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Forums - Gaming Discussion - What was the Greatest Launch Title of all Time?

 

What was the greatest launch title of all time?

Combat 0 0%
 
Super Mario Bros. 20 12.20%
 
Super Mario World 19 11.59%
 
Virtua Fighter (Saturn) 2 1.22%
 
Twisted Metal 2 1.22%
 
Super Mario 64 32 19.51%
 
Halo Combat Evolved 16 9.76%
 
Twilight Princess 3 1.83%
 
Breath of the Wild 64 39.02%
 
Other 6 3.66%
 
Total:164
S.Peelman on 03 July 2019
curl-6 said:

S.Peelman said:

no non-Nintendo launch game ever came close to the big Nintendo launch titles. They are the undisputed king of launch titles, with some even remaining a console’s best game all the way until the end. What other console manufacturer ever launched with a Mario 64, Breath of the Wild or Wii Sports? Hell even a Luigi’s Mansion.

I'd put Halo Combat Evolved above Luigi's Mansion.

It is true though that outside Combat Evolved, Sony and MS have lacked killer launch titles.

Looking at Nintendo's consoles, it's also telling that the ones without game-changing killer apps at launch, Gamecube and Wii U, sold the worst.

Yeah after I wrote that I figured but wait there’s Halo, which made a splash. But still, that’d be the only one.



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Vodacixi on 03 July 2019

Twilight Princess. Breath of the Wild was an amazing journey... but as good as it was, it cannot beat what I felt playing Twilight Princess when I bought a Wii. I was a 13 years old at that time and it was my first big Zelda (I only played Minish Cap). I was completely blown away by the atmosphere, the story, the gameplay, the music... it was an adventure like I never played before. I enjoyed it from start to end and unlike Breath of the Wild, when I reached the end, I was completely satisfied.

Non other launch game came close to it...



Replicant on 03 July 2019
NightlyPoe said:
gamingsoul said:

nah... the ps2 had a slow start but after gran turismo 3 came out, it was one killer game after the other non stop.

Dark days when Gran Turismo 3 was a killer game.  Never got that series at all.

You felt it was dark days because others liked a racing game that you didn't?



KungKras on 03 July 2019

Super Mario Bros still wasn't a launch game :P

It released months afte ROB



I LOVE ICELAND!

Flilix on 03 July 2019

1-2-Switch



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gamingsoul on 03 July 2019
Replicant said:
NightlyPoe said:

Dark days when Gran Turismo 3 was a killer game.  Never got that series at all.

You felt it was dark days because others liked a racing game that you didn't?

I agree, just because you didn’t like the game that doesn’t mean others didn’t, besides it’s not like the ps2 had a lack of variety, many people consider the ps2 to be the greatest console of all time, if you look at it’s huge library it’s not hard to see why.

but Nintendo fans just love to bash anything that isn’t Nintendo.



coolharry on 03 July 2019
Cerebralbore101 said:
curl-6 said:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Honourable mentions: Halo Combat Evolved, Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, Wii Sports

I can't believe I forgot to put Wii Sports in the poll! Argh!

I voted for Super Mario Bros, because it had a hand in saving the industry as we know it. Also, because going from Atari games to SMB was sheer insanity. Most atari games had 2-3 levels tops, and most of them didn't scroll. I remember Pitfall was the same three levels repeating over and over, just getting harder. SMB was revolutionary with its jumping physics, huge amount of levels compared to Atari games, and wonderful music. 

Super mario bros because of this. BotW doesn't even come close.



Wyrdness on 03 July 2019
HoloDust said:

As I said, it did start to chip away that market, but given that Sega Master System sold around 6.8 mil in Europe, not that far from NES' 8.3, it would be a stretch to say that NES ended computer era in Europe.

If you were computer gamer (like I am since early 80s) around 1987-88 you would most likely transition from C64/ZX/CPC464 to superior Amiga 500 (my choice) or Atari 520ST. It was ultimately when Sega Mega Drive started to make splash that I noticed something drastically changing, only to see computers slowly dwindle in early 90s. Germany and UK were last bastions of that era of "gaming" computers, due to massive popularity of Amiga500, but that was it...until PCs, that is. And if you were like me, one look at Comanche Maximum Overkill around 92/93 running on i486 was enough to tell me were the next thing is.

Megadrive sales are no different to NES in Europe suggesting the same market NES created just carried over same with Master System as that came after the NES in Europe and for most of its active life was sold alongside its successor the Megadrive which came out a year after it did, me personally I wasn't a home computer gamer in the 80s my dad and various cousins were and they eventually migrated to consoles until PCs, the NES was an entirely new spectacle for gamers at the time and not much on home consoles were alternatives to what they had, you see it as chipping away which is fair enough I personally see it as shifting the market to consoles.

The game that really elevated PCs imo was Half Life as it came at a time where consoles became dominant in the late 90s and had aspects in it that really highlighted the PC platform's ability that for me was the game that showed what PCs had to offer as even though the were games with good tech and concepts before HL brought a new angle of approaching game development ironically its sequel would do the same over a decade later and helped launch Steam.



