IN RETROSPECT: GAMING IN 1998
1998, WHAT A YEAR LADS. WHAT A FUCKING YEAR. In the peak of my youth, the ripe old age of 5, video gaming delivered arguably its greatest year ever. Obviously, I didnt know that at the time, I was too busy chewing the head off the red karate Action Man, but looking back (as a much older yet similarly unwise person) I cannot escape how great a year it was. It was the birth year of Metal Gear Solid, the year Shigeru Miyamoto was immortalised with an induction into the AIAS hall of fame. A year so rich in greatest of all time games, that 1999 was quaking in fear at the thought of having to follow it up.
And you know? It was actually a pretty timid start to the year in honesty. Of course, CAPCOM were nice enough to give us the second Resident Evil and Sqaure (without Enix) and their we must release forty games a year philosophy started early with the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy Tactics. We also had the terrifically fun friendship destroyer Bomberman World. Enix released Bust a Grove too, which I guess means 1-0 to them in the Square and Enix havent combined yet because we havent lost all financial sense for now, but lets see who releases the worst games for banter competition. Square then followed up Tactics with Xenogears, a half decent JRPG you may or may not have heard of (if you havent, go play it right now), which they then followed up with Parasite Eve. If youre keeping count, thats three game of the year contenders by March for Square. Nintendos first big game of the year was Yoshis Story. I think, when looking back, its a game caked in nostalgia and love but under that layer is probably one of the more disappointing N64 games Nintendo produced and possibly the only blemish on Hideki Konnos wonderful career. Tenchu Stealth Assassins also released, but I can literally write paragraphs about how its basically the greatest invention since the wheel.
The first quarter of the year would end with StarCraft as Blizzard really started taking strides towards being a dominant force in the games industry. April didnt bring too much a generally well received Might and Magic game and some Warhammer here and there. Square dropped the absolutely mental side-scrolling shooter Einhander, which I can only recommend to anyone to go and play now, if not for the chaotic gameplay then for the glorious soundtrack. Polyphony Digital would creep onto the horizon with the beginning of one of the greatest and most iconic PlayStation franchises of all time Gran Turismo. Epic Games released Unreal (and the Unreal Engine), which would be the foundation for not just more great Unreal games but a host of other excellent titles as well. Megatoon Studios released the god awful Jersey Devil, but it gets a mention because its soundtrack was immense. Too ease the pain of Jersey Devil, the gods of gaming descended down upon to bless the Earth with Rares Banjo-Kazooie, considered one of the N64s greatest games ever. Nintendo even dropped F-Zero X in what was a great month for their little purple box.
Star Ocean: The Second Story discussion could go here, but I personally feel like it was already inferior to pretty much every JRPG on the market (see: Xenogears). So instead well talk about Tom Clancys first Rainbow Six because it was the absolute fucking tits. A tactical shooter, all about planning tactics, it wasnt the series best game, but it laid some serious foundation down and really changed the pace in terms of shooters, a great alternative to more arcadey games like Goldeneye. A new Mega Man came out! Yay! Moving swiftly on.
At this point I just look at the month of September and I really dont think any nonsensical analysis could do the month justice. Its honestly just rammed full of some of the most insane titles you could think of. The kind of games everyone has played and anyone could name. The following is a list of games that released from September 1st up to early October:
Metal Gear Solid
Spyro the Dragon
Resident Evil Directors Cut
Need for Speed III Hor Pursuit
Fallout 2
Pokemon Red and Blue
MedEvil
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
From Metal Gear Solid to Crash Bandicoot 3, there was only 40 days between the release of those 8 games. Three of them were the beginning of some of most iconic franchises in the history of gaming. More unbelievably, there would be a two week spell later in the year that some consider even more stacked than the above list.
October gave us a classic dinosaur shooter in Turok 2 and the bizarrely intriguing Grim Fandango. We then arrive at mid-November. As I said earlier, there was a two week period, give or take a few days, which may just be the greatest two week period weve ever been fortunate to have grace our presence. That earlier list is full of some of the greatest games weve ever played, but the upcoming list not only features some of the gamings finest, but some of its most influential.
Half-Life Changed the way shooters and stories were told forever.
Dance, Dance Revolution Not everyones cup of tea, but was undoubtedly the saviour of arcade gaming in the west (especially the UK). You could even say it made it cool.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time A game that cemented Miyamoto as the greatest of all time.
Tomb Raider III Continued to change the perception and create positivity towards women within the gaming community.
StarCraft: Brood War An expansion worthy of being a game. Would be a sign of things to come for Blizzard.
Thief: The Dark Project The first ever PC game to use light and sound as a mechanic, arguably more influential than MGS in terms of the stealth genre.
Baldurs Gate Just a fantastic RPG, with an expansive character development, the best character development in games in fact.
Its hard to really suggest with of those two periods of 1998 were the best, because theyre both just sublime. In retrospect, its easy to see how a game like Suikoden II (highly regarded as one of the best JRPGs of all time) was so easily overlooked, considering it came right at the end of such a stacked year. 1998, we did not deserve you.
Top 10 Games of 1998
10: Einhander
9: Tenchu: Stealth Assassin
8: Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
7: Fallout 2
6: Thief: The Dark Project
5: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4: Baldurs Gate
3. Half-Life
2. Xenogears
1. Metal Gear Solid