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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
NipplesAndToes23
Member
AniHawk, when you dropping your vote and I'd thought there'd be more votes in general. Felt like the last one had more votes.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Few games can do what Ocarina of Time did for the industry. It shook everything we knew about 3D adventure games and it was so much more than we were prepared for. The music was fantastic, the graphics were amazing, the atmosphere was top tier and the game was simply epic. I still get the chills every time Ganon emerges from the rubble, and I know for a fact that I'm not alone in this. Ocarina of Time is not only my favorite game of the 5th generation, but my favorite game of all time.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - How do you follow up to the most critically acclaimed game that ever existed? Simple, you try something different. Majora's Mask was somehow able to differentiate itself enough from it's predecessor and make an amazing game. The atmosphere and music were just breathtaking. There really is nothing quite like this game.
3. Super Mario 64 - What Ocarina of Time did for adventure games, Super Mario 64 did for the industry as a whole. There's nothing quite like jumping through that pipe for the first time and exploring the courtyard however you want. The hubworld is an amazing way to traverse the world and the level design is top notch.
4. Xenogears - What can I say about Xenogears? Well I have an idea. Tetsuya Takahashi is a genius. His storytelling is unmatched in the video game industry and it shows in this game. Nothing has been able to pull off this deep of a space epic quite like Xenogears did.
5. Super Smash Bros - Ah this game. There was nothing quite like rushing downstairs after school to pound my siblings as Kirby. There were so many characters and stages to choose from(keyword, 'were'), you were pretty much playing a different game every day.
6. Paper Mario - Paper Mario is a fantastic RPG with incredibly fun gameplay, a good story and excellent characters. This game may be in the shadow of its sequel(Trust me, it's a big shadow), but I still find this game worth the time of day for anyone.
7. Final Fantasy VII - Here it is, the second best Final Fantasy game. Though long, there are a ton of things to do in this game if you ever get bored of the epic story.
8. Mario Kart 64 - Block Fort. That is all.
9. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Oh boy this game. I was thrown for a loop when I first played it. When the game starts you are literally thrown into it. Not only that, but it keeps you going with one epic moment after another. The characters were amazing and the story was fantastic. It's a shame a lot of persona fans haven't played this piece of gold.
10. Goldeneye - Multiplayer. Splitscreen. Oddjob.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - How do you follow up to the most critically acclaimed game that ever existed? Simple, you try something different. Majora's Mask was somehow able to differentiate itself enough from it's predecessor and make an amazing game. The atmosphere and music were just breathtaking. There really is nothing quite like this game.
3. Super Mario 64 - What Ocarina of Time did for adventure games, Super Mario 64 did for the industry as a whole. There's nothing quite like jumping through that pipe for the first time and exploring the courtyard however you want. The hubworld is an amazing way to traverse the world and the level design is top notch.
4. Xenogears - What can I say about Xenogears? Well I have an idea. Tetsuya Takahashi is a genius. His storytelling is unmatched in the video game industry and it shows in this game. Nothing has been able to pull off this deep of a space epic quite like Xenogears did.
5. Super Smash Bros - Ah this game. There was nothing quite like rushing downstairs after school to pound my siblings as Kirby. There were so many characters and stages to choose from(keyword, 'were'), you were pretty much playing a different game every day.
6. Paper Mario - Paper Mario is a fantastic RPG with incredibly fun gameplay, a good story and excellent characters. This game may be in the shadow of its sequel(Trust me, it's a big shadow), but I still find this game worth the time of day for anyone.
7. Final Fantasy VII - Here it is, the second best Final Fantasy game. Though long, there are a ton of things to do in this game if you ever get bored of the epic story.
8. Mario Kart 64 - Block Fort. That is all.
9. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Oh boy this game. I was thrown for a loop when I first played it. When the game starts you are literally thrown into it. Not only that, but it keeps you going with one epic moment after another. The characters were amazing and the story was fantastic. It's a shame a lot of persona fans haven't played this piece of gold.
10. Goldeneye - Multiplayer. Splitscreen. Oddjob.
MulderYuffie
Member
1.The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ; My fav game of all time so different from other Zeldas but filled with so much heart in a world with little hope.
2. Super Mario 64 ; Hands down best Mario game great platforming , levels , music everything.
3. Final Fantasy IX ; Best Final Fantasy game in the whole series just love the characters , atmosphere , music it all fits so perfect in this fantasy world.
4. Final Fantasy VII ; Set the bar for RPGs as a whole great story with loveable characters and an awesome soundtrack it was a tough choice between this fantasy or the one above but this is a one in a million gem too.
5. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Fantastic set of games that really improved upon the originals and set in stone what the series would become 2 regions , 16 gyms , 100 new pokemon , new types , berries , phone , day/night cycle oh yeah this game has it going on.
6. Spyro 3 ; Best Spyro game and one of the best platformers of all time.
7. Resident Evil 3 ; One of the best entries in the series great survival horror you will remember for a long long time beware of Nemesis.
8. Donkey Kong 64 ; Plenty of variety and things to do in this fantastic platformer one of those games that just sticks out in your memory props to Rare on making another great game.
9. Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense ; Great vehicular combat game hours and hours spent on this fantastic gem.
10. NIGHTS into Dreams ; What can I say? It's got a great arcade-y feel to it very interesting gameplay and the Saturn's crown gem.
Honorable Mentions:
x. Mario Kart 64 ;
x. Banjo-Kazooie ;
x. Medievil ;
x. Resident Evil
x. House of the Dead ;
x. Spyro 2 ;
x. Silent Hill ;
x. Mortal Kombat 4 ;
x. Conker's Bad Fur Day ;
x. Cruis'n USA ;
2. Super Mario 64 ; Hands down best Mario game great platforming , levels , music everything.
3. Final Fantasy IX ; Best Final Fantasy game in the whole series just love the characters , atmosphere , music it all fits so perfect in this fantasy world.
4. Final Fantasy VII ; Set the bar for RPGs as a whole great story with loveable characters and an awesome soundtrack it was a tough choice between this fantasy or the one above but this is a one in a million gem too.
5. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Fantastic set of games that really improved upon the originals and set in stone what the series would become 2 regions , 16 gyms , 100 new pokemon , new types , berries , phone , day/night cycle oh yeah this game has it going on.
6. Spyro 3 ; Best Spyro game and one of the best platformers of all time.
7. Resident Evil 3 ; One of the best entries in the series great survival horror you will remember for a long long time beware of Nemesis.
8. Donkey Kong 64 ; Plenty of variety and things to do in this fantastic platformer one of those games that just sticks out in your memory props to Rare on making another great game.
9. Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense ; Great vehicular combat game hours and hours spent on this fantastic gem.
10. NIGHTS into Dreams ; What can I say? It's got a great arcade-y feel to it very interesting gameplay and the Saturn's crown gem.
Honorable Mentions:
x. Mario Kart 64 ;
x. Banjo-Kazooie ;
x. Medievil ;
x. Resident Evil
x. House of the Dead ;
x. Spyro 2 ;
x. Silent Hill ;
x. Mortal Kombat 4 ;
x. Conker's Bad Fur Day ;
x. Cruis'n USA ;
1. Metal Gear Solid ; This was the game that started my love for the franchise and it's a game that I can continually go back and play and enjoy it just as much as my first.
2. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back ; I can admit nostalgia is the thing that makes me place Crash 2 here instead of 3. 2 was my first PS1 game and is a game that I know like the back of my hand at this point and while it has it's problems, this is the game of the original Crash trilogy that I find myself going back to more than others.
3. Final Fantasy VII ; This really is a classic game and while it isn't my favorite game in the franchise, it's definitely one of the most memorable ones and it had more impact on my gaming experience than the other PS1 era FF games.
