT: Added.
Spieler Eins
Member
On the first pages, the dream of MM>OoT felt real. But it's gone now.
First gen where I developed specific gaming tastes.
1. Starcraft Brood War; intro to RTS, first game I played online
2. Pokemon Blue ; intro to turn based JRPGs
3. Chrono Cross ; first time a game emotionally affected me.
4. Diddy Kong Racing ; GOAT kart racer of its gen, third best of all time (after MK8 and MKDS)
5. Pokemon Trading Card Game ; great comfort game, wish Nintendo/TPC made it a bigger focus on handhelds
6. Dragon Warrior Monsters ; intro to DQ
7. Super Smash Bros ; Great proof of concept, but aged poorly and executed better in its sequels.
8. Paper Mario ; Charming, fun RPG.
9. Breath of Fire IV ; First non-pokemon JRPG I ever played. This and pokemon made me think a 6 person party in battle (with switching between active and reserve party members) was genre-standard. Was disappointed when I learned they were an exception. I still think not being able to swap party members mid-battle is dumb.
10. Vanguard Bandits ; intro to SRPGs
HM:
xMario Tennis
xMario Kart
xMario Party
xParappa The Rapper
xMega Man 8
xMega Man X4
xLegend of Mana
xPokemon Stadium
xDance Dance Revolution Konamix
xCivilization 2
xMarvel vs Capcom
xTekken 2
xGoldeneye
1. Starcraft Brood War; intro to RTS, first game I played online
2. Pokemon Blue ; intro to turn based JRPGs
3. Chrono Cross ; first time a game emotionally affected me.
4. Diddy Kong Racing ; GOAT kart racer of its gen, third best of all time (after MK8 and MKDS)
5. Pokemon Trading Card Game ; great comfort game, wish Nintendo/TPC made it a bigger focus on handhelds
6. Dragon Warrior Monsters ; intro to DQ
7. Super Smash Bros ; Great proof of concept, but aged poorly and executed better in its sequels.
8. Paper Mario ; Charming, fun RPG.
9. Breath of Fire IV ; First non-pokemon JRPG I ever played. This and pokemon made me think a 6 person party in battle (with switching between active and reserve party members) was genre-standard. Was disappointed when I learned they were an exception. I still think not being able to swap party members mid-battle is dumb.
10. Vanguard Bandits ; intro to SRPGs
HM:
xMario Tennis
xMario Kart
xMario Party
xParappa The Rapper
xMega Man 8
xMega Man X4
xLegend of Mana
xPokemon Stadium
xDance Dance Revolution Konamix
xCivilization 2
xMarvel vs Capcom
xTekken 2
xGoldeneye
it was never real. three games had been fighting for the #1 spot for a very short while though.
1. Resident Evil 2 ; The best representation of what RE should be. Atmospheric, puzzles, limited ammo, cool bosses, good balance of action and scary.
2. Chrono Cross ; Cross feels like a game limited only by a lack of time to flesh out what is a truly well-thought out, complex plot. With a long timeline of relevant events, it can take quite a while to grasp what led to the events of the game, but I felt rewarded for putting in the time to do so. Luckily, the game has much more going for it than just the plot. Along with the best OST a game has ever had comes lush, colorful graphics, a well-balanced combat system, and tons of replayability with an excellent New Game +.
3. Metal Gear Solid ; The first game to thoroughly involve me in an interactive narrative that captured my attention and never let go.
4. Resident Evil 3 ; It doesn't quite have the same magic as 2, but its control scheme is much better, and Nemesis was a brilliant gameplay innovation that shattered the classic RE illusion of safety..
5. Dino Crisis 2 ; As Resident Evil with dinos, the first DC was good at what it wanted to do. But the series at its heart has always functioned better when it embraced the action core at its heart. With interesting environments, awesome guns, and terrifying enemies, DC2 fulfills the series premise expertly.
6. Silent Hill ; Whereas Resident Evil could be tense, Silent Hill is actually horrifying. The fog and radio mechanics are legendary innovations born from engine limit limitations, and the story is both disturbing and heartbreaking.
7. Final Fantasy VII ;
8. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ;
9. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver ; The LoK series is one of my favorites, but there still hasn't really been a game to put it all together. While the narrative is excellent, Soul Reaver has an overabundance of block puzzles and a rushed final act. Still, what there is shows an excellent precursor to the wonderful story into which the Soul Reaver games would evolve.
10. Final Fantasy VIII ;
It was a pleasure to read your LTTP for this, and I'm glad you ended up enjoying it as much as you did.
2. Chrono Cross ; Cross feels like a game limited only by a lack of time to flesh out what is a truly well-thought out, complex plot. With a long timeline of relevant events, it can take quite a while to grasp what led to the events of the game, but I felt rewarded for putting in the time to do so. Luckily, the game has much more going for it than just the plot. Along with the best OST a game has ever had comes lush, colorful graphics, a well-balanced combat system, and tons of replayability with an excellent New Game +.
3. Metal Gear Solid ; The first game to thoroughly involve me in an interactive narrative that captured my attention and never let go.
4. Resident Evil 3 ; It doesn't quite have the same magic as 2, but its control scheme is much better, and Nemesis was a brilliant gameplay innovation that shattered the classic RE illusion of safety..
5. Dino Crisis 2 ; As Resident Evil with dinos, the first DC was good at what it wanted to do. But the series at its heart has always functioned better when it embraced the action core at its heart. With interesting environments, awesome guns, and terrifying enemies, DC2 fulfills the series premise expertly.
6. Silent Hill ; Whereas Resident Evil could be tense, Silent Hill is actually horrifying. The fog and radio mechanics are legendary innovations born from engine limit limitations, and the story is both disturbing and heartbreaking.
7. Final Fantasy VII ;
8. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ;
9. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver ; The LoK series is one of my favorites, but there still hasn't really been a game to put it all together. While the narrative is excellent, Soul Reaver has an overabundance of block puzzles and a rushed final act. Still, what there is shows an excellent precursor to the wonderful story into which the Soul Reaver games would evolve.
10. Final Fantasy VIII ;
It was a pleasure to read your LTTP for this, and I'm glad you ended up enjoying it as much as you did.
When I was putting this list together I started noticing that I had forgotten how many good FPS games we got during those days and especially for PC gamers the late nineties and early two thousands were the golden age of FPS. Most of my picks were also my childhood defining games and only a couple I have finished later.
1. Metal Gear Solid ; I played the demo of this when it came around and I was very intrigued but I never bought the full game until years later in 2010 when I got a PS3 and all the other MGS games. Needless to say I became a fan instantly and MGS is now my favorite game series. I've never been hooked to a game story so intently before MGS, it all just comes together so well in this game.
