’90s Video Sport Face-Off: The Winner Revealed

Earlier this week, as a part of ’90s week at IGN, we requested in your assist in selecting the best online game from that fantastic decade, whether or not it’s Last Fantasy VII, Tremendous Mario 64, Sonic the Hedgehog, or one thing utterly completely different. Now, after practically 2 million votes and numerous heart-wrenching 1v1 battles with such behemoths as Goldeneye 007 vs. Metallic Gear Stable and Tremendous Metroid vs. Resident Evil 2, the last 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 might not be a shocking 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 might now be our selection for the most effective Zelda recreation of all time, however there isn’t any 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, however it utterly modified the way in which the trade considered 3D fight and exploration,” we stated of Ocarina of Time in our checklist 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 proportion of 86.5%, however Tremendous Mario 64 gave it a superb battle with a win proportion of 79.9%. Very similar to Ocarina of Time, Tremendous Mario 64 modified what we thought was attainable 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 proportion 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.

Last Fantasy 7 and Metallic 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 take 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 allow gamers use a microphone to work together and look after a fish with a human face on it placd 163rd with a win proportion 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. Lots of these video games are literally fairly effectively regarded, however they only 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 possibly Pokemon Purple and Blue? (They positioned seventeenth!) For all of the rankings, you possibly can try the complete checklist of the place all 163 ’90s video games that competed on this Face-Off ended up.

For extra, try all our different ’90s week content material, together with our take a look at how the PlayStation modified every little thing, the most effective films 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.