Top 10 Lists: The Top 10 Games Of The Year: The 1990's

At the outset of the 1990s, the video game landscape was quite clear: Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo. Those of us of the slightly older generation can still remember when you didn't "play video games", you "played Nintendo". With the run-away most popular home console and the only relevant handheld console, Nintendo had the video game industry in a stranglehold, which it showed no willingness to release as it churned out hit after hit. Sega experienced a minor rise and fall, but really never represented a major threat to Nintendo's dominance. In the early '90s, Nintendo seemed poised to solidify their grasp on the industry, working with Sony to bring the newest technology to their new console; but there are no friends in business, and the deal quickly went south. Lots in the pages of history are that the proposed deal, had it passed, would have crippled Nintendo just as much, but they'd already built their coffin either way: with an effective advertising campaign directed to an older generation, Sony left Nintendo and Sega to fight for the younger generation and its shallower wallets, and its release, the PlayStation, would become the best-selling console of all time within a few years. Despite this, most of the decade's most popular games would hail from Nintendo consoles, showing that the PlayStation's appeal was largely to its breadth of games rather than individual gems. Additionally, PC games continued to expand in popularity during this time, registering multiple hits that rivaled their home console counterparts. With one exception, handheld gaming did not pose a significant threat from individual titles, but remained a strong seller for Nintendo as well.

Nintendo started off the new decade with a bang. Well, two bangs, and if this were recognizing franchises, the other game would get the nod -- but this list is of individual games of the year. Released in the United States in 1990, Super Mario Bros. 3 would go on to become the best-selling stand-alone game of all time (Super Mario Bros. and Wii Sports sales were augmented by the console sales themselves). Super Mario Bros. 3 stretched the NES's capabilities in ways not yet seen. Its graphics nearly reached an SNES level of quality, but more important it debuted several new elements that would work themselves into the very fabric of the platformer genre. The world map is the most notable contribution of the game, introducing a new level of complexity and depth, and really reinforcing the notion that the game was taking place within a world rather than on random levels that spring out of nowhere. In the end, Super Mario Bros. 3 would go on to be considering one of the best games of all time, and easily among the best 2D platformers ever released. The other big release of 1990 was the first Final Fantasy game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. While well-received, its popularity paled in comparison to Super Mario Bros. 3, although is undeniably did far, far more for its genre, legitimizing and popularizing the RPG genre. Other popular 1990 releases include King's Quest V; Snake's Revenge, a sequel to Metal Gear; the sixth game in the Ultima series; Mega Man 3, the first game in the increasingly popular Mega Man series; Dr. Mario, one of the first Mario series spin-offs; and Alpha Waves, the first true 3D platformer game (as opposed to earlier "3D" games, which were merely displayed with an isometric camera style.

1991 is one of the toughest years to choose a game for, and my choice will no doubt not sit well with everyone. First, on my choice: released in 1991, Sid Meier's Civilization would remain the most popular game in a wildly popular series for over a decade and a half, arguably dethroned by Civilization IV in 2006. At the time of its release, Civilization was orders of magnitude more complex, deep, broad and nuanced than any game yet released. The scope of the game is absolutely enormous, covering over 6000 years, largely due to a system-controlled gameplay that allows new eras to be added on without ridiculous expansion of the game size. The game was wildly strategic, with no two games being exactly alike, and a depth of strategy so complex that it's been used for research on developing artificial intelligence. And with so many different technologies, wonders, units, civilizations, locations and cultures to use and play as, the game has nearly unlimited replay value. It's no wonder that despite outdated graphics, it remained popular for years and years after its release. I mentioned above, though, that this decision won't sit well with many, and here's why: look at the list of other games released in 1991. Super Mario World, Mario's first SNES game and the introduction of Yoshi. F-Zero, one of the SNES's most popular games. Sonic the Hedgehog, the first Sonic game. Neverwinter Nights, the first non-text-based MMORPG. Final Fantasy II (IV in Japan), with Square's usual knack for high-quality RPGs. Tecmo Super Bowl, one of the first good sports games. Street Fighter II, the game that popularized the fighting game genre. But while these are all great games and indicate why 1991 was such a great year for gaming, none quite touched on the popularity and, more importantly, the staying power of Sid Meier's first Civilization game.

