Aaron Strife
Banned
probably Mario 64
what is the most important/influential game of the 90's?
- Thread starter mr stroke
- Start date
TheJollyCorner
Member
SomeDude said:
the thing is, as great as both games were, FFVI and CT weren't terribly 'important' or 'influential'- as the OP asks.
FFVII was. Love it or hate it. It's absolutely undeniable.
What it was able to do with the combination of pre-rendered backgrounds, fully 3D characters, and FMV really expanded the way RPG stories had been told in the past. It made it more 'alive', both the backgrounds and characters. Emotions were conveyed a lot better. It wasn't just sprites bowing their heads or twirling in the air.
But let's look at the real reasons it was so important/influential:
It was an absolute key factor in allowing the upstart Sony PlayStation to gain so much momentum in Japan that generation- and because of its ridiculous success it helped motivate Hori and ENIX to bring the Dragon Quest series over to the PS family. It also showed a US marketing blitz that was pretty rare (in the West) at the time for a video game- especially an RPG. Hell, it was the first video game trailer I saw in front of a movie. It actually excited Western gamers to try this game out (albeit through a bit of advertising trickery
)- and they did- millions of them.-It paved the way for JRPGs to saturate the Western market in the late '90s and into the new century.
-It expanded a third party company (Squaresoft) into MEGASTAR status on a worldwide level- where people would buy a game just because it had the 'Squaresoft' logo on it and you saw "from the makers of Final Fantasy" tagged on everything. Would this have been such a huge selling point to the Western mass-market in, say, 1993?
People actually believed the wild rumors going around in 1998 that Square was working on its own console. That's how big they got. Because of FFVII. Let's also not forget the confidence it gave the company (and Columbia Pictures) to sink $200+ million on a massive-release animated motion picture. Forget for a moment that it bombed- just consider that this project at that pricetag was even considered. It's amazing.
Is FFVII "the most important/influential game of the '90s"? Personally it was for me. On a completely objective level- I don't think so.... but putting FFVI and/or CT even anywhere fucking near it on an important/influential scale is just wrong... and I don't mean to say that to offend anyone.
To Far Away Times
Member
Mario 64. When I was a kid and I played it for the first time, I knew that we were in for some changes. There was before Mario 64 and after Mario 64.
While Mario 64 may not have invented 3D gaming, it became the standard for it. Designing the N64 controller around the game was no mistake. Mario 64 became the bar that every other game was measured against in the mid to late 90's. It made early 3D grid-based movement games embarrassing by comparison.
While Mario 64 may not have invented 3D gaming, it became the standard for it. Designing the N64 controller around the game was no mistake. Mario 64 became the bar that every other game was measured against in the mid to late 90's. It made early 3D grid-based movement games embarrassing by comparison.
Tenks said:
WTF? How can one not see the influence that either game had on current generations? I mean I could understand if you were a youngin in 96 or something, but you had a buddy that worked on Quake, so I think it's safe to assume you were at least in your late teens at that time.
How can you not see the influence of those two games is beyond me, simply put every game you play today where the characters can move in a 3D plane takes influence from the game. I guess you could say Tomb Raider also did the whole 3D thing at around the same time, but the movement was jerky and grid base as opposed to the smoothness Mario offered. As for Zelda, that was essentially Mario 65 done in a more mature settinhg, showcasing that 3D games didn't have to be platformers to work. Also Z-Targeting has been copied many times, for both targeting and quick camera control.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Although it introduced most of the concepts, Doom's lack of real 3D means it is one step removed from all modern FPS games. You won't see much of Doom in modern games, but Quake's influence (online multi, 3D environment, mouse look, CTF, team deathmatch, team fortress) lives on.Man God said:
BMX Bandit
Member
I completely agree. I tried to like TF2, but I really couldn't get into it...I was always ending up missing what they removed from the originalZhuk said:I still think its the best TF ever released
.drakesfortune
Directions: Pull String For Uninformed Rant
I'd have to agree with Doom. There are a lot of games that did other things well, but I think they were derived from Doom/Wolfenstein ultimately. Doom was the first title to really break out and define the FPS though, so I have to give it to Doom.
I also have to say the for RPG's FF7 had an enormous impact on everything, and still does today. I think Doom is more relevant to what's happening today though.
I also have to say the for RPG's FF7 had an enormous impact on everything, and still does today. I think Doom is more relevant to what's happening today though.
ZephyrFate
Banned
Not Final Fantasy VII.
I'll go with Zelda: Ocarina of Time, though.
I'll go with Zelda: Ocarina of Time, though.
LazerRanger
Member
Ocarina of Time,
Metal Gear Solid,
Quake 3,
Shenmue (Japanese release).
Metal Gear Solid,
Quake 3,
Shenmue (Japanese release)
.Probably Doom. It's influence is still readily apparent today, looking at the current market and popular titles.
And FFVIIs influence can't be denied. Seems there are people who just didn't like the game trying to discredit it, but what it did for the PSX and the genre isn't something you can just brush off with whining.
And FFVIIs influence can't be denied. Seems there are people who just didn't like the game trying to discredit it, but what it did for the PSX and the genre isn't something you can just brush off with whining.