2. Half-Life ; Don't really know if it is fair to say this but the mod scene around this game interested me more than the game itself all though it is by all means fantastic but I spent years obsessing over what people where working on and when we had such mods and games come because of half-life such as counter-strike, day of defeat, sven co-op and natural selection, good times were to be had. If you ask me the modding scene hasn't ever reached those heights again and if you started playing on PC only recently, you missed out on the pretty much the best days on PC gaming. The atmosphere was so different back then and the quality of the maps and mods people made for games like HL, UT & Q3 was astonishing.
3. Unreal Tournament ; My favorite arena shooter, fantastic maps, weapons, player models, music and overall vibes. Love the look of the game, it had this 90s cyberpunk and comic book look all over it.
4. Counter-Strike ; Literally the best tacticool shooter ever, nuff said.
5. Fallout 2 ; Still the best Fallout game, the freedom of choice is unparalleled and the world is so dark and brutal, love it.
6. Duke Nukem 3D ; One of the first games I ever played. Definitely a product of it's time but the gameplay still holds up and I still go back to it. In fact last time when it came out on PS+. Even my dad fucking loved this game, I woke up one night to find him playing this in the dark and joined to watch as he beat the first boss.
7. Resident Evil 2 ; I never played this for more like 30 minutes back when it came around, I was too scared by it. I went back years later to finish it to and it holds up perfectly. I think capcom should just go back to this style with RE full on, the gameplay is timeless.
8. MDK ; I got this game with a magazine and fuck was it weird and cool. Never seen something quite like this replicated since, it had such an unique vibe through out the whole experience.
9. Crash Team Racing ; I never even owned this game myself but every time I played this at my friends place, we always had a blast.
10. SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle ;
Honorable mentions:
x. Medal of Honor
x. Age of Empires 2
x. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
x. WipeOut
x. Panzer Dragoon
x. Resident Evil
x. Resident Evil 3
x. Parasite Eve
x. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
x. Delta Force 2
x. Quake III Arena
x. Worms Armageddon
x. Starsiege Tribes
1. Metal Gear Solid ; I played the demo of this when it came around and I was very intrigued but I never bought the full game until years later in 2010 when I got a PS3 and all the other MGS games. Needless to say I became a fan instantly and MGS is now my favorite game series. I've never been hooked to a game story so intently before MGS, it all just comes together so well in this game.
2. Half-Life ; Don't really know if it is fair to say this but the mod scene around this game interested me more than the game itself all though it is by all means fantastic but I spent years obsessing over what people where working on and when we had such mods and games come because of half-life such as counter-strike, day of defeat, sven co-op and natural selection, good times were to be had. If you ask me the modding scene hasn't ever reached those heights again and if you started playing on PC only recently, you missed out on the pretty much the best days on PC gaming. The atmosphere was so different back then and the quality of the maps and mods people made for games like HL, UT & Q3 was astonishing.
3. Unreal Tournament ; My favorite arena shooter, fantastic maps, weapons, player models, music and overall vibes. Love the look of the game, it had this 90s cyberpunk and comic book look all over it.
4. Counter-Strike ; Literally the best tacticool shooter ever, nuff said.
5. Fallout 2 ; Still the best Fallout game, the freedom of choice is unparalleled and the world is so dark and brutal, love it.
6. Duke Nukem 3D ; One of the first games I ever played. Definitely a product of it's time but the gameplay still holds up and I still go back to it. In fact last time when it came out on PS+. Even my dad fucking loved this game, I woke up one night to find him playing this in the dark and joined to watch as he beat the first boss.
7. Resident Evil 2 ; I never played this for more like 30 minutes back when it came around, I was too scared by it. I went back years later to finish it to and it holds up perfectly. I think capcom should just go back to this style with RE full on, the gameplay is timeless.
8. MDK ; I got this game with a magazine and fuck was it weird and cool. Never seen something quite like this replicated since, it had such an unique vibe through out the whole experience.
9. Crash Team Racing ; I never even owned this game myself but every time I played this at my friends place, we always had a blast.
10. SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle ;
Honorable mentions:
x. Medal of Honor
x. Age of Empires 2
x. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
x. WipeOut
x. Panzer Dragoon
x. Resident Evil
x. Resident Evil 3
x. Parasite Eve
x. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
x. Delta Force 2
x. Quake III Arena
x. Worms Armageddon
x. Starsiege Tribes
I totally agree with you on Game Boy, but I think a very similar argument can be made for Neo Geo. It also had new hardware (CD/CDZ) leading to a relative market resurgence and even a big corporate shift when SNK announced it'd stop licensing 16bit ports to Takara and other companies in 1994, only to come back as a 3rd party themselves in 1996 on Saturn and PlayStation. You can almost draw a dividing line with Neo CD and KOF95 like you can with GB Pocket and Pokémon.
sörine;176805525 said:
i am going to add the neo geo cd to the first post. i didn't see it listed, but the platform being cd-based (instead of an add-on) and coming out in 1994 makes it less of a fourth gen platform i think, despite what's listed on wikipedia. fourth gen systems were introduced mostly between the late 80s and the very early 90s, so it seems weird that this got lumped in with those when jaguar and 3do seem to be the starting point of the fifth gen.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; Completely mind blowing at the time, and still a lot of fun.
2. Super Mario 64; 3D video gaming fully realized. An instant classic.
3. Final Fantasy IX; the best of the PS1 Final Fantasies, which were all great.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; A dark twist on a winning formula, one of the most compelling and interesting games in the Zelda series.
5. Mario Kart 64; Unfiltered fun, a complete blast to play with friends especially.
My memory of this era is fuzzy (much like the games themselves) and I was a broke kid that didn't always play great games. There are others I know I liked a lot, but they're difficult to rank. These are ones I've come back to and know I still love.
2. Super Mario 64; 3D video gaming fully realized. An instant classic.
3. Final Fantasy IX; the best of the PS1 Final Fantasies, which were all great.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; A dark twist on a winning formula, one of the most compelling and interesting games in the Zelda series.
5. Mario Kart 64; Unfiltered fun, a complete blast to play with friends especially.
My memory of this era is fuzzy (much like the games themselves) and I was a broke kid that didn't always play great games. There are others I know I liked a lot, but they're difficult to rank. These are ones I've come back to and know I still love.
A Black Falcon
Member
I just don't think this argument makes sense. I don't think you can call a console part of multiple generations just because it still was getting game support through multiple generations, that's not how it works... the Atari 2600 isn't also a third-gen console because it got games until 1990, the SNES isn't 5th-gen because it got games until 2000, etc.
I mean, sure, it is true that the Game Boy and Neo-Geo had a later rebirth -- and yes, if you include GB '96-on you really must also include Neo-Geo '97 or so-on (and not only the Neo-Geo CD as you mention, though as a 1994 release that's justifiable even if the hardware wasn't new) -- but it's still the same hardware. For both the GB and Neo-Geo, the only thing that changed between the early games and the late ones is cartridge sizes, the hardware is the same.
Beyond that, I don't agree that the GB changed all that much library-wise. The Neo-Geo absolutely did -- compare its launch titles to KOF '03, Last Blade 2, Metal Slug, etc. and the difference is incredible -- but the GB? It's not a new platform just because people started making more RPGs for it... the GB had RPGs before Pokemon, they just didn't always get Western releases.
