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The Best Year in Gaming History?
Posted on 11/20/14 at 2:58 pm
Posted on 11/20/14 at 2:58 pm
I think many would agree this year in gaming has been at least somewhat disappointing. So that got me thinking what has been the best year in (US) gaming history?
Here are my candidates but feel free to pick a year not listed or point out a game I pruned out:
1985
Super Mario Bros
Duck Hunt
Excitebike
Gradius
Ghosts 'n' Goblins
Space Harrier
Oregon Trail
1991
Super Mario World
Sonic the Hedgehog
Monkey Island 2
Civilization
Final Fantasy II
Street Fighter II
Lemmings
1994
Super Metroid
Sonic 3
Doom II
X-COM: UFO Defense
Final Fantasy III (US)
Donkey Kong Country
Warcraft
1996
Super Mario 64
Mario Kart 64
Duke Nukem 3D
Quake
Resident Evil
Tomb Raider
Diablo
1997
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
GoldenEye 007
Star Fox 64
Final Fantasy VII
Grand Theft Auto
Gran Turismo
Street Fighter III
1998
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
StarCraft
Metal Gear Solid
Half-Life
Fallout 2
Resident Evil 2
Baldur’s Gate
1999
Soul Calibur
Everquest
Unreal Tournament
Gran Turismo 2
System Shock 2
Counter-Strike
Super Smash Brothers
2000
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Perfect Dark
Final Fantasy IX
Diablo 2
Chrono Cross
Deus Ex
The Sims
2001
Grand Theft Auto III
Halo
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 2
Super Smash Bros Melee
Devil May Cry
Gran Turismo 3
2004
Half-Life 2
Halo 2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
World of Warcraft
Far Cry
Unreal Tournament 2004
Fable
2007
COD: Modern Warfare
Portal
BioShock
Super Mario Galaxy
Rock Band
God of War II
Halo 3
2011
Arkham City
Skyrim
Super Mario 3D Land
Dark Souls
Dead Space 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Portal 2
2013
Grand Theft Auto V
The Last of Us
BioShock Infinite
Super Mario 3D World
Fire Emblem: Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Tomb Raider
ETA #1: Games from 1999 & 2000, though I made a few of my own substitutions compared to what was suggested below.
ETA #2: I thought I'd do a quick (totally non-scientific) tally of which years got the most mentions in this thread. Top 3 years for gaming in the board's opinion were:
1. 1997 (5) TIE
1. 2004 (5) TIE
2. 1996 (4)
3. 1998 (3) TIE
3. 2001 (3) TIE
3. 2007 (3) TIE
General consensus seems to be that the greatest period of gaming was 1996-1998.
Here are my candidates but feel free to pick a year not listed or point out a game I pruned out:
1985
Super Mario Bros
Duck Hunt
Excitebike
Gradius
Ghosts 'n' Goblins
Space Harrier
Oregon Trail
1991
Super Mario World
Sonic the Hedgehog
Monkey Island 2
Civilization
Final Fantasy II
Street Fighter II
Lemmings
1994
Super Metroid
Sonic 3
Doom II
X-COM: UFO Defense
Final Fantasy III (US)
Donkey Kong Country
Warcraft
1996
Super Mario 64
Mario Kart 64
Duke Nukem 3D
Quake
Resident Evil
Tomb Raider
Diablo
1997
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
GoldenEye 007
Star Fox 64
Final Fantasy VII
Grand Theft Auto
Gran Turismo
Street Fighter III
1998
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
StarCraft
Metal Gear Solid
Half-Life
Fallout 2
Resident Evil 2
Baldur’s Gate
1999
Soul Calibur
Everquest
Unreal Tournament
Gran Turismo 2
System Shock 2
Counter-Strike
Super Smash Brothers
2000
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Perfect Dark
Final Fantasy IX
Diablo 2
Chrono Cross
Deus Ex
The Sims
2001
Grand Theft Auto III
Halo
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 2
Super Smash Bros Melee
Devil May Cry
Gran Turismo 3
2004
Half-Life 2
Halo 2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
World of Warcraft
Far Cry
Unreal Tournament 2004
Fable
2007
COD: Modern Warfare
Portal
BioShock
Super Mario Galaxy
Rock Band
God of War II
Halo 3
2011
Arkham City
Skyrim
Super Mario 3D Land
Dark Souls
Dead Space 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Portal 2
2013
Grand Theft Auto V
The Last of Us
BioShock Infinite
Super Mario 3D World
Fire Emblem: Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Tomb Raider
ETA #1: Games from 1999 & 2000, though I made a few of my own substitutions compared to what was suggested below.
