Freeloader

There is great years, and personal favorites, but which year would you consider the best year in gaming history based on whatever criteria you want to use?

For the sake of the poll, I will scrap a few dud years in between, in order to fit every decent year up through 2012.
Also not worried about sports games. I like them, but they come out literally every year.
Because some of you were not old enough to fully experience the NES era (and maybe even the SNES/Genesis era) I imagine some of those games will mean less to some of you. Thus, I'll stick with only the games I think you will at least be familiar with, or games that were hugely influential.


1987: Castlevania, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Contra, Metal Gear, Mega Man, Maniac Mansion, Final Fantasy (Japan; literally saved Square), Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Bomberman, Kid Icarus, Double Dragon (Arcade), Street Fighter 1 (Arcade), Phantasy Star, After Burner, Outrun, Wonder Boy

1991: Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog, Civilization, Street Fighter II (arcade), Final Fantasy IV, Tecmo Super Bowl

1994: Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VI, Mortal Kombat II (SNES), Doom II, Tekken, Warcraft, XCOM: UFO Defense, Donkey Kong Country, Star Wars: Tie Fighter, Sega 32x (lol)

1995: Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Command and Conquer, Heroes of Might and Magic, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Worms, Suidoken, Warcraft II, Twisted Metal

1996: Super Mario 64, Resident Evil, Quake, Diablo, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Dragon Force, Twisted Metal 2

1997: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Total Annihilation, Tekken 3, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Goldeneye 007 (N64), Starfox 64, Grand Theft Auto, Age of Empires, Fallout, Ultima Online, Gran Turismo

1998: Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Grim Fandango, Xenogears, Panzer Dragoon, Starcraft, Rainbox Six, Metal Gear Solid, Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate, Pokemon, Thief: The Dark Project, some game Half Life

1999: Shemnue, Unreal Tournament, Donkey Kong 64, Soul Caliber, Everquest, Counter Strike, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Super Smash Brothers, Suidoken II

2000: The Sims, Deus Ex, Diablo II, Perfect Dark, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Final Fantasy IX, Chrono Cross, No One Lives Forever

2001: Final Fantasy X, Legend of Zelda: Seasons/Ages, Halo, Metal Gear Solid 2, Devil May Cry, Ico, Advanced Wars, Max Payne, Grand Theft Auto III

2002: Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Warcraft III, Kingdom Hearts, Sly Cooper, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Ratchet & Clank, Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, Splinter Cell, MechAssault, Neverwinter Nights, Freedom Force

2004: Far Cry, Doom 3, Half Life 2, Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War, Fable, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, World of Warcraft, Rome: Total War, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, Need for Speed II, Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

2005: Resident Evil 4, God of War, Lumines, Psychonauts, Advanced Wars: Dual Strike, Shadow of the Colossus, Civilization IV, Dragon Quest VIII, F.E.A.R.


2007: God of War II, Super Paper Mario, Bioshock, Halo 3, Legend of Zelda, Phantom Hourglass, The Witcher, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Super Mario Galaxy, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Mass Effect, Crysis, The Orange Box, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

2008: Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3, Super Smash Brothers Brawl

2009: Dragon Quest V, Braid, Street Fighter IV, Batman: Arkham Asylum, CoD: Mw2, New Super Mario Bros, Assassin's Creed II, Borderlands, Demon's Souls, Angry Birds

2010: Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Heavy Rain, God of War 3, Halo Reach (the ), Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Battlefield Bad Company, Limbo, Red Dead Redemption, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

2011: LA Noire, Fable III, Bastion, CoD: MW3, Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, Orcs Must Die, Dark Souls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Catherine, Saints Row 3, Minecraft

2012: Dishonored, Assassin's Creed 3, Black Ops 2, The Walking Dead, Journey, Mark of the Ninja, Borderlans 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Halo 4, Far Cry 3

I probably missed a bunch of games. I don't need a reminder. I'm trying to watch football, the games listed are just a small sample.

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Skyfall

if your list is correct, I like 2004. Metal Gear Solid 3 is my favorite game (but Far Cry 3 is challenging that).

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Ham and Egger

2011 was an absolute blast for me in gaming. There were so many triple A releases: BF3, Dark souls, Skyrim, Catherine, portal 2, LA Noire.

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WWCturbo

To me 2011 was the best. LA Noire + Arkham City = EPIC

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Brye

2001. Final Fantasy X and MGS2 are in my top ten favorites, plus I loved GTA III, Ico and DMC.

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Freeloader

It's pretty much correct. I may have mixed a game up here and there with the Japan and NA release, but I wasn't heavily invested in double checking every single game.

I really liked 1997 on the strength of Total A, Castlevania SOTN and both FF games, but Zelda 64 was why I bought an N64, Xenogears lasted forever seemingly, and Grim Fandango is still the best Adventure game ever IMO. Half Life = nuff said.
However, while the games were missed by the majority, there is absolutely no denying the groundwork that was established in 1987. Look at how many insanely popular franchises began that year. I mean, some of the games peopel are citing here as their favorites - that franchise people are praising, began in 1987. They may not all be the best game in the respective franchise, but that looks to be the post NES most important year in gaming.

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WWE Jaiden DBZ

2011 for me too.

Fid

1991 gets my vote strictly for Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog. Both are instant classic titles. A new Mario & the debut of Sonic in the same year. Bring on the SNES vs Genesis debates. Street Fighter II was a lot of fun too. I had a blast playing that in arcades.

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Aram

2004 was my gaming childhood. So many of my favorites came from that year from GTA:SA to HF2 to Ninja Garden, to Ratchet and Clank: Up your arsenal, etc, etc. I had to go with that year based on Nostalgia, but I really can't deny the importance 1998 had on the industry, so many groundbreaking games came out that year that really shaped the industry in the years ahead.

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Tyrion Lannister

2010 - Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Red Dead Redemption, God of War III. All 4 titles getting top places in my all time favourites list, ME 2 being my absolute #1.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta and Darksiders were really good too. Not saying in the league of the first four but very good.

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