Board 8 > 1997-2000 Square is probably the best run from any game company, ever.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Xenogears
Parasite Eve
Final Fantasy VIII
Chrono Cross
Vagrant Story
Final Fantasy IX

And those are just their classics; they also released a good number of smaller but still successful titles, like Bushido Blade, Legend of Dragon, Brave Fencer Musashi, Bomberman: The Second Attack, some SaGa games, and Ehrgeiz I guess. Has this level of output ever been matched by any other company in a four-year period? Maybe Nintendo did it at some point, but they usually space out their tentpole games a bit. Square released three main FF games in three years.

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Not even mentioning Threads of Fate.
Disgusting

KamikazePotato posted...

Bomberman: The Second Attack

God bless you, KP.

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I'd think 80's or 90's Sega, Nintendo, or Capcom could have a stretch that would compete.

I mean they were all releasing classics on multiple consoles and in the arcade during that time,

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KamikazePotato posted...

Maybe Nintendo did it at some point, but they usually space out their tentpole games a bit.

They still had a REALLY long run of at least one all-time classic every year from like 1990-2002
1990: Super Mario Bros. 3
1991: Super Mario World
1992: Link to the Past, Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario Kart
1993: Kirby's Adventure, Link's Awakening, Star Fox, Super Mario All-Stars
1994: Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out!!, Donkey Kong Country
1995: Donkey Kong Country 2, Yoshi's Island, Earthbound
1996: Super Mario RPG, Super Mario 64
1997: Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, GoldenEye 007
1998: Ocarina of Time, Pokemon Red & Blue
1999: Super Smash Bros.
2000: Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask, Paper Mario
2001: Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons, Pokemon Gold & Silver, Super Smash Bros. Melee
2002: Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime

After that they had some years where their big games were franchise entries that maybe didn't live up to previous titles, and the occasional transitional year as one generation was closing out and another was getting underway, but that's a pretty great run right there.

1989 had massively popular handheld games Super Mario Land and Alleyway.
1988 Super Mario Bros 2
1987 Mike Tysons Punch Out!!
so forth and so on

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1997-2000 isn't even Square's best 4-year period imo! Give me 1993-1996 Square instead

Xtlm posted...

1989 had massively popular handheld games Super Mario Land and Alleyway.
1988 Super Mario Bros 2
1987 Mike Tysons Punch Out!!
so forth and so on

ehh 89 seemed like an off year compared to the ones that came before and after, but I guess you could make a case for Tetris at least

You can stretch out this Square golden era too. One year more and FFX is there. Three years back to add FFVI, Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG and I'm probably forgetting something.

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ctesjbuvf posted...

You can stretch out this Square golden era too. One year more and FFX is there. Three years back to add FFVI, Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG and I'm probably forgetting something.

93 had Secret of Mana, but I think 92 breaks the streak because the only North American Square release I can find that year is Mystic Quest. You can extend it into 2002 with Kingdom Hearts, but I don't know if there's anything in 2003. X-2, Tactics Advance, and Unlimited Saga , and then Sword of Mana post-merger.

Square doesn't have a single year between 1991-2001 where they didn't release a classic... depending on what you consider FF8 to be

Although true that 1992 didn't give US Final Fantasy V, for reasons that will elude me forever

Paratroopa1 posted...

1997-2000 isn't even Square's best 4-year period imo! Give me 1993-1996 Square instead

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MrGreenonion posted...

They still had a REALLY long run of at least one all-time classic every year from like 1990-2002
1990: Super Mario Bros. 3
1991: Super Mario World
1992: Link to the Past, Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario Kart
1993: Kirby's Adventure, Link's Awakening, Star Fox, Super Mario All-Stars
1994: Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out!!, Donkey Kong Country
1995: Donkey Kong Country 2, Yoshi's Island, Earthbound
1996: Super Mario RPG, Super Mario 64
1997: Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, GoldenEye 007
1998: Ocarina of Time, Pokemon Red & Blue
1999: Super Smash Bros.
2000: Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask, Paper Mario
2001: Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons, Pokemon Gold & Silver, Super Smash Bros. Melee
2002: Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime

After that they had some years where their big games were franchise entries that maybe didn't live up to previous titles, and the occasional transitional year as one generation was closing out and another was getting underway, but that's a pretty great run right there.

