Game Of The Year 1980 Through 2020

[64K]

I've played quite a few of these over the years. Some great games and good memories of gaming fun. My favorite of all of them was Half Life 2. I still replay it every few years. A timeless classic imo.

 

[Vayra86]

That moment you realize you've played every single one at or close to release...

Kinda got lost at the GOTY's past 2010. Really? Are these so good? Okay...

 

[P4-630]

In the 90s I was playing Supaplex and SimCity on PC, besides that I was mostly playing CD-i games.
From that video I played some Super Mario games on gameboy and later on GTA IV on PC, I'm missing GTA Vice City in the video..

 

[Sithaer]

Can't say that I've played those really old ones on this list except for Mario/Doom and Street Fighter. Tho I'm not that old yet 'turning 34 in 2 days' and only started playing games during my elementary school years on a 486 and on the PCs in my school. 'when the teacher let us play instead of studying '
For a good few years/basically my entire elementary school years my source of games were limited to PC game magazine CDs/DvDs and whatever pirated/copied stuff my friends shared in the school. 'yes that was totally normal back then, I had no idea either'

I'm more familiar with the titles starting from Half life 2 which was also my first ever pre ordered game. 'that version had CDs in the box'

Console games I have no experience with, since my family never owned/bought a console and I still don't have any. 'luckily we do get some of them on PC nowadays even if later'

 

[Frick]

That moment you realize you've played every single one at or close to release...

Kinda got lost at the GOTY's past 2010. Really? Are these so good? Okay...

For one thing most of the games are the same. To some degree open world, 3D action adventures with quick time events and some RPG elements. 2008-2010 they were cover shooters. Games shouldn't be interactive movies, like that Uncharted 4 bit.


List of games:

1980 - Pacman
1981 - Donkey Kong
1982 - Q*bert
1983 - Mario Bros.
1984 - Marble Madness
1985 - Super Mario Bros.
1986 - The Legend of Zelda
1987 - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
1988 - Super Mario Bros. 3
1989 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1990 - Super Mario World
1991 - Street Fighter II
1992 - Wolfenstein 3D
1993 - Doom
1994 - Donkey Kong Country
1995 - Chrono Trigger
1996 - Super Mario 64
1997 - GoldenEye 007
1998 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
1999 - Soulcalibur
2000 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
2001 - Halo: Combat Evolved
2002 - Metroid Prime
2003 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2004 - Half-Life 2
2005 - Resident Evil 4
2006 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007 - BioShock
2008 - Grand Theft Auto IV
2009 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2010 - Red Dead Redemptioin
2011 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
2012 - The Walking Dead
2013 - The Last of Us
2014 - Dragon Age: Inquisition
2015 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2016 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2018 - God of War
2019 - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2020 - The Last of Us Part II

 

[ratirt]

I have play a large number of these games. Sentiment I think Zelda's and Mario's are my favorite. Too bad Yoshi's Island is not the mix. One of the best Mario franchise I've played. Also, Donkey Kong needs a mention here. As a child I loved those. Still do the be honest.

 

[Why_Me]

No UT, no BF, no CoD

 

[cvaldes]

No UT, no BF, no CoD

Unsurprising. None of those are particularly kid-friendly titles. Every year there's some serious competition, especially when Nintendo releases a Zelda or Mario game.

The 2023 GOTY will be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Everyone else is fighting for a nomination.

 

[Eskimonster]

makes me wonder why i have GOTY Deus Ex

 

[evernessince]

Unsurprising. None of those are particularly kid-friendly titles. Every year there's some serious competition, especially when Nintendo releases a Zelda or Mario game.

The 2023 GOTY will be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Everyone else is fighting for a nomination.

Unless a bunch of games turn out to be duds I don't see that happening. Way too many high profile releases this year. This isn't the pandemic anymore like when BOTW took home GOTY simply because it was only the decent game released that year.

 

[cvaldes]

Unless a bunch of games turn out to be duds I don't see that happening. Way too many high profile releases this year. This isn't the pandemic anymore like when BOTW took home GOTY simply because it was only the decent game released that year.

Attributing Zelda BotW's victory to the pandemic is utter nonsense. It won for calendar 2017, two years before the pandemic erupted -- March-April 2019 lockdown/shelter-at-home for most industrialized nations.

No video game studio was hampered by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2017.

