At last, we come to the final part of this retrospective on 1998 in gaming. If you missed part 1 you can find it here, or if you would like to check out part 2 you can click here. 1998 was without a doubt an amazing year for games as attested to by the frankly ridiculous number of industry-changing titles that were released. This year affected gaming as an art form in ways that are still being felt to this day and set a standard for quality that many modern games still struggle to match.
Real-Time Strategy
The late 90s and early 2000s were in many respects a golden age for PC gaming. One genre that was prominent during this time was the Real-Time Strategy game. By 1998 the tenets of the genre had been firmly established with efforts now primarily focused on refinement with various companies competing with one another to provide the best RTS possible. One of those companies was Blizzard and, in 1998, it released one of the greatest entries in the history of the genre.
StarCraft
StarCraft was in many ways the ultimate maturation of the RTS formula. It took concepts pioneered in previous strategy titles and polished them to a mirror sheen, implementing many quality-of-life improvements while also innovating on the established formula. One thing that set the game apart from its contemporaries was its use of 3 distinct factions that each demanded different playstyles. This gave battles a kind of asymmetry that made them more engaging. The game was able to achieve this while also maintaining perfect balance, ensuring that no faction had a clear advantage over any other. StarCraft also helped to popularize online play through the use of Battle.net, ultimately garnering a massive community with many still playing the game to this day. The game had an especially big impact over in Korea where it became a major part of the country’s pop culture and would go on to become one of the first competitive e-sports.
More Great Real-Time Strategy Games from 1998
- Myth II: Soulblighter
- Battlezone
- Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
- Populous: the Beginning
Western Role-Playing Game
By 1998 the Western Role-Playing Game was in the midst of a renaissance. After having fallen out of popularity in the early to mid-90s, there emerged a new wave of WRPGs in the late 90s that would reinvigorate the genre. These new RPGs utilized streamlined interfaces (at least by the standards of the time), improved visuals, and refined gameplay that put them head and shoulders above most of their predecessors.
Fallout 2
Fallout 2 took the winning formula of the classic original title and greatly expanded its scope, introducing plenty of new lore, locations, and factions, allowing for a much richer experience than its predecessor. Set 80 years after the events of the original Fallout, the sequel focused on mankind’s attempts to rebuild civilization from the ashes of nuclear war. This of course leads to conflicting ideologies as to how society should be rebuilt and how to avoid the mistakes of their ancestors. Fallout 2 has the player navigate this complex and often morally grey landscape while offering plenty of freedom in how they define their role within it. Beyond all of this, the game also makes numerous necessary improvements to its core gameplay and quality of life over the original Fallout. The game certainly has its flaws, a weak opening and inconsistent tone are among the most egregious. Nonetheless, Fallout 2 is fantastic, building on the original and containing depth that few games today can match. There is a reason why many old-school fans still consider it to be the best game in the series.
Baldur’s Gate
Baldur’s Gate represented a major leap forward for WRPGs, offering a degree of immersion, choice, and reactivity that was truly awe-inspiring. Set in the lore-rich D&D world of the Forgotten Realms, Baldur’s Gate gave players a massive and intricately detailed world to explore with hundreds of well-designed quests that could take dozens of hours to fully complete. What made this game so revolutionary was how the game world and its inhabitants reacted to the player’s actions. Depending on how the player acted NPCs could react very differently, leading to different dialog options, behavior, party options, and even entirely different quest lines. Party members are not merely extensions of the player’s will but fully developed characters with their own goals and personalities. They develop relationships with the player character and other party members, to the point where some might even choose to leave the party of their own accord or even turn against it. The result is a game that immerses players in its world and forces them to consider the consequences of their actions in ways that few other games can. The game is also notable for pioneering the use of online co-op in its genre.
More Great WRPGs from 1998
- Might & Magic VI: the Mandate of Heaven
- Return to Krondor
Party Game
Before 1998 there was no such thing as a party game — at least not as far as how we understand them today. Some games contained elements of the party genre, such as video board games or mini-game collections, but it was not until the release of the original Mario Party that all of these elements were put together to create what we would recognize as the genre today.
Mario Party
The original Mario Party was a fairly unconventional title for the time; combining a digital board game with a wide range of mini-games that combined luck with genuine skill and tying it all together with a Mario theme. The game often seemed to reject conventional wisdom for game design, creating a competitive gaming experience that wasn’t even remotely balanced and often frustrating. This game’s brilliance lies in the gameplay’s ability to create an emergent social experience. Simply put, this game is fun with friends because it is so unfair and stupid. It was lightning in a bottle, and while many games have tried to emulate Mario Party’s success, few have ever managed to strike the same balance between frustration and fun as this game. Mario Party would end up having a massive influence in gaming, more or less single-handedly creating the party game genre. Its DNA can still be seen in games today like Fall Guys.
Shoot Em Up
The late 90s would see the shoot ‘em up transition from the more classical version of the genre which defined the 8 and 16-bit eras to the bullet hell shooters we have today. This was at least in part driven by technology, as suddenly shoot ‘em up designers found that they were no longer limited in how many sprites could appear on screen at once. This era would see the rise of companies like Cave and Psikyo who would help to redefine the genre. Indeed, 1998 would see numerous excellent shoot-em-up releases, but one in particular made by acclaimed developer Treasure has gone down in gaming history as one of the finest games that the genre has ever produced.
