HF Retro Game of the Year - 1999 - Age of Empires II Wins!

[SniperHF]

So we have game of the year votes from 2011 to 2017 but none from before, so why not do it now?

Slightly different rules since we're talking about old games. Votes can be changed, so if you hear a case or debate it out maybe you'll come out on the other side and you can change it.

Previous years:
2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 31%
2016 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - 20%
2015 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 35%
2014 - South Park: The Stick of Truth - 15%
2013 - The Last of Us - 29%
2012 - The Walking Dead - 20%
2011 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 48%

Retro Votes:
2010 - Red Dead Redemption - 31.6%
2009 - Assassin's Creed II - 20%
2008 - Fallout 3 - 43.5%
2007 - Mass Effect - 25%
2006 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - 22.8%
2005 - Civilization IV - 22.4%
2004 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 27.4%
2003 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 46.4%
2002 - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 34.2%
2001 - Grand Theft Auto III - 31.9%
2000 - Diablo II - 20.5%
1999 - Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings - 20%

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[Frankie Blueberries]

Smash Bros - was the most fun both at the time it came out, as well as revisiting it today.

 

[Desdichado93]

Rollercoaster tycoon and Age of Empires II are the best in that list.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Rollercoaster tycoon and Age of Empires II are the best in that list.

You look at a list containing Silent Hill, Planescape, and System Shock 2 and say that with a straight face?

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

"Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" for me.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

you could legitimately argue that several of these games are among the best ever made. I would happily vote for AOE2 or UT in another year, but this year had Alpha Centauri and Alpha Centauri was boss. I could tell you how it's a great game, or a game that has no flaws, but all I'll tell you is that I've never learned more from a game or had a game that made me stop and think about what I'd just learned. Alpha Centauri provides a crash course in history, philosophy, politics, business, warfare, literature, and physics. Playing one game should count as college credit for a humanities degree. It is beautiful, compelling, haunting, and fantastically entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to play a video game they'll remember all their lives.

 

[RandV]

Honestly Alpha Centauri would probably be my pick... but I never actually played it so AoE II it is.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I know Alpha Centauri & System Shock 2 were probably better...but I was too young to appreciate them in 1998 and going back and trying to play them for the first time well after the fact proved fruitless.

So RollerCoaster Tycoon it is. Hundreds of blissful hours there, this gets brownie points because I was obsessed with roller coasters when I was younger...still kinda am, really.

 

[Oogie Boogie]

Age of Empires II and Rollercoaster Tycoon for me.
Went with Age of Empires II.
Still remains as one of my all time favorite online playing experiences.

 

[Commander Clueless]

This one was actually a tough one for me, but I think the original Super Smash Bros had a huge impact on me.

 

[Pilky01]

I had way more fun with Smash 64 than I have had with any subsequent iteration. It was just so freaking mind blowing.

Roller Coaster Tycoon and THPS would be my runner ups.

The clearest trend in these winners is that HF like open world games. Smash could become the first fighter, or even just first non action, adventure, rpg sorta thing. No racers or sports or fighting winners yet. Edit: Civ 4 realky the only that wouldn’t fall into that vague description.

 

[SniperHF]

Civ 4 realky the only that wouldn’t fall into that vague description.

I'm still sort of surprised about that one, my money was on RE 4 winning.
Pleasantly surprised but still surprised.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Age of Empires II gets my vote

 

[Emperoreddy]

The trend is see is HF did not do a lot of deep diving into PC gaming.

Has anyone on here even played Planescape?

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

The trend is see is HF did not do a lot of deep diving into PC gaming.

Has anyone on here even played Planescape?

Planescape is a fantastic story but if you never played D&D (like me) the learning curve is mad steep

 

[Bjorn Le]

The trend is see is HF did not do a lot of deep diving into PC gaming.

Has anyone on here even played Planescape?

I played it before high school but that was a long time ago, don’t really remember it.

 

[NyQuil]

The trend is see is HF did not do a lot of deep diving into PC gaming.

Has anyone on here even played Planescape?

Planescape Torment was a fantastic story but the gameplay was pretty weak and it's only really worth playing once.

The D&D mechanics were definitely inferior to BG2 which is fine because it was meant to be story-driven as opposed to engine-driven. As a D&D guy though, I was disappointed in the combat.

Alpha Centauri might represent the zenith of 4X gaming under the Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds banner, and I still play it to this day, so it gets my vote.

I never played SS2 although I'm obviously aware of how many people rave about it.

Heroes 3 was the best one as well - very tempting.

 

[crowi]

Really good options here. I went with Heroes 3.

 

[CTC]

Heroes 3 all the way, AoE2 was alot of fun but I sank days away in those maps in heroes. Some solid couch co-op play too, friends and I had so much fun with that game and its expansions. Special place for Silent Hill too, first game that that I was afraid to play!

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Tony Hawk for me.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

You look at a list containing Silent Hill, Planescape, and System Shock 2 and say that with a straight face?

You going to act like Roller Coaster Tycoon and Age of Empires 2 aren't absolutely fan-freaking-tastic games?

Those two games were my childhood.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

The trend is see is HF did not do a lot of deep diving into PC gaming.

Has anyone on here even played Planescape?

I think PC gaming will always be less popular than console gaming as it's not as accessible, and back in the day split-screen was huge which would draw people together to play games (Smash Bros is a good example of that). I know PC had LAN parties, they were just much less common.

I've played everything on the list aside from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, SoulCalibur, and EverQuest. I voted Smash mainly based on the fun factor, but also because of the replay value and how the game still holds up.

 

[Ceremony]

Literally every game I would have voted for isn't included. You put in Rollercoaster Tycoon and not Crash Team Racing? Come on.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Smash Bros is already on there, that filled our quota of 7.5/10 games.

 

[Xelebes]

I managed to play three of the games on the list. I'm amazed. Went with Age of Empires II. Not a fan of Quake III: Arena too much. Unreal Tournament was all right but UT2K3 was better.