1998, Game of the Year

[HoloDust]

Jaicee said:

Cultural Impact: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Y'know, this game was originally going to be much lamer than it turned out. Back when it was tentatively titled The Legend of Zelda 64, it was basically going to be a Super Mario 64 rip-off with the whole game taking place in Ganon's Castle and you venturing to various dungeon-like areas within that framework like how Mario jumped into various paintings.

Funny thing is, original Zelda was supposed to be bunch of "labyrinths" (dungeons) that you get into from the main screen. But under the influence of Ultima (as per Miyamoto), they added the overworld.