LogFAQs > #875664277

1990
https://i.imgur.com/PaW8FZi.jpg

Notable Games:

Bonk's Adventure
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers
Commander Keen
Crystalis
Double Dragon 2
Dr. Mario
Dragon Warrior 2
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Legend
M.U.L.E. (NES)
Maniac Mansion (NES)
Mega Man 3
Minesweeper
Ninja Gaiden 2
Phantasy Star 3
River City Ransom
Secret of Monkey Island
Star Tropics
Strider (GEN)
Super C
Super Mario Bros. 3
Ys 1 & 2

transience's take:

1. Final Fantasy
2. Crystalis
3. Mega Man 3
4. Double Dragon 2
5. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse

Overall: 11th

Media Picks:

Nintendo Power: Super Mario Bros. 3
EGM: Strider (GEN)

The NES stepped up its game in 1990. I'm not sure how to describe it, but NES games just felt better. It felt like developers were unlocking power that wasn't available in the early days of the NES. The worlds were bigger, the levels were more complex and the graphics were better. We had gone from a cute little 6 stage stroll in Castlevania to a sprawling castle with multiple paths, optional characters and passwords in Castlevania 3. Double Dragon was a straightforward game where you punch and kick while DD2 had the cyclone kick and the knee and platforming. 1990 is peak NES. The Turbografx 16 had its biggest game in Bonk and the Genesis had Strider and Shinobi, but those couldn't really compare to Nintendo.

The crown jewel, of course, was Mario. Super Mario Bros. 3 is probably the most hyped game of all time. It certainly was up to that point. The timing was perfect: everyone saw Mario 2 as a weird off brand kind of thing and they were anxious for the return of the king. Super Mario Land didn't cut it. Super Mario Bros. 3 was all that and more. They made a damn movie to advertise this game and oh man did it work.

I always wondered what took this game so long to get here. It came out in '88 in Japan. The localization would take, like, a day. This wasn't Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy. Why wait? Anyway, Mario 3 was the gold standard of video games for a full decade. It expanded on the Mario formula in the most natural way and added tons of variety. We went from a mushroom and a flower to a tail, a frog, a tanooki and a hammer brother. You could get clouds and anchors and hammers and p-wings. You could fly and play matching games and try to get three stars for bonus lives and oh man there's so much for an NES game. Mario 3 was triumphant and it was huuuuuuuge. It engulfed the entirety of 1990.

Mario 3 is real good - a truly flawless game - but it never captivated me. The game that captivated me in 1990 was Final Fantasy. Its game world was unparalelled in 1990, especially on console. There was probably a PC game like Ultima that could compare, but nothing as accessible and straightforward as Final Fantasy. The character progression felt great and innovative in a time where progression was pretty unheard of. Final Fantasy didn't break ground but it popularized a genre that was under the radar. I would probably put FF1 in my top 3 all-time in terms of hours played. It remains my favorite NES game today.
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xyzzy