Board 8 > My 1991 write-up!

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm certain it's longer than what we're aiming for, but i'm not in it to win it...

1991 is the year that welcomed video gaming to the next level!

For console gamers, at least, it’s safe to argue that the most important 1991 releases were Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog on the software side and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on the hardware side.

Sonic's release, and the phenomenon that Yuji Naka's masterwork and Tom Kalinske’s Sega of America marketing machine created in the West, gave Nintendo its first bloody nose in the North American market and ultimately allowed Sega to win over 60% of the American market by 1994, though we all know how that turned out in the end. Sonic's evolution would also lead to the release of 1994’s beloved Sonic 3 & Knuckles, a high-water mark that Sonic Team has yet to eclipse nearly 25 years later.

Nintendo, for its part, countered by launching the Super NES with such heavy-hitters as F-Zero, Pilot Wings, and Super Mario World, my favourite Mario game and an incredibly significant game in the series' evolution. Super Mario World marked the introduction of standout character Yoshi and a shift to an emphasis on exploration, backtracking, and secrets that would serve as a bridge to the more avant-garde gameplay developments that we would later witness in Yoshi's Island, Mario 64, and the bevy of 3D platformers that emerged from the latter’s wake, both from Nintendo and from other developers.

More personally, 1991 was the year that I played my first JRPG, Final Fantasy 4, and was exposed to Square's exquisite storytelling, which would only evolve from here, and Nobuo Uematsu's musical genius, with the SNES’ superior audio hardware finally doing justice to his boundless talent. Final Fantasy 4's increased focus on story, characters, and presentation, in addition to serving as a strong foundation from which Square would craft its finest works, would also influence other developers, most notably Sega with 1994's Phantasy Star 4, a wonderful contrast with its innovative but sparse predecessor, and Game Arts with 1992's Lunar: The Silver Star, both of which built on Final Fantasy 4's more cinematic aesthetic and emphasis on vibrant characters and robust narrative. It's no coincidence that many count these three games and their myriad ports and remakes as favourites, even among casual fans of the genre!

Although not as renowned as Final Fantasy 4, the Genesis' Warsong, the North American localization of Masaya’s innovative Langrisser, was one of Electronic Gaming Monthly's favourite releases of 1991 and served as an introduction to both strategy RPGs, later popularized by Shining Force, Ogre Battle, and Final Fantasy Tactics, and the sublime music of Noriyuki Iwadare for many Western gamers. While Warsong and its Japan-only sequels have acclaimed soundtracks, Iwadare would go on to greater, well-deserved fame as the sole composer of Game Arts' Lunar and Grandia series as well as the most prolific of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series' composers.

Other major 1991 releases include Psygnosis' addictive puzzler Lemmings, Capcom’s legendary arcade fighter Street Fighter 2, and Tecmo's timeless gridiron classic Tecmo Super Bowl, all commercial successes and superlative ambassadors for their respective genres, as well as S3's 86C911, an important early graphics accelerator for the PC.

The most important new developers of 1991 include id Software, Bungie, and Silicon & Synapse, the latter better known to gamers by its current name, Blizzard, of Diablo, Starcraft, and World of Warcraft fame.

While never released in North America, Zero Wing’s 1991 Sega Mega Drive port clinches the argument that, for great justice, all your base are belong to 1991!
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You had me at "Warsong".
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JDPizza posted...

You had me at "Warsong".

While its sequels and remakes are better and are more significant in Japan (where Fire Emblem was already popular), not enough people appreciate the first game's significance, particularly in North America.
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Sonic Adventure 2 is better than Sonic 3 & Knuckles
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MZero11 posted...

Sonic Adventure 2 is better than Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Never played it.

I never owned a Dreamcast and have always preferred 2D to 3D platformers, so I never tried it on other platforms.
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