Console
Awards
Dreamcast
Game of the Year: Soul Calibur
Chances
are that everyone you know that owns a Dreamcast also picked up
a copy of Soul Calibur to go along with it. And why the heck
wouldn't they? It's quite possibly the best looking game ever made,
and it sets new standards for the amount of extras required in home-conversions
of fighting games. Top it all off with a really entertaining cast
of characters, and you've got a classic in the making.
N64
Game of the Year: Jet Force Gemini
This quirky
shooter features Juno, Vela and Lupus the Dog in their quest to
save the universe. Sound strange? (Actually, it sounds a little
like MDK, doesn't it?) It is, but boy is it fun. The game is played
from a third person perspective, and it's huge. Really huge. If
you're expecting Tomb Raider, don't even bother...this one's
going to take you a looong time to finish. But hey...it's worth
it. The game also features a co-op mode, and four player deathmatch.
How cool is that?
Playstation
Game of the Year: Silent Hill
In a year
that Resident Evil 3 was released, you wouldn't expect a
different survival horror game to take our prize, but here we are.
For all intents and purposes, Silent Hill shouldn't have
been as good a game as it is. It's totally derivative of Resident
Evil, and yet it manages to surpass the game in many ways.
For starters,
unlike Resident Evil, the game is played in a fully 3D environment,
which allows for far more frightening camera movements (although
it does, admittedly add in camera issues). The game's story isn't
nearly as cliché as Resident Evil, and the characters
are actually fleshed out. Since the game was actually released at
the beginning of the year, there's a pretty good chance that you
can find it available really cheap at your local store. Check it
out...you won't regret it (unless you scare easily).
Handheld
Game of the Year: Pokemon Pinball
What the
heck is wrong with us? Pokemon Pinball won by a virtually
unanimous vote. Pretty strange...very strange in fact. This weird
little game is essentially just pinball...but it features some genuine
innovations by mixing in all those weird little monsters. Is it
revolutionary? Heck, no. But at the same time, it is really addicting
(especially if played on an Airplane). The rumble feature is annoying,
no question about it. But the game itself is fun enough to justify
getting the game anyway.
