So, I watch this guy on youtube sometimes who claimed that 2023 was a "bad year for gaming". He is doing this to push back against the idea that 2023 was the best year ever for gaming. This guy's opinions are sometimes good, sometimes bad, but after listening to him, I kind of have to agree. 2023 wasn't really an amazing year in my opinion, although of course like him I'm primarily a multiplayer gamer. Still, him discussing what the best year for gaming got me thinking, and got me wanting to go back and revisit the past ~30 years of gaming.
For the record, this is gonna be HIGHLY subjective. It's gonna be what I think are the best based on what I personally enjoyed. if you asked me before I really sat down and thought it out, the years that come to mind most are 1997 (when I got the N64), 2007 (many modern multiplayer staples all in one year), 2011 (a good variety of titles that I really loved), and 2016 (another solid year, and honestly, to me, the last truly "excellent" year for gaming). But yeah, I'm gonna go back to 1991, which is when I started getting into gaming, post some notable titles that I remember playing from those years, and at the end of it, rate the years, and then put them into tier lists. So let's get started.
1991
Sonic the Hedgehog (both genesis and game gear)
Super Mario World
Honestly? This is all that came up for me. It's a very foundational year. Sonic the hedgehog was the series that was my gateway to gaming, but yeah. other than sonic and mario, that's about it. It's a very...classic year, and those two titles are very strong, but yeah, it's likely not going to be an amazing year in the grand scheme of things.
3/10
1992
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Mario Land 2
Super Mario Kart
Mortal Kombat
Wolfenstein 3D
I know, i know, my tastes are kinda limited, but hey, it is slightly better than last year. Four titles instead of 2.
4/10
1993
Doom
Super Mario All Stars
Sonic CD
Star Fox
Sonic Spinball
Sonic Chaos
Jurassic Park
Columns
It had some strong titles, might be one of the strongest of the 2D era.
7/10
1994
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Doom II
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Cosmic Carnage
Primal Rage
Jurassic Park Rampage Edition
Sonic triple trouble
Eh it had some strong titles that were unforgettable and that I still play today.
6/10
1995
Command & Conquer
Super Mario: Yoshi's Island
Vectorman
Knuckles Chaotix
A slightly weaker year but still had some decent titles
4/10
1996
Quake
Super Mario 64
Tomb Raider
Sonic 3D Blast
Final Doom
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Resident Evil
It was a reasonably strong year. Started moving into the 3D era fully and this is kind of the beginning of a new era of gaming for me.
7/10
1997
Star Fox 64
Goldeneye 007
Mario Kart 64
Doom 64
Turok Dinosaur Hunter
Quake 2
Huh, it actually had surprisingly few titles released that year. Still, they were all VERY high quality titles. Still, better than the other years? Eh, not so sure.
6/10
1998
Pokemon Red/Blue
Turok 2
Starcraft
Starsiege: Tribes
Wargames
Yoshi's Story
Battlezone
Half Life
This is actually an extremely strong year by 90s standards. Many of these games still hold up today, and were foundational for the future of gaming.
8/10
1999
Unreal Tournament
Quake III Arena
Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun
Sonic Adventure
Power Stone
Medal of Honor
Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Pinball
Army Men: Sarge's heroes
NFL Blitz 2000
This actually does have a lot of solid titles too.
8/10
Breaking the 90s into tiers
If I had to give any year the year of the decade, it's probably 1998. It just had too many strong titles.
1993, 1996, 1999 are in a similar tier though in my opinion.
1994 and 1997 are pretty solid but below those
Then 1992 and 1995.
And finally 1991 is the worst of the decade.
So basically:
A tier- 1993, 1996, 1998, 1999
B tier- 1994, 1997
C tier- 1992, 1995
D tier- 1991
That will give me a solid basis going forward. And yes, nothing got S tier yet, I'll elevate the best of the best to S tier at the end as THE BEST YEARS EVER, but I don't want to get ahead of myself here.
2000
Pokemon Gold/Silver
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Command & Conquer Red Alert 2
Pokemon Stadium
The World Is Not Enough (007)
Crazy Taxi
Eh, a lot of the games I remember from this year actually came out in 1999. So this seems to be a pretty dull year. It had some good memorable titles, but meh.
5/10
2001
Sonic Adventure 2
Halo Combat Evolved
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Crazy Taxi 2
Advance Wars
Super Mario Advance
Power Stone 2
007 Agent Under Fire
This is a VERY solid year for me. A lot of major foundational titles came out this year that became relevant for gaming for a while to me.
8/10
2002
Super Mario Sunshine
Battlefield 1942
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Sonic Advance
007 Nightfire
Mafia
Medal of Honor Frontline
Eh, honestly, kind of a lackluster year compared to the previous year. Most games I bought were like GBA remakes of 90s games like Doom and yoshi's island.
