The Best Year in Gaming: 1975 vs. 1997

Welcome back to our Best Year in Gaming March Madness bracket competition! Yesterday we looked at 1986 and 2012. And, based on the voting of our wonderful Patrons, 1986 beat 2012 pretty handily. Now that's not necessarily an upset, but it does give us our first instance of an early year in our competition beating a much more recent year. There are going to be more of those, especially with some of the heavy-hitters in the 90s, but some will be easier.

Result: 1986 beats 2012

Today we're looking at a much less difficult challenge, though one worth visiting: 1975 vs. 1997. Click on the icons below to read the articles making the case for each year.

VS.

 

This is a battle of old-school vs. uh, still old-but-not-quite-as-old school. 1975's biggest contribution is the Greyhawk campaign supplement for the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons. That first supplement changed the game dramatically, taking it from a miniatures wargame to something more akin to a modern RPG, adding world elements. On the other side we have 1997, the year Final Fantasy VII dropped on the Sony PlayStation and changed RPGs forever, taking the JRPG mainstream. Also in the mix? A few rather important companies are founded in 1975 and in 1997 the Nintendo 64 has its biggest year with a little game called GoldenEye. 

If you're interested in voting on the outcome, head over to our Patreon and join our Discord server to vote. Otherwise, check back tomorrow for the winner and the next matchup in the Southeast Conference.

This article is part of a larger series on the best year in gaming. For more years, click this link. Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.