Opinion Your 1996 GOTY (Duke Nukem 3D, Mario 64, Quake, Civ II, Red Alert)

[Bonfires Down]

The were significantly fewer votes in the 1995 thread compared to previously, so I'm going back to the original voting system this time to see if it matters. I do think a single choice is a bit harsh, especially as the latter half of the 90s has a ridiculous amount of PC classics. I'll keep an eye on how things shake out in this thread before I decide what to use in the future. For now you'll just have to make a post and list your rankings.

Honorable mentions 1996:
Bad Mojo
The Neverhood
Z
Virtua Fighter 3
Pilotwings 64
Final Doom
Privateer 2: The Darkening
Panzer Dragoon II
Crusader: No Regret
Tekken 2
Normality
Realms of the Haunting
Powerslave
Strife
Abuse
Nights into Dreams
Wave Race 64
Kirby Super Star
Screamer 2
Bahamut Lagoon
Die Hard Trilogy
Tetris Attack
Death Rally
Guardian Heroes
Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures
SimCopter


Preliminary list 1997:
Final Fantasy VII
Fallout
The Curse of Monkey Island
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Diablo
Dungeon Keeper
Age of Empires
Goldeneye 007
Quake II
Total Annihilation
Riven
Ultima Online
Diddy Kong Racing
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
Blade Runner
Tomb Raider II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars
Turok
Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
Mario Kart 64
Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
Blood
Carmageddon
The Last Express
Myth: The Fallen Lords
Grand Theft Auto
Blast Corps
Mega Man X4
Harvest Moon
PaRappa the Rapper

 

[NarohDethan]

Mario 64 is my GOAT

 

[Hellmetal789]

Of that voting list its a pretty hard choice but I would go with sf alpha 2, it has such a good soundtrack and is a very enjoyable game.

 

[Bonfires Down]

It's pretty much a three way tie for me between Duke 3D, Settlers II and Metal Slug. They are all great and it's not too meaningful for me comparing such different games.

 

[5taquitos]

Holy shit, what a year. I'm finding it impossible to choose between Civ 2, Settlers 2, MoO 2, Descent 2, Suikoden, Metal Slug, and wipEout.

Shit and Red Alert.

Goddamn.

Edit: In the end I had to give it to Civ 2 for the sheer number of hours I put into it.

 

[m_dorian]

Another very difficult year but for me Civ II wins. Countless hours.

 

[Digoman]

Oooo.. this is a hard one.

For me the top choices would probably be Duke3D, Tomb Raider, Red Alert and Quake.

I'm going to use a technicality in that the list says "Quake" and not "Quakeworld" to discard this one. While the original release for Quake was impressive, I found it somewhat of a disappointment in terms of gameplay until the Quakeworld update (still 1996 by two weeks), when things got really interesting. Played a lot of Threewave CTF on the net.

Red Alert was good, but I think it's fair to say my memories are influenced by the way superior sequel, so that one is also out.

And now between Duke3D and Tomb Raider. Despite the bizarre model with pointy breasts, TR was something really fresh (specially for PC) and I still remember to this day the first time seeing the T-Rex. Later it was also one of the most impressive game on my brand new Voodoo (but I think that was in the beginning of 1997). Overall those first Tomb Raider games had a great sense of exploration and were very good experiences.

But then there was Duke. a "2.5D" game going against the full 3D newer ones, some very bad jokes and a protagonist that has aged like milk on the sun.... and none of that matters because the game was so... much... fun. The levels were amazing with great interactivity, the guns varied, interesting and felt good, the gameplay loop super tight. And after all that great singleplayer, playing on a LAN and shrinking and stepping on your friends (or using those laser trip mines) never got old.

So.... I think I'm going with Duke3D by a hair, but that's is probably because I wasn't a Civ 2 player

 

[Aelphaeis Mangarae]

Mario 64 is an example of a game that is both highly experimental and highly polished. It just plain works. They tackled an incredibly difficult design challenge -- how to translate Mario into 3D -- and nailed it by fundamentally rethinking what a Mario game was. It is a joy to play. It has sublime audiovisual design. And taking a broad view, it didn't just set a standard for how to handle third person movement in games -- it also got people thinking about objective design. Previous Mario games were about getting to the end of the level with a timer. Mario 64 was about being given a list of objectives indicated by wordplay and riddles, and solving them. Most of the objectives in Mario 64 can be tackled in the order of the player's choosing. This was a huge design shift and you find games influenced by this idea everywhere. It's all about player controlled pacing. Getting bored of this level? You've got enough stars to unlock the next level. You can come back to this one later, to finish the unresolved objectives.

 

[Mondy]

It's gotta be Mario 64, just for its historical value if nothing else.