4. Civilization II ; This was the game that introduced me to strategy games. I never played anything like it at the time and the genre of games it introduced me to makes me never forget it.
5. Xenogears ; Honestly one of my favorite RPGs despite it's shortcomings in regards to it's second disc. While I can forgive the game for what happens with it, that second disc still bums me out to this day and I've held a wish that a more complete version of that game would come out (I know it won't).
6. Pokemon Red/Blue ; I didn't do a lot of handheld gaming back then, in fact Pokemon Red/Blue made up half of my Gameboy collection, but these are superb games that I sunk countless hours into.
7. Digimon World ; I remember being really frustrated with this game for the longest time. I hardly ever knew what I was doing and trying to digivolve my digimon usually ended up being a colossal failure. But I perserved and eventually the game just clicked with me and I wound up doing almost everything there is to do it it. Amazing game.
8. Crash Team Racing ; As far as I'm concerned, CTR is one of the best kart racers to have ever been put out. Game is just great fun.
9. Dungeon Keeper 2 ; I mentioned Civ II getting me into strategy games, well Dungeon Keeper 2 was another game of the era that helped me into the genre. I have a lot of fond memories of this game and watching other people play in addition to playing myself. Fun game all around
10. Tekken 3 ; Tekken 2 was my first time getting into fighting games but Tekken 3 took that formula and perfected it. The game is still one of my favorite fighting games of all time.
Honorable Mentions
x. Final Fantasy Tactics
x. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
x. Spyro the Dragon
x. Ape Escape
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Final Fantasy VIII
x. PaRappa the Rapper
x. Um Jammer Lammy
2. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back ; I can admit nostalgia is the thing that makes me place Crash 2 here instead of 3. 2 was my first PS1 game and is a game that I know like the back of my hand at this point and while it has it's problems, this is the game of the original Crash trilogy that I find myself going back to more than others.
3. Final Fantasy VII ; This really is a classic game and while it isn't my favorite game in the franchise, it's definitely one of the most memorable ones and it had more impact on my gaming experience than the other PS1 era FF games.
4. Civilization II ; This was the game that introduced me to strategy games. I never played anything like it at the time and the genre of games it introduced me to makes me never forget it.
5. Xenogears ; Honestly one of my favorite RPGs despite it's shortcomings in regards to it's second disc. While I can forgive the game for what happens with it, that second disc still bums me out to this day and I've held a wish that a more complete version of that game would come out (I know it won't).
6. Pokemon Red/Blue ; I didn't do a lot of handheld gaming back then, in fact Pokemon Red/Blue made up half of my Gameboy collection, but these are superb games that I sunk countless hours into.
7. Digimon World ; I remember being really frustrated with this game for the longest time. I hardly ever knew what I was doing and trying to digivolve my digimon usually ended up being a colossal failure. But I perserved and eventually the game just clicked with me and I wound up doing almost everything there is to do it it. Amazing game.
8. Crash Team Racing ; As far as I'm concerned, CTR is one of the best kart racers to have ever been put out. Game is just great fun.
9. Dungeon Keeper 2 ; I mentioned Civ II getting me into strategy games, well Dungeon Keeper 2 was another game of the era that helped me into the genre. I have a lot of fond memories of this game and watching other people play in addition to playing myself. Fun game all around
10. Tekken 3 ; Tekken 2 was my first time getting into fighting games but Tekken 3 took that formula and perfected it. The game is still one of my favorite fighting games of all time.
Honorable Mentions
x. Final Fantasy Tactics
x. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
x. Spyro the Dragon
x. Ape Escape
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Final Fantasy VIII
x. PaRappa the Rapper
x. Um Jammer Lammy
plan on beating panzer dragoon saga first to see if it fits in
Voysa Reezun
Banned
1. NiGHTS Into Dreams...; This is the most beautiful, magical game that I have ever played. It was the first game to accurately portray my dreams, and since I'm a lucid dreamer, I don't know that a game ever spoke to me in such a personal way about anything, now that I think about it. The best games smash the TV screen in front of you and bring you into their world, and like most of the games below, this game does that in spades. Also, I think Claris's song is legitimately beautiful. Playing this game is like eating chocolate or taking drugs; I can fire this up and my brain immediately starts producing dopamine. I get high off of this game! There is no greater praise than that.
I must say that besides the amazing aesthetics of this game, the replayability of trying to score attack/run up a massive loop counter was simple, yet involved enough to keep me coming back as well. Anyway, between this and the Sonic games up through S3+K, I really believe that Yuji Naka is the most brilliant game designer ever. Yes, even more than Miyamoto or Kojima or Yokoi or whoever else you want to put up there. He doesn't get the massive love and credit that he deserves for his singular brilliance.
2. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire; This game popped my 4X cherry. I played so many hours of this via LAN in high school with my friends that I'm scared to actually count. And it has staying power! I also played countless hours of this over LAN in college. The one thing I miss about college is the ability to get LAN games of Halo, Alpha Centauri, etc. going, but I digress.
The extremely cool future-tech, deep customization of units, great lore building (and I usually find most video game lore eye-rollingly bad in quality), and multitude of legit strategies that one can use to beat the game/diversity in leaders make this my favorite 4X game even to this day, and I've played some great ones (At The Gates, Civ IV, Gal Civ 2, etc.)
3. WWF No Mercy; This is still the king of wrestling games, and really, this had been building up since WCW vs. nWo World Tour, which was a revelation after years of shitty LJN WWF games (I didn't import at that time). It straight up de-pantsed the Acclaim Warzone/Attitude/ECW games with its superior pacing, ability to target a body part, and branching story paths in Championship mode that gave the game mega replay outside of the perfected engine. Also, it introduced ladder matches to these games for the first time, and I don't think they have ever been done as well, to be honest. I don't give a shit about the aged graphics because the gameplay is great - and AKI actually topped it later on with Def Jam: FFNY! But that's another game on another list for another generation.
4. Wario Land Virtual Boy; This is THE hidden gem of games, the one game Nintendo needs to remaster more than anything else they have ownership of. It would immediately get me to walk out of my house right now and buy a 3DS. The platforming is so wonderful; the foreground/background gameplay is on point. It also does something that I basically value in my platformers over everything else: it encourages exploration.
I'm a weird breed in that I prefer 2D platformers to 3D, and yet I value exploration over everything else when it comes to platforming. This game is the Holy Grail of exploration in 2D platformers. I think Sonic Generations came close with the fun of finding those Red Star Rings sprinkled amongst multiple branching paths, but other than that, this game is still in many ways the king of exploration in 2D platforming (I thought about Braid as the new king, but it's too abstract in how it presents and encourages exploration to be number one).
Also the soundtrack is great. I can just hear the winning tone when you unlock the elevator to the next level with the key as well as the typical cave theme. So, so great.
5. Starfox 64; One of my favorite rail shooters of all time, the atmosphere in this game is off the charts. I think this is best exemplified when you fly into Katina and the music swells right as Falco disgustedly wonders how the planet, once beautiful, was turned into a toxic wasteland over the intercom. That moment has stuck with me forever for some reason. Anyway, the diverse planets were aesthetically pleasing, and the gameplay was really varied. You might go from standard level to dogfight level to submarine level to tank level, maybe with an Independence Day-style boss fight in there. I toughed out every medal in both modes. The only downer is that the multiplayer feels tacked on. The single-player campaign is so brilliant that it doesn't matter, though.
6. Fighters Megamix; Well, I wanted to put Virtua Fighter 2 here. I also wanted to give some love to Fighting Vipers. This is the perfect solution. It blends Virtua Fighter's measured L/M/H gameplay with Fighting Vipers's ability to juggle/trap your opponents. There are numerous unlockables and even some Sonic The Fighters love here. This is my favorite 3D fighter ever.
