Support NeoGAF

[JordanN]

Update: I hit the image limit. Only 50 games I could put in the OP. That said, plenty of users have helped kept track of the rest in this thread.

1999 was the year many people thought the world was going to end, yet despite this, every month had a must play title.

But when you got to December 25th, 1999, how did you know what game you wanted to play? Just look at this list,

WCW/nWo Thunder
Release: January 15, 1999

Super Smash Bros
Release: January 21, 1999

SimCity 3000
Release: February 1, 1999

Final Fantasy VIII
Release: February 11, 1999

Syphon Filter
Release: February 17, 1999

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Release: February 23, 1999

Silent Hill
Release: February 23, 1999

Power Stone
Release: February 25, 1999

Beetle Adventure Racing
Release: February 28, 1999

Need for Speed: High Stakes
Release: March 1, 1999

EverQuest
Release: March 16, 1999

Um Jammer Lammy
Release: March 18, 1999

Pokémon Snap
Release: March 21, 1999

RollerCoaster Tycoon
Release: March 22, 1999

Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko
Release: March 23, 1999

Team Fortress Classic
Release: April 7, 1999

Pokémon Pinball
Release: April 14, 1999

Aliens versus Predator
Release: April 30, 1999

Midtown Madness
Release: April 30, 1999

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Release: May 10, 1999

Ape Escape
Release: May 31, 1999

Driver
Release: June 25, 1999

Croc 2
Release: June 30. 1999

Dungeon Keeper 2
Release: July 7, 1999

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Release: July 22, 1999

Outcast
Release: July 31, 1999

Madden NFL 2000
Release: July 31, 1999

Soulcalibur
Release: August 5, 1999

System Shock 2
Release: August 11, 1999

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Release: August 16, 1999

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
Release: August 31, 1999

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Release: September 9, 1999

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Release: September 22, 1999

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Release: September 29, 1999

Crash Team Racing
Release: September 30, 1999

Age of Empires 2
Release: September 30, 1999

Jet Force Gemini
Release: October 11, 1999

Grand Theft Auto 2
Release: October 22, 1999

Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Release: October 29, 1999

Medal of Honor
Release: October 31, 1999

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
Release: November 2, 1999

Chrono Cross
Release: November 18, 1999

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Release: November 19, 1999

Pokémon Gold and Silver
Release: November 21, 1999

Unreal Tournament
Release: November 22, 1999

Donkey Kong 64
Release: November 22, 1999

Turok: Rage Wars
Release:November 23, 1999

Quake III Arena
Release: December 2, 1999

Gran Turismo 2
Release: December 11, 1999

Shenmue
Release: December 29, 1999

Fucking ridiculous. Who was able to play all these games in a single year?

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

 

[Birdo]

Look how diverse the genres are too.

I'm so glad I grew up in that time.

 

[JordanN]

Look how diverse the genres are too.

I'm so glad I grew up in that time.

No DLC, no day one patches, no bullshit.

Literally just walk into a store and you walked out with a complete product.

 

[stranno]

1996 tho.

 

[JordanN]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

Dreamcast owners were too busy browsing the internet on their new machine anyway.

 

[the_master]

What a great year indeed. I played so many of them

 

[KrisB]

Wow, forgot how good that year was. I think between my brothers and I we ended up with 5 or 6 on that list.

Smash bros, FF8, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Silver, Ape Escape, Tony Hawks.

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

Uhuh? Shenmue was TRASH when it came out in 99 was it?

 

[the_master]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

Shenmue was the best game of that year. Way, way ahead of its time

 

[Darklor01]

1996-1999 were among the most fun years of my life. I played most of the games on that list, and somehow had a social life.

 

[bellome]

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is the remake I am waiting for.

 

[martino]

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is the remake I am waiting for.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Look how diverse the genres are too.

I'm so glad I grew up in that time.

No shit. Imagine growing up now and buying the PS5, playing GTAV.

 

[sublimit]

FFVIII was a huge disappointment coming right after FFVII but thankfully Silent Hill,Tomb raider IV,GT2 and Spyro 2 saved the year.

 

[Manus]

I was 9 years old that Christmas and I got to unwrap Donkey Kong 64 on Christmas Eve. Also had a birthday in December so got Pokemon Silver for that.