HoloDust on 03 July 2019
Wyrdness said:
HoloDust said:

As I said, it did start to chip away that market, but given that Sega Master System sold around 6.8 mil in Europe, not that far from NES' 8.3, it would be a stretch to say that NES ended computer era in Europe.

If you were computer gamer (like I am since early 80s) around 1987-88 you would most likely transition from C64/ZX/CPC464 to superior Amiga 500 (my choice) or Atari 520ST. It was ultimately when Sega Mega Drive started to make splash that I noticed something drastically changing, only to see computers slowly dwindle in early 90s. Germany and UK were last bastions of that era of "gaming" computers, due to massive popularity of Amiga500, but that was it...until PCs, that is. And if you were like me, one look at Comanche Maximum Overkill around 92/93 running on i486 was enough to tell me were the next thing is.

Megadrive sales are no different to NES in Europe suggesting the same market NES created just carried over same with Master System as that came after the NES in Europe and for most of its active life was sold alongside its successor the Megadrive which came out a year after it did, me personally I wasn't a home computer gamer in the 80s my dad and various cousins were and they eventually migrated to consoles until PCs, the NES was an entirely new spectacle for gamers at the time and not much on home consoles were alternatives to what they had, you see it as chipping away which is fair enough I personally see it as shifting the market to consoles.

The game that really elevated PCs imo was Half Life as it came at a time where consoles became dominant in the late 90s and had aspects in it that really highlighted the PC platform's ability that for me was the game that showed what PCs had to offer as even though the were games with good tech and concepts before HL brought a new angle of approaching game development ironically its sequel would do the same over a decade later and helped launch Steam.

Not sure where you're getting your info on SMS, I'd recommend this https://segaretro.org/History_of_the_Sega_Master_System

SMS launched in '86 in Germany, '87 in UK and was beating NES in key markets...so what i'm trying to say is that while NES and SMS did start to chip at gaming computer market, it is SMD and SNES that really got the kill. Both Amiga and Atari ST were vastly superior to NES and SMS, and released in about the same timeframe in Europe as those 8-bit consoles in addition to C64 and ZX still selling great...but eventually when it was time for something new to compete with SNES and SMD in early 90s, Amiga 1200 in '92 was just not good enough, and PCs already started to show what the future brings (that's why I've mentioned Comanche, that was mind blowing experience after coming from "16-bit" systems).

As for HL - yeah, that was really genre changing game - while I loved early FPS games on PC (especially DN3D, Quake II and Dark Forces), HL was somethng quite different that pretty much set a blueprint for following shooters (for better or worse). But overall, I'd say that it was combination of FPS, real-time strategies and cRPGs that made PCs as popular in those years.



Wyrdness on 03 July 2019
HoloDust said:

Not sure where you're getting your info on SMS, I'd recommend this https://segaretro.org/History_of_the_Sega_Master_System

SMS launched in '86 in Germany, '87 in UK and was beating NES in key markets...so what i'm trying to say is that while NES and SMS did start to chip at gaming computer market, it is SMD and SNES that really got the kill. Both Amiga and Atari ST were vastly superior to NES and SMS, and released in about the same timeframe in Europe as those 8-bit consoles in addition to C64 and ZX still selling great...but eventually when it was time for something new to compete with SNES and SMD in early 90s, Amiga 1200 in '92 was just not good enough, and PCs already started to show what the future brings (that's why I've mentioned Comanche, that was mind blowing experience after coming from "16-bit" systems).

As for HL - yeah, that was really genre changing game - while I loved early FPS games on PC (especially DN3D, Quake II and Dark Forces), HL was somethng quite different that pretty much set a blueprint for following shooters (for better or worse). But overall, I'd say that it was combination of FPS, real-time strategies and cRPGs that made PCs as popular in those years.

I'm from UK so our release was 87 although noted SMS had a hand in the shift as well. Amiga and Atari ST would do well at the time as they were the known brands that's kind of my point as after that time frame is when they began fell off because of the impact of new consoles imo SNES and SMD inherited a position where the market had already shifted to put it in other words the damage was already done as the market was in full transition which is more due to their predecessors but I do see your pov as well.

The late 90s imo was something of a below the radar golden era for PC you are correct that the combination of those genres was what defined PC at the time key games like Warcraft, Starcraft, C&C, System Shock, Baldur's Gate and the rise of the modding scene are examples of key aspects of what gave the platform a new identity even in the early 00s the were titles like Deus Ex and NOLF with the former still being one of the greatest hybrid FPS/RPGs imo. The irony of things is that every time EA writes something off it comes back with a bang they wrote consoles off in the 80s and then they wrote PCs off in the mid 00s and then Steam came along to add convenience to the platform while the GPU market went into overdrive in 2009 causing them to scramble to get Origin out.