7. Marvel Super Heroes; On the other hand, I wouldn't call this my favorite 2D fighter ever, but it is my favorite 2D fighter of this generation not counting the team-up games. I put this here over those games, however, because it built on X-Men: Children of the Atom (another of my favorites) with the Gems system, which I think added a nice extra layer to the typical fast combomania gameplay of the 2D Marvel fighters. Plus, it is one of the few fighting games that I was ever legitimately good at, so I might be personally biased here for that reason.
8. Super Mario 64; This is another game oozing with personality and with an aesthetically-varied approach (though they did milk the snow levels for more than they needed to). It also pretty much ruined Mario games for me afterward, as I prefer the 3D exploration in this game to the more linear 3D games that Nintendo favors for Mario.
The castle as a hub world that had its own secrets, and that led to specific courses with six clear missions in each level was so novel at the time and still is a great idea. I thought that the minor clues to each star were also really clever; they promoted exploration and trying different things, and the clues were (mostly) not so obtuse that things felt hopeless. I do think the original controls were obviously flawed because of no dual analog sticks, and I do think that Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride in particular suffer badly for it, but with so much to find and explore without feeling tedious or like busywork (as the Rare 3D platformers feel), and with all the different ways that Mario could move, the platforming itself allows one to be creative and the exploration demands more creativity still. Not a perfect game, but a game near perfection with flaws that are easily forgiven.
9. Parasite Eve; I have always wanted to read the novel that inspired this game. I thought the idea of one's body gaining sentience and trying to evolve itself was just so creepy, and really this is a game where again, the ambiance carries things a long way. However, I did enjoy the ATB system for attack, and it was quite fun enough that the game wasn't just about dealing with it to get to the rest of the story. In fact, I played through the Chrysler Tower because I enjoyed the gameplay so much. This is probably my favorite Square game ever made.
10. Pokemon Snap; I just played through this game about nine months ago, and I think it represents the sort of creativity that I love about games. This should just be a simple, mindless cash-in on the popularity of Pokemon, but it ends up being a game where I play courses over and over trying to nail the perfect shot. There are a few powerups to try and manipulate the setting to get better pictures, but if you think creatively, you can find uses that set up these amazing, perfect, action-filled pictures that you never would have thought to get otherwise. This game is so minimalist. There's not much there, but what is there is surprisingly deep. It's the only Pokemon game I've ever played or had interest in, so I can't say that it's the best of them, but I feel comfortable calling it a top ten game from this generation.
x.: Christmas NiGHTS; Yes, I know that I listed vanilla NiGHTS before, but this was a separate disc and I think it is MAGICAL. The Christmas version of Spring Valley's theme is on my homemade Christmas songs mix CD, the visuals are beautiful, I love the cute little story of having to retrieve the star for the tree in the Twin Seeds town square, and the present opening game (gone from remakes, shamefully) was legitimately fun and offered some neat unlocks. I got this sampler for free after playing the first NiGHTS a bit and not really caring for it and I played it so much that I wore out the disc, had to buy a second one from Blockbuster on clearance, and since then have played it every year on my Winter Break (I'm a college teacher, so it's just like when I first played as a teen). I. LOVE. THIS. GAME. It is bar none the best demo/sampler ever by a wide, wide margin.
x.: Goldeneye 007; As poorly as this game aged, it was the king of FPS games back then, and as someone who didn't enjoy Doom, Quake, or Turok, I thought I didn't enjoy the genre until I played this. Local multi was awesome, but the cheats, the replayability of levels in different difficulties, etc., had most of us going at this game for months. Desperately needs a remaster more than any game that I can think of.
x.: WWF Smackdown!;
x.: NFL Blitz;
x.: Snowboard Kids;
x.: Super Smash Bros;
x.: Bushido Blade 2;
x. Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
x.: Prop Cycle
x.: Sky Pirates
I must say that besides the amazing aesthetics of this game, the replayability of trying to score attack/run up a massive loop counter was simple, yet involved enough to keep me coming back as well. Anyway, between this and the Sonic games up through S3+K, I really believe that Yuji Naka is the most brilliant game designer ever. Yes, even more than Miyamoto or Kojima or Yokoi or whoever else you want to put up there. He doesn't get the massive love and credit that he deserves for his singular brilliance.
2. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire; This game popped my 4X cherry. I played so many hours of this via LAN in high school with my friends that I'm scared to actually count. And it has staying power! I also played countless hours of this over LAN in college. The one thing I miss about college is the ability to get LAN games of Halo, Alpha Centauri, etc. going, but I digress.
The extremely cool future-tech, deep customization of units, great lore building (and I usually find most video game lore eye-rollingly bad in quality), and multitude of legit strategies that one can use to beat the game/diversity in leaders make this my favorite 4X game even to this day, and I've played some great ones (At The Gates, Civ IV, Gal Civ 2, etc.)
3. WWF No Mercy; This is still the king of wrestling games, and really, this had been building up since WCW vs. nWo World Tour, which was a revelation after years of shitty LJN WWF games (I didn't import at that time). It straight up de-pantsed the Acclaim Warzone/Attitude/ECW games with its superior pacing, ability to target a body part, and branching story paths in Championship mode that gave the game mega replay outside of the perfected engine. Also, it introduced ladder matches to these games for the first time, and I don't think they have ever been done as well, to be honest. I don't give a shit about the aged graphics because the gameplay is great - and AKI actually topped it later on with Def Jam: FFNY! But that's another game on another list for another generation.
4. Wario Land Virtual Boy; This is THE hidden gem of games, the one game Nintendo needs to remaster more than anything else they have ownership of. It would immediately get me to walk out of my house right now and buy a 3DS. The platforming is so wonderful; the foreground/background gameplay is on point. It also does something that I basically value in my platformers over everything else: it encourages exploration.
I'm a weird breed in that I prefer 2D platformers to 3D, and yet I value exploration over everything else when it comes to platforming. This game is the Holy Grail of exploration in 2D platformers. I think Sonic Generations came close with the fun of finding those Red Star Rings sprinkled amongst multiple branching paths, but other than that, this game is still in many ways the king of exploration in 2D platforming (I thought about Braid as the new king, but it's too abstract in how it presents and encourages exploration to be number one).
Also the soundtrack is great. I can just hear the winning tone when you unlock the elevator to the next level with the key as well as the typical cave theme. So, so great.
5. Starfox 64; One of my favorite rail shooters of all time, the atmosphere in this game is off the charts. I think this is best exemplified when you fly into Katina and the music swells right as Falco disgustedly wonders how the planet, once beautiful, was turned into a toxic wasteland over the intercom. That moment has stuck with me forever for some reason. Anyway, the diverse planets were aesthetically pleasing, and the gameplay was really varied. You might go from standard level to dogfight level to submarine level to tank level, maybe with an Independence Day-style boss fight in there. I toughed out every medal in both modes. The only downer is that the multiplayer feels tacked on. The single-player campaign is so brilliant that it doesn't matter, though.
6. Fighters Megamix; Well, I wanted to put Virtua Fighter 2 here. I also wanted to give some love to Fighting Vipers. This is the perfect solution. It blends Virtua Fighter's measured L/M/H gameplay with Fighting Vipers's ability to juggle/trap your opponents. There are numerous unlockables and even some Sonic The Fighters love here. This is my favorite 3D fighter ever.
7. Marvel Super Heroes; On the other hand, I wouldn't call this my favorite 2D fighter ever, but it is my favorite 2D fighter of this generation not counting the team-up games. I put this here over those games, however, because it built on X-Men: Children of the Atom (another of my favorites) with the Gems system, which I think added a nice extra layer to the typical fast combomania gameplay of the 2D Marvel fighters. Plus, it is one of the few fighting games that I was ever legitimately good at, so I might be personally biased here for that reason.
