what is the most important/influential game of the 90's?

mr stroke

mr stroke

Member
After much debate in the last thread of the current decade-

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=369556

(mostly between-Wii sports/Halo/GTA)

what are your thoughts on the 90's?
(a decade thats probably more important in gaming than the current one is)



IMO-

It would have to be Doom-


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while it wasn't the first FPS, it is the game that made the genre popular and brought it to the mainstream, but more important it also brought game violence to a new level and made it some what acceptable
 
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As a fanboy, but i guess it is Mario 64.
 
This is a tough call, because the 90's were a very transitional decade, a LOT happened that was all equally important in different ways.

You could probably agree with just about everything posted so far, for various reasons.
 
Contenders: Doom, Quake, Half-Life, Final Fantasy VII

How can anyone think Mario 64 was very influential? The genre is nearly dead.
 
Honestly, there are too many to choose just one. The 90s had so many major titles that changed the shape of a huge variety of genres (while also creating new ones that are major players today) as well helped shape the modern face of the entire industry.

FFVII.
 
TheExodu5 said:
How can anyone think Mario 64 was very influential? The genre is nearly dead.
Click to expand...

For the course of console gaming, it was pretty influential for reasons that had nothing to do with its genre.
 
TheExodu5 said:
How can anyone think Mario 64 was very influential? The genre is nearly dead.
Click to expand...
So it couldnt have been influential in the 90s just because 2009 there arent many 3d plattformer releases ? makes no sense....
 
Seems to me this is quickly going to be a "List Games you like from the 90s" thread, if people don't explain their choice.

I actually have no idea, but I'd lean toward OoT, as it was really really fun, but it managed to tell a story...IN 3D!

Games started leaning towards the more epic storylines after OoT's success, yeah?
 
cw_sasuke said:
So it couldnt have been influential in the 90s just because 2009 there arent many 3d plattformer releases ? makes no sense....
Click to expand...

What similar games came out in the past 13 years? Rare platformers...and Jak/Sly/Ratchet(to a far lesser extent).

Any clue how many FPSes we've had in the past 13 years? How many since Doom's release?
 
I came in here to post DOOM and pleasantly I've found it listed right there in the OP.

Of course this is a console focused forum and so it's unsurprising to see posts like "Mario64". I wouldn't be surprised if we even see a few folks post "Ocarina of Time" even though it's not very clear that many games have been strongly influenced by that title.

Looking at the modern gaming landscape you see a massive amount of FPS games. Many of the best selling games currently are FPS games and many of the most important first party titles are FPS games. DOOM of course is the game that really got the ball rolling. Wolfenstein came first of course, but DOOM included multiplayer, which was to become a key component of the FPS genre.
 
TheExodu5 said:
What similar games came out in the past 13 years? Rare platformers...and Jak/Sly/Ratchet(to a far lesser extent).

Any clue how many FPSes we've had in the past 13 years? How many since Doom's release?
Click to expand...

How many 3D action and adventure games have we had since Mario 64?
 
Games started leaning towards the more epic storylines after OoT's success, yeah?
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]
No I'd say thats because of MGS and FFVII. Both of those games seemed to lay down the groundwork for games to branch out into more cinematic told stories for better or worse. I think they are the real beginnings for actual story telling in games.
 
Vinci said:
How many 3D action and adventure games have we had since Mario 64?
Click to expand...

Oh so now Mario 64 is to be taken as the predecessor to Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, and Godhand?

Please. The only thing Mario 64 even brings to these games is the 3D camera, at best.
 
Rahxephon91 said:
No I'd say thats because of MGS and FFVII. Both of those games seemed to lay down the groundwork for games to branch out into more cinematic told stories for better or worse. I think they are the real beginnings for actual story telling in games.
Click to expand...

lol wut?
 
I think it's hard to argue against Doom in the influential category. That said, I think Ocarina of Time set a new high water mark in the industry as far as presenting a game as a "complete package" goes.
 
