/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.4604010]

What was the best year for retro games?

[Anonymous No.4604023]

>>4604010
Between the mid 80's and mid 90's is the overall best era for classic games.

[Anonymous No.4604037]

>>4604023
that wasn't the question you nob.

[Anonymous No.4604046]

>>4604010
im going to say 1995

[Anonymous No.4604049]

This one

[Anonymous No.4604071]

>>4604010
We all know '98 is the best year. A better question would be what is the 2nd best year?

>>4604046
>1995
That's a good pick. '94 should be up there also.

[Anonymous No.4604073]

94, 95 and 98, hard to choose.

[Anonymous No.4604306]

>>4604010
1994 is hard to beat

[Anonymous No.4604319]

These best years never really resonate with me.
I think iv only ever got a game at release or there abouts. Once. Think it was starcraft.
Every other game i always waited a year or to to buy.
My pc was alway a step behind, so while people were playing warcraft 3 i was still having fun with diablo that loads fast and an unlaggy red alert.
While you could never rent pc games, i did rent a lot of console games.

I remember being the most hype for mortal kombat 2 coming out so i could rent it.

[Anonymous No.4604351]

2003. Just wait for it.

[Anonymous No.4604436]

2000

[Anonymous No.4604474]

>>4604351
>>4604436
?

[Anonymous No.4604545]

1985

[Anonymous No.4604548]

>>4604474
what's not retro about 2000?

[Anonymous No.4604582]

>>4604548
Release of PS2.

[Anonymous No.4604584]

>>4604582
And?

[Anonymous No.4604979]

>>4604071
I disagree with the '98 notion. From OP's pic I only really like F-Zero X
>>4604037
I guess that if I had to pick one then '85 would be the most important year (Gradius, Space Harrier, Ghost n Goblins, Tiger Heli, Super Mario Bros... and even Ultima IV for PC), it's probably the biggest jump from one year to another. However, I feel the era that coincides with the 3rd and 4th console generations is the best by a wide margin.
This is where arcade game design saw the biggest developments and when console games were still largely arcade inspired. Modern gaming started right after.
>>4604545
This guy knows.

[Anonymous No.4605069]

>>4604010
Probably something like 2005. Basically everything was old and cheap and hipsters and bandwagoners hadn't shit the place up too much.

[Anonymous No.4605079]

1992

[Anonymous No.4605162]

>>4604010
To know which year was the best, elaborate for every year a list of the best 10 games released, and compare the WORST game for each list.

[Anonymous No.4605168]

>>4604010
1997

[Anonymous No.4605267]

>>4604010
People now always say 1998, but before that meme caught on it was 1994. I'm old enough to remember when a lot of people used to argue for 1987. Personally I'd also say that I think a solid case can be made for 1992 being the best single year for gaming ever. There's too much to even mention from that year.

[Anonymous No.4605268]

>>4605162
That's such an arbitrary standard.

[Anonymous No.4605270]

>>4604010
i dunno, it's hard to say because they were all really great. threads like this just make me sad about how shitty games are now

[Anonymous No.4605389]

>>4605267
>People now always say 1998
It's the 5th gen babies storming this board.
Anyway, '87 has to be up there with stuff like Flying Shark, Twin Cobra, Contra, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest II (maybe Phantasy Star), NES Punch Out, Mega Man and Dungeon Master for the PC. Zelda came out in the west and that had a big impact as well, and Double Dragon, while an iffy arcade game, would lead to the later '89 release of Final Fight and the rise of that style of beat 'em up.

Not too fond of '94 myself, it was at the tail end of an era. I guess RayForce would be my favorite; Mega Man X2 in Japan is also a nice made for console game, and I also enjoy Ninja Warriors Again. The worldwide release of Daytona USA can't be ignored, as well.

From 92 I love SFII Hyper Fighting and Dogyuun. I don't really remember why you regard this year that highly, though.

[Anonymous No.4607090]

>>4605268
Is not, is the correct thing to do. If the worst game from the best set of each year is better than the worst game of every other set, that can only mean that the rest of the games are even better.

