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Did SM64 have the best soundtrack in the entire Mario series?

SM64 is considered to be one of the most legendary 3D Super Mario games of all-time especially since it was the very first that we got to see within the series in general. Super Mario 64 from the mid 90’s was remembered for its critically acclaimed gameplay, graphics and soundtrack making it the second best selling video game for the Nintendo 64. Since its release back in ‘96 Super Mario 64 had reached over 9.8 million copies in terms of worldwide sales before the N64 was ultimately discontinued in 2001. As far as soundtracks are concerned Nintendo arguably produced some of its best work with Super Mario 64 with legendary soundtracks for different levels such as: Koopa’s Road, Bomb-Omb Battlefield and Dire Dire Docks. The soundtracks in SM64 seemed far better than anything from the 2D Mario installments from the NES/SNES era of gaming. Also, there are hardly any 3D Mario games that came after SM64 that had a memorable soundtrack that was on the same level in terms of quality with Super Mario Galaxy from ‘07 possibly being an exception.

The soundtracks in SM64 blended naturally with each level and the amount of creativity that went into the game itself added to its overall replay value. While the soundtrack for SM64 was awesome it should be noted that Nintendo had produced many memorable music scores especially during the 90’s in general. In fact, some would put Mario Kart 64 above SM64 in terms of having more memorable soundtracks with likes of Rainbow Road, Toad’s Turnpike and Raceways. There was definitely a magical aura that some of the N64 Mario games had back then that we rarely see nowadays and its something that long time fans of the series still cherish to this day. While everyone has their own respective opinion on which Mario game has the best soundtracks there is no doubt that SN64 would have to be in the top five on many people’s list.

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Did the most memorable Donkey Kong games come from the 90’s?

As many people know Donkey Kong is one of the most iconic names within the gaming world. Ever since the very first Donkey Kong arcade game from ‘81 Nintendo has produced numerous titles within the series that were considered to be classics as it pertained to the platform genre of gaming. However, many people would argue that some of the most successful and high profile games within the entire series came due the 90’s within the SNES/N64 era of gaming. As far as 16-bit platformers are concerned games such as the Donkey Kong: Country trilogy from ‘94-‘96 were considered some of the best titles that Nintendo had produced for SNES. In fact, the Donkey Kong trilogy had reached roughly under million copies worldwide in terms of sales; while each game could give the likes of Super Mario World or any of the three Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis a run for their money. Also, we got to see Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64 a game that was also successful since it reached over 5.2 million copies in sales since its release in 1999. The success of Donkey Kong 64 was followed after the release of Diddy Kong Racing from ‘97; not only was it the first racing game within the DK set but it too also ended up becoming one of the best selling games for the N64 overall.

Diddy Kong racing reached roughly under five million in sales before the N64 was ultimately discontinued in retail back in 2001. It should also be noted that the Donkey Kong title from ‘94 for Game Boy reaches over three million in sales and is a memorable classic that retro gamers enjoyed as well. If anything the DK series may have reached its peat in popularity during 90’s mainly because the platform genre of gaming declined following that decade. While games like Donkey Kong Country Returns & Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze were attractions on the Wii/Wii-U console during the 10’s decade the series itself was not nearly as popular as it was during the 80’s & 90’s. While everyone has their own respective opinion on which DK games were among the very best many would definitely argue that the most memorable titles within the series came out during 90’s.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- WWF Warzone: (1998)

Back in the late 90’s WWF WarZone was considered to be one of the top wrestling games for the PS1 following its initial release during the summer of 1998. WWF Warzone was published by Acclaim Sports and developed by Iguana West for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation; it outshined the likes of WCW Nitro which was also released in ‘98 for the PS1 and was considered to be very innovative in terms of gameplay for its time. Even though, WWF Warzone was released in ‘98 the roster for the game was a bit outdate since it heavily reflected that of ‘97; which ended up being one of the few minor issues that people had with the game itself. In general there were more positives than negatives with WWF Warzone because the game had introduced a variety of features that had never been seen in a wrestling title prior to ‘98. WWF Warzone was one of the first wrestling titles to include in-game features such as create-a-wrestler; something that people did not see inWCW games until ‘99 onwards. Also, the single-player Challenge mode which included cinematic cutscenes and wrestlers cutting revenge promos before grudge matches added life to the game itself. Players had the opportunity to win the European, Intercontinental along with the World title throughout Challenge Mode with the game increasing in difficulty over time.

