SuperHero Hype! Game of the Year... 1998?!

[Soapy]

1998 is often cited as the best year in gaming. Even if you're not personally a fan of some of the games and series listed above, hopefully you can recognize that a great many of them were either revolutionary for their time, have shown tremendous staying power to this day, or were just plain and simple damn good games.

Tell me Hype, what games were you playing in 1998? Which were your favorites?What was your game of the year then? Would it still be the same today?

 

[James]

I can honestly say, having double checked on Wikipedia, 13/14 year old me didn't play any of the '98 releases. I was still playing Grand Theft Auto and Carmageddon from the previous year though.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Wow. Didn't realize I had played so many games back then.

1080
Ocarina of Time
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil 2
Rogue Squadron

Damn, that was a good year. I believe this yr was the spark of me becoming a 'gamer'. A few years later and Shenmue cemented my love for the medium

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well that's a no brainer.

Ocarina of Time.

Runner up, Metal Gear Solid.

Also, Pokémon came out that year in America, but, not for all of us.

 

[Electro UK]

Wow. Didn't realize I had played so many games back then.

1080
Ocarina of Time
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil 2
Rogue Squadron

Damn, that was a good year. I believe this yr was the spark of me becoming a 'gamer'. A few years later and Shenmue cemented my love for the medium

*cough* Half-Life *cough*

 

[Soapy]

He doesn't like Half-Life.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

*cough* Half-Life *cough*

He doesn't like Half-Life.

I actually haven't played enough of HL to make a call one way or the other, but I know for sure I had no interest in it then and I dislike Valve pretty hardcore now, so not sure I'd dig the game even if I did complete it.

 

[KevanG]

MGS and RE2.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Oh Banjo-Kazooie was my **** when I was growing up so I might be inclined to pick that game. Metal Gear Solid and Ocarina of Time were also absolutely amazing.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I actually haven't played enough of HL to make a call one way or the other, but I know for sure I had no interest in it then and I dislike Valve pretty hardcore now, so not sure I'd dig the game even if I did complete it.

May I ask why?

 

[jacobed]

Ocarina of Time and Pokemon

 

[Solidus]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt this, 98 was the best year in gaming. I owned almost all of these games. And many of them are still in my top 10.

In the end it was close between HL, MGS, StarCraft, Baldur's Gate and OOT for me (damn you Soapy for making me choose!) . I still have troubles deciding, but I will say Half-Life was the one that will forever be one of my favorite games.

But 98....man that brings back so many memories, from R6, to Unreal, to Grim Fandango each genre had masterpieces that year, many of which I still think have never been topped.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

May I ask why?

I just can't stand any of their games. Portal was pretty neat, but that's it.

I like the company over all, I like Gabe Newell, just don't like the games they make.

 

[Iceman]

Resident Evil 2 & Gran Turismo from the list. The years around 1998 must have been really good too as many of my favorite franchises started or got big around this sort of time.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Resident Evil 2 & Gran Turismo from the list. The years around 1998 must have been really good too as many of my favorite franchises started or got big around this sort of time.

Yea i noticed the same thing, although to be honest i don't think i played some of those games in 1998, but rather shortly after(RE2 for example). MGS for sure i know i played when it came out as i was over at my cousins and he had this "cool new game". I sat and watched him play it for a while and got hooked. He let me borrow it when he was done and that game changed the way i looked at video games. Never knew they could be these epic, story driven experiences.

 

[v.waltzer]

My favourite game is Street Fighter Alpha 3. Released in 1998, I still play it regularly today. It has better game-play and systems than its predecessor, but it lacks the visual shine and verve typical of Capcom games of that era.

 

[Electro UK]

He doesn't like Half-Life.

This post challenged all that I've ever known and will know.

 

[Jick]

In 98 I was playing the SNES. But out of those in the poll, Crash Bandicoot 3 and Marvel vs Capcom were my favorites.

 

[Electro UK]

Y'know I'm really lucky. I was born in September 1990, so I was just 8 towards the end of '98 and I still remember getting to play a lot of these games either that year or in the following ones.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was the start of an annual sort-of-ritual that would last for the next four or so years. That being I'd get a Crash game for Christmas. I was outright obsessed with Crash as a kid and Warped is the most refined of all three. In fact it's one of the few PS1 games that still looks good in this day and age.

It was also the age I was just getting into comic books, so Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Heroes was something of a dream come true for me.

It didn't hit the UK until the following year but Pokemon Red/Blue took everyone at school by storm. It's all we could play/talk about. It was a religion for me until I got all 150. And I did get 150... although one of them was Mew and I never got Growlith. Weird.

I was also very much a Star Wars nerd. Rogue Squadron is a bit of a given, then. I can still remember the cutscene for the first Y-Wing controlled level and the warning from Wedge that they 'moved like sheds'. You don't have sheds, Star Wars. You're Star Wars.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six remains one of my all time favorite shooters. I loved the trial and error of the game's tactical planning system. I'd spend hours playing around with the different possibilities. Seeing what got my team mates killed, what kept them all alive. It was an amazing toybox.

