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[redcrayon]

I'd say Super Metroid over Yoshi's Island, but this list looks pretty much in line for what I'd guess.

I think, as you get further back, the list tends to be more and more canonized, as those people who didn't readily grow up in the era and are interested in gaming history are more likely to play those 'universal acclaim' games and not so much something more obscure (but equally fun) like Lufia 2.

I think that's a really good point. Also some older gamers aren't exactly unbiased sources either, they could be relying on memory from over 20 years previously, and might have only really played their handful of favourites recently. I probably played 40 or so SNES/Megadrive games back in the day, but only a dozen of them have I replayed within the last decade. That's a shortlist of favourites solidified in my memory quite a while ago, not really a list of exactly what's any good now. I'm not sure I'd necessarily agree with my 16-year-old self twenty years later!

I suppose the number of voters works to round out poor individual memories.

As an aside, the lack of some SNES titles having been released in the EU (FFVI, Chrono Trigger) might mildly drop their positions slightly, you might see Secret of Mana instead on those votes.

 

[AniHawk]

NeoGaf is the elite of the elite, but something really rubs me the wrong way about Banjo-Kazooie being in the top 10, before Goldeneye and StarCraft and others. It has to be generational thing I guess. Some of you must have been children and loved that game when it came out.

Where the hell is Resident Evil 1. Come on!

it was in the top 25 for almost the entire thing, then the day before voting ended, grim fandango knocked it out (and then panzer dragoon saga knocked out grim fandango).

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

By SNES game talk in here I suppose the next gen voting thread will be the 4th gen and not the 7th?

 

[AniHawk]

By SNES game talk in here I suppose the next gen voting thread will be the 4th gen and not the 7th?

yeah. gen 7 needs to cool down still. and 2016 will still see a few releases like persona 5 anyway.

 

[lazyguy]

Nice to see how it turned out. and I hope to participate again for the next awards.

 

[Jigorath]

Already got my #1 pick for the Gen 4 vote

 

[jambo]

Its objective based, semi-stealthy single player was done pretty well and was far more replayable than the extremely linear & straightforward Half-life campaign + it had a superbly fun multiplayer. Sure, maybe Half-life's underlying FPS mechanics have aged better and from a storytelling POV it was more groundbreaking, but yeah, if I had to guess, I'd say the single player campaigns mission design and especially the multiplayer are big reasons why Goldeneye is perhaps remembered a bit more fondly (+ the people who have voted seem to lean more on the console side of things from that era), no matter if it actually holds up all that well when played today.

I'm sorry, but I just wanted to double check something.

Are you saying that Half-Life's multiplayer had less of an impact than Goldeneyes?

Are you actually insane?

Like actually?

Heard of Counter-Strike? Day of Defeat? Team Fortress? Natural Selection? Or about a billion other multiplayer mods that HL spawned?

All of those mods have ended up with retail versions and then sequels, some of them multiple times.

Counter-Strike is the biggest competitive shooter in history.

Team Fortress has raked in hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 8 years.

Even vanilla HLDM had a huge scene and some incredible pro-level players.

Goldeneye had fun splitscreen MP, but the impact that HL had on the industry was profound.

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

It's crazy the top ten RPGs are in the overall top 25. That's a lot RPGs in a generation.

Anihawk can you link to the GameCube generation somewhere in your posts?

 

[Celine]

Already got my #1 pick for the Gen 4 vote

You are a good man/woman Jigorath.
Quintet for life.

 

[Walter Matthau]

Somewhat surprised to see Panzer Dragoon Saga as the top ranked Saturn game. It was a pretty rare game and emulation for the Saturn was poor for a number of years. Wonder if SEGA is aware of it's following.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

The end result for number one is pretty much what I expected and I knew VII was going to beat IX despite my efforts, but still a Final Fantasy game made it in plus IX, so it's all good. I definitely need to play Symphony of the Night. I played my first Castlevania this year with Order of Ecclesia and I'll play Symphony as soon as I get a new PS3, PS2, or see if there's a PSP Rom of it out there. Majora's Mask I knew wouldn't beat it out because more people played Ocarina of Time and I knew some people who couldn't wrap their head around the time mechanics, but Majora's Mask is simply the better game.