 

[Stevey]

Duke Nukem 3D, my friends older brother had it on his PC, we were blown away

 

[fearthedawn]

My top picks are Duke3D, Mario64, Quake, Civ2, Red Alert and MoO2 and since i have no idea how i would even begin to rank them in a more serious fashion i'm just going with the one i played the most, MoO2.

 

[Sarcastico]

Has to be Quake. The atmosphere and music were just incredible. Not to mention it was the first true 3D FPS I ever played.

 

[Jav]

Vote Civilization you cowards

 

[arcadepc]

plenty of good iconic arcade games too

Metal Slug
Puzzle Bobble 2-3
Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo
Street Fighter EX
Cleopatra Fortune,
Samurai Spirits 3-4,
Scud Race
Over Top
Kof96
Killer Instinct 2
Kizuna Encounter:Super Tag Battle
Art of Fighting 3
Breakers
Dancing Eyes
Do Don Pachi
Dead or Alive
Star Gladiator
Die Hard Arcade
Dynamite Cop
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Heavens Gate
Neo Drift Out
Neo Turf Masters
NBA Hang time
Sexy Parodius
Stakes Winner 2
Magical Drop 2
Cruis'n'World
Twinkle Star Sprites
Virtua Fighter 3
Tecmo World Soccer 96
Xmen vs Street Fighter

 

[Ge0force]

Duke 3D, because it was the first FPS that I actually enjoyed. Tomb Raider, Red Alert and Z were some of my favorite games as well.

 

[FunnyJay]

Suikoden, baby!

 

[kio]

Even though most of these are iconic and worthy of winning, my vote goes towards the only one I still play nowadays: Settlers 2

 

[Swenhir]

All of these games are in some way hallowed and excellent, but my choice goes to Civilization II. Back then, the fantasy and idea of replaying history, of "what if" along with brilliant game design to support it, and to such a night-ruining extent was unprecedented for me. The game, unfortunately, doesn't stand up to the test of time for me but the memories and its impact remains incredible.

 

[MJunioR]

Hard pick between Civ II and Settlers II, but I ended picking up the latter

 

[freshVeggie]

Red Alert baby! It's funny how my earliest concsious gaming memories are RTS . I'm not even into the genre that much, haha

 

[gabbo]

My brothers didn't get their N64 until after we had the first shareware'd episode of Quake on our parents computer and were all blasting through it all the time. It gets my vote. 1997 will be a harder choice

 

[Joe Spangle]

What an amazing year it was. Got to be Mario 64 for me but Civ II, C&C, Resi Evil, Tomb Raider, Turok, Wipeout all would be right up there.

 

[low-G]

Still the 90's so it's still an amazing year of games. I think Quake is my #1 of that year. My first online MP game. We wouldn't have Half Life nor Call of Duty if not for Quake. Love the single player. Pretty much defined and created speed running (no Games Done Quick if it weren't for Quake Done Quick) because its single player is impeccable and exploitable without rulebreaking.

Mario64 is great, but I don't think it's the best Mario game nor my favorite.

Duke Nukem 3D still plays amazingly and is fun.

C&C Red Alert is my fav C&C of all time, and way up there in terms of RTS.

Civ II basically made Civ.

RE, HOMM2, Daggerfall, Mario RPG, Descent II, WipEout 2097... all amazing games.

What an amazing year it was. Got to be Mario 64 for me but Civ II, C&C, Resi Evil, Tomb Raider, Turok, Wipeout all would be right up there.

Turok was 97 tho.

 

[Sygmaelle]

I could never fully get into Duke 3D, like it was nice / fun but always felt something was missing from it. Had that impression quite a bit back then, notably with Outlaws / Redneck Rampage which were considered as classics but they never did anything for me.

Quake was great (essentially invented rocket jumping, bunny hopping and so much more shit) but it really didn't reach Doom's level of great as a whole, it had some clear lacks on the variety department (especially bosses) and you could tell which levels weren't made by Romero. Still INSANE achievement for the time and absolutely way ahead of anything else

Never played C&C, Crash, Tomb Raider 1 etc so I'll go with Metal Slug on that one, its the most iconic game of the Neo Geo outside the KoF series and even to this day I'm still playing all of them

I will say however that Daggerfall is pretty much my 2nd pick. A fully fledged "live my life in a fantasy world" simulator with randomly generated elements and fucking crazy rules / exploration. Most brilliant Bethesda game ever made by them

 

[Mitch]

This was a tough one.

My dad and I were playing Quake and Duke 3D almost every day. Both were phenomenal at the time. Quake had a more lasting impression on me, though.

I never owned a 64, so the only experience I had with Mario was over at my neighbor's house. PC gaming was all I knew back in 96, so Quake is the obvious choice for me.

 

[Wildebeet]

Metal. Fucking. Slug.

 

[Futaleufu]

Duke Nukem 3D, C&C Red Alert, The Settlers 2, Metal Slug.