As for the Game Boy's life, it did have stages. First, the GB had handheld versions of NES-styled games. This lasted the system's first couple of years. The GB did very well at this point and had a lot of game releases. This lasted from about '89 to '91 or '92. The first couple of years saw many games with weaker graphics than the system had later on, though you do have a few early visual standouts like Gargoyle's Quest.
After that, though, particularly in Japan, the system started slipping in popularity. If you look at the number of GB games released per year, they drop off badly in the mid '90s; there was a definite slump in both sales and total releases. The system started to get more bad licensed games, cheap cashin titles, and more SNES-ish output from Nintendo. This lasted from '92 or '93 to '96 or '97. Nintendo made many of the system's best games during this period, but otherwise it was a dying platform.
Then, Pokemon released in 1996 in Japan, and the Game Boy Pocket released worldwide that year as well. Pokemon didn't release in the West until 1998, which is when you finally start seeing the GB's fortunes improve. Companies like Konami who had mostly abandoned the GB came back to it, just in time to release a few games and then move up to GBC once that released in late '98. But while Nintendo had some great new games like Mole Mania, Pokemon, Wario Land 2, and such, third party efforts weren't as great; Castlevania Legends was a retread of the '89-'91 GB Castlevania games in a lot of ways, the new Goemon game in '98 was awful etc. You are really exaggerating how important those later years were, Pokemon aside -- and Pokemon wasn't some kind of next-gen game, just a really popular one. I can't think of any original-GB-only titles from '96 to '98 that aren't just evolutions on prior games for the system -- Kirby's Block Ball is a better Alleyway, Kirby's Star Stacker is a Tetris-styled game, Donkey Kong Lands 2 and 3 are sequels to the first one, Pokemon's an RPG that became a massive hit but design-wise isn't anything too new, Wario Land 2 innovated in level design but in graphics and music is basically the same as 1993's Wario Land 1, Mole Mania is a better Lolo, etc.
Then the GBC released, and was an immediate hit particularly in the US. For a while, many games were backwards compatible with the original GB, and can be considered both Game Boy and GBC games. Many '98 and '99 GBC games are really GB/GBC games which support both platforms, or "dual-mode" as I call them (is there an official term?). After that, though, most GBC games started going GBC-only, though there were a few backwards compatible releases here and there in '00 and '01 (and even later, in Japan). If anything comes close to validating what you say, it's the dual-mode titles -- titles mostly designed as 'next-gen' GBC games, but that also work on the original GB. Sometimes they just don't look or play any good, though -- Mega Man Xtreme or Ghosts n Goblins are not exactly great on the original GB. Still, there are some games that try to do new things, sure. But they are running on that same exact 1989 hardware! Again, they're games that could have existed much earlier if larger carts were available.
Of course though, here you can get into an argument about whether the GBC was a "real" next-gen platform. I mean, most people don't call the DSi or New 3DS next-gen consoles versus their predecessors, and the GBC is about on that level of hardware upgrade. The only thing that separates it from those two is that it released a lot longer into its platform's life and got a lot more physical game releases that require it. Is that enough to call it a full next-gen machine? Probably, but then again I think the DSi and New 3DS probably should be categorized the same way as the GBC, so... it's probably debatable.
Really the only thing that's true about this statement is that Pokemon and Pokemon-styled games became the 100-ton behemoth dominating the handheld industry for a long time. That and maybe some of the GB/GBC dualmode games. That's about it, though.
don't think i am just ignoring everything else as i appreciate the information. i was aware of it all already though before making this decision and honestly it was the gb/c split that made it weird for me. in the us, 1998 was the release game boy color and pokemon, which was a 1-2 combo for the platform, but if i am going to say game boy color is the defining moment where the split happens, you can't include pokemon, which is one of the undeniably defining games of the generation. and if you include pokemon, you can't not include the year it released in, which is 1996, which is also the year after the virtual boy failed and the game boy pocket released in the us. it's probably the best dividing line for the platform if there actually was one.
A Black Falcon
Member
Pokemon is a 4th gen game every bit as much as other 1996 4th-gen RPGs like Super Mario RPG for SNES or the Japanese Shadowrun game for Sega CD. There is no other way to look at it. "It was successful and influential for future games so it's a next-gen game even though it's not" doesn't make much sense as an argument.
Anyway, Pokemons Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal all are dual-mode GB/GBC or GBC-only (for Crystal) games, so they should all count for this list. It's only Red, Blue, and Green that don't. (Yellow is in a "GB" box, but the game has a limited-color mode that is designed for the GBC, so it really is a dual-mode title.)
There is a real issue to discuss, though -- for the 1997-2000 period, the whole "generations" concept basically breaks down and fails completely in the handheld market. The rest of the time, before and after, you can look at handhelds and fairly easily put them in a generation. But during that period it kind of all falls apart. You saw a bunch of new consoles released -- Game.com, Game Boy Color, Neo-Geo Pocket, NGP Color, Wonderswan, Wonderswan Color, and the original Game Boy was still getting support thanks to dualmode games. The Game Gear was available into '97 as well, and had a limited relaunch in 2000. Trying to fit all of the new platforms into generations leads you in some silly directions -- is the Neo-Geo Pocket, released in November 1998 shortly before the Dreamcast, "5th-gen" and then the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, released like four months later, a "next-gen 6th-gen console"? That's pretty much nonsense. Which generation should 1997's Game.com go in? Are the Wonderswan and Wonderswan Color in the same or different generations? Are the Wonderswan Color and Game Boy Advance in the same generation? The WSC released only maybe six months before the GBA and is quite a bit less powerful than it, but still can do some nice things. And as I said last post, what about that GBC? It's not exactly a full usual generation's leap over the original GB power-wise!
Basically, the whole period is a complete mess. Because I do like sticking with the console-generations concept I've tried to think of what I think is the best solution for trying to categorize them all, but there isn't really one definite best solution, I don't think. On the one hand, the GBC, WSC, and NGPC are clearly more powerful than their B&W predecessors, but on the other hand they aren't full generational leaps above them, they are just a step up. What should be the best classification for systems like those three, the DSi, and the New 3DS? Saying 'a new console in the same generation as the last one' is one potential answer, but release dates do matter as well as system power when determining what generation a console should be assigned to.
And on that note (dates are for first release month in any region):
Game.com - September 1997
Game Boy Color - October 1998
Neo-Geo Pocket - October 1998
[Dreamcast - December 1998 - the 6th generation begins on TV consoles]
Neo-Geo Pocket Color - March 1999
WonderSwan - March 1999
[PlayStation 2 - March 2000]
WonderSwan Color - November 2000
Game Boy Advance - May 2001 - definitely a 6th-gen platform.
