My friend and I have been debating this for the past hour.  I say 1995, he says 1996.  Let me lay out our arguements.

1995
--------
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Chrono Trigger
- Descent
- Earthbound
- Donkey Kong Country 2

1996
--------
- Resident Evil
- Super Mario RPG
- Super Mario 64
- NiGHTS into Dreams
- Tomb Raider
- Crash Bandicoot

Despite the launching of several important and industry-changing IP's in '96, I still say '95 was a better year just for Chrono Trigger and Earthbound.  This probably all comes down to preference, but the games that affected my life the most were from '95.  Let's see, I was 12/13, right at that impressionable age.  Just finishing junior high school and entering high school.  Yup.  That's the year.

1994 is a very close second with the following:  Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country (launched the series, but DKC2 was ultimately better), and Final Fantasy III (VI if you're keeping count).

It seems most of my favourite games were released in 2001.

Silent Hill 2
Shadow of Destiny
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2

Okay, that's only three games, but they're all magnificent.

I doubt anybody in this thread would ever go for a year in 2000s. Not that 1990s are superior, but given our age-group. Mine is also pretty much based on my nostalgia for gaming.

1995
King's Field II
Tactics Ogre
Chrono Trigger
Jumping Flash
Suikoden
Tekken 2

Dishonorable mention: Beyond The Beyond

This year also had Dragon Quest VI, Tales of Phantasia, Terra Enigma (sp?), but I didn't play them.

edit: okay, Raziel's post already proved that I was wrong

1994,,, Final Fantasy 3 resulted in me dropping my fall classes at the community college...

You need to add Mega Man 7, Demon's Crest, Castlevania: Dracula X, and Seiken Densetsu 3 to 1995.  Once you do that, 1996 doesn't stand a chance.

Some of my all-time favorites released in 2001:

Conker's Bad Fur Day
Final Fantasy X
Ico
Klonoa 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Paper Mario
Phantasy Star Online
Pikmin
Shadow Hearts
Silent Hill 2
Super Monkey Ball
Super Smash Bros. Melee

Plus a lot of other big name games that I wouldn't put up on that list but generally enjoyed, and others might:

Bangai-O
Devil May Cry
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Golden Sun
Halo
Sonic Adventure 2

Generally though, probably one of the best years for gaming ever.  The PS2 finally started to get some great games, plus we had the launch of three other pieces of hardware (GBA, Gamecube, Xbox).

Edit: forgot Silent Hill 2... was reminded by rein. 

I'll go with 1995 as well, if only for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a game I spent countless hours playing.

And Chrono Trigger rocks. But we all know that.

I'm surprised that I'm the third person in this thread to give the nod to 2001.  I expected to be the only one.

Taken together, Ace Combat 4, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Silent Hill 2 made for my most memorable year in gaming.  Although other games have left more of an impression individually, I can't think of another year whose titles had more of a lasting impact in the aggregate.  Part of the reason probably is that these three games were released around the same time, in the fall of 2001.  I actually bought them together because of Toys 'R' Us's buy-two-get-one-free deal.

Edit: Why is this in the Open Topic forum?

Toughie. Now if the question was "what do you think the best year in non-VGM music was?" I could totally give you an answer: 1994.

Considering the fact that I hold Silent Hill 2 to be pretty much the most significant piece of gaming history EVER, my mind immediately went to 2001 as well.
I forgot that there were a lot of other great titles in that year too.

Seems you are wrong already.
I'll go one further and add 2005 as well:

Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
Kingdom Hearts 2 (in Japan at least)

Although, um, not much else.
But damn, those 3 are REALLY awesome.

1992
---
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Darkwing Duck (NES)
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
Mario Paint
Sonic 2
Street Fighter II
Streets of Rage 2
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

1998
---
Einhander
Final Fantasy Tactics
Grim Fandango
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Hot Shots Golf
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Megaman Legends
Metal Gear Solid
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Tomba

Just a taste of what the best two years in my book had to offer. I'd also like to mention 2004. It didn't have as many good games as those other two, but the good games were ridiculously good.

