HF Retro Game of the Year - 1994 - Vote in the Poll!

[NyQuil]

MoM is the MoO2 of Fantasy 4x (in that after 25 ****ing years we still haven't had a worthy successor, although at least Age of Wonders 2 and Shadow Magic were pretty decent).

Yeah, those two games were the pinnacles of those genres.

They are still very playable today.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

MoM is the MoO2 of Fantasy 4x (in that after 25 ****ing years we still haven't had a worthy successor, although at least Age of Wonders 2 and Shadow Magic were pretty decent).

I really like Age of Wonders 3

 

[member 157595]

This is another one of those Murderer's Row retro years.

For the sake of brevity, Super Metroid is still the greatest game of its type ever made in my opinion, and for that reason it is my choice here.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Super Metroid wins.

Some games as followed for 1993
Doom
Star Wars X-Wing
Star Fox
Mega Man X
NBA Jam
Mortal Kombat II
Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle
Myst

 

[Teemu]

Super Metroid wins.

Some games as followed for 1993
Doom
Star Wars X-Wing
Star Fox
Mega Man X
NBA Jam
Mortal Kombat II
Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle
Myst

+ SimCity 2000

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I still wanted to vote for Wing Commander III .

 

[NyQuil]

Master of Orion came out in 1993 I believe.

Not as good as 2, but still a terrific game for its time. Those damned Klackons.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

For 1993:

Doom
Secret of Mana
Mortal Kombat II
Mega Man X
Star Fox
Star Wars: X-Wing
Shadowrun
Myst
NBA Jam
Sam & Max Hit the Road
The 7th Guest
Syndicate

 

[Commander Clueless]

93 is definitely getting into the territory beyond my scope of experience, but for me the answer is Dark Sun: Shattered Lands.

What a gloriously buggy adventure.


Doom is also a good choice.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

For me, it would probably be Doom.

 

[The Macho King]

93 is definitely getting into the territory beyond my scope of experience, but for me the answer is Dark Sun: Shattered Lands.

What a gloriously buggy adventure.


Doom is also a good choice.

Good game.

My vote has to go to Doom though. Syndicate is pretty good. MoO was good but was outstripped pretty quickly by MoO2.

 

[Osprey]

93 is definitely getting into the territory beyond my scope of experience, but for me the answer is Dark Sun: Shattered Lands.

I played that for the first time only a couple of years ago. It might've been your recommendation. I quite enjoyed it.

My vote has to go to Doom though. Syndicate is pretty good. MoO was good but was outstripped pretty quickly by MoO2.

MoO and MoO2 were actually separated by 3 full years, which felt like a long time back then (especially when both Warcraft and Warcraft II were released between them), but I think that I understand your point. You're referring to how other strategy games (like X-COM, MoM and Transport Tycoon) still haven't been surpassed, while MoO was surpassed only 3 years later. Yeah, I guess, in the context of game of the year candidates, that's pretty quick. Never mind.

I'll likely vote for DOOM, as well. It doesn't have the depth of games that I prefer to vote for, but there's no denying how much fun it was and how much of a game changer it was.

 

[The Macho King]

I played that for the first time only a couple of years ago. It might've been your recommendation. I quite enjoyed it.



MoO and MoO2 were actually separated by 3 full years, which felt like a long time back then (especially when both Warcraft and Warcraft II were released between them), but I think that I understand your point. You're referring to how other strategy games (like X-COM, MoM and Transport Tycoon) still haven't been surpassed, while MoO was surpassed only 3 years later. Yeah, I guess, in the context of game of the year candidates, that's pretty quick. Never mind.

I'll likely vote for DOOM, as well. I kind of hate voting for such a shallow game, but that shallow game was so much fun and a true game changer.

92 is a better year IMO. I don't love Doom, but you can't deny its impact, and none of the other games from this year really stand out to me.

Pretty shallow on the console side too. Although Shadowrun was pretty fun.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

For 1993:

Doom
Secret of Mana
Mortal Kombat II
Mega Man X
Star Fox
Star Wars: X-Wing
Shadowrun
Myst
NBA Jam
Sam & Max Hit the Road
The 7th Guest
Syndicate

+

Day of the Tentacle
Zelda: Link's Awakening
Sim City 2000
Ridge Racer

There's also Super Mario Allstars, but I wouldn't include it since it's a compilation.

I'd vote DOOM, but there's a strong case for Zelda and Sim City 2000 IMO.

 

[RandV]

Unpopular opinion, but to me, that's a good enough reason not to bother making sequels for it and let it stand on its own, personally.

As much as I love Metroid Prime, you shouldn't need to find a way to followup perfect games by coming up with an excuse to rehash the same formula without it feeling forced and inorganic. It feels forced and inorganic because it IS forced and inorganic. Coming up with a convenient story-reason for it to happen doesn't change that.

I agree in a sense that you don't want to overload it, but when an experience is that good it's always good to get more. Like it would suck if somewhere between the 16-bit and CD gen they stopped making Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest/Zelda/Mario Kart/etc etc because they couldn't 'rehash the same formula'. So all I was saying is it's kind of unusual and a shame how Metroid (Chrono Trigger too for that matter) works in a way that is hard to replicate again.

 

[Shareefruck]

I agree in a sense that you don't want to overload it, but when an experience is that good it's always good to get more. Like it would suck if somewhere between the 16-bit and CD gen they stopped making Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest/Zelda/Mario Kart/etc etc because they couldn't 'rehash the same formula'. So all I was saying is it's kind of unusual and a shame how Metroid (Chrono Trigger too for that matter) works in a way that is hard to replicate again.

I think I tend to have the opposite attitude about that (not just for videogames, but for any medium). For me, when things are that good and become perfected, I usually prefer when continuation is finite and left alone. Keep making spiritual successors, or creatively re-imagined versions of them that don't have a narrative reason to exist, sure (which sequels in Final Fantasy/Zelda/Mario generally are, or at least used to be)... but I rarely want expansion on existing universes with things setup to allow continuation in the narrative/lore, like you're suggesting. If anything, I want less of that in games.

Nothing is stopping spiritual successors and re-imagined versions of Super Metroid or Chrono Trigger from being made, and honestly, I don't really see anything in Super Metroid or Chrono Trigger that inherently makes it all that different from the other franchises in terms of the ability for that to be done. You can still keep re-invigorating that core concept/formula over and over again, and if anything, I think it's better not to try to connect them to make logical sense together. The way that they've sort of tried to do that with Zelda rather than allowing the games to be completely separate entities that don't make sense together has been an overall negative for me, personally.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

...are we still doing these?

 

[Ducks in a row]

So when a 1993 one?

 

[SniperHF]

I'll start doing them again after the new year probably. If someone else wants to pick up the ball, go for it. I'd suggest posting a feeler list before making a thread though

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

I think a comprehensive list would be:

Doom
Secret of Mana
Mortal Kombat II
Mega Man X
Star Fox
Star Wars: X-Wing
Shadowrun
Myst
NBA Jam
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Syndicate
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Sim City 2000
Day of the Tentacle