While the 1980's are considered by many as the golden age of video games, I personally think that the 1990's are the REAL one for its huge variety of consoles, as well as iconic franchises that are born on such decade and still are with us like Sonic The Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and Mortal Kombat to name a few. Not to mention franchises that began strong in the 80's, but grown stronger in the 90's like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter and Final Fantasy.
With all the due respect that deserves the 80's gaming I love so much and is responsible for the evolution and development of video games, I feel with all my heart that the 90's is where the gaming industry has morphed from being a niche one into a serious and mature business. It's true that the 80's belonged mainly to the arcade games that defined an era and beyond like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Dragon's Lair along with the 8-bit NES that reshaped the video gaming world as we know today, but it can't be denied that the 90's found a healthy balance between console, handheld, arcade and PC games.
The 90's brought gamers iconic consoles that still enjoys respect today (Genesis, Super NES, PS1, Nintendo 64, Game Boy), decent ones (TurboGrafx-16, Neo-Geo(MVS/AES), Saturn, Game Gear), underappreciated ones (Dreamcast, 3DO, Jaguar) and infamous ones (CD-i, Virtual Boy, Tiger LCD handhelds).
As previously mentioned, the whole 90's decade has been so excellent. However, there are the years that I personally consider the best in video gaming and its reasons:
1991 - The year that officially started the Golden Age of console gaming with the North American arrival of the SNES along with Super Mario World, its former rival Sonic in its debut title and Street Fighter II, that initiated the fighting game craze and thus experienced a renaissance in arcades.
1993 - Sega stole the crown from Nintendo in sales thanks to its high-profile games like Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, Sonic CD, Disney's Aladdin and Genesis ports of Mortal Kombat (with its violent content intact) and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition, although the Mario maker shined with Star Fox, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Super Mario All-Stars. Meanwhile, Myst and the controversial Doom contributed to the birth in popularity of PC gaming. Speaking of controversy, Mortal Kombat II rocked the arcades that year but gained media outrage for its barbarian violence.
1994 - It was considered the year of the 16-bit, where Nintendo strikes back with Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out, Donkey Kong Country and the uncut SNES version of Mortal Kombat II, while Sonic 3 welcomes Knuckles to the speedy and spiky blue franchise.
1996 - The 3D era is officially born with first installments of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Crash Bandicoot, along with the launch of the Nintendo 64 including its flagship title Super Mario 64.
1997 - Basically a sequel to the previous year, it spawned acclaimed blockbusters like GoldenEye 007, Final Fantasy VII, Star Fox 64, Gran Turismo, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Fallout.
1998 - Considered by many as the best of the decade for bringing masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, Resident Evil 2 and Grim Fandango. And for better or worse, the Poké-mania was born throughout the world with the arrival of Pokémon Red/Blue to North America.
And that's the real reason why the 90's is the best decade regarding video games.
What do you think about it? Feel free to make any comments.
With all the due respect that deserves the 80's gaming I love so much and is responsible for the evolution and development of video games, I feel with all my heart that the 90's is where the gaming industry has morphed from being a niche one into a serious and mature business. It's true that the 80's belonged mainly to the arcade games that defined an era and beyond like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Dragon's Lair along with the 8-bit NES that reshaped the video gaming world as we know today, but it can't be denied that the 90's found a healthy balance between console, handheld, arcade and PC games.
The 90's brought gamers iconic consoles that still enjoys respect today (Genesis, Super NES, PS1, Nintendo 64, Game Boy), decent ones (TurboGrafx-16, Neo-Geo(MVS/AES), Saturn, Game Gear), underappreciated ones (Dreamcast, 3DO, Jaguar) and infamous ones (CD-i, Virtual Boy, Tiger LCD handhelds).
As previously mentioned, the whole 90's decade has been so excellent. However, there are the years that I personally consider the best in video gaming and its reasons:
1991 - The year that officially started the Golden Age of console gaming with the North American arrival of the SNES along with Super Mario World, its former rival Sonic in its debut title and Street Fighter II, that initiated the fighting game craze and thus experienced a renaissance in arcades.
1993 - Sega stole the crown from Nintendo in sales thanks to its high-profile games like Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, Sonic CD, Disney's Aladdin and Genesis ports of Mortal Kombat (with its violent content intact) and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition, although the Mario maker shined with Star Fox, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Super Mario All-Stars. Meanwhile, Myst and the controversial Doom contributed to the birth in popularity of PC gaming. Speaking of controversy, Mortal Kombat II rocked the arcades that year but gained media outrage for its barbarian violence.
1994 - It was considered the year of the 16-bit, where Nintendo strikes back with Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out, Donkey Kong Country and the uncut SNES version of Mortal Kombat II, while Sonic 3 welcomes Knuckles to the speedy and spiky blue franchise.
1996 - The 3D era is officially born with first installments of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Crash Bandicoot, along with the launch of the Nintendo 64 including its flagship title Super Mario 64.
1997 - Basically a sequel to the previous year, it spawned acclaimed blockbusters like GoldenEye 007, Final Fantasy VII, Star Fox 64, Gran Turismo, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Fallout.
1998 - Considered by many as the best of the decade for bringing masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, Resident Evil 2 and Grim Fandango. And for better or worse, the Poké-mania was born throughout the world with the arrival of Pokémon Red/Blue to North America.
And that's the real reason why the 90's is the best decade regarding video games.
What do you think about it? Feel free to make any comments.
