What the hell were we thinking?!?!

Over on RottenTomatoes.com, the unfortunately named Ludwig II intoned, "1993 1994...what about 1995?! The best RPG of all time (Chrono Trigger) and the best adventure game of all time (Full Throttle ) in the same year! In other genres... original Command & Conquer and the first Dark Forces. Oh yea, and something called the Sony Playstaion ONE."

1995 was a transitional year for gaming and, therefore, a crowded and perhaps forgotten one. It shouldn’t be. While no less than ten systems were already fighting for our attentions and wallets, it was two brand new consoles - the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation - that ushered in the next generation of interactive entertainment.

The PS1 emerged at the top of the electronic heap by launching three franchises still successful to this day. In 1995, we first hugged the curves of Ridge Racer and kissed gravity goodbye in Wipeout. We first blew up a massive airship in Warhawk, followed by a demonic ice cream truck in Twisted Metal.

The Saturn was no slouch, countering with ports of mega-popular arcade hits Virtua Fighter (which, admittedly, wasn't remotely as good as the VF 2 port would be), Daytona USA and Sega Rally Championship. And by simply adding dragons to the tried and true shooter genre, the cult series Panzer Dragoon was born.

The best games, however, were still showing up on the familiar platforms. Fighting ruled the arcades with Street Fighter Alpha and Marvel Super Heroes, though we couldn’t throw them together yet. Sequels dominated the 16-bit landscape, but most of them were actually pretty great... sometimes better than the originals. Earthworm Jim 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island all made us happy to revisit their characters and universes.