‘Sup, fellow ’90s kids? What’s the dillio with all these modern video games? True home skillets know that the best games that ever existed came out in the totally tubular timeline of grunge and Beanie Babies. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a chill pill, doofus. This baller part of this righteous article is about to end. Don’t have a cow.
I myself was born in 1992, so I came up with the video games of the late ’90s, with my most formative years spent on the N64, though I did spend plenty of time with the household’s NES and SNES before the 64 as well. As such, I have a major soft spot for many games of the era. But let’s not kid ourselves, either. Nostalgia aside, some of the games released in the ’90s are still all-time classics for sure.
So today, let’s celebrate the best franchises of the 1990s that are still alive and kicking. While all the franchises mentioned below are active in the modern era, I’d like to contend that they experienced their peaks way back in the day, even if the modern games are still good too.
There’s going to be a heavy Nintendo presence below, simply because I’d argue that a lot of their modern franchises, as lovely as they can still be, actually had their best titles way back during the Clinton administration.
Let’s take a look back on nine franchises that are still beloved enough to be around today, but had their true time in the sun in the 1990s. Oh, and eat my shorts, or whatever.
9 Donkey Kong Country
Monkeying Around
Not to be confused with the 3D Donkey Kong games that include DK64 and the Switch 2’s Bananza, Donkey Kong Country refers to the side-scrolling platformers that got their start back in the ’90s. While this series has continued on with games like Tropical Freeze and remakes as recent as 2024, the OG titles are still the best.
I have the most nostalgia for the original Donkey Kong Country from 1994, but the consensus would likely argue these days that the sequel, Diddy Kong’s Quest from 1995, was even better. Either way, you can’t go wrong.
These games looked amazing for their time, and they still hold up if you go back to play them 30 years later. Let’s also not forget the track “Aquatic Ambience” from the ’94 game, which has an actual case for best video game song of all time, full stop.
8 Tekken
It To The Streets
I’ll be honest, I’m not the world’s largest fighting game fan. If I had to pick one franchise, however, it would be Tekken. A lot of the modern titles, specifically Tekken 8 from 2024, are extremely well regarded (a 90 on MetaCritic is no joke).
Still, the series was birthed in the ’90s just like me, and 2 and 3 specifically are still considered the best in the series by many. There’s a case to be made for 5 as well, but I’m going to give the nod to the ’90s games since they’re so iconic and still handle fantastically.
You can make a case that this is a franchise that really hasn’t had one definitive peak, but I won’t be able to hear you over all of the button mashing.
7 Yoshi
And All His Multicolored Friends
Yoshi’s Island from 1995 is one of my personal favorite games of all time. And yes, this is technically considered a Super Mario World title, but let’s be honest here. Yoshi’s Island is actually a Yoshi game, since you play as Yoshi, and it handles similarly to many of the Yoshi titles that came after. Let’s not be silly.
While some of the modern titles, like Crafted and Woolly World, are adorable and charming, they are not really even close to as good as the OG Island. Yoshi has been relegated to a “baby’s first platformer”-type role in recent years. That’s totally fine, and I respect Nintendo for creating an approachable entry point for toddlers or whatever, but these aren’t my Yoshi games.
I don’t think it’s a hot take at all to say that Yoshi’s Island is far and away the best solo title our little green dino has ever gotten, and I can’t imagine it’s topped any time soon with the role of the modern franchise. Pour one out for Burt The Bashful and his falling, striped pantaloons.
6 Castlevania
One Half Of An Iconic Duo
Before you comment, I do understand that there hasn’t really been a notable Castlevania entry into the franchise for the better part of a decade. We did, however, get a re-release of Haunted Castle last year, and every gaming rumor mill out there swears that we’re getting news about an upcoming game any day now too.
So, let’s count this one as active and hope we wish the rumored announcement into existence ASAP. All of that said, it’s nearly objective at this point that the most beloved entry in the Castlevania franchise is Symphony Of The Night, the all-time classic from 1997.
Of course, even if that wasn’t your personal choice for GOAT Castlevania, the ’90s had plenty of others from the decade that quite easily make this timespan the best time you possibly could’ve been a fan of the series.
5 Street Fighter
Ryu Ready For Some Action?
