Top 20 Best Years in Gaming - WatchMojo

[Bryank75]

Most years bring us a bunch of great games, but these are the years that stand the tallest. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most impactful years in gaming history based on each year’s game releases, consoles, and trends.

Breakdown of each year;

20. 1991
(SNES launch, Super Mario Bros, Sonic, Street Fighter II Arcade launch)

19. 1994
(Super Metroid, FFVI, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic 3, PlayStation Japan launch, System Shock, Elder Scrolls Arena)

18. 2008
(Smash Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, Animal Crossing Wii, Fallout 3, MGS4, Left 4 Dead, GTAIV, Dead Space, Little Big Planet)

17. 1992
(Super Mario Kart, Zelda Link to the Past US launch, Sonic 2, Mortal Kombat Arcade launch, Night Trap, Wolfenstein 3D)

16. 2002
(Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, GTA Vice City, Morrowind, Splinter Cell, Battlefield, Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet & Clank)

15. 2018
(God of War, Spider-Man, Smash Ultimate, Dragonball FighterZ, RDR2, Celeste, Dead Cells)

14. 2010
(RDR, Mario Galaxy 2, AC Brotherhood, Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Halo Reach, Super Meat Boy, Limbo)

13. 2006
(Wii & PS3 launch, Wii Sports, Motion Controls, NSMB 3DS, Zelda Twilight Princess, Gears of War, Saints Row, Dead Rising)

12. 2004
(Doom 3, Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft, MGS3, Halo 2, Far Cry, Monster Hunter, GTA San Andreas, Nintendo DS launch.

11. 2011
(3DS launch, Zelda Skyward Sword, Batman Arkham City, Dark Souls, Skyrim, LBP2, Portal 2, Minecraft)

10. 2005
(Xbox 360 launch, Nintendogs, Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus, Guitar Hero, God of War)

9. 1997
(Castlevania SOTN, FFVII, Star Fox 64, Goldeneye 007, Mario Kart 64, Rumble Controllers, Diablo, Fallout)

8. 2001
(Xbox & Gamecube launch, Smash Melee, Halo, GTA III, FFX, Devil May Cry, Jak & Daxter)

7. 1996
(Nintendo 64 launch, Super Mario 64, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake)

6. 2000
(PS2 launch, Diablo II, Deus Ex, Chrono Cross, Baldurs Gate 2, FFIX, Perfect Dark, Zelda Majora's Mask)

5. 2017
(Switch launch, Zelda BOTW, Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey, RE7, Sonic Mania, PUBG, Fortnite, Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5)

4. 2013
(PS4 and XB1 launch, Bioshock Infinite, ACIV Black Flag, The Last of Us, Brothers A Tale of Two Suns, Stanley Parable, Zelda Link Between Worlds, Super Mario 3D World, GTA V)

3. 1985
(NES launch, Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Ghost N Goblins, Gauntlet, Radius)

2. 2007
(Bioshock, Halo 3, Rock Band, Mass Effect, Mario Galaxy, The Witcher, Assassins Creed, Uncharted, COD4, Team Fortress 2, Portal)

1. 1998
(Zelda Ocarina of Time, Pokemon R/G/Y US launch, RE2, MGS, Starcraft, Half-Life, Grim Fandango, Baldurs Gate, Banjo Kazooie, Mario Party, Spyro)

Breakdown Credit: ResetEra User MauroNL

 

[Sleepy Brown]

2017 was the best year. It gave us the best game that ever got made.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Developers these days are still trying to copy it and fail. Elden Ring came close. And just look at it. Already the clear winner of "GOTY 2022".

 

[nominedomine]

1998 is just ridiculous, no other year comes even close.

 

[Bryank75]

1998 is just ridiculous, no other year comes even close.

*Just added the breakdown of each year and credited MauroNL over at Reset.*

Yeah, 1998 across the board on all platforms is insane.... MGS, Banjo, Pokemon and Zelda OoT are games I got so much enjoyment from and kinda defined a large chunk of my gaming history / life. They also set expectations for future games....

MGS ushering in the more cinematic game style.

 

[nominedomine]

*Just added the breakdown of each year and credited MauroNL over at Reset.*

Yeah, 1998 across the board on all platforms is insane.... MGS, Banjo, Pokemon and Zelda OoT are games I got so much enjoyment from and kinda defined a large chunk of my gaming history / life. They also set expectations for future games....

MGS ushering in the more cinematic game style.

It's the first Pokemon, the first Half-life, the first StarCraft, the first MGS, the first Baldur's Gate, the first 3D Zelda. Multiple genre defining games that had massive impact on how game were made after. It's pretty much impossible for something like that to happen again.

1996 and 1997 were pretty packed as well, the change from 2D to 3D, the change to CD, there was just too much going on.

 

[Deleted member 141]

Glad to see #1 is correct.

 

[Katajx]

I can’t agree with 2013. I loved getting my PS4, but with game delays and such I feel like it was months before I got a game that made me happy with that purchase due to launch game delays and such.

