Super Mario 64 was the most amazing game ever made up to that point. The freedom and smooth action were phenomenal, and the controls were revolutionary.

Not surprised. Yeah, the PlayStation had done just fine from the outset really, but 1997 I remember as the year that it began to really pull away from the competition and cement itself as the overwhelmingly dominant gaming console brand for two consecutive system generations, which was really an unprecedented feat in the biz and one that has never truly been replicated since. Their superior ability to lasso in third-party console exclusives and attract European gamers to the console market I think is what really started to become apparent at that point, to the extent that the PlayStation would almost monopolize whole gaming genres, like RPGs. 1997 I think you could say was the real breakaway year where the competition started becoming less relevant.

Anyway, I don't remember getting many computer games in the mid-90s, though I did start buying more of them toward the turn of the century. Namely, I recall really getting into Grim Fandango, The Longest Journey, American McGee's Alice, Drakan and the Order of the Flame, Alien Hominid, and to a lesser extent EverQuest, along with some of the early Nancy Drew games. Warcraft though, that sorta thing, never really interested me much, I'm afraid.

Super Mario 64 is a phenomenal game that means a lot to me, it really perfected platforming in 3D space. It was the first home console game and first 3D game I ever played. However, no game captures the magic of video games the way the gameplay of NiGHTS into Dreams does. The level design and music was amazing, the sense of speed and fluid controls was unmatched. Even the boss fights were unique and incredible. It gets my vote.

Another masterful Saturn release was of course Panzer Dragoon Zwei, which was a massive step over the original, and along with NiGHTS, perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing 3D games of the era, and it really expanded on the lore of the universe.
The first Crash was solid, but I just cannot fathom how they came up with the save game mechanic. It is one of the most stupid game design decisions I have ever seen.

Master of Orion 2 was a fantastic game as well. Stellaris is heavily inspired by this game, for those unfamiliar with the MoO series. MoO2 is to space-based 4X as Civ2 is to earth based 4X games.

My opinion: Master of Orion 2 in 1996 was superior to Stellaris. I find Stellaris (especially today) is bogged down with too many modifiers and mechanics, and the excess of information gives a lack of clarity on how all these modifiers impact or manifest in relation to the core game experience. Paradox Games works a lot better as a grand strategy developer than a 4X game developer. With grand strategy, it’s almost more about the story that players make for themselves in the sandbox (mostly) and modifiers (while important) are less important than in 4X games - they’re almost like a part of the flavour. I don’t think they’re translating that grand strategy development experience as well to the 4X experience as Master of Orion 2 did back in the 1990s - 4X needs simplicity and clarity around all modifiers so that it’s always obvious what strategies you’re developing. I’m not saying that Master of Orion 2 would necessarily be a good fit for 2023, just that it felt like a better game in 1996 to 2002 (about the frame I played it) than Stellaris has been. Stellaris is still probably the second best game in this branch of 4X - but even the bad Paradox grand strategies are still only topped by other Paradox Games grand strategies - they still top all Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Total War games - they didn’t bring that dominance to 4X, IMO.

Just a bit more on Civilization II
I still find that Civ 2 is the best 4X game relative to its era. Civ 4, 5, and 6 certainly advanced on Civ 2, but I felt they lacked the freshness of Civ 2 even with all their advancements on the formula. I never had a game of those later civs that really topped any of my top 10 Civ 2 plays - some of those playthroughs I recall to this very day (over 20 years ago); something I can’t say about the much more recent civ games. Alpha Centauri is my second favourite of the 4X games- and I still fondly recall my first playthrough of that one.

I’m leaving Civ 3 out not to snub it, but because I didn’t have much experience with it - not even a full playthrough. During the Civ 3 era I was still heavily involved with the Civ 2 modding community, plus Test of Time and Alpha Centauri were out fairly close to Civ 3’s release - and by the time I was over those games Civ 4 was on the horizon.

There are three distinct eras of Civ, IMO. The first is Civ 1, Colonization, Civ 2, and AC. The second is the Civ 3 and 4 era, and the third is Civ 5 and 6 era.

It’ll be interesting to see if Civ 7 begins a fourth era.

Despite I loved so much & played a lot of Quake, Mario Kart 64, DKC3, DKL2, RE, Pokemon RGB, Duke 3D, Sonic 3D Blast, Saturn Bomberman, but for me the best is Heroes of Might and Magic 2 (PC) and by a huuuuge margin. Absolute bless)

Anyway what a Year, OMG

OTHER!

Oh dang I accidentally voted for Pokemon before realising Kirby Superstar/Kirby’s Fun Pak was an option!
Kirby is my clear winner.

I think Kirby Superstar is one of the most underrated 2D platformers of a major franchise. The game is phenomenal! Entertaining every step of the way. While not the same type of game, I found the game had a vibe similar to Gunstar Heroes and Unirally.

Totally fair criticism. I grew up with it so I can handle it but watching my wife go through the game with that painful save system that doesn't even record the number of lives you have made me understand how bad it is. It's the biggest flaw in an otherwise awesome game which thankfully got fixed for the sequels. I still love it though!

I thought Super Mario RPG would be an obvious win in this year but then I realized the Nintendo 64 came out the same year. Oh well, still gets my vote even if it’s going to get crushed by the competition. xD