Fortunately, 1992 is easier, mostly because I'm going by North American release dates, and thus this year's game of the year doesn't conflict with all those 1991 titles. 1992 saw many great games released, but this time, one if head and shoulders above the rest. While the first two games of the series both were popular and widely acclaimed, it was in A Link to the Past that the Legend of Zelda series took that proverbial next step, becoming one of the most popular games in Nintendo's history and popularizing one of its most recognizable genres. It also introduced many of the features that would become mainstays of rest of the Zelda series, like the hookshot, spin attack and heart pieces. More importantly, though, A Link to the Past introduced the overall structure that would be followed in most subsequent games, including alternate versions of the same world, and continued the series' tradition of requiring the completion of a certain number of dungeons. Overall, A Link to the Past would go on to become the most popular 2D Legend of Zelda game, and to many ranks below only Ocarina of Time in overall quality. Other great games released in 1992 included the first Mortal Kombat game; the second game with Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog 2; the first Mario Kart game, simultaneously introducing and popularizing its genre; Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and the introduction of Wario; Sega's Virtua Racing for arcades (later ported to Genesis and Saturn), one of the first 3D racing games; a pair of popular Ultima series games, Ultima VII and Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss; Wolfenstein 3D, one of the first popular first-person shooters; Kirby's Dream Land, introducing the character Kirby; Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, one of the best early adventure games; and Dune II, one of the first real-time strategy games.

1993 is an interesting year. Whereas most of the popular games from the previous few years reside on the most popular home consoles (NES, SNES and Sega Genesis), the two best games of 1993 both come on the PC. The game of the year, though, is Doom. One of the most popular and most revolutionary games of all time, Doom took the first-person shooter ideas first popularized by Wolfenstein 3D and brought them a new height. In fact, in many ways, Doom single-handedly created the genre as a stand-alone entity rather than a specific set of action game features. Aside from just popularizing the genre, though, a lot of Doom's acclaim comes from how atmospheric it is. The graphics create a real 3D world, but it's really the ambient sound effects that complete the game, providing the idea that you're really playing within a world where sounds just happen, rather than are actively added to augment the gameplay. The controversy surrounding Doom is important to note as well, if only because there's no such thing as bad publicity, and the very fact that so much negativity was associated with Doom is indicative of video gaming's increased role in the mainstream media. The other great game released in 1993 was Myst, one of the best-selling games of all time. Myst is an beautiful combination of action, adventure and graphic storytelling, many times teetering on the line between a game and a simple story. It's also notable for its open-endedness, and together with Doom largely triggered the move toward first-person games. Other notable games in 1993 include The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, the first Star Fox game, Sega's Virtua Fighter, Secret of Mana, and SimCity 2000.

Some years, it's easy. Released in 1994, Super Metroid has been called by many (and is still recognized by some as) the best game of all time. The acclaim the game has received is enormous, receiving top ratings from numerous different rating agencies, including an average score of 9.6 out of 10 from GameFAQs reviewers. While the fundamental gameplay remained the same as previous Metroid games, the improved graphics, expanded powerups and new moves made Super Metroid the best in the series. More than anything, though, the biggest enhancement for the game was the even more expansive game world, allowing for very open exploration rather than linear gameplay. Ironically, though, despite its acclaim, Super Metroid never sold as well as its competitors Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy, and went on hiatus for several years after Super Metroid's release. It's only with time that the series has achieved the acclaim it has, and it was with much anticipation that Metroid Prime was finally released for the GameCube several years later. There were several other notable releases in 1994, and it is only the excessive acclaim and popularity of Super Metroid that leads it to be a no-brainer choice. The other notable games released in 1994 include the third Sonic the Hedgehog game with the character Knuckles and the subsequent Sonic & Knuckles innovation; Donkey Kong Country and its groundbreaking graphics; the father of the behemoth series, Warcraft; the first Tekken game as published by Namco; the first Earthworm Jim game; the first Mortal Kombat home game, Mortal Kombat II; System Shock, one of the most underappreciated games of all time; Final Fantasy VI, considered by many to be the best of the Final Fantasy series; the original TIE Fighter game; and the sequel to last year's game of the year, Doom II. But the most critical gaming development of 1994 was that a company called Sony would dare to release a console in Japan to compete with Nintendo. How much success could they possibly have?

