This is a list of the games I played the most in the 90s. There are plenty of ties and a shortlist of games I really want to play still.
1990 - Golden Axe and Final Fight tied (want to play [WTP]: Dragon Quest IV, Phantasy Star II, Final Fantasy III)
1991 - Splatterhouse (WTP: Final Fantasy IV)
1992 - PGA Tour Golf and Wolfenstein 3D are tied (WTP: Dragon Quest V, Shin Megami Tensei, Fiinal Fantasy V)
1993 - NBA Jam and Doom tied
1994 - Donkey Kong Country, Doom II, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Heretic all tied
1995 - Hexen: Beyond Heretic and Warcraft II tied (WTP: Chrono Trigger, Yoshi's Island, TwinBee Yahho!, Dragon Quest VI and Suikoden)
1996 - Quake, Duke Nukem 3D and Final Doom tied (WTP: Civilization II and Super Mario RPG)
1997 - Diddy Kong Racing, Shadow Warrior and Quake II all tied (WTP: Diablo, Hexen II, Age of Empires and Grandia)
1998 - Half-Life and Star Wars Rogue Squadron tied (WTP: Panzer Dragoon Saga, Sakura Wars 2, Spyro the Dragon, Heretic II and Suikoden II)
1999 - Seaman, Pokemon Snap, Silent Hill, Culdcept, Guantlet Legends, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings and Quake III Arena all tied (WTP: Spyro 2)
Wish I could simplify the list to one a year, but it's impossible.
I'll try to list my favorites, but I'm sure there's more. I'm just going by the top of my head:
1990: Lemmings, Little Nemo: The Dream Master
1991: Super Mario World, Final Fantasy 4
1992: Super Mario Kart
1993: Secret of Mana
1994: Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy 6
1995: Chrono Trigger, Yoshi's Island
1996: Super Mario 64, Super Mario RPG (this was also the year I started writing game reviews at the newspaper)
1997: This is where things get fuzzy. It's the year I got a PlayStation. So I know there was FF7, but maybe also Klonoa and the Namco Museums.
1998: Banjo-Kazooie: Ocarina of Time
1999: Super Smash Bros.
I have others I thought about later that didn't come up at the time because they weren't listed on the first wiki page I looked at like Destruction Derby 2 and Wargames: Defcon 1.
One of these days I'm going to play FF6.
I like the Sakura Wars and Dragon Quest shout-outs. Working Designs was supposedly trying to get localization rights to Sakura Wars in the 1990s, but Sega management turned them down.
My top games of the decade:
1990: SMB3
1991: Final Fantasy 4
1992: A Link to the Past
1993: Link's Awakening
1994: Super Metroid
1995: Chrono Trigger
1996: Super Mario 64
1997: Final Fantasy VIi
1998: Ocarina of Time
1999: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
I saw Link to the Past high on many lists as well as Super Metroid and Super Mario World, etc... So many good games and series in the 90s. You could make a list just of Zelda games or all Final Fantasy, or Mario or Metroid. Then there's Castlevania, so many great franchises. Kirby.
I really want a collection of the Dragon Quest games. Like maybe 1-7 would be great. I haven't really played many of those and really want to.