I didn't even know Mario Kart 64 existed in this generation so I was a bit surprised to see so many votes for it. The kart racer for this gen for me was Diddy Kong Racing. I was a bit surprised at seeing Super Smash Bros. for the most voted fighting game because I thought I saw more votes for Tekken 3, but whatever.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

thing about that era is it's basically 'what is your favorite nes game?' with an occasional pc game or mention of alex kidd or phantasy star. also, it's when a lot of people got started with gaming, so i don't know what conversations could be had about the era.

What about arcade games from that era?

 

[RodrigoDorta]

Metal gear solid 1 was on pc¹, so it cant be the PS1 exclusive game of the generation.


¹ - http://www.ign.com/games/metal-gear-solid/pc-1459 - IGN page
² - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrFcYbwz_ws - Youtube PC vs Ps1

PC mgs boxart

 

[Jigorath]

Metal gear solid 1 was on pc¹, so it cant be the PS1 exclusive game of the generation.


¹ - http://www.ign.com/games/metal-gear-solid/pc-1459 - IGN page
² - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrFcYbwz_ws - Youtube PC vs Ps1

PC mgs boxart

PC version doesn't count. It came out after 1999.

 

[AniHawk]

What about arcade games from that era?

arcade stuff from 1983-1988?

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

arcade stuff from 1983-1988?

mmhm.

 

[timetokill]

arcade stuff from 1983-1988?

It's true that the list would be almost all NES games. That said in arcades we had Gauntlet, Gradius and Space Harrier in 85, Out Run and Bubble Bobble in 86, and STUN Runner in 89.

 

[GamerJM]

I think the problem with gen 3 is that GAF skews too young for that gen to really have much variety in terms of votes. There's actually tons of variety in games of that era, but most people haven't played a lot of the stuff beyond the well-known classics (including me).

 

[AniHawk]

I think the problem with gen 3 is that GAF skews too young for that gen to really have much variety in terms of votes. There's actually tons of variety in games of that era, but most people haven't played a lot of the stuff beyond the well-known classics (including me).

one of the biggest things preventing me from doing it is that we had a thread devoted to the 80s as a decade and it wasn't very well received: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468745

it's also why i stopped with the revote threads after 2004 (the plan was to go from 2005-2007). i think those should be kept to more 'controversial' wins, but that is decided by pretty much the topic creator. aside from 2008, i think the only other winner that is regularly disputed is 2010's mass effect 2. at least, i can't believe it topped the list in the year of vanquish, bayonetta, super mario galaxy 2, etc.

 

[Celine]

arcade stuff from 1983-1988?

Outrun, space harrier, gauntlet, r-type, double dragon, rastan, bubble bobble, arkanoid.

 

[Markitron]

As an N64 fanboy back in the day, I agree 100% with this list.

I didn't even know Mario Kart 64 existed in this generation so I was a bit surprised to see so many votes for it. The kart racer for this gen for me was Diddy Kong Racing. I was a bit surprised at seeing Super Smash Bros. for the most voted fighting game because I thought I saw more votes for Tekken 3, but whatever.

Diddy Kong had an unrivaled SP campaign, but Mario Kart was much more fun in Multiplayer.

 

[timetokill]

one of the biggest things preventing me from doing it is that we had a thread devoted to the 80s as a decade and it wasn't very well received: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468745

it's also why i stopped with the revote threads after 2004 (the plan was to go from 2005-2007). i think those should be kept to more 'controversial' wins, but that is decided by pretty much the topic creator. aside from 2008, i think the only other winner that is regularly disputed is 2010's mass effect 2. at least, i can't believe it topped the list in the year of vanquish, bayonetta, super mario galaxy 2, etc.

Yup. Participation was pretty low for that.
I think GAF is a lot younger than many realize. PlayStation babies basically have no memory of playing games then, if they were even born.

 

[KooopaKid]

Great work AniHawk. Sees the top 2. All is right in the world. And yeah, I was quoted twice

 

[gelf]

Somewhat surprised to see Panzer Dragoon Saga as the top ranked Saturn game. It was a pretty rare game and emulation for the Saturn was poor for a number of years. Wonder if SEGA is aware of it's following.

