Games that defined a generation

[Ameer67]

There are certain games that represent a generation of gaming. These are games that define that era of gaming and remind you of what made that time period so great. Share what game(s) (which do not necessarily have to be your favorite games) you think define a generation of gaming.

Here is my vote.

Burnout Paradise: a game that truly speaks for the PS3/360 era. The game came out near the middle of the generation's lifespan - 2008, the perfect time for a great title like Burnout to launch. It accomplished feats that simply were not possible in years before. And the name on the box does not lie, Burnout Paradise literally was a paradise. You have a highly detailed and unique city to roam around while wreaking havoc, a damage model that makes your car look like it came straight from the crusher, and a truly unrivaled online multiplayer gaming experience. Best of all, it was pure FUN. What more can you ask for really? When I think of a game that defined a generation, this sure is it.

 

[AudiMan2011]

GTA San Andreas:

​

One of the biggest games on PS2 and possibly one of the greatest of all time. In it's era, the map was huge and diverse for exploration, from the sprawling cities of Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas to the countryside and desert. Lots of fun activities from working out at the gym, to lowrider meets, to train driving missions as a break from the compelling story of CJ trying to rebuild his family. Car customisation was also in-depth for a GTA game, allowing creations of lowrider cruisers and JDM-esque street weapons. There was simply so much fun things to do in San Andreas that even GTA 5 can't match this.

 

[Kitten]

MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 DUB edition [REMIX]

One of the biggest racing games for PS2/Xbox. The name is derived from a partnership between Rockstar and DUB Magazine which features heavily in the game in the form of DUB-sponsored races and DUB-customized vehicles as prizes. layers race through open recreations of San Diego, Atlanta, and Detroit. There are seven types of cars: Tuners, Luxury Sedans, SUVs/Trucks, Exotics, Muscle Cars, Sport Bikes, and Choppers. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is the first game in the series to include car modification, both visual and performance. By winning races, the player unlocks new cars and options to customize them with. These options include enhancing the performance, adding vinyls and new paint jobs, and physically modifying the car by changing parts such as wheels, bumpers, spoilers, neon, hoods, and engine components. The cars are divided into four classes: D, C, B and A, depending on their performance.

Personally, this was a game most of us loved, the amount of tune ability, car list. MCLA never got to this level. And i think this is a game that will stay in our hearts. The amount of fun, and thrills you can do in this game. The story was fantastic. ​

 

[JR98]

Driver (1997)

The first game in the Driver series and (AFAIK) one of the first 3D open world sandbox games (Preceding GTA3 by 4 years). It was heavily inspired by 70's car chase films (Such as Bullitt and The Driver) and featured 4 major American cities (Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas & New York) which could all be explored in the "Take A Ride" Mode. There was also the main story along with several "mini-games" that ranged from chasing a car (or being chased by the police), checkpoint races, survival and a few others. There were no licenced cars but the cars in the game appeared to be heavily based off American muscle cars of the 60's and 70's.​

 

[Kitten]

Driver (1997)

The first game in the Driver series and (AFAIK) one of the first 3D open world sandbox games (Preceding GTA3 by 4 years). It was heavily inspired by 70's car chase films (Such as Bullitt and The Driver) and featured 4 major American cities (Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas & New York) which could all be explored in the "Take A Ride" Mode. There was also the main story along with several "mini-games" that ranged from chasing a car (or being chased by the police), checkpoint races, survival and a few others. There were no licenced cars but the cars in the game appeared to be heavily based off American muscle cars of the 60's and 70's.​

I loved that game!

 

[JR98]

I loved that game!

I think it was the first game I ever played (It was either this or the original GT). Absolutely loved it. Recently played the PS Store version of it and it's held up rather well for a game from 1997.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Metal Gear Solid

The first game that really started to explore serious themes, like trying to escape our genetic destiny, in a format that was accessible to audiences. "Adult gaming" was no longer synonymous with violent games, and Metal Gear Solid proved that gaming can actually be a serious medium; if ever there was a game that could be considered literature, it was Metal Gear Solid (and Sons of Liberty, Snake Eater and The Phantom Pain all fit in here, too).

 

[Elitekilla29]

MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 DUB edition [REMIX]

One of the biggest racing games for PS2/Xbox. The name is derived from a partnership between Rockstar and DUB Magazine which features heavily in the game in the form of DUB-sponsored races and DUB-customized vehicles as prizes. layers race through open recreations of San Diego, Atlanta, and Detroit. There are seven types of cars: Tuners, Luxury Sedans, SUVs/Trucks, Exotics, Muscle Cars, Sport Bikes, and Choppers. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition is the first game in the series to include car modification, both visual and performance. By winning races, the player unlocks new cars and options to customize them with. These options include enhancing the performance, adding vinyls and new paint jobs, and physically modifying the car by changing parts such as wheels, bumpers, spoilers, neon, hoods, and engine components. The cars are divided into four classes: D, C, B and A, depending on their performance.

