Any system, just has to be released between 1990-1999, what are your ten favorite games in celebration of the end of the Heisei period of Japan?
Printable View
Any system, just has to be released between 1990-1999, what are your ten favorite games in celebration of the end of the Heisei period of Japan?
This will have most of my top ten favorites.
1. FFVII
2. FFVIII
3. Suikoden II
4. FFVI
5. Xenogears
6. FFIV
7. FFT
8. Secret of Mana
9. Chrono Trigger
10. Breath of Fire 3
I'm not sure about the order on all of these. I'm pretty sure about the top 3 (which are also my top 3 of all time). The rest have a general sense of the order but a game might go up or down a couple on the rankings. Ingoofed this. FFIX was too late. Have to think about the last one. Could be Chrono Cross but that's arguably too late based on NA release, so I'm putting that next decade. If you were to ask me.for a top 10 of all time it would look a lot like this list but there would be a few games from other decades knocking out the bottom 4 or 5 I suppose.
By the way I was going to give some explanation for each game, but the thing kept refreshing and deleting what I wrote. I got frustrated so it's just lists and what I wrote afterward.
- Final Fantasy VI
- Chrono Trigger
- Final Fantasy VII
- Spyro the Dragon
- Secret of Mana
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Super Mario World. Yoshi's Island.
- Castlevania Symphony of the Night
- Super Mario 3
- Final Fantasy VIII
Honourable Mentions : Street Fighter II, Streets of Rage II, Road Rash II, Dynamite Headdy, Rocket Knight, Crash Bandicoot 2 ( I like the remake better ), Tekken 2 & 3, Crash Team Racing, Spyro 2 & 3, and Alundra.
10. Tomb Raider
I was (and still am) actually unsure whether I prefer this or Tomb Raider 2, but I'll go with this one. Not sure what to say about it, it's Tomb Raider, a classic and probably one of the most influential games out there.
9. Gran Turismo 2
Probably my favorite racing game of all time.
8. Curse of Monkey Island
My first and favorite Monkey Island game, I played through this game so many times that I actually made a walkthrough for it.
7. Grim Fandango
While the controls took some getting used to at first, being a deviation from the usual point & click, this became my favorite LucasArts game. Some brilliant design, great story, good voice acting, it's a pity it was actually a commercial failure.
6. Unreal Tournament
Many, many hours were spent playing this game online. It's what got me into online games in the first place and I still consider this the best entry in the Unreal Tournament franchise. Instagib CTF forever :D
5 & 4. Seiken Densetsu 3 & Secret of Mana
I cheated here, not going to say which one is 5 and which is 4 because I myself don't know. I love both of these games and while I can say SD3 did some things better, SoM holds a special place for me :p
3. Phantasy Star IV
If someone were to ask me which Sega game they should play above all other Sega games, my answer would be Phantasy Star IV. This RPG is an absolute gem and I actually like it more than any SNES RPG. I consider myself fortunate I didn't miss out on this game even though the mega drive was not a thing in our household.
2. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
My favorite Zelda game hands down. Enough said, really :p
1. Xenogears
Still one of my favorite RPGs ever, certainly my favorite PS1 RPG. Yeah the second disc was rather unfortunate, but despite that the game still stands strong.
10.
While I started with Eternal Punishment, Innocent Sin turned out to be a blast in it's own right. Both Persona 2 titles have my favorite casts in the series. I also just flat out prefer Kazuma Kaneko's eerie designs over the current series artist more generic anime vibe. P2 just looks and feels off, and it works so well for it. I feel the game pulled off VIII's orphanage amnesia twist way better, and the game tackled some pretty heavy themes for a title targeted for teens. I also enjoyed the battle system and the cool rumor system. Being able to talk my way out of fights and unlocking secret bosses by spreading rumors was super fun and Nyalarthotep is easily the best antagonist in the series and my first real taste of Lovecraft. If Eternal Punishment had been included here, I would rank this a bit higher, especially since EP is my favorite of the two entries but Innocent Sin was a blast in itself for me.