Radiant Silvergun
Right from the word go Radiant Silvergun defies genre conventions. Instead of gaining new weapons from power-ups, this game instead gives players access to all of them from the start with each being controlled by a different button. Each weapon is useful, but often highly situational and with their own quirks encouraging players to constantly switch between them. While the game can be played like most other shoot ‘em ups, i.e. shoot everything that moves while trying not to get shot, mastering the game requires a more restrained and considered approach to gameplay. Boosting score requires players to shoot enemies of the same color without shooting any of a different color. Players can also get big points by systematically destroying the individual parts of a boss before going for the kill. The higher the score that is achieved with an individual weapon, the more powerful it becomes. All of this was combined with Treasure’s usual approach to game design, i.e. blazing-fast action and a large emphasis on boss battles to create a game that is easy to pick up and play but with a tremendous amount of depth for players to sink their teeth into.
More Great Shoot ‘em Ups from 1998
- Armed Police Batrider
- Shock Troopers 2nd Squad
- Blazing Star
- R-Type Delta
- Einhander
- G-Darius
- Strikers 1945 II
- Metal Slug 2
Strategy RPG
By 1998 the gameplay formula for the strategy RPG had been fully established, as such development within the genre was primarily focused on refinement. There was also a push to expand what kinds of stories the genre could tell. Strategy RPGs naturally lent themselves to having a large ensemble cast and stories about war, and with the expanded storage capacity of optical media, it was realized that the genre could be used to convey large and multifaceted political dramas.
Shining Force III
One of the most ambitious strategy RPGs of its time was Shining Force III. Featuring an unmatched scope for the time, Shining Force III was released as 3 separate scenarios over a year. Each scenario told the story from the perspective of a different faction, allowing for a nuanced tale of war where there are heroes and villains on all sides. Furthermore, choices made in earlier scenarios would affect the stories of later ones. While each scenario was fantastic in its own right, when combined, the complete Shining Force III experience was truly unmatched; providing hundreds of hours of excellent SRPG gameplay mixed with a gripping character-driven political thriller.
More Great Strategy RPGs from 1998
- Final Fantasy Tactics (Western Release)
- Wachenroder
- Sakura Wars 2
- Vanguard Bandits
- Goujin Senki
Action-Adventure
The action-adventure genre was still struggling to adapt to 3D when 1998 rolled around. Generally, they followed one of two templates; either copying the formula established by the original Tomb Raider or retaining the static overhead view that had been utilized by the genre’s earlier 2D entries. While a number of excellent titles were released that used these formulas they were either awkward to control or else greatly underutilized the 3rd dimension. Much of the problem lay in something that plagued many early 3D titles: the camera. Specifically, given that action-adventure titles tend to place a great emphasis on exploration and navigating through a complex space, it is necessary to have a camera that can effectively convey the space that the player is exploring. This was something that many games struggled with, but one game was released this year that would change everything, redefining not only the action-adventure genre but gaming as a whole.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time needs no introduction. More than just a great game, OOT was the culmination of all of the lessons learned in the emerging era of 3D gaming, perfecting everything that had come before and establishing conventions that have since become commonplace in games today. This game also embodied the Cambellian hero’s journey in interactive form while also conveying a compelling narrative about the loss of childhood and the uncertainty of the future. When Ocarina of Time was released it immediately made the majority of its 3D contemporaries appear dated by comparison. Its pioneering use of lock-on targeting was a stroke of genius that elegantly solved many of the problems with cameras that plagued early 3D titles. The gameplay and level design were polished to perfection. There had simply never been a game of its caliber before and even today it remains one of the medium’s greatest achievements.
More Great Action-Adventure Games from 1998
- Brave Fencer Musashi
- Tomb Raider III
- Medievil
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
- Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (Western Release)
- Tomba!
- Body Harvest
More Great Games from 1998
If we tried to cover every major game released in 1998 there would easily be enough material to fill an entire book. For the sake of brevity, it was decided to cover only the most important games from the most significant genres. But there are many more fantastic and influential games from other genres that we are not able to discuss in detail, here are some that we hope you will check out.
Racing Games
- California Speed
- Gran Turismo (Western Release)
- 1080 Snowboarding
- Sega Rally 2
- Radikal Bikerz
- Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge
- Harley Davidson & L.A. Riders
- F-Zero X
- Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
- R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
- TOCA 2: Touring Cars
- Colin McRae Rally
- Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit
Cinematic Platformer
- Heart of Darkness
- Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus
2D Platformers
- Goemon’s Great Adventure
- Wario Land II
- Yoshi’s Story (Western Release)
- Skullmonkeys
Art Game
LSD Dream Emulator
Simulation
- Caesar III
- Railroad Tycoon II
Light Gun/ Rail Shooters
- The House of the Dead 2
- The House of the Dead (Saturn Port)
- Time Crisis 2 (Western Release)
- Carnevil
- L.A. Machine Guns
- Star Wars Trilogy Arcade
Puzzle
- Tetris DX
- Wetrix
- No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
- Devil Dice
Space Combat
- Descent Freespace: The Great War
- Colony Wars: Vengeance
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Misc
- Sega Bass Fishing (Western Release)
- Gauntlet: Legends
- Pokemon Trading Card Game
- Burning Rangers
- Dynamite Cop
- SpikeOut
Conclusion
1998 was a year of immense change and innovation in gaming. It saw old genres die and new ones born, and it was the birth of new paradigms and standards of quality. While there have been other great years throughout the medium’s history, none can claim to have 1998’s combination of quality, quantity, and innovation. Gaming after 1998 was never the same. One can only hope that one day a year that is just as good and just as revolutionary will grace the industry once again.