Lumpy Onion
Member
Probably Mario 64.
navii
My fantasy is that my girlfriend was actually a young high school girl.
Mario 64 was one of the first open 3D games to throw linearity out the window (in level and game design) and instead use goals for progressing. The 3D camera was also quite innovative (moving and pointing independently from the character). I don't know if it was the most influential, but it did more than set the standard for 3D platformers.
Metal Gear Solid did nothing at all, cinematically, that hadn't been done before years prior. Half-Life, however, did. That is, in-game scripted events with no cutscenes or breaks in the gameplay. It wasn't the first, though. Out of this World, Super Metroid, and probably many other games did it to similar effect.
iD's games and GTA are good contenders, as those genres are among the biggest in the '00s.
Also anyone that says Resident Evil...
Metal Gear Solid did nothing at all, cinematically, that hadn't been done before years prior. Half-Life, however, did. That is, in-game scripted events with no cutscenes or breaks in the gameplay. It wasn't the first, though. Out of this World, Super Metroid, and probably many other games did it to similar effect.
iD's games and GTA are good contenders, as those genres are among the biggest in the '00s.
Also anyone that says Resident Evil...
People seem to be confusing influential with revolutionary in this thread. Just because some game that hardly anybody heard of or played did something first doesn't mean that it was in any way influential. That there were other games before Mario 64 that used the analog stick, for example, is irrelevant to this argument.
Mailenstein
Member
Easy. Super Mario 64
/thread
/thread
evilernLeGG
Member
Draft said:
This is easily the best answer in the whole thread. DOOM was very revolutionary, but the things that Quake added to the table can be seen in almost all games these days.
If it wasn't for Quake, we wouldn't have the idea of a pre-created engine so developers could focus more on the content of the game instead of spending time creating an in-depth engine.
The Modeling is extremely important as well. The Quake engine had portability in that you could easily change the attributes to fit your game.. which traces into what a lot of developers do now. It can save many a resource.
Client-Server is the model used for almost every high-budget, highly-populated online gaming arena. If it wasn't for this idea, we wouldn't have these massive lobbies/matchmaking/stat tracking/etc.
Sure, Half-Life (for example) was a great game, but if it wasn't for all of these points that Quake brought to the table, it would not have existed in the same light as it does now.
Oddly enough, I'm not even a Quake fan, but it's hard not to see that it's an EXTREMELY influential game who's overall model is still being followed today.
EDIT: I understand that DOOM (and maybe some others) had it's own engine that was licensed, but not in the same capacity and ability to modify that Quake had.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
ITT: Platformer fans, RPG fans, FPS fans, fighting games fans and etcetera whine that their influential game was the most influential of all.
AlucarD.eq
Member
I´m going with Mario64, It was a blast, and It changed my perception about 3D
Captain Smoker
Member
And a couple of other games of course, depends on the genre. 
On one hand, it's impossible to understate DOOM's vast influence on game design and its role in popularizing 3D action gaming. Even Nintendo took a look at DOOM when they started seriously working on 3D.
And then there's Quake, the game that essentially defined 3D rendering and networking to this day. It's also where the concept of modding really took off, which has been the genesis of much of modern gaming.
Hard to decide between them.
And then there's Quake, the game that essentially defined 3D rendering and networking to this day. It's also where the concept of modding really took off, which has been the genesis of much of modern gaming.
Hard to decide between them.
MisterHero
Super Member
Ocarina ripped off Mario 64's engine SO THERE
lol
abstract alien
Member
No discredit to Everquest, but I dont believe its influence was felt across the industry as a whole.Brashnir said:
CookieChip
Banned
Zhuk said:Ignorant console gamers, anyways most of the stuff that MGS did was already done in games like Snatcher and Policenauts by Kojima, not much about it was revolutionary
Zhuk said:
Seriously, dont compute.
Unless you think Halo didn't anything "revolutionary" in consoles, aside control scheme and MP. Just like MGS with it's voice-acting, story and cinematics.
abstract alien
Member
Anyone who thinks Snatcher is more influential than Metal Gear is a fucking moron.
quake (accelerators, online play), doom (fps's), street fighter 2 (almost all 2d fighters and arcades in general) ... even myst has a spot for hooking the non gamer adult crowd
as much as i want to say street fighter 2 or mario 64 or goldeneye or zelda oot... its between doom and quake
really
as much as i want to say street fighter 2 or mario 64 or goldeneye or zelda oot... its between doom and quake
really
ShinobiFist
Banned
Mortal Kombat and Quake.
Pokemon single-handedly changed the face of handheld gaming. It was suddenly like, "woah, check it out, the Game Boy can do so much more than Tetris and watered down NES games."
Not to mention it pretty much created its own genre, which it rules to this day. There are plenty of other monster training games, but there is nothing on the same level of detail and scope as Pokemon.
Not to mention it pretty much created its own genre, which it rules to this day. There are plenty of other monster training games, but there is nothing on the same level of detail and scope as Pokemon.
Powerslave
Banned
Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid and Halo.
All three set out trends of jrpgs, stealth games and the hundreds of FPS's on consoles nowadays.
All three set out trends of jrpgs, stealth games and the hundreds of FPS's on consoles nowadays.
KilgoreTrout
Banned
Super Mario 64.