9.Attachment 76164Probably the best entry in the whole franchise for me. SoTN is a fantastic game and one of the best Metroidvania titles ever made. Loads of secrets, cool bosses, love all the extra modes, and the freaking Reverse Castle was just mind blowing back in 97. It's no surprise to me that the series went the direction of this title, though a bit sad that many of them, while still great in their own ways, fall short of the watershed moment this game brought to the series. When you say Castlevania to me, this is the first thing that comes to mind.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
8. Easily my favorite entry in the franchise, BoFIII was a stellar title that really refined the formula of the genre and to this day, I still count it along with early Wild Arms entries as probably the best template for what I want out of an RPG. Good characters, thought provoking moments, defined character classes but with a customization system that allows me free reign to change them if I want, fun side quests, and tons of secrets I can spend hours trying to uncover. I also enjoyed how this game kind of matured the series. While it was obvious in BoFII that they wanted to go in a mature direction, I feel III does the best in balancing the heavy mature stuff while also keeping the series more comical and lighthearted aspects as well.
7.Attachment 76168Even though I feel this game hasn't aged terribly well as a game, the narrative and movie quality of the storytelling still makes this one of my favorite entries in the whole franchise. Of anything, it introduced me to stealth games and the idea that boss battles should be spectacular. Great title and easily my favorite story starring Solid Snake. The game has my favorite cast and favorite OST. It may not be the best entry, but it is a game that will likely follow me to my grave in terms of it's impact.
Metal Gear Solid
6.Attachment 76169The game that introduced me to and nearly broke me with Tactical RPGs. Tactics was my first Matsuno game, and for me, is a title that serves to show his mastery as both a story teller and game designer with Hiroyuki Ito's help. FF's job class system works great with the genre and Matsuno's more historical and political take on the series crafted what I honestly feel may be one of the series best story. Ramza is easily my favorite main character within the FF franchise and while I may have my gripes with the game, Tactics is still a title I take great joy in replaying every now and then.
Final Fantasy Tactics
5.Attachment 76170Yes, I'm totally cheating here, but hear me out. For me, Suikoden I and II simply work best when you take them as a 1-2-punch serial. You can't really grasp how awesome this series is until you really see how well the games flow into each other and weave a larger narrative. Their individual stories are great in their own right, and I'll agree Suikoden II has the stronger gameplay minus the War system I dislike, but for me, the real joy of the series is seeing the continuation os some of these stories that move on from each game. Seeing Neclord in Suikoden II for the first time doesn't quite have the same impact for a player playing that entry first as opposed to someone who played the first game and met him. Likewise seeing Flik and Viktor alive after believing they perished in the first game is such a huge emotional pull for me. So yeah, I can't really separate these two in my head. Both entries are great anyway and the franchise is easily one of the more underrated among the genre.
Suikoden 1 and 2
4.Attachment 76171Even if you've never played this entry, A Link to the Past is where the franchise really began. All the hallmarks of the "Zelda Formula" began here: Gameplay gimmick that defines the whole title, weapons in dungeons being the key to beating them, the game being split into two large quests with attaining the master sword being the moment that bridges both scenarios, the first time Ganon hijacks the plot, and the game basically began the entire Zelda mythos by introducing the Goddesses, the Golden Realm, Ganon's origins, the Master Sword, the bottle, the tennis ball style battle, the ocarina, and themed dungeons. Not mention that this game introduced several musical themes as well such as Zelda's Lullaby and the Lost Wood's theme. A Link to the Past is my favorite Zelda title in the series and still the one I love replaying every few years to remind myself why I'm a Zelda fan.