The basic difficulty I have is, going by release dates, probably the right thing to do is to assign everything from the GBC on to the 6th generation, and call the GBC an early 6th-gen platform that died off early when Nintendo replaced it with a more capable system. Its release date just months before the Dreamcast comes years after the N64, the last 5th-gen TV console, after all, and those time gaps matter for such things! But on the other hand, the GBC is obviously a full generation behind the GBA in power. I am much more comfortable with putting the NGPC and WSC in the 6th generation -- I would do that, actually -- but the GBC is a challenge, and deciding what to call the NGP and WS is difficult.
Oh yeah, and figuring out what to call the Game.com is also iffy. It did have a touchscreen and stuff, but was it an early 6th-gen machine? With its awful screen maybe not... so is it a 5th-gen system? The only portables released in 1993-1997 (remembering that the 5th-gen TV consoles released between 1993 and 1996, and the 6th gen between 1998 and 2001) are the Game.com, Virtual Boy, and Sega Nomad... so yeah, are they all the 5th gen really had for "handhelds" released during the period the TV consoles were released?
Pretty much! But on the other hand of course, those 1998-2000 handhelds' lives of support (1998-2004, with very few if any titles for any of these platforms after that) overlap much more with the 5th-gen TV consoles than the 6th-gen, but that applies to the Dreamcast as well and no one calls it 5th-gen, so I'm not sure how much that matters.
i think the discussion for what handhelds count is something for another topic, probably one from about a year ago. decisions have already been made and i'm not about to throw out dozens of votes. i think the real answer is that things in this realm are tricky but this is the best i could come up with. for what it's worth, i think the handheld generations were contained within whenever a console generation started, although this gets wonky when the ds and psp hit, since both they and the 3ds and vita kicked off their respective gaming generations as well.
TheRedSnifit
Member
1. System Shock 2 ; The best first-person game of all time. An atmospheric classic that marries survival horror, first-person shooting, and RPG gameplay in a way no other game has.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; A classic that represented a total paradigm shift in gaming.
3. System Shock ; The progenitor of the story-driven action game, SS introduced revolutionary gameplay concepts that forever changed gaming.
4. Thief ; The single most influential stealth game ever, and one of the best.
5. Resident Evil 2 ;
6. Silent Hill ;
7. Super Mario 64 ;
8. DOOM II ;
9. Metal Gear Solid ;
A Black Falcon
Member
I do understand not wanting to throw out votes, but the question does matter anyway.
Also, putting handhelds within the TV console generation that they released during is exactly what puts all of the 1998-2000 handhelds in the 6th generation instead of the 5th. The October 1998 Game Boy Color is obviously a lot closer to the Dreamcast (released two months later) than the N64 (released 28 months before).
Wikipedia's bad solution to the '98-'00 handhelds problem is to put the GBC, WS, and NGP in the 5th generation, and the WSC, NGPC, and GBA in the 6th. The problem with this, of course, is that the WS and NGPC released in the same month! The idea of putting two consoles that released two weeks apart in different generations is absurd.
Melchiah
Member
5. Resident Evil 2 ;
6. Silent Hill ;
Brofist! Although, I personally put SH higher than RE2.
if it helps, they were awarded the same number of points in this system
Melchiah
Member
That's actually surprising, as I was sure RE2 would get more votes. I'm guessing, that neither of them will be in the top 10 though.
oh no. i meant that because they're listed 5 and 6, they both get 2 points. re2 is more popular than sh.
Melchiah
Member
Ah, I misunderstood that.
LiquidSolid
Member
In an attempt to get this out of the way before MGSV hits, here's my bare minimum list:
1. Suikoden II ; One word sums up this game: Incredible. The world and lore are incredible. The personal story is incredible. The epic stage the game is set on is incredible. The cast is incredible. And the villain is incredible. About the only flaw Suikoden II has is the shoddy localisation but it's not bad enough to hurt what is an incredible game.
2. Metal Gear Solid ;
3. Final Fantasy IX ;
4. Resident Evil 2 ;
5. Final Fantasy VII ;
6. Tekken 3 ;
7. Crash Team Racing ;
8. Dino Crisis 2 ;
9. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel ;
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert ;
x. Crash Bandicoot 2 ;
x. Final Fantasy VIII ;
x. Gran Turismo ;
x. Jonah Lomu Rugby ;
x. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee ;
x. Pokemon Red/Blue ;
x. Silent Hill ;
x. WCW/nWo Revenge ;
1. Suikoden II ; One word sums up this game: Incredible. The world and lore are incredible. The personal story is incredible. The epic stage the game is set on is incredible. The cast is incredible. And the villain is incredible. About the only flaw Suikoden II has is the shoddy localisation but it's not bad enough to hurt what is an incredible game.
2. Metal Gear Solid ;
3. Final Fantasy IX ;
4. Resident Evil 2 ;
5. Final Fantasy VII ;
6. Tekken 3 ;
7. Crash Team Racing ;
8. Dino Crisis 2 ;
9. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel ;
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert ;
x. Crash Bandicoot 2 ;
x. Final Fantasy VIII ;
x. Gran Turismo ;
x. Jonah Lomu Rugby ;
x. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee ;
x. Pokemon Red/Blue ;
x. Silent Hill ;
x. WCW/nWo Revenge ;
i had wonderswan down for gen 6. it already had games voted for it and everything.
Great gen,. It was a time when you were constantly surprised by new games.
Sure many of them aged not so good because it was the first 3D gen but still it has many classics (probably Nintendo peak).
I decided to exclude PC games from my Top 10 but it must be said that PC gaming was on fire between 1994 and 1999.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; It is the prototype of 3D action adventure games.
A very polished games with plenty great and unexpected moments.
While following Zelda games may have improved upon OoT, it still has the best pacing.
2. Daytona USA ; Maybe the best game Sega has ever created. Pure arcade racing bliss.
3. Wave Race 64 ; When people talks about the revolutionary games the N64 had in the launch period they only consider Super Mario 64 and that's a big mistake since Wave Race (but also Pilotwings 64) had a very advanced concept for the time.
Wave Race 64 is basically a jet ski racing game which is heavily dependent on the realistic water physics.
As far I remember this was one of the first (if not the first) console game heavily dependant on physics.
4. Sega Rally ; Sega was on fire on Model 2. A classic rally arcade game who had realistic (for the time) handling depending on the surface you were racing on,
The controls and feel is absolutely fantastic.
5. Banjo-Kazooie ; At first glance one could mistake it for a Mario 64 retread. Nothing more wrong because Banjo is more an action/adventure game than an action game.
The more organic worlds, interesting objectives (often closer to simple quests than mere platforming section) and great presentation make me prefer it over Super Mario 64 despite the historic importance of the latter.
6. Super Mario 64 ; It was so far ahead of the time that Super Mario 64 is basically the template of every 3D action games that followed.
