HF Retro Game of the Year - 1998 - Ocarina of Time

[Realgud]

90% of the arguments in this thread for SCs influence have to do with its popularity in Korea and the belief that it's the reason we have esports now--which, again, has more to do with Korea than with StarCraft, and is something that I've already discussed.

Not really, there are reasons for this and those who have played the game for a long time knows the depth of the non-"rock-paper-scissor" unit design and also being one of the first (if not the first) highly competitive video game with asymmetrical gameplay. It being extremely popular in korea (even today) is a result of this. Why isn't sc2 as popular? Because it is vastly different than the original game, even though at first glance it might seem like just another starcraft game.

Storywise, just like majora's mask, the story of the original starcraft is more mature, complex and thought provoking than ocarina of time (at least imo), and that's a huge plus for me, even though it matters less for an RTS game.

I think ocarina constantly being brought up as the "best game of all time" is a little ridiculous but it's still a great game nonetheless.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Calling Starcraft's story thought-provoking is pushing it.

Besides, story doesn't really matter outside of RPGs.

 

[Realgud]

Calling Starcraft's story thought-provoking is pushing it.

Besides, story doesn't really matter outside of RPGs.

Not really, anything that speaks against what's conventional can spark some thoughts for sure. But yeah, it's not the greatest story ever by any means, but it's surprisingly a little more profound than any other rts that I know of.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Not really, anything that speaks against what's conventional can spark some thoughts for sure. But yeah, it's not the greatest story ever by any means, but it's surprisingly a little more profound than any other rts that I know of.

On that I agree, Blizzard wrote great characters back then, same with Warcraft 3.

I really liked the story in Wings of Liberty because Raynor is the man but I couldn't be bothered by Heart of the Swarm and Legacy Of the Void (which I still need to finish actually!)

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

So are we going onto 1997 or not??

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Out of boredom, here's a decent list of note-worthy releases:

• Final Fantasy VII
• Goldeneye
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Star Fox 64
• The Curse of Monkey Island
• Tekken 3
• Quake 2
• Fallout
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
• Diddy Kong Racing
• Blast Corps
• Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
• Tomb Raider 2
• Age of Empires
• Bomberman 64
• Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
• Need for Speed 2
• Blood
• Grand Theft Auto
• Yoshi's Story
• Crash Bandicoot 2

Bolded should be included, IMO.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I'll go with Grand Theft Auto if it's on the list.

I still remember most of the first island's missions. Liberty City was island #1 IIRC.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Forgot to mention this earlier, but playing Mario Odyssey yesterday reminded me of Space Station: Silicon Valley - far and away my favorite N64 game...and one nobody ever talks about. October '98 release.

 

[Pilky01]

My 1997 list would be something like...

1. Final Fantasy 7
2. Goldeneye
3. Star Fox 64
4. Diddy Kong Racing

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

So are we going onto 1997 or not??

 

[SniperHF]

At some point.

 

[The Macho King]

1997 is a little disappointing. Fallout is tops, and then I guess games like Jedi Knight are kind of high up there. Ultima Online was obviously a massive one too.

 

[SniperHF]

Locks:

Age of Empires

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Fallout

Final Fantasy VII

GoldenEye 007

Mario Kart 64

Quake II

Star Fox 64

Ultima Online

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Possibles:

Carmageddon

Crash Bandicoot 2

Diddy Kong Racing

Dungeon Keeper

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Star Wars: X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter

The Curse of Monkey Island

Total Annihilation

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Monkey Island *should* be on the list in a general sense but I'm not sure it will get much votes around here.
DKR seems more popular around here than I remember it being.
Total Annihilation is still sort of a sleeper 20 years later but a great game.
It wouldn't take much to convince me on either one of the SW games even though both aren't in the general consciousness much these days.


Maybe but probably not:

Doom 64

Extreme-G

Grand Theft Auto

Harvest Moon

MDK

Myth: Fallen Lords

Need for Speed II

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

Tomb Raider II

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Looks like 97 will be my last vote. Pokemon Blue (which I was surprised to see was a 98 release) and Goldeneye were the first two video games I ever really got into. I have vague memories of playing a bit of duck hunter and mario kart and super mario from when I was real young but it's hard to judge much of video games under 8 years old.

