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What is the single greatest console launch game of all time?

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,745
For me it goes like this. Not necessarily in order of quality but in terms of my favs but 64, Wii, Halo, all had huge cultural impacts in industry
  1. Mario 64
  2. Wii Sports
  3. Soul Calibur (DC)
  4. Breath of the Wild
  5. Halo CE
  6. Super Mario World
  7. Astro's Playroom
  8. Resistance FOM
  9. Demon's Souls
  10. Sonic Adventure
 
DarthWalden

DarthWalden

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,030
It has to be Halo.

Not only was in incredible at the time it basically spawned one of the biggest franchises in gaming.

I think Mario 64 is a close second in terms of a game that launched on the hardware that did something totally new and crazy.

Breath of the Wild and Super Mario World are both great games but i dont think either did anything drastically different than what could have been accomplished on the previous generation of hardware (in fact BOTW was available on previous generation hardware).
 

peppersky

Banned
Mar 9, 2018
1,174
It is obviously Super Mario 64. I could see the argument being made for Wii Sports, maybe Halo. Tetris doesn't really count since it was on systems before it, although the gameboy port is the most iconic and probably most played version of that game.

The rest of the games on this list just don't belong here, they are not even in the same ballpark.
 
Gestault

Gestault

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,343
I think it's Mario 64 of Halo CE. I'd love for it to be Soul Calibur or one of the classic arcade-era racers, but for general consumption, Mario 64/Halo are it. Super Mario World deserves to be a close second/third.
 
Trey

Trey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,913
You can argue between the merits of these games and their value relative to each other. But as a launch game, no game or franchise is as important and immutable to its launch console as Halo: Combat Evolved is to the Xbox.

It's fair to say without Halo, Xbox wouldn't exist to this day.
 
Exellus

Exellus

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
2,348
I think it's either Super Mario World or Super Mario 64. Those game defined the entire console generation.
 
DeckardWintermute

DeckardWintermute

Member
Aug 27, 2018
2,779
It's a tie between Mario 64 and Super Mario World, both games are timeless (even though I think the camera in Mario 64 isn't great with today's standards). That being said, both of those games are going to make it in to the top 5 if not top 3 of multiple people who were there to experience them upon launch.
 
bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,888
Trey said:
You can argue between the merits of these games and their value relative to each other. But as a launch game, no game or franchise is as important and immutable to its launch console as Halo: Combat Evolved is to the Xbox.

It's fair to say without Halo, Xbox wouldn't exist to this day.
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I would argue Super Mario had an even bigger impact on the NES and maybe the industry as a whole.
 
Winstano

Winstano

Editor-in-chief at nextgenbase.com
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
1,828
Tetris
Breath of the Wild
Wii Sports
Super Mario 64
SSX

In that order.
 
Goldenroad

Goldenroad

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,475
Super Mario World probably holds up the best out of any launch game that is 5+ years old, so it will probably always be that.
 
Bing147

Bing147

Member
Jun 13, 2018
3,688
For me its between Breath of the Wild, Super Mario World, Halo, and Soul Calibur.

That Sonic Adventure is in the OP though and not Soul Calibur is just plain weird though. Sonic Adventure was cool at the time as a showcase, but even at the time most thought it was the 3rd or 4th best launch game and it hasn't aged well.
 
Ignatz Mouse

Ignatz Mouse

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,741
I'm going to toss out another ancient example that was very important in its time, for multiple reasons:

Major League Baseball for Intellivision.

Baseball_Intellivision_cover.jpg


Contemporary reasons--

Established the Intellivision as far more capable than the 2600
Also established a reason (sports games) to get an Intellivision over a 2600
Made use of the Intellivision's at-the-time groundbreaking controller with all those buttons

Long-term reasons--

Showed what a new competitor had to do to distinguish itself against an established rival
Elevated sports games as more serious and in-depth than what had gone before and established them as a major, systems-moving subcategory of gaming
 
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Jeepman87

Member
Sep 16, 2020
195
Shooters are my favorite genre and Halo really set a high bar that time with a lot of features and quality of console controls we now take for granted. It was a game changer. For me it's definitely Halo.
 
Matrix XII

Matrix XII

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,313
A very good question indeed. My young life was changed by Halo CE, so I will give that the nod, closely followed by Super Mario World.
 
ngower

ngower

Member
Nov 20, 2017
4,001
As a game, Breath of the Wild. It sold the premise of the Switch perfectly--I played the first like five hours in an airport/on a plane.

As a phenomenon/system seller, Wii Sports. That alone made that thing impossible to find for MONTHS.
 
ManNR

ManNR

Member
Feb 13, 2019
2,955
In regards to impact on subsequent game design my vote goes to SM64. That game literally was a revolution.
 
Okii

Okii

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,189
Wii Sports and Halo:CE are tied for me, they both had huge impacts on the early success of those consoles.
 
demosthenes

demosthenes

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,570
Mario 64 for the shift from 2D to 3D for me.
Halo likely behind that for what it did for me in high school with Halo parties.
 
Auros01

Auros01

Avenger
Nov 17, 2017
5,499
The best? I would probably go with Super Mario 64. 10 year old me lost his mind playing that game for the first time and I can't count how many hours ultimately went into it.

The most important? Halo CE. Xbox isn't even a thing if that game doesn't release and capture the audience that it did.
 
Vidpixel

Vidpixel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,637
Halo for me personally. So many fond memories with it, redefined how FPS games can be played with a controller.
 
CaviarMeths

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
I'm not even a huge fan of the game, but I think I'd have to say Super Mario 64. It's not just genre-defining or generation-defining. It's perspective-defining. Almost every 3D 3rd person action game from the last 25 years plays like it. The ones that don't have "aged poorly." It's one of the most influential games of all time.
 
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LoadRunner

LoadRunner

Member
Sep 19, 2020
331
Trey said:
You can argue between the merits of these games and their value relative to each other. But as a launch game, no game or franchise is as important and immutable to its launch console as Halo: Combat Evolved is to the Xbox.

It's fair to say without Halo, Xbox wouldn't exist to this day.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I agree and there could be a separate MVP launch game conversation, the importance of the game to the brand is interesting, but really I could say the same about Mario on NES and Sonic on Genesis. Mario on NES edges Halo if you look at the sales of the game and how long it's been around, without Mario on NES Nintendo wouldn't be the same either, and maybe the industry is much smaller today too without Mario.
My personal top 5

1. Super Mario Bros (NES)
2. Mario 64
3. Halo
4. Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
5. NFL2k (Dreamcast)
 
Zalman

Zalman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,896
Either Mario 64, Wii Sports, or Breath of the Wild. I see an argument for all three.
 
TorianElecdra

TorianElecdra

Member
Feb 25, 2020
2,510
BOTW because of the impact it had, success wise.

Then Wii Sports and Tetris.

Mario 64 wouldn't be that high because the N64 was a bit of a flop.
 
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