There also a variety of different matches that players had the opportunity to choose from outside of Challenge Mode including Single, Versus, Cage, Hardcore, Tornado and Battle Royal. WWF Warzone presented players with at least sixteen different characters to choose from along including likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Undertaker, HHH, The Rock, Mankind and more; while each characters had their own character profiles and attributes that would uniquely distinguish them from one another. WWF Warzone was quite possibly the first wrestling game where characters had 3D entrances alongside their theme music which was a pretty cool feature to see on either the N64 or the PS1 back then. WWF Warzone has received praise from wrestling fans and critics alike following its initial ‘98 release; especially since the game came out during time where the company itself was arguably at its peak during the 90’s decade. There is no doubt the 1998 was a great time to be a fan of pro-wrestling and games like WWF Warzone were among the many reasons why. While the WWF Attitude game from 1999 was considered to be a more superior version of Its prequel in terms of game modes and roster depth Warzone is still regarded by many retro gamers as iconic.

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Did the Final Fantasy series reach its peak in popularity between the late 90’s-mid 00’s?

The Final Fantasy series is considered to be legendary within the world of gaming and it been around since 1987. Despite, the Final Fantasy series being around since the late 00’s it seems like some of the best games within the entire series did not come until the mid 90’s-mid 00’s time period with the release of titles such as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII , Final Fantasy IX, Final and Fantasy X-X2. While recent games such as Final Fantasy XIV from ‘16 along with Final Fantasy VII: Remake in 2020 being highly successful entries within the series it seems like games such as FFXIII parts 1 & 2 along with XIV did not standout as much between the late 00’s-early 10’s. Its not secret that turn-based RPG’s are not nearly as popular as they once were during the 16-bit era of the 90’s. Also, it seems like action role-playing games are more popular than traditional turn based RPG’s which is the type of gameplay that heavily contributed to the overall appeal of the Final Fantasy series back in the 90’s and early 00’s. The best selling Final Fantasy game ever made was obviously FFVII from ‘97 which sold close to 10 million copies following its release on the PS1.

As far as the PS2 era of gaming is concerned the best selling Final Fantasy game from the 00’s was FFX which reach at least 8.5 million units in sales following its initial release back in 2001. We also had Final Fantasy XII from ‘06 which reached at least 6 million sales ;which was followed by Final Fantasy X-2 from ‘03 which hit roughly over 5 million in sales. The storylines and the characters of the older Final Fantasy games seemed more appealing during a time where turn based RPG’s were increasing in popularity especially since 3D gaming in general was evolving between the mid 90’s-mid 00’s. To say that the Final Fantasy series has reached its peak in popularity is debatable. Many people feel that Square Enix still as more to offer fans of the series aside from high definition remakes of older games within the series. While Square Enix may never produce another Final Fantasy game that will have the level of popularity/success as the likes of FFVII/FFX they can always add more elements to future games within the series that keeps fans interested. Since Square Enix is arguably one of the greatest RPG video game developers of all-time it would not much of a surprise if they eventually develop new games that are popular as some of the older installments within the series during the 90’s and early 00’s.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- WCW Thunder: (1999)

When it comes down to old school wrestling games from the 90’s one of the few titles that some people might remember is the WCW Thunder game from ‘99developed by Inland Productions and published by THQ. The game looked and played similar to that of the WCW Nitro game which also appeared on the PS1 back in back ‘98. However, unlike the WCW Nitro game from ‘98 there were some new characters such as Bret Hart who were in the game; along new match types such as: Cage Match and Battle Royale which added to the appeal of WCW Thunder over its ‘98 predecessor WCW Nitro. The ability for players to utilize weapons during matches along with being able to assign wrestlers to different stables was also seen as a positive in WCW Thunder; despite the game itself receiving mediocre to average reviews in comparison to the 3D WWF games that came out for the PS1. It should also be noted that WCW Thunder was a PS1 exclusive unlike WCW Nitro and it also included pre-recorded television entrances that lasted for a few seconds before each match started. Some of the improvements seen in WCW Thunder showed that the developers put a little more effort into the production of the game despite being a mostly carbon copy of WCW Nitro itself.

WCW Thunder was released in a year where World Championship Wrestling was still popular in terms of television. However, ‘99 was also the same year World Championship Wrestling was starting to go downhill and was beginning to decline in ratings during the Monday Night ratings war against WWF as well. While some might argue that WCW Thunder was a game that may have been overshadowed by the likes of WWF Attitude, WWF Wrestlemania 2000 and WWF Smackdown which also came in ‘99 as well. However, the WWF games that were released in ‘99 were far more superior in gameplay and more successful overall. If a game like WCW Thunder was released anytime between ‘94-‘96 it could have more popular than it was in ‘99. While WCW Thunder seemed decent at best but it was no where as good as WCW: World Tour or WCW/NWO Revenge for the N64 which were considered among the best wrestling games from the 90’s overall.