Put me down for 2001 as well.  Silent Hill 2 completely changed the way I look at video games.  Best game ever for me, period.  I could try and try, but I simply cannot put into words how I feel about that game.  Yeah, we'll leave it at that.  For those of you who also listed Silent Hill 2, you know what I'm talking about.

Someone else who knows about this game, awesome!  Shadow of Destiny flew way under the radar but it seriously blew me away.  I'm gonna have to replay it again soon.  Note that this game was developed by KCET, the division of Konami responsible for Silent Hill.

As for more 2001 greatness:

Sonic Adventure 2
Final Fantasy X
Gitaroo Man
Ico
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Mad Maestro!
Shadow Hearts
Parappa the Rapper 2

I can honestly say that I love every game I just mentioned.

I loved this game too!
The Japanese version came with a trailer for Silent Hill 2, which was so absolutely awesome that it made me track down the first game for PSX just to get in the mood.

Man did that game exceed my expectations!

Also, you might be interested to know about this:

http://kotaku.com/5308446/shadow-of-mem … g-psported

Yeah, the same thing happened to me when I played it last winter. I didn't bother with unlocking all the endings, even though I got a bad ending, because I think replaying this every winter is going to be a tradition for me (it's really short anyway). Until I unlock every ending, that is.

I don't have a DS, but is Time Hollow any good?

I've listened to the SILENT HILL 2 ost countless times since 2001 (some of my favorites are White Noiz, Null Moon, Wandering Through The Town Alone, Angel's Thatanos, and Betrayal), but i've never actually played it (I was really turned off by SH1's gameplay and repetitive environments).

Is SH2 really THAT good that I should check it out??

You guys are really vouching for it, and now i'm curious to see what all the kudos is about...

Panda's got some good stuff listed, so I'll ride the coattails of that info

1992: I totally put a lot of time into Zelda 3, Contra 3, TMNT IV, and having Street Fighter 2 in YOUR HOME was a mindblowing proposition back then.

1998: And I totally got a lot of enjoyment out of Einhander, FF Tactics, and MGS, so that was a great year for the PSX.

yes! Yes!! and YES!!! It is difficult to stress enough how incredibly mindblowing the story is without giving away something, so i'll just have to grab you by the collars, shake you, and say "play this f---ing game!!"

carl: you forgot Parasite eve for '98

Interesting question.
While I agree that the second half of the 90's saw a lot of quality, especially throughout 1994-1996, I'm personally particularly fond of the year 2000, mainly thanks to Vagrant Story and Shenmue.

Remarkable games I can think of released in 2000(US):

Vagrant Story
SaGa Frontier 2
Chrono Cross
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Shenmue
Grandia 2

I had everything spoiled for me by my douchebag friend. Still, the whole thing left me feeling haunted like no other game. Comes with the Brandy seal of approval.

Okay, okay, I'll definitely go get a used copy and check it out this Halloween season. I suppose i've waited long enough!

As for my favorite year of gaming, I'm going to go with 2004.

MGS Cubed (G.Cube)

Samurai Shodown Zero SPECIAL (Neo-Geo AES)

This looks quite about right.  I did have to give this one a bit of thought at first.  For all of the care that I put into my Game of The Year threads, trying to retroactively measure the worth of a single gaming year is actually a tough thing to do.  Perusing a few helpful online resources in terms of release dates, though, the answer quickly became clear that 1992 was the indisputable champ when it came to the number of quality games put out in just one year's time.  In addition to the ones Sonic already mentioned, there's also:

Axelay (SNES)
Airzonk (TG-16)
Fatal Fury 2 (Neo Geo)
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
Final Fantasy V (SFC)
Magical Quest: Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
Soul Blazer (SNES)
Space Megaforce (SNES)
Street Fighter II Champion Edition (Arcade)
Super Double Dragon (SNES)
Super Star Wars (SNES)
The Legend of Mystical Ninja (SNES)

I had settled on 1995, but looking over the lists presented, I'm finding myself unsure. It's safe to say that there were some great games made in the 90s.

