| What games of 1997 got your attention? Which ones were the best? Which ones were the worst? Ask these questions when you vote in the upcoming Best of 1997 poll. I already did the Best of 1996 last year and now I'm bringing it back for a second time.
But this editorial isn't about me telling you about the Best of 1997 (polling will start soon). This editorial is about a look back at 1997. The Super NES has seen better days. Great games for that system ranged from Harvest Moon (RPG/Simulation) to The Lost Vikings II (Action/Puzzle) to Arkanoid: Doh It Again (Action/Arcade) to Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Action/Adventure). But it didn't seem like most of those games were up to the quality and standard as some previous Super NES greats like Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Star Fox, Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Tetris Attack, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and Super Mario Kart. Those were all great games. Nintendo needed to bring out one last fantastic game for the Super NES, but all they could come up with is Kirby's Dream Land 3. I'm not saying that the game is bad, I'm just saying that Nintendo could have done something else that would have at least seemed big. 1998 seems to be Super NES's last year. We'll have to see. Game Boy did pretty well last year. Game Boy greats ranged from Donkey Kong Land III (Action/Adventure) to Kirby's Star Stacker (Puzzle) to Turok: Battle of the Bionosaurs (Action) to Mole Mania (Action/Puzzle). Some more exciting games than the ones on the Super NES, but still not up to par with previous Game Boy hits. Although Donkey Kong Land III is a great game (and is up to par with previous games), the other games listed here are just not fantastic games. But compared to the other Game Boy games released last year, these came out on top. Game Boy seems to keep on going strong. It will be a long time until this system dies out. The Nintendo 64 had its first full year in 1997. Let's see how it did. Greats ranged from Mario Kart 64 (Racing) to Star Fox 64 (Action/Shooter) to GoldenEye 007 (Action) to Diddy Kong Racing (Racing/Adventure) to Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (Action). Although many N64 games were delayed into 1998 (Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Quest, Yoshi's Story, and MLB Featuring Ken Griffey Jr.), the Nintendo 64 had a great year. The Nintendo 64, including the upcoming 64DD, will last for a very long time. You still can look forward to hundreds of games. All together, 1997 only had one RPG (Harvest Moon) and no simulation games (except for the previously mentioned RPG, which is also part simulation). RPG's, adventures, and simulations will all be of plenty in 1998, so don't worry those of you who love these genres. There will be another editorial coming up within the next few weeks to explain what games are coming out in 1998. Think of it as a look ahead at 1998. That's all for this editorial. See you next time. |