7. F-Zero X ; It is, with GX, the peak of the F-Zero series. Very fast even with 30 crafts on screen.
8. Sin and Punishment ; Treasure's rail shooter masterpiece. Very exciting and over the top.
9. NiGHTS into Dreams ; Odd game, it's basically a side scrolling racing game based on flight. It works though and it is a pleasure to play.
It's a very charming experience, one of the best Sonic Team has ever done.
10. Doom 64 ; N64 was the first console where first person shooter became very popular.
I think the one that aged better is Doom 64 which is a brand new Doom game exclusive for N64.
The reason is that it rely on a control system which was obsolete even at the time of release but because it is simple and solid it still play well (the same cannot be said for many N64 FPS).
Doom 64 was also a fantastic game:
very visceral and atmospheric, great level design, a pure 3D engine for the layouts while monsters were still 2D with some moody lightning.
Doom 64 could be considered the evolution of the franchise if it wasn't for Quake and many see it as the true third Doom.
Honorable Mentions:
Let me give glory to some more obscure systems too.
x. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
x. Ogre Battle 64 (N64)
x. Star Fox 64 (N64)
x. Pilotwings 64 (N64)
x. Paper Mario (N64)
x. World Driver Championship (N64)
x. Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
x. Blast Corps (N64)
x. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
x. Rayman 2 (N64)
x. Rocket Robot on Wheel (N64)
x. Mischief Makers (N64)
x. Space Squash (VB)
x. Virtual Boy Wario Land (VB)
x. Road Rash (3DO)
x. Tempest 2K (JAG)
x. Kishin Douji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight (PC-FX)
x. Panzer Dragon II Zwei (SAT)
x. Virtua Fighter 2 (SAT)
x. Die Hard Arcade (SAT)
x. Soukyugurentai (SAT)
x. Guardian Heroes (SAT)
x. Saturn Bomberman (SAT)
x. MegaMan X4 (SAT)
x. Neo Drift Out (Neo Geo)
x. Windjammers (Neo Geo)
x. Samurai Shodown 2 (Neo Geo)
x. Last Blade 2 (Neo Geo)
x. Garou Mark of the Wolves (Neo Geo)
x. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo)
x. Pulstar (Neo Geo)
x. Last Resort (Neo Geo CD)
x. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (ARC)
x. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (ARC)
x. Bubble Memories (ARC)
x. Elevation Action Returns (ARC)
x. Scud Race (ARC)
x. Mr. Driller (ARC)
x. The Outfoxies (ARC)
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
x. Crash Team Racing (PS1)
x. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
x. Soul Reaver (PS1)
x. Grandia (SAT/PS1)
x. Dragon Quest VII (PS1)
x. Vagrant Story (PS1)
x. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
x. Tomba 2 (PS1)
x. Klonoa (PS1)
x. Silent Hill (PS1)
x. Alundra (PS1)
x. Runner Heaven (PS1)
x. The Adventure of Little Ralph (PS1)
x. Diablo (PC)
x. Planescape Torment (PC)
x. System Shock 2 (PC)
x. Half Life (PC)
x. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (PC)
x. Quake (PC)
x. Sin (PC)
x. The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
x. The Dig (PC)
x. Grim Fandango (PC)
x. Blade Runner (PC)
x. Heart of Darkness (PC)
x. Sonic Pocket Adventure (NGPC)
x. Dark Arms (NGPC)
x. SNK vs Capcom Match of the Millenium (NGPC)
x. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC)
x. Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel (GBC)
x. Pokemon Gold/Silver (GBC)
x. Dragon Quest III (GBC)
Sure many of them aged not so good because it was the first 3D gen but still it has many classics (probably Nintendo peak).
I decided to exclude PC games from my Top 10 but it must be said that PC gaming was on fire between 1994 and 1999.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; It is the prototype of 3D action adventure games.
A very polished games with plenty great and unexpected moments.
While following Zelda games may have improved upon OoT, it still has the best pacing.
2. Daytona USA ; Maybe the best game Sega has ever created. Pure arcade racing bliss.
3. Wave Race 64 ; When people talks about the revolutionary games the N64 had in the launch period they only consider Super Mario 64 and that's a big mistake since Wave Race (but also Pilotwings 64) had a very advanced concept for the time.
Wave Race 64 is basically a jet ski racing game which is heavily dependent on the realistic water physics.
As far I remember this was one of the first (if not the first) console game heavily dependant on physics.
4. Sega Rally ; Sega was on fire on Model 2. A classic rally arcade game who had realistic (for the time) handling depending on the surface you were racing on,
The controls and feel is absolutely fantastic.
5. Banjo-Kazooie ; At first glance one could mistake it for a Mario 64 retread. Nothing more wrong because Banjo is more an action/adventure game than an action game.
The more organic worlds, interesting objectives (often closer to simple quests than mere platforming section) and great presentation make me prefer it over Super Mario 64 despite the historic importance of the latter.
6. Super Mario 64 ; It was so far ahead of the time that Super Mario 64 is basically the template of every 3D action games that followed.
7. F-Zero X ; It is, with GX, the peak of the F-Zero series. Very fast even with 30 crafts on screen.
8. Sin and Punishment ; Treasure's rail shooter masterpiece. Very exciting and over the top.
9. NiGHTS into Dreams ; Odd game, it's basically a side scrolling racing game based on flight. It works though and it is a pleasure to play.
It's a very charming experience, one of the best Sonic Team has ever done.
10. Doom 64 ; N64 was the first console where first person shooter became very popular.
I think the one that aged better is Doom 64 which is a brand new Doom game exclusive for N64.
The reason is that it rely on a control system which was obsolete even at the time of release but because it is simple and solid it still play well (the same cannot be said for many N64 FPS).
Doom 64 was also a fantastic game:
very visceral and atmospheric, great level design, a pure 3D engine for the layouts while monsters were still 2D with some moody lightning.
Doom 64 could be considered the evolution of the franchise if it wasn't for Quake and many see it as the true third Doom.
Honorable Mentions:
Let me give glory to some more obscure systems too.
x. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
x. Ogre Battle 64 (N64)
x. Star Fox 64 (N64)
x. Pilotwings 64 (N64)
x. Paper Mario (N64)
x. World Driver Championship (N64)
x. Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
x. Blast Corps (N64)
x. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
x. Rayman 2 (N64)
x. Rocket Robot on Wheel (N64)
x. Mischief Makers (N64)
x. Space Squash (VB)
x. Virtual Boy Wario Land (VB)
x. Road Rash (3DO)
x. Tempest 2K (JAG)
x. Kishin Douji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight (PC-FX)
x. Panzer Dragon II Zwei (SAT)
x. Virtua Fighter 2 (SAT)
x. Die Hard Arcade (SAT)
x. Soukyugurentai (SAT)
x. Guardian Heroes (SAT)
x. Saturn Bomberman (SAT)
x. MegaMan X4 (SAT)
x. Neo Drift Out (Neo Geo)
x. Windjammers (Neo Geo)
x. Samurai Shodown 2 (Neo Geo)
x. Last Blade 2 (Neo Geo)
x. Garou Mark of the Wolves (Neo Geo)
x. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo)
x. Pulstar (Neo Geo)
x. Last Resort (Neo Geo CD)
x. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (ARC)
x. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (ARC)
x. Bubble Memories (ARC)
x. Elevation Action Returns (ARC)
x. Scud Race (ARC)
x. Mr. Driller (ARC)
x. The Outfoxies (ARC)
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
x. Crash Team Racing (PS1)
x. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
x. Soul Reaver (PS1)
x. Grandia (SAT/PS1)
x. Dragon Quest VII (PS1)
x. Vagrant Story (PS1)
x. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
x. Tomba 2 (PS1)
x. Klonoa (PS1)
x. Silent Hill (PS1)
x. Alundra (PS1)
x. Runner Heaven (PS1)
x. The Adventure of Little Ralph (PS1)
x. Diablo (PC)
x. Planescape Torment (PC)
x. System Shock 2 (PC)
x. Half Life (PC)
x. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (PC)
x. Quake (PC)
x. Sin (PC)
x. The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
x. The Dig (PC)
x. Grim Fandango (PC)
x. Blade Runner (PC)
x. Heart of Darkness (PC)
x. Sonic Pocket Adventure (NGPC)
x. Dark Arms (NGPC)
x. SNK vs Capcom Match of the Millenium (NGPC)
x. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC)
x. Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel (GBC)
x. Pokemon Gold/Silver (GBC)
x. Dragon Quest III (GBC)
Ok.
A Black Falcon
Member
But they released at about the same time and their lifespans mostly overlap! That makes no sense. The B&W WS and the NGPC released the same month and are not in different generations. I'm, sure you'll say "it's too late now", but seriously...
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Celine, that's what my HM list is shaking out to be. IT TOO IS FOR HUGE.
My heart get warmed up when I read other gaffer citing Mischief Makers!
Maybe would be a good practice to warn about these kind of threads in the official retrogaming threads (for every system).
To think that is a quick and incomplete list lol
At least for me, I wasn't aware of this thread until someone linked it on the PS1 thread.
Maybe would be a good practice to warn about these kind of threads in the official retrogaming threads (for every system).
Yeah, I know the feel.
To think that is a quick and incomplete list lol
it is too late now, and honestly, something you shouldn't worry yourself about. it's not like people won't get the chance to list the games they want to list for them, which is what really matters.
TheRedSnifit
Member
I don't understand why they don't sticky these threads.
threads rarely ever get stickied for any reason anymore.
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
I think it's not fair to compare the slightly upgraded version of one handheld with the first version of the other wrt release dates. This reasoning would put the Game Boy [due to the Color variant] closer to the GBA than the GB. Or let's apply this logic the other way around: The Neo Geo Pocket came out in 1998, within 7 days of the GBC. This is closer than NGPC and Wonder Swan.
I think there cannot be a clear line between generations during this era and there can be discussions had either way. Let's just have Anihawk decide this, considering he's the one doing all the work for this voting. It's not like GB, NGP(C), Virtual Boy or Wonder Swan will win or lose a lot by being put in any of the generations applicable.
TheRedSnifit
Member
So apparently I'm one of three people who put SS2 in their top ten.
Okay GAF.
Okay GAF.
system shock 2 and planescape torment were two games i thought would be represented way more based on how gen 6 went.
A Black Falcon
Member
Don't worry about it? Can't do that, this is exactly the kind of thing I care about, even if most don't. Example: http://www.blackfalcongames.net/?p=179
Both release dates and system power are factors when determining what generation a system goes in, but generally release dates matter the most -- so the Wii is obviously 7th-generation even if its power isn't much above the original Xbox, etc. So of course it's fair to compare the original WonderSwan to the NGPC -- they released the same month, and were competing with eachother through the entire main lifespan of the NGPC. By the time the WSC was released the NGPC had been discontinued overseas and was near-dead in Japan too, after all.
I'm not sure what you mean by that first example?
But for the NGP, yeah, I'm sure that the fact that Nintendo released a color system had a huge role in SNK's decision to very quickly release a color version of the system. I wish that the NGP(C) had been designed for color from the beginning, the B&W origins are probably the culprit behind the system's biggest flaw, that stupid 3 color limit on each sprite...
I'm not sure why Bandai lagged behind, they probably thought that it'd sell based on the WS's low price.
I do agree that there is no clear best way to categorize these systems, but I want to try anyway.
1. Suikoden II ; Easily the best JRPG story to-date at this point. Maybe even still the best. It perfects the formula that started in Suikoden, and adds memorable characters and villains to the mix.
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; Created the gameplay that came to define Castelvania for years. The movement in the game has one of the best "feels" to it ever. Truly a masterpiece that everyone should play through at least once.
3. Planescape: Torment ; Simply the best story that has ever been told in a game. There has yet to be a game with such amazing writing as this.
4. Final Fantasy VII ;
5. Metal Gear Solid ;
6. Heroes of Might and Magic III ;
7. TIE Fighter ;
8. System Shock 2 ;
9. Final Fantasy Tactics ; Translation issues aside, the gameplay is the real draw here. A deep battle system that really rewards exploring different combinations and options. Perhaps a bit too easy in the end game, but a superb strategy game otherwise.
10. Xenogears ; The scope of what this game tried to accomplish is amazing even today. The battle system remains relatively unique and the mechs + on foot combat is a nice change of pace.
Lots of honorable mentions:
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Breath of Fire IV
x.
x. Fallout 2
x. Thief 2
more that I cant' think of as well. Such an amazing generation of systems and games.
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; Created the gameplay that came to define Castelvania for years. The movement in the game has one of the best "feels" to it ever. Truly a masterpiece that everyone should play through at least once.
3. Planescape: Torment ; Simply the best story that has ever been told in a game. There has yet to be a game with such amazing writing as this.
4. Final Fantasy VII ;
5. Metal Gear Solid ;
6. Heroes of Might and Magic III ;
7. TIE Fighter ;
8. System Shock 2 ;
9. Final Fantasy Tactics ; Translation issues aside, the gameplay is the real draw here. A deep battle system that really rewards exploring different combinations and options. Perhaps a bit too easy in the end game, but a superb strategy game otherwise.
10. Xenogears ; The scope of what this game tried to accomplish is amazing even today. The battle system remains relatively unique and the mechs + on foot combat is a nice change of pace.
Lots of honorable mentions:
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Breath of Fire IV
x.
x. Fallout 2
x. Thief 2
more that I cant' think of as well. Such an amazing generation of systems and games.
sorry to inform you, but baldur's gate ii was voted on in the gen 6 thread and is not eligible in this one.
Hobbestetrician
Member
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; The greatest game ever made. The reason gaming is more than just a passing hobby of mine.