The proverbial calm before the storm saw a relatively quiet year for video gaming in 1995, making this selection even easier -- not that it wouldn't be anyway, as only a handful of games ever released could have beaten Chrono Trigger out for game of the year in 1995. The latest product from the incredibly successful Square-Nintendo partnership, Chrono Trigger borrowed from the experience of the wildly popular Final Fantasy series to create an all-new game. Popular on its own, Chrono Trigger was also incredibly innovative; in fact, the origins of many common video game conventions including sidequests, multiple endings, team attacks, non-random enemy encounters, and New Game+. While it did not create all of these, it played a major role in popularizing them. Little did we know, though, that this would be the last hurrah for a while for that Square-Nintendo partnership (besides Super Mario RPG), and that Square would become so well associated with a different console maker that even mentioning them together still sounds somehow taboo. Like I mentioned at the outset, 1995 was a surprisingly quiet year. That's not to say there were no popular releases: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island debuted for the SNES; the first Warhammer game became available for Windows; the original Command & Conquer was published by Westwood Studios; Earthbound, one of those cult-classic games, debuted; and the wildly popular WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness became available, popularizing what would become one of the most popular game franchises ever. But the most important developments occurred elsewhere: Sega would debut the failed Saturn system, while America would finally get a taste of next-generation gaming as the Sony PlayStation made it to the US. But by far the most critical development was the founding of the greatest web site in the history of the known universe, GameFAQs.com.

With the release of the Sony PlayStation in 1995, the age of 3D gaming had begun. But what had not been established is how the most common game genres, including platformers, RPGs and adventure games, would carry over into the new medium. The next three years would see three titles that did exactly that: define for the industry how to carry old genres into 3D. The launch title for the Nintendo 64 is among them. Super Mario 64 is one of those rare (well, not if you read my lists) games that truly redefines an entire genre, and shapes the gaming industry as a whole. For years, platformers were the most popular game on home consoles, but it was unclear how the gameplay would translate to a 3D environment. Super Mario 64 answered that, demonstrating Nintendo's brilliance in game creation once again as it redefined the platformer genre for a 3D generation while simultaneously creating a great game. That's a pairing that shouldn't be underappreciated: many of the most revolutionary games are actually not great games themselves, but introduce singular concepts that become important in later releases. Super Mario 64 possesses that rare combination of both creating and popularizing many elements that would go on to become mainstays throughout the gaming industry. 1996 was generally a huge year for gaming as a whole, though, as several popular releases hold a 1996 release date: Super Mario RPG, Square's last gasp with Nintendo and one of the SNES's most poplar games; Tekken 2, which would go on to go platinum multiple times over; Duke Nuken 3D, the precursor to the modern FPS; Shadows of the Empire, a part of a project that would directly lead to the Star Wars prequel trilogy; Diablo, one of the most popular RTS games of all time; the influential Tomb Raider game starring the now-famous Lara Croft; the first Resident Evil game; the most popular Command & Conquer game, Red Alert; the first Crash Bandicoot game to mark the arrival of the PlayStation; the second Elder Scrolls game, an influential sandbox-style game at an early age for the genre; and the incredibly influential Quake, notable for its advanced underlying engine. Phew. 1996 was a big year for video games, but it didn't slow down from here. Pong and Super Mario Bros. are commonly recognized as influential games, but the overall storm of releases in 1996 did as much for the video game industry as any previous set of developments.

With a nod to the other great titles of the year, there's no doubt about the game of the year for 1997. I won't rehash for you all the reasons why Final Fantasy VII was so popular, so acclaimed or so great: if you want to know, you can read any of the 250 or so top ten lists that mention the game, or my own unnecessarily in-depth review of the game. What I will say, though, is that while Super Mario 64 answered the question of how platformers would translate into 3D, Final Fantasy VII answered the same question for RPGs. Final Fantasy X, released a few years later, would change that answer, but for several years Final Fantasy VII set the standard for how to do a 3D RPG: still backgrounds, 3D characters and a full-motion camera on the battle sequences. There's no way to count the game's influence; it's often forgotten that so many features that are just assumed to be standard for 3D RPGs were actually innovations of Final Fantasy VII, including the notion of a full-motion camera and pre-rendered FMV videos. Now, 12 years after the game's release, it's still popularly considered at least one of the top two games of all time, sometimes considered second only to the 3D transposition release of the following year. While 1997 was a quieter year than 1996, it still has more than its fair share of notable releases, continuing in the legitimization of the gaming industry as something more than just a niche industry: Mario Kart 64, the 3D sequel to the SNES Super Mario Kart and one of the Nintendo 64's most popular games; Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, one of the most popular titles on the console; Star Fox 64, another of the console's most popular games and a cult classic; Ultima Online, considered by some to be the father of the modern MMORPG; Fallout, one of the most popular PC games of all time; Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the most popular Castlevania game yet released; the cult classic SaGa Frontier; the fourth Mega Man installment and the first on a non-Nintendo console; and the original games in several acclaimed series, including Grand Theft Auto, Age of Empires, Gran Turismo, and Total Annihilation. By far the most notable other release, though, was GoldenEye 007. While it did not revolutionize the genre, it played a key role in popularizing it, and was easily the runner-up for game of the year 1997.

