Some consider this 1996 ‘freebie’ from Sega to be the best Christmas-themed game of all time. And maybe it is, because – let’s face it – there isn’t much competition.
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams is an adaptation of the classic Sega Saturn game NiGHTS into Dreams (also released in 1996), which was developed by the famous Sonic Team.
By the time Mega Man reached the Sony PlayStation in 1996 he’d undergone another make-over. This one mostly aesthetic – Capcom going for a different look and feel to the SNES games, and – it has to be said – not looking nearly as good.
Alien Rampage is an old-school run-and-gun shooter from 1996 with all the ingredients required to make an entertaining game. Smooth scrolling; cool explosions; lots of different weapons; plenty of different monsters; gory gibs; an agile central character.
Since I’ve included one ‘unofficial’ port in our Prince of Persia Special (the Commodore 64 version), I’ve also got to include this 1996 ZX Spectrum conversion by Nicodim (because it’s so good).
Looking Glass Technologies are probably best known for their Ultima Underworld series of games, but this 1996 tactical shooter from them is also a retro-gaming classic.
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a first-person, futuristic ‘combat suit’ type action game with an interesting mix of styles.
Blue Byte‘s 1996 PC release, Albion, is a classic science fiction role-playing game.
A controversial release from Gametek in 1996, this complex space sim is notorious for having a long and troubled development history.
Slam Tilt is a pinball simulator published by 21st Century Entertainment in 1996. It was developed by Liquid Dezign HB for AGA-equipped Amigas (AGA being an enhanced graphical chipset) and features super-slick scrolling and amazingly fast gameplay.
Now here’s a game that really made waves when it first came out… Bad jokes aside: Wave Race 64 really did have gamers ‘wowing’ back in 1996, because it’s a damn impressive water-based racing game.
Released in 1996, Super Mario 64 was one of the first fully-3D platform games to actually work, rather than be a struggle to play.
