90s gaming

[tokyochojin]

Reading this article about 90s Britpop on the Guardian it got me thinking of gaming in the 90s, particularly post 1993 when we got the "super consoles", and what were the particular characteristics of gaming at that time.

Personally, I feel that it was such a great time for *real* multiplayer gaming were you friends would come around and pick up a controller and you would spend a Friday evening battling away. At the time, the arcade scene was in its prime with racing titles such as Ridge Racer and Daytona being some of the most sort after, as were 3D fighting games like Virtua Fighter and Tekken, and Capcom was relentless in its release of 2D fighting games. We also had a lot of arcade sports based conversions like International Track and Field and Athlete Kings and of course, the regular sports titles (and a few lost ones like SWWS) were beginning to take on a new level of realism with the move to CD and 3D and games like Doom, and Goldeneye really kicked off the shooting genre and became the source of a lot of mutliplayer fun.

What do you think are some of the characteristics, and what are your memories about 90s video gaming?

[J0e Musashi]

Lots of boring 3D platformers. Lots of 3D in general. I guess it was in its infancy, but there were a lot of unnecessary games at the time.

[Asura]

Lots of boring 3D platformers. Lots of 3D in general. I guess it was in its infancy, but there were a lot of unnecessary games at the time.

I disagree with this.

OK, 3D was the order of the day, and it did mean that we lost a lot of genres and gametypes that shouldn't have fallen by the wayside, such as 2D platformers and 2D scrolling beat-em ups (fortunately we've started to gain many of these genres back).

However, on the other hand, the push to 3D was exciting because different things seemed to happen every month. Virtua Racing came out, then Virtua Fighter had more solid-looking visuals and a smoother framerate. Tekken, Tekken 2 and VF2 came soon after with high framerates and higher resolution visuals and better animation. Soul Blade brought in 3D backdrops that moved. G-Police came out with awesome particle effects. Every month there was something to see, something very different.

Looking through my Sega Saturn mags, despite the "unnecessary" 3D games, it seemed like breakthrough after breakthrough.

Platforms were genuinely opposed to each other, with different philosophies behind their design and range of games. The vast majority of games on the Saturn/Playstation were exclusive, because we just didn't have the tools to make games for both without increasing budgets substantially (no tools like Unity back then).

The other thing was that unlike today, we had no "standardised success". The growth of 3D gaming was disruptive and new, and developers worked frantically to find new formulas that would make money. Making 3D games when users only had one D-pad/stick was challenging, requiring workarounds, and targeting systems and clever control schemes, rather than today's "translate with the left, rotate with the right" that's done in practically every game. Games were made largely without Middleware, which meant that they all looked different as they were nearly all made from scratch, sparing us that period in the early 360's life where many Unreal Engine games had that same sheen.

It was a very exciting time to be a gamer, and I'm happy I got to experience it first-hand.

[briareos_kerensky]

For me the '90s were computer gaming times. CD-ROM, Soundblaster, the first joysticks/HOTAS devices, 3dfx...as my previous gaming life was essentially only Nintendo, I was waiting for the N64, and skipped the "32bit" consoles for a not-so-shiny beige box.
Oh, the afternoons spent playing Tie Fighter Collection or MechWarrior 2, the first forays in "serious" flight simulations with EF2000, or more "arcadey" like Strike Commander...the N64 was eventually released, but due to the high cost of its cartridges and a diluted release schedule, it was still a sidenote to the PC.

[Brad]

The 90s were great. Such a range of games and platforms but I probably mostly remember it as a PC gaming time. Competitive Quake and Unreal and the start of MMOs with Ultima online and Everquest.

[J0e Musashi]

I disagree with this.

OK, 3D was the order of the day, and it did mean that we lost a lot of genres and gametypes that shouldn't have fallen by the wayside, such as 2D platformers and 2D scrolling beat-em ups (fortunately we've started to gain many of these genres back).

However, on the other hand, the push to 3D was exciting because different things seemed to happen every month. Virtua Racing came out, then Virtua Fighter had more solid-looking visuals and a smoother framerate. Tekken, Tekken 2 and VF2 came soon after with high framerates and higher resolution visuals and better animation. Soul Blade brought in 3D backdrops that moved. G-Police came out with awesome particle effects. Every month there was something to see, something very different.

Looking through my Sega Saturn mags, despite the "unnecessary" 3D games, it seemed like breakthrough after breakthrough.

Platforms were genuinely opposed to each other, with different philosophies behind their design and range of games. The vast majority of games on the Saturn/Playstation were exclusive, because we just didn't have the tools to make games for both without increasing budgets substantially (no tools like Unity back then).

The other thing was that unlike today, we had no "standardised success". The growth of 3D gaming was disruptive and new, and developers worked frantically to find new formulas that would make money. Making 3D games when users only had one D-pad/stick was challenging, requiring workarounds, and targeting systems and clever control schemes, rather than today's "translate with the left, rotate with the right" that's done in practically every game. Games were made largely without Middleware, which meant that they all looked different as they were nearly all made from scratch, sparing us that period in the early 360's life where many Unreal Engine games had that same sheen.