ETA #2: I thought I'd do a quick (totally non-scientific) tally of which years got the most mentions in this thread. Top 3 years for gaming in the board's opinion were:
1. 1997 (5) TIE
1. 2004 (5) TIE
2. 1996 (4)
3. 1998 (3) TIE
3. 2001 (3) TIE
3. 2007 (3) TIE
General consensus seems to be that the greatest period of gaming was 1996-1998.
This post was edited on 11/21/14 at 10:35 am
17
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:02 pm to DieDaily
1996 and 1997 were both amazing years. Hard to pick between those two.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:10 pm to DieDaily
I honestly can not pick. I'm leaning towards 1998 because of Zelda but those are amazing games. 2013 may be my favorite just because I played most of them.
eta: 2004 also had KOTOR 2
eta: 2004 also had KOTOR 2
This post was edited on 11/20/14 at 3:13 pm
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:12 pm to Scruffy
quote:Yeah, that whole 3 year period (96-98) looks like the peak of gaming. You have a combination of the best entries of the existing franchises of that period with new franchises that are still going strong today.
1996 and 1997 were both amazing years. Hard to pick between those two.
This post was edited on 11/20/14 at 3:13 pm
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:12 pm to DieDaily
Dat 2004, mang.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:13 pm to DieDaily
quote:
Yeah, that whole 3 year period (96-98) looks like the peak of gaming. You have a combination of the best entries of the existing franchises of that period with new franchises that are still going strong today.
You had the emergence of 3d graphics too
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:13 pm to DieDaily
I've had large gaps in my gaming history but at first glance 1985, 2007, and 2011 were pretty strong. But a lot of those years i wasn't even gaming
1985 has a special place bc getting that Nintendo was an awesome Christmas
1985 has a special place bc getting that Nintendo was an awesome Christmas
This post was edited on 11/20/14 at 3:15 pm
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:17 pm to SaintLSUnAtl
i just looked up 2003. It had Kotor, Morrowind, Call of Duty, and Wind Waker.
This post was edited on 11/20/14 at 3:19 pm
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:20 pm to DieDaily
And 1999 wasn't a weak year either.
SSB 64
Donkey Kong 64
Counterstrike
Unreal Tournament
Soul Caliber
EverQuest
Silent Hill
SSB 64
Donkey Kong 64
Counterstrike
Unreal Tournament
Soul Caliber
EverQuest
Silent Hill
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:20 pm to Scruffy
quote:
1996 and 1997 were both amazing years. Hard to pick between those two.
This. I would give the nod to 96 I think. Resident Evil changed my life as a gamer.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:20 pm to DieDaily
On a personal level, it's a tossup between '94 and '97.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:21 pm to Scruffy
I wish I had been gaming thru college and just after. I pretty much quit from the time i finished high school until a few years ago aside from some sports games
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:23 pm to sicboy
98 also had Gran Turismo.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:23 pm to SaintLSUnAtl
Funny, I gamed too much in college 
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:24 pm to SaintLSUnAtl
quote:
I pretty much quit from the time i finished high school until a few years ago aside from some sports games
Are we the same person?
eta: Mass effect also came out in 07
This post was edited on 11/20/14 at 3:27 pm
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:38 pm to sicboy
Yup, 2004 is mine fosho.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:54 pm to Mr Gardoki
To create the original post I did a few searches for lists like this and these were the years that seemed to come up with some regularity. Also, I pruned the lists down to 7 games for readability based on my gut. For example, Metroid Prime 3 came out in 2007 but most Metroid Prime fans agree that the first one was the best one, so I cut it in favor of what you see.
I may have cut Mass Effect since most fans feel that ME2 is the best of that series. (To contrast God of War 2 is often considered the best of it's franchise.) Although, now that I look at it all of the games in my list were higher ranked than ME ( LINK ). Maybe I should have cut Rock Band in favor of it, but I wanted to represent the musical genre of games that were popular during that time.
I may have cut Mass Effect since most fans feel that ME2 is the best of that series. (To contrast God of War 2 is often considered the best of it's franchise.) Although, now that I look at it all of the games in my list were higher ranked than ME ( LINK ). Maybe I should have cut Rock Band in favor of it, but I wanted to represent the musical genre of games that were popular during that time.
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:58 pm to Mr Gardoki
quote:True. I have to believe that paradigm shift in gaming lead to a lot of new, creative ideas. I know VR Gaming is unproven as of yet, but I'm hoping when/if it reaches consumer acceptance we'll see a similar explosion of creativity in gaming.
You had the emergence of 3d graphics too
Posted on 11/20/14 at 3:58 pm to DieDaily
I'd have to pick 97 and 99 but man that 96-99 run is amazing
Posted on 11/20/14 at 4:01 pm to DieDaily
Great topic and great work on the research. We need more topics like this on the board. Have an upvote sir
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