8. Super Mario 64; This is another game oozing with personality and with an aesthetically-varied approach (though they did milk the snow levels for more than they needed to). It also pretty much ruined Mario games for me afterward, as I prefer the 3D exploration in this game to the more linear 3D games that Nintendo favors for Mario.
The castle as a hub world that had its own secrets, and that led to specific courses with six clear missions in each level was so novel at the time and still is a great idea. I thought that the minor clues to each star were also really clever; they promoted exploration and trying different things, and the clues were (mostly) not so obtuse that things felt hopeless. I do think the original controls were obviously flawed because of no dual analog sticks, and I do think that Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride in particular suffer badly for it, but with so much to find and explore without feeling tedious or like busywork (as the Rare 3D platformers feel), and with all the different ways that Mario could move, the platforming itself allows one to be creative and the exploration demands more creativity still. Not a perfect game, but a game near perfection with flaws that are easily forgiven.
9. Parasite Eve; I have always wanted to read the novel that inspired this game. I thought the idea of one's body gaining sentience and trying to evolve itself was just so creepy, and really this is a game where again, the ambiance carries things a long way. However, I did enjoy the ATB system for attack, and it was quite fun enough that the game wasn't just about dealing with it to get to the rest of the story. In fact, I played through the Chrysler Tower because I enjoyed the gameplay so much. This is probably my favorite Square game ever made.
10. Pokemon Snap; I just played through this game about nine months ago, and I think it represents the sort of creativity that I love about games. This should just be a simple, mindless cash-in on the popularity of Pokemon, but it ends up being a game where I play courses over and over trying to nail the perfect shot. There are a few powerups to try and manipulate the setting to get better pictures, but if you think creatively, you can find uses that set up these amazing, perfect, action-filled pictures that you never would have thought to get otherwise. This game is so minimalist. There's not much there, but what is there is surprisingly deep. It's the only Pokemon game I've ever played or had interest in, so I can't say that it's the best of them, but I feel comfortable calling it a top ten game from this generation.
x.: Christmas NiGHTS; Yes, I know that I listed vanilla NiGHTS before, but this was a separate disc and I think it is MAGICAL. The Christmas version of Spring Valley's theme is on my homemade Christmas songs mix CD, the visuals are beautiful, I love the cute little story of having to retrieve the star for the tree in the Twin Seeds town square, and the present opening game (gone from remakes, shamefully) was legitimately fun and offered some neat unlocks. I got this sampler for free after playing the first NiGHTS a bit and not really caring for it and I played it so much that I wore out the disc, had to buy a second one from Blockbuster on clearance, and since then have played it every year on my Winter Break (I'm a college teacher, so it's just like when I first played as a teen). I. LOVE. THIS. GAME. It is bar none the best demo/sampler ever by a wide, wide margin.
x.: Goldeneye 007; As poorly as this game aged, it was the king of FPS games back then, and as someone who didn't enjoy Doom, Quake, or Turok, I thought I didn't enjoy the genre until I played this. Local multi was awesome, but the cheats, the replayability of levels in different difficulties, etc., had most of us going at this game for months. Desperately needs a remaster more than any game that I can think of.
x.: WWF Smackdown!;
x.: NFL Blitz;
x.: Snowboard Kids;
x.: Super Smash Bros;
x.: Bushido Blade 2;
x. Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
x.: Prop Cycle
x.: Sky Pirates
I really haven't played many games from this time period, unfortunately.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; What really needs to be said about perhaps the greatest game ever made? Revolutionized 3D combat.
2. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Sucked away hours and hours and hours and hours of my childhood. Then my brother deleted my Lv. 100 Typhlosion and I almost punched him.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ; The atmosphere and story this game presents are like nothing else in the Zelda series or gaming.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; What really needs to be said about perhaps the greatest game ever made? Revolutionized 3D combat.
2. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Sucked away hours and hours and hours and hours of my childhood. Then my brother deleted my Lv. 100 Typhlosion and I almost punched him.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ; The atmosphere and story this game presents are like nothing else in the Zelda series or gaming.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Currently, the games with the greatest OST, the greatest narrative, and the greatest animation are fighting for my TENTH.
This gen, man. This gen.
This gen, man. This gen.
Enemy Zero?
It blows my mind that Eno could hire a composer like Michael Nyman.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
1. Vagrant Story ; It may have been forgotten at the end of the previous generation that "cinematic" in video games used to not be a four-letter word that signified a watery, narrow soundtracks with stereotypically submissive violas sawing on whole notes and random trumpet blares hammering home simple, one-dimensional emotion cues while pressing forward for gameplay. No, this was the 90s, before ballooning development costs and the self-defeating desperation of video games being as "respectable as film", and dimenishing returns had taken their toll, and that meant this was the era of developers exploring types of gameplay, narrative forms, and music that hadn't before been possible and the advancement on all three fronts walked, no bolted forth arm-in-arm at rocket speed. Behold, Yasumi Matsuno's masterpiece Vagrant Story.
Excellent auteur, excellent execution. Excellent narrative, excellent gameplay. Excellent graphics, excellent music. Excellent choreography, excellent localization.
2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Later 3D Zeldas always lacked something, or had some millstone around their neck. WW was too easy. TP had rough pacing. SS had Navi's Revenge, but Ocarina just rolled thru. Tutorial dungeon to kid Link fun to Adult link stuff. Innovations out the ass, even during an age where that was every other month, this game was loaded in it. Kondo's best OST. Full of secrets and wierd nuances.
3. Gran Turismo 2 ; With Chrono Cross and Vagrant Story, this game should have never looked this damn good. Felt like the ultimate form of GT1, pushing the PSX to its absolute limits. Spent days trimming seconds off my time.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics ; This and Vagrant Story show a different path for Square, and the sheer darkness, difficulty, and depth in this continues to astound years out.
5. Valkyrie Profile 1 ; Still, (with its sequel) a relative black sheep of the tri-Ace lineup, with not only a passable story, but a deep melancholy seeping from every pore. Classy art direction, clever level design and battling, plus Limiter-Off Sakuraba prog goodness.
6. Metal Gear Solid 1 ; 1998's GOAT Train keeps rolling with Kojima's revolutionary title. Full VA, first competant cinematic choreography, excellent use of color, Kojima Creative Wierdness (rumble massage, "You like Castlevania, dont you?", multiple gag gameplay options), CAM CLARKE'S heel turn to scene-chewing villain roles, I could go on and on.
7. Super Mario 64 ; Dropped the mic on 3D design; it was the SF2 or SMB1 of its day. Still very playable to this day.
8. Suikoden II ; Murayama's masterpiece, and what all us Suikoden fanatics look back on with whistfullness when we think of it. Excellent tone, maturity, music, spritework, and worldbuilding...you can FEEL the love poured into this.
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; Great series mashup firing on all cylinders. I guess the game gets kinda easy later? Kinda reaching here for detractions.
10. Street Fighter 3 (all modes arcade) ; Simpler than percieved, but deeper than as well. Came out at a bad time, so the sheer craft and nuance going on in these kinda went unloved. Some striated tier shenanigans keep it from a higher spot.