Mario 3D world on the other hand was glorious as one of the 10 people that bought a Wii U.

 

[Bryank75]

I can’t agree with 2013. I loved getting my PS4, but with game delays and such I feel like it was months before I got a game that made me happy with that purchase due to launch game delays and such.

Mario 3D world on the other hand was glorious as one of the 10 people that bought a Wii U.

Agree, I remember waiting till early 2014 instead of picking up the PS4 in 2013 cause I just didn't see anything I wanted to play urgently.

I think Second Son was the first thing I considered a must get.

 

[Muddasar]

2017 was the best year. It gave us the best game that ever got made.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Developers these days are still trying to copy it and fail. Elden Ring came close. And just look at it. Already the clear winner of "GOTY 2022".

BOTW the best game that ever got made?

Maybe if you are 20 years old.

BOTW copied what WRPGs have been doing for the past 25 years.

Agree with Watchmojo. 1998 was easily the best year.

MGS, Zelda Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 2, Gran Turismo, Half Life, Unreal, Grim Fandango, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Pokemon Red/Blue, Starcraft, Baldurs Gate, Xenogears, Tekken 3, Fallout 2, Parasite Eve, Final Fantasy Tactics, Banjo Kazooie, Spyro, Crash 3 to name a few were all released in the same year.

Crazy year on all platforms.

 

[nominedomine]

BOTW copied what WRPGs have been doing for the past 25 years.

What was it that BOTW copied from WRPGs that they were doing for the past 25 years?

 

[Muddasar]

What was it that BOTW copied from WRPGs that they were doing for the past 25 years?

Have you played any WRPGs? Play The Witcher series for starters.

The Zelda series was stale for years and they freshened it up with ideas already used in WRPG games to make BOTW.

The most ridiculous thing I hear is Zelda BOTW is some revolution to gaming simply because it's Nintendo. What did it introduce?

Open world? Climbing? Voice acting? Item collection/creation? Dungeons? The Cel Shaded graphics? Dynamic Weather?

People make it sound like BOTW is the Mario 64 of RPGs. Give me a break.

Link to the past, Ocarina of time and Majoras mask were peak Zelda games.

 

[ksdixon]

1998 Rules

 

[nominedomine]

Have you played any WRPGs? Play The Witcher series for starters.

The Zelda series was stale for years and they freshened it up with ideas already used in WRPG games to make BOTW.

The most ridiculous thing I hear is Zelda BOTW is some revolution to gaming simply because it's Nintendo. What did it introduce?

Open world? Climbing? Voice acting? Item collection/creation? Dungeons? The Cel Shaded graphics? Dynamic Weather?

People make it sound like BOTW is the Mario 64 of RPGs. Give me a break.

Link to the past, Ocarina of time and Majoras mask were peak Zelda games.

Yes, I played every single game in The Witcher series when they released, are you under the impression The Witcher is some obscure series or that people haven't played games like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, TES, etc?

Really hard to even follow what you are trying to say. Zelda BoTW has nothing to do with The Witcher, it isn't trying to do the same things at all. TW3 is open world and so is Zelda, that's about it.

Again, what was it that BOTW copied from WRPGs that they were doing for the past 25 years? To me that statement doesn't make any sense. The stuff you attempted to list makes absolute no sense at all.

So what if the other user thinks that BoTW is the best game he ever played, I wonder what makes you so confident that the best game you ever played is so much more acceptable.

 

[ethomaz]

98 is really hard to disagree.

2018 seems too high imo.

97 seems to be robed… it is at mininum top 3 even the list forgetting a lot of memorable games.

 

[Sleepy Brown]

BOTW the best game that ever got made?

Maybe if you are 20 years old.

BOTW copied what WRPGs have been doing for the past 25 years.

Playing games since the SNES era.
It's the other way around. WRPGs and western open-world games are trying to copy what BOTW did. Without success so far.
Zelda BOTW is the greatest game ever. By far.

 

[RE4-City]

Honestly I think 2004 is way too low for me personally. If RE4 would of never got delayed to january 2005 I think 2004 would of been the greatest ever but even without RE4 I think its #2 for me

 

[Yobo]

Playing games since the SNES era.
It's the other way around. WRPGs and western open-world games are trying to copy what BOTW did. Without success so far.
Zelda BOTW is the greatest game ever. By far.

It's a mediocre Ubisoft game

 

[rofif]

For me, 1998, 2011, 2007
2011 especially. That year

 

[ethomaz]

Playing games since the SNES era.
It's the other way around. WRPGs and western open-world games are trying to copy what BOTW did. Without success so far.
Zelda BOTW is the greatest game ever. By far.

IMO Zelda Ocarine of Time and Link to the Past are better Zelda than BotW.

Edit - Added LttP.

 

[Bryank75]

IMO Zelda Ocarine of Time and Link to the Past are better Zeldas than BotW.

Easily and has a more defined and emotional story!