Personally, this was a game most of us loved, the amount of tune ability, car list. MCLA never got to this level. And i think this is a game that will stay in our hearts. The amount of fun, and thrills you can do in this game. The story was fantastic. ​

To this day, i think this game still beats any game (even today racing games like the crew and need for need) in car customization. Also this game was a blast

 

[Rallywagon]

If you were a young teen in the late 80's or 90's, you knew this game.

The only other game I can think of that sticks out in that era of gaming would be Mortal Kombat. They certainly had an impact on gaming.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider was the first game that really introduced gamers to female playable characters. Granted, it was for the wrong reasons (the developer was quoted as saying "if I'm going to spend all day looking at an arse, I'm going to make sure it's an arse I want to look at"), and it was only really with Rise of the Tomb Raider that Lara adopted a more-practical look, but without the first game, none of it would have been possible.

 

[Clark]

The last good CoD game and arguably the best multiplayer console FPS. Long before it got OTT and the players online weren't too bad. Single player and good story as well, the game just had everything in the right balance.

There hasn't really been a good CoD game since, or at least there hasn't been one even 1% as good as this one.

 

[ukfan758]

Pong 1972:
One of the first arcade video games and one of the first video games made for consoles. It is credited for launching the console industry and being the first commercially successful video game.

 

[Jawehawk]

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider was the first game that really introduced gamers to female playable characters. Granted, it was for the wrong reasons (the developer was quoted as saying "if I'm going to spend all day looking at an arse, I'm going to make sure it's an arse I want to look at"), and it was only really with Rise of the Tomb Raider that Lara adopted a more-practical look, but without the first game, none of it would have been possible.

Don't you mean the 2013 reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise? Rise of Tomb Raider wasn't the first game to feature here new look.

 

[Rallywagon]

Here is the games that defined my personal favorite genre.

Wing Commander for the SegaCD and SNES (and likely others) was probably the most influential space sim game, and one of the first fully 3D. This is the predecessor to Star Citizen, created by the same Chris Roberts of Roberts Space Industries. This game went on to launch a TV show, movie and countless novels based on either the main story or the universe in general.

Star Wars Arcade for the 32x. Tie Fighter can be thrown in too, but this one I personally invested hundreds of hours into.

And finally, the series I've probably put more time into that any other (save perhaps GT). Colony Wars. I spent untold hours playing CW, CW2 and CW3.

Now, with games like Eliteangerous, Star Citizen and No Man's Sky. The Genre is getting going again!

 

[SPhilli911]

Crash Bandicoot. This game and character, to me, represented the original Playstation era and the mid to late 90s in gaming. The character itself was a mascot to Sony in America. It was Sony's Mario, or at least that is what it felt like at the time. It dominated my own childhood, my brother's and sister played endlessly, the music and sound effects still ring like a bell in my memories. It was a good time to be a kid when this game came out, and to me that defined a large part of gaming history and very well represented that era.

 

[Rallywagon]

Crash Bandicoot. This game and character, to me, represented the original Playstation era and the mid to late 90s in gaming. The character itself was a mascot to Sony in America. It was Sony's Mario, or at least that is what it felt like at the time. It dominated my own childhood, my brother's and sister played endlessly, the music and sound effects still ring like a bell in my memories. It was a good time to be a kid when this game came out, and to me that defined a large part of gaming history and very well represented that era.

Yes indeed. This was Sonys Sonic or Mario. My mom's favorite game. CTR was played regularly.

 

[Ameer67]

The last good CoD game and arguably the best multiplayer console FPS. Long before it got OTT and the players online weren't too bad. Single player and good story as well, the game just had everything in the right balance.

There hasn't really been a good CoD game since, or at least there hasn't been one even 1% as good as this one.

The main reason I liked this game: the simplicity. Since many of us on this website are racers, we sometimes want to take a break from the genre. This is a perfect game for doing just that.

 

[Cowboy]

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

I know I was born seven years after its release, but this game is a ton of fun to play, and put Mario to shame back in the day. Most of the best Sonic games are of the Sega Genesis and Dreamcast generation, then it turned downward from there.​

 

[TB]

There are a lot of old games that come up in conversation, some of which have already been named, but to me, the first game that really got me into gaming was Final Fantasy.

For 1987, the depth of the story line was something I'd never seen before and got me completely addicted to the entire series, most notably Final Fantasy III (or VI in Japan). Square Enix was perilously close to going bankrupt but Final Fantasy managed to be successful enough to pull them back. You're welcome, Kingdom Heart lovers.

The Final Fantasy franchise is still going, too.

And while I've never owned a N64 or even played it, the amount of good things I've heard about GoldenEye earns it a mention, too.

 

[niky]

And while I've never owned a N64 or even played it, the amount of good things I've heard about GoldenEye earns it a mention, too.

GoldenEye was the definitive console FPS of its time. The game had an impressive single player mode, and one of the best executions of FPS multiplayer ever.

Take the above with a grain of salt, if you must. Try playing GoldenEye multiplayer today and you'll find the framerate laggy, the controls horrible (at the time, they were already not-great, but given it was one of the first of its kind, that was forgiveable then) and the gameplay frenetic but imprecise... but with Goldeneye, Nintendo and Rare proved that you can have a first-person shooter work on a console. And you can have it be fun.

