It was an old adventure, with a very unique atmosphere and dynamics. I don't really recall how it developed since i never played it on my own. But it was a cult-game at the time, and later on.
Game of the Year
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It was an old adventure, with a very unique atmosphere and dynamics. I don't really recall how it developed since i never played it on my own. But it was a cult-game at the time, and later on.
Akka
Moody old mage.
Makes the vote a no-brainer
Though there was a crapload of great games this year (Populous 2, Battle Isle...), and I'd especially like to nominate two particularly great legends of the time : Another World and Wing Commander 2.
It's the journey, not the destination. Hearing about games we have or haven't played before, seeing nominations and discussions of them, and so forth. The final "winners" don't even really matter to me, but organizing it as a GotY helps encourage the discussion.
Although Civ (1) was surely one of my favorite games in the early 90s, i am not so sure it was that clearly the game of that year. It was very popular, and quite novel in that it included so many different aspects of strategy, but on other areas it was rather poor: its graphics were primitive next to other strategy games of the period, or a couple of years earlier. Animation-wise it was not innovative at all (in fact it was quite crude, even in the main animated scenes, like in the civil disorder, the capture of a city, and the diplomacy with other leaders).
Still an obviously very important game, just noting that it was not seen by all as the best game of 1991 at the time.
It will probably win here though
Still an obviously very important game, just noting that it was not seen by all as the best game of 1991 at the time.
It will probably win here though
civvver
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I mean that's the nature of any forum thread, and why I originally wanted to give a week to flesh out nominations and a full week of voting to make sure people had time to see it. But this is kind of a niche forum. The idea is just to have fun discussing our favorite games much like the game review thread. I am hoping we can get a bit more detailed arguments, so yeah, the loom win wasn't very helpful lol.
I agree with Kyriakos here. Civ1 was a good game but I think it's importance is more from a historical sense in launching the civ series. As a game it's kind of shallow and yes, very poor graphics. It also suffered from some really bad design as everyone still refers to a phalanx beating a battleship.
Meanwhile you have a link to the past that had some superb graphics, amazing sound and music and some of the best level design. The way the light and dark world interact is remarkable. All of the special items like the cane that makes you invincible, plus the searching for heart containers, all pretty in depth. It's a game that still holds up today. You could port it to a modern xbox and it would still look ok and be fun.
I agree with Kyriakos here. Civ1 was a good game but I think it's importance is more from a historical sense in launching the civ series. As a game it's kind of shallow and yes, very poor graphics. It also suffered from some really bad design as everyone still refers to a phalanx beating a battleship.
Meanwhile you have a link to the past that had some superb graphics, amazing sound and music and some of the best level design. The way the light and dark world interact is remarkable. All of the special items like the cane that makes you invincible, plus the searching for heart containers, all pretty in depth. It's a game that still holds up today. You could port it to a modern xbox and it would still look ok and be fun.
Although Civ (1) was surely one of my favorite games in the early 90s, i am not so sure it was that clearly the game of that year. It was very popular, and quite novel in that it included so many different aspects of strategy, but on other areas it was rather poor: its graphics were primitive next to other strategy games of the period, or a couple of years earlier. Animation-wise it was not innovative at all (in fact it was quite crude, even in the main animated scenes, like in the civil disorder, the capture of a city, and the diplomacy with other leaders).
Still an obviously very important game, just noting that it was not seen by all as the best game of 1991 at the time.
It will probably win here though
I second this. if you look at earlier games like sim city (1989), their graphics were better than the original civ IMO (despite not playing when younger, i played later, but only once civ 2 came out). I think the original civ exhibited the nucleus of a great game, but it wasnt until civ 2 came out that it really became mainstream. I think this is the way with many games in the 90s. Developers back then didnt have any cash, and publishers were reluctant to spend it. So what quite often happened is that you would get a bunch of amateurs like Sid Meir, or John Romero, or John Carmack, and they would make agame that was fairly primitive (civilization, wolfenstein, commander keen etc), make a bit of money on it, then create something exceptional a few years down the line (civ 2, doom, quake).
Its a bit like Hollywood films in many respects. Low budget films that were very well done like Alien, Terminator, robocop, etc were remade after they proved so successful and became global successes. The games industry is not that much different. Its perhaps wrong to ascribe the title of "best of the year", just because a later game then solidified what is now a franchise (as is probably the case with civ IMO). Whether the earlier game was in fact that great remains a debatable point. You see this a lot with the original Duke Nukem. But honestly, was it really that good?
Thorgalaeg
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I think it was. I got totally hooked to civ as i never was before with any other game. i found fascinating how every game was different and evolved in a different and particular way, with new empires continents and cities. I recall it was this open ended sand-box aspect that called my attention, and remember it as something completely new back then.
It was indeed very new, and a very impressive concept. Still i played Civ II for a lot more time than Civ I, even though Civ I was available pretty much at the same time i got the Amiga and was in the first year of highschool.