The few of us that actually played it all ranked it very highly(it was my no.1) so it got in on a few high scores.

 

[thiagosimoes]

Great work!

I like the list a lot. I've mostly abandoned AAA games since the early 2000's, so my most vivid gaming memories come from 1992-2001. Nowadays I mostly play visual novels and adventure games.

Panzer Dragoon Saga is my favorite game of the 5th generation along with OoT. I would have been devastated if it didn't make the top 25. Thankfully it did. It pains me to see Grandia and Radiant Silvergun not getting as many votes as they deserve.

No one mentioning D or Lunacy/Torico is really sad. At least Echo Night got one mention. Now, KOF only got one honorable mention?! I didn't know GAF hated the series so much. KOF 97 is still my favorite fighting game ever.

Overall, I don't have much to complain about. I only wish we could have one FMV game mentioned (D, Lunacy or even Mansion of the Hidden Souls), but I guess I'm alone here.

 

[anaron]

EDIT: damn it, thought it was the soundtrack thread

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I was a little bit surprised to actually see two votes for the Virtual Boy. That has to rank among the worst game consoles ever conceived, but it was just a measly two votes.

 

[thiagosimoes]

Now, this might look like I'm stretching things far too much, but shouldn't Enemy Zero be considered a stealth game? It's not exactly a FMV game, neither an orthodox adventure game and definitely not a FPS. The fact that you have to avoid combat as much as possible is central to the gameplay, so I believe it should be considered a stealth game. The mechanics are wildly different from MGS, but E0 was released before MGS.

 

[Celine]

Now, this might look like I'm stretching things far too much, but shouldn't Enemy Zero be considered a stealth game? It's not exactly a FMV game, neither an orthodox adventure game and definitely not a FPS. The fact that you have to avoid combat as much as possible is central to the gameplay, so I believe it should be considered a stealth game. The mechanics are wildly different from MGS, but E0 was released before MGS.

I see Enemy Zero as a survival game.

 

[thiagosimoes]

I see Enemy Zero as a survival game.

It is. But the thing is: whereas MGS has a radar onscreen, E0 uses sound as your form of locating enemies, acting pretty much like a radar. Ultimately, you are trying to survive, but during almost the whole game you must pay close attention to the auditory clues about the location of the aliens so you can sneak past them undetected. It's not the hide-and-shoot kind of thing, but it recreates quite a bit of the atmosphere of a good stealth game.

 

[Kallor]

Oh shit I missed this thread somehow. Really solid lists. Glad to see Majoras Mask chart really high so many times. Expected Ocarina to take the cake, game still gets called out as the GOAT. Also glad Banjo was high up (better than mario 64 and should be higher..)

Good shit gaf, and great job on the thread AniHawk!

 

[Yoshi]

NeoGaf is the elite of the elite, but something really rubs me the wrong way about Banjo-Kazooie being in the top 10, before Goldeneye and StarCraft and others. It has to be generational thing I guess. Some of you must have been children and loved that game when it came out.

I was a child when B-K came out, granted, but I've played through it twice this year and I'm absolutely positive that I'd prefer Banjo-Kazooie over both, GoldenEye and StarCraft combined. I'm quite sick of people, who just don't like this subgenre shitting on Banjo just because they don't like it. Despite camera controls - which are still good enough and could probably not have been done much better using N64's controller, what would you do to improve Banjo-Kazooie while still retaining its subgenre (3D collectathon platformer)?

 

[Exploratory]

I was a child when B-K came out, granted, but I've played through it twice this year and I'm absolutely positive that I'd prefer Banjo-Kazooie over both, GoldenEye and StarCraft combined. I'm quite sick of people, who just don't like this subgenre shitting on Banjo just because they don't like it. Despite camera controls - which are still good enough and could probably not have been done much better using N64's controller, what would you do to improve Banjo-Kazooie while still retaining its subgenre (3D collectathon platformer)?

Over Goldeneye though? I mean really?

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Had to come back to check this one out. So many wonderful expressions of art in here.