We've had GotY, let's have YotG (or BVYOAT) - The Bear and Badger

[Deleted User]

Okay, we've got our annual (usually controversial) game of Game of the Year threads, but what about the Year of the Games? Or, the Best Videogame Year of All Time, if you'd prefer? Which calendar year gave us the best 365 days of videogaming?

I propose that this thread will run through two phases. The first phase will be for nominations and general debate. Even if somebody has already nominated a year, feel free to build the case with further supporting evidence, or weigh in with opposition. Any year up to and including 2015 is eligible for nomination. I'm sure there will be debate about which year a game was released, depending on platform (and the merits of respective ports), but as long as claims are reasonable, I'll leave that fairly open. I'll be a bit stricter with region, though; as we're predominantly UK based, it'll be the UK release date that counts.

The second phase will be a voting phase, I'll set the rules for that in time, but you'll be able to allocate points to different years, just as we do in our GotY threads.

You might find this useful for building a case for any given year. Be careful, though; games are often listed by their first release, with UK releases being later.

I'll kick things off with the first nomination...

[Deleted User]

1997

For me, this was the PlayStation getting into its stride. Colony Wars is one of my all-time favourite games, I loved the space dogfights, the lore, the music, the whole atmosphere just pulled me right in; Command & Conquer: Red Alert was my first taste of real-time strategy, with one of the best entries in one of the best franchises; Destruction Derby 2 was a remarkable improvement of the already-brilliant original, and (arguably) still holds up; Formula One 97 looked so great (that cockpit view in the rain), I had to get it, despite not being a big fan of F1; Grand Theft Auto is an all-time great, one of the defining games of the generation (and I'd love to see an HD remaster); Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee was so good they made a sequel (and recently remade both) rather than getting on with the original plan of five games, each starring a different Oddworld inhabitant - I think we've only ever seen three(?) of the five; One was one of my favourite shoot-em-ups and, although it hasn't aged well, at the time it was amazing to see so much activity and explosions on my portable Tilly's screen; Resident Evil: Director's Cut was the first time I realised that games could scare the bejesus out of me.

PlayStation games that I wasn't personally a fan of, but I recognise the importance of, include Final Fantasy VII, PaRappa the Rapper and Vandal Hearts. We also saw great games set off down the great franchise road with Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Tomb Raider II

1997 also saw the launch of the N64. Again, I'm not the console's biggest fan, but it had some big games in that first year: Super Mario 64, Mariokart 64, Starfox 64,Pilotwings 64, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Blast Corps and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.

In the PC gaming world, there was Dungeon Keeper, X-Wing versus TIE Fighter, Hexen II, Ultima Online, Fallout, Age of Empires, The Curse of Monkey Island, and Quake II.

Some not so great things about 1997? Duke Nukem Forever began production, Sega discontinued the MegaDrive and GameGear, and Goldeneye 007 was released.

[Deleted User]

Placeholder.

tigersgogrrr

1991

tigersgogrrr

My nomination was first.

[Deleted User]

Prove it.

RedDave2

His is 1991, yours is 1997. That's six years earlier dummy. Gawd!!

Yossarian

Adam's was BC.

Escape

1996 isn't taken. 1996.

Dark Soldier

2004.

Half Life 2.

Nuff said.

Escape

Nuff's wrong.

[Deleted User]

1994.

Tie Fighter released on PC. I spent most of that summer sat in my dressing gown, playing this. Despite its age and crappy graphics, it's still a great game now and has rarely been bettered in the space dogfighting genre.

Also the year we got an imported copy of the US version of Secret of Mana on the SNES, one of my favourite JRPGs, not least for its 3-player co-op. Probably hasn't stood the test of time quite as well as Tie Fighter though.

digi

97'

Vela

Do I get to say 1998?

Metal Gear Solid
Ocarina of Time
Resident Evil 2
Tenchu
Pokemon Red/Blue
StarCraft
Suikoden 2

Facewon

98 solid. 97 is going to be right up there in votes.

Was it 07 that online 360 went bananas? Were halo 3 and MW that year. I wanna say gears was around the same time.

Facewon

A quick google says no to gears, but yes to mw, Halo 3, bioshock and a bunch of other solid titles.

Skerret

SwiftBoyAdams wrote:

1994. Tie Fighter released on PC. I spent most of that summer sat in my dressing gown, playing this. Despite its age and crappy graphics, it's still a great game now and has rarely been bettered in the space dogfighting genre. Also the year we got an imported copy of the US version of Secret of Mana on the SNES, one of my favourite JRPGs, not least for its 3-player co-op. Probably hasn't stood the test of time quite as well as Tie Fighter though.

Mana is still superb.

regmcfly

We have Def done this before, but still fun to argue Clearly is 2007. Let me show you.

Call of Duty MW - probably the reason most of us are still here, heralded an as yet unseen zeitgeist on live, always able to get a game at any time of day with forumites.