HMs:
x. Planescape Torment ; The best narrative ever wrote. It's been 16 years, people.
x. Chrono Cross ; The best soundtrack ever wrote.
x. Tomb Raider 1 ; The puzzle platformer. Excellent atmosphere and level design.
x. Star Ocean 2 ; Electric shittons of things to do outside of combat that is only just now being superceded on consoles.
x. Tekken Tag Tournament ; excellent roster and fun
x. Final Fantasy VIII ; incredibly underrespected, OST, Triple Triad, the hidden depths to character building and combat
x. Tekken 3 ; gamechanging Fighter
x. Grandia 1 ; Dat Combat. Dat OST. Dat First Disc. That Dungeon Design.
x. Front Mission 3 ; outstanding holistic design. Alicia's a flake, though.
x. Suikoden I ; excellent first release for the series and OST
x. Crazy Taxi ; too dumb and too good
x. Persona 2: Innocent Sin/Eternal Punishment ; the ammount of mounting crazy and characterization in this is amazing.
x. Wild Arms 1 ; puzzles and music, all up in yah
x. Brigandine ; Stupidly addictive "SatelliteOfLove's Must-Play 6" game
This was really, really hard; 1-15 is incredibly close for that kind of spread and only the last 4 HMs are what I'd call actually call "flawed".
Excellent auteur, excellent execution. Excellent narrative, excellent gameplay. Excellent graphics, excellent music. Excellent choreography, excellent localization.
2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Later 3D Zeldas always lacked something, or had some millstone around their neck. WW was too easy. TP had rough pacing. SS had Navi's Revenge, but Ocarina just rolled thru. Tutorial dungeon to kid Link fun to Adult link stuff. Innovations out the ass, even during an age where that was every other month, this game was loaded in it. Kondo's best OST. Full of secrets and wierd nuances.
3. Gran Turismo 2 ; With Chrono Cross and Vagrant Story, this game should have never looked this damn good. Felt like the ultimate form of GT1, pushing the PSX to its absolute limits. Spent days trimming seconds off my time.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics ; This and Vagrant Story show a different path for Square, and the sheer darkness, difficulty, and depth in this continues to astound years out.
5. Valkyrie Profile 1 ; Still, (with its sequel) a relative black sheep of the tri-Ace lineup, with not only a passable story, but a deep melancholy seeping from every pore. Classy art direction, clever level design and battling, plus Limiter-Off Sakuraba prog goodness.
6. Metal Gear Solid 1 ; 1998's GOAT Train keeps rolling with Kojima's revolutionary title. Full VA, first competant cinematic choreography, excellent use of color, Kojima Creative Wierdness (rumble massage, "You like Castlevania, dont you?", multiple gag gameplay options), CAM CLARKE'S heel turn to scene-chewing villain roles, I could go on and on.
7. Super Mario 64 ; Dropped the mic on 3D design; it was the SF2 or SMB1 of its day. Still very playable to this day.
8. Suikoden II ; Murayama's masterpiece, and what all us Suikoden fanatics look back on with whistfullness when we think of it. Excellent tone, maturity, music, spritework, and worldbuilding...you can FEEL the love poured into this.
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; Great series mashup firing on all cylinders. I guess the game gets kinda easy later? Kinda reaching here for detractions.
10. Street Fighter 3 (all modes arcade) ; Simpler than percieved, but deeper than as well. Came out at a bad time, so the sheer craft and nuance going on in these kinda went unloved. Some striated tier shenanigans keep it from a higher spot.
HMs:
x. Planescape Torment ; The best narrative ever wrote. It's been 16 years, people.
x. Chrono Cross ; The best soundtrack ever wrote.
x. Tomb Raider 1 ; The puzzle platformer. Excellent atmosphere and level design.
x. Star Ocean 2 ; Electric shittons of things to do outside of combat that is only just now being superceded on consoles.
x. Tekken Tag Tournament ; excellent roster and fun
x. Final Fantasy VIII ; incredibly underrespected, OST, Triple Triad, the hidden depths to character building and combat
x. Tekken 3 ; gamechanging Fighter
x. Grandia 1 ; Dat Combat. Dat OST. Dat First Disc. That Dungeon Design.
x. Front Mission 3 ; outstanding holistic design. Alicia's a flake, though.
x. Suikoden I ; excellent first release for the series and OST
x. Crazy Taxi ; too dumb and too good
x. Persona 2: Innocent Sin/Eternal Punishment ; the ammount of mounting crazy and characterization in this is amazing.
x. Wild Arms 1 ; puzzles and music, all up in yah
x. Brigandine ; Stupidly addictive "SatelliteOfLove's Must-Play 6" game
This was really, really hard; 1-15 is incredibly close for that kind of spread and only the last 4 HMs are what I'd call actually call "flawed".
Last voting managed to get same amount of replies in a day as this voting has gotten total atm or even more. So yeah it had way more votes than this voting atleast for now.
I am going through MM3D at the moment and I am really baffled how many people prefer OoT over it. Or is the original version really bad?
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
No it is absolutely not bad, it's almost identical even. MM is a more complicated game though and OoT also massively innovated at release, whereas MM was heavily building upon that ground work. That being said, I prefer MM over OoT.
majora's mask was a reiteration. ocarina of time was more groundbreaking. majora's mask also required the use of a peripheral and launched a year before the system was replaced.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
OoT was huge when it came out, and it's easier to "get", if that makes any sense.
Majora's Mask expects a lot more from the player, and maybe it was too weird for players that just wanted another epic adventure. I also have friends that didn't like it just because you're always child link lol.
but yeah Majora's Mask > OoT.
Spieler Eins
Member
Actually, the 3D version is kinda bad. Like the Ninja Gaiden Sigma of Majora's Mask. But more people played OoT and back in the day, several people whined that they didn't get OoT 2.0.
How is the 3D version worse than the N64 version?
Spieler Eins
Member
Hmmm. My Top Ten...
And my Honorable Mentions...
So yeah. I feel like this era and the PS2/GCN/XBox era were where hot-seat multiplayer really shined the brightest, and that made most of those games so much fun for me.
- Super Mario 64. This game started the generation off on the right foot on me. I'd played 3D FPS games and some decent third-person games, but never one that controlled as well and made me feel like I was part of the game. Plus it's just a joy to play. Others may have done it better, but this still holds a special place in my heart.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Close second place. This transitioned my favorite game series into 3D successfully. Huge game that took solving puzzles in the Zelda franchise to a whole new level for me.
- Star Ocean: The Second Story. This was the first JRPG that I had played that wasn't strictly an ATB-type battle system. The game had a ton of interesting characters and two pretty big worlds. Slight point deduction for its horrible translation.
- NiGHTS Into Dreams... It's fun to fly. Even if it was an on-rails flying game, I had a blast with it. I still enjoy playing it.
- Super Smash Bros. I have fond memories of playing this with three buddies my freshman year at Virginia Tech. 99 stock matches that lasted hours...and even without the depth that the current games have, it was still a ton of fun.
- Bust a Groove 2. Music/rhythm meets fighting (sort of). The soundtrack was so good that I imported it from Japan.
- Final Fantasy Tactics. My first tactical RPG didn't disappoint. A little rough around the edges story-wise at times, but a solid game all in all.
- Mario Party. All of those fun, chaotic four-player matches made the hand blisters worth it.
- Goldeneye 007. The first FPS that I really enjoyed, probably because of the hot-seat multiplayer matches...sensing a theme here?
- Final Fantasy IX. The series got back to it roots with this entry. I preferred it to VII and VIII by a wide margin.
And my Honorable Mentions...
- Mario Kart 64. I have fond memories of multi-colored VEEEEEEEEs, boosting up hills only to fly back down to reality, and accidentally turning into Peach's Castle. And multiplayer was an absolute blast...literally if you were the first one dead in Battle Mode.
- Bomberman 64. Maybe not a popular choice, but I got every piece of custom equipment and loved doing it. Plus...the multiplayer.
So yeah. I feel like this era and the PS2/GCN/XBox era were where hot-seat multiplayer really shined the brightest, and that made most of those games so much fun for me.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
The original is not bad at all and I going off reviews and player opinion the 3DS sounds worse. Ocarina of Time is more popular because it was the first 3D one and some people couldn't figure out how to turn Link back to normal at the beginning and others expecting Ocarina of Time 2.