Amusingly BotW's most serious competition that year was fellow Nintendo stablemate Super Mario Odyssey.

The Best Videogames of 2017

We reveal the best games for each platform in 2017 and see how releases for each console compared last year.

www.metacritic.com

The 50 best games of 2017

A bad year full of good games

www.polygon.com

Anyhow, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is tracking as one of the top rated games on both Metacritic and Opencritic for something like 8+ years.

If a title is going to take the GOTY crown from TotK, it has to be a massive home run, just crush it out of the park in terms of innovation, gameplay, launch quality, value, etc. Plus the sales cycle and player engagement of the Nintendo titles lasts far longer than PC/PS/Xbox games.

A good Nintendo title is literally worth more than a PC/PS/Xbox title with an identical score over the long run.

 

[Keullo-e]

For one thing most of the games are the same. To some degree open world, 3D action adventures with quick time events and some RPG elements. 2008-2010 they were cover shooters. Games shouldn't be interactive movies, like that Uncharted 4 bit.


List of games:

Pretty good ones there, but I'm shocked that not a single Final Fantasy title is there.

 

[Lei]

Unsurprising. None of those are particularly kid-friendly titles. Every year there's some serious competition, especially when Nintendo releases a Zelda or Mario game.

I think it's because consoles made for kids are made of bite-me-gone material. So they're affordable and abundant.

To make a grown-up title top the charts, first you need to save a couple of years' income before you can buy a console for playing it.

 

[cvaldes]

I think it's because consoles made for kids are made of bite-me-gone material. So they're affordable and abundant.

To make a grown-up title top the charts, first you need to save a couple of years' income before you can buy a console for playing it.

The hardware price difference between a Nintendo console versus the PS/Xbox/Sega/whatever competition isn't enormous. Xbox S is $299 retail. What is the Switch OLED? $249?

It's not like anyone has to slave away for years to make up the difference.

Nintendo divulged in the Nineties that it made most of its profits from videogame software sales not the console hardware. Back then they calculated that the typical console owner would buy seven titles over the lifespan of a given hardware generation.

Switch has sold 125 million units which puts its third in total console units sold. I believe PS2 sold more total units.

Anyhow, the GOTY award goes to the best title (per the voting body) regardless of the target audience.

 

[Lei]

The hardware price difference between a Nintendo console versus the PS/Xbox/Sega/whatever competition isn't enormous. Xbox S is $299 retail. What is the Switch OLED? $249?

Anything that has a screen runs mario
Any child playground in Walmart has cushions covered with playable Mario.
You can play it on front-screen of your toy robot.

Anyhow, the GOTY award goes to the best title (per the voting body) regardless of the target audience.

I think her Mario console costs less than her boots.

And her mom and dad and aunties are all gonna vote it the best game

 

[neatfeatguy]

2014 - Dragon Age: Inquisition - really?

Gross. What an awful game. Must have been a slim year for games in 2014 if that one took game of the year.

 

[evernessince]

Anyhow, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is tracking as one of the top rated games on both Metacritic and Opencritic for something like 8+ years.

If a title is going to take the GOTY crown from TotK, it has to be a massive home run, just crush it out of the park in terms of innovation, gameplay, launch quality, value, etc. Plus the sales cycle and player engagement of the Nintendo titles lasts far longer than PC/PS/Xbox games.

A good Nintendo title is literally worth more than a PC/PS/Xbox title with an identical score over the long run.

More like Breath of the Mild and Tears of the Mid. Games that appeal to children and severely lack depth.

These new Zelda games are nothing compared to any of the older Zelda games.

The only thing other games have to overcome are Nintendo's rabbid fanbase.

 

[cvaldes]

More like Breath of the Mild and Tears of the Mid. Games that appeal to children and severely lack depth.

These new Zelda games are nothing compared to any of the older Zelda games.

The only thing other games have to overcome are Nintendo's rabbid fanbase.

The award is Game Of The Year not Game Of The Decade, Game Of The Quarter Century, Game Of The Past 12 Years, 5 Months and 13 Days ...

It doesn't have to be the best ever, it just needs to beat the other games published the same calendar year. Just like the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Pulitzers, et al.

When Zelda TotK came out, it was heavily streamed on Twitch and I assure you most of those content creators were over 18.

And remember, not everyone playing video games today played all of those old NES/SNES/N64 titles (or PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox, XboxOne, etc.).

