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[Khalifa Jayy]

I mean seriously, the quality titles released that year are staggering.

Yea, there are a few duds included in this graphic, but overall... damn, that was a hell of a year. If you're going to post a year, you better post some titles that came out that year! I don't have all game releases memorized per year

Contenders:

2001
Final Fantasy X
Silent Hill 2
Max Payne
GTA3
Halo 1
Conkers Bad Fur Day
Jak and Daxter 1
DMC
Metal Gear Solid 2
Smash Bros Melee
Luigi's Mansion
Halo CE

2007
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Halo 3
Super Mario Galaxy
BioShock
Crysis
The Orange Box
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Assassin's Creed
Metroid
Guitar Hero

1994
Super Metroid
Final Fantasy VI
Sonic & Knuckles
Donkey Kong Country
Mega Man X
Sega Rally
Virtua Cop
Virtua Fighter 2
Tekken
Killer Instinct
EarthBound
Breath of Fire II
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Doom II
Beneath a Steel Sky
Contra: Hard Corps
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Demon's Crest
Dynamite Headdy
Earthworm Jim
Blackthorne
Ninja Warriors


1998
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Slug 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Half-Life
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
StarCraft
Baldur's Gate
Gran Turismo
Soul Calibur
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Pokémon Red & Blue
Resident Evil 2
Fallout 2
Thief: The Dark Project
Parasite Eve
Grim Fandango
F-Zero X
Xenogears
Mario Party
Suikoden II
Banjo-Kazooie
Starsiege: Tribes
The King of Fighters '98
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Unreal
Sonic Adventure


2009
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Demon's Souls
Dragon Age: Origins
Assassin's Creed 2
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Killzone 2
Street Fighter IV
Infamous
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Borderlands
Flower
Left 4 Dead 2
Resident Evil 5
Torchlight 180
Halo 3: ODST
Shadow Complex
Forza Motorsport 3
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
Mario and Luigi 3: Bowser's Inside Story
Trials HD

Damn, 1994 was stacked.

 

[Blooddimond]

1998.
Ocarina of time, thief, half life, MGS, RE2, Starcraft, Pokemon in america, it probably will never be topped.

 

[braves01]

2001

GBA launch
Xbox launch
Gamecube launch
PS2 amazing holiday

 

[Floridian]

2007. I mean you had COD4, HALO 3, SMG, Bioshock, Crysis, Orange BOX, Uncharted etc. Bunch of successive and new games launched from that year.

Edit: Assassin's Creed, Metroid, and Guitar Hero was also from this year.

 

[Chip N Chance]

2007 imo was even better. 1998 too.

2007
Mario Galaxy
Portal/Orange Box
Bioshock
Mass Effect
Halo 3
CoD 4
Rock Band
Assassins Creed
Uncharted
Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction
Phantom Hour Glass
God of War 2
Crysis
Heavenly Sword
Crackdown
Lost Odyssey
The Darkness
Eternal Sonata
Metroid Prime 3
Skate
Crisis Core FF7
Hotel Dusk
Phoenix Wright
Contra 4

 

[EightBitNate]

2007 easily.
2015 might.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

1998.

zing- or 1993 for that matter
Syndicate
X-Wing
Starfox
Mortal Kombat II
Kirby's Adventure
Samurai Shodown
Super Mario All-Stars
Secret of Mana
Sonic CD
MYST
Doom
SimCity 2000



however...

Spoiler

2015

 

[meptrep]

1998.

Was also gonna say this. Off the top of my head you have Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 2, Banjo Kazooie, Metal Gear Solid, the first Unreal, and probably a lot more that I'm forgettnig.

EDIT: 2001 was also pretty good with all of those console launches and then the last few good games on the N64, PS1 and Dreamcast.

 

[Byronic Hero]

Damn. Sly, Jak and Ratchet got releases in 04? I thought this year was pretty good.