I understand OoT being more groundbreaking for the time when it released but MM just feels way more unique and something that I've never played before even after playing it first time after 15 years of it being released. MM is way weirder also though which might be off-putting to many but to me it is a huge plus. Also yeah the game seems to be much harder to get into when compared to OoT mainly because the time restrictions and overall structure of the game.
I think the bolded part might be the biggest reason for OoT being mentioned more often.
Well atleast it gets some recognition here.
I think the bolded part might be the biggest reason for OoT being mentioned more often.
Well atleast it gets some recognition here.
- Mega Man Legends (PS1) ; My favourite game of all time. The aesthetic, the tight controls, the world -- it all comes together to create, as the title says, a sense of adventure that just can't be beat.
- Mega Man Legends 2 (PS1) ; Basically as great as Legends 1, but the fractured world structure hurts it just a little bit more than the combat improvements help it, so it gets second place.
- Metal Gear Solid (PS1) ; Remember, this is a sneaking mission. Now fight this nuclear-equipped walking deathmobile! You enjoy all the killing, don't you? (The mood whiplash is one of the series' strongest charms.)
- Pokemon Card GB2 (GBC) ; The classic Pokemon TCG was super interesting as a card game, because all the creatures are garbage but most of the spells are insanely powerful. This game put that nonsensically fun combat into an RPG shell, building on its predecessor with something like twice the content.
- Pokemon Crystal (GBC) ; The one I have fond memories of is actually Silver, but Crystal was pretty much strictly superior, so I figured I'd put nostalgia aside a little bit (just a little bit) and choose the better game.
- The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PS1) ; If there were more action stages, this would probably rank directly under Legends 2, since it's basically the same thing. Oh well.
- SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters Clash 2 (NGPC) ; The opposite of the Pokemon TCG, this card battle RPG has great creatures and garbage spells. The battles are much more dependent on having strong cards overall instead of a few specific busted cards like in Pokemon, and the visuals are top-notch, but the overall simplicity of the game puts it a bit lower.
- Paper Mario (N64) ; I sometimes forget this game exists because of how completely it was outshined by its sequel, but it is nonetheless a fantastic RPG overflowing with charm.
- Ocarina of Time (N64) ; Had to make the list eventually! The remake is superior, but it's a great game even at 15-20fps. It felt so huge at the time.
- Super Mario 64 (N64) ; I don't have quite as much love for this game as many others do -- I think the mission structure and pacing is kind of janky -- but it's an absolute joy to control, and that goes a long way in my books.
- Sin and Punishment (N64)
- Majora's Mask (N64)
- Star Fox 64 (N64)
- Monster Rancher Battle Card GB (GBC)
- Dragon Quest 1 + 2 (GBC)
- Dragon Quest 3 (GBC)
- Final Fantasy Adventure (GBC)
- Probably another 500 GBC games I'm forgetting at the moment, what a great system that was
Nocturnowl
Member
I'd been meaning on revisiting Rayman 2 in one of its many forms as of late and with this thread as well as the recent EU sale price of 80 whole pence for the PS1 version on PSN I dove back in....
And then dove back out in like 5 minutes, I gotta dig out my N64 version, I can't be dealing with this strange alternative where the characters gained the ability to speak voiced dialogue at the expense of just about everything else.
Still seems to be a fun game mind you, I wonder if the Dreamcast version in turn demolishes the 64 version, then again that's not for this gens consoles.
And then dove back out in like 5 minutes, I gotta dig out my N64 version, I can't be dealing with this strange alternative where the characters gained the ability to speak voiced dialogue at the expense of just about everything else.
Still seems to be a fun game mind you, I wonder if the Dreamcast version in turn demolishes the 64 version, then again that's not for this gens consoles.
i played rayman 2 only on n64 and 3ds. the game holds up pretty well, i think, especially for a platformer with a different way to a goal versus what were mostly collectathons back then.
Jimnymebob
Member
OK, I'm gonna ignore Amiga CD32 games because I played them on an Amiga 600 and 1200, and my list would be full of games from it.
So,
1. Crash Bandicoot 2; My favourite game of all time. It's probably the only game I can think of that is flawless in my opinion. There's honestly nothing that I'd change about it, and it's a shame that no other Crash Bandicoot game was like it.
2. Gauntlet Legends; Awesome update to the Gauntlet series. The PS2 sequel/remake made the PS1 version redundant, but Legends was still a fantastic game for it's time. The yellow Wizard/Jackal are two of my favourite character designs, and inspired my Arisen on Dragon's Dogma.
3. Micro Maniacs; Probably the best multiplayer game of this gen. Codemasters took Micro Machines, let you play as a variety of freaks instead, and gave you access to crazy power ups. It was stupid, but it was amazing.
4. MediEvil; Introduced one of Sony's greatest characters who only got 2 games sadly. The original was the better of the two, even though the sequel did bring in some clever ideas and a cool setting.
5. Spider-Man; Easily my most favourite superhero game. It had a fun story, a load of extras like costumes and what if scenarios, and featured one of the coolest villain designs in Monster Ock.
6. Worms World Party; It was, and still is, the definitive Worms experience.
7. Jade Cocoon; A fantastic monster catching RPG, with what is probably one of my favourite OSTs ever.
8. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver; One of the most cleverly written games ever. Raziel is a great protagonist, being the polar opposite of Kain, who is miles better playing the role of antagonist, compared to his role as main character in Blood Omen.
9. Gex Deep Cover Gecko; It wasn't a perfect game by any means, but the different themed worlds and Danny John Jules made it all worth it.
10. Army Men Sarges Heroes; I honestly don't remember much about this, other than the fact that I loved the idea of the Army Men franchise, but only liked this game out of them all.
I'm probably missing quite a few things, but these are the ones that are sticking out to me at this moment in time, so I'll roll with them. I'd probably put CTR and SotN on the list somewhere, but I only played them as PS1 Classics on the PS3, so I'd feel bad for including them.
So,
1. Crash Bandicoot 2; My favourite game of all time. It's probably the only game I can think of that is flawless in my opinion. There's honestly nothing that I'd change about it, and it's a shame that no other Crash Bandicoot game was like it.
2. Gauntlet Legends; Awesome update to the Gauntlet series. The PS2 sequel/remake made the PS1 version redundant, but Legends was still a fantastic game for it's time. The yellow Wizard/Jackal are two of my favourite character designs, and inspired my Arisen on Dragon's Dogma.
3. Micro Maniacs; Probably the best multiplayer game of this gen. Codemasters took Micro Machines, let you play as a variety of freaks instead, and gave you access to crazy power ups. It was stupid, but it was amazing.
4. MediEvil; Introduced one of Sony's greatest characters who only got 2 games sadly. The original was the better of the two, even though the sequel did bring in some clever ideas and a cool setting.
5. Spider-Man; Easily my most favourite superhero game. It had a fun story, a load of extras like costumes and what if scenarios, and featured one of the coolest villain designs in Monster Ock.
6. Worms World Party; It was, and still is, the definitive Worms experience.
7. Jade Cocoon; A fantastic monster catching RPG, with what is probably one of my favourite OSTs ever.
8. Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver; One of the most cleverly written games ever. Raziel is a great protagonist, being the polar opposite of Kain, who is miles better playing the role of antagonist, compared to his role as main character in Blood Omen.
9. Gex Deep Cover Gecko; It wasn't a perfect game by any means, but the different themed worlds and Danny John Jules made it all worth it.
10. Army Men Sarges Heroes; I honestly don't remember much about this, other than the fact that I loved the idea of the Army Men franchise, but only liked this game out of them all.