Rahxephon91 said:
No I'd say thats because of MGS and FFVII. Both of those games seemed to lay down the groundwork for games to branch out into more cinematic told stories for better or worse. I think they are the real beginnings for actual story telling in games.
Click to expand...

For 'cinematic' storytelling, not 'actual' storytelling - or I'll be forced to drop a giant load of Planescape on top of you.
 
It's Quake.

If you disagree, you are ignorant to all of the things which Quake either introduced or validated.

3D engines.
3D accelerators.
Online play.
Client-server architecture.
Modding.
Brown, brown, brown.
The engine as a product.
The FPS as the dominant gaming genre.

Even goofy shit like speed runs.

Quake is the grand daddy of modern gaming.
 
I came in this thread to post "doom". Glad to see the first post had it covered. It's so easily doom, I cant even consider entertaining anything else.
 
For PC - Wolfenstein 3D

For consoles - Mario 64

Mario 64's gameplay was copied in all kinds of genres. Wasnt it the first game with a 3d analog stick and player camera control??
 
How is Final Fantasy VII not listed more often here?

Not because jRPGs are so big now, but because "epic," cinematic games are.

And Quake is also seriously underrepresented here.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Contenders: Doom, Quake, Half-Life, Final Fantasy VII

How can anyone think Mario 64 was very influential? The genre is nearly dead.
Click to expand...

But didn't Mario 64 introduce a refined camera system and an expanded open world environment?

edit: beaten a few times
 
TheExodu5 said:
What similar games came out in the past 13 years? Rare platformers...and Jak/Sly/Ratchet(to a far lesser extent).
Click to expand...

Want to start counting the Mario 64 clones? Good luck.

And it is nominated for it's revolutionary controls and level design. Not for being the best platformer ever. (which it probably is)

Any clue how many FPSes we've had in the past 13 years? How many since Doom's release?
Click to expand...

Doom wasn't as big of a leap from Wolfenstein 3D than Mario 64 was from any previous platformers.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Oh so now Mario 64 is to be taken as the predecessor to Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, and Godhand?

Please. The only thing Mario 64 even brings to these games is the 3D camera, at best.
Click to expand...

goomba said:
Mario 64's gameplay was copied in all kinds of genres. Wasnt it the first game with a 3d analog stick and player camera control??
Click to expand...

Yes, and thank you for answering his question for me.
 
goomba said:
Mario 64's gameplay was copied in all kinds of genres. Wasnt it the first game with a 3d analog stick and player camera control??
Click to expand...

It was at least the first one that did it exceptionally well (for the time)
 
No I'd say thats because of MGS and FFVII. Both of those games seemed to lay down the groundwork for games to branch out into more cinematic told stories for better or worse. I think they are the real beginnings for actual story telling in games.[/QUOTE]

Cinematic story telling isn't the same as actual story telling, but I definitely see your point.

This is one of those things I will happily admit my ignorance of. I'm digging hearing people's different thought processes on this.

EDIT: What's with the quote not working?
 
Draft said:
It's Quake.

If you disagree, you are ignorant to all of the things which Quake either introduced or validated.

3D engines.
3D accelerators.
Online play.
Client-server architecture.
Modding.
Brown, brown, brown.
The engine as a product.
The FPS as the dominant gaming genre.

Even goofy shit like speed runs.

Quake is the grand daddy of modern gaming.
Click to expand...

Your points make me have to agree with you. The engine is a product is one of the most important points here. It's incredible that many popular game engines of today are decendants of the original Quake engine. Source is probably the most notable one of these. The Modern Warfare engine would be another. By far the best netcode ever, as well.
 
Well, judging by how the games are played now I'd say the cinematic games of the 90's were the most influential. Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, stuff like that. Also, Zelda probably set the example for adventure games, Mario 64 for 3D platformers and Doom set the standard for first person shooters.
 
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