/vr/ - Retro Games

If we look at Japan, Gamest was a very respected magazine for arcade games. Pretty much all the writers were actual hardcore arcade gamers. Aside from the main magazine they also published lots of guides for specific games, and even comic anthologies and such.

ITT: The best arcade games by year according to the Japanese publication Gamest.
1987: Darius (Taito)
1988: Gradius II (Konami)
1989: Tetris (Sega)
1990: Final Fight (Capcom)
1991: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Capcom)
1992: Street Fighter II′: Champion Edition (Capcom)
1993: Samurai Shodown (SNK)
1994: The King of Fighters '94 (SNK)
1995: Virtua Fighter 2 (Sega)
1996: Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Capcom)
1997: Vampire Savior (Capcom)
1998: Psychic Force 2012 (Taito)

There are more specific awards, such as best soundtrack, best cutscenes, and best games by genre (STG, FTG, and so on), but these are strictly the best games overall.

Thoughts? Personally I would've picked Strider over Tetris as the Best of 1989. Psychic Force 2012 also seems like an odd choice for a GOTY.