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Retro Gaming 90’s-Battletoads/Double Dragon: (1993)

When we think about underrated beat em up classics from the early 90’s one of the few titles that instantly comes to mind is the crossover game involving Battletoads & Double Dragon from 1993. The Battletoads/Double Dragon best em up game was released for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo along with game with all versions including multiplayer gameplay with the exception of the handheld version. Both the Battletoads & Double Dragon series started back in the 80’s and by the early 90’s they had arguably declined in popularity. A crossover game between Double Dragon & Battletoads captured the interest of many people and for the most part it received many favorable reviews by critics and gaming publications following its release in ’93. The plot for Battletoads/Double Dragon saw the main antagonists from both series Dark Queen and the Shadow Warriors attempting to rule the galaxy. The storyline sees the Battletoads working with both Billy & Jimmy two of the main protagonists from the Double Dragon series in order to stop the threat to Earth created by a spaceship known as the Colossus. This game features five playable characters along with having an interesting feature regarding its gameplay.

During multiplayer gameplay players were able to advance forward to different levels along with their partner despite perishing within a certain stage. While the beat em up gameplay was pretty standard the concept of a Battletoads/Double Dragon crossover game blew everyone’s mind back in the early 90’s While it might be debatable which version of Battletoads/Double Dragon was the best many people were surprised that a NES port was released. The NES was about ten years old by ’93 and the Super NES had been in retail since 1990. Also, the Sega Genesis port of Battletoads/Double Dragon had impressive visuals that rivaled the SNES version of the game following its release. Even though, Battletoads/Double Dragon is not talked about much nowadays retro gamers who grew up in the 90’s would probably consider this game an underrated beat em up classic.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse: (1990)

When it comes down to platform classics for the Sega Genesis one of the few games that instantly comes to mind is Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse from 1990. Castle was arguably one of the first major platformers to have appeared on the Sega Genesis/Master System before Sonic the Hedgehog blew up in popularity from ’91 onwards. Castle Of Illusion was a platformer with a basic plot that involved Mickey Mouse attempting to rescue Minnie Mouse from a wicked witch by the name of Mizrabel. In order defeat the wicked witch Mickey is required to collect the Seven Gems Of The Rainbow from various levels throughout the game which are considered illusions. In order to complete his quest along with rescuing Minnie Mouse players must deal with various foes throughout the game including the Masters Of Illusion and other strange creatures in the game. The cool thing about Castle Of Illusion is the fact that it felt somewhat similar to a Sonic game for the series even began.

The concept of collecting seven gems similar to how Sonic the Hedgehog collects seven Chaos Emeralds was pretty cool. Also the idea of saving Minnie Mouse In Castle Of Illusion was somewhat similar to how Sonic the Hedgehog had to save Amy Rose in Sonic CD a game that did not come out until ’93 for the Sega CD. While the 16-bit graphics for Castle Of Illusion was a strong positive for this 90’s platformer some criticized the game for being to much like Super Mario in terms of gameplay. In order to defeat enemies players were general required to bounce off of them while being able to toss items such as marbles and apples at them. While Castle Of Illusion was not as complex in terms of gameplay as other platformers from the 90’s it still managed to be a huge attraction for the Sega Genesis. Mickey Mouse as been a pop icon since the 1930’s and was a familiar face that almost everyone knew about; seeing him on the 16-bit Genesis console back then was pretty epic. Castle Of Illusion was so popular to a point where it received a remake which eventually appeared on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade along with Microsoft Windows back in 2013. While Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse May not have been the number one platformer for the Sega Genesis; but it was a game that was mainly critically acclaimed back in the 16-bit era that people still talk about to this day.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Jurassic Park: (1993)

As people know the original Jurassic Park movie was directed by Stephen Spielberg is considered to be legendary following its release back in 1993. The first Jurassic Park movie had a budget of at least $63 million and was considered to be a massive box office success following its release. The movie became so popular to point where Jurassic Park had received its own video game for the Sega Genesis in ’93 as well. The Jurassic Park game that we got for the Sega Genesis was developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega and was a side-scrolling action-adventure title that only allowed single-player gameplay. The Jurassic Park game for the Sega Genesis allowed players to control Dr. Alan Grant the main protagonist for the movie along with a Velociraptor as they try to complete various levels within the game itself. Players were mainly given three lives to complete the entire game while players had to defend themselves against various adversaries & threats in the form of dinosaurs throughout the game. As Dr. Alan Grant weapons such as stun guns, has guns, tranquilizer guns and more were used to help players achieve their main objective in moving on to the next level.