 

[Osprey]

It wouldn't take much to convince me on either one of the SW games even though both aren't in the general consciousness much these days.

Jedi Knight is still a somewhat popular game. I've spent a lot of time over the last couple of years helping people to get it running. I've also released a few useful patches and mods (over at PCGamingWiki.com)... one with over a 1000 downloads in the last 6 months, another with 1600 in the last year and another with 1000 in the last year. Those aren't the biggest numbers, but I've also released enhancements for other games that all have only 100-200 downloads in the last year, so the fact that my Jedi Knight ones have 10x the downloads suggest that, relatively, it's still quite a popular game. That's not to argue that it should be on the list, though.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Locks:

Age of Empires

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Fallout

Final Fantasy VII

GoldenEye 007

Mario Kart 64

Quake II

Star Fox 64

Ultima Online

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Possibles:

Carmageddon

Crash Bandicoot 2

Diddy Kong Racing

Dungeon Keeper

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Star Wars: X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter

The Curse of Monkey Island

Total Annihilation

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Monkey Island *should* be on the list in a general sense but I'm not sure it will get much votes around here.
DKR seems more popular around here than I remember it being.
Total Annihilation is still sort of a sleeper 20 years later but a great game.
It wouldn't take much to convince me on either one of the SW games even though both aren't in the general consciousness much these days.


Maybe but probably not:

Doom 64

Extreme-G

Grand Theft Auto

Harvest Moon

MDK

Myth: Fallen Lords

Need for Speed II

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

Tomb Raider II

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Good list, but Mario Kart 64 was released in 1996 according to Google.

GTA deserves to be on the list, but I'm probably in the minority that played it when it was released. I remember being impressed by both the freedom and open world aspects of the game, as well as how offensive it was at the time.

 

[SniperHF]

Good list, but Mario Kart 64 was released in 1996 according to Google.

We've been using the North American release dates so it counts as a '97.

That reminds me, Pokemon was brought up and it certainly should have been on the list in '98. Probably wouldn't have won anyway but it would have gotten some votes.

 

[syz]

We're definitely entering the depths of the PS1/N64 nostalgia era where nothing aged well at all.

At least nobody has mentioned Turok yet.

 

[The Nuge]

I’d add Diddy Kong Racing and Harvest Moon. Grand Theft Auto was a 98 release date by our NA release rule btw

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

We're definitely entering the depths of the PS1/N64 nostalgia era where nothing aged well at all.

At least nobody has mentioned Turok yet.

I mentioned Turok, but was never a fan of the game. I just recall a lot of people enjoying it back in the day.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

Turok was a really fun game. It'd be a stretch to call it a good game. Hell, it'd be a stretch to call it a competent game. But if you're like me, there's ample joy to be had in killing dinosaurs with a shotgun.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Since GTA is a '98 released game then I'll vote for Mario Kart 64

 

[NyQuil]

X Wing vs. Tie Fighter was the worst of the flight sim games.

No campaign, just loose missions bolted on to a MP module.

Tie Fighter was far better and X-Wing was also better.

 

[The Macho King]

X Wing vs. Tie Fighter was the worst of the flight sim games.

No campaign, just loose missions bolted on to a MP module.

Tie Fighter was far better and X-Wing was also better.

X-Wing v. TIE Fighter MP *was* awesome though. But yeah, I don't think it's up there on the greatest games of the year list, and XWA had as good MP with an actual campaign.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Jedi Knight is still a somewhat popular game. I've spent a lot of time over the last couple of years helping people to get it running. I've also released a few useful patches and mods (over at PCGamingWiki.com)... one with over a 1000 downloads in the last 6 months, another with 1600 in the last year and another with 1000 in the last year. Those aren't the biggest numbers, but I've also released enhancements for other games that all have only 100-200 downloads in the last year, so the fact that my Jedi Knight ones have 10x the downloads suggest that, relatively, it's still quite a popular game. That's not to argue that it should be on the list, though.

Easily my favorite star wars video game ever. I still play it relatively regularly.