 

[llehuty]

If you're going to post a year, you better post some titles that came out that year! I don't have all game releases memorized per year

.

Edit: Ah nvm!, plenty of people edited their posts. Nothing to see here.

 

[SalvaPot]

2015 might.

Delays. Delays everywhere.

 

[Haeralis The BRave]

2001 is better.


Final Fantasy X
Silent Hill 2
Max Payne
GTA3
Halo 1
Conkers Bad Fur Day
Jak and Daxter 1
DMC
Metal Gear Solid 2
Smash Bros Melee
Luigi's Mansion
Halo CE

Probably way more that I'm forgetting about

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

1997-2004 was just an amazing time. Any of those years could put up some pretty solid competition, assuming you had pretty broad gaming tastes.


One of the things that was great about 2004, though, was that the good games weren't all crammed into the end of the year. You had Ninja Gaiden and Far Cry in the spring, Tales of Symphonia in the summer, etc. There was always something cool to play.



But 2001 was still better.

 

[JumpJeff84]

Crazy list. Two of my all-time favorite games came out that year- Ninja Gaiden and Paper Mario.

And what's even crazier is that Resident Evil 4 came out in January of 2005. So practically 2004, right?

 

[Pranay]

2009

 

[bernardobri]

1998.
Ocarina of time, thief, half life, MGS, RE2, Starcraft, Pokemon in america, it probably will never be topped.

Yeah, this one is pretty bad ass.

 

[Shion]

1994

Super Metroid
Final Fantasy VI
Sonic & Knuckles
Donkey Kong Country
Mega Man X
Sega Rally
Virtua Cop
Virtua Fighter 2
Tekken
Killer Instinct
EarthBound
Breath of Fire II
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Doom II
Beneath a Steel Sky
Contra: Hard Corps
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Demon's Crest
Dynamite Headdy
Earthworm Jim
Blackthorne
Ninja Warriors
+
Warcraft
Descent
System Shock
X-COM: UFO Defense
Tie Fighter
Marathon

(Credits to Ziffles & TheRedSnifit)

 

[JaseMath]

1994

Super Metroid
Final Fantasy VI
Sonic & Knuckles
Donkey Kong Country
Mega Man X
Sega Rally
Virtua Cop
Virtua Fighter 2
Tekken
Killer Instinct
EarthBound
Breath of Fire II
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Doom II
Beneath a Steel Sky
Contra: Hard Corps
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Demon's Crest
Dynamite Headdy
Earthworm Jim
Blackthorne
Ninja Warriors

Jesus Christ.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

2007:

Orange Box
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Super Mario Galaxy
Crysis
The Witcher
Bioshock

Steam: Community & Achievements added, great expansion in 3rd party titles, and first ever Steam Holiday Sale.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

1998. It has been, is, and always will be 1998.

Also, you missed one:

 

[Gurthang]

1999

Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Heroes of Might and Magic III
Planescape: Torment
Chrono Cross
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
System Shock 2
EverQuest
FFVIII
Outcast
Syphon Filter
Homeworld
Shenmue
Unreal Tournament
And I think CS first came in 99

 

[ElectronicOldMen]

98 and 07 are the main two contenders:

1998:
- Ocarina of Time
- Half-Life
- Starcraft
- Metal Gear Solid
- Fallout 2
- Thief 1
- Grim Fandango
- Pokemon Red/Blue
- Soul Calibur
- Baldur's Gate
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Unreal

2007:
- The Orange Box (HL2 Ep. 2, Portal & Team Fortress 2)
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Halo 3
- CoD 4
- Bioshock
- Crysis
- Mass Effect
- Crackdown
- The Witcher
- Assassins Creed
- Metroid Prime 3
- Stalker: SoC
- The Darkness
- Uncharted
- Rock Band
- Rainbow Six: Vegas

Probably a bunch more that I've missed too.

 

[Stereogatari]

Adding to the 1998 corner, there were also Tomb Raider 3, Crash Bandicoot 3 and Tekken 3.

