1991.Game - A Gaming Documentary Series

in #gaming6 years ago

The beginnings of new genres, the apex of others, the birth of new series and a whole lot of games set in the prehistoric age for some reason. This was the year 1991 in video games and beyond it.

The 90’s are finally starting to come into their own, discarding the remnants of the ‘80s and embracing the future. Well, not everywhere. Romania was on its fourth Mineraid of the 90’s, though a somewhat less bloody one than the one used to outright murder people that didn’t want more communists to take over the country. Yugoslavia broke apart, the Soviet Union broke apart. Terminator 2 premieres, 200 thousand people are killed by a cyclone in Bangladesh, the Dead Sea scrolls are unveiled, Linus Torvalds releases the first version of the most popular operating system in the world, Linux. Silicon and Synapse was founded and would soon become Blizzard. The internet is opened for unrestricted commercial use, reaching 1 million connected computers for the first time, and Tim Berners Lee releases the worlds first web browser. What a time to be alive… well, you know.

But, moving on to video games, 1991 was a year of many firsts, many greats, and many amazing titles. One of my favorite racing games ever made, Geoff Crammond’s F1 Grand Prix made its ways to computers throughout the entire world. Made at Microproses’ MPSLabs, this was what could be called the first proper racing simulator. There were a lot before, Indianapolis 500: The Simulation by Papyrus was a great stepping stone. But this just took it to a new level. A game that aimed to simulate everything that could be simulated with the hardware of 1991. From aerodynamics to engine mechanics to tire ware, everything was there. And it went beyond, by including replay options and the ability to play with other people in so many ways that it basically built the on-line racing community. You could play a racing game by mail. It not only set a standard of quality that endures to this day, but even though it looks like it does, and runs at a steady 25.6 frames a second, people were still organizing competitions with it even 20 years later

Fans of games found randomly on school computers, that happened to be about cavemen and dinosaurs, rejoiced this year, with the release of both Joe and Mac, by Data East, and Prehistorik, by Titus France. If dinosaur games weren’t your thing, odds are you also found Supaplex. A clone of Boulder Dash made by Philip Jespersen and Michael Stopp, it was a game that put you in control of Murphy. An entity that we agreed on was a virus, going around a computer, eating everything it could, avoiding obstacles and solving some mad physics and navigation puzzles. And if that was still not your jam, then Chris Pirih’s Ski Free was certainly a game that you played more than you realize. An enduring classic and refuge of the bored that always ended in tragedy, burning bushes and a satisfied abominable snwoman.

Fans of hedgehogs and going fast, however, would feast their eyes on the Sega Genesis’ crowning jewel, at least in terms of mascot power, and Sega’s new face, Sonic The Hedgehog. A game that was to the platformer what a dragrace is to driving to work. It was a technical splendor that showcased the power of the console, its speed and its in your face attitude, leading to the XTREME trend of the ‘90s. On the opposing side of the console War, Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past, a major improvement on the concept of the first game in the series, adding numerous new tools and reasons to adventure forth, in an attempt to save a world torn in two. It was noted at the time for the way in which it used a parallel world system, with alternate versions of the same locations, each with its own particularities and requiring the use of both to solve certain puzzles.

DMA Design brought us a quirky puzzle game about pushing funny little creatures to their doom, with Lemmings. A monster of a game, that has sold in one form or another over 20 million units. A stepping stone in the company’s road to greatness, that would eventually end with… well, it hasn’t ended yet, only that studio has been known as Rockstar for many years now. The once lovable Duke Nukem also made his first appearance at this time, in a game that was mainly a ripoff of Turrican, going as far as to share some of the same graphical elements.
This was also the year when we got the MMO genre. Though it technically existed in the form of MUDs for decades, this was when it began to crystallize, in the form of Neverwinter nights. It was made by Stormfront Studios and Dan Daglow the same Dan Daglow that made Dungeon, the first adaptation of the D&D rule system, around 15 years earlier, also the same man that made Utopia, the progenitor of the sim game and the god game. This was a game based on the Goldbox Engine, the one behind the many titles that SSI put out since Pool of Radiance, and it had a similar style of play, only it worked through the internet, allowing up to 50 people to live and fight in the same world. This number would eventually increase to 500, with up to 2000 of its 115K players present at peak hours until it was shut down in 1997, but the name lives on.

A developer by the name of Eric Chahi continued the work that Jordan Mechner started on defining the the cinematic action game, by creating Another World. A platformer for the Amiga and Atari ST that showcased superb graphics for the time and a fantastic sense immersion, coupled with great visual storytelling. It featured no on screen text, no interface, and what little dialogue there existed was spoken in an alien language. It was a masterpiece when it came to dropping the players into another world, and letting them figure it out on their own.

Capcom came out this year with what many have called its greatest creation. Street Fighter 2. Although it was far from being the first fighting game, it became the definition of what a fighting game should be, in terms of characters, abilities, style, stages, music, structure, basically everything. It was and still is the most successful fighting game ever made, what with it having more versions than I can count, keeping arcade games alive after the allure of Double Dragon faded, and being resold and re-released on dozens of platforms for decades. Street Fighter 2 is not only still being played, but it is still considered, in some of its versions, as the best fighting game ever made, due to it basically creating the tournament fighting scene. Esports that were actually entertaining to watch, that were thrilling, gripping, exciting, were born! This inspired many other companies to try their own hand at the genre, like SNK with Fatal Fury King of Fighters, the inception for two video game series, for the fledgling Neo Geo platform.

I’d love to give the Game of the 1991 title to Street Fighter 2 or to Grand Prix. But I’ve said I’ll try to limit myself to only one of them, and there was one more game released that year that warrants that title more. Sid Meier’s Civilization is a game that I’ve discussed at length on this channel. It is a game that allows you to control a civilization, from the stone age and up until the space age. From a tribe, to a continent spanning civilization. From savages, to astronauts. Going through ages and ages of progress and interaction with many other civilizations, in a world that you affect, that grows with you, that is changed by you. And all it asks from you is that you give it one more turn. Civilization managed to distill decades of turn based strategy games into the 4X we know and have complicated relationships with. A genre that aims to put you in the role of the immortal leader of a millennia spanning empire, to explore, expand, exploit and exterminate all that stands before you. So that your civilization, your labor, you grand plans may stand the test of time.

And so we end 1991. Next year, we move to the genesis of the last few unbirthed genres and some of the greatest creations of the age. Goodbye.

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Awesome! Nice work on all the details, I've actually been making some "historical" gaming posts myself, covering noteworthy titles released in certain years, made one about 91 too, but in a different manner, focusing on individual titles and less detailed

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