15 Years of Gaming: Part 2 (1997, Part 1)

1997, Part 1

1997 was, for me, the first so called "Mega Year" in games. A year that will forever live in the annals of gaming as one with multiple classics. 1997 was a good year.

Mario Kart 64

Release Date: February 10, 1997.

Platform: Nintendo 64

ESRB Rating: E

Developer/Publisher: Nintendo EAD

GameRankings: 87%
Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 7.5/10 (Solid)

Not a whole lot to say about Mario Kart 64 that I'm sure you haven't said or heard said:

"Motherfucker got the blue shell AGAIN!"

"Who's the sonofabitch with the bananas?"

"Who got the lighting? WHO GOT THE LIGHTNING!?!?"

Mario Kart 64 makes you hate your friends, is what I'm saying. It's still remarkably popular in fraternities.

Star Fox 64

Release Date: July 1, 1997

Platform: Nintendo 64

ESRB Rating: T

Developer/Publisher: Nintendo EAD

GameRankings: 90%
Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 8.0/10 (Above Average)

Do a barrel roll! (Z or R twice)

Star Fox 64 was, for all intents and purposes, just a rail shooter. One of the most linear and arcade-like styles of games, rails shooters are, for the most part, derided by gaming press and gaming fans. Star Fox 64 is generally the exception. With it's branching single player and underrated multiplayer, Star Fox 64 is as exciting and action packed as many dozens of supposedly superior games.

GoldenEye: 007
Release Date: August 25, 1997
Platform: Nintendo 64
ESRB Rating: T
Developer/Publisher: Rare/Nintendo
GameRankings: 95.18%

Completely Arbitrary Personal Score: 8.9/10 (Very Good)

Fu*ckin Oddjob...

I said before that games like Doom and Duke Nukem defined the First Person Shooter in the mid 90s. GoldenEye has defined it since then. A lot of the  conventions seen in major modern shooters like the Halo and Modern Warfare series were first seen here. Zoomable sniper rifles, stealth based mission structures, context sensitive hit locations (headshots), and most importantly, four player deathmatch have all become building blocks for shooting games since 1997 thanks to GoldenEye (and it's spiritual successor, Perfect Dark). There was a Wii remake in 2010, but the makers of that game broke the one cardinal rule of remakes: the remake has to be more fun than the original.