PixlBit

I only really watched my middle school best friend play this at his place, but the graphics were mindblowing at the time. This was also one of the few RPGs that were somewhat accessible to me, though again, I still mostly watched it and was wowed by the visuals.

I wouldn't actually play Super Mario 64 until at least a year later and actually thought for a while Star Fox 64 preceded this game as a launch title since I got that with my N64 in 1997.

I was comically unaware of this game being a supposed huge leap in gaming and remember a lot more about the PlayStation kiosks around at the time (also, my brother had a PlayStation before I had N64). 

I still prefer Super Mario Sunshine ... like, I've played both somewhat recently and still really prefer Sunshine. Fight me. Super Mario 64 DS is still a fun romp though, despite obviously not being the best control scheme for 3D. 

I don't think I played King of Fighters '96, specifically, but I definitely remember playing as Terry Bogard in earlier KoF titles in local arcades. So there ya go. There's a Terry gif. 

Tekken 2 is I believe another game I mostly experienced via demo kiosk, being quite taken with the visuals and loving the oddball King as a character. Like Genesis before it, PlayStation was the "cool" system to have and more adult as well. 

I can still remember playing my CDs with it and thinking how cool it was I could do that. And the UGLY 90s screen you saw when you did that.

The funny thing about this Jet Moto pic is that I remember playing as this green guy ALL THE TIME in both arcade and on PSX, but never really thought about the fact he's a Mountain Dew ad. 

Never really did like the Dew, either. That was more my grandpa's thing. I wonder how he'd feel about that and Doritos being so associated with high college kids playing their video games now. 

Twisted Metal 2 was one of those games where I thought, "Wait, there was a Twisted Metal 1?" But despite that, my neighbors and I played the shit out of this on their PlayStation. I can still remember one of them laughing nonstop at the ending for the racecar driving woman.

Then you had the secrets, like this Eifel Tower one and the Statue of Liberty having a bikini once you got destructive enough. I didn't realize at the time just how perfectly this game would come to represent late 90s/early 2000s EXTREME ATTITUDE culture, but it was a blast. 

This was actually my pick for my favorite game of '96 on the NWP podcast if I recall correctly. And I never even owned a copy (and neither did my brother, who would've been the owner anyway).  

Again, this was mostly experienced through kiosks, but I remember what a huge deal Tomb Raider was and seeing it on the news about the futuristic 3D gaming technology these kids are going for. 

Probably the controversy over her boobs was a bigger reason this was in the news so much, but I still remember it being on the news. 

Not really much to add here. Rented this a few times and remember it about as much as 2. I used to like these games a lot. 

I will swear to this day my older brother broke one of my N64 controllers because of how badly this game pissed him off at one point. I loved the visuals, especially in the stages, but I'll admit I kinda sucked at it too. 

Unlike the original, I think I ONLY played this on console and not in the arcades. 

Area 51 actually released in arcades in'95, but Wikipedia failed to mention it until it got ported to consoles in '96. Anyway, I saw this particular screen a LOT when walking into Cici's Pizzas and putting my quarters in to play probably my favorite light gun game at the time. 

I loved aliens and dinosaurs as a kid, so this scratched the aliens and trigger finger itches. 

Virtua Cop 2's graphic style reminds me of so many SEGA arcade games I played at the time, especially light gun games. There's just a certain style to the blockiness of those polygons that's memorable. 

I can't see screenshots of Shadows of the Empire without hearing Hoth's battle music, which was the first or second level (I think second?) in the game after or before a canyon where you mostly platform through it. 

I also remember the speeder bike and trash train levels ... and I'm not sure I ever got past the trash train level. Or maybe I did. I did get to where you have a jetpack. 

This games' control scheme really doesn't hold up and I got incredibly frustrated with it as a kid because of the jumps on that damn trash train level, but I can understand why people remember it fondly. It's a cool EU story for Star Wars fans and it looked amazing at the time. In fact, I think it was slightly more expensive than other games when I picked it up for $70 at the time. I think my brother played it more than I did cause he could make it a bit farther in the game. 

And finally, again a 1995 release that Wikipedia failed to mention as a "notable release," along with some hardware you have to know to look for when it comes to making lists like this, it's Red Alarm for Virtual Boy. 

We actually rented this system and a couple games from Blockbuster at the time, and I played this game quite a bit. I actually thought it was really cool, on account I was 5 or 6 at the time and Virtual Reality was a HUGE deal in the 90s (remember VR Troopers?)

Also, it basically looked and played a lot like Star Fox, which was another game I thought was cool for its visuals. 

So while everyone shits on Virtual Boy now, my 5-year-old self kinda loved setting up in the dining room and looking into the futuuuure. 

Oh and I think Tiger Electronics tried VR stuff themselves. At least, I think there were games like those with visors/goggles you could wear.