Console Game Poll vol. 3 - Nominate the best 5th Generation Console Games (1993–2005; N64, PSX, Saturn and more!)

We are back with the THIRD installment of the console games poll, this time the 5th generation of consoles! Included consoles:

Sony Playstation
Nintendo 64 (and 64DD)
Sega Saturn
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
PC-FX
Atari Jaguar (and Jaguar CD)
Virtual Boy
Game Boy Color (strictly GBC-only games -- GB games were in a previous poll)
Neo Geo Pocket and Pocket Color
WONDERSWAN!!!

And some also-rans that maybe you wanna vote for games for...

FM Towns Marty, Amiga CD32, Apple Bandai Pippin, Playdia, Casio Loopy

Finally, 3D! I mean, I guess there was technically start fox and stunt race fx, but... yeah. CDs with CD-quality audio! 32 bits! SIXTY FOUR BITS! Memory cards that you forget to buy and you play the first 10 minutes of FFVII over and over because you have no way to save! Truly the most tragic generation for those who didn't read their Diehard Gamefan before making a purchase.

Drop your nominations in this thread. After a month, we'll begin the voting process, and after another month I'll begin the rollout. Please include the console for which you are nominating! This is one of the last generations where it makes a big difference (PS2/Xbox is truly where we start getting virtually identical titles on both machines).

Suikoden
Suikoden 2

very very very excellent first two nominations

i don't have time to think of many right now but i'll put down some top-of-mind ones...

Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VII

Super normie

NHL 94
Mario 64
GoldenEye

i don't think there was an NHL game on n64 or PS1 until NHL 97, you wanna nominate that one? (94 is iconic but extremely snes)

Misunderstood, just went by dates. I don’t think I played any of the later ones. I need to figure out which Madden I was really into for a bit.

3D0, PS1 and Saturn
Policenauts

N64
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Paper Mario

Jaguar
Tempest 2000

PS1
Vagrant Story
No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
Resident Evil 2
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Soul Reaver
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
Silent Hill
Xenogears
Heart of Darkness
Jumping Flash

N64
Super Mario 64
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

N64

Wave Race 64
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Blast Corps
International Superstar Soccer 64
Wetrix

PS1 :
Fifa 99
Tony Hawks 1&2
Tomb Raider 1&2

And Gran Turismo 2 of course

PS1

Wipeout
Parasite Eve
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Destruction Derby
Dino Crisis
Colin MacRae Rally
Syphon Filter
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee
PaRappa the Rapper

Uh, this should be -2001 or so? Most of my favourite games in 2001-2005 were sixth generation (PS2)

(and 2005 is when the Xbox 360 started, i.e. seventh generation)

Saturn

Sega Rally
Panzer Dragoon Saga

PS1

G Police
Urban Chaos
Tomb Raider 2
Breath of Fire 3
Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko

PS1:
Alundra
Breath of Fire IV
Bushido Blade
Crash Bandicoot
Grandia
Fear Effect
Spyro the Dragon
Tekken 2
Tekken 3
Tomb Raider
Wipeout 2097 (AKA Wipeout XL on import)

PS1

Grand Theft Auto

Uh, this should be -2001 or so? Most of my favourite games in 2001-2005 were sixth generation (PS2)

The answer to my own question, which I should have either checked or remembered, is that Sony rebranded the PlayStation as the PSone in 200, and it didn't cease production until 2006.

PS1:
Wipeout 3 aka Wip3out
Gran Turismo
Tekken
Grand Theft Auto 2
Bishi Bashi Special
Um Jammer Lammy
Vib Ribbon
Bust a Groove
Dance Dance Revolution
Micro Machines V3

ps1

I know it won't get much love but this is a great game:
Brian Lara Cricket

Sega Megadrive:
Micro Machines 2
Road Rash 2

PS1:
Jonah Lomu Rugby
Driver
Worms Armageddon

N64:
Star Fox 64
Mario Kart 64
Diddy Kong Racing
Jet Force Gemini

megadrive?

Ah, is the Saturn not what the Megadrive was called in America then?

no, saturn was the one between the megadrive and dreamcast that no one bought

PS1:

Muppet RaceMania
MTV Music Generator
Revelations: Persona
Persona 2: Innocent Sin

N64:
Iggy's Reckin' Balls

megadrive was called Genesis

no, saturn was the one between the megadrive and dreamcast that no one bought

..except me. I was the only person I know who bought it. Everyone had ps1. It was the start of my now familiar trait of backing failed ventures.

nobody bought the Dreamcast tbf

erm

lol i'm sorry i knew that was coming

Saturn:

NiGHTS into Dreams
Virtua Fighter 2
Saturn Bomberman
Fighting Vipers
Night Warriors: Darkstalker's Revenge <---- this should win
Guardian Heroes
Tomb Raider
Dragon Force
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Mystaria: The Realms of Lore

yesssss to ledge bringing the first-generation rhythm games to the front. i would have totally forgotten to nominate Bust-A-Groove but that soundtrack was a BLAST, perfect "rental" game for this generation.
i know this period WAY less than the preceding one, but it did have a smattering of games i played the hell out of. most have already been nommed! a few overlooked N64 titles:

Tetrisphere
Super Smash Brothers
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

There was some bust-a-groove soundtrack chat here:

Laugh and Peace - Vib-Ribbon OST

I could be wrong (my memory is terrible) but I think I played all those rhythm games on a PS2 thanks to backwards compatability.

