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1998
The Nintendo 64 was in full swing, and Zelda wasn't the only innovator this year. Though we're sick of the series now, Mario Party was something new and incredibly fun back then, and Banjo-Kazooie is arguably the last platformer Rare made before it jumped the shark. Turok 2 is remembered very fondly by any number of N64 shooter fans, still reeling from 1997's GoldenEye 64, as well.
The Saturn, sadly, said its goodbyes this year, but not without releasing three of its most memorable games. Shining Force III yanked the strategy series into 3D and did it superbly. Panzer Dragoon Saga showed us what a cinematic, full-3D RPG could truly be; no one came close to its drama for years. Radiant Silvergun, though technically a Japanese import, was available at EB Games stores for a limited time. It must be mentioned for its incredibly refined 2D shooter gameplay and 3D graphics, which have led only to massive inflation in the following years. Used copies go for well over $100 even now.
The PlayStation wasn't simply the home to Solid Snake. Tekken 3 became the system's biggest fighter hit, while Final Fantasy Tactics showed a level of strategic depth many weren't ready for. Resident Evil 2's innovative dual-disc adventure blew the doors off the original in every possible way. Fan favorites Klonoa and Einhander may not have made much money, but they endure as the favorites of gaming conisseurs... who were the only ones left at the arcade, playing King of Fighters '98 and Soul Calibur, if they could find it.
[Ed - sharp-eyed folks both inside and outside of the office have noted thatboth the original Game Boy Pokemon games and PC adventure masterpiece Grim Fandangoshould have been on this year's list. Which is absolutely correct, so please consider them added. What a monster year.]
1999
How often can you point to a year when entire genres were defined? You can in 1999, as it's the breeding ground for at least three: EverQuest was the first successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game; Tony Hawk's Pro Skater launched a thousand "extreme sports" clones; and Dance Dance Revolution gave people an excuse to play games with their ears, legs and boo-tays.
Other titles took existing concepts and refined or expanded them. Super Smash Bros. added more (and cuter) participants to the traditional fighting formula and came up with an N64 classic. Homeworld captivated us with its Battlestar Galactica -like quest and 3D space battles, and by giving gamers control over both an amusement park and the rides inside, Rollercoaster Tycoon sent traditional world-building sims for a loop (followed by a corkscrew turn and a 50-foot drop).
With the long-awaited American release of Sega Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure took platformers for a 3D spin, and jaw-dropping fighter Soul Calibur proved that console ports could look as good if not better than their arcade inspirations. In the darker corners of the PC, Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament and the totally homebrew Counter-Strike mod for Half-Life rewrote the rules of deathmatch, while shooter/RPG hybrid System Shock 2 simply scared the bejeezus out of anyone who found themselves sucked into it.
Pure escapist fun still had its place. Sony's PaRappa passed the mic to six-string slinger UmJammer Lammy, and on Nintendo 64, Donkey Kong 64 and Mario Golf put cute spins on classic gameplay. And make no mistake - WWF Wrestlemania 2000 set the standard by which all grappling games are still judged.
And while most PS2 fans agree that the detailed, branching Suikoden II is the last brilliant 2D RPG (the $200 eBay price tags for still-wrapped copies bear this out), Final Fantasy VIII still polarizes people. The slow pacing struck many as a disappointment after FFVII's action-packed cinematic splendor, but FFVIII was more polished and many feel it's more emotionally affecting as well. Either way, it makes our list.