[Anonymous No.4607114]

97/98

[Anonymous No.4607124]

>>4604010
1999 of course

[Anonymous No.4607138]

'98 was the release of Mega Man Legends & the original Guilty Gear in 'Murica as well as Rockman & Forte and Armed Police Batrider in Japland.

I'll go with OP.
Also, this prophecy was released in '98: "ESP Ra.De.: A.D. 2018 Tokyo"
http://www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/esp-rade-ad-2018-tokyo

[Anonymous No.4607153]

>>4604010
>>4605389
Here's an extremely short partial list of games from 1992:

Aero Fighters
Aerobiz
Air Zonk
Axelay
Bucky O'Hare (arcade)
Bucky O'Hare (NES)
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Crash 'n' the Boys: Street Challenge
Cybernator
Dead Connection
Ecco the Dolphin
G.I. Joe (arcade)
Gargoyle's Quest II
Gekibo: Gekisha Boy
Gimmick!
Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder
Kirby's Dream Land
Lethal Enforcers
The Lost Vikings
Lucky & Wild
Mega Man 5
Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis
Mortal Kombat
Nintendo World Cup
Pinball Dreams
Pinball Fantasies
Pocky & Rocky
Power Blade 2
R-Type Leo
Summer Carnival '92: Recca
Road Rash II
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny
Robo Aleste
Romancing SaGa
Shin Megami Tensei
Soldier Blade
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Splatterhouse 2
Steel Empire
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Streets of Rage 2
Space Megaforce
Super Double Dragon
Super Mario Kart
Total Carnage
Ultima VII: The Black Gate
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Undercover Cops
Virtua Racing
Warriors of Fate
Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant
Wolfenstein 3-D
World Heroes
X-Men (arcade)
Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Legend Bout
Super Fire Pro Wrestling 2
Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout
Dogyuun

[Anonymous No.4607160]

>>4604010
All you had to post was Gran Turismo and RE2 and you'd have me already

[Anonymous No.4607162]

>>4604319
are you fucking retarded? what year you played them has no effect whatsoever on the year they were released, the question means the best year of development no the best year you fucking played them, christ learn the language.

[Anonymous No.4607196]

The answer is unequivocally 1997.

Final Fantasy VII
Mario Kart 64
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Tekken 3
Mega Man 8
Vandal Hearts
Need for Speed II
Dungeon Keeper
MDK
Harvest Moon
Final Fantasy Tactics
Star Fox 64
Carmageddon
GoldenEye 007
Breath of Fire III
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Ultima Online
Fallout
Panzer General II
Grand Theft Auto
Age of Empires
Mortal Kombat 4
Riven
The Curse of Monkey Island
PaRappa the Rapper
Crash Bandicoot 2
Tomb Raider II
Bomberman 64
Quake II
Gran Turismo

I mean, just look at how many genre-defining games came out that year. The industry has never before and never since had a year like 1997.

[Anonymous No.4607219]

>>4607162
>the question means what it doesn't say
>christ learn the language
the ironing

[Anonymous No.4607280]

>>4604071
best year was the one with the snes release.

Second best was either dreamcast release or amiga... both pretty epic, one is the beginning for me of good gaming and the other the end of good gaming,

Aside from still good pc gaming,

[Anonymous No.4607510]

>>4607196
>The answer is unequivocally 1997 (which probably means he's a 5th gen baby)
>Starts the list with FFVII, also pic related
>No DoDonPachi, Armed Police Batrider, Battle Circuit, Raiden Fighters 2, Strikers 1945 II, G-Darius, The Last Blade, Shock Trooper, Zero Gunner or any arcade game besides Tekken 3 which he probably played on the PS1 later
Every single time without fail.

[Anonymous No.4607521]

>>4604010
1998… I'll never forget it.