Resident Evil 2 is something I wouldn't play for many years later - not until it came to the Gamecube, but it's impact wasn't lessened on me. Plus the video of the scared Japanese guy is amazing. Lemme find it.

[YT]nCTKIqfmiWo[/YT]

Now we're getting down to the Elite Four. Half-Life is perhaps the most effortlessly brilliant shooter campaign of all time. The way it can keep you engaged despite never breaking for cutscenes or bookmarking ends of levels is astounding. Even HL2 wears on me after some time, but the pacing of the original is just perfect. I've played this thousands of times since I was 8.

As a sequel that's pretty much identical to one of my all time favorites, Fallout 2 is kind of a default choice. It's not 'new' as such, but is still packed with one of gaming's best combat systems and a brilliantly realised world that Bethesda couldn't even hope to match 10 years later.

Then there's The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. I remember running up the stairs to Ganondorf's throne room, organ hauntingly humming away in the background. I hold the moment, the feeling of finality and reflecting on what an incredible journey I'd been on as one of my all time favorite gaming moments.

But, at the end of the day, I was always going to choose Metal Gear Solid. No matter how I feel about the franchise now and how other games topped it, this started a gaming saga for me that I'll never get to experience again. From Metal Gear Solid 1 through 4 I thought about this franchise every day. I mean every day.

I was downright psychotic about Metal Gear when I was a kid. That all started it. It started in the finger-ruining torture chamber, the terrifying moment Otacon pressed his face against the codec screen, the now slightly cheesy music that starts up on that Sniper Wolf scene, and the unforgettable moment where Snake lifts Meryl's head up only for it to crane backwards (look, the torture chamber is reeeeeally hard when you're 8).

I would just play Metal Gear Solid for days on end for years to come. I'll never forget it. Of course it's my favorite game of '98.

 

[KevanG]

My favourite game is Street Fighter Alpha 3. Released in 1998, I still play it regularly today. It has better game-play and systems than its predecessor, but it lacks the visual shine and verve typical of Capcom games of that era.

I actually didn't know that SF3 had been released until SF4 had come out. Then I was all confused.

I've always been more of a MK type of guy.

 

[Havok83]

Soul Calibur. I know this is for 1998, but its was one of my main games on the DC

 

[SpideyForPrez]

Wow, what a great year for games.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil 2
Pokemon Red/Blue:

Were all games I played by myself, more or less. I played pokemon with friends sometimes.

But these games:
Banjo-Kazooie
Mario Party
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

Man, did my siblings and I play the s*** out of those three. Banjo Kazooie and Mario Party especially. My brother and sister and I played them soooooo much! I think Banjo Kazooie is the only full game my sister played and finished. She was never really a gamer but we all loved that game so much. We've played most of the Mario Parties since then and I honestly think those games brought us closer together.

Overall, I would vote Ocarina of Time. Still one of my all time favorite adventure games.

 

[v.waltzer]

I actually didn't know that SF3 had been released until SF4 had come out. Then I was all confused.

It goes, in terms of arcade releases:

Street Fighter
Street Fighter 2 - The World Warrior
Street Fighter 2 - Champion Edition
Street Fighter 2 - Hyper Fighting
Super Street Fighter 2 - The New Challengers
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Street Fighter Alpha
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter EX
Street Fighter EX +
Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha (Japan only)
Street Fighter 3: New Generation
Street Fighter 3 2nd Impact: Giant Attack
Street Fighter EX 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter EX 2 +
Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future
Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper (Japan only)
Street Fighter 4
Super Street Fighter 4
Super Street Fighter 4 - Arcade Edition
Super Street Fighter 4 - Arcade Edition 2012
Ultra Street Fighter 4

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Picking one game is extremely difficult imo. I have spent, hours upon hours with many of these games. So time for a list.

8. Rogue Squadron: Just for laying the ground work for Rogue Leader, one of my all time favorite games.

7. Starcraft: I am horrible, horrible at this game. Yet I still love playing it.

6. Mega Man Legends: My brother was hip to Mega Man well before me. But once he bought Legends, I had to go back and play the classic series and X. Who didn't fall in love with Tron Bonne?

5. Pokemon Blue: My brother had red, I had blue. Outside of Tetris, it was my first real handheld experience. Got me hooked.

4. Half-Life: Great, great game, that was a much different experience then anything I had played up to that point. Though candidly, I much prefer the sequel.

3. Soul Calibur: The legendary battles between Kilik (me) Mitsurugi (my brother) are still talked about to this day. t:

2. Metal Gear Solid: I remember every moment in this game. Every sequence. Heck, I remember buying it. Couldn't find it at our usual spots, but did get a copy from this shady games dealer at the mall. Was totally worth it.

1. Ocarina of Time: Twilight Princess did the game play better, Wind Waker is probably a better game overall, but none of the Zelda's came together to invoke the idea of "The Legend" like OoT. Fantastic, fantastic game.

I just can't stand any of their games. Portal was pretty neat, but that's it.

I like the company over all, I like Gabe Newell, just don't like the games they make.

Ok, cool. Thanks the explantion. Makes sense. Seems you are fine with Value, just not a fan of their games.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Metal Gear Solid