6/10
2003
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
Sonic Advance 2
Command & Conquer Generals
Advance Wars 2
Call of Duty
Mario Kart Double Dash
So THIS was a rather weak year for me. Again, a lot of what i played through this era were remakes of games from past eras on my GBA. It was actually kinda dull. I kinda remember being relatively disengaged with traditional gaming during this time due to a lack of games worth playing. I mostly played stuff from years ago.
5/10
2004
Halo 2
Half Life 2
Far Cry
Doom 3
Star Wars Battlefront
Unreal Tournament 2004
Counter Strike: Source
007: Everything or Nothing
Sonic Advance 3
Goldeneye: Rogue Agent
This was easily one of the best years of gen 6. So many good FPS titles that really set the benchmark for gaming for a while. The start of what I'd consider the golden age of gaming.
9/10
2005
Resident Evil 4
Call of Duty 2
God of War
FEAR
Battlefield 2
Mario Kart DS
Advance Wars Dual Strike
Quake 4
Sonic Rush
As I said, golden era of gaming. So many good games.
8/10
2006
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Gears of War
New Super Mario Bros
Half Life 2 Episode 1
Call of Duty 3
Just Cause
Black
Metroid Prime Hunters
Star Fox Command
Battlefield 2042
Another very solid year
8/10
2007
Halo 3
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Super Mario Galaxy
Crysis
Half Life 2 Episode 2
Portal
Team Fortress 2
God of War II
Unreal Tournament 3
Bioshock
Mass Effect
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars
You know what? I think popq2 (the dude whose commentary started this). I'm not 100% sure 2007 is the best year ever yet, but it's definitely in the running. It's like virtually every franchise I've come to enjoy has had a major release during this time.
10/10
2008
Fallout 3
Mario Kart Wii
Left 4 Dead
Dead Space
Gears of War 2
Command & Conquer Red Alert 3
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Call of Duty: World At War
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
You know, I don't really remember 2008 being this banging of a year, but I guess it's really a matter of what it came after. It wasn't bad. It had a lot of titles I liked. I only thing Fallout 3 really stood out to me as a legendary game though. Still not bad.
7/10
2009
Left 4 Dead 2
Resident Evil 5
Halo 3: ODST
FEAR 2
Halo Wars
Borderlands
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Minecraft
Yeah. We're past the peak of the 2000s. Also, I didn't know minecraft came out in 2009 but I guess the alpha version did. Still. Kind of a lackluster year after so many GREAT years.
6/10
Making a tierlist of the 2000s
So, one thing I'm going to say is that the 2000s largely BTFOed the 90s. Im kinda glad I didnt make an S tier because none of those years deserved it. Even the weak years in the 2000s were on par with a middle of the road 90s year. I might end up bumping those down in my final ranking somewhat since the 2000s was so much stronger than the 90s for gaming.
Anyway, if I had to make a tier list
S tier- 2007
A tier- 2004, 2005, 2006
B tier- 2001, 2008, 2009
C tier: 2002, 2003
D tier: 2000s
And to add the 90s back into it so far and correct their rankings:
S tier- 2007
A tier- 2004, 2005, 2006
B tier- 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009
C tier: 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003
D tier: 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000
I think this will remain a good springboard to discuss the modern era. Back to the 2010s.
2010
Halo Reach
Mass Effect 2
Bioshock 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Fallout: New Vegas
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Metro 2033
Civilization 5
Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing
Just Cause 2
COD: Black Ops
Mafia II
This was my first year as a full on PC gamer and it was a very good year for me.
9/10
2011
Portal 2
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Dead Space 2
Battlefield 3
Gears of War 3
Bulletstorm
Crysis 2
Super Mario 3D Land
Terraria
Sonic Generations
Pokemon Black/White
COD: Modern Warfare 3
Mario Kart 7
Rage
Ya know in retrospect, I don't think that 2011 was really up to 2007. It was more like one of the very good years from 2004 on up. Solid, but not "the best."
9/10
2012
Mass Effect 3
Borderlands 2
Far Cry 3
Dishonored
Halo 4
Sleeping Dogs
Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Resident evil 6
Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Pokemon Black/White 2
Planetside 2
A solid year, but slightly worse than 2011, which was slightly worse than 2010. Still 2005-2006 tier though.
8/10
2013
Bioshock Infinite
Grand Theft Auto V
Battlefield 4
Metro: Last Light
Tomb Raider
Pokemon X/Y
Dead Space 3
Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed
Crysis 3
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
I can tell that the golden era is starting to wind down. Still very good, but yeah. Not as good as 2010-2012.