[Anonymous No.4607524]

>>4607153
Hey, thank you. Gotta agree with these:
Aero Fighters, R-Type Leo, Hyper Fighting (which I already mentioned), and of course Dogyuun since it's probably my favorite game ever.
And to a lesser extent Axelay, Contra III, Cybernator, Gargoyle's Quest, Mega Man 5, Robo Aleste, Soldier Blade, Splatterhouse 2.

Most are also fine. R. SaGa 1 is quite messy, though. Its sequels are much better.

Yes, it's a good year. Though I'd have to compare them more thoroughly to see which one is actually the best to me.

[Anonymous No.4607595]

Either 1995 or 1994.

[Anonymous No.4607605]

>>4607153
>>4607524
Also Shining Force

[Anonymous No.4607606]

>>4607510
Fuck off with your autistic gatekeeping

[Anonymous No.4607615]

>>4607510
That's a fucking awful top 10 list.

[Anonymous No.4607617]

I was almost exclusively a PC gamer for most of the 90s, so 1996.
Yeah, really. Quake, Resident Evil, and Diablo; oh how my Sunday mornings would fucking disappear for two years almost entirely to these games.

[Anonymous No.4607640]

>>4607510
That's some pretty dope taste in arcade games right there anon

[Anonymous No.4607659]

>>4607606
>gatekeeping
He's the one dismissing / forgetting about arcade games entirely.
>>4607617
What about Descent 2?
>>4607640
Even if you don't like, say, DoDonPachi, it's at least a big "genre-defining games" as the guy I was replying to pointed out when making his list. I personally find it fun, but it's the first one mentioned due to it being the most influential one.

[Anonymous No.4607670]

>>4607114
Oh my fucking god this game was awesome

[Anonymous No.4607706]

I'm these
>>4604023
>>4604979
>>4605389
>>4607510
>>4607524
>>4607659
To show that I'm not a blind hater, these are my favorite games from '98:
Armed Police Batrider (it came out very late in '97 and had a quick revision in January '98), F-Zero X, ESP Ra. De., Dangun Feveron, Freespace: The Great War, Raiden Fighters Jet, Gunbird 2, Radiant Silvergun, Battle Flip Shot, The Last Blade 2, Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad and maybe Raycrisis, Cyber Troopers VOOT and Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth.
Dynamite Cop seems cool but I haven't played it. THOTD2 has to get a special mention, but it's been so many years since I've been able to play this with a light gun... To end on a lighter tone, Space Bomber is cool for some laughs.
Overall, among these my favorites are probably Dangun Feveron, Raiden Fighters Jet and Descent: Freespace. The last one is definitely the most nostalgic one for me. F-Zero X has to be noted as the best console game of the year for me.

[Anonymous No.4607767]

That 97 list is pretty solid. I'd like to add Broken Sword 2, Exile III, Shadow Warrior, Redneck Rampage, Interstate '76, Machine Hunter, and Postal to that list.

Even with all of that I think I enjoyed 99 better just because AvP, QIII, and UT. I didn't discover Planescape until years later, but it's another great game from that year. Kingpin: Life of Excessive Language was cool too I guess.

[Anonymous No.4607841]

>>4607510
>The answer is unequivocally 1997 (which probably means he's a 5th gen baby)
I'm 34 years old and grew up with the 2nd gen. We had both the 2600 and Intellivision since before I was born back in 1978 and 1980 respectively, eventually bought the NES in 1988, DMG-01 in 1991, the SNES in 1994, Game Gear in 1995, the PS1 and N64 both in 1997, and past that I was old enough to buy my own game systems.


Your pissy autism that I didn't include arcade games on a thread that had almost exclusively been discussing console releases doesn't detract from my list. I've been playing console games consistently for the past three decades and I can tell you from firsthand experience, that the boom that accompanied 1997 was unprecedented and hasn't occurred since.

[Anonymous No.4607842]

>>4607767
You mean the first one posted or that one combined with the arcade games later mentioned?

[Anonymous No.4607845]

>>4607841
Why did you exclude arcade games, then? Just because they weren't mentioned you assumed they didn't count as games for this discussion? Or do you just not enjoy them anymore?