2. Banjo-Kazooie
3. The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask
4. GoldenEye 007
5. Super Mario 64 ; The revolution was televised.
6. Quake
7. Perfect Dark
8. Resident Evil 2
9. Doom II ; IDDQD & IDKFA
10. Mario Kart 64
x. Diddy Kong Racing
x. Nightmare Creatures
x. Resident Evil 3
x. Star Fox 64
x. Vigilante 8
2. Banjo-Kazooie
3. The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask
4. GoldenEye 007
5. Super Mario 64 ; The revolution was televised.
6. Quake
7. Perfect Dark
8. Resident Evil 2
9. Doom II ; IDDQD & IDKFA
10. Mario Kart 64
x. Diddy Kong Racing
x. Nightmare Creatures
x. Resident Evil 3
x. Star Fox 64
x. Vigilante 8
Updated the list. Thanks for pointing out my error =)
First, i'd like to say that I'd prefer votings for each console instead of generation for several reasons, for example I never owned a Sega console so i'm missing those games. Or the pokemon controversy topic of which gen they represent.
Anyway, here it goes (please note that for me multiplayer experiences affected some games, as I played a lot with a couple of friends and my brother):
1. Gran Turismo ; My Favourite Game. I'm not going to give technical or objective reasons but personals only. I hated it the first time I played it, I wasn't really impressed by it's graphics and it was incredible hard to handle the cars. But after I received it as a gift and played it I totally fell in love with it, I learned that I love driving cars a couple of years before I actually could do it in real life. To this day I still love it just as I love to go drive at the road at night.
2. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow ; The best thing about it was that you could have your own, unique team. It was an amazing experience playing it with a brother and 3 friends, each one with their pokemons, attacks, strategies. I brought to tears to one friend who thought she had the best poisslbe team ahaha.
3. Age of Empires ; Another amazing game. Many will disagree with me, but for me it was better than 2 because it was simpler (simpler is better for me) and I liked the era way more than medieval.
4. Gran Turismo 2 ; For the same reason GT1.
4. Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal ; Same reason as RBY. And the pokemon designs where still nice and interesting. After this games it went downhill for me, they kept adding boring, awful designs (for me obviously) and more complicated stuff that I and my friends never liked it. To this day we can still play RBY-GSC but we don't touch the newer ones.
6. Crash Team Racing ; Amazing game, fast, exciting, great story game with an increasing difficulty, the stages were original, fun, each one felt unique. Great selection of weapons. The major downside/upside is that a very skilled person like me would blast other people. I loved this, I never lost a match against friends but they didn't loved that.
7. Spyro the Dragon ; I really liked the setting, the worlds, the changes from grass to town to desert to ice to day to night. The variety of each world and enemies. I would pay 30 bucks for a PS4 version with trophies by the way.
8. Medievil ; I was debating with myself of which game put here, this or one Crash Bandicoot game, but it won Medievil because it was a bigger game, therefore I played it more. The atmosphere of the game, the weapons, the levels. Another game I'll pay to get those trophies.
9. NHL 99 &
10. FIFA 99 ; I know GAF will hate me for this but sports games deserve better from "hardcore gamers". I spent thousands of hours playing these games with friends or people from school, playing tournaments, seasons, etc and it was incredible fun, not for the game but for the people, but the game still deserves some merit, sports games it's what most people play and enjoy because non-gamers do not give a shit of 10/10 reviews, 60fps 1080p, or why Nina Williams is the best tekken character, they want something they can identify and sports games gives that.
x. Crash Bandicoot 2 & 3. Amazing games, left out only because they were short, so I have more memories of other games.
x. Dragon Quest VII. Amazing story, some parts were touching. It's was really hard to leave this game out.
x. Tekken 3. <3 Nina Williams
x. Metal Gear Solid. I remember I started to play this game after dinner. 7am I was still playing completely hooked up without knowing which hour was it.
x. Spyro 2 & 3. Loved them, but 1 was the best for me.
x. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX. I like them all (even XIII), but I didn't had a chance to play them on the PS but years later (after X) and the ugly graphics affected my experience.
x. Age of Empires II. Great RTS and fixed a lot of problems I had, but still, I liked I settings more.
x. Bushido Blade. A friend got it and we had a lot of fun playing it. We looked for a sequel in the PS2 but never found one.
x. Dino Crisis 2. I love dinosaurs and I think it's the only game I have ever play with dinos on it. WTF is wrong with the industry.
x. Mario Kart 64. Oh man, the best kart game to play with friends.
x. Rival Schools. Another fun fighting game. I drool for the girls, In retrospective I think thats why we (friends and I) played it a lot.
x. Pitfall 3d. Great and fun platformer.
x. SCARS. Nobody remember this game but I have fond memories of it, it felt faster than CTR and the graphics were more colorful. Super computers take forms of car-animals and race for fun is the theme. Oh and it had amazing music too.
x. Tomb Raider games. Yeah they had good stuff, but wasting 30 minutes to climb a ledge greatly affected my experiences.
x. Marvel vs Capcom. Another great fightning game but more for the characters than the mechanics. Almost everybody picked marvel heroes because we knew them.
And many more games that I do not remember at this time.
Anyway, here it goes (please note that for me multiplayer experiences affected some games, as I played a lot with a couple of friends and my brother):
1. Gran Turismo ; My Favourite Game. I'm not going to give technical or objective reasons but personals only. I hated it the first time I played it, I wasn't really impressed by it's graphics and it was incredible hard to handle the cars. But after I received it as a gift and played it I totally fell in love with it, I learned that I love driving cars a couple of years before I actually could do it in real life. To this day I still love it just as I love to go drive at the road at night.
2. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow ; The best thing about it was that you could have your own, unique team. It was an amazing experience playing it with a brother and 3 friends, each one with their pokemons, attacks, strategies. I brought to tears to one friend who thought she had the best poisslbe team ahaha.
3. Age of Empires ; Another amazing game. Many will disagree with me, but for me it was better than 2 because it was simpler (simpler is better for me) and I liked the era way more than medieval.
4. Gran Turismo 2 ; For the same reason GT1.
4. Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal ; Same reason as RBY. And the pokemon designs where still nice and interesting. After this games it went downhill for me, they kept adding boring, awful designs (for me obviously) and more complicated stuff that I and my friends never liked it. To this day we can still play RBY-GSC but we don't touch the newer ones.
6. Crash Team Racing ; Amazing game, fast, exciting, great story game with an increasing difficulty, the stages were original, fun, each one felt unique. Great selection of weapons. The major downside/upside is that a very skilled person like me would blast other people. I loved this, I never lost a match against friends but they didn't loved that.
7. Spyro the Dragon ; I really liked the setting, the worlds, the changes from grass to town to desert to ice to day to night. The variety of each world and enemies. I would pay 30 bucks for a PS4 version with trophies by the way.
8. Medievil ; I was debating with myself of which game put here, this or one Crash Bandicoot game, but it won Medievil because it was a bigger game, therefore I played it more. The atmosphere of the game, the weapons, the levels. Another game I'll pay to get those trophies.