8/10
2014
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Titanfall
Civilization Beyond Earth
Borderlands: The Pre Sequel
Goat Simulator
Far Cry 4
The Crew
Very lackluster year in retrospect. I mostly played titanfall and games from the years before if I recall.
6/10
2015
Fallout 4
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Halo 5: Guardians
Battlefield Hardline
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
Rainbow Six: Siege
Unreal Tournament 4
Ark Survival Evolved
Just Cause 3
Another pretty modest year. And let's face it, a lot of the big franchises flopped. Fallout 4 is the only game I consider particularly memorable this year.
7/10
2016
Overwatch
Titanfall 2
Battlefield 1
Doom 2016
Civilization 6
Far Cry Primal
Dishonored 2
Pokemon Sun and Moon
Hmm, 2016 wasn't as good as I remember. Maybe it's because it had tons of quality over quantity, but it really didn't have a sheer number of titles that I really really liked this year. It just had a few that I liked a lot. Still, I did like those titles a lot.
8/10
2017
Wolfenstein II: The New Collosus
Destiny 2
Sonic Mania
Player Unknown's Battlegrounds
Fortnite
Prey
Mass Effect Andromeda
Quake Champions
*sigh*, so this is where gaming started going downhill for me. I mean, there werent many titles, they werent that good, this was mostly known for the battle royale craze from a PC standpoint. The switch had a lot of notable titles, but i didnt play switch games from this era onward so maybe that's what I'm missing. But yeah. No significant multiplayer FPS releases aside from battle royale. Yeah they're COD but COD in this era from 2013 largely sucked, hence why I stopped including it. Yes, I played them. They were mediocre and forgettable.
5/10
2018
Call of Duty Black Ops 4
Fallout 76
Far Cry 5
Battlefield 5
Insurgency Sandstorm
Subnautica
Not a ton of games, but a lot of high quality ones that I played the crap out of.
6/10
2019
Apex Legends
Gears 5
The Outer Worlds
Borderlands 3
Far Cry New Dawn
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Halo MCC (PC release)
Team Sonic Racing
Mario Kart Tour
Call of Duty Mobile
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Metro Exodus
Eh, am I being too harsh on the post 2016 era? This year was pretty banging. Probably the best in a while. Heck its probably better than 2016 which I always go on about being like the "last good year".
Probably the best since 2010-2012.
8/10
Adding the 2010s to my tier list
So, this went a bit differently than I expected. I always saw the 2010-2016 era as one big block of awesomeness, but the 2010s were full of peaks and troughs. 2010-2012 were solid, but then slowly declined, while picking up again in 2016. Then things got meh again and by 2019, back to being very strong. All in all:
S tier- 2007, 2010, 2011
A tier- 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019
B tier- 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015
C tier: 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2017, 2018
2020
Doom Eternal
Call of Duty: Warzone
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
So I admit, I never got into cyberpunk 2077, I might get it eventually, but yeah. This is a REALLY lackluster year. I know COVID hit, and I honestly spent most of 2020 obsessively playing titles from 2018-2019.
4/10
2021
Deathloop
Halo Infinite
Battlefield 2042
Call of Duty Vanguard
Far Cry 6
I mean, it's not much, but it's honest work. And it's kept me occupied since. But man, this is why I always talk about modern gaming kinda sucking. Look how few titles came out that I actually wanted to play. It's hard to actually find games these days. I'm waiting longer periods of time for fewer games. And this is one of the better modern years.
Quality over quantity
7/10
2022
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Call of Duty Modern Warfare II
Callisto Protocol
So here's the problem I find myself in recently. There are games out there, but very few games I actually wanna play. And most games from the last few years are still very expensive. So not only do they not cater to the same game play I'm used to enjoying, but they also are very expensive.
Hence why I'm so blah these days. Im sure there are some decent titles out there, but I just can't really find any that really grabs me. As such, 2022 is the worst year since 1991 for me for gaming. Good thing 2021 was half decent.
3/10
2023
Dead Island 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Battlebit remastered
So, two of those three games really did make the year for me. Battlebit remastered is by far one of the best multiplayer games in years. And modern warfare 3 kicks the crap out of MW2, although it is essentially a remake of MW2 from 2009.
Heck, theres a lot of remakes this year. Dead space remake. RE4 remake. havent played them. Why should I spend like $40+ on remakes of 15-20 year old games when I can just go back and replay the originals? 2023 is a year of remakes. And once again, a lot of games that I either have some interest in, like starfield, but that game also kinda bombed. And there are games like atomic heart I'm interested in, but again, still too expensive.
The fact is, these days, they charge $70 for games, and then they put them on sale for $30-40 and act like its a massive discount. I used to see $60 games come out throughout the year and by THAT CHRISTMAS they would often be $20.
