8 of the most nostalgic 90s video games

By Eamon Richards

The 90s were full of new ground breaking video games across multiple platforms, which over time have stayed with gamers around the world who played them. Some games more than others have a certain nostalgic value but here are eight of the most nostalgic video games from the 90s.

The blue haired hedgehog Sonic kick-starts this list into action. Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 onto the Sega Megadrive/Genesis console. It is a 2D side-scrolling platformer game where he has to come up against the evil Dr Robotnik and stop him from collecting the chaos emeralds. Sonic the Hedgehog was a great game that created a big fan base and countless sequels because of its success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZRKYDrqYls

Second on the list is 007 Goldeneye that originally came out on the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Goldeneye was, of course, based on the James Bond film and was adapted into a first person shooter game. It became a big hit and one of the main reasons of that was the incredibly fun local multiplayer and great gameplay. Goldeneye, the game, has been remastered several times since its release.

Keeping with shooter games next up is the violent Doom, which debuted on MS-DOS in 1993. Doom is set at a fictitious Mars where you have to fight your way through each level against ‘monsters from hell’. The gameplay and style of Doom are the main reasons why it still is a great shooter until this day and, of course, the over the top violence made it quite different from the other shooters in the early 90s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NdYWOyeS9Y

Another extremely violent game that also was the first of many is Mortal Kombat, which arrived in 1992 in arcades. Mortal Kombat gains a lot of its nostalgia and popularity through its famous and extremely graphic fatalities. The fighting game includes a wide range of great characters that expanded as sequels released.

Next is Super Mario 64 that released on the Nintendo 64 in 1996. Super Mario 64 is a 3d platformer game that brought its familiar Italian plumber back to the forefront with great gameplay and a new and different way to play as Mario. Super Mario 64 was undoubtedly a huge success, and like many Mario games, is very nostalgic to this day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dl9aEo2xbw

Crash Bandicoot Warped the third game in the series came out in 1998 on PlayStation One. Crash Bandicoot came back with its great characters and brilliant gameplay and visuals; the aim of the game was to collect crystals to defeat Dr Neo Cortex and Uka Uka.

Pokémon Red/Blue is another highly nostalgic game that released in 1996 on Gameboy systems. Pokémon Red/Blue were the first Pokémon games and introduced people to the incredibly cute and wonderful creatures known as Pokémon. It is an open-world adventure game where you can catch, train and battle with Pokémon; the hardest decision for many was which of the three Pokémon to start with.

Last but not least is Age of Empires The Age of Kings, which came to computers in 1999. Age of Empires 2 is a real-time strategy game that features a range of different civilizations. The multiplayer and campaign modes were a huge hit with fans of the game and also the scenario builder where you can create maps and battles as much as you want. Age of Empires 2 defined what a real time strategy game should be like and is still played to this day with a HD remastered version being recently released.

All of these games have an essential nostalgic ingredient, which is hard to explain but is why they can never become ‘old’ or ‘boring’ because nothing can change that feeling of nostalgia for fans of these and many nineties games.