I'm probably missing quite a few things, but these are the ones that are sticking out to me at this moment in time, so I'll roll with them. I'd probably put CTR and SotN on the list somewhere, but I only played them as PS1 Classics on the PS3, so I'd feel bad for including them.
Sumio Mondo
Member
Surprised by the lack of love for Ogre Battle 64, to be honest. Always hear how that's the only RPG worth a damn for the N64 aside from Paper Mario. Not played it yet myself, but I thought there would be more votes for that game.
no one really voted for tactics ogre either
Sumio Mondo
Member
I think most people associate that game with the SNES and PSP more than the PSX (which wasn't handled by Quest team, whereas SNES and PSP remake were), since the Atlus port was a limited release in NA only. On the Tactical RPGs front, I don't see any love for Vandal Hearts either.
strange. i always knew it as a psx game.
I usually don't participate in voting threads because my opinion varies according to my mood but I'll make an exception as Gen 5 is my favorite and the thread is pretty empty.
JP version for all games except cRPG:
1. Xenogears ; My favorite game of all time despite its many flaws. Love the story, the scope, the world building, the art style, the music, the battles alternating between "on-foot" and mecha and, last but not least, the cut-scene direction which really impressed me at the time. It's the only game that I consider to be "epic".
2. Final Fantasy VII ; An interesting story with some great moments, a really well done first part in Midgar in term of atmosphere, a solid customization system with the materias, plus I still have a certain fondness for its graphics.
3. Final Fantasy Tactics
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Suikoden II ; A solid RPG with a fantastic story that develops what was built in the first one to create a compelling world.
6. Baldur's Gate ; The prequel to the epitome of cRPG that is BG II, still very good.
7. Silent Hill
8. Metal Gear Solid
9. Saga Frontier ; A "weird" game I happen to like a lot for its weirdness on top of being a quality Saga game. A good point for the fact each scenario plays like no other.
10. Chrono Cross ; Not Chrono Trigger 2 but really good in its own right.
Honorable mentions:
x. Front Mission 3
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
x. Planescape: Torment ; Best story in a cRPG. Too bad everything else was not so great.
x. Final Fantasy VIII
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Legend of Mana
x. Breath of Fire IV
x. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
x. Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke
x. Ridge Race Type 4
x. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
x. Dragon Quest VII
x. Tekken 3 ; My most played fighting game. Maybe not the best there is but the one I have the fondest memories of.
x. Vagrant Story
x. Valkyrie Profile
And many more...
I recently bought a Saturn but haven't took the time to play some games yet. It shows.
JP version for all games except cRPG:
1. Xenogears ; My favorite game of all time despite its many flaws. Love the story, the scope, the world building, the art style, the music, the battles alternating between "on-foot" and mecha and, last but not least, the cut-scene direction which really impressed me at the time. It's the only game that I consider to be "epic".
2. Final Fantasy VII ; An interesting story with some great moments, a really well done first part in Midgar in term of atmosphere, a solid customization system with the materias, plus I still have a certain fondness for its graphics.
3. Final Fantasy Tactics
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Suikoden II ; A solid RPG with a fantastic story that develops what was built in the first one to create a compelling world.
6. Baldur's Gate ; The prequel to the epitome of cRPG that is BG II, still very good.
7. Silent Hill
8. Metal Gear Solid
9. Saga Frontier ; A "weird" game I happen to like a lot for its weirdness on top of being a quality Saga game. A good point for the fact each scenario plays like no other.
10. Chrono Cross ; Not Chrono Trigger 2 but really good in its own right.
Honorable mentions:
x. Front Mission 3
x. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
x. Planescape: Torment ; Best story in a cRPG. Too bad everything else was not so great.
x. Final Fantasy VIII
x. Final Fantasy IX
x. Legend of Mana
x. Breath of Fire IV
x. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
x. Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke
x. Ridge Race Type 4
x. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
x. Dragon Quest VII
x. Tekken 3 ; My most played fighting game. Maybe not the best there is but the one I have the fondest memories of.
x. Vagrant Story
x. Valkyrie Profile
And many more...
I recently bought a Saturn but haven't took the time to play some games yet. It shows.
sorry, but baldur's gate ii was counted as a gen 6 game here. it placed in the top 20 for the last thread.
Okay. Put the first one in its place.
thanks!
TheMightyJerkules
Member
1. Starfox 64 ; The game that got me hooked back in gaming after a bit of a hiatus. Couldn't get enough. I still go back to it every once in a while.
2. Super Mario 64 ; The game that defined 3d platforming.
3. Metal Gear Solid ;
4. Paper Mario ;
5. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 ;
6. Crash Team Racing ;
7. Pokemon Blue ;
8. Silent Hill ; Head and shoulders above Resident Evil in creepiness factor.
9. Mario Kart 64 ;
10. Pokemon Trading Card Game ; I loved this game. Holding out hope every generation for a sequel and never get it.
2. Super Mario 64 ; The game that defined 3d platforming.
3. Metal Gear Solid ;
4. Paper Mario ;
5. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 ;
6. Crash Team Racing ;
7. Pokemon Blue ;
8. Silent Hill ; Head and shoulders above Resident Evil in creepiness factor.
9. Mario Kart 64 ;
10. Pokemon Trading Card Game ; I loved this game. Holding out hope every generation for a sequel and never get it.
1. Super Mario 64 ; The template for 3D controls. A software breakthrough. Still very much replayable nowadays.
2. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time ; Same as above. Z-targeting, contextual camera, perfect pacing, clever dungeons design.
3. GoldenEye 007 ; The first clever FPS. Adaptive mission objectives, still unmatched ennemy hit animations, and one of the best levels ever: Facility.
4. Half-Life ; The first cinematic FPS. Amazing level design, smart AI, excellent world building. A classic.
5. Starcraft ; The best RTS ever.
6. Final Fantasy VII ; The one and only JRPG I truly loved. Epic and touching story, unforgettable characters and scenes, amazing world building and one of the best magic system: the materia system.
7. Resident Evil ; The father of survival horror. Sorry Alone In The Dark.
8. Metal Gear Solid ; Cool stealth action, unforgettable scenes and breaking the 4th wall.
9. Banjo-Kazooie ; Classic characters, unforgettable music, British humor and quite a visual treat at the time.
10. Outcast ; I always thought it as a 3D spiritual successor to Out Of This World and Flashback. Amazing world and the story
involving time relativity is quite good too. Very ambitious game at the time and still unique to this day.
2. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time ; Same as above. Z-targeting, contextual camera, perfect pacing, clever dungeons design.
3. GoldenEye 007 ; The first clever FPS. Adaptive mission objectives, still unmatched ennemy hit animations, and one of the best levels ever: Facility.
4. Half-Life ; The first cinematic FPS. Amazing level design, smart AI, excellent world building. A classic.
5. Starcraft ; The best RTS ever.
6. Final Fantasy VII ; The one and only JRPG I truly loved. Epic and touching story, unforgettable characters and scenes, amazing world building and one of the best magic system: the materia system.
7. Resident Evil ; The father of survival horror. Sorry Alone In The Dark.
8. Metal Gear Solid ; Cool stealth action, unforgettable scenes and breaking the 4th wall.
9. Banjo-Kazooie ; Classic characters, unforgettable music, British humor and quite a visual treat at the time.
10. Outcast ; I always thought it as a 3D spiritual successor to Out Of This World and Flashback. Amazing world and the story
involving time relativity is quite good too. Very ambitious game at the time and still unique to this day.