Every time there's a steam sale, all the best sales are on stuff I already own. Oh gee, I can buy BF4/1/5 for like $12 total, but I've owned them on origin for years and have hundreds of hours in them. Meanwhile cyberpunk, a 4 year old game, is STILL $30! Wtf? Discount that crap more.
I mean, this is the dilemma I have. I bet there are more titles from recent years I'd like. I jsut aint willing to roll the dice on them. Because gaming is expensive, and I've had to spend the last 2 years upgrading my hardware so I can even play new games. Now it's time to shift to buying games, but yeah. There just aren't a ton I really want.
In some ways I feel like gaming has moved on. Look back to 2004-2016 or so, ie, what I call the 'golden era" of gaming. There were easily like 8 titles a year I wanted, and they were all high quality games. Those years were chock full of stuff I wanted to play. And I admit, I didnt all play them at launch. A lot of them I played years later when they were $10-20 in the bargain bin. But if they dont get to that bargain bin, Im not gonna buy a lot of them. $30 isn't really that good of a deal on a 3-4 year old game. $10-20 is.
Anyway, this year basically is stuck at 3/10, but there's room to improve.
As such, let's add them to the tier list.
Final tier list
S tier- 2007, 2010, 2011
A tier- 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019
B tier- 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015
C tier: 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2017, 2018, 2021
D tier: 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2020, 2022, 2023
Yeah, the 2020s have kinda bombed so far. As I said though, they can be rehabilitated as I eventually hit those newer titles in the bargain bin in the next couple of years, but yeah, I'm not really too impressed with modern gaming. The last truly great year for gaming was 2019 in my opinion.
And popq2 was right. 2007 was THE BEST YEAR EVER for gaming. FULL STOP. No question, no debate.
2010 and 2011 were runner ups. I'd actually say 2010 is slightly better than 2011, so if I had to choose, 2010 is 2nd, 2011 third.
Beyond that, the next tier down of years would be 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2019.
As you can tell, I really think that general ps3/360/wii era was fire. Best era of gaming ever. Virtually every year was strong there. 2016 and 2019 deserve honorable mentions for being really great more modern years for gaming. 2019 was the last "great" year for gaming IMO.
The next tier down are the "good" years. 1993 stood out among the 16 bit era of being the best year with all the best releases. 1998 and 1999 were solid for gen 5 releases. 2001 was a solid gen 6 release date.
2008 and 2009 were the weakest of the gen 7 releases but still hung in here at that tier. Just shows how amazing that entire era of gaming was.
2014 and 2015 were showing a clear decline from the golden era, but still hung on enough to be respectable.
From here, we get the weaker years. 1994 was an okay gen 4 year. Gen 4 was kinda weak in general. 1996 and 1997 had a lot of great games, just nowhere near as many as I thought they did. Oh well, some years were like that, not a ton of great games, but still had really good ones. 2002 and 2003 were kinda slow years for me, with me mostly playing older titles and GBA games. And then you got some of the stronger modern years. 2017, 2018, and 2021 all had a handful of really solid titles I really loved, but it is clear that we're past "peak gaming" as I call it by this point. I'm finding fewer titles fun, and I'm mostly sticking to fewer and fewer games, and being less willing to experiment, as prices are high and game formulas are much different than previous years. They just dont make games like they did back in the Xbox 360/PS3 era any more.
And then you have the worst years. 1991, 1992, and 1995 just barely had releases I liked. of course I was a kid for most of those and had games from other years that held me over. Btw, even though I started at 1991, the year I got into gaming, I probably have played a lot of 1985-1990 games too, I just dont remember them very well and didnt include them here. 2000 wasnt bad, if anything it might deserve to be renovated back up into C tier, it was just weak compared to the years around it. And as far as modern years, meh. Part of it might be my own lack of curiosity, and the fact that games are expensive, and im unwilling to experiment. I mostly stick to old models I know I'll like and quite frankly, theyre making fewer and fewer games like I like. Lots of great titles out there, but if I dont like souls like games, or ARPGs, or wanna buy overpriced remakes of games from my glory days, Im kinda running out of things to play. it is possible those years, especially 2023, might get rehabilitated into B or C tier though.
But yeah. That's my approach toward gaming. TLDR, the best era was 2004-2016, before that gaming was a lot less mature, but i had a lot of fun anyway as a kid. After that, gaming has changed and I am clearly declining in my interest toward it. Part of it is the fact that things have changed, and part of it is the fact that there arent many titles i wanna play.
But it suffices to say I think modern gaming sucks, and i generally agree with popq2. 2023 wasnt that good. 2007 was fire, we need to go back to 2007 again and have years like that.
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