1998.
Easily and without a doubt. That year was right in the middle of the Golden Age. My list of favourites has plenty of games from this era, and from 1998 itself. Even outside that list, there’s a lot more great 1998 games. My top 10 has two 1998 games, including the all-time greatest. It’s funny that from the list of winners in OP, from the 1998 list I only played one game in spite of that. Including big names like those as well only solidifies a 1998 win.