SuchFriends' Ten Best Video Games of the 1990s...
 

In Chronological order...


CONTRA (nes)




One of the first games where you and your
friends could blow shit up together rather
than trying to kill each other all the time.
Also introduced the world to cheat codes..
Metroid II The Return of Samus (Gameboy)




Made gameboy thrilling while also resurrecting an under appreciated NES series from the 1980s..

Super Mario World (SNES)







It seems this game introduced America to the SNES

Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES)




Contra was fighting together, Street Fighter
brought fighting against each other outside
of the liquor store or video arcade and
into your friends' bedroom after school
and you didn't need any fucking quarters!

NBA Jam



How could such an unrealistic basketball game
actually influence the way people play real basketball? In the NBA
today almost every player is young enough to have grown up
playing this game in some way. What is the style of NBA today?
What is jokingly called "NBA Jam" style by pundits which is to
rely heavily (indeed overly) on 3 point shooting and to pound the paint
with dunks and layups, only take midrange jump shots if forced.
Of course, this game also demonstrates a real principle of real life
NBA, live by the 3 die by the 3. If your team is not making its shots
you better go into the lane or they'll be down 10 points real quick..


Resident Evil (PS)





Fuck. This game was compelling, difficult, and actually a bit frightening! It was like everything Zelda was in the 80s and early 90s but much more real and also much more frightening rather than campy..

007 Goldeneye (N64)




Where Contra allowed you blow shit up together,
N64 allowed four friends to spend hours killing
each other in different ways..

Gran Turismo (PS)






When you inputted the cheat code to get the billion dollars you never
wasted any more time racing again, just endlessly building and modifying hundreds of cars like what Jay Leno does whenever he is smoking pot.


NBA Live 98 (PS)






Where NBA Jam was fun, this game was the first that was a fluid mix of 5 on5.. Oh yeah, and Jordan finally was there. Me and my friend spent the entire summer of 1998 reliving the Jazz-Lakers Western Conference Finals
where I was trying my damnedest to wash that bad taste of the 4-0
sweep out of my mouth.. I swore the Lakers in real life would win at least one
fucking game, and tried for my revenge against my Jazz fan friend all summer..

Medal of Honor (PS)





I ditched real life for three consecutive days, playing this fucking
game day and night. My friends literally game looking for
me to see if I was alright. I was in my underwear with
empty soda cans, piles of plates and bowls, and an ash
tray full of roaches and cigarette butts.. And a passion
for killing Nazis albeit in a quasi-historically realistic way..

I love you bro. Some nice picks too. Props for Metroid II. So slept on, but so so good.

God damn. Brb. At the bar.

Honorable mentions...

Zelda for SNES
Metal Gear Solid (PS)
Teken 3 (PS)
Grand Theft Auto (the original on PS)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES/Gameboy)
Starfox (SNES)
Top Gun (SNES)

GUILTY PLEASURE:


And don't ask me why but for like a month solid I was obsessed with playing this game and beating all the fucking crazy ass missions like timing the route so that Teddy Roosevelt could make a stop of 13 cities in 4 days campaigning or fulfilling Rhodes' dream of a railroad from Capetown to Cairo. It was borderline OCD status, and really, this game was the LAMEST thing I've ever done or even seen!

For me:

Zelda Link to The Past (SNES)
Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Mario World
Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy 6 (aka FFIII)
Civilization 2
Super Mario Kart
Golden Eye
Doom
Baldur's Gate
Zelda Occarina of Time

Needs more legacy of kain, final fantasy 7(generic, but still essential), smash bros 64,

And Street fighter alpha 2

1989 isn't the 90s but golden axe is still the only video game that counts

if I did a top 10 for 2player/multiplayer games it would be in my top 3

Also Mario 64. Like seriously, what a great way to introduce Mario to 3D. I really couldn't have imagined a better start.

How cute, !@#$%! is trying to troll us

Link To The Past is def #1 for me. Ugh. The other 9. Need to think. Street Fighter II is in there for sure. But damn. Tough.

Yes I wanted to add this, it is actually my favorite game all time, but I didn't think it was popular enough in its own time to warrant the list..


Good times..


I legitimately considered this one and debated its over Resident Evil and went with Resident Evil for having been that much more involved and engaging.

Do pc games count,because in the late 90s there were some seminal releases. I'm talking Thief, Half-Life, Unreal, Kingpin and Quake 2.

I suppose. I remember finding my copy of Doom a few years back....what was it? like 7/8 floppy discs to install? lol

Lets not forget arcade games.

Unreal, Quake were all fucking the shit. Unreal was one of the first legitimately frightening games, if the Trent Reznor soundtracks weren't inspiring enough, I used to play that shit bumping NIN and Marylin Manson records on constant loop..

also should note Nightmare Creatures..

@EVOL..


Toooooooooo many fucking arcade games to mention, including the one you've posted!!

However, I think the unanimous winner of the best of the 1990s was Afterburner, and I'm not sure its even close for a runner up