9. NHL 99 &
10. FIFA 99 ; I know GAF will hate me for this but sports games deserve better from "hardcore gamers". I spent thousands of hours playing these games with friends or people from school, playing tournaments, seasons, etc and it was incredible fun, not for the game but for the people, but the game still deserves some merit, sports games it's what most people play and enjoy because non-gamers do not give a shit of 10/10 reviews, 60fps 1080p, or why Nina Williams is the best tekken character, they want something they can identify and sports games gives that.
x. Crash Bandicoot 2 & 3. Amazing games, left out only because they were short, so I have more memories of other games.
x. Dragon Quest VII. Amazing story, some parts were touching. It's was really hard to leave this game out.
x. Tekken 3. <3 Nina Williams
x. Metal Gear Solid. I remember I started to play this game after dinner. 7am I was still playing completely hooked up without knowing which hour was it.
x. Spyro 2 & 3. Loved them, but 1 was the best for me.
x. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX. I like them all (even XIII), but I didn't had a chance to play them on the PS but years later (after X) and the ugly graphics affected my experience.
x. Age of Empires II. Great RTS and fixed a lot of problems I had, but still, I liked I settings more.
x. Bushido Blade. A friend got it and we had a lot of fun playing it. We looked for a sequel in the PS2 but never found one.
x. Dino Crisis 2. I love dinosaurs and I think it's the only game I have ever play with dinos on it. WTF is wrong with the industry.
x. Mario Kart 64. Oh man, the best kart game to play with friends.
x. Rival Schools. Another fun fighting game. I drool for the girls, In retrospective I think thats why we (friends and I) played it a lot.
x. Pitfall 3d. Great and fun platformer.
x. SCARS. Nobody remember this game but I have fond memories of it, it felt faster than CTR and the graphics were more colorful. Super computers take forms of car-animals and race for fun is the theme. Oh and it had amazing music too.
x. Tomb Raider games. Yeah they had good stuff, but wasting 30 minutes to climb a ledge greatly affected my experiences.
x. Marvel vs Capcom. Another great fightning game but more for the characters than the mechanics. Almost everybody picked marvel heroes because we knew them.
And many more games that I do not remember at this time.
entremet
Member
1. Super Mario 64 ; Amazing controls and infinitely repayable. The game was out of this world when I first played it.
2. Metal Gear Solid ; I still think this is the best one after all these years. Great art direction and story.
3. Nights Into Dreams ; A score attack game with a charming aesthetic. It's short if you wanna beat it, but to master it takes time.
4. Resident Evil ; Played this game many times. Loved the amazing atmosphere.
5. Street Fighter Alpha 2 ; Loved the arcade version. My favorite FG of the generation
6. Tekken 3 ; I'm partial to the PS1 version due to the remixed soundtrack, extra modes and new characters. Not arcade perfect, but a fantastic port.
7. Ocarina of Time ; I was skeptical at first, but the game totally surprised me. A complete and valid transition to 3D for the franchise
8. Jumping Flash 2 ; Slightly better than the original. Still holds up today even with the poor framerate and lack of draw distance.
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night; Lovely game and still the best of the adventure based Vanias.
10. Pokemon RBY; I'm partial to the Yellow version due to the sprite art, but I love them all.
2. Metal Gear Solid ; I still think this is the best one after all these years. Great art direction and story.
3. Nights Into Dreams ; A score attack game with a charming aesthetic. It's short if you wanna beat it, but to master it takes time.
4. Resident Evil ; Played this game many times. Loved the amazing atmosphere.
5. Street Fighter Alpha 2 ; Loved the arcade version. My favorite FG of the generation
6. Tekken 3 ; I'm partial to the PS1 version due to the remixed soundtrack, extra modes and new characters. Not arcade perfect, but a fantastic port.
7. Ocarina of Time ; I was skeptical at first, but the game totally surprised me. A complete and valid transition to 3D for the franchise
8. Jumping Flash 2 ; Slightly better than the original. Still holds up today even with the poor framerate and lack of draw distance.
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night; Lovely game and still the best of the adventure based Vanias.
10. Pokemon RBY; I'm partial to the Yellow version due to the sprite art, but I love them all.
1. Tie Fighter ; Without a doubt my absolute favorite game of all time. Just sublime design, missions, story, gameplay, everything. Brilliant.
2. Fallout 2 ; Depending on my mood, also my absolute favorite game of all time. Definitely the deepest, richest, most reactive RPG ever made.
3. Half Life ; Completely redefined not just first person shooters, but videogaming as a whole. A revolution in narrative through gameplay.
4. Planescape: Torment ; The best story ever told in the medium. Also has a wonderfully crazy setting and of course classic D&D gameplay.
5. Might & Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven ; Immensely huge, wonderfully designed, just an absolute joy to play.
6. X-COM: UFO Defense ; I think this is the best strategy game ever crafted. Just absolutely brilliant in all regards. The way it combines large scale strategic planning with down on the ground tactical combat is unparalleled.
7. Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries ; Both Mechwarrior 2 and this follow up are incredible mech combat simulators. Amazing graphics (at the time), amazing sound track, great missions, fun multiplayer and the mech customization is unmatched.
8. Starcraft ; Probably the best RTS game ever. Great single player, great story, and Battle.net revolutionized multiplayer. The game is practically a religion in South Korea.
9. System Shock 2 ; Probably the scariest game I've played. Wonderful hybrid of FPS and RPG.
10. Final Fantasy VI ; My favorite JRPG. Great story, great world, amazing villain, wonderful cast of characters. Oh and of course the god tier soundtrack.
Jesus christ this was hard. I left out so many incredible games.
2. Fallout 2 ; Depending on my mood, also my absolute favorite game of all time. Definitely the deepest, richest, most reactive RPG ever made.
3. Half Life ; Completely redefined not just first person shooters, but videogaming as a whole. A revolution in narrative through gameplay.
4. Planescape: Torment ; The best story ever told in the medium. Also has a wonderfully crazy setting and of course classic D&D gameplay.
5. Might & Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven ; Immensely huge, wonderfully designed, just an absolute joy to play.
6. X-COM: UFO Defense ; I think this is the best strategy game ever crafted. Just absolutely brilliant in all regards. The way it combines large scale strategic planning with down on the ground tactical combat is unparalleled.
7. Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries ; Both Mechwarrior 2 and this follow up are incredible mech combat simulators. Amazing graphics (at the time), amazing sound track, great missions, fun multiplayer and the mech customization is unmatched.
8. Starcraft ; Probably the best RTS game ever. Great single player, great story, and Battle.net revolutionized multiplayer. The game is practically a religion in South Korea.
9. System Shock 2 ; Probably the scariest game I've played. Wonderful hybrid of FPS and RPG.
10. Final Fantasy VI ; My favorite JRPG. Great story, great world, amazing villain, wonderful cast of characters. Oh and of course the god tier soundtrack.
Jesus christ this was hard. I left out so many incredible games.