The Video Game Critic

What years stood out in your minds as the best for gaming? They can't be periods of time, but rather individual years. Really all years were great for gaming, but these stood out in my mind.

I got a few in mind

1980-Many Atari 2600 classics, Pac-man, Centipede, Defender, Tempest, Battlezone, and Adventure. Plus Pac-man launched the video game phenomenon.

1989-You kidding me? The Nes library was incredibly strong, the Game Boy launched with Super Mario Land and Tetris, and the Sega Genesis came with Altered Beast, Golden Axe, and the launch of the Turbografx-16. So much quality.

1993-The Genesis and Snes were both in full front battle mode by this time. Sega gave us Shinobi III, Gunstar Heroes, Mortal Kombat, and Jungle Strike, while Nintendo gave us Secret of Mana, Star Fox, NBA Jam, and Mega Man X. Arcades were booming at this time, and quality of the games were just amazing. Also when I was born too.

1994-Nintendo and Sega's fight continued, with many quality releases out during this time, including Sonic 3, Donkey Kong Country, Earthworm Jim, Super Metroid, and NBA Live 95. 3D gaming was getting its start at arcades, which were at the peak of their popularity at this time. Great year for gaming. 

1996-The Playstation was all the rage at the time, Crash Bandicoot dominating it, San Francisco Rush dominated arcades, Tom Raider set the standard for adventure games, and the Nintendo 64 came out, with Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, and Wave Race 64 giving us some of the best gaming moments ever.

1997: Let's see, what made this year so great? Only Star Fox 64, Goldeneye 007, Final Fantasy VII, Mario Kart 64, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and House of the Dead.

1998-Ocarina of Time, Pokemon, Half Life, Banjo Kazooie, Metal Gear Solid, Soul Caliber, need I say more?

1999-This was an AMAZING year for video games. The N64 had a ton of quality releases that year, including Mario Party, Super Smash Bros, Beetle Adventure Racing, Donkey Kong 64, etc. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater launched extreme sports into the gaming mainstream, and Hydro Thunder crushed arcades at the time. The Game Boy Color also launched at this time, and yes, it was awesome. But best of all, the Dreamcast came out in 1999. 

2000-Yes, I love this year so much, mainly for the many great N64 games released at this time. Wario Land 3 and Pokemon Gold also dominated my Game Boy Color at the time. Playstation 2 anyone?

2001-Paper Mario, Pokemon Stadium 2, Conker's Bad Fur Day, The launches of the Gamecube and Xbox, and of course, Grand Theft Auto III.

2005-Before the 360 came, the PS2 still dominated our gaming careers with God of War. Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube changed gaming forever, and THEN the 360 came out.

2007-Super Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, Halo 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Pokemon Diamond, Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, and Rock Band.

2010-Maybe my favorite year (in competition with 1999, 2000, and 2007 as my favorite). Super Mario Galaxy 2, COD Black Ops, Halo Reach, Pokemon Heartgold, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Sonic Colors, Epic Mickey, Plants vs Zombies, and a revival of 2D gaming. Amazing year.

What years do you think stand out?

Mine were 1980, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2010. Jeez, that's a lot.

I think the biggest years for me were 1999 and 2000. These were the golden years (FAR too short) for the Dreamcast. I think that is my favorite game system ever, and I really wish it had made it. If 2000 was any indicator, it would've been just an amazing console all the way through. Oh well, at least we got the time we got with it.

2004, 2005 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 and this year were the best for me.

Easily 1980 through 1988.

1992-1994 and 1999-2001. There was the Genesis and The snes battling it out with great titles, there was also in '99- '01 a lot of great games including the excellent Gamecube and dreamcast games.

Sweet collection Gecko101! The late 1970's and early 1980's. The arcade experience will always be my favorite time.

1980 to 1984. that's when Pac-Man was huge, Space Invaders hit the 2600 which made the console just fly off the shelves. INTV, CV, and the 5200 were competing for people's money. Great games for those consoles. And the arcade scene was just wicked. Going to play Tempest, Pac-Man, Sinistar, Ms. Pac-Man, Bagman, Arabian, Centipede, Pac-Man Jr, Dragon's Lair etc, all came out, and there are countless other great games. And the arcade was the place to be, opening up everywhere. Pretty much every hotel, shop, and plaza had either an arcade or a couple arcade games.

But for me, the crown was that during this time, it seemed like the possibilities and the future of gaming were endless. Video game magazines were talking about holographic games, Atari came up with the wacky MindLink device that actually read your mind (tee hee), and other ideas that were out there for gaming showed endless possibilities.

Gamers rejoiced.

My vote would be for 1993.

The gamer had so many choices when it came to gaming systems.  CDs had become more common place, with LaerDiscs adding to the existing cartridge format.  Just look at the number of consoles that were available for sale that year:

Philips CD-i, Panasonic 3DO, Sega Genesis, Nintendo SNES, Pioneer LaserActive, Memorex VIS, NEC TurboGrafx-16\CD, SNK Neo Geo, Amiga CD32, Commodore CDTV, FM Towns Marty and the Atari Jaguar.  Granted, some of these systems were hybrids, but nonetheless walking into an Electronic Boutique was an invigorating experience with their showroom featuring all of the various hardware.

Terry

I have to go with 1996. Games like Super Mario 64, Super Mario RPG, Mario Kart 64 (yeah, I know I listed three Mario games in a row), Pokemon Red/Blue/Green, Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, etc. This is the year, I think, that had the biggest influence on modern gaming, and the gaming world would never be the same afterwards. I can not say enough kind words about 1996, at least when it comes to video games.

I agree with Marriott that it was a great time in 1993 with all of the consoles he mentioned. I'd probably say 1994, because some of those consoles were released in late '93 and didn't get going until '94. To echo what Mariott said, that was a time when it was really interesting to go into stores and see the selection, including computer games. I think the '94-'95 period was the best ever for magazines, Gamepro was absolutely on fire, and a bargain for the content. The industry was the healthiest it's been since I started playing video games in around '87. It felt like anyone could come out with a system. EDIT: PERSONAL, PROVOCATIVE, PREDICTABLE