The Orange Box - really don't need to say much more other than i still play TF2 regularly almost 10 years on.

Bioshock - no matter how you feel about the back end, the opening half us probably the most insane fuck you to videogames.

Forza 2 - let's get drunk and drive backwards dot com

Super Mario Galaxy - it's better than 64. Come at me.

Crackdown - where I first bonded with wookie - orb hunting across the city and fannying about basically doing nothing but doing everything.

Rock Band - the origins of Regstock.

Metroid Prime 3 - for my money, the best of the series. The controls worked perfectly.

Skate - Tony Hawks for grown ups.

Halo 3 - fuck it why not.

Beat that.

TheDJR

Skate llll

regmcfly

Sup twitch chat

acemuzzy

Do you lot just remember what yeah shit comes out in, or is there some tablet I should be referring to of best games per year in order to help form an judgement?

Vela

regmcfly wrote:

We have Def done this before, but still fun to argue Clearly is 2007. Let me show you. Call of Duty MW - probably the reason most of us are still here, heralded an as yet unseen zeitgeist on live, always able to get a game at any time of day with forumites. The Orange Box - really don't need to say much more other than i still play TF2 regularly almost 10 years on. Bioshock - no matter how you feel about the back end, the opening half us probably the most insane fuck you to videogames. Forza 2 - let's get drunk and drive backwards dot com Super Mario Galaxy - it's better than 64. Come at me. Crackdown - where I first bonded with wookie - orb hunting across the city and fannying about basically doing nothing but doing everything. Rock Band - the origins of Regstock. Metroid Prime 3 - for my money, the best of the series. The controls worked perfectly. Skate - Tony Hawks for grown ups. Halo 3 - fuck it why not. Beat that.

2001

Paper Mario 64
Phantasy Star Online
Advance Wars
Ico
GTA3
Golden Sun
MGS2
Halo (better than Halo 3 FYI)
Super Monkey Ball
Pikmin
Silent Hill 2

Vela

gateway be damned

regmcfly

Vela wrote:

regmcfly wrote:

We have Def done this before, but still fun to argue Clearly is 2007. Let me show you. Call of Duty MW - probably the reason most of us are still here, heralded an as yet unseen zeitgeist on live, always able to get a game at any time of day with forumites. The Orange Box - really don't need to say much more other than i still play TF2 regularly almost 10 years on. Bioshock - no matter how you feel about the back end, the opening half us probably the most insane fuck you to videogames. Forza 2 - let's get drunk and drive backwards dot com Super Mario Galaxy - it's better than 64. Come at me. Crackdown - where I first bonded with wookie - orb hunting across the city and fannying about basically doing nothing but doing everything. Rock Band - the origins of Regstock. Metroid Prime 3 - for my money, the best of the series. The controls worked perfectly. Skate - Tony Hawks for grown ups. Halo 3 - fuck it why not. Beat that.

2001

Paper Mario 64
Phantasy Star Online
Advance Wars
Ico
GTA3
Golden Sun
MGS2
Halo (better than Halo 3 FYI)
Super Monkey Ball
Pikmin
Silent Hill 2

Paler Mario - no Mario Galaxy
Phantasy star - pfft cod
Advance wars - fair Nuff
Ico - 2007 already a year past SotC a better game yep.
Gta3 - yawn
Golden sun - c&c3 came out in 2007 and had BEARS
Mgs2 - best argument on the list
Monkey Ball - TF2 and Forza 2 and rock band better party games
Pikmin - crackdown is a better Explorer.
Silent Hill - aye ok but Bioshock is damn good.

regmcfly

WHOS NEXT

JonB

Not keen on 2007 - held off buying a 360 for at least another year, and none of those games are real favourites of mine (or interest me at all in some cases).

For me, 97/98 are good shouts, and there's got to be a particular year in the SNES/MD days that stands out, but I'd have to look much more closely at release dates (the delayed PAL releases would also make things confusing).

More recently, 2009 perhaps. I think that was Bayonetta and Dragon Quest IX at least, so that's a great start. Would have to check what else.

Raiziel

My very first thread on maroonroom right at the beginning of '07 posited that, with the games due to be released, '07 might end up being the best year in gaming yet. While the post was full of hyperbolic nonsense, I was right you know.

2007.

GooberTheHat

Vela wrote:

Do I get to say 1998? Metal Gear Solid Ocarina of Time Resident Evil 2 Tenchu Pokemon Red/Blue StarCraft Suikoden 2

I'll add to 1998 as it was a golden year for PC gaming to.

Commandos behind enemy lines
Baldurs gate
Gangsters organised crime
Grand Prix legends
Grim fandango
Half life
Hardwar
Mech commander
Delta force
Starseige: Tribes

acemuzzy

Screw you guys, I'm going 1994:

Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy 6
Lots of others

Runner up: 2015
Bloodborne
Rocket League
Ori
GTA V
...

GooberTheHat

Gta v was 2013

acemuzzy

NG tho

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