The Most Popular Game Released The Year You Were Born

After video games transitioned from the arcade to the living room in the 1980s, they became a huge part of our lives. As this new form of entertainment began to catch on, Nintendo and Sega fought to come out on top with players, sparking a fierce era of "console wars." Later, the video game market fractured even further, with the introduction of handheld systems and new consoles like the PlayStation and Xbox.

Because of the way video game releases are staggered, it might take a year (or even more!) before a game is available worldwide. Even avid gamers might be surprised to learn the year some of their favorite video games came out. By using IMDb's top-rated video game charts and looking at the most popular games with more than 100 votes, we've come up with a list showcasing the hottest console video games of every year since 1984. So take a trip down memory lane with us to find out the most popular video game released the year you were born.

In 1986, Nintendo followed up the massive success of Super Mario Bros. with yet another video game blockbuster — The Legend of Zelda. This nonlinear fantasy adventure became an instant success in Japan on the new Famicom Disk System, and the shiny gold cartridge proved to be just as popular in Europe and North America on the NES. The Legend of Zelda appealed to gamers around the world and gave Nintendo another exclusive flagship franchise to add to their collection.

Both Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda featured a number of unique innovations that greatly influenced the future of the video game industry. Nintendo hired composer Koji Kondo to design the music and sounds for both games, and Kondo's iconic scores inspired other developers to make music a more important and integral part of the gameplay experience. Additionally, The Legend of Zelda had a new feature that forever changed the way we played video games: it was the first home console cartridge to include an internal battery, which allowed players to actually save their progress.

Honorable mention: Also in 1986, Nintendo introduced players to space-age bounty hunter Samus Aran with their classic action-adventure game Metroid.

Nintendo continued their hot streak in 1988 with the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. The game's North American NES release was delayed by almost two years because of a computer chip shortage, but the 1989 movie The Wizard (which featured child star Fred Savage playing the unreleased game) helped to drive sales when it finally hit U.S. shelves in 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3 ended up becoming one of the most-beloved Nintendo games of all time.

Developed by the same team that created Nintendo's earlier Mario titles, Super Mario Bros. 3 stays true to its roots while also adding several new innovations to Mario's gameplay. Like the original Super Mario Bros., this game made use of some elements originally created for the Zelda series. The "Chain Chomp" enemies in Super Mario Bros. 3 were actually inspired by some unused concept art created for The Legend of Zelda. The game introduced several new power-up items like the Super Leaf and Frog Suit, and added new abilities like sliding, climbing, and picking up blocks to Mario's arsenal. These features and the new overworld map introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3 later became mainstays of the franchise.

Mario may have been upstaged by Final Fight and Tetris in 1989, but he made a comeback in 1990 when Nintendo released Super Mario World as a launch title for their new 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The side-scrolling platformer closely resembled earlier Mario games, but it also added several new features, characters, and design elements. This was the first Mario game to feature the "Cape Feather" flying power-up, as well as the ability to "store" an extra power-up in a box at the top of the screen. Additionally, Super Mario World added in lots of secret routes for players to unlock, which definitely added to the replay value of the game.

Most importantly, Super Mario World introduced players to the dinosaur Yoshi, who serves as a companion that Mario can ride through most of the levels. Yoshi's unique skills let him eat some of Mario's enemies, stomp on others, and use colored Koopa shells to gain additional temporary attacks and abilities. Super Mario World proved to be extremely popular, with many considering it to be one of the best video games of all time.

In the early '90s, the writing was on the wall for the venerable old cartridge. There was, literally, a shiny new object on the way: the compact disc, or CD. Sega jumped on board this new medium early by developing the Sega CD add-on for their Genesis console. CDs allowed for more data, and therefore much bigger and higher-quality games. An early standout of this new era was Lunar: The Silver Star, which included groundbreaking features such as voice acting and full-motion video, which consoles could previously only dream about. Developer Game Arts parlayed that technical capacity into artistic gold by filling the game with rich art and a compelling story, brought to life by brilliant animations and deeply drawn characters. Lunar was very much a precursor to the coming JRPG boom that would arrive later in the '90s, and it remains a beloved classic.