[Anonymous No.4607870]

>>4607845
Because frankly, arcade games haven't been relevant since the late 70's / early 80's. Chances are, every poster here knows every title I listed, regardless of whether they played them or not. Very very few posters will know any of the arcade titles you posted. And this was with me already having trimmed enormous titles from my list like Bushido Blade, Dynasty Warriors, Diablo: Hellfire, Monster Rancher, SaGa Frontier, Yoshi's Story, etc.

If I was going to list stuff no one knew, or less likely to be known titles, it wouldn't be arcade games. It'd be things that *I* enjoyed like Jersey Devil, Herc's Adventures, Lost Vikings II, etc.

[Anonymous No.4607883]

>>4607870
>muh popularity
Really, man? I thought you were better than this, considering your age.
Following your argument, FIFA 18 is a better and more memorable game than most. It's a very bad argument, and in fact a kind of fallacy (argumentum ad populum).
Also, is DoDonPachi really that obscure, for instance?
Just admit you aren't into arcade games much, it's OK.

[Anonymous No.4607916]

>>4607883
...it's a "best year in gaming" thread, of course popularity matters. I just listed a bunch of games that I personally enjoyed more than the majority of my list that I didn't include because they weren't popular enough.

[Anonymous No.4607920]

>>4607916
>of course popularity matters
No, what about your personal opinion? Or is it that influenced by others?
Following your argument then all we would need to do is see which year sold the most games.

[Anonymous No.4607930]

>>4607920
>literally incapable of distinguishing between "best year in gaming" and 'list ur faves!" threads

[Anonymous No.4607942]

>>4607930
If that's the case then it's a bit sad to me to see not a single arcade game included. Not even the popular DoDonPachi. Well, there's Tekken 3, I guess.
Too bad these aren't popular enough since they are indeed very good.

[Anonymous No.4607962]

>>4607942
Or, and I'm just tossing this out there, instead of attacking other posters and their lists for not having the medium you enjoy, you could make your own list and no be affected by their opinion?

[Anonymous No.4607972]

>>4607962
>the medium you enjoy
Are you seriously implying arcade games are a different medium from home games? As if they were pinball and thus out of the question for this thread? I think I'm not getting you here.

[Anonymous No.4607981]

>>4607972
I'm implying arcade games are a different medium than home consoles, yes. Jesus Christ, do you have a mode besides being perpetually offended?

[Anonymous No.4607984]

Also, wanted to add this is probably the first time I've come across a guy around 40 years old into games since he was a child but not into arcade games. Interesting.

[Anonymous No.4607986]

>>4607981
You'd be wrong, then. There's plenty of very arcade inspired games in home systems, as well as arcade ports. They are all video games.
I'm not offended, I find you a bit weird and almost fascinating, as I pointed out here >>4607984

[Anonymous No.4608696]

>>4607842
Both have games I enjoy

[Anonymous No.4609186]

>>4607870
Lost Vikings is one of the few western videogames whose pixel art i like.

[Anonymous No.4609306]

>>4608696
Cool, then!

[Anonymous No.4609325]

Don't know what to choose because I was really the happiest as a gamer between 1994-1997. I'm extremely biased though growing up during the Multimedia PC era so I have a preference for cinematic games. I would take any of those years over 1998.

[Anonymous No.4609350]

>>4607153
I liked the list until Dogyuun, which is kinda weirdly tacked onto the end of the list in not even close to alphabetical order. That game didn’t have a impact on the market at all, it was arcade exclusive and nobody remembers it. Well, except for us.

Also. Recca. The only reason you or I know about it is because of emulators. A small group of people got to play for 5 minutes on one of a few copies that existed for a couple of months. Hardly a ripple in 1992 gaming news.

[Anonymous No.4609364]

>>4609350
He probably got the rest from a list in alphabetical order and added Dogyuun there at the end because I mentioned it. It's a very good game (my favorite, in fact), but yeah, not well known.
However, is this a list of our favorite games of each year, or the games that had the most impact? I think the latter is boring, posting personal lists is more fun.

