Earlier this week, as a part of ’90s week at IGN, we requested in your assist in selecting the best online game from that great decade, whether or not it’s Remaining Fantasy VII, Tremendous Mario 64, Sonic the Hedgehog, or one thing utterly totally different. Now, after almost 2 million votes and numerous heart-wrenching 1v1 battles with such behemoths as Goldeneye 007 vs. Steel Gear Stable and Tremendous Metroid vs. Resident Evil 2, the final word ’90s online game has been chosen.
So, which recreation from the ’90s claimed the highest spot and rose above the opposite 162 video games that competed on this face-off? Drumroll please…
Whereas it is probably not a stunning end result, it is a welcome one nonetheless as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has been topped our winner. Tears of the Kingdom could now be our alternative for the very best Zelda recreation of all time, however there is no such thing as a denying the significance of Ocarina of Time and that it reigns supreme on this battle of ’90s video video games.
“Not solely did it redefine motion/journey video games, nevertheless it utterly modified the best way the trade thought of 3D fight and exploration,” we mentioned of Ocarina of Time in our listing of the highest 100 video games of all time. “An epic story that launched new characters, new lore, and an ever-expanding timeline concept, this model of Zelda took what was nice about its predecessors and expanded on these themes and concepts exponentially.”
Ocarina of Time was a transparent winner with a win share of 86.5%, however Tremendous Mario 64 gave it an excellent combat with a win share of 79.9%. Very similar to Ocarina of Time, Tremendous Mario 64 modified what we thought was doable with video video games and ushered us into the spectacular world of 3D.
The Mario practice continued as Tremendous Mario World positioned third with a win share of 78.7%. We went again to Zelda with A Hyperlink to the Previous for fourth place and Goldeneye 007 gave us a reprieve from Nintendo’s greatest heroes because it rounded out the highest 5.
Remaining Fantasy 7 and Steel Gear Stable adopted in sixth and seventh place, respectively, and Mario Kart 64, Tremendous Metroid, and Tremendous Mario Kart fought valiantly sufficient to safe spots within the prime 10.
If we have a look at the highest 10, Nintendo accounts for eight of the video games (4 from N64 and 4 from SNES!) and PlayStation snagged two spots. Our first PC recreation – Half-Life – does not present up till 16, and our first SEGA recreation – Sonic the Hedgehog – positioned twenty first.
SEGA did have the unlucky honor, nonetheless, of have the sport that positioned final in our Face-Off in Seaman. Sure, the weird recreation that permit gamers use a microphone to work together and take care of a fish with a human face on it placd 163rd with a win share of solely 9.9%.
Dr. Robotnik’s Imply Bean Machine adopted Seaman, and Child Chameleon, Vectorman, Ultima On-line, X-COM: UFO Protection, Comix Zone, Actraiser, The Elder Scrolls: Area, and Planescape: Torment. A number of these video games are literally fairly effectively regarded, however they simply did not maintain up in opposition to the take a look at of time in addition to others for IGN’s readers. Moreover, a few of these are earlier entries in beloved franchises like The Elder Scrolls and X-COM, and people newer entries stand stronger in 2023.
Are you questioning the place your favourite ’90s recreation landed, like perhaps Pokemon Purple and Blue? (They positioned seventeenth!) For all of the rankings, you’ll be able to take a look at the complete listing of the place all 163 ’90s video games that competed on this Face-Off ended up.
For extra, take a look at all our different ’90s week content material, together with our have a look at how the PlayStation modified all the pieces, the very best motion pictures from the 90s, how the 90s gave us the golden period of tv, how the Dreamcast killed Sega’s {hardware} reign, and a few forgotten gems from the PS1 launch.
Adam Bankhurst is a information author for IGN. You may comply with him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.