The Legend of Zelda" A Link to the Past
3. I don't think there has ever been a game so ambitious in it's narrative. Xenogears is a phenomenal story and a serious love letter to Science Fiction writing from around the world. It's handling of religious and philosophical concepts is still second to none for me and this game has inspired my own writing for quite some time. I even enjoy the gameplay and second disc you naysayers, I will always be a Xenogears apologist because this game has had such a huge impact on me overall and is largely responsible for why I am so hard on the writing from Square-Enix, because you don't release something like this title and then tread backwards. You have to keep moving forward, just like how Xenogears is a shocking and well developed story spanning thousands of years released around the time when save the princess from the bad guy was still a respectable plot line in gaming. I only hope one day that Tetsuya Takahashi will have the nerve to try once more to craft a title of this games magnitude.
2.Attachment 76173My favorite Final Fantasy, bar none, I don't believe Square has ever crafted a title as ambitious and as forward thinking as this one. Even though I can tear this game apart in all of it's faults and weaknesses, I feel that VI for me has achieved the greatest experience the franchise can offer me. From the colorful and tragic cast, to the sweeping and glorious soundtrack, to the intriguing story and world building, to the quirky and sheer variety of gameplay options. VI was a title that changed how I saw video games, how I perceived narrative in the genre, and how I feel gameplay should be. Despite it's problems, I still feel that conceptually, VI really has no peers within the franchise on what it was trying to do. It's why I wasn't terribly surprised VII took so many ideas from it. :ffvisexy:
Final Fantasy VI
1. I love this game, it took a lot of the ideas that VI clumsily tried to do and executed it flawlessly while incorporating some of it's own fun design. I love the battle system since it pushed for changing up your team dynamics, I enjoyed how well the different timelines interconnect, I love the cast, the music, and the overall story. I loved that it's second half maintains VI's open world design but better infuses it with story so most people don't really notice it. I love the secrets, the multiple endings, and it's one of the few titles with NG+ that I actually enjoy. Outside of just personal preference, it's hard to find any real detrimental flaws in this title in terms of it's design and the game really did combined the best aspects of both Enix's charm and simplicity, with Square's top notch production values, characterization, and love of game changing plot twists. CT isn't just a great RPG it's practically a love letter to it.
1.The Legend of Dragoon
2.The Legend of Dragoon
3.The Legend of Dragoon
4.The Legend of Dragoon
5.The Legend of Dragoon
6.The Legend of Dragoon
7.The Legend of Dragoon
8.The Legend of Dragoon
9.The Legend of Dragoon
10. The Legend of Dragoon
It was a tough call so I ultimately decided to go by Japanese release date.
Might as well get in on these. Also, totes gonna steal WK's formatting because it's pretty.
Also, top ten lists are weird for me, as it's never actually my favorite games in order from most to least favorite. Rather, the reason they're placed above and below something is how much time I've spent on them, how they've influenced me, and how I've felt about them during my latest replay.
I've always sucked at strategy games, but Heroes III was like, the quintessential 90s experience here. All the kids on the neighborhood played it and we had a lot of fun with that sweet hot-seat multiplayer that no one really does anymore. Still, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't enamored with this game's fantasy world, creatures, and how you can build you towns so much that you get these gigantic armies and upgrade all those monsters into their beefed up forms, and then curl up and cry in a corner because you burned through all your resources, you've got three days to finish a mission and those crystal dragons keep mopping the floor with you despite you having all of the best units available on that map. Fun times. I'm still planning on beating those campaigns someday.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b9/c6...54a3d22101.jpg
9, Final Fantasy IV
This may actually be the FF I've replayed the most. This is probably due to the fact that it's so fast and easy to get through. For some reason, though, this game just gets better with every playthrough for me for reasons I can't explain. It's a very classic, very basic tale, but there's just something so charming about it. If you ask me, the DS version is the absolute definitive version of the games and it's really not due to the graphics or gameplay - it's the script. Honestly, Slattery did a phenomenal job with this translation, elevating one of FF's silliest plots into something that at times feels, by some miracle, poignant?