 

[EightBitNate]

Delays. Delays everywhere.

2014 got ruined by delays. I doubt 2015 will too.

 

[Coffee Dog]

1994, 1998, 2001, 2007, 2014

2014 has been such an incredible year outside of the AAA space. One of the best action games of all time and one of the best platformers of all time? Holy shit.

 

[FreedomFighter]

1998.
Ocarina of time, thief, half life, MGS, RE2, Starcraft, Pokemon in america, it probably will never be topped.

You forgot Rogue Squadron.and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. Made that year on N64 one to remember.

 

[VLiberty]

Damn. Sly, Jak and Ratchet got releases in 04? I thought this year was pretty good.

That year, the stars aligned.

Though 2003 had Ratchet, Jak and Ape Escape and 2002 had Ratchet, Sly and Mario Sunshine.

 

[jblank83]

Can't believe OP doesn't have 1998 listed.

Anyway, 1998. Also 1994.

2014 has been really good, assuming you don't hate Nintendo and/or PC. Not sure I'd list it as best ever, though.

 

[molnizzle]

1998.
Ocarina of time, thief, half life, MGS, RE2, Starcraft, Pokemon in america, it probably will never be topped.

One and done. Nothing compares to 1998.

1998:

Metal Gear Solid
Half-Life
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
StarCraft
Baldur's Gate
Gran Turismo
Soul Calibur
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Pokémon Red & Blue
Resident Evil 2
Fallout 2
Thief: The Dark Project
Parasite Eve
Grim Fandango
F-Zero X
Xenogears
Mario Party
Suikoden II
Banjo-Kazooie
Starsiege: Tribes
The King of Fighters '98
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Unreal
Sonic Adventure
Metal Slug 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

I agree that 1997, 1998 and 2001 are up there.



2000 was a weirdly year. All I remember is Half-Life and Diablo 2. And Black and White! I loved loved loved Black and White!

 

[Spieler Eins]

The 2007 lists are not very convincing. The premise of the OP and 1998 ones on the other hand...

Also, with so many shit years and delays in a row, I think 2015 might finally be a bigger one again.

 

[Megatron]

Maybe there are some great games missing from the op's list, but from what I am seeing, 2004 was a pretty average year. I'd take every year he listed over it, plus 1998, 2013 and 2009 just off the top of my head.


I think only people who are primarily PC gamers would think 2004 was anything special.

 

[batrush]

1994

Super Metroid
Final Fantasy VI
Sonic & Knuckles
Donkey Kong Country
Mega Man X
Sega Rally
Virtua Cop
Virtua Fighter 2
Tekken
Killer Instinct
EarthBound
Breath of Fire II
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Doom II
Beneath a Steel Sky
Contra: Hard Corps
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Demon's Crest
Dynamite Headdy
Earthworm Jim
Blackthorne
Ninja Warriors

Yep. 2004 doesn't even come close.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

1998.

Half Life, Shogo, Thief, SiN, Grim Fandango, StarCraft, Unreal, Fallout 2, Metal Gear Solid, Ocarina of Time, Baldur's Gate, Resident Evil 2, and Shogo.

 

[Stereogatari]

The 2007 lists are not very convincing. The premise of the OP and 1998 ones on the other hand...

Also, with so many shit years and delays in a row, I think 2015 might finally be a bigger one again.

If UC4, MGSV and FFXV come out in the same year then that'll be up there for me. I doubt that'll be 2015 though, more likely 2016.

 

[Ziffles]

1994

Super Metroid
Final Fantasy VI
Sonic & Knuckles
Donkey Kong Country
Mega Man X
Sega Rally
Virtua Cop
Virtua Fighter 2
Tekken
Killer Instinct
EarthBound
Breath of Fire II
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Doom II
Beneath a Steel Sky
Contra: Hard Corps
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Demon's Crest
Dynamite Headdy
Earthworm Jim
Blackthorne
Ninja Warriors

In PC land there was also Descent, System Shock, X-COM: UFO Defense, and Tie Fighter. (and probably some others I'm forgetting)

Man 94 was a goooood year.

edit: and Warcraft!

