HF Retro Game of the Year - 1996 - Super Mario 64

Game of the year back in 1996?


  • Total voters
    84
  • Poll closed .

member 157595

Guest
Yes we are,



Worms should be on the list. Possibly also Star Wars: Dark Forces.

I remember playing Worms: Armaggeddon against roommates while drunk in college. It was a great game in which to be an asshole.

In hindsight, maybe I should have not been such a loser and gone out more.
 

Emperoreddy

Show Me What You Got!
Apr 13, 2010
129,830
75,221
New Jersey, Exit 16E
95 was a good year for RPGS,

Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Terranigma, and Secret of Evermore. All should be on a 95 list.

Terranigma might be top of the list of SNES games no one played. Even more so for JRPG fans.

Sudokin also came out in Japan in 95.
 

SniperHF

Rejecting Reports
Mar 9, 2007
42,631
21,042
Phoenix
So there were a lot of suggestions, the "lock" list is pretty long already.


Chrono Trigger
Command & Conquer
Descent
Donkey Kong Country 2
Earthbound,
Full Throttle
MechWarrior 2
Phantasy Star IV,
Rayman
Street Figther Alpha
Twisted Metal
Warcraft II
Worms
Yoshi's Island
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I could see booting Full Throttle, Phantasy Star, Rayman, Worms, or Twisted Metal if there's enough demand for some of the maybes.

Maybes:
Dragon Quest VI,
Earthworm Jim 2
Front Mission,
Heroes of Might and Magic
Mega Man 7
Mortal Kombat 3
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Terranigma,
The Dig
Virtua Fighter 2
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Tactics Ogre was suggested but that looks like a '96.

Tales of Phantasia was also suggested but it didn't have an official NA release until MUCH later so I'd be willing to include it if there's demand.
 

member 157595

Guest
So there were a lot of suggestions, the "lock" list is pretty long already.


Chrono Trigger
Command & Conquer
Descent
Donkey Kong Country 2
Earthbound,
Full Throttle
MechWarrior 2
Phantasy Star IV,
Rayman
Street Figther Alpha
Twisted Metal
Warcraft II
Worms
Yoshi's Island
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
I could see booting Full Throttle, Phantasy Star, Rayman, Worms, or Twisted Metal if there's enough demand for some of the maybes.

God damn, that's a formidable list. :laugh:

Maybes:
Dragon Quest VI,
Earthworm Jim 2
Front Mission,
Heroes of Might and Magic
Mega Man 7
Mortal Kombat 3
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Terranigma,
The Dig
Virtua Fighter 2
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
Tactics Ogre was suggested but that looks like a '96.

Tales of Phantasia was also suggested but it didn't have an official NA release until MUCH later so I'd be willing to include it if there's demand.

Mega Man 7 doesn't belong here, unless you're talking about the soundtrack, which is great.

Mortal Kombat 3 isn't as good as 2 IMO, but I think it belongs on the list. Are we limited to a certain amount of games per poll?

I love DQVI, but A) I'm a full-blown DQ fanboy, and B) how many people on this board other than myself are dorkish enough to have played through the Super Famicom original? Like Tales of Phantasia (which also kicks ass) it didn't have a NA release until much later.

Am I the only one that didn't like Star Wars: Dark Forces?
 

member 157595

Guest
I really liked it.

The fact that you weren't a Jedi was actually pretty novel. ;)

I don't think it's a bad game by any means, but I didn't really enjoy it.

I thought the controls were a bit awkward (but I have to give it credit for the look system given its age), the maps were confusing and I didn't like that seemingly half of the weapons could inflict self-damage in a game where you're in a lot of tight corridors. No in-level saving (if I remember correctly) in a game with long levels was also annoying.

But to each their own.
 

WarriorOfGandhi

Was saying Boo-urns
Jul 31, 2007
20,564
10,594
Denver, CO
oh my god Mortal Kombat 3! I absolutely adored that game. By leaps and bounds the most entertaining fighting game ever. And plenty of family-friendly content too, like Cyrax doing the Charleston:
latest

I'm going to have to seriously consider changing my future vote from WCII to MK3.
 

SniperHF

Rejecting Reports
Mar 9, 2007
42,631
21,042
Phoenix
Mortal Kombat 3 isn't as good as 2 IMO, but I think it belongs on the list. Are we limited to a certain amount of games per poll?

I have a soft limit of 15.

2 people have suggested MK3 jump to the list.

Any others, or other games?
 

McRpro

Cont. without supporting.
Aug 18, 2006
9,969
6,954
Clown World
So there were a lot of suggestions, the "lock" list is pretty long already.


Chrono Trigger
Command & Conquer
Descent
Donkey Kong Country 2
Earthbound,
Full Throttle
MechWarrior 2
Phantasy Star IV,
Rayman
Street Figther Alpha
Twisted Metal
Warcraft II
Worms
Yoshi's Island
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
I could see booting Full Throttle, Phantasy Star, Rayman, Worms, or Twisted Metal if there's enough demand for some of the maybes.

Maybes:
Dragon Quest VI,
Earthworm Jim 2
Front Mission,
Heroes of Might and Magic
Mega Man 7
Mortal Kombat 3
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Terranigma,
The Dig
Virtua Fighter 2
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
Tactics Ogre was suggested but that looks like a '96.

Tales of Phantasia was also suggested but it didn't have an official NA release until MUCH later so I'd be willing to include it if there's demand.

How dare you consider dropping Twisted Metal from the list! lol

IIRC it won EGM's game of the year too.
 