My first actual WRPG and it's a classic. I didn't get this game at first, but I pushed through because my wife (then-girlfriend) recommended it to me. While the first time around I was basically forcing myself just to make it to the sequel (which I loved immediately), it wasn't until I played the Enhanced Edition that I really appreciated this title. It's got a fantastic system (AD&D+ y'all) and it's great when it comes to more open-ended exploration.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20130105204622
7. Final Fantasy V
Job system? Endearing characters? Plot that's equal parts epic and hilariously light? FFV has it all. I have so many fond memories of playing this with my cousin. Again, the most recent translation is what really sells it.
I can't really say much more about that WK hasn't already said. A fantastic send-off to Old Persona that has one of my favorite stories in the genre, along with some really cool ideas, lovely dark atmosphere, and tons of incredible moments. And yes, this is indeed the game that actually pulled off the FFVIII Orphanage twist really, and I mean really well. Oh the tears and pain.
https://www.destructoid.com//ul/501610-FFFF.jpg
5. Final Fantasy Tactics
A game that needs no introduction, FFT has one of my favorite things about FF in general, that being the job system, on top of a story that's just so unlike anything the series had served up to that point. Ivalice is a pretty swell setting.
Now, I've never lapsed as a Pokemon fan. I've never stopped being attached to this series and I believe there's something to love about every generation. However, this is probably the game that defined my childhood. I've spent so many hours in Johto, I adjusted my schedule to the in-game events, and it was just an experience to that I haven't been able to replicate with anything since. The remake was fantastic, with so much added content, but it still failed to really replicate that exact same feeling I had back when this game happened. Generation 2 was so special to me because I experienced it at exactly the age I was supposed to.
https://i2.wp.com/78.media.tumblr.co...1280.jpg?w=605
3. Chrono Trigger
Another legendary game on the list. Pick a favorite JRP of all time list and I can guratantee you Chrono Trigger will be in the top 3 always, if not on the #1 spot. It's a game that has such a tight, satisfying structure that it's really hard not to see why people love it so much. Thanks for all the memories, Chrono Trigger.
https://artfiles.alphacoders.com/191/19190.jpg
2. Final Fantasy VI
One of the first FF"s I've beaten. What makes this special, IMO, is the fact that the game just shifts its tone and focus so much halfway through. Up until that point, I never imagined an FF story would really take such a bold step in that direction. But it did. And I'm so happy I was there to see it.
Now, this may be one of the most frustrating games I've played. I'm annoyed by some of the gameplay, some of the pacing is just terrible. But you know what? Xenogears has a fantastic story. I didn't even realize it until I replayed it a couple years ago, but Xenogears has left this weird mark on me that I wasn't even aware of. It's influenced what I expect from similar stories, and how my own creative process works. So yeah, it's had a pretty profound influence.
I will only speak of games I played or franchises I do play, but started in this decade.
Tekken 3
Ooh, boy. The debut of Eddy Gordo, the GOAT of Classic Tekken.
Dance Dance Revolution
As an oldschool DDR fan since Y2K, I am grateful how EMI did help bring DDR worldwide.
Final Fantasy VIII
My gateway to Golden Age FF.
Marvel VS Capcom
GOAT MAHVEL, not 2. Balanced, compared to its sequel.
Super Robot Wars: Alpha Gaiden
ACHTUNG! This game gave the world Saenger Sombold!
GuitarFreaks and DrumMania
Fun game for a group play.
Street Fighter Alpha Saga
Thank you for Sakura, best waifu in Street Fighter.
King of Fighters 98
GOAT KOF.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Boss character done right. Still a nightmare, 20 years later.
Marvel Super Heroes
RIP Jack Kirby.
1. Final Fantasy VII - PSX, 1997
5. The Longest Journey - PC, 1999
7. Chuck Yeager's Air Combat - PC, 1991
9. Final Fantasy VIII - PSX, 1999
11. Final Fantasy V - SNES, 1998
15. Warcraft II - PC, 1995
25. Warzone 2100 - PSX, 1999
31. Resident Evil - PSX, 1996
32. Resident Evil 2 - PSX, 1998
33. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri - PC, 1999
According to my old top 100 list. I'll just go with it.