GoldenEye's single player mode was varied, exciting and full of neat goal-oriented tasks that kept the variety going long enough for you to want to finish the game. The four-way multiplayer split-screen was fabulously simple and uncluttered, and modes like "The Man with the Golden Gun" (with a single one-shot kill 'Golden Gun' on each map) and "License to Kill" (one-shot kills with every weapon) made for amusing gameplay.

Amusing for me, I mean. I once racked up a dozen kills, straight, in a two-on-one match.

The title paved the way for console shooters that followed. Shooters would have eventually made their way to consoles... the flexibility of the Unreal Engine and the enormous popularity of Half-Life and its incredible hybrid spin off, CounterStrike (all of which came just after GoldenEye) ensured that console developers would have to answer with a good console FPS eventually (which they did with Halo), but GoldenEye brought shooters to a bigger market... not just the nerds (and later jocks. Halo, bro.) who traditionally gravitate towards FPSs.

It also happened to be the third best-selling Nintendo64 game ever, and one of the best movie-based games of all time.

 

[Gravitron]

Atari 2600: Adventure, Yar's Revenge, Decathlon, Pitfall. Pong was fun for 2min.

Arcade: Asteroids, Pole Position, Mr & Mrs Pac-Man, Hard Drivin'

286 PC @ 12MHz on turbo: Stunts, Wing Commander & Sierra games (@Rallywagon), Ultima

NES: Mario all day, Bionic Commando, EDIT: can't forget Zelda II!

Sega Genesis and N64 had great games too, but by that point, people my age were driving and had jobs and went to college and such.

Then a PSone + GT2 gift in the year 2000 rekindled my love of driving games, and that's why I'm here.

These days I'm on AC & GT6 mostly. My 18yr old tells me he's about to get banned from Diablo 3 soon due to his bot hacks. May have to teach him some manners.

 

[sumbrownkid]

 

[Wolfe]

Masterful game design, iconic themes and setpieces, countless imitators, few peers...

Of all my favorite games of the 16-bit era, I don't think any are as evergreen as this one. The corridors of Zebes are haunting even in the shoes of one of gaming's most invincible heroes, and Samus' athleticism and abilities reward players' skills and ingenuity with every repeat playthrough. It has been wrung out and dissected by speedrunners and scholars of game design alike; it's crazy to watch the things the best players can pull off, and it still offers lessons for today's developers.

It's a stellar platformer, a power trip, and will hold lasting value for years to come.

 

[Liquid]

Games can't define a generation. They can, however, define a demographic.

Grand Prix Legends (1998)

Horrible to set up, difficult to run and above all, monstrously difficult. It is famed for being the game with no grip and super realistic physics.

But for anyone who is a dedicated sim racer, this game is an absolute classic which was ahead of its time and unappreciated during its time. There were great racing games around this time, both F1 and non-F1 related (Grand Prix 3, Formula 1 97, Gran Turismo, TOCA Touring Car Championship), and some of those did have elements of a true simulator about them but this game was something else. It didn't just go the extra mile in its dedication to sims, it went all the way around the track and back the other way.

Thematically its 1967 setting made it stand out from any other racing game and its licencing of real drivers and real teams (Honda being the only exception) on real, old world tracks made it a must have for any racer. It's almost impossible to describe how different it feels to play this compared to any other racing game at that time; you really did feel as though you had a 3.0L Cosworth DFV behind you, and the slide physics were simple marvellous.

You couldn't play it with a keyboard, it had numerous problems in the 1.0 release, it was cast aside for the more arcadey F1 and GT games but given the chance, taking the time to set it up and set the cars up as they would have been, and this is a game which stands up even today. The graphics obviously can't compete but the physics and actual racing can, and that's what counts with a racing simulator. There is a dedicated modding community even today which still add new content to the oily world of 1960s European motorsports.

It paved the way for ultra-realistic racing simulators being accepted and this is reflected in the later success of GT Legends, rFactor, Race 07, iRacing and the fawning people had over pCars prior to its release. If any game is a watershed for the sim racer demographic, this is it.

 

[SPhilli911]

Masterful game design, iconic themes and setpieces, countless imitators, few peers...

View attachment 515145

Of all my favorite games of the 16-bit era, I don't think any are as evergreen as this one. The corridors of Zebes are haunting even in the shoes of one of gaming's most invincible heroes, and Samus' athleticism and abilities reward players' skills and ingenuity with every repeat playthrough. It has been wrung out and dissected by speedrunners and scholars of game design alike; it's crazy to watch the things the best players can pull off, and it still offers lessons for today's developers.

It's a stellar platformer, a power trip, and will hold lasting value for years to come.

Still one of my personal favorite games today, it definitely defines a generation of gaming. Although this is the 3rd Metroid, the series invented the genre (the original Metroid beat Castevania to the NES by a month!), and Super Metroid perfected the formula. Games today still mimic the game style and formula of Metroidvania, just look at Shadow Complex, Ori and the Blind Forest and especially Axiom Verge.