 

[Violence Jack]

1998 far and away the greatest.

1997 and 2007 after that.

 

[NahaNago]

If UC4, MGSV and FFXV come out in the same year then that'll be up there for me. I doubt that'll be 2015 though, more likely 2016.

don't forget zelda and xenoblade possibly comes out that year as well along with halo.

 

[Grindlefly]

1998 definitely

 

[rjc571]

Why does the OP disregard the best game to come out in 2004?

Spoiler

Metroid: Zero Mission.

EDIT: Oh wow, you didn't include the second best game

Spoiler

Metroid Prime 2

, either.

 

[entremet]

94>98>01>04>07

 

[Anth0ny]

01, 98 and 94 were better.

 

[ChaosXVI]

In your little 2004 graphic you failed to mention Metroid Prime 2 or Metroid Zero Mission as well! 2004 is easily the winner for me, with 2007 as a close 2nd place.

 

[Pranay]

Notable releases in 2009

01 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
02 Batman: Arkham Asylum
03 Demon's Souls
04 Dragon Age: Origins
05 Assassin's Creed 2
06 New Super Mario Bros. Wii
07 Killzone 2
08 Street Fighter IV
09 Infamous
10 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
11 Borderlands
12 Flower
13 Left 4 Dead 2
14 Resident Evil 5
15 Torchlight 180
16 Halo 3: ODST
17 Shadow Complex
18 Forza Motorsport 3
19 Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
20 Mario and Luigi 3: Bowser's Inside Story
20 Trials HD 87

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

In recent memory? The 3DS's 2013 was pretty insane. I know that's only for one system, but nostalgia aside that's probably the most relative example.

 

[Catdaddy]

Holy shit @ 1994..

2004 got me hooked on wow and city of heroes, which completely took me out of any other games in 2005 and 06.

 

[Wiktor]

1997 to me was the best year IMO. Made a pcgamer out of me

Riven
Blade Runner
Curse of Monkey Island
Longbow 2
Jedi Knight
Myth
Close Combat 2
Grand Theft Auto
Age of Empires
Sid Meier's Gettysburg!
Quake II
F22 Air Dominance Fighter
MDK
Dungeon Keeper
The Last Express
Interstate '76
Panzer General II
Total Annihilation
Hexen II
Achtung Spitfire
Dark Reign
Ecstatica II
Little Big Adventure II
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Dark Earth
Imperialism
Incubation
iF-16
Independence War: The Starship Simulator
688(I) Hunter/Killer
Heavy Gear
Warlords III
Wing Commander: Prophecy
Zork: Grand Inquisitor
Shivers Two
X-COM: Apocalypse
DREAMS to Reality
Red Baron II
F-22 Raptor
Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000
Carmageddon
Uprisin
Virtual Pool 2
Earth 2140
CART Precision Racing
Claw
Take No Prisoners
The Tone Rebellion
Star Wars: X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Sub Culture
NetStorm
Outlaws
Obsidian
G-Police
The Feeble Files
Lands of Lore II

 

[Kiyo]

2013 was a pretty good year. We got 2 of the best games of the generation in GTA5 and The Last of Us.

Bioshock Infinite, Super Mario 3D World, Wind Waker HD, A Link Between Worlds, Fire Emblem Awakening, Pokemon X/Y, Tomb Raider, Ni No Kuni, were all great and I'm sure I'm missing a ton more.

 

[Hipster Cthulhu]

2010: Bayonetta, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, Aliens vs. Predator, Deadly Premonition, Heavy Rain, Yakuza 3, Red Steel 2, Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2 etc.

 

[Ninja Dom]

For 1998 please add Metal Slug 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3