Turtles in Time, it's pretty fun.

Damn, look at that year. Thats a good year. Best year so far in these threads.
Voted A Link to the Past tho.

Another great year. Both Turtles in Time and Zelda alttp holds up well and is fun playing today. Zelda randomizer gives that game new depth, without it I might have preferred Turtles but the vote goes to Zelda. I've had just to much enjoyment from that game over the years, it is one of the greatest games ever.

Street fighter 2 is also one of the greatest, I just think modern fighting games are so much better to play that I never want to go back to it. Still love the music and characters, Guiles theme is on my running playlist.

I was never a fan of the Sonic games.

Final Fantasy IV did not get a release in Europe until 2002 for PlayStation, a console I never owned. Got to play it much later when it released on GBA at that time I thought it could not compare to Golden Sun and I even preferred Breath of fire (a game I think is kind of awful in from a recent playthrough) that also got a rerelease on GBA. I get that I probably missed out on a great gaming experience but I did not play for many hours until I traded it in the game store.

It is hard for me to see how people can rank A Link to the Past above Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic is now one of the most iconic video game characters of all time.  He has transcended gaming, and become significant in popular culture. He's certainly not on Mario's level, but nobody is. Sonic is in a very solid second place though, with nobody nipping at his heels in third. He came to life with this game in 1991. The way I see it, that makes Sonic the Hedgehog many times more significant than any of the other games in this poll.

There are many great games in this poll. If we were voting in December 1991, I could make a case for many of them. But, we're voting in September 2023, and we have the ability to see the last 32 years of history. And with that in mind, it is painfully obvious that Sonic is the biggest deal. 

Easy...his games suck.

I get what you're saying, but this hindsight also tells us Sonic 1 doesn't hold up the best. Marble and Labyrinth zone are just not good. For me, Sonic definitely does deserve a GotY award, but I think he'll get his due next year. Sonic 2 is a much better game and 1992 has less competition too.

So, I hope you'll join me and vote for the blue blur in the next poll!

That's just not true. Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles are some of the best platformers ever made. The Adventure games' Sonic stages are also sublime (although the other characters do weigh them down). Colours and Generations are solid. And finally, Sonic Mania stands proudly alongside the Mega Drive games too.

Sonic has had some bad games, but he's definitely had good ones too

Are they though? or did you just play them as a kid and are very nostalgic about them now?

That is a good point.  Sonic Mania is a great game, which means Sonic is still getting great games to this day.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S4hWuiejOe0

There's no Sonic 2, or 3, or CD, or Mania, without Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991.