One of my favorite Christmas.

 

[HE1NZ]

 

[JohnSpartanLee]

1996-1998 were superior.

 

[stranno]

Shenmue was the best game of that year. Way, way ahead of its time

It's an amazing tech demo. But features-wise, Mizzurna Falls came out 1 year and a few days earlier.

 

[Kuranghi]

Ooft, filthy. Good catch.

 

[Goro Majima]

Chrono Cross I’m almost certain came out in 2000 in the US.

 

[bobone]

What a year. 1996-1999 was incredible.

My personal Xmas experience was Pokemon Gold and DK64.
Followed by my mom yelling at me all Xmas break to go outside and play in the snow, not realizing she had just given me 2 of the best games of that generation.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

I think I was playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 on my Saturn. Or Tekken 3.

 

[ManaByte]

1998 was better:

1998 in video games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Blond]

Roller Coaster Tycoon was surprised installed on the family PC when I got home one day by my older brother. I didn't get ANY, and I mean ANY homework done that day but 21 years later I still have it installed on every computer I've ever owned.

 

[Kamina]

Pokemon Silver was my Xmas present two years later <3
Dont get why it took until April 2001 to release in Europe.

 

[Goro Majima]

1998 was better:

1998 in video games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah I gotta say that I always heard 1998 was the gold standard for that generation.

 

[ManaByte]

Yeah I gotta say that I always heard 1998 was the gold standard for that generation.

I don't think there's ever been a year in gaming as huge as 1998 in terms of what it introduced and what games were released that year. Also not on that list is that the beta of EverQuest began in 1998.

 

[JordanN]

Pokemon Silver was my Xmas present. <3

I still have my copy but the [cartridge] battery is dead.
So you can't do those time based events anymore.

 

[DeepBreath87]

It was the best of times. I miss the days when multiple high quality games were released every month. From August through the end of the year.

 

[IfuckinghateReddit]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

Shenmue is glorious.

I played 15 of them.

 

[IfuckinghateReddit]

1998 was better:

1998 in video games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That's because it had the release of the best game ever, Suikoden 2.

 

[Blond]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

And Soul Calibur

 

[nush]

1998 was better:

1998 in video games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This is the truth, learn it well. It's when gaming peaked.

 

[The Alien]

By my count there are:

• 41 game covers shown
• 4 games could be classified as having scantily clad, 'sexy' ladies on them (Tomb Raider, Everest, Gex, Dungeon Keeper)(Gex shouldn't even count)
• Less than 10% of the games sold in 1999 (using this random sampling) use "sex" to sell to gamers.
• Yet people like Anita Sarkesian are telling you the sky is falling.

Tinfoil-Hat Time:
You are being lied to on a daily basis.....
Don't believe your TV.
Don't trust the internet.
Do your own research for the truth.

 

[Vaelka]

Look how diverse the genres are too.

I'm so glad I grew up in that time.

Meanwhile, today.

'' Which color do you want your third person, narrative-driven open world pseudo RPG game to be? ''.

 

[Virex]

The only DC game is trash Shenmue?

I played 22 of those.

 

[Naibel]

God the late 90's/early 2000's were insane. 1998, 1999 and 2001 were such outstanding years for gaming, my personal peak of this industry should I say.

PS1 and N64 reaching their apex, Saturn throwing a few masterpieces as a last hurrah (Radiant Silvergun, Shining Force 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers), The Dreamcast coming out guns blazing with one of the greatest launch lineups ever, PC gaming becoming a major pillar with unmissable titles (where's Planescape: Torment by the way ? It was a highlight of 1999 as well.), the first Pokemon craze resurrecting the handheld market, Microsoft wowing everyone with the specs and demos of their future console, and the summer/autumn of 2001, holy fucking shiiiiiit ! What a time for gaming.

At least, as a European, some of those titles didn't reach our shores until later (early 2000 for GT2 and RE3, late 2000 for Shemnue and Pokemon Snap), much later (mid 2001 for Pokemon Gold/Silver), so a choice for a Christmas 99 pick was a tad more limited and manageable

I wasn't into gaming yet, but if I were, I'm sure I would've picked a GBC with Pokemon Red (which just came out in Oct. 99).

