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Forums - Gaming Discussion - 1994, Game of the Year

 

1994, Game of the Year

Tekken 2 2.17%
 
Doom II 2 2.17%
 
Warcraft 3 3.26%
 
X-Com 2 2.17%
 
Sonic 3/Sonic and Knuckles 5 5.43%
 
Donkey Kong Country 18 19.57%
 
Earthbound 6 6.52%
 
Final Fantasy VI 21 22.83%
 
Super Metroid 29 31.52%
 
Other (please specify) 4 4.35%
 
Total:92
Jaicee on 08 October 2023
SvennoJ said:
UnderwaterFunktown said:

I feel a little bad for Earthbound sitting at 2 votes since it's a close second to me. The gameplay itself isn't amazing but overall it's a great experience that manages to fluctuate between a bunch of different vibes successfully and also the clear inspiration behind some of my favorites later down the line.

I feel the same for Warcraft sitting at 2 votes. However with a lot of PC games, first one created the word of mouth, second one got the sales and popularity, Plus PC was still niche in the 90s compared to the popularity of consoles. Which was kind of a good thing as it allowed a lot more original games to flourish instead of already gravitating to certain templates and long lines of sequels. Those were there too of course, Ultima, Might and Magic and other long running series.

Earthbound might as well have suffered from the already so well established franchises on SNES. Metroid had already made a name on NES and GB, with the 3rd game having learned a lot already and creating a great platformer on SNES. And thanks to its sprite based graphics it aged a lot better than many early 2.5D / 3D games. But indeed, Earthbound showed that RPGs are so much more than just suited to fantasy settings. Yet in the end, pioneers are rarely rewarded as well as refined sequels and spin offs.

EarthBound was pretty funny. I think it broke some kind of record for volume of fourth wall breaks and parodies of RPG conventions. I don't really remember it tugging on my heart strings much though the way that some of my top favorites did that year though. All in all, I'd classify its ethos in the same territory as Super Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Splatoon. It's a Nintendo game that does for its genre what those other titles did for their's: infused it with the big N's trademark goofiness. That does have some innate charm, to be sure, and in this case some occasional punch too.

Also, wasn't EarthBound actually supposed to be a sequel? Like the Japanese title is Mother 2 and there was a game called Mother released before it on the NES.



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Jaicee on 08 October 2023
VAMatt said:

I voted earthbound, because I loved that game. But I could make a case for probably half of the games in the poll. Sonic 3, DKC, and Super Metroid being the easiest for me to argue in favor of.

As much as I enjoyed Sonic 3, I'd like to see what the case is for actually naming it Game of the Year here. What would be your argument, hypothetically, just out of curiosity?



Shadow1980 on 08 October 2023

Super Metroid, hands down. It's one of my Top 5 favorite games of all time.



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UnderwaterFunktown on 08 October 2023
Jaicee said:
SvennoJ said:

I feel the same for Warcraft sitting at 2 votes. However with a lot of PC games, first one created the word of mouth, second one got the sales and popularity, Plus PC was still niche in the 90s compared to the popularity of consoles. Which was kind of a good thing as it allowed a lot more original games to flourish instead of already gravitating to certain templates and long lines of sequels. Those were there too of course, Ultima, Might and Magic and other long running series.

Earthbound might as well have suffered from the already so well established franchises on SNES. Metroid had already made a name on NES and GB, with the 3rd game having learned a lot already and creating a great platformer on SNES. And thanks to its sprite based graphics it aged a lot better than many early 2.5D / 3D games. But indeed, Earthbound showed that RPGs are so much more than just suited to fantasy settings. Yet in the end, pioneers are rarely rewarded as well as refined sequels and spin offs.

EarthBound was pretty funny. I think it broke some kind of record for volume of fourth wall breaks and parodies of RPG conventions. I don't really remember it tugging on my heart strings much though the way that some of my top favorites did that year though. All in all, I'd classify its ethos in the same territory as Super Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Splatoon. It's a Nintendo game that does for its genre what those other titles did for their's: infused it with the big N's trademark goofiness. That does have some innate charm, to be sure, and in this case some occasional punch too.

Also, wasn't EarthBound actually supposed to be a sequel? Like the Japanese title is Mother 2 and there was a game called Mother released before it on the NES.

Indeed Mother/Earthbound Beginnings came out in 89 (was my pick for the year) and was perhaps the real pioneer though it was a lot more barebones. Earthbound went a bit more all in with weirdness, but they're pretty similar in a lot of ways. It did eventually come to the west on the Wii U virtual console and later NSO, though the version I've played is the fan translation.