While Dr. Grant’s main goal for each level is to stay alive when facing the dinosaurs the Velociraptor must deal with opposition from security guards. While controlling as the Velociraptor for certain levels players have to evade or destroy the security guards who have multiple weapons at their disposal. Players can use the Velociraptor to destroy its enemies by attempting to eat the security guards and doing what ever it takes to complete each stage. Even though, some people thought that the Genesis version from ’93 was cool others were fans of the SNES version of the game because of its graphics and its top-down perspective in terms of gameplay. While more people may have been fans of Ocean Software’s Jurassic Park game for the Super NES the the Genesis version from ’93 may have been one of the better action-adventure titles to have appeared on Sega’s 16-bit console during the early 90’s.

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Retro Gaming 00’s- Need For Speed: Underground (2003)

When it comes down to high profile racing games from the early 00’s it’s almost impossible to have a conversation about that topic without discussing Need For Speed: Underground from 2003. Need For Speed: Underground was developed by EA Black Box and published by EA Games and was released for multiple systems including PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox and was considered to be one of the best racing video games of ’03. Need For Speed: Underground has a variety of offline game modes including Drifting, Circuit, Knockout, Sprint along with Drag Racing which added to its overall replay value. The car customization mechanic was also something that was praised by many fans and critics as well. While Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 from ’02 was praised by critics NFS: Underground had more game modes opposed to players simply trying to evade the police which made for a worthy successor. However, despite how popular Need For Speed: Underground became many would argue that its sequel NFS: Underground 2 was the best entry in the series as it pertains to the 00’s. Need For Speed: Underground was one of the few high profile racing games that stood out within the 00’s decade along with the likes of Race Driver: Grid, Project Gotham and Forza Motorsport all can with Midnight Club II & III.

The visuals for Need For Speed: Underground looked good for its time and the gameplay seemed balanced especially since a player’s performance depended on how they customized their cars prior to races. Even though, Need For Speed: Underground came out in ’03 some might argue that the game deserved to be remastered between the late 00’s-early 10’s time period for either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360; seeing how popular the series had become especially during the mid 00’s onwards. Need For Speed: Underground was not quite as popular as NFS: Most Wanted from ’05 but then again it was the first installment within the series to include a storyline within its Career Mode which was groundbreaking at the time. There were stages in the game that looked very impressive considering the fact that they mirrored real-life cities such as: New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in terms of looks. Need For Speed: Underground was a memorable racing classic from the 00’s; despite not being the most popular game within the series it was still highly successful reaching at least 7 million in sales by ’04.

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Was Neo Geo a better console than Super Nintendo?

Both the original Neo Geo console from 1990 along with the Super NES were considered to be high profile video game console in relation to the early 90’s. While the Super NES has more success on a commercial level reaching over 49 million in sales the Neo Geo was not quite successful outside of Japan due to how expensive it ended up becoming. Following its initial release the Neo Geo AES was priced at $649.99 in America which was more than twice the price of the Super Nintendo console. The Super NES initially released in America at the price of $199 and ended up having more high profile video games than that of the Neo Geo AES or Neo Geo CD. There were games such as Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Zelda: Link To The Past and many others that were classics for the 16-bit console; along with being more affordable than anything SNK related back in the early to mid 90’s which heavily contributed to Nintendo success during that time period. For the most part fighting games stood out more than anything on Neo Geo such as the KOF series along with Art Of Fighting I & II in terms of gameplay.

In fact, Neo Geo had better 2D gameplay than the Super NES and Sega Genesis and was quite possibly one of the best game consoles of the 90’s despite its low sales. The Neo Geo was one of the first game consoles ever to provide arcade like gameplay which heavily contributed to the console’s appeal. However, unlike Super Nintendo we hardly got to see any high profile third party games on that console. In terms of quality many people can Matthew argument that Neo Geo was a far more superior console than the SNES. However, Nintendo is a more successful gaming entity than SNK in general and has most likely made more money off the SNES than one of its competitor did from Neo Geo from the 90’s onwards.