 

[ksdixon]

You forgot WWF SMACKDOWN and WWF SD 2 in may and December, if memory serves correctly.

 

[DJTHEGREY]

Rollercoaster Tycoon
Final Fantasy 8
Smash Bros
Silent Hill
Souls Calibur..... Probably took most my year away.

 

[JordanN]

God the late 90's/early 2000's were insane. 1998, 1999 and 2001 were such outstanding years for gaming, my personal peak of this industry should I say.

PS1 and N64 reaching their apex, Saturn throwing a few masterpieces as a last hurrah (Radiant Silvergun, Shining Force 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers), The Dreamcast coming out guns blazing with one of the greatest launch lineups ever, PC gaming becoming a major pillar with unmissable titles (where's Planescape: Torment by the way ? It was a highlight of 1999 as well.), the first Pokemon craze resurrecting the handheld market, Microsoft wowing everyone with the specs and demos of their future console, and the summer/autumn of 2001, holy fucking shiiiiiit ! What a time for gaming.

At least, as a European, some of those titles didn't reach our shores until later (early 2000 for GT2 and RE3, late 2000 for Shemnue and Pokemon Snap), much later (mid 2001 for Pokemon Gold/Silver), so a choice for a Christmas 99 pick was a tad more limited and manageable

I wasn't into gaming yet, but if I were, I'm sure I would've picked a GBC with Pokemon Red (which just came out in Oct. 99).

I went with the original release dates because you could still import those games from other countries.

Dealing with region lock... well, I think people chipped their consoles or if you had a gameboy it was always region free.

 

[JordanN]

You forgot WWF SMACKDOWN and WWF SD 2 in may and December, if memory serves correctly.

Those came out in 2000.

 

[Moonjt9]

1996-1999 were among the most fun years of my life. I played most of the games on that list, and somehow had a social life.

It’s because games used to respect players’ intelligence and time.

I mean look at that list. Classics that can’t be matched even with today’s technology

 

[tillbot8]

Rollercoaster Tycoon was so addictive, I'd add fifa99 too, long before that franchise was butchered!

 

[SkylineRKR]

Was a great year. I played Driver, TH, FFVIII, RE3 on PSX. On PC played Midtown Madness, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament. Dreamcast came out as well with probably the best launch in history. And don't forget Arcades, they were around and I played a shit ton of Hydro Thunder in there.

 

[the_master]

It's an amazing tech demo. But features-wise, Mizzurna Falls came out 1 year and a few days earlier.

You mean this game?


Looks worse than the Shenmue Prototype for Saturn years earlier.


Edit: Awesome, the video I found is actually made by you?

 

[Soulblighter31]

PC gaming becoming a major pillar with unmissable titles

PC was THE major pillar for years. It had the best games and genres of any gaming platform. Its where near all genres we play today originated, got formed, evolved. FPS, RPG, adventure, strategy, mmo's, simulations, moba's, deathmatch, e-sports, lan games.

I always felt its a shame how so incredibly console focused this forum always was. Missing the creatiion of genres and the best games because they were so focused on consoles which i always felt had infinitely inferior titles.

 

[diffusionx]

I’m looking at the list of 1999 games and I forgot a few. I think I got Donkey Kong 64 and Grandia for Christmas, but I also got Gran Turismo 2 on Christmas Eve. I was playing a lot of UT/Q3A at the time as well.

More great games came out in that 1998-2000 period than have the past 10 years, it’s sad but true.

 

[ksdixon]

Those came out in 2000.

Did they? Oops, my bad.

 

[JordanN]

PC was THE major pillar for years. It had the best games and genres of any gaming platform. Its where near all genres we play today originated, got formed, evolved. FPS, RPG, adventure, strategy, mmo's, simulations, moba's, deathmatch, e-sports, lan games.

I always felt its a shame how so incredibly console focused this forum always was. Missing the creatiion of genres and the best games because they were so focused on consoles which i always felt had infinitely inferior titles.

I like reading the comments where people still try and justify 30fps, when PC gamers where achieving frame rates as high as 400fps in the 90s.

Our standards for gaming has fallen considerably since then.