You can keep going:

2003: Wind Waker, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
2004: Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, Metroid Prime 2, Pikmin 2, Minish Cap
2005: Mario Kart DS
2006: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, New Super Mario Bros., Elite Beat Agents
2007: Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3
2008: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2009: Mario & Luigi Bowsers Inside Story
2010: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Xenoblade Chronicles, Kirbys Epic Yarn
2011: Super Mario 3D Land
2012: Animal Crossing New Leaf, Fire Emblem Awakening
2013: Super Mario 3D World, A Link Between Worlds
2014: Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8 Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros. 4
2015: Super Mario Maker, Splatoon

All of these games are ~90+ review averages or regarded as a classic in some way, certainly all above Super Mario Land, Kirbys Adventure and Super Punch-Out. And there are some I couldve mentioned like Pikmin 3. I would echo the feeling earlier that 1989 doesnt really count.

2016 was their first missed year since then, due to saving games for the release of the Switch. But 1990-2015 was a hell of a run. Some are weaker than others (1999, 2005, 2008-2009), but they always had at least one breakthrough hit or massively acclaimed title per year.

Its certainly better than a handful of RPGS of which some the publisher never bothered to put out in Europe. Xenogears? What is that? Some game that doesnt exist.

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Anyway, on the subject of Nintendo, the winner is definitely Nintendo March 2017-March 2020:

The Legend of Zelda Breath of The Wild
Mario Kart 8 DX
Splatoon 2
Super Mario Odyssey
Metroid Samus Returns
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Mario Maker 2
Fire Emblem Three Houses
Links Awakening
Luigis Mansion 3
Animal Crossing New Horizons

And other games like Astral Chain, Cadence of Hyrule, Xenoblade Chronicles 2... The Switch got off to an incredible start.


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Correct, except that the run started back in 1991

FFIV - VI
Secret of Mana
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario RPG

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I mean I've been calling 1997-2001 the Golden Era of Square for years now, so you're a bit late to the party!

Five of the best FFs ever made in five years is incredible in and of itself without mentioning the other good games they put out during that span. That was a period where if Square made it, I played it.

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Leonhart4 posted...

Five of the best FFs ever made in five years is incredible in and of itself

This is the main reason really, a franchise has never had as strong a time as that.

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Konami from 1997 to 2004

Symphony of the Night
Metal Gear Solid
Silent Hill
Metal Gear Solid 2
Silent Hill 2
GBA Castlevania trio
Silent Hill 3
Metal Gear Solid 3

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If youre including spinoffs like Tactics, then Mario 1991-1996 (World, Land 2, Super Mario Kart, Yoshis Island, 64) and 2013-2017 (3D World, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey) are pretty good. Excluding Tactics it was a great run of main games, but the run from 4-7 was better.

GranzonEx posted...

Konami from 1997 to 2004

Symphony of the Night
Metal Gear Solid
Silent Hill
Metal Gear Solid 2
Silent Hill 2
GBA Castlevania trio
Silent Hill 3
Metal Gear Solid 3

This is a great one, and also when they were on top of the football (soccer) game too ahead of FIFA. If you extend it by a year you get Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow as well. 2006 was the point Konami started to wobble but they used to be one of the best.

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Blizzard from 1994 - 2000:

Warcraft
JL: Task Force (admittedly not great)
Warcraft 2
Diablo
Lost Vikings 2
Starcraft
Diablo 2

Warcraft 3 is 2002, World of Warcraft is 2004


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I'm not sure I'd consider 4-7 better simply because the lack of releases for 5.