Frankie Blueberries

Allergic to draft picks
Jan 27, 2016
9,097
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Mortal Kombat in general was total trash that relied purely on shock value, IMO. It never played well at all.

It definitely had a lot of great novelties and charm attached to it, like you said the shock value and gore with the violence/fatalities, the movie was considered the best video game movie at the time, using real-life people as sprites was a first (at least the first time I witnessed it), the theme song was great, interactive environments such as upper cutting someone to the next floor (not unique to the series, but still), climbing the tournament latter to Goro, etc.

To me, the selling feature was the characters. Sub-zero, Scorpian, Reptile, Raiden, etc. are all very memorable and iconic. The actual fighting mechanics weren't amazing, but at least they still had a decent combo system and fun special abilities.
 

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,875
3,570
Vancouver, BC
It definitely had a lot of great novelties and charm attached to it, like you said the shock value and gore with the violence/fatalities, the movie was considered the best video game movie at the time, using real-life people as sprites was a first (at least the first time I witnessed it), the theme song was great, interactive environments such as upper cutting someone to the next floor (not unique to the series, but still), climbing the tournament latter to Goro, etc.

To me, the selling feature was the characters. Sub-zero, Scorpian, Reptile, Raiden, etc. are all very memorable and iconic. The actual fighting mechanics weren't amazing, but at least they still had a decent combo system and fun special abilities.
It's memorable in a meme-y "how obnoxious can you be" exploitation way that stands out. Not in any way that I actually appreciate, though, personally. I can't say I understand the combo system remark.

It's like the videogame equivalent of a campy B-Movie. It's pretty much all novelty and no substance. As an actual game, it's one of the weaker and blander ones I've played.
 

Frankie Blueberries

Allergic to draft picks
Jan 27, 2016
9,097
10,545
It's memorable in a meme-y "how obnoxious can you be" exploitation way that stands out. Not in any way that I actually appreciate, though, personally. I can't say I understand the combo system remark.

It's like the videogame equivalent of a campy B-Movie. It's pretty much all novelty and no substance. As an actual game, it's one of the weaker and blander ones I've played.

I just meant that you can string together different combinations of kicks/punches/specials to do more damage. I'm pretty sure that's a standard feature in a lot of fighting games, but it does add a bit more depth to the mechanics.

Examples:



I completely agree about the campy B-Movie comparison though. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and is over-the-top most of the time.
 

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,875
3,570
Vancouver, BC
I just meant that you can string together different combinations of kicks/punches/specials to do more damage. I'm pretty sure that's a standard feature in a lot of fighting games, but it does add a bit more depth to the mechanics.

Examples:



I completely agree about the campy B-Movie comparison though. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and is over-the-top most of the time.
Oh, yeah.
 

member 157595

Guest
Mortal Kombat in general was total trash that relied purely on shock value, IMO. It never played well at all.

I like the MK series. The gameplay was fast, the characters were likeable and the presentation was generally excellent.

However, MK's controls cannot compare to the tightness and polish of the SF series (ignoring the first one, of course), and gore alone doesn't make for better gameplay. If that were the case than Kasumi Ninja on the freaking Atari Jaguar would have been a classic.
 

syz

[1, 5, 6, 14]
Jul 13, 2007
28,849
12,239
It definitely had a lot of great novelties and charm attached to it, like you said the shock value and gore with the violence/fatalities, the movie was considered the best video game movie at the time, using real-life people as sprites was a first (at least the first time I witnessed it), the theme song was great, interactive environments such as upper cutting someone to the next floor (not unique to the series, but still), climbing the tournament latter to Goro, etc.

To me, the selling feature was the characters. Sub-zero, Scorpian, Reptile, Raiden, etc. are all very memorable and iconic. The actual fighting mechanics weren't amazing, but at least they still had a decent combo system and fun special abilities.

It still is. A low bar, unfortunately.

But yea Mortal Kombat is the GoldenEye of fighting games. Popular mainly with people who didn't know that there were better fighting games in the arcade. 3 was probably the closest they got to making a good one, though.
 
Last edited:

Frankie Blueberries

Allergic to draft picks
Jan 27, 2016
9,097
10,545
It still is. A low bar, unfortunately.

But yea Mortal Kombat is the GoldenEye of fighting games. Popular mainly with people who didn't know that there were better fighting games in the arcade. 3 was probably the closest they got to making a good one, though.

It definitely is a low bar, but I thought the original Resident Evil was an alright thriller and better than Mortal Kombat. The newest Tomb Raider movie was also a decent action flick that was surprisingly close to the source material (the new Tomb Raider reboot). I haven’t watched other recent adaptations like Silent Hill, Assassin’s Creed, and Max Payne but I’ve heard they’re terrible.
 

Osprey

Registered User
Feb 18, 2005
27,090
9,352
It definitely is a low bar, but I thought the original Resident Evil was an alright thriller and better than Mortal Kombat.

I tried watching the first Resident Evil movie and was just confused because it appeared to have little to nothing to do with the game. Maybe it was based on later games in the series, but I expected the first movie to bear some similarities to the first game (the only one that I'm familiar with), like, you know, featuring a spooky mansion and such. It seemed to me like a generic sci-fi horror movie that they decided to call Resident Evil to cash in on name recognition, so I'm not sure that I, personally, would even call it a video game movie.

The newest Tomb Raider movie was also a decent action flick that was surprisingly close to the source material (the new Tomb Raider reboot).

I haven't watched it yet, but, from what I've read about it being respectable, that would likely be my pick for best movie based on a video game.
 

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