Street Fighter is still extremely popular in this era, and the modern titles are mainstays in eSports competitions around the globe. It’s pretty easily argued as the most prolific traditional fighting game on the market today.
But in the ’90s, the game was still somehow operating at a completely different level. Street Fighter 2 was an absolute global phenomenon, whether it was in arcades or on consoles. Amazingly, despite the astronomical success of 2, we also got 3 within the same decade, which many swear is even better than its predecessor.
Whatever camp you land in, it’s pretty clear that the peak of this franchise is firmly planted in the early to mid ’90s, regardless of the fact that the new games are still so mega popular today.
4 Kirby
The Cream Of The Puffs
In a similar vein to Yoshi, they just don’t make Kirby games like they used to over at Nintendo. While the little pink guy’s modern adventures aren’t quite as mindlessly easy and catered towards the youngest gamers possible like Yoshi, they’re still pretty close.
Kirby’s never been hardcore obviously, but the games in the ’90s were way more interesting (and varied) regardless. Kirby’s Adventure from the NES in 1993 is still somehow the best pure platformer in the franchise and is one of the first games I can remember beating all by myself.
But the ’90s didn’t stop there for Kirbs. I think Kirby’s Dream Course from ’94 is incredibly cool if you’re into a weird Kirby/mini-golf hybrid, and Kirby’s Avalanche from ’95 is a more than adequate and addictive Puyo Puyo title. This run of three years has never been topped by the Kirby franchise since.
3 Sonic The Hedgehog
Rolling Around At The Speed Of Soundgarden
I don’t want to pick on Sonic too much here. By no means am I a Sonic hater on a personal level. Still, it’s been well documented that he’s had a series of missteps and duds since the heyday of the ’90s when every kid wanted a hedgehog for a pet thanks to how freakin’ cool Sonic was back then.
The run that Sonic had from 1991 to 1994 was generational. Packed within these years, we got Sonics 1-3, as well as Sonic & Knuckles. I’d argue that 2 is the best of the bunch, but there aren’t really any wrong answers here.
While there have been some good to great games in the franchise since, I don’t think we’ll ever see Sonic games have quite the peak that they reached previously. That’s a ridiculously high bar though, so let’s try not to hold it against him.
2 Super Mario
The Plumber’s Two Most Beloved Entries
This one will be a bit of a hot take since Mario games in the modern era (and every era) have always been amazing. Still, I think there’s a strong case to be made that the series’ peak is somewhere split between Super Mario World in 1990, and Super Mario 64 in 1996.
Take your pick either way, and you’ll have millions of people backing up your decision here. I loved Super Mario Wonder, but World is the de facto choice for best 2D entry in the series. It’s one of the most iconic games of all time and still holds up to this day. Never had there been a side-scroller just so ridiculously jam-packed with secrets and alternate paths to discover level after level.
I adore Galaxy and Odyssey, but we also do not have either of those games without Super Mario 64, which was so absurdly good that it set the standard for an entire genre for decades. Wonky camera controls aside, collecting all 120 power stars in 64 is a rite of passage for gamers, and is unmatched by any other game in the series since, despite how good the follow-up 3D titles are.
1 The Legend Of Zelda
Back When Dungeons Still Existed
Saying that The Legend Of Zelda peaked in the ’90s might feel like just as hot of a take as Mario, but let’s be real. Please find me any other decade in Zelda’s history that had a run quite as ridiculous as A Link To The Past into Link’s Awakening, followed up with Ocarina Of Time.
If you like the top-down iterations of Zelda, A Link To The Past is the gold standard. If you’re a 3D Zelda fan, OOT is still the highest-rated game of all-time, critically. Breath Of The Wild is incredible, and I can recognize that Tears Of The Kingdom is great if you could put up with all the building (I couldn’t). Still, the absolute moment that Ocarina Of Time had (and continues to somehow have) is unmatched.
I love so many games in this franchise, but it’s just hard to top those two aforementioned titles. It gets overlooked in the shadow of these other two giants, but Link’s Awakening was also an incredible game, just not quite as transcendent as Link To The Past. Whatever your Zelda preferences are, it’s hard to argue against the ’90s for Link and the gang.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