It was a very exciting time to be a gamer, and I'm happy I got to experience it first-hand.

It is the worst time in gaming. For the majority, the consoles were not powerful enough to achieve what devs wanted to do. I found a lot of games very bland at the time. I could drop 32-bit entirely, and not be too fussed.

[charlesr]

Early 90s were amazing PC days - Quakeworld and Wirepay(Tm).
Dune 2 brought RTS to the mainstream. Command and Conquer!
I was too busy being a student to play many games though, so 92-97 were quite dry. Then I caught up on the N64 and had fun with games again.

[Asura]

It is the worst time in gaming. For the majority, the consoles were not powerful enough to achieve what devs wanted to do. I found a lot of games very bland at the time. I could drop 32-bit entirely, and not be too fussed.

You honestly found Wipeout, Final Fantasy VII, Guardian Heroes, Nights Into Dreams, Virtual On, Ridge Racer Type 4 bland?

[J0e Musashi]

Wipeout. It isn't my type of game. The original Ridge Racer is much more my thing.

Final Fantasy VII. I played through it twice, once in Japanese and once in English. Nowt special. I already knew about RPG's long before this came out, unlike 75% of the world.

Guardian Heroes. I bought it on Japanese release. Being that I couldn't understand it, and it's largely story-driven, I soon went back to Final Fight. It does nothing that other scrolling fighters don't.

Nights Into Dreams. Hold right and you win. The world's WORST, and most bland game of all time.

Virtual On. Arena-based games are incredibly bland outside of an arcade. Playing split-screen ruins the entire experience.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. Has there ever been a more bland racing game created? You actually have to lose to progress.

[VR46]

I loved the 90's, SNES, N64, PC stuff. Happy days indeed, but expensive, ?150 for a 3DFX card that was underpowered within three months. ?90 for a Japanese import of SF II Turbo on the SNES etc etc. And of course the start of the Gran Turismo series.

[smouty]

You honestly found Wipeout, Final Fantasy VII, Guardian Heroes, Nights Into Dreams, Virtual On, Ridge Racer Type 4 bland?

I've also never played any of those and don't think I have missed out on anything.

[bash]

Wipeout was a watershed moment for me, one of the first games I fired up on the PSX. The sound was as important as the visuals which came together as a complete mature package. It was THE game which said to me, ok, clearly consoles are no longer just for kids. I now know it to be the same for loads of people, keen gamers and casual. I was glad to have been part of that experience.

[nakamura]

The 90's remains the best era for experimentation and quality.

Super Mario World.
F-Zero.
Pilotwongs.
Mario Kart.
Secret of Mana.
Various Zelda.
Sonic 1-2.
Treasure games.
Konami smashing out hits like Castlevania IV, SotN, Axelay, ISS Pro, Contra.
Neo Geo with series like Samurai Showdown, KoF and Drift Out.
Chrono Trigger and Cross.
Squaresoft in general released bundles of awesome games.
Super Metroid.......
Goldeneye.
Wave Race.
Super Mario 64.
Wipeout and 2097.
Destruction Derby, still love it today and the physics are very impressive!
GT.
Doom.
Quake.
Command and Conquer.
Monkey Island.
Sega Rally.
Virtua Fighter.
Tekken.
Ridge Racer.
Daytona.
Star Fox.
Panzer Dragoon.
Street Fighter 2.
VS Fighting games.
Terranigma.
Saturn shooters.
Donkey Kong Country.
Goemon.

Someone tell me when to stop please!

[S3M]

You honestly found Wipeout, Final Fantasy VII, Guardian Heroes, Nights Into Dreams, Virtual On, Ridge Racer Type 4 bland?

All classics bar Ridge Racer I'd say and the best era of gaming, but yeah a lot of 3D games were rubbish but as half the era was split between 2D and 3D it was a good balance.

I always love JOe Musashi post clearly his love of 2D NEOGEO games means that he doesn't hate the 90's as much as he claims. But here's one gem from the 90's I think he loves:



Wanted to post that for a while.

Creative games design and original idea really suffer in the 00's and 10's, really losing interest in what's coming out these days.

[J0e Musashi]

All classics bar Ridge Racer I'd say and the best era of gaming, but yeah a lot of 3D games were rubbish but as half the era was split between 2D and 3D it was a good balance.

I always love JOe Musashi post clearly his love of 2D NEOGEO games means that he doesn't hate the 90's as much as he claims. But here's one gem from the 90's I think he loves:



Wanted to post that for a while.

Creative games design and original idea really suffer in the 00's and 10's, really losing interest in what's coming out these days.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the 16-bit era, but the 32-bit one is easily the most forgettable. All of those mediocre 3D titles put me off. It was a mundane time in gaming for me. I didn't mean the 1990's as a whole, but certainly the middle of the decade is highly forgettable for me.