Now this one's a toughie. 1998 is the most difficult year to choose out of any year I've talked about yet. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the obvious choice, and it certainly deserves the title. It's rated by many as the single greatest game of all time, and did for the action/adventure genre what Super Mario 64 and Final Fantasy VII did for platformers and RPGs. The difficulty in choosing it has nothing to do with the game itself: it deserves it. The problem is that, like those NBA greats in the mid-'90s, its excellence naturally has to overshadow many other more-than-deserving games. Several games release in 1998 would have made game of the year in almost any other year (excepting, of course, the previous two). The list of 1998 releases reads like a top ten lists itself: this year saw the release of StarCraft, one of the most popular games of all time over and above those other games often labeled as 'one of the most popular games'; Metal Gear Solid, an absolutely revolutionary action game and the first 3D incarnation of one of gaming's most popular characters ever; Half-Life, by far the most advanced, most popular and most realistic first-person shooter released at the time; and of course, the original Pokemon games, which have gone on to spawn the most commercially successful game-based franchise of all time, succeeding in realms where previous video games never manged to touch like television shows and movies. Any of those four games could easily be game of the year in almost any other year. For another look at the quality of releases in 1998, just look at the list of games forced down to the second tier: Resident Evil 2, Tekken 3, Fallout 2 and Turok 2, all sequels to wildly popular video game franchises and great games in their own right; Panzer Dragoon Saga and Xenogears, twoof the most underappreciated RPGs of all time; Unreal, the next great first person shooter and shooter engine; the original Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, an influential action shooter; Banjo-Kazooie, Nintendo's proof they could make a great platformer without a plumber; the original Baldur's Gate, a popular PC role-playing game; Spyro the Dragon, Sony's second attempt to brand its franchise with a mascot; Grim Fandango, a graphically distinct game; and Thief: The Dark Project, another excellent early example of a stealth video game.

After three years of hit after hit after hit, the gaming industry got together and collectively said "hey y'all, this is exhausting. Let's take it easy for a year." While 1999 had its share of solid releases, the top five games from 1998 easily would've won game of the year for 1999. That shouldn't take away from the game of the year for 1999, Super Smash Bros. Combining every popular Nintendo franchise into one game sounds like the ultimate in simple fan service, but the implementation was flawless: Super Smash Bros. presented a fighting game with enough traditional features to be a solid stand-alone game; enough casual affordances to appeal to a broad audience; and enough innovations to be unique and separable from other similar games of the time. It's no wonder the game was so well-received, selling over 5 million copies, becoming one of the Nintendo 64's best-selling titles and spawning one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, a franchise that would nearly single-handedly keep the company afloat despite the GameCube falling to third in the next console generation. Despite lacking a huge-name release like the previous few years, 1999 supplied its share of solid releases, with: EverQuest, one of the most popular MMORPGs; RollerCoaster Tycoon, one of the most popular tycoon-genre games around; Outcast, the best game of the year according to some sources; System Shock 2, the best game of the year according to everyone else; Pokemon Stadium, the Pokemon franchise's first foray into 3D gaming; Star Wars: Episode I Racer, an incredibly unique racing game and an excellent choice by the developer to opt against a standard movie tie-in; Final Fantasy VIII, Square's latest 3D RPG; Counter Strike, the most successful game mod ever; the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, the original in the franchise and the first major alternative-sports game; and the original Soul Calibur, doing for fighting games what Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time did for their genres.

Reading over this list, it's a bit surprising that the PlayStation won this generation so soundly over the Nintendo 64. Although the PlayStation won overall, the Nintendo 64's high points still rose above, and today many of its most popular games are far more popular than its competitors' high points. Still, brownie points don't pay the bills, and over the course of 10 short years, Nintendo saw itself slip from the undeniable leader to second place on the strength of Sony's hardware, marketing and immense game library. Closing the decade, the landscape looks very similar, with Sony taking Nintendo's role from 10 years earlier and Nintendo feeling Sega's shoes as the second fiddle. Nintendo needed to strike back, but as the next decade will show, that counter-punch would be delayed several years as Nintendo relied on its portable sales and its cornerstone franchises to keep it afloat as new competition surfaced and its own next console floundered.

List by DetroitDJ (10/20/2009)