The Nineties were a watershed for the gaming industry, and many of the blockbuster releases of the decade have been remade, reformatted, and expanded upon in the years since, following their initial release. The nineties saw the arrival of the PlayStation, and with it came some incredible games like Tomb Raider, FIFA football, and the Grand Theft Auto franchise. While some of the games fell by the wayside after being released, many of them have remained popular in the decades that have passed and are still played today. Let’s take a look at some of those titles now and see how you can still enjoy some of the classic games of the nineties today.
FIFA Football
It would be easy to argue that FIFA is perhaps the most successful game series of all time. The first-ever FIFA game was released in December 1993, but it wasn’t until later in the nineties that the game exploded in popularity. The arrival of FIFA 98: The Road to the World Cup took the EA football series to a new level, with an indoor arena, real players, and official World Cup stadia enhancing the user experience of the game. The FIFA football series has gone on to great acclaim in recent years. The latest release, FIFA 21, is an exceptional game with excellent graphics and many different types of gameplay available to players both against the computer and online.
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto was initially released in October 1997 for PC and was released the following year on PlayStation. The game has come so far since those early days of the 2D universe, where it was all about driving and fighting. GTA V, the latest instalment of the franchise by Rockstar Games, features three main characters that players lead through the fictional city of Los Santos. It’s one of the most popular video games of all time, and although it has a reputation for being overly violent, Rockstar is already working on the next installment for the newly released PS5.
Tomb Raider
After its release in 1996, Tomb Raider became one of the most popular games ever released. Players on various consoles have enjoyed it since it was released on PlayStation, and it has even been adapted into a couple of movies, with Angelina Jolie playing the role of Lara Croft in the 2001 and 2003 movie adaptations. Tomb Raider games have been available to play on each new PlayStation console, with rumours circulating about a new game becoming available in 2021 to celebrate Lara Croft’s 25th anniversary. You can also play a version of Tomb Raider in the form of online bingo, thanks to these sites and many more like Barbados Bingo.
Crash Bandicoot
Developed in 1996 by the Naughty Dog Game Studio, Crash Bandicoot quickly became one of the most enjoyable, family-friendly games of the nineties. The original game went on to sell over six million copies on PlayStation, making it the eighth best-selling PlayStation game of all time. It was well-received because of its innovative graphics and quick game speed, and players enjoyed the variations of the key characters. Followers of the Crash series were thrilled when the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy collection was released for PlayStation 4 in 2017. This enabled millions around the world to experience one of the most popular games of the nineties with new storylines and improved graphics, and it was extremely well received upon its release.
Super Mario
Many gamers would argue that the Super Mario series defined the video game world of the nineties. Nintendo actually released the first installment of Super Mario in 1985, but it didn’t gain mainstream popularity until the early nineties. Mario, the character, actually debuted in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981. Still, it was eleven years later, with Super Mario Kart’s release, that the Super Mario franchise hit new levels of popularity. And since the mid-nineties, Super Mario games have taken on so many formats on different platforms that it’s hard to keep up with all of them. In 2020, Super Mario Bros 35 was released as a celebration of the game’s 35th anniversary. The game is popular today on the new Nintendo Switch and is an excellent addition to the Super Mario pioneers’ proud legacy.