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It's time once again for Master Gamer's annual awards feature. There were a lot of great games released in 1999 (along with plenty of not-so- great games), and the games that won awards are truly the best of the best. Overall Game of the Year: Lunar runner-up: Final Fantasy 8 second runner-up: Medal of Honor Lunar came out of nowhere and surprised everyone on the Master Gamer staff with its romance, humor, and most of all, characters that we care about. It really shows how good a game is when it can outshine everything else on the market despite outdated graphics. I recently sent out an e-mail to everyone on the Master Gamer Mailing List asking them to choose their Game of the Year, and the overwhelming choice among readers was Final Fantasy 8. Soul Calibur came in second place with half as many votes as FF8. PlayStation Game of the Year: Lunar runner-up: Final Fantasy 8 second runner-up: Medal of Honor The top three games of the year were PlayStation games, so the Overall and PlayStation awards are the same. Dreamcast Game of the Year: Soul Calibur runner-up: Toy Commander second runner-up: Sonic Adventure The Dreamcast's 1999 lineup wasn't as good as expected, but it was still decent. Besides being graphically amazing, Soul Calibur is one of the most polished fighting games ever released (and also one of the deepest thanks to its mission mode). Nintendo 64 Game of the Year: WWF Wrestlemania 2000 runner-up: Donkey Kong 64 second runner-up: none (no other N64 games deserved an award) This was a horrible year for the N64, but Wrestlemania 2000 is enough to make you think twice about selling your system for a couple PlayStation or Dreamcast games. Wrestlemania 2000 puts every other wrestling game on the market to shame with its balanced gameplay and Road to Wrestlemania mode. PC Game of the Year: Asheron's Call runner-up: Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear second runner-up: Homeworld Asheron's Call took online RPGs to the next level with its engrossing and addictive gameplay. It also goes to show you that online RPGs have come a long way since Ultima Online. Racing Game of the Year: Crash Team Racing Crash Team Racing was one of the most entertaining games of 1999. It may have borrowed a lot of ideas from Mario Kart, but it's much more intense and challenging than Mario Kart ever was. First-Person Shooter of the Year: Medal of Honor An incredible soundtrack and excellent AI are just two of the many things that Medal of Honor has going for it. Quite a surprise coming from Dreamworks Interactive, the makers of such "games" as Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Jurassic Park: Trespasser, T'ai Fu, and Small Soldiers. Strategy Game of the Year: Homeworld Homeworld was the only strategy game released in 1999 that really broke new ground and changed strategy games forever. One of the best things about Homeworld is the way that its gameplay is completely 3D, but it doesn't have any of the camera problems found in most 3D games. Fighting Game of the Year: Soul Calibur This was a pretty sad year for fighting games. What else was there besides Soul Calibur? Fighter Maker? Sports Game of the Year: Madden NFL 2000 It may not be much of an improvement over Madden '99, but Madden 2000 is still more balanced (and thus more fun) than NFL 2K. Also, its Franchise Mode gives it more depth than NFL 2K almost automatically. Adventure Game of the Year: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis The "wow factor" of the original Resident Evil is long gone, but Resident Evil 3 is still scary thanks to the addition of the Nemesis to the same old gameplay formula. Silent Hill and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver came close to winning this award, but Resident Evil 3 ultimately came out on top. RPG of the Year: Lunar This was a great year for RPGs thanks to must-have games like Lunar, Final Fantasy 8, Grandia, and Suikoden 2. There has never been a game that has been both as funny and as serious as Lunar is. The plot has enough twists and turns to keep even the most experienced RPG fan on his or her toes. Best Graphics in a Video Game: Soul Calibur This is the kind of game that you just know is going to lead to a lot of sentences in video game reviews that say, "X Game looks pretty good, but not as good as Soul Calibur." The massive amount of detail in the characters and the environments is enough to attract the attention of anybody, whether they like fighting games or not. Best Music in a Video Game: Lunar Lunar's soundtrack has unparalleled variety. It can be very up-beat and happy when it wants to be, and it can be very somber when it wants to be as well. Whatever the case, Lunar's music accomplishes its goal of adding to the mood in each and every scene of the game. Most Addictive Game of the Year: Everybody on the Master Gamer staff chose a different game for this award. Ivan Trembow chose Civilization 2 (the PlayStation version), Rob Pecknold chose Asheron's Call, and Jimmy Payne chose Soul Calibur. Send your thoughts on this feature to ivan@mastergamer.com
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com