I still have my PS1 rhythm games and am endlessly haunted by the fact that PS1 discs have just a tiny bit of lag on the PS3, thereby rendering all rhythm games essentially unplayable.

N64:
Wave Race
1080
SM64
Smash Bros
MK64

PS1:
Tony Hawk

I should have not included the years, and you can ignore them -- they mark from the beginning to the end of production of the consoles. If it's on a later-gen or earlier-gen console, you can ignore it!

also point of clarification - i mentioned the neo geo pocket color above, it doesn't count! neo geo pocket classic only! i am sure this will cause seismic changes to your ballots

PS1

Ape Escape
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

PS1

TOCA 2 - no game comes close for open-wheel driving at Brands Hatch experience imo

N64

Doom 64
F-Zero X

PS1
Fear Effect 2

N64
Perfect Dark

oops, forgot the other one:

N64
Conker's Bad Fur Day

Of all of these systems, the only game I've played more than 10 minutes of is Goldeneye. Some of them I played on PC or as remasters down the road but not on console.

I'm going to reiterate that we should skip the poll and just annoint Night Warriors the winner

Of all of these systems, the only game I've played more than 10 minutes of is Goldeneye. Some of them I played on PC or as remasters down the road but not on console.

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Monday, October 5, 2020 3:09 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

starting with this generation in particular, if you played it on pc, and there weren't massive differences, i'd say you should vote for it!

I'm going to reiterate that we should skip the poll and just annoint Night Warriors the winner

― shout-out to his family (DJP), Monday, October 5, 2020 3:26 PM (fourteen seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

whats weird is when you made your original post i think i was watching tim rogers talk about night warriors which kinda made me question reality for a split second

More PS1 (and in some cases also on other consoles)

Coolboarders 2
Armored Core
Bushido Blade 2
Chrono Cross
Ehrgeiz
Final Fantasy IX
Front Mission 3
Incredible Crisis
Jet Moto 2
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
Policenauts
Snatcher
WWF War Zone

i agree that 'remastered' THPS would not be a 5th Generation Console title, but that you should go ahead and vote for the first two Tony Hawk games anyway. man what a blast. some of the best memories of my first year of college took place amidst a dorm-floor social world revolving around those games.

Saturn:
Daytona USA
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Grandia
Shining Force III

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

I'm still midway through these two zelda games on my pc gbc emulator, really good solid games.

Machi - PS1 and Saturn

I haven't played this as it's never been translated, but I think it's worth including. It was an early visual novel by the guy who made 428: Shibuya Scramble.

N64:

Cruis'n USA
Donkey Kong 64
Mario Party
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Stadium

Not sure hooooow many more noms we're going to get? So maybe a month of nominations was a little long. I'll say nominations close next Saturday, October 17.

i raise this question with every poll with nominations, i think, but is there any reason we can't just nominate all the games from a comprehensive list? i totally forgot about Mario Party but i would probably make my ballot - there's just so many games

maybe nom list plus option for write-ins? and people can campaign in the voting thread. i feel like i'd be more likely to miss a great game with a comprehensive list, as my eyes glaze over scrolling past all the dross.

PS1
Tomba!
Crash Bandicoot 2
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Twisted Metal 2

3DO
Star Control II

i'm usually the only one advocating a comprehensive list, so i get it, heh.

oh i didn't notice GBC was part of this

GBC Mario Golf

since Cruis'n USA (lol at the title formatting) is in, let me nom the other N64 racing game that my brother owned and which we therefore played the shit out of, even if I'm not sure either one was very good:

N64
San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing

also someone should probably nom the Star Wars pod racing game, that was a big deal right? but it won't be me cause i never played it.

N64
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

This is simultaneously the most nostalgic era for me and an absolute motherlode of the jankiest games ever.

SF Rush! Forgot about that one. Good stuff.

this era has the largest gap between how these games looked in my head, and how they look when i pull up YouTube clips. i know we're tired of talking about low-res textures and elementary polygons, but MAN a lot of these games took place in a bleak, lifeless-feeling universe... combined often with unnatural "bonking into corners" control schemes struggling to catch up to Mario 64's effortless 3D movement. the graphics thing i think is at least partially explainable by these games being meant for the visual 'smudging' of a CRT screen.

in that spirit i hereby nominate a Mega Man game that i played more than it may have deserved, because it was bright and colorful in an era of faded mud:

PS1
Mega Man 8

sorry to return to this, haha, but i think the reason the nominations process for any poll bugs me is because i end up going to the giant comprehensive list to figure out what to nominate, anyway, because i know i'll forget some that i would have voted for

for example,

PS1
Dragon Quest VII

I've been looking thru comprehensive lists too, doing one at a time kinda thing (saturn is next), as much as I'd be down to just use those lists, i think the nom process makes it easier to separate the wheat from the chaff. i am totally ok with write-ins if sometihng is forgotten too, and if someone flags it in the voting post, i can just add it to the nominations!

sounds good, thanks! tbh i think we'll cover almost everything that's good, not sure why i'm being nitpicky

probably not going to be able to put together a ballot as i am too young to have really spent much time with many games from this era and i haven't really rated that many of them that much. the top 2 for me is easily majora's mask and metal gear solid though, they really tower above everything else

may as well nominate a few i actually did play at the time though. i tried going back to rayman years later and it was baffling difficult and not particularly great. i have fond memories of the spyro games from when i was 5 but haven't touched them since

PS1
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Rayman

you should put those five on a ballot then! ballots don't need to be full, its good to get as many ballots as possible!

few more days for nominations - as mentioned above you don't NEED to cast your ballots from the list of nominations, but the list will help other potential voters! i did my ps1 sweep and my n64 sweep, gonna do saturn and others soon. While I'm at it I am going to nominate my one jaguar game now, idk if i'll vote for it but i think it's the only notable Jaguar game so it sohuld be on here?

Jaguar
Alien vs. Predator

Saturn and PS1
Mega Man X4

Saturn and PS1
Street Fighter Alpha 3

which featured a great World Tour mode with lots of single player content.

Saturn:
Silhouette Mirage
Radiant Silvergun
Battle Garegga
Layer Section
Soukyugurentai Otokuyo
Metal Slug
Vampire Saviour
X-men vs Street Fighter
Fighters Megamix
Virtual On
Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop 2
Die Hard Arcade
Dark Saviour
Sakura Taisen
Powerslave (Exhumed)
Duke Nukem 3D
Sonic R
Burning Rangers

WOW good post, i would have forgotten a lot of those treasure games! holy cow radiant silvergun

another major Treasure omission:

N64
Mischief Makers

die hard arcade reminded me of one that will probably make my ballot:

PS1

Die Hard Trilogy

also PS1:

Vigilante 8

there are a lot of games on the PS1 Greatest Hits series that haven't been nominated, but quite a few of them are terrible games, heh

Some last minute additions from yours truly, and I am putting the ballots phase up in the next hour or so!

PLAYSTATION
2Xtreme
Madden NFL 98
Mega Man Legends
NFL Blitz
NHL 98
Resident Evil: Director's Cut (Dual Shock version)
Syphon Filter
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Resident Evil (incl. Director's Cut)
Twisted Metal

JAGUAR
Highlander

SATURN
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
DoDonPachi
Elevator Action Returns
King of Fighters '95

Also: while exploring the internet for fun gen5 stuff, I came across the soundtrack for a video game called Enemy Zero (game by the same guy who did the game D, Kenji Eno; soundtrack by Michael Nyman), and holy smokes it is a good soundtrack. Here is one of the songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twdma6QXisY&ab_channel=PaulProspero

Apparently he just reused this soundtrack for Man With A Movie Camera, which is some kinda Netflix silent film?

uh, if that doesn't work, here's a link enemy zero soundtrack track 5 (which just so happens to be called Enemy Zero)

which is some kinda Netflix silent film?

lol i am stupid

Oh! Am I able to add some? Is Dreamcast not allowed?

OK HEEEERE WE GOOOOOOO

Was going to add...

Dreamcast:
Shenmue
Shenmue II
Skies of Arcadia
Crazy Taxi
Soulcaliber

GBC:
Pokémon Gold & Silver

Sorry for not spotting sooner...if write-ins are accepted I'll still be voting for Shenmue.

Dreamcast is Gen 6 iirc

yah deramcast is for the next poll in uhh... hopefully 2021 or 2022? but by my current pace like 2025 lol

Aaah sorry, haha np. Will probably still rep for Gold & Silver though! Those were Color-specific.

gold & silver are good ones that we completely forgot! feel free to write it in everyone!

fuck, i forgot to nominate Enemy Zero. i won't be voting for it and i suppose neither is anyon e else so nbd

well ill add it for posterity :D

All for PS1:

LSD: Dream Emulator
The Silver Case
Mega Man Legends 1 and 2
Breath of Fire IV
Tales of Destiny
Star Ocean the Second Story
Valkyrie Profile
Parasite Eve II
Ghost in the Shell
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

I'd nominate the console ports of Diablo and Civ II if they're allowed for this too.

added those too!

went back and found a grip of titles i missed (thanks abanana!) so it shoooould be complete now? unless there's another chunk of the thread i also missed. lmk if something else isn't there!

oh i missed diablo and civ ii. my question is, would you be voting for them because you enjoyed them so much on the ps1 or because you wanna vbote for the pc games but nobody has made a pc games poll yet?

be honest

I played Civ 2 a lot on the PS tbh, not sure if I could meaningfully separate it from the PC

i put em in! good enough for me. ps1 is also how i played diablo haha

Thanks Will. And yes I nominated them for this because my personal formative experiences with those games and the overwhelming majority of playtime did come on their console versions as opposed to on PC.