Just like Mackey, seeing that Half-Life is only a dollar on account of it’s ten years of being awesome brought back plenty of wonderful memories of late 90’s gaming. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that 1998 was not a great year, but the best year for the medium in its history.
I think this is easy to prove. Below I’ve listed just a handful of 1998’s most well remembered games, and many of them continue to represent the best-in-class of their respective genres. Think about all the changes that have happened in gaming since these came out: high definition came to fruition, the Wii changed the rules, all those idiots you muted on Xbox Live last night were born. And yet, these titles endure:
Thief: The Dark Project – Between this and a much more memorable game we’ll get to, stealth gaming was born this year. Thief made sneaking great fun, something most developers following it couldn’t figure out.
Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War – I don’t care what anyone says, this and its sequel are the best space simulators ever made, period, no discussion. It certainly helps that the genre died immediately after FreeSpace 2 came out, but that’s just a detail.
Grim Fandango – Ten years later, and Tim Schafer’s noir tale of murder and intrigue in the afterlife is still the high watermark of adventure gaming. At this point, there’s a good change it will stay that way forever.
Resident Evil 2 – Capcom Studios 4 eventually rewrote the genre with RE4, but for years this was survival horror’s defining title, and the best game in its franchise. It feels pretty old these days, though.
Tekken 3 – I knew two guys in college who literally played this every moment I saw them, and that was years after it came out. Look past the blocky graphics, and this one actually holds up pretty strong.
Unreal – Before this game, Cliffy B’s claim to fame was Jazz Jackrabbit. Now he makes games where men pair up to contemplate flowers through the sniper scopes of their chainsaw shotguns. Or something. In any case, Unreal was the turning point.
StarCraft – Oh, Blizzard went from normal game developers to legendary game developers in 1998 too! The world’s useful productivity has been in a downward spiral ever since.
Metal Gear Solid – Prior to this game, Hideo Kojima…was making the exact same type of inscrutable, self-referential meta-games he continues to make now. But MGS made this brand of madness a sensation.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – TOOT turns ten tomorrow, actually. For a fun exercise, contemplate the simpler, happier time this game represents for you. Then turn on cable news.
Fallout 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Gran Turismo also came out this year (though GT only kind of counts, as it just managed to eke out a Japanese release before the end of 97). Okay, enough reminiscing. Go to the Steam now.