Favorite Game from Each Year since Birth

Piggybacking off of @stovetop and @Zangril here because I figured why not. I will also put two honorable mentions for each year if applicable. The list will cover from 1991 to 2022 and I will update it once this year concludes. Not much else to say other than I will go based on their release dates in North America since that is likely the version I played of the game unless otherwise stated. Good example is that Xenoblade came out in 2012 in NA but its essentially the EU version so I'm counting it for 2011. I'll apply similar logic to things that have remasters and ignore the remaster of a game if I included another version in an earlier year to lower the chance of doubling down at any point.

Undertale
Undertale
2015
Honorable Mention:
Yoshi's Wooly World
Her Story
Marvel's Spider-Man
Marvel's Spider-Man
2018
Honorable Mentions:
God of War
Return to the Obra Dinn
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy
2007
Honorable Mentions:
DBZ: Budokai Tenkaiichi 3
Super Paper Mario
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2004
Honorable Mentions:
Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
Super Mario World
Super Mario World
1991
Honorable Mentions:
Ninja Gaiden III
Shatterhand
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
2016
Honorable Mentions:
Owlboy
Stardew Valley
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption
2010
Honorable Mention:
999
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
2001
Honorable Mentions:
Final Fantasy X
Metal Gear Solid 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2009
Honorable Mention:
Batman Arkham Asylum
Professor Layton & Diabolical Box
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
1992
Honorable Mentions:
TMNT IV Turtles in Time
Little Samson
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
2002
Honorable Mentions:
Backyard Baseball 2003
Dead to Rights
Persona 4 Golden
Persona 4 Golden
2012
Honorable Mention:
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Atelier Ayesha
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2003
Honorable Mentions:
Fire Emblem 7: Rekka no Ken
Pokemon Ruby
Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima
2020
Honorable Mentions:
I really need to play more of the new decade before putting HMs for them that feel confident. This will apply for the rest of the 2020s' for now as well.
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
2005
Honorable Mentions:
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Fire Emblem Sacred Stones
God of War Ragnarök
God of War Ragnarök
2022
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
2013
Honorable Mentions:
Ni No Kuni
Super Mario 3D World
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
1997
Honorable Mentions:
Final Fantasy VII
Wild Arms
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
2021
Persona 3 FES
Persona 3 FES
2008
Honorable Mentions:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
FF7 Crisis Core
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
1995
Honorable Mentions:
Donkey Kong Country 2
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy IX
2000
Honorable Mentions:
Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask
Pokemon Gold
Night in the Woods
Night in the Woods
2017
Honorable Mentions:
Hollow Knight
Persona 5
Pokémon Blue Version
Pokémon Blue Version
1998
Honorable Mentions
Metal Gear Solid
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI
1994
Honorable Mentions:
Donkey Kong Country
Mega Man X
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition
2019
Honorable Mention:
Fire Emblem Three Houses
A Plague Tale Innocence
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
2014
Honorable Mentions:
Shantae: Pirate's Curse
Atelier Rorona Plus
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles
2011
Honorable Mentions:
Batman Arkham City
Catherine
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money
2006
Honorable Mentions:
Kingdom Hearts 2
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars
1993
Honorable Mentions:
NBA Jam
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
WWF WrestleMania 2000
WWF WrestleMania 2000
1999
Honorable Mentions:
Pokemon Snap
NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
College Slam
College Slam
1996
Honorable Mentions
Donkey Kong Country 3
Pajama Sam

4 Comments


11 months ago

Seeing the similarities in our lists, it makes sense how we're friends. Also, this makes most of my dates look wrong cuz I was trusting backlogged's dates. I really don't want to redo my list, took long enough as is

11 months ago

@stovetop Hah well I took longer than I should have to see which dates were which for certain games. Most of them on this site on the first release of the game regardless of region or platform. I went by NA release for most and the system I played it if it made a difference in a specific case. It doesn't matter all that much all things considered, I just apparently wanted to make it more challenging for myself to make.

11 months ago

@Doaks I feel that. For whatever reason we like to set these arbitrary conditions anytime we do some sort of listing

11 months ago

There's so many great games in this one list! It's also nice to see some overlap in our lists.


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