Previous threads
1997
Hey, all.
In celebration of gaming in general, I'm continuing a retrospective series looking at gaming year by year. This is as comprehensive a list as possible of games with at least decent reviews and notable games (even ones that were terrible), but games are likely to be missing, especially the further back in time I go. Try to bear with me if any of that happens.
Also, all games listed are by North American release dates, so there are likely to be at least a few games that released a year prior or a year after, say, in Europe. For example, GTA was released in Europe and Gran Turismo in Japan this year, even though the NA release dates are 1998. If you know there's a game which released in your region a certain year and that's the year you played it, by all means, talk about it!
This time, we're heading into 2002, the first full year for the Xbox and Gamecube.
IPs introduced include:
Animal Crossing, Eternal Darkness, Kingdom Hearts, Mafia, Metroid Prime, RalliSport Challenge, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Steel Battalion, SOCOM, Splinter Cell, The Mark of Kri, Way of the Samurai
Series with sequels/spin-offs include:
Armored Core, Burnout, Contra, Dance Dance Revolution, Deus Ex, Grand Theft Auto, Hitman, Hot Shots Golf, Jet Set, Mario Party, Marvel vs. Capcom, Medal of Honor, Metroid, Mortal Kombat, Need for Speed, Onimusha, Red Faction, Resident Evil, Shenmue, Sonic, Star Fox, Suikoden, Super Mario, Tekken, The Elder Scrolls, The Legend of Zelda, TimeSplitters, Tom Clancy, Tom Clancy's, Tony Hawk, Unreal, Virtua Fighter, Warcraft, Wild Arms, Wipeout, WWF Smackdown!
I cheated a bit with Splinter Cell and Metroid Prime. Tom Clancy's was an ongoing series, but Splinter Cell just started, so I included that as a "series introduced" game as well as Tom Clancy's in general. Same with Fusion/Prime. It's part of the whole Metroid series, was Prime was its own thing.
As a PS2 owner, this was a very fun year, but it wasn't quite up to 2001. We had a GC as well, and of course, this was a much bigger year for it. Xbox didn't really have anything as big as Halo, but it was a fun year nonetheless.
My most anticipated game was seriously Contra, having not played a "real" Contra in ages. Kingdom Hearts was a delightful surprise, though, as was the map maker for Timesplitters, which was much better than the first one if I recall correctly.
2002 Games
1997
Hey, all.
In celebration of gaming in general, I'm continuing a retrospective series looking at gaming year by year. This is as comprehensive a list as possible of games with at least decent reviews and notable games (even ones that were terrible), but games are likely to be missing, especially the further back in time I go. Try to bear with me if any of that happens.
Also, all games listed are by North American release dates, so there are likely to be at least a few games that released a year prior or a year after, say, in Europe. For example, GTA was released in Europe and Gran Turismo in Japan this year, even though the NA release dates are 1998. If you know there's a game which released in your region a certain year and that's the year you played it, by all means, talk about it!
This time, we're heading into 2002, the first full year for the Xbox and Gamecube.
IPs introduced include:
Animal Crossing, Eternal Darkness, Kingdom Hearts, Mafia, Metroid Prime, RalliSport Challenge, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Steel Battalion, SOCOM, Splinter Cell, The Mark of Kri, Way of the Samurai
Series with sequels/spin-offs include:
Armored Core, Burnout, Contra, Dance Dance Revolution, Deus Ex, Grand Theft Auto, Hitman, Hot Shots Golf, Jet Set, Mario Party, Marvel vs. Capcom, Medal of Honor, Metroid, Mortal Kombat, Need for Speed, Onimusha, Red Faction, Resident Evil, Shenmue, Sonic, Star Fox, Suikoden, Super Mario, Tekken, The Elder Scrolls, The Legend of Zelda, TimeSplitters, Tom Clancy, Tom Clancy's, Tony Hawk, Unreal, Virtua Fighter, Warcraft, Wild Arms, Wipeout, WWF Smackdown!
