Donkey Kong Country 2 is the pinnacle of 2D platforming even now. It's been so hard to top it, I don't think many if any platformers have been able to do that.

Coming into my main era of gaming. This list is, other than Chrono Trigger, kinda lacking to me as some of my favourite games ever, that launched in 1995 aren't listed in the poll.

Wipeout, Jumping Flash, Command and Conquer, Tekken 2 (although the latter 2 in the notables). So I voted other, I recognise the significance of Chrono Trigger but I prefered other games.

Yeah, UFO (X-COM) only got two votes in 1994, despite being a breakthrough gaming experience. Jagged Alliance might not be as good taken from a purely turn-based tactics look, but it has the unique way that each mercenary has personality given through the voicelines. The soldiers in in UFO are professionals and would never bring their personal grievances to the battlefield, but the mercenaries happily do so. So yeah, I recommend trying it, last I checked it ran fine in DosBox and should be available on GOG. The only bullshit thing is the cover, it is hard to judge from the top view which tree (or bush, the bushes are apparently made of steel) will eat up your bullets on the way to the intended target. That can be annoying. Other than that great game.

I defiantly think access to PC vs Console is a factor.  I turned 12 in 1995 so am 9 years younger then you which means for most part every game I voted for so for on all these lists I did not play on release.  I always loved PC gaming but it was not till 2000 that PC gaming became my primary choice over console for one very simple reason.  Until 2000 I had to play in the basement on my parents computer while starting in 1995 I had a tv in my room and a SNES.  In 1996 I also had a PlayStation.  I did not have my own computer that was not my parents till 2000.  Sure I would sneak into basement at night and game till a few hours before I knew my Father alarm goes off then catch a few hours of sleep before catching bus to middle school if there was a PC game I was really into but it was easier just to play on the console in my bedroom.

I was lucky and my parents did not really care what I installed on the PC and they did not game them selves so I did not really have to worry they going to open up a game like Duke Nukem 3d in 1996 and see a bunch of strippers in low rez ( I not even sure they would of cared as they was not particularly strict when it came to movies content so I doubt they would of been with games) but it still not same as having your own computer you can use.

My 'journey' is in the opposite direction. I got into gaming on PC, mainly due to piracy and my dad always having the latest PC at home from work. I didn't start buying games until 1996, before that it was all copied from friends or downloaded from BBS with a couple exceptions. (Games my parents bought us for MSX) PS2 got me (back) into console gaming (did have a PS1 and N64 as well, but PC was still by far my main way to play games), while Windows started pushing me away from PC gaming. DOS gaming mostly just worked. Sure you had some config.sys and autoexec.bat things to configure, but that was nothing compared to the frequent crashes and incompatibilities with early DirectX and openGL.

Windows 95 and 98 were horrible for gaming, it got better with Windows XP. Windows NT drove me crazy with all the updates but at least had a good interface and was very stable. Windows 8 yuck, now I'm on 10 and had to disable updates as it's broken again. Win 11 doesn't look any better. (Win 10 was supposed to be the last one?) My next desktop/laptop will be a Mac, no more Windows. It's the same every time, works the first year, starts slowing down the next couple years, becomes a pita by year 4.

PS2/GC generation was about an equal split between PC and consoles for me. PS3/360/Wii gen I gamed very little on PC. Also due to PC becoming more and more associated with work stress. Sitting on my couch with a controller in front of a 92" 1080p projected screen was simply far superior to messing with graphics drivers and relentless windows updates. Playing PC games on the couch with KB and mouse balanced on my lap, not convenient in the slightest.
Also with far less time on my hands after getting kids, my time playing needs to be spend playing, not configuring, downloading workarounds, updating drivers and what not. I don't have the patience anymore to get things to work or search through message boards for solutions.
And finally I prefer physical games which PC pretty much abandoned completely. I still have moving boxes full of PC game boxes, kept all the cool ones and stuffed the rest of the jewel cases and manuals from other games in with them. Not that I have a disc drive anymore to put the CDs and DVDs in lol.

Funny, I also used to sneak down the stairs after my parents went to sleep to play Civilization and Dune 2 all night. They later told me they knew but just let me since my grades didn't suffer. I've always had some form of insomnia and survive fine on 4 hours of sleep. I used to read until midnight from 8 years old, then listen to the news and hear plays on the radio until 1 AM or later before finally falling asleep. When I got my own TV at age 12 ('88) I was watching Law and Order at midnight with the (14") TV under the blankets. I'm near sighted I wonder why lol.

This was such a banging year... But as a PC gamer it is extremely hard for me to walk past Descent.

It's also a sad reminder of how dead the franchise is these days, despite being such a brilliant game.

Just run Memmaker for DOS.

I am running a Windows 98SE retro computer with a 3DFX Voodoo 2+Radeon 9500Pro as my retro PC... Once you get around all the little nuances and limitations, it's actually a solid platform.
I don't get many crashes. The API's (Glide, DirectX and OpenGL) aren't the source of crashes.

It's when you do stupid shit like ejecting the DVD Rom drive while it's accessing the DVD that you will get a blue-screen and a crash.

Windows NT was on the market around 1993, so before Windows 95... But it wasn't until around Windows NT 4.0 that it started to adopt the foundations that would define Windows 2000/XP and the modern operating systems of today.

It was always a far more stable OS, but it also had far less compatibility with software and hardware, which was actually a massive issue with Windows XP when that OS released... Thankfully after many years/decades on the market, Windows XP ended up being supported by everything eventually. (Minus older software.)

Windows 8 was a great OS. Just not for desktops, I had it on my convertible tablet/laptop and it was a brilliant OS.

If you are getting slow-down with your system after a few years, you are likely the issue, it's simply not a thing anymore... And if you are worried about compatibility, then you are definitely going to have a fun time with a Mac.

Oh man, so much to choose from.

I really enjoyed Twisted Metal, Descent, Full Throttle,Star Wars: Dark Forces, WipEout, Rayman, and Tekken 2 at the time. I think Tekken 2 is my favourite - and it's certainly the one I rate highest on my top 50 list every year - but I only played the PS1 version, which was in 1996.

DKC 2 and Yoshi's Island are two of my favorite games ever, but Chrono Trigger is just on another level.

For me, Yoshi's Island is the best game ever. Shame it has no chance of winning.

It's Other for me again.

This time, the top spot goes to Battle Isle 3: Shadows of the Emperor (Battle Isle 2200: Shadows of the Emperor in the US), the pinnacle of the Battle Isle series. I really wish they would be making some new entries into the series. Factum!

Number 2 on my list is going to Jagged Alliance. Jagged Alliance 2 will be better in every single way a couple years later, but this entry is already a great game.

The third spot goes to Descent. Having great wayfinding skills probably helped me a lot in this game.

Number 4 goes to Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy (or Lustiges Sporen Drama in German), err... Yoshi's Island

Finally, number 5 goes to Warcraft II. Stop touching me!