Video games that literally RAN THE STREETS

[Days of Future Piff]

Some games that should definitely be on the list:


DOOM (1993)
SIMS 2 (2004)
Gran Turismo (1997)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2003)
Everquest (1999)
Temple Run (2011) ---> the game that blew up iphone games

Good looking out. Editing my post right now

 

[Illuminatos]

MW2
I was 14/15 when that dropped and I never bothered playing shooting games up until that point. My homeboys begged me to get it. I got that game and I was hooked. Been playing COD ever since.

 

[Kingshango]

The hype for GTA 3 was something else.

 

[Brief Keef]

What are some video games that literally ran the streets and/or could realistically be considered the GOAT at the time of their release?
These are just a few examples that come to mind off of the top of my head:

Pac-man
Tetris
Super Mario 1 and 3
Street Fighter 2
Sonic the Hedgehog
the Dragon Quest franchise (in Japan)*

For example, literally EVERYBODY was hype for Mario 3 when that game was about to drop.


Even the mainstream media recognized games like Pac-man, Mario 1, and Street Fighter 2 when they first dropped.
When Pokemon Red and Blue dropped, EVERYBODY knew it.
You had toys, merchandise, cartoons, etc.

Spoiler

* RPG's in general were slept on in America pre-FFVII, but in Japan, DQ definitely qualifies as a franchise that literally ran the streets.
The franchise is so huge out there that the company had to pass an internal rule to only release Dragon Quest games on Saturdays so that everyone wouldn't skip school/work to go play the games.
DQis pretty much THE OG RPG game that originated that whole genre, and on top of that,Akira Toriyama (the creator of DBZ) does all the artwork for the series.

There are definitely others, though. Post your own examples.

well for starters the only game thats ever gotten a 99 on meta Zelda OOT

007
MW2
Gears 1
RE2/RE4
GTA 3/SA
NBA2K
mario 64/mario world
Tony Hawk 1
Sonic 1-3 knuckles

 

[Goodnews]

SF2, NBA Jam and TMNT in the arcades. You young bucks don't know.


Street Fighter 2 was a cultural revolution damn near.

Shoutout to everybody that persevered through the "I cant shoryuken/Haduken on 2p side" phase in the arcades.

 

[Jblaze204]

I want to disagree with Resident evil. it was more of a niche/popular following than an universal hit. I remember in school the nerds would talk about that and Final Fantasy while every one else would talk about Pokémon and GTA. Metal Gear Solid was wayyyy more of a smash hit than resident evil.

 

[Address_Unknown]

How this thread go this long without noone mentioning gta 5.

People like to bytch and complain but gta 5 is without a doubt running the streets since the day it came out. Highest selling piece of media at the time. Maybe ever at this point idk

GTA 5 gets an asterix, because without the pimping of Virtual money, this game would have been forgotten and deleted by more than half of the people that purchased it when it came out to now.

 

[Tommy Fits]

Street fighter 2 is the first that came to mind

 

[TryObsidian?]

I think y'all forgetting mobile games like clash of clans and candy crush also wii fit and skyrim.

 

[Taadow]

outrun, afterburner, NARC,

ROFL Iono how I forgot these...my Pop got hooked on Out Run

 

[Amor fati]

RE: 2
Tekken 2, 3, Tag and 4
Soul Calibur
Sonic: 2
Sonic Adventure
Most of the Capcom CPS2 developed Marvel related games
Mortal Kombat
Def Jam V and NY
Smackdown v Raw 2006 and 07
GTA San

 

[O³ (O cubed)]

No Street Fighter 2? Every arcade, chippy, cab office, cornershop had a machine with brehs lining up their 20ps. Had certain guys begging for a round.

 

[Leavingtheecstasy]

GTA 5 gets an asterix, because without the pimping of Virtual money, this game would have been forgotten and deleted by more than half of the people that purchased it when it came out to now.

That game made more than any movie, or piece of media content that entire year.

It was running shyt with or without online. However, yes online extended its run farther than any console game in recent history.

 

[Afro]

everyone i knew was hype about san andreas. i had no idea cacs was mad about CJ till seeing a thread about it on thecoli.

Its was a war on GameFAQs.com.

Like, the pure hatred was insane, had people swearing to never buy a GTA again.

 

[Batsute]

The hype for GTA Vice City was something else.

GTA 3 laid the groundwork but Vice City rip up the foundation. I remember working at Walmart at the time and everybody in my dept that gamed, took the day off to play it.