Game of the Year 1993: Round Eight

[Neon Ignition]

The final round for this years line up, we get one last run of games released during the course of 1993 to rummage through and pick out the strong from the weak. Are any of the above worthy of consideration for the title of...


Game of the Year 1993

[phillv85]

World Rally was a massively underrated arcade game, still a cheap PCB to pick up now as well.

[Neon Ignition]

The only notable one for me is Virtua Fighter and I can't bring myself to vote for it. As an early 3D fighter it was fascinating etc but... I don't think it was ever truly... good. More a test run for what would follow.

[QualityChimp]

I don't think I played any of these BITD, so can't really vote.
Although all the WWF games merge into one after a while.

[Asura]

Virtua Fighter. Surely nothing comes close? It defined an entire subgenre of games, was the first 3D game with really credible 3D polygonal characters... It was an absolute corker.

The Saturn port was, admittedly, a bit weak, but I still loved it regardless - though the arcade original was a real watershed moment.

[fuse]

I remember when I first played Virtua Fighter my biggest issue with it was less about how it looked and more to do with *scoff* only three buttons, and one of them being guard?! Well, I got over that. What I love is that now going back to the original, while it looks like an orgy in a Duplo factory, is missing characters and moves that I want to use, it still feels very much like the Virtua Fighter I've come to love later on in the series. I know it being 3D was meant to be the biggest deal, but it also put down some excellent foundations.

[Solar]

The only notable one for me is Virtua Fighter and I can't bring myself to vote for it. As an early 3D fighter it was fascinating etc but... I don't think it was ever truly... good. More a test run for what would follow.

I agree. You could see how good it wasn't when Tekken was released less than a year later.
I never liked it, and it was one of a very few in my local arcade that never actually got played on.
I'll give it credit for being the first 3d poly fighter and it was fascinating to see it for the first time, but as far as being the best game of '93, nope.

[Asura]

I agree. You could see how good it wasn't when Tekken was released less than a year later.

What?!

Tekken is visually-technically superior, what with its better framerate, textures, visual design (a legitimate criticism of VF was that its visually uninspiring from a design standpoint; its characters are a basic ninja, basic Karateka, basic old Kung Fu master, basic Wrestler...)...

... but I'd argue in gameplay terms, Virtua Fighter was still the better game; I found Tekken 1 really thin, and many of its characters just felt the same. Then again I don't feel Tekken really got on its feet until Tekken 3, which was legitimately fantastic.

[Neon Ignition]

That's kind of how I land with VF. I got on much more with it from the second entry onward

[Asura]

I'm surprised. I think VF's stood the test of time better, as I'd argue that Virtua Fighter 5, while it adds so much to the formula, that it still largely builds on a basis that was established in VF1. VF2 is definitely a step up but it's really an evolution rather than revolution.

Tekken had to reinvent itself. I'd argue that Tekken 3 feels like a very different (and better) game than Tekken 2, which was building off the base established in Tekken 1. I love the Tekken franchise in its own way; the characters in Tekken 1 mostly all shared a moveset, which meant it was great to play on PS1 with a bunch of friends who weren't big fighting game fans, a bit like how Smash Bros today can be grasped pretty quickly even though it does have depth. You might argue that Tekken was better due to that, and I won't say you're wrong as it's totally subjective. Hell, one of my favourite competitive games on the N64 was a wrestling game for this exact reason.

But I'll always see Tekken as the flashier, fun, but shallower game.

[QualityChimp]

orgy in a Duplo factory

I love their first album!

[Asura]

I love their first album!

Yeah, got to say [MENTION=3822]fuse[/MENTION], that was inspired

[Hirst]

World Rally was a massively underrated arcade game, still a cheap PCB to pick up now as well.

I'd agree and say that it's the best of all isometric racers of that type. The feel and control is just perfect in a way that rivals like Neo Drift Out don't manage to pull off.