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Post by Sarge on Aug 13, 2019 17:01:00 GMT -5
So this was prompted by a discussion over at Talking Time, where someone posted a poll trying to suss out the best year of the 2010s for gaming. (I voted 2017.) But of course, there's a lot of discussion about the other decades as well. For instance, it's generally accepted that 1998 was a watershed moment in gaming, and some folks think 2004 is the absolute bee's knees. So what are your personal favorites for each decade? I will weigh in later with my own. Also, if folks want to talk about this past decade, the modern gaming thread can contain that discussion.
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Post by toei on Aug 13, 2019 18:05:55 GMT -5
I've never really thought about it in those terms. In general I'd say the best years of the '80s were '87 to '89, which is when a lot of genres I like were codified or came into their own, plus when the Genesis debuted; and of the 90's, '93 to '96 were the prime years for RPGs, had some of the best 16-bit action games, and had all those great early 3D arcade games. I never once thought of 1998 as a good year for anything, to be honest, but I guess it wasn't bad for gaming.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 13, 2019 18:55:34 GMT -5
Yeah I'm kind of with toei here. On the flipside, I will have a lot more elaborate thoughts on the modern years of gaming, because I've been an adult with income to spend and buy games, been meticulous about keeping lists of games I beat and taking notes here and there, starting to make my own personal GOTY lists now since 2017, etc. None of this was on the table until well... like the 2010's. Prior to that I was just a kid gaming with whatever I could get my hands on and didn't process it all like this.
Give me some lists of releases per year and I could chime in that way, but yeah. I always joke that being born in 1987 was a very special year, yet I can't name releases off the top of my head. Mega Man 2? It's just a really different lens for me looking at retro games like this and trying to encompass the best years. The SNES in particular probably had some killer big releases every year for me. Back on the NES, I remember SMB3 being one of the biggest deals ever.
Perhaps some of the older members here have an easier time breaking the 80's/90's down, but yeah being too young makes that a bit hard for me. I know people always talk about 1998... or 1997 as a huge year.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 13, 2019 20:00:25 GMT -5
Well, I get where it comes from with 1998. I mean, we got both Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid that year. But you've also got a few all-time greats on PC in Starcraft, Baldur's Gate, and Half-Life. Basically, there were a lot of genre-defining games that year.
- Ocarina of Time - Metal Gear Solid - Panzer Dragoon Saga - Xenogears - Tekken 3 - Parasite Eve - Suikoden II - Baldur's Gate - Starcraft - Half-Life - Thief: The Dark Project - Banjo-Kazooie - F-Zero X - Spyro the Dragon
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Post by Ex on Aug 13, 2019 20:44:43 GMT -5
1998 was a legendary year in PC gaming. This is an interesting topic Sarge. I'll have to ponder on it a bit before replying. My choices will be biased towards my own enjoyment though, rather than "these were good years for the industry".
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Post by Sarge on Aug 13, 2019 20:54:40 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, I didn't intend for it to be anything other than that. I'm not even sure I think 1998 is the best when 1995 exists. - Chrono Trigger - Yoshi's Island - Phantasy Star IV - Lufia II (1996 US release, disregard) - Terranigma - Breath of Fire II - Ogre Battle - Ristar - Dark Forces - Descent - Full Throttle - EarthBound - Kirby's Dream Land 2 - DKC2 Plus someone pointed out Warcraft II and Crusader: No Remorse, and surely I've missed something else.
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Post by toei on Aug 13, 2019 20:56:32 GMT -5
Can't speak for the PC side of things, but based on that list 1998 seems like a great year for overrated games, with both Ocarina of Time and Panzer Dragoon Saga (two 7/10s boldly masquerading as classics) showing up. Even Suikoden 2 is a little overrated, in the sense that it always overshadows the first game, which is honestly better. Lots of people would call Xenogears overrated too, though I completely disagree - it's amazing. Tekken 3 was the first Tekken that really felt right and a top 5 3D fighter, while Parasite Eve is good but I rarely (if ever) hear of it as some kind of classic. Can't speak for MGS either (never liked stealth). Sarge Are we using both Japanese and NA release dates, though? Phantasy Star IV came out in 1993 in Japan, Lufia 2 in '95 in Japan but '96 in NA, Breath of Fire 2 '94 and '95 respectively... that's why I can't narrow it down to a particular year. That golden age of 16-bit RPGs starts with Phantasy Star IV in late 1993 and ends with the SNES in 1996 (not counting a few marginal '97 releases).
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Post by Sarge on Aug 13, 2019 21:03:49 GMT -5
toei: Metal Gear Solid was a bit of a revelation, even if most of its gameplay came straight from the mostly-unknown-to-the-West Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. I don't rate either of those games that lowly, but I do absolutely think Ocarina is overrated. It's not a 10/10, but I do think it at least merits an 8/10, and again, it definitely hits on the "important" side of the scale, even if it wasn't the first game to do Z-targeting. I absolutely dig Panzer Dragoon Saga, but I understand why others might not care for it. As far as Parasite Eve is concerned, nah, it's definitely not considered a long-lost classic, but I adore it, so it made my personal list. Xenogears is one that I'm of two minds on. The first disc was easily 9/10 territory, but I felt it really lose steam on the back half, so I ding it for that. Also, slow... text... speed. But not as bad as BoFIII. To 1998's credit, it did have Street Fighter Alpha 3, which I dumped a ton of time into. Whoops on Lufia II. I was trying to use US/Western release dates, and the source I used had listed 1995. If I could toss in Japanese games, Dragon Quest VI would be an easy add, but most folks wouldn't have found that game accessible at all back then.
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Post by Ex on Aug 13, 2019 21:09:57 GMT -5
overrated games, with both Ocarina of Time and Panzer Dragoon Saga I'm with your 7/10 on both of these. With you on this too. Still haven't played through Xenogears, so I don't know. I will say (after having beaten it) Xenoblade is super overrated. I respect the Tekken games on a technical level, but they all bore me silly. I enjoyed PE quite a bit. It's more forgotten than it deserves to be. I'm with Sarge, MGS on PS1 is a seminal classic.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 13, 2019 21:13:40 GMT -5
This is a good time to mention that it boggles my mind to some degree that Thief came out in 1998. Given my playthrough last year, it's remarkable how modern it still felt, even when the graphics didn't match the feel. Super impressive they pulled that out of the hat then.
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