Of course one shouldn't forget that Civ II was released 5 years later, in 1996, and shortly after the internet started to exist as a way to enhance the game. Having user-made scenarios was obviously a HUGE boost to Civ II by itself. However Civ II was in all factors a superior game to Civ I, something which (in my view) never again happened in the Civ series. (eg Civ III didn't have an event file...)
Of course one shouldn't forget that Civ II was released 5 years later, in 1996, and shortly after the internet started to exist as a way to enhance the game. Having user-made scenarios was obviously a HUGE boost to Civ II by itself. However Civ II was in all factors a superior game to Civ I, something which (in my view) never again happened in the Civ series.
(eg Civ III didn't have an event file...)
Akka
Moody old mage.
Civ 1 had poor (ok, non-existant is closer to reality) animations and rather poor (not THAT poor for the year though) graphics, but that's very secondary.
It was a game about the entire history of mankind, which managed to offer a fantastic journey. And it was groundbreaking for its time. I still remember how I played hours and hours and still was barely with knights, and looked at the manual and saw there were actually TANKS and BOMBERS in far, far, far away future ^^
It took monthes for me to finally get my fill of it, while my "interest cycles" for games are usually about a few days, weeks at best. Even at the time I considered it was "the best game ever", so I stand by my vote
It was a game about the entire history of mankind, which managed to offer a fantastic journey. And it was groundbreaking for its time. I still remember how I played hours and hours and still was barely with knights, and looked at the manual and saw there were actually TANKS and BOMBERS in far, far, far away future ^^
It took monthes for me to finally get my fill of it, while my "interest cycles" for games are usually about a few days, weeks at best. Even at the time I considered it was "the best game ever", so I stand by my vote
civvver
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I'm just trying not to let nostalgia influence me too much here 
I was 8 in 1992 when my dad's friend loaded civ onto our ibm 486 off a floppy. He told us kids this is the best computer game ever and we dove in- with no manual or instructions of any kind and no guidance form anyone. I literally figured out everything about civ just by playing it. If I tried to understand menus like that today I'd probably uninstall it haha. I remember trying to figure out what the food icons were and never building any buildings because of the maintenance cost and I always kept research at 100%. Took me a while to realize the benefits of buildings.
But I still think overall a link to the past stands as a better game. I just love the story and style and gameplay. It's the best zelda title for many.
I was 8 in 1992 when my dad's friend loaded civ onto our ibm 486 off a floppy. He told us kids this is the best computer game ever and we dove in- with no manual or instructions of any kind and no guidance form anyone. I literally figured out everything about civ just by playing it. If I tried to understand menus like that today I'd probably uninstall it haha. I remember trying to figure out what the food icons were and never building any buildings because of the maintenance cost and I always kept research at 100%. Took me a while to realize the benefits of buildings.
But I still think overall a link to the past stands as a better game. I just love the story and style and gameplay. It's the best zelda title for many.
LTTP is surely one of the best SNES titles of all time. Although later on SOM (Secret of Mana) was even better as a Japanese-rpg.
I still remember the first time i played A Link to the Past. It was just incredibly atmospheric... When you go outside as Link, and see the rain, the effect is just impressive for a 1991 game, and so was the way to get into the castle
I still remember the first time i played A Link to the Past. It was just incredibly atmospheric... When you go outside as Link, and see the rain, the effect is just impressive for a 1991 game, and so was the way to get into the castle
Loppan Torkel
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Two 1991 lists for fun:
http://www.mobygames.com/stats/top_games/k,by_year/listType,1/p,-1/ssid,1991/
http://www.unikgamer.com/tops/top-games-of-1991-62.html
I'd go with Civilization 1991. Supercars 2, Lemmings, Speedball 2, Lotus TC2, Gods, Utopia and SimCity were great titles too, but not as good.
http://www.mobygames.com/stats/top_games/k,by_year/listType,1/p,-1/ssid,1991/
Spoiler :
http://www.unikgamer.com/tops/top-games-of-1991-62.html
Spoiler :
I'd go with Civilization 1991. Supercars 2, Lemmings, Speedball 2, Lotus TC2, Gods, Utopia and SimCity were great titles too, but not as good.
Hmm, it seems Cruise for a Corpse was also released in 1991... Another GREAT game by Delphine
This adventure game simply had by far the best graphics ever seen at the time, and of course Delphine's trademark flowing animation. A wonderful game, with great music and interesting plot too. Another classic. I guess i will just HAVE to nominate it too, although Another World (by the same company) still is my first option
So:
Nomination: Cruise for a Corpse (Delphine software)
This adventure game simply had by far the best graphics ever seen at the time, and of course Delphine's trademark flowing animation. A wonderful game, with great music and interesting plot too. Another classic. I guess i will just HAVE to nominate it too, although Another World (by the same company) still is my first option
So:
Nomination: Cruise for a Corpse (Delphine software)
Omega124
Challenging Fate
I nominate the original Sonic the Hedgehog as game of the year. Not going to go as in depth as my last nomination (Especially since I'm sure you guys know exactly what Sonic is), but Sonic the Hedgehog was possibly one the most important console games ever released. Ever. Released in the awkward part of the early 90s when neither the SNES nor Genesis was really dominant, the original Sonic was a platformer with a major twist that hasn't been explored yet: there is a emphasis on speed.
