There are many people who believe that the 90’s was one of the greatest decades of all-time. Almost everything from music, sports, entertainment and gaming was on fire during the 90’s. As the world got closer to the new millennium it seemed like everything was getting better. One of the few years that really stood out the most as an exceptional year for gaming was ’97 especially considering the lineup of video games that came out during that year. The N64 was released in September ’96 and it seems like some of the best games on Nintendo’s fifth generation console came out the following year. During ’97 we got to see the release of high profile video games like GoldenEye 007, Mario Kart 64, WCW vs nWo: World Tour, Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter and Star Fox 64. The GoldenEye 007 game was released almost two years after the ’95 movie appeared in theaters worldwide which contributed to the overall popularity of the N64 title. GoldenEye 007 ended up becoming the third best selling video game on the N64 reaching over 8 million copies worldwide. GoldenEye 007 was ahead of its time mainly because it was an immersive first-person shooter something that was rare on home consoles back in the 90’s. Also, the first-person shooter genre did not begin to take off in popularity until the 2000’s. While the N64 had some memorable titles during the late 90’s it should also noted that Sony’s PS1 console saw the releases of legendary games like Final Fantasy VII, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy Tactics and Tomb Raider II. Final Fantasy VII is a game that is generally considered to be overrated by modern gamers but in the late 90’s and many years following its release is was considered to be one of the greatest JRPG’s of all-time. Final Fantasy VII was a big deal because it was the first 3D installment within the whole franchise and the first entry to appear on one of Sony’s main consoles. Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart and the main antagonist Sephiroth are all considered to be legendary characters within the world of gaming. Final Fantasy VII is also a game that has been remade at least three times since ’97 which is a testament to how popular the game still is today.

Back in 1997 we also got to see the release of some pretty cool arcade games including Street Fighter III: New Generation, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, Tekken 3 along with Mortal Kombat 4. Despite, not being considered a commercial success Street Fighter III: New Generation ended up being praised by players and critics for its darker and edgier tone in comparison to the SFII series. Street Fighter III: New Generation ended up spawning to sequels in ’98-’99 which were also arcade fighting games that were considered to be criminally underrated. Street Fighter III: New Generation saw the introduction of new characters like Necro, Alex, Elena and Sean along with a more terrifying boss character known as GiIl. While Street Fighter III: New Generation was addictive to play in arcade centers towards the late 90’s it paled in comparison to Tekken 3. The arcade version of Tekken 3 which came out in ’97 was the game that arguably put the 3D fighting genre on the map. Tekken 3 ended up becoming far more popular than its ’95 predecessor Tekken 2 and gained way more mainstream attention. Tekken 3 was eventually ported to PS1 in ’98 and it ended becoming the fifth best selling game on the 32-bit console reaching over 8.3 million copies in sales. Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter was the sequel to the crossover game X-Men vs Street Fighter which came out in ’96. Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter was one of the hottest crossover titles of ’97 despite not being as popular as Marvel vs Capcom from 1998. The removal of certain X-Men characters in Marvel vs Street Fighter drew some criticism but Capcom had decided to make the game for fast-paced than its ’96 predecessor. Mortal Kombat 4 which also came out in ’97 was a pretty big deal because it was the first major installment within its franchise that was 3D. Mortal Kombat 4 does not get nearly as much love as the 2D MK trilogy from ’92-’95 despite being more creative. Mortal Kombat 4 was quite possibly the darkest and creepiest installment of the MK series back in the 90’s with the continue screen being nothing short of nightmare fuel. The additions of new characters in Mortal Kombat 4 like Fujin, Reiko, Tanya and Jarek was interesting along with the inclusion of two new bosses Shinnok and Quan-Chi.

We also got to see a lot of cool home console games in ’97 including Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Mega Man X4, Rival Schools along with DarkStalkers 3. There are many who believe that Symphony of the Night was one of the greatest games that Konami had ever produced. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had an amazing soundtrack along with beautiful art direction, sharp controls along with everything else you could ask for in a metroidvania game. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the few games from ’97 that holds up well today even though Konami should consider remastering it for current generation game systems like PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch. Mega Man X4 surprisingly ended up being one of best entries within its series and had everything a fan could ask for cool graphics, beautiful stage, high quality voice-acting along with the ability to play as RockMan and Zero. Rival Schools: United By Fate was another underrated arcade classic by Capcom that does not get the type of credit it deserves. Despite, being a commercial failure Rival Schools: United By Fate was still a very fun light-hearted 3D game with cool characters, graphics and gameplay that was somewhat better than Street Fighter EX which came out in 1996. DarkStalkers 3 was quite possibly one of the most difficult fighting games from ’97 mainly due to its highly learning curve when it came down to certain characters like Lord Raptor and Anakaris. While DarkStalkers 3 had a more sinister looking tone than its predecessors and looked impressive it could not rival the likes of MK4 or Tekken 3 in popularity. While some would go on record and argue in favor of ’98 being a better overall year for gaming its hard to ignore some of the most iconic titles to come out of 1997.