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Games of My Years

by audiobusting

This was suggested on a Discord server I was on, and it proved to be more fun than I expected! How it works is to list a favourite game released within the year, for every year since the one you were born in. Some years are so much more harder than the others, and it was quite, uh, interesting to have an internal GotY debate, like, 20 times in a row. I will skip years I don't feel strongly about any game, and also include close runners-up in the description.

Showing 1-10 of 25 items

Sam & Max Hit the Road

1. Sam & Max Hit the Road

1993: This is one of my most favourite adventure games ever! It's a fun cartoon point-and-click romp that I honestly treasure more than other comedy adventure games. Also one of the games that got me into the genre in the first place!

Final Fantasy VI

2. Final Fantasy VI

1994: I'll be honest and say that I've never actually finished this game, but wow does this game go. I like to joke that Final Fantasy VI has more intriguing plot development in the first thirty minutes than in the entirety of Final Fantasy XIII. It's funny, because it's true!

Chrono Trigger

3. Chrono Trigger

1995: Okay, here's another one I never finished. I played quite far into it, but my save file was corrupted beyond repair! It shows how much this game owns, that this nevertheless is still one of the best JRPG's I've ever played.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

4. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

1996: I don't actually remember much of this game, but I remember it being super fun! My vague memories of it include: Mario flashing the peace sign onto the camera as an attack move; Bowser being the coolest JRPG party member ever; Geno knowing magic or something I dunno. Runner-up: Kirby Super Star

PaRappa the Rapper

5. PaRappa the Rapper

1997: I gotta say... this game sucks to play. But who can hate it! The songs and the art style are just so catchy and fun! I still sometimes sing the Cheep Cheep stage in the shower. Runner-up: Tomba!

Xenogears

6. Xenogears

1998: Martial arts... Giant mechs... JRPG. It's got everything I want. I also have fond memories of using the Gameshark on this game, so that I can punch giant mechs with powerful kung fu all the time.

Legend of Mana

7. Legend of Mana

1999: explaining how much I love this game, despite barely remembering anything about it, would probably require me writing a dedicated long blog post on it. Just listening to the music soundtrack gets me extremely emotional. This is the best Shimomura soundtrack, IMHO. Runners-up: Um Jammer Lammy (i.e. the actually good PaRappa game); Guardian's Crusade; Revelations: The Demon Slayer (GBC)

The Sims

8. The Sims

2000: The Sims is great. End of story.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

9. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

2001: This pretty much destroyed my mind, and my life. The bit with the Colonel freaking out is probably the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I actually turned off my PS2 when it told me to, because I was absolutely terrified. Thanks, Kojima.

Kingdom Hearts

10. Kingdom Hearts

2002: I hate how stupidly complicated lore that spawned out of this series, but I also genuinely love it.

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