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S.Peelman on 08 October 2023

A bit less of a year compared to '93 if you ask me. Voted for Super Metroid. Good game of course, made my Top 50 for years, but not an absolute favourite of mine. Wasn't really into Donkey Kong Country and Final Fantasy wasn't a thing in Europe. Warcraft wouldn't get really good until the sequel, so Super Metroid it is.

Saw SvennoJ mention SimTower after I already voted, and I don't know how I forgot that one is '94, because I probably should've voted for it since that's one of the important games from my childhood.



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bdbdbd on 08 October 2023

This was really tough one between DKC and Super Metroid. Ended up voting for Super Metroid.



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SvennoJ on 08 October 2023
S.Peelman said:

A bit less of a year compared to '93 if you ask me. Voted for Super Metroid. Good game of course, made my Top 50 for years, but not an absolute favourite of mine. Wasn't really into Donkey Kong Country and Final Fantasy wasn't a thing in Europe. Warcraft wouldn't get really good until the sequel, so Super Metroid it is.

Saw SvennoJ mention SimTower after I already voted, and I don't know how I forgot that one is '94, because I probably should've voted for it since that's one of the important games from my childhood.

Yeah Sim Tower feels like it belongs later since it ran in Windows and could fully scale up with whatever resolution you were running. I played it at 800x600, so much detail on screen for the time.

I voted Warcraft as I found that very addictive and first time using magic in an RTS


but Sim Tower was a lot more advanced technically


I see there was a sequel made by Sega, Yoot Tower which came out in '99. I missed it at the time (so much else to play and I started Everquest that year)

Oh it's on Abandonware and runs fine in Windows 10. (Says to put display into 256 color mode, but works fine)
It just starts without any tips or tutorials, old school! Not even tool tips and the text is microscopic in 1080p lol. But might be fun to try :)



VAMatt on 08 October 2023
Jaicee said:
VAMatt said:

I voted earthbound, because I loved that game. But I could make a case for probably half of the games in the poll. Sonic 3, DKC, and Super Metroid being the easiest for me to argue in favor of.

As much as I enjoyed Sonic 3, I'd like to see what the case is for actually naming it Game of the Year here. What would be your argument, hypothetically, just out of curiosity?

Well.... It was an important game in that it introduced new playable characters that have since become integral to the series.  It was a really good game.  But, it wasn't revolutionary or anything.  So, maybe there isn't a great argument for Game of the Year, in hindsight.  I actually cared more about Metroid and Earthbound at the time.  Earthbound didn't lead to anything great for that franchise though. Super Metroid is what put that series on the map for many of us.  So, it's probably more historically significant.  

That said, Sonic has transcended gaming, and Sonic 3 played an important role in making that happen. 



Jaicee on 08 October 2023
VAMatt said:
Jaicee said:

As much as I enjoyed Sonic 3, I'd like to see what the case is for actually naming it Game of the Year here. What would be your argument, hypothetically, just out of curiosity?

Well.... It was an important game in that it introduced new playable characters that have since become integral to the series.  It was a really good game.  But, it wasn't revolutionary or anything.  So, maybe there isn't a great argument for Game of the Year, in hindsight.  I actually cared more about Metroid and Earthbound at the time.  Earthbound didn't lead to anything great for that franchise though. Super Metroid is what put that series on the map for many of us.  So, it's probably more historically significant.  

That said, Sonic has transcended gaming, and Sonic 3 played an important role in making that happen. 

Yeah, I remember 1994 as like peak Sonic. Sega had released four new Sonic games late the previous year, then came out with Sonic 3 in early '94, then in the fall you had Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic Triple Trouble, all in the span of a year's time. The TV shows and comics were both still going strong, all of that. I liked Sonic 3's introduction of a save feature and the way it narratively transitioned from act to act, zone to zone, kinda making everything feel a bit more interconnected than it had in the past. Plus Knuckles, like you say. He always seemed to be having fun. Also it was pretty sweet that they let you actually use Tails to fly in that game, in contrast to Sonic 2. That proved useful to me!

Super Metroid wasn't as big of a hit at the time, but it wound up having a much bigger impact on the industry and I think the test of time has been friendlier to it at the end of the day.



Dreamcaster999 on 08 October 2023

FF6 producing somewhat of a comeback here. Overtaken Donkey Kong today, is Metroid next?