Given that the next console generation has properly arrived and we’ve had a couple of pretty solid years leading up to it, it makes sense to revisit one of the community’s favourite chestnuts.
The thing I love about going through each year is how it reminds you just how much talent there was outside of the major releases. There’s years like 2007 which are just stupid packed in terms of impact, or years like 1999 when the internet started to properly coalesce into a viable utility developers could focus on.
And then you have other bonuses which aren’t tied to releases. 2006 was a great year for the Wii, but it was also the year you could grab The Sims 2, Battlefield 2 or Need for Speed: Most Wanted with two large pizzas and a garlic bread.
I’d still buy that deal today. All those games still slap, and if everyone’s jumping on BF2 again, that’s a great time.
But also going through each year reminds you of the memories you had, the environments you played those games in, the state of online at the time, and just things you might have missed. It’s a fun, wild ride, so let’s go down the journey.
- 1987 – Operation Wolf
- 1988 – Double Dragon II
- 1989 – Prince of Persia
- 1990 – Heaven & Earth
- 1991 – Civilization
- 1992 – Wolfenstein 3D
- 1993 – Cannon Fodder
- 1994 – One Must Fall: 2097
- 1995 – Machiavelli the Prince / Merchant Prince
- 1996 – Heroes of Might and Magic 2
- 1997 – Grand Theft Auto
- 1998 – StarCraft
- 1999 – Heroes of Might and Magic 3
- 2000 – Quake 3: Arena
- 2001 – Advance Wars
- 2002 – Warcraft 3
- 2003 – Counter-Strike 1.6
- 2004 – Knights of the Old Republic
- 2005 – Battlefield 2
- 2006 – Wii Tennis
- 2007 – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- 2008 – Wipeout HD
- 2009 – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2010 – StarCraft 2
- 2011 – Mass Effect 2
- 2012 – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- 2013 – Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist
- 2014 – Child of Light
- 2015 – The Witcher 3
- 2016 – Destiny: Rise of Iron
- 2017 – PUBG
- 2018 – Azul
- 2019 – Disco Elysium
- 2020 – Microsoft Flight Simulator
Lot of PC stuff with some handheld/early DS games in there, so you can get a pretty clear sense of what I grew up with. I’ve changed out a couple of titles from the last time I did this, primarily because I spent more time with them, or they were games that I just kept coming back to. One Must Fall 2097 was an obvious oversight; I didn’t play it the year it came out, but I played an absolute shit ton of it as soon as I discovered it. Same went for Battlefield 2, which was a blast at LANs with pizzas and a full squad.
Also, Blacklist is still incredible today and Ubi really needs to do something with that franchise. Anything. Please.
Of course, I couldn’t just do the list by myself. So I hit up Leah and Lavender and asked for their best games, and here’s what they provided.
Leah, Kotaku Australia Writer/Producer
- 1995 – Tekken 2
- 1996 – Super Mario 64
- 1997 – Crash Bandicoot 2
- 1998 – Spyro the Dragon
- 1999 – Ape Escape
- 2000 – The Sims
- 2001 – Devil May Cry
- 2002 – Digimon World 3
- 2003 – The Sims Bustin’ Out (GBA)
- 2004 – The Urbz: Sims in the City (DS)
- 2005 – Animal Crossing: Wild World
- 2006 – Bully
- 2007 – Super Mario Galaxy
- 2008 – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- 2009 – Batman: Arkham Asylum
- 2010 – Alan Wake
- 2011 – Alice: Madness Returns
- 2012 – Dishonored
- 2013 – BioShock Infinite
- 2014 – inFAMOUS: Second Son
- 2015 – The Witcher III – Wild Hunt
- 2016 – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- 2017 – Night in the Woods
- 2018 – Marvel’s Spider-Man
- 2019 – Devil May Cry 5
- 2020 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- 2021 – The Darkside Detective 2: A Fumble in the Dark
Lavender, Kotaku Australia Writer/Producer
- 1998 – Spyro The Dragon
- 1999 – Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
- 2000 – Mary-Kate and Ashley’s Magical Mystery Mall
- 2001 – The Simpsons: Road Rage
- 2002 – Kingdom Hearts
- 2003 – The Simpsons: Hit & Run
- 2004 – World of Warcraft
- 2005 – The Sims 2 DS
- 2006 – Wii Sports
- 2007 – Mario Party DS
- 2008 – Spore
- 2009 – Farm Ville
- 2010 – Call of Duty Black Ops
- 2011 – Minecraft
- 2012 – Animal Crossing: New Leaf
- 2013 – GTA V
- 2014 – Hearthstone
- 2015 – Heroes of the Storm
- 2016 – Stardew Valley
- 2017 – Jurassic World Evolution
- 2018 – Overcooked 2
- 2019 – Kingdom Hearts III
- 2020 – Animal Crossing New Horizons
So, it’s over to you. I skipped 2021 because we’re not done with the year yet, but you don’t have to. What’s your best game for every year you’ve been alive? Let us know in the comments!
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