Anyhow the same criticism of Nintendo's target audience has been around for decades. And why would Nintendo cut off younger players? They end up being grumpy old guys on tech websites complaining that today's games aren't as good as games from the ten, twenty, thirty forty years ago. And while doing so, they generate lots of revenue for Nintendo. How much money do G-rated and PG-rated movies make?

If Zelda TotK wins, then other publishers and developers simply have to try harder, don't they?

Disclaimer #1: I am not a member of the group of people who votes on GOTY. Most likely no one here on TPU is.
Disclaimer #2: Say, I think I have my console pricing wrong. Isn't Switch OLED $50 more expensive than the $299 Xbox Series S?

Your most effective recourse is to vote with your wallet. If a game makes you happy, just play it. But awards are handed out regardless. Some title will be the 2023 GOTY and the odds on favorite is Zelda TotK. I'm sorry it's not the one you would prefer but I'm not the decision maker anyhow.

 

[Frick]

More like Breath of the Mild and Tears of the Mid. Games that appeal to children and severely lack depth.

These new Zelda games are nothing compared to any of the older Zelda games.

The only thing other games have to overcome are Nintendo's rabbid fanbase.

Just for reference, how old were you when you played what you consoder to be the best Zelda game?

 

[KrazyT]

Miss 6 games to play :/
Good list, but as usual some strange choices ... In 1989, there wasn't a better game than TMHT ?

 

[evernessince]

Anyhow the same criticism of Nintendo's target audience has been around for decades. And why would Nintendo cut off younger players? They end up being grumpy old guys on tech websites complaining that today's games aren't as good as games from the ten, twenty, thirty forty years ago. And while doing so, they generate lots of revenue for Nintendo. How much money do G-rated and PG-rated movies make?

You are implying that Nintendo should make some change to appeal to older players but that's not what I'm suggesting. Nintendo had a good game design balance on the Wii and prior where their games appealed to a wide swath of kids and adults. Then they started simplifying their games on the Wii U and that continued to the switch. The Mario party on the Wii U, Mario Party 10, is a great example of this. There is a massive difference between the design on this game and prior mario parties. Much smaller boards, simplified mechanics, toddler level mini-games. That game has a 68% on Metacritic for a reason. I suspect that was Nintendo trying to experiment with it's game mechanics and seeing if they could appeal to an even larger audience to increase sales. To a smaller extent these simplifications trickled over to their other franchises. It's the same reason other non-nintendo studios like Bethesda removed all character stats besides Health, Stamina, and Mana. The wider the audience your game appeals to, the more money you make. Unless of course you take it too far, like Mario Party 10 did.

hen Zelda TotK came out, it was heavily streamed on Twitch and I assure you most of those content creators were over 18.

I am well aware, I've watched someone beat half the shrines in TOTK by repeatedly making a bridge. It was frankly hilarious that such a simple brute force strategy was allowed to continue to work. It particularly seemed to peeve the chat off with so many people in disbelief that such a strategy (if you can call it that) worked so frequently. Diablo IV has had more viewers than TOTK but it certainly won't be winning GOTY. Viewer numbers don't mean much at the end of the day. My argument wasn't that there were no 18+ players either, that would be crazy. Just that it appeals less to that audience in general. No that a streamer who's 18+ played the game says anything. Streamers are going to play games that get views, it's why that "Only Up" game has so many viewers (or had, fad games die quick).

Also (not super on topic) whatever happened to Nintendo's pursuit of motion based games? The Switch has motion controls but they are more a supplement than a focus. You have ARMs I supposed but nothing crazy like Wii sports. IMO if a game like that were to be made with modern motion technology it'd be crazy fun.

 

[mechtech]

For one thing most of the games are the same. To some degree open world, 3D action adventures with quick time events and some RPG elements. 2008-2010 they were cover shooters. Games shouldn't be interactive movies, like that Uncharted 4 bit.


List of games:

thanks
Now I feel really old.............

 

[A Computer Guy]

I've played quite a few of these over the years. Some great games and good memories of gaming fun. My favorite of all of them was Half Life 2. I still replay it every few years. A timeless classic imo.

Surprised no Metal Gear titles in this list.

 

[64K]

Surprised no Metal Gear titles in this list.

If I had picked the GOTY Titles then there would be a few changes but they are what they are I guess.

 

[kapone32]

As good as Donkey Kong was, Pitfall was a much more engaging Game.