Favourite game per year

[Drixxel]

Okay, so this is a heavily contrived "best of"-type list thing, but I often find myself trying to group, classify and rank games by the year of their release and it would be cool to see how the fine folks of AtariAge distill things down to one title by annum. Go as far back or up to current as you'd like, just offer up one (1) released game that you consider your favourite of any given year. Maybe even offer a blurb about why it's a special game, and feel free to get all loosey goosey with release dates beyond the region you call home if you find a way that works something in to a neighbouring year to make room for something else (Mario 3 in '88 or '89, etc.).

 

I'd like to go way further back, but I've just been playing Wizards & Warriors on NES and this seems like a natural year era to start.

 

1987 - Metroid, NES ... Still remains one of my most want-to-play games. Perfectly stylized nonlinear platform adventure, love the stilted control and everything.

1988 - ???

1989 - R-Type, TG16 ... There needed to be a horizontal shooter on this list, and R-Type on TurboGrafx is a rad one. The raddest? Maybe.

1990 - Devil's Crush, TG16 ... The most infinitely replayable and entertaining game there is.

1991 - Actraiser, SNES ... I would play something that was entirely God Sim half, the platforming stages are practically icing.

1992 - Splatterhouse 2, Genesis ... The horror theme and repulsive interaction was revelatory.

1993 - Secret of Mana, SNES ... Such a standout in imagination and colour. 3-player of this remains a top memory.

1994 - Tempest 2000, Jag ... I got a Jag years later, but this game grabbed me.

1995 - Jumping Flash!, PSX ... First person platform shooting with such a unique feel, to boot; comical low poly FPS platformer with wild mechanics.

1996 - Super Mario 64, N64 ... Remains some of the most fun a person can have in a 3D environment.

 

And just for giggles: Favourite Maze Game - Mouse Trap, 2600

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Wow great topic!!!! Mine is going to cover a lot of years and some very tough decisions. So here it goes.... Starting with 1978.

 

1978: Space Invaders (Arcade): The popular game that started the arcade craze from the late 70's to the early 80's. Nothing like zapping the aliens and flying motherships.

 

1979: Asteroids (Arcade): Another iconic arcade game. Love the vector graphics and the Jaws inspired sound as you defeat the rocks one by one. Some of the most memorable sound effects.

 

1980: Missle Command (Arcade): Puts you in control of rapidly firing ICBMs at incoming missles, planes, and satelites. Great fun and frantically moving to protect six cities. Not to mention my all time favorite Game Over screen.

 

1981: Tempest (Arcade): Tough one between this, Donkey Kong, and Galaga. Tempest is the first multi-colored vector based game and provides a challenge that keeps you coming back for more. If I recall it's the first game that lets you choose a stage you want to start in.

 

1982: Tron (Arcade): A top notch arcade game with 4 fun stages that gets harder and harder. Firing at spiders, MCP cone, light cycles, and battling tanks. Great colorful game and graphics for a 34 year old game.

 

1983: Mario Bros. (Arcade): The game that introduces Mario as a plumber and his brother Luigi. You battle solo or head to head knocking over Shellcreepers, Sidesteppers, Fighter Flies, and Slipices for coins. You can play as a team or a grudge match.

 

1984: Pac-Land (Arcade): One of the first side scrolling platformer games that puts Pac-Man in an adventure of 32 stages. Collecting cool power ups to grant you oddball powerups like walking on your head, invisible, a hard hat, and jumping high after collecting the fairy. Fun fun game.

 

1985: Super Mario Bros. (NES): One of the best NES games and video games of all time. The game that gave players at home to go on a great quest and adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom searching for Princess Peach and her mushroom retainers.

 

1986: Rampage (Arcade): A game that lets you be the bad guy. Going across the country city to city destroying buildings, eating civilians, and wreaking havoc while the National Guard is in your way. Another fun multiplayer game as well.

 

1987: The Legend of Zelda (NES): A great RPG based adventure game searching for the 8 missing triforce pieces along Hyrule and collecting all sorts of items on your journey to find Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda. In addition to being my favorite NES game.

 

1988: Mega Man 2 (NES): My favorite all time Mega Man game. You have two difficulty settings with Easy and Difficult. The debut of passwords and energy tanks. Makes it much easier than the tougher first installment. Ne of the best NES soundtracks.

 

1989: Duck Tales (NES): A fantastic Disney game from Capcom that sets you on a quest across the world for the 5 treasures that are the most valuable. Another fantastic soundtrack and replayability. Lets you choose three different difficulty settings with Easy, Normal, and Difficult.

 

1990: Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES): An amazing and polished soundtrack, a helper you can also control, and choosing your path to kill Dracula. This is my favorite Castlevania game along with S.O.T.N. and my second favorite NES game of all time. The difficulty is perfect and Trevor is easier to control than Simon in the first game.

 

1991: Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis): An awesome platformer that lets you go high speed through tunnels, loops, collecting rings, and on a quest to find the missing chaos emeralds and defeat Dr. Robotnik. Very innovative and the graphics are awesome.

 

1992: Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis): My favorite beat em up. And another fantastic soundtrack. This game really stepped it up and was even better than the first one. Love the duel battles head to head.

 

1993: Kirby's Adventure (NES): An absolutley fun game with great bonus games and the funnest boss fights.

 

1994: Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis): A Castlevania game on the Genesis!!?? HELL YEAH!!!

 

1995: Yoshi's Island (SNES): Looks like a child's game. But in all accounts. One of the damn funnest games I have ever played. Great replay value and the best boss battles in my experience of gaming.

 

1996: Crash Bandicoot (PS): Great adventure in 2D and 3D. Love the sound effects and music. A tad difficult later on but it gives you a great challenge.

 

1997: Goldeneye (N64): My favorite FPS of all time. Completing objectives, hitting taeget times to earn cheata and bonus items, and the best multiplayer game I have ever played in my life.

[+Black_Tiger]

I'm sticking to console games.

 

1976: Telstar

1977: Combat - 2600

1978: Breakout - 2600

1979: Armor Battle - Intellivision

1980: Space Invaders - 2600

1981: Astrosmash - Intellivision

1982: AD&D Cloudy Mountain - Intellivision

1983: AD&D Treasure of Tarmin - Intellivision

1984: Donkey Kong 3 - Famicom

1985: Super Mario Bros: NES

1986: Alex Kidd In Miracle World - SMS

1987: Womderboy - SMS

1988: Phantasy Star - SMS

1989: Ys I & II - TurboGrafx-16

1990: Aeroblasters - TurboGrafx-16

1991: Ys III - TurboGrafx-16

1992: Gate of Thunder - TurboDuo

1993: Tengai Makyou Fuun Kabuki Den -PC Engine

1994: Legend of Xanadu - PC Engine

1995: Legend of Xanadu II - PC Engine

1996: Virtua Fighter 2 - Saturn

1997: Tengai Makyou The Apocalypse IV - Saturn

1998: Shining Force III Scenario 3 - Saturn

1999: Street Fighter Zero 3 - Saturn

2000: Phantasy Star Online - Dreamcast

2001: Phantasy Star Online Ver 2 - Dreamcast

2002: Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II- Gamecube

2003: Panzer Dragoon Orta - Xbox

2004: Halo 2 - Xbox

2005: Psychonauts - Xbox

2006: Oblivion - 360

2007: Halo 3 - 360

2008: Gears of War 2 - 360