I cheated a bit with Splinter Cell and Metroid Prime. Tom Clancy's was an ongoing series, but Splinter Cell just started, so I included that as a "series introduced" game as well as Tom Clancy's in general. Same with Fusion/Prime. It's part of the whole Metroid series, was Prime was its own thing.
As a PS2 owner, this was a very fun year, but it wasn't quite up to 2001. We had a GC as well, and of course, this was a much bigger year for it. Xbox didn't really have anything as big as Halo, but it was a fun year nonetheless.
My most anticipated game was seriously Contra, having not played a "real" Contra in ages. Kingdom Hearts was a delightful surprise, though, as was the map maker for Timesplitters, which was much better than the first one if I recall correctly.
2002 Games
Age of Mythology (PC)
Aggressive Inline (PS2)
Animal Crossing (GC)
Armored Core 3 (PS2)
Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings (PC)
ATV Offroad Fury 2 (PS2)
Battlefield 1942
Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Xbox)
Burnout 2: Point of Impact (PS2)
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)
Contra: Shattered Soldier (PS2)
Crimson Sea (Xbox)
Dance Dance Revolution Konamix (PS1)
Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles (PC)
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution (PS2)
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (PS2)
Dropship: United Peace Force (PS2)
Dungeon Siege (PC)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GC)
EverQuest: The Planes of Power (PC)
FIFA Soccer 2003 (PS2, GC, Xbox)
Freedom Force (PC)
Genma Onimusha (Xbox)
Gitaroo Man (PS2)
Grandia II (PS2, PC)
Grand Theft Auto III (PC)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
Gunvalkyrie (Xbox)
Headhunter (PS2)
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (PS2, Xbox, PC)
Hot Shots Golf 3 (PS2)
JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)
Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Madden NFL 2003 (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC)
Mafia (PC)
Mario Party 4 (GC)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (PS2)
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory (PS2)
MechAssault (Xbox)
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)
Medal of Honor: Frontline (PS2, Xbox, GC)
Medieval: Total War (PC)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (Xbox)
Metroid Fusion (GBA)
Metroid Prime (GC)
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (PS2, Xbox, GC)
NBA 2K3 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
NBA Street (GC)
NCAA Football 2003 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PS2, Xbox)
Neverwinter Nights (PC)
NHL 2K3 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
NFL 2K3 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way (PC)
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny (PS2)
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (GC)
Puyo Pop (GBA)
Quantum Redshift (Xbox)
RalliSport Challenge (Xbox, PC)
Ratchet and Clank (PS2)
Red Faction II (PS2)
Resident Evil (GC)
Resident Evil 0 (GC)
Rez (PS2)
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (PS2)
Sega GT 2002 (Xbox)
Sega Sports Tennis (PS2)
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (PC)
Shenmue II (Xbox)
Shinobi (PS2)
Sid Meier's SimGolf (PC)
SkyGunner (PS2)
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (PS2)
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs (PS2)
Sonic Advance (GBA)
Sonic Mega Collection (GC)
Space Channel 5 Part 2 (PS2)
Spider-Man: The Movie (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC)
Star Fox Adventures (GC)
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (PC)
Steel Battalion (Xbox)
Stuntman (PS2)
Suikoden III (PS2)
Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA)
Super Monkey Ball 2 (GC)
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (GBA)
Tekken 4 (PS2)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC)
TimeSplitters 2 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox, PC)
The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal (PC)
The Italian Job (PS1)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (PS2, Xbox)
The Mark of Kri (PS2)
The Sims: Unleashed (PC)
The Thing (PS2, Xbox, PC)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege (PS2, PC)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Xbox)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (PS2, Xbox, GC, GBA)
Twisted Metal: Black Online (PS2)
Unreal Championship (Xbox)
Unreal Tournament 2003 (PC)
Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2)
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (PC)
Way of the Samurai (PS2)
Wild Arms 3 (PS2)
Wipeout Fusion (PS2)
World Series Baseball (Xbox)
WWF Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth (PS2)
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA)