Now this getting a bit more difficult for me. So many great arcade games released this year: TMNT, Golden Axe, Final Fight, Strider...

But it would probably be between two Genesis games for me: the Sega port of Ghouls 'n Ghosts or Phantasy Star II, both of which are excellent, but I voted for the latter because of my love for the first two Phantasy Stars.

It came from the Desert is also this year? I never played the game, but - plot twist - watched the movie that was made in honour of it. The movie had game scenes at the end as outro which was very fun. The game is on my list to try out somedays.

EDIT: Movie trailer for anyone interested. Also note, this is not a movie that came alongside, it was a hommage to the game 30 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG-Ir5KTmbY

Just reading the name SimCity instantly popped the Village theme in my head. I had quite a lot of fun with this game although the reason I got it in the first place was because my parents heard it was an "educational" game. They agreed for my brother and I to get a SNES only if we got SimCity with the console. It was for sure a very different type of game than was we were used to but it was very entertaining, we eventually built many metropolises (which we then destroyed with tons of hazards --- having saved beforehand of course).

In case, it wasn't clear, I voted for SimCity.

I'm going with Other - as much as I love Phantasy Star, PS2 isn't my favorite one - but from there on it gets difficult.

Populous, Last Crusade and Wonder Boy III are some of my oldest favorites.
There are other great adventures, like Manhunter 2: San Francisco and a great personal favorite Mean Streets (first Tex Murphy game, loved that on my first PC that didn't have sound card!)
And JRPGs like the first Mother and Final Fantasy Legend aka Makai Toushi SaGa, hugely underrated game.

I'll give it to Populous. Still enjoyable game and pretty unique, it's surprising how little it was imitated and has some genius concepts that could still be applied today but sadly little are.
(Btw, Master System controller is just perfect for Populous.)

Never watched that movie - didn't know it even exists, given that the game was homage to 1950s B monster movies...set in 1950s as well and heaving really nice 50s vibe. Honestly, from the trailer, this movie does not speak to me - I can only imagine what proper It Came from the Desert movie would look like if it was Wes Anderson project, with cinematography like in Asteroid City.

Well, the movie clearly had no budget like Asteroid City. But they were going with the B-movie vibes, making fun of it while also enjoying it. It isn't the greatest movie of all time, but it was a fun ride. And what surprised me - as I didn't know about the game - was the credit roll showing game scenes in the background and so clearly showing what the movie is based on.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all the way. Ducktales would be my runner up, I had so much fun playing both of these games.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

DuckTales. Just a great game and a great example of how licensed games can still be good if developers care about the IP. Shout-out to Castlevania 3.

Golden Axe was a megahit in my household, so it's an easy choice for my game of the year. It is likely one of the games that got the most playtime on our Sega Genesis throughout its life.