[Anonymous No.4609368]

>>4609364
Oh. Well if that’s it then 1982 is the best year in gaming because Game and Watch: Snoopy Tennis came out and I like that game.

[Knuckles No.4609370]

1991 for this gem alone.

[Anonymous No.4609375]

1998 was incredible every month you would see an excellent game get reviewed in the mags along sequals to hit games. Developers were pushing ps1 to the limit as well as nice pc and n64 and even saturn exclusives.
2001 was also excellent with developers getting to grips with the ps2 and the stunning gamecube launch lineup. Too bad gamecube quickly fizzled and became a joke soon after and then ps2 started getting boring too you also had some decent gba games.

[Anonymous No.4609490]

>yfw someone says 2007

[Anonymous No.4609843]

>>4609490
>someone says today because "we have access to everything!"

[Anonymous No.4610203]

>>4609375
Why do people always forget about arcade games here?
>>4609368
Dude, Dogyuun is my favorite but I picked 1985 as the best ITT.

[Anonymous No.4610228]

>>4610203
They don't think about them because they're not convenient to emulate.

[Anonymous No.4610350]

>>4610228
I've never found them hard to emulate but I see what you mean, it's a tiny bit harder to emulate. A shame if that's the reason, they're missing out on great stuff.

[Anonymous No.4610853]

>>4604474
man it`s been 18 years since the 2000

[Anonymous No.4610931]

1998
1. StarCraft Brood War
2. Metal Gear Solid
3. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4. Fallout 2
5. Half-Life
6. Thief: The Dark PRoject
7. Grim Fandango
8. Resident Evil 2
9. Suikoden II
10. StarCraft
11. Xenogears
12. Banjo-Kazooie
13. Crash Team Racing
14. Crash Bandicoot: Warped
15. Sanitarium
16. SoulCalibur
17. Baldur's Gate
18. Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
19. LSD
20. Metal Slug 2
21. Panzer Dragoon Saga

1998 wins

[Anonymous No.4610939]

>>4610931
>the only arcades are low on the top and Soul Calibur, which is fine, but also Metal Slug 2, which is such a slowdown fest it received a revision, Metal Slug X, just a year later just to fix this issue
Hope you mean overclocked MS2 or something. Anyway:
Checks out.

[Anonymous No.4610940]

>>4610931
in contrast, 1995 is the worst year. I guess people were trying to focus on working on 3D stuff? It only has three big hitters at the top of my list and then I can barely list more. The game industry should have stopped here.

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Yoshi's Island
3. Donkey Kong Country 2
4. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
5. Full Throttle
6. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
7. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
8. Clock Tower
9. Ristar
10...uhhhh..................

[Anonymous No.4610952]

>>4610940
I guess arcade games don't exist to you?
DonPachi, Viper Phase 1, Strikers 1945, Time Crisis, Pulstar... Is Tekken 2 too primitive?
Aside fom that, what about the groundbreaking Descent? I guess you don't like Alien Soldier either.

[Anonymous No.4610970]

>>4610952
They certainly exist, and those are all strong choices. I would not deny that I'm PC and console based in my listing, but those are all good additions. I still think 1995 is a weak time in the 1990s. There are definitely far weaker years in the 1980s though, but thats not maybe the most fair comparison...

[Anonymous No.4610971]

>>4604010
1998 or 1994

[Anonymous No.4610976]

>>4610970
You're right, it was a bit of a transitional year between classic gaming and the beginning of the rise of modern gaming as you've noticed.
I guess you were mostly into SNES and PC based on your picks, and didn't have a PC capable of running Descent.

[Anonymous No.4611251]

>>4604582
>13+ years ago
Retro

[Anonymous No.4611253]

>>4607090
No, you're logically wrong. Just compare the average "score" of the games. What if all 10 games of 1999 are equally bad but still better than the worst game of 1998, yet none are better than the 9th best game of 1998? That would mean 1998 has more better games, and has significantly better games on average.