1997, Game of the Year

[S.Peelman]

I mean, this year.

A contender for greatest year in gaming ever, though for me 1998 would top it. If only barely. I don't think this poll can have a wrong answer. In Europe this year also saw the release of the N64 so the 1996 N64 games to me were also 1997. As if 1997 wasn't awesome enough. Just off the lists in this thread, the ones I played and loved most are, in unranked order;
- Age of Empires
- Diablo
- GoldenEye 007
- Star Fox 64
- Tekken 3
- Dungeon Keeper
- Quake II
- Star Wars - Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
- Crash Bandicoot 2
Today there haven't even been this many great games during this entire decade yet. And the last. GoldenEye deserves a mention, because this game was revolutionary and one of my all-time favourites. So does Jedi Knight and Age of Empires. And Crash 2. And of course Star Fox 64. Then, besides my list, there's things like Final Fantasy VII obviously, which I personally never played because I didn't grow into the series beforehand when it wasn't released in Europe so this never caught my interest. Similarly, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night went under my radar. In hindsight, it's likely I would've liked that game very much. I played Diddy Kong Racing as well, but I've always found it inferior to Mario Kart 64, and never really liked it.

Anyway though, it doesn't even stop there, because 1997 was also the year of Blast Corps and Theme Hospital. Blast Corps was a quirky memorable game I loved. The best one however, is actually Theme Hospital. To this day this game's humour, presentation and mostly relaxed gameplay stands out in a very, very positive way. There hadn't been a game before and there hasn't been a game since that captured its 'soul'. It immediately was and still is, one of my all-time favourite games.

So I'm afraid I'll vote for 'Other', with Theme Hospital.

Last edited by S.Peelman - on 12 October 2023