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Another great year. So... Final Fantasy and Metal Gear are in my all time top 5 video game series, but my actual GOTY was from a long gone series called Knightmare.
Konami had an excellent year with releases like Metal Gear, Contra and Super Contra (two mainline contras within a year), Life Force NES and Salamander MSX, Nemesis 2 (the original Gradius 2), The Goonies 2, The Treasure of Usas, and Castlevania 2. But my favorite was the MSX version of Knightmare 2: The Maze of Galious. Here's a good read for the few interested:
https://gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2021/05/23/the-maze-of-galious/
La Mulana draws heavy inspiration from it. It even briefly puts you into MoG's world and have you face the first boss, who instead of fighting you, hands you the game's cartridge and throws a peace sign:
The Maze of Galious is the game that ignited my love for exploration, and is the antithesis of the standard modern AAA formula.
Other notable 1987 games that come to mind and understandably aren't mentioned here include Nihon Falcom's Ys1 and Legacy of the Wizard. One of my gaming shames is having never played anything from Falcom.
Bonus: I too was released in 1987 ;D