Not nearly as enthusiastic about the 00s, but I'm not sure if it's the quality of the games or simply my interest in gaming diminishing as I get older...

Since responding to this thread, I've been itching to go back and play some of those golden-oldies I've listed.  Though I don't think I'll have the time or the commitment to start up A Link To The Past, Mystic Quest, Soul Blazer or Final Fantasy V, I'd love to devote a few lazy summer afternoons tearing through Axelay, Air Zonk, Magical Quest, Space Megaforce, Super Double Dragon, and Super Star Wars again.  I'll wait for the 360 remake of Turtles In Time next month, and Contra III and Legend of Mystical Ninja don't count, since I tend to play through those once every couple of months anyway. :)

Been eying a few titles that you guys listed, too.  Maybe I'll revisit Darkwing Duck, Klonoa 2, Ace Combat 4, and Tomba.

I certainly enjoyed it.  Here, we had something of an official thread on the game last year, and here's my choice quote from the VIDEO GAMES 2008 thread:

"Probably my sleeper hit of the year, Konami’s anime-style point and click adventure with a detective spin possesses a surprisingly deep and compelling narrative, with lots of genuine twists to the plot to keep it fresh and exciting.  The character designs are particularly noteworthy, and while there are a couple of lulls in the gameplay when it comes to the constant backtracking of areas, anyone who loves a good mystery story should be gobbling this up."

2007 has been quoted a lot due to Bioshock and Call of Duty 4.

My favorite year will always be 1994, simply because Final Fantasy VI came out in October. Best game ever!

Need more? Super Metroid, best SNES game ever!

I'm sure there are tons of others as well.

If Final Fantasy VI is the best game ever, shouldn't that automatically make it the best SNES game ever? Seriously, though, 1994 is my favorite for those games alone. '94 also saw the release of Wario Land, Demon's Crest, and The Firemen (my favorite Human game). I didn't have a Genesis back then, but I would love going to my friend's house to play Sonic & Knuckles and Streets of Rage 3.

I just gave Tomba another playthrough a few weeks ago and it's every bit as fun and charming as I remembered. It's actually the reason I never got rid of my old PS1, since for some reason it would crash on my PS2. I'm planning on giving Tomba! 2 another go soon, but I remember really hating that mine cart mini-game.

You know, I have the same problem with the original Wild Arms. If I get into a random battle the game has a tendancy to freeze right when the first character jumps into frame and their feet kicks up dust on the PS2. So I have to have the old PS1 around just for that game, which is kind of annoying as the PS2 makes the game - well, at least the text - look a little bit crisper.

Really, play something on the PS1 and then try it in the PS2 and see if the change in crispness isn't the greatest thing on earth - relatively speaking.

You obviously haven't bought a PS3 yet.
Makes PSX games on PS2 look absolutely hideous.

Why not play on a PC using an emulator?  ePSXe has been a nearly perfect emulator of the PS1 for years.

Question - on the PS3 can you save the setting to have the games upscaled?  It always really annoyed me that I had to start the PS2 without the game in, turn on the setting, and then put the game in every time I wanted my graphics smoothed over.

Yep!
In fact, if memory serves me correctly, the default setting has smoothing on.

This is the only reason I'd be interested in a (early model) PS3 (with hardware based emulation), and still, it's not enough for me to ever fork out for one. My interest in Sony's machines has declined with each one that has come out: PS1 (yeah!), PS2 (nice enough), PSP (maybe, someday) PS3 (zzzzz...)

Are you talking about the old brick PS2? I have the thin model and I've never had to adjust a setting to smooth out the graphics; in fact, I don't even think there is an option to do so since it appears to be done automatically - I looked for such an option once since a FAQ mentioned it and I think it was refering to the brick. If this is so, this is the only thing the thin model has over the brick besides saving space. I really don't like the thin model and I love the off switch on the old one - screw that standby mode crap.