1996, Game of the Year

[Pajderman]

It is probably hard today knowing what impact Tomb Raider had. It was the first time I could read about games in mainstream media. Even if I never liked the first installment, probably because I played a lot later than the initial release, I owe it a lot in what it did for the industry. One of my favorite genre, action adventure, would not be the same today without it.

A lot of the same can be said about Super Mario 64. The game became a sort of blueprint for 3D games coming after. I owe it a lot of respect and strangely enough never enjoyed it much. I Enjoyed Crash Bandicoot more. Another platformer in 3D taking a less free design choice. Still fun today but the controls have not aged well.

Pokémon is currently the most valuable media franchise. Western markets would not get the games until a few years later. One month after the first European release in 1999 japan was blessed with its successor. In my opinion, Gold and Silver are so much better than the red/blue games. If I want to replay some old school Pokémon it will be Gold/Silver. If I felt Red/Blue was the go to it would gotten my vote for game of the year.

Alone in the dark was first, Resident Evil was better. The fixed camera is annoying when compared to the freedoms of 3D survival horror games today. But the outdated graphics give the game a more spooky and unsettling feel compared to modern horror. One of few examples where low res sort of improves the experience.

The game I enjoyed the most from the year is Mario Kart 64. But that game is also not joyful to return to. It is difficult for me to choose a game. The most influential games was games I never liked. The games I did like I do not think holds up as well.

I will revisit the thread read others posts and think about it some more before I give my vote.