1997 was a pretty incredible year for games, coming, as it did, just as the 5th generation of consoles really began to come into their own. Just out of curiosity, I decided to go back and take a look at how various gaming magazines and websites scored the mythical race for "Game of the Year".

Moby Games Top 5 for 1997

1st Gran Turismo -- Critic Score 95
2nd GoldenEye 007 -- Critic Score 94
2nd International Superstar Soccer 64 -- Critic Score 94
4th Final Fantasy VII -- Critic Score 93
5th Quake -- Critic Score 92

Metacritic Top 5 for 1997

1st GoldenEye 007 -- Critic Score 96
2nd Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -- Critic Score 96
3rd Sid Meier's Gettysburg! -- Critic Score 92
4th Final Fantasy VII -- Critic Score 92
5th PaRappa the Rapper -- Critic Score 92

Other Critics

GameRankings -- GoldenEye 007
GameSpot -- Total Annihilation
Japan Game Awards -- Final Fantasy VII
EGM Reader's Choice -- Final Fantasy VII
Game Informer -- Final Fantasy VII
GamePro -- Final Fantasy VII

So the Game of the Year for 1997 according to the critics is...

1. Final Fantasy VII (4 #1 votes)
2. GoldenEye 007 (2 #1 votes)
3. Tie -- Gran Tourismo (1 #1 vote) and Total Annihilation (1 #1 vote)

Since there are no "Oscars" for gaming, this formula was the best I could come up with for objectively determining what the consensus of critics were for the top games of 1997. I'm not really surprised to see Final Fantasy VII take the nod, though I am somewhat surprised to see the lack of love for Mario Kart 64, which doesn't appear on the yearly top five for either Moby Games or Metacritic.

Final Fantasy VII, since it has the best final boss (Sephiroth) in Final Fantasy history. I would've voted for Goldeneye 64, but I think Perfect Dark was way better than that game.

Man, all the games I played from 1997 weren't popular ones. I'm a big gamer, but I've never played any of the games listed. I played Fallout, Battlespire, Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, and sadly I can't think of any others at the moment from that year.

Great thread!  :D

Mario Kart 64 wasn't all that great. There I said it.  *hides*

I really enjoyed it, but deep down I knew it was a mediocre game all things considered. Great multiplayer (and battle mode) is what it had going for it, but so did many other otherwise mediocre N64 games. I much preferred Diddy Kong Racing which came out later that year, or even Mickey's Speedway (which came out in 2000 though).  :-X

My GOTY award would go to Goldeneye! That was insanely addictive and the being the first popular console FPS, it's very influential in gaming today.

Runner up would be Star Fox 64.

I haven't played FF7. Still awaiting the fabled remake to put a modern spin on what must be an outdated game by now  ;D

#1 Diddy Kong Racing
#2 Crash Bandicoot
#3 Mario Kart 64
#4 Star Fox 64

Great thread!  :D

Mario Kart 64 wasn't all that great. There I said it.  *hides*

I really enjoyed it, but deep down I knew it was a mediocre game all things considered. Great multiplayer (and battle mode) is what it had going for it, but so did many other otherwise mediocre N64 games. I much preferred Diddy Kong Racing which came out later that year, or even Mickey's Speedway (which came out in 2000 though).  :-X

My GOTY award would go to Goldeneye! That was insanely addictive and the being the first popular console FPS, it's very influential in gaming today.

Runner up would be Star Fox 64.

I haven't played FF7. Still awaiting the fabled remake to put a modern spin on what must be an outdated game by now  ;D


I agree with you that Diddy Kong Racing is a superior game to Mario Kart 64. I loved MK64 back in the late '90s. Like, back then, I'd probably have told you it was one of my ten favorite games ever made. Used to play it sometimes for hours with my brother. Lately, though, I've started to come around more to your position. Even though I still play it from time to time, I'll be the first to admit that MK64 hasn't aged as well as other N64 games have.

I have no qualms with GoldenEye 007 and Star Fox 64 at #1 and #2, but I admit I'm a bit surprised you've never played FF7 before. If you played the original PS1 game for the first time in 2016, though, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be all that impressed, as that game has aged terribly. I still love FF7 myself, but I acknowledge that nostlagia has alot to do with that. Like most late '90s kids, it was the first true RPG I ever played.

I agree with you that Diddy Kong Racing is a superior game to Mario Kart 64. I loved MK64 back in the late '90s. Like, back then, I'd probably have told you it was one of my ten favorite games ever made. Used to play it sometimes for hours with my brother. Lately, though, I've started to come around more to your position. Even though I still play it from time to time, I'll be the first to admit that MK64 hasn't aged as well as other N64 games have.

I have no qualms with GoldenEye 007 and Star Fox 64 at #1 and #2, but I admit I'm a bit surprised you've never played FF7 before. If you played the original PS1 game for the first time in 2016, though, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be all that impressed, as that game has aged terribly. I still love FF7 myself, but I acknowledge that nostlagia has alot to do with that. Like most late '90s kids, it was the first true RPG I ever played.


I've always wanted to play it, it's only second to Ocarina of Time in how much it gets talked about, but I never had a PS1.  :-\\ I heard the PC version was a disaster do I didn't touch that. They're making a remake (not a hoax!). It will probably come out for the 20th anniversary  :D (wow 1997/late 90s is almost 20 years ago  :o)