This is not to say completing levels quickly wasn't a goal in previous games. The Mario games for instance did have timers that would count to zero, upon which you will lose a life. But Sonic revolutionized the genre with speed-based challenges. Due to the limitations of the NES, characters would only move a pre-set speed. You will go X fast moving, and you will instantly lose all inertia once you let go of input. Sonic, however, could be manipulated how fast he went by how hard and long you pressed the left or right button. Not only that, but Sonic has to lose inertia; he will not simply stop when input ceases. Not only that, but there is ramps, loop de loops, and hills scattered throughout the map, and Sonic has to be moving fast enough to pass them or gravity will not allow the player to proceed. However, go too fast all the time and a player could run into an enemy or spikes or some other obstacle that he simply can not react to. This means the player has carefully manage how fast you want to proceed in a level.
Did I mention the terrain itself wasn't simply flat, but had rolling terrain? Super Mario World had sloped platforms at times, but nowhere to the degree that Sonic did. This, along with the fact that the entire level would be loaded at once with no "rooms" and filled with multiple routes to complete means that long, complex, and visually appealing platforming puzzles were possible to implement seamlessly with no issue. The multiple paths in the level also made replaying the game look more attractive, because there is still a sense of discovery in the game as you try to find new paths in order to reach the end. The levels were also beautiful for its time. Grand platforming games in 16-bit were rare in the day. Only Super Mario World existed at that point to compete with Sonic, and while Super Mario World had a lot more levels, they were shorter and lacked the complexity of Sonic levels. The last thing of note is that Sonic had a unique way to take hits. Scattered in the level are rings, which act as the generic collectible players take for points. Collecting 100 rings means an extra life. However, when you get hit, you lose all your rings, but they scatter all around you and its possible to pick them up again before they despawn. Get hit with no rings on you, and you die.
While the lack of the spindash, first included in the second game, really holds back the first Sonic compared to its successors, on its own merit the first Sonic game was amazing. It was the best selling Genesis game, at 15 million copies, and it was the focus of a particularly nasty ad campaign against Nintendo which allowed Sega to dominate the early to mid portions of the 16 bit console wars, a position lost only when Nintendo started to capitalize on the SNES's superior hardware.
So, TL;DR Nominate=Sonic the Hedgehog
This is not to say completing levels quickly wasn't a goal in previous games. The Mario games for instance did have timers that would count to zero, upon which you will lose a life. But Sonic revolutionized the genre with speed-based challenges. Due to the limitations of the NES, characters would only move a pre-set speed. You will go X fast moving, and you will instantly lose all inertia once you let go of input. Sonic, however, could be manipulated how fast he went by how hard and long you pressed the left or right button. Not only that, but Sonic has to lose inertia; he will not simply stop when input ceases. Not only that, but there is ramps, loop de loops, and hills scattered throughout the map, and Sonic has to be moving fast enough to pass them or gravity will not allow the player to proceed. However, go too fast all the time and a player could run into an enemy or spikes or some other obstacle that he simply can not react to. This means the player has carefully manage how fast you want to proceed in a level.
Did I mention the terrain itself wasn't simply flat, but had rolling terrain? Super Mario World had sloped platforms at times, but nowhere to the degree that Sonic did. This, along with the fact that the entire level would be loaded at once with no "rooms" and filled with multiple routes to complete means that long, complex, and visually appealing platforming puzzles were possible to implement seamlessly with no issue. The multiple paths in the level also made replaying the game look more attractive, because there is still a sense of discovery in the game as you try to find new paths in order to reach the end. The levels were also beautiful for its time. Grand platforming games in 16-bit were rare in the day. Only Super Mario World existed at that point to compete with Sonic, and while Super Mario World had a lot more levels, they were shorter and lacked the complexity of Sonic levels. The last thing of note is that Sonic had a unique way to take hits. Scattered in the level are rings, which act as the generic collectible players take for points. Collecting 100 rings means an extra life. However, when you get hit, you lose all your rings, but they scatter all around you and its possible to pick them up again before they despawn. Get hit with no rings on you, and you die.
While the lack of the spindash, first included in the second game, really holds back the first Sonic compared to its successors, on its own merit the first Sonic game was amazing. It was the best selling Genesis game, at 15 million copies, and it was the focus of a particularly nasty ad campaign against Nintendo which allowed Sega to dominate the early to mid portions of the 16 bit console wars, a position lost only when Nintendo started to capitalize on the SNES's superior hardware.
So, TL;DR Nominate=Sonic the Hedgehog
Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
I vote for Civilization.
i nominated princess maker 2, the english version which was never officially published. and because it's old and use cool MIDI music. very hipster.
Omega124
Challenging Fate
i nominated princess maker 2, the english version which was never officially published. and because it's old and use cool MIDI music. very hipster.
Released in 1993; doesn't count. Also, I fail to see why you needed to quote my post in the first place, but whatever.
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