Honorable mention: 1992 was a great year for gaming all around, as it also featured the release of platforming classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and racing behemoth Super Mario Kart, either of which could have taken the top spot easily.

For years after its release, gamers had been clamoring for a follow-up to 1986's Metroid. They finally got their wish in 1994, when Nintendo released Super Metroid for the 16-bit SNES. This third installment in the sci-fi franchise features bounty hunter Samus Aran facing off with the evil Space Pirates on their home turf. Super Metroid retains the side-scrolling gameplay of its predecessors, adding some new features that went on to become mainstays of the series. Most notably, Super Metroid was the first title in the franchise to include automatic mapping and an inventory screen. Samus and her power suit got an upgrade too, including the Grapple Beam and the ability to shoot in any direction while moving. Super Metroid took lead producer Yoshio Sakamoto and his team over two years to make, but it was definitely worth the wait. With crisp graphics, engaging and perfectly paced levels, and an edgy and atmospheric soundtrack, Super Metroid may just be the best action adventure game of all time.

Honorable mention: Although nothing could top Super Metroid, a couple of other 1994 releases came close. Platformer addicts hailed the 3D adventure Donkey Kong Country, while RPG fans had two games to celebrate: EarthBound and Final Fantasy VI.

In 1996, Mario returned to the forefront of video gaming with Super Mario 64 — and this was Mario as we'd never seen him before. Nintendo used Super Mario 64 to launch the Nintendo 64 console, and it definitely showed off the capabilities of the new system. While gamers had seen 3D sprites in Nintendo games before, like those used in 1994's Donkey Kong Country, they'd never experienced anything like three-dimensional graphics in Super Mario 64.

In the game, Mario uses magical portals within Princess Peach's castle to travel to other worlds and collect the Power Stars he needs to set the Princess free and defeat Bowser. While the plot was fairly typical of a Mario title, the gameplay was anything but. Super Mario 64 features a go-anywhere style of 3D exploration, and Mario's regular arsenal of moves expanded vastly to include wall-jumping, ground-pounding, and even sneaking around enemies. These changes and the 360-degree control provided by the N64's analog stick gave players an unprecedented amount of freedom, revolutionizing the platform game genre forever.

Honorable mention: Also in 1996, Nintendo took a chance on a unique new game concept, releasing Pokemon Red/Green/Blue for the Game Boy and launching a multimedia franchise that is still wildly popular more than two decades later.

Although Nintendo had solidly dominated video gaming since the early '80s, new player Sony began making major inroads with the success of the PlayStation and games like Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Sony came out on top again in 1998 with the help of Konami and their stealth action-adventure game, Metal Gear Solid. Advertised as a game chock-full of "tactical espionage action," MGS follows the story of Solid Snake, a soldier tasked with infiltrating a terrorist base and stopping the bad guys before they can launch a nuclear strike. The realistic gameplay and exciting plot of Metal Gear Solid are further enhanced by the PlayStation's hardware capabilities and the wide variety of weapons and skills, which allow players to complete the game using any method they prefer. The intense action and unconventional gameplay of Metal Gear Solid helped popularize the stealth genre, spawning numerous sequels and influencing a host of later stealth franchises like Hitman, Deus Ex, and many others.

Honorable mention: Sony may have earned the top spot this year, but it was a tight race thanks to Nintendo's extremely popular new N64 title, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

How do you follow up The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, one of the best-loved entries in one of the entire medium's best-loved series? It's not easy. But then again, this is Shigeru Miyamoto we're talking about, and the man can do no wrong (well, except sometimes). He and his team knocked it out of the park (again) with their follow-up, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Weaving together the time-shifting elements of previous installments with a much grimmer plot, Majora's Mask is a more mature and yet still perfectly family-friendly addition to Nintendo's lineup. Standout features include the various masks that hero Link dons to become creatures with different abilities, and the repeating three-day loop upon which the entire premise is based. The Nintendo 64 was already getting a bit long in the tooth at this point, but games like Majora's Mask proved the system still had plenty of life left in it.

Honorable mention: The end of the millennium offered a slew of amazing titles, including Perfect Dark on the N64 and Final Fantasy IX and Spyro: Year of the Dragon for the PlayStation.