I would have but that's a gen 4 game. Next time.
archnemesis
Member
1. UFO: Enemy Unknown ; Even though I liked the remake, this is still my favorite turn-based strategy game.
2. Counter-Strike ;
3. Metal Gear Solid ;
4. StarCraft ;
5. Heroes of Might and Magic III ;
6. The Settlers II ;
7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ;
8. Final Fantasy Tactics ;
9. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings ;
10. The Longest Journey ;
2. Counter-Strike ;
3. Metal Gear Solid ;
4. StarCraft ;
5. Heroes of Might and Magic III ;
6. The Settlers II ;
7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ;
8. Final Fantasy Tactics ;
9. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings ;
10. The Longest Journey ;
1. Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal ; Pokémon will always hold a special place in my heart and Pokémon Silver is my favourite in the series. It improved on gen 1 in ways that I didn't even know I wanted at the time and having the ability to return to the world of red and blue was mind blowing.
2. Metal Gear Solid
3. Super Mario 64
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
5. Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow
6. Goldeneye 007
7. Super Smash Bros.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
9. Mario Kart 64
10. Banjo Kazooie
2. Metal Gear Solid
3. Super Mario 64
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
5. Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow
6. Goldeneye 007
7. Super Smash Bros.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
9. Mario Kart 64
10. Banjo Kazooie
Allan Holdsworth
Member
Does WonderSwan (released 1999) count? I got Klonoa in my preliminary liste and need to know before I trim it to 20 games.
Dragon1893
Member
1. Panzer Dragoon Saga; For me the definitive rpg of this generation. It had a great, mature story, interesting characters and a world like no other in videogames.
Every single character was voiced, even the most mundane NPCs.
I can say with confidence that no other jrpg script from that era aged as well as this one.
The battle system was fantastic and revolved around positioning yourself correctly in relation to your enemies, which would allow you to avoid their most powerful attacks and exploit their weaknesses. Your dragon evolved throughout the game and you could morph it in real time to adapt it to each situation.
2. Metal Gear Solid; Revolutionary is the word that best describes this experience that simply blew everyone's minds back in 1998. We weren't ready.
3. Resident Evil 2; The pinnacle of the survival horror genre. Production values were through the roof and the game could be experienced from the perspective of 2 different characters. You were left wondering if it would ever get better than this.
4. Final Fantasy IX; The gorgeous world which returned to a typical medieval fantasy setting, combined with the charismatic, likeable characters, made this one stand out among all the briiliant FF entries on the PSone for me.
5. Xenogears; As flawed as it was, it was also unforgettable.
6. Final Fantasy VII
7. Final Fantasy VIII
8. Sega Rally; Racing games had never felt this good. It was the game everyone wanted to play at the arcades, in my own room.
9. Nights Into Dreams; Looking back on it, it's definitely a very short game that you can blast through in an hour, but I kept coming back. For the gorgeous visuals and one of the best ost's of all time, to do that epic boss fight one more time or to beat my own highscores. And in the end, just to revel in Sonic Team's magic.
10. Resident Evil; Though the sequel was superior in every way, the impact the first game had on me and the industry as a whole warrants a place on this list.
Honorable mentions:
x. Final Fantasy Tactics
x. Fighter's Megamix
x. Deep Fear
x. Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Every single character was voiced, even the most mundane NPCs.
I can say with confidence that no other jrpg script from that era aged as well as this one.
The battle system was fantastic and revolved around positioning yourself correctly in relation to your enemies, which would allow you to avoid their most powerful attacks and exploit their weaknesses. Your dragon evolved throughout the game and you could morph it in real time to adapt it to each situation.
2. Metal Gear Solid; Revolutionary is the word that best describes this experience that simply blew everyone's minds back in 1998. We weren't ready.
3. Resident Evil 2; The pinnacle of the survival horror genre. Production values were through the roof and the game could be experienced from the perspective of 2 different characters. You were left wondering if it would ever get better than this.
4. Final Fantasy IX; The gorgeous world which returned to a typical medieval fantasy setting, combined with the charismatic, likeable characters, made this one stand out among all the briiliant FF entries on the PSone for me.
5. Xenogears; As flawed as it was, it was also unforgettable.
6. Final Fantasy VII
7. Final Fantasy VIII
8. Sega Rally; Racing games had never felt this good. It was the game everyone wanted to play at the arcades, in my own room.
9. Nights Into Dreams; Looking back on it, it's definitely a very short game that you can blast through in an hour, but I kept coming back. For the gorgeous visuals and one of the best ost's of all time, to do that epic boss fight one more time or to beat my own highscores. And in the end, just to revel in Sonic Team's magic.
10. Resident Evil; Though the sequel was superior in every way, the impact the first game had on me and the industry as a whole warrants a place on this list.
Honorable mentions:
x. Final Fantasy Tactics
x. Fighter's Megamix
x. Deep Fear
x. Panzer Dragoon Zwei
wonderswan was counted for gen 6
all three should be fine
Even without MM3D it would have been high I think, the game gained a looot of following over the years, rarely there had been a turnaround as great as in MM's case.
Klonoa for WS is indeed a mighty fine game.
Ok thanks. Man this generation is amazing. While I see most people talking about being in their teens this was my first generation. And while I played a lot of the games in my list after that generation they are still amazing.
Allan Holdsworth
Member
Ah I forgot about that. But Gen 6 includes both GBA sequels which I think are better (especially 2). Then again checking my list for that topic none of them got in my top 20. Too much competition.
sleepydeer
Member
1. Unreal Tournament ; PC. UT is my favourite series and this nailed practially all of its strongest elements in the first iteration.
2. Quake 3 ; PC.
3. StarCraft ; PC.
4. Total Annihilation ; PC.
5. Half-Life ; PC.
6. Stars! ; PC. A space 4x game that by virtue of being almost totally abstract allowed not only incredible scale but huge spaces for your imagination to work.
7. Tekken 3 ; PS.
8. Mario 64 ; N64.
9. Wip3Out ; PS.
10. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 ; PC. I first played this a few years ago, and have only recently put real time into it via GoG. There are a few elements that date the design, but coming to it without nostalgia it clearly deserves its reputation as a classic.
x. Doom 2 ; PC.
x. Quake ; PC.
x. Bust-a-Move 4 ; PS, Arcade. AKA Puzzle Bobble 4.
x. Worms Armageddon ; PC.
x. TIE Fighter ; PC.
The tremendous pace of change across the generation means that my favourites are mostly from around end of the time range. It'll be interesting to see if that's true overall.
1999: UT, Q3, Wip3Out, HoMM3, Worms Armageddon
1998: SC, HL, Tekken 3, Bust-a-Move 4
1997: TA
1996: Mario 64, Q1
1995: Stars!
1994: Doom 2, TIE Fighter
2. Quake 3 ; PC.
3. StarCraft ; PC.
4. Total Annihilation ; PC.
5. Half-Life ; PC.
6. Stars! ; PC. A space 4x game that by virtue of being almost totally abstract allowed not only incredible scale but huge spaces for your imagination to work.
7. Tekken 3 ; PS.
8. Mario 64 ; N64.
9. Wip3Out ; PS.
10. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 ; PC. I first played this a few years ago, and have only recently put real time into it via GoG. There are a few elements that date the design, but coming to it without nostalgia it clearly deserves its reputation as a classic.
x. Doom 2 ; PC.
x. Quake ; PC.
x. Bust-a-Move 4 ; PS, Arcade. AKA Puzzle Bobble 4.
x. Worms Armageddon ; PC.
x. TIE Fighter ; PC.
The tremendous pace of change across the generation means that my favourites are mostly from around end of the time range. It'll be interesting to see if that's true overall.
1999: UT, Q3, Wip3Out, HoMM3, Worms Armageddon
1998: SC, HL, Tekken 3, Bust-a-Move 4
1997: TA
1996: Mario 64, Q1
1995: Stars!
1994: Doom 2, TIE Fighter