by beachthunder
Styyyyyyyyle! It's not just a game's look; it's also the music, the setting, the voice acting, the character designs, the pacing, the smell! Definitely the smell.
Ultimately, this is a list that is filtered through my brain; it's not meant as an 'objective' best of list.
I've tried to only list the first game of a franchise that includes a particular art style. Also, the listed year is the game's first release date in any region.
Also, um, sorry about the weird layout, blame Giant Bomb!
Showing 1-10 of 25 items
1993: At the time, I remember this looking like no other game I had seen. Everything about Day of the Tentacle is so damn stylish! The first of several Peter Chan games on this list.
1994: I love the commitment to the bleak heavy metal style; hair cuts are forbidden in the world of BlackThorne!
1995: For better or worse, Comix Zone is among the first games I can think of where its aesthetics clearly informed all other aspects of its game design.
1996: Sure, there were a handful of other claymation games before The Neverhood, but this game really nailed it.
1997: It's not called Oddworld for nothing; Oddworld is really odd. It's the kind game that makes you realise just how bland the settings of most other games are.
1998: This era of polygonal games was real rough. Thankfully, Peter Chan and the rest of the LucasArts team decided to embrace the lowpoly limitations of the time and produce an amazing Día de Muertos-styled game.
1999: Surreal voxel environments!
2000: I believe this was actually the very first game to have a cel-shaded style.
2001: Back to pixel art. It bums me out that I never played this; I absolutely love the vibrant aesthetic, especially the chunky vehicle sprites.
2002: ...and now we're back to cel-shading! While I'm not the biggest fan of the look, Wind Waker undeniably has styyyyyyyyle.