I appreciate Nintendo's consistency. That Mario and Zelda have been among the top of gaming since always is a huge feat. That said, I don't think making a new Mario Kart took that much effort. It feels like cheating to include both 8 and Deluxe in that at least. The 91-96 stretch feels more impressive to me. No denying the impressive release the Switch had though.

Tactics might as well have been a main title.

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Leonhart4 posted...

I mean I've been calling 1997-2001 the Golden Era of Square for years now, so you're a bit late to the party!

Five of the best FFs ever made in five years is incredible in and of itself without mentioning the other good games they put out during that span. That was a period where if Square made it, I played it.

This! So damn much.

FF7, Tactics, 8, 9, 10 in 5 years is just an insane feat that no other gaming franchise has ever achieved or will ever achieve.

All 5 of those games are Top freaking 30 for me. FF7 and 8 are literal #1 and 2. 10 is a near Top 10 game. 9 a Top 20 and Tactics in the Top 30. The main reason why? Each game is so different from one another despite being from the same series which is exactly why Final Fantasy is still to this day, my favorite gaming franchise.

This is truly a feat no gaming franchise will never achieve. I realized I said it again but this needs to be said again and again.

You can tell it's impressive because people are picking 6 or 7 or 8 year spans to compete with Square's 4 year span.
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Goddamn do I miss Konami in its prime

Metal Gear, Suikoden, Castlevania, Silent Hill. I'd give anything for these series to be revived to its glory days.

Yeah I wouldn't have included DX if it was released after Odyssey, it's just funny that it gets in there twice. Though it can work as a proxy for the DLC which is regarded as some of the best.

I certainly disagree on Tactics, it codified the "X game tactics" spinoff trend/meme. It literally has "Tactics" in the title! It's great, but that doesn't make it not a spinoff - Gears Tactics is arguably the best Gears of War content in nearly a decade but nobody calls that a main game! But of course, being a spinoff is not a bad thing. It is in some ways the definitive spinoff.

Anyway, I thought of an amazing one.

Capcom October 2003-2007. Check this out:

Viewtiful Joe
Onimusha 3
Mega Man Zero 3
Monster Hunter
Viewtiful Joe 2
Mega Man Zero 4
Resident Evil 4
Devil May Cry 3
Killer7
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Okami
Mega Man ZX
Dead Rising
God Hand
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trials & Tribulations
Mega Man ZX Advent
Lost Planet
Zack & Wiki

Also there were the Street Fighter, Mega Man and Mega Man X collections came out, and this was when Capcom were publishing Rockstar and Sony games in Japan. Incredible. I'm changing my answer, it's this Capcom run. They used to be soooooo good. They had a good run from the release of Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice to Devil May Cry 5, but unfortunately Dead Rising 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite also came out then and spoil it a bit.

Yes, I was going to go from 2004 but wanted to get Viewtiful Joe in there because Viewtiful Joe is amazing.

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A case can be made for every company and their mother if we include average to merely good games.

You can take out the Mega Mans and Capcom still wins.

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Leonhart4 posted...

I mean I've been calling 1997-2001 the Golden Era of Square for years now, so you're a bit late to the party!

Five of the best FFs ever made in five years is incredible in and of itself without mentioning the other good games they put out during that span. That was a period where if Square made it, I played it.

Including 2001 is unfair imo FFX too strong

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The first two Phoenix Wright games are from 2001 and 2002, they just didn't get western releases until they were ported to DS.

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Square will probably never replicate those good old days

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barreldragon88 posted...

Square will probably never replicate those good old days

No video game company will ever replicate what was.

Too much money to make games so you only have 1-2 major releases a year from them and usually they never live up to expectations.

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Rare from Donkey Kong Country to Perfect Dark, while still a part of Nintendo at the time, was pretty great on its own.

Plus it gave us the DK Rap!

LOLIAmAnAlt posted...

No video game company will ever replicate what was.

Too much money to make games so you only have 1-2 major releases a year from them and usually they never live up to expectations.

Too much money compared to the golden era?

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Konami when MGS, Silent Hill, and metroidvanias were peaking is a strong case

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