Game of their respective generation and reasons why

[Scoobes]

2nd gen- Tetris: It didn't make it big until it released on the Game Boy, but the fact this title is played across so many generations is telling

3rd gen- Super Mario Bros: This game along with the NES helped save the industry

4th gen- Zelda: A Link to the Past: A lot to choose from this gen but this stands out for the large world and intuitive controls. On PC, Elder Scrolls Arena introduced Day/Night cycles in a massive open world that set a template for many games to come.

5th gen- Too many to choose from in the 2D-to-3D transition:

Final Fantasy VII introduced jRPGs to Europe
Metal Gear Solid influenced narrative driven gameplay
Goldeneye showed FPS' could work on consoles
Half-Life showed a different method for narrative driven gameplay and raised standards in AI
Resident Evil popularized survival horror
Gran Turismo set a standard for realistic racing games
Mario 64 made an impressive transition from 2D to 3D and set standards for 3D controls

6th gen- GTA III: Set a standard formula for 3D open world games that many have emulated and continue to do so

Honorable mentions to Unreal Tournament for being the first game marketed as an online MP shooter, Deus Ex for merging different genres into an influential narrative based on player choice and Everquest for showing MMOs could work.

7th gen- Call of Duty 4: Revolutionized online FPS'

Honorable mention to Uncharted 2 which set standards in TPS/adventure games

8th gen- So far Witcher 3 for setting standards in open world narrative driven games.