There was precious little to recommend about the Atari Jaguar, but if you owned one and didn't pick up Alien VS Predator then you were missing out. The Alien VS Predator concept wasn't new - by this point we'd seen these nasties going up against one another on various systems - but Rebellion's version was a hellish FPS that outdid anything else in this franchise mash-up. It was a dark, exhausting game, the tangible fear amplified by the murky gloom and bloody frightening screeches of your enemies. The sneaky monsters had a knack of appearing behind you without warning, prompting that classic "backpedal and fire wildly into the dark" FPS standard.
16. Super Mario 64 - Nintendo 64 (1996)
Another Nintendo console, another sublime Mario release to send the gaming world into a shopping frenzy. Pilotwings 64 was pleasant enough, but as a launch title you couldnt have asked for better than Super Mario 64. The move from 2D to 3D platforming was a young concept in 1996, and Nintendo set a new standard for the genre with this release. Incredibly fluid gameplay in a vivid, cheerful world, it was a potent reminder of Marios stature as a console mover. Nintendo had polarized publisher support by going with cartridges instead of optical discs, but with such a strong library of first-party IPs like this one, they turned the N64 into one of the most sought-after consoles of all time.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
