A Brief History of Video Games Part2

1991's Sonic The Hedgehog is an iconic platformer that still wows visually today. The azure-hued titular character ploughs through the colourful and varied levels faster than any overweight plumber could ever dream of. Street Fighter II was responsible for sending the popularity of fighting games skyward, with huge sprites, a cast of memorable characters and solid combo controls. Although with sprites of a much smaller scale, Lemmings' indirect puzzle action proved a frustrating-yet-compulsive hit for many. Sid Meier embarked on a series of games that would certainly stand the test of time: Civilization put the player in an eternal emperor's shoes as you guide your people over six millennia. 1992 was witness to the birth of the Real Time Strategy genre, with Westwood Studio's Dune II insisting that the spice must flow.

Similarly instigating the rise of an archetype, id's Wolfenstein 3D is the emergence point of the first person shooter. 1993's Doom further cemented the FPS's enduring popularity, with the high-action gore-filled gunplay appealing to many. A mite more sedate, Myst's ray-traced graphics took full advantage of the then-new CD-ROM technology. Meanwhile, home consoles were treated to the SuperFX enhanced graphics of Star Fox, pushing the SNES to its limits. The 32-bit PlayStation launched in 1994, and the new hardware provided the basis for Tekken: building on the foundation laid by Sega's Virtua Fighter whilst refining the presentation and controls.

UFO: Enemy Unknown was the first in the XCOM series - successfully blending turn-based strategy with base management and research in a compelling plight against alien force. Similarly xenophobic, Bungie's Marathon slipped by almost unnoticed, largely due to its presence only on the Macintosh platform. ----- In 1995, the PlayStation came into its own, with the stylish futuristic Wipeout from Psygnosis combining breakneck speed with cutting-edge sound and graphic design. Chrono Trigger was another highlight of the year - a critically acclaimed RPG that ticked all the right boxes, with multiple endings and a coherent aesthetic. 1996 saw the launch of the Nintendo 64, and with it perhaps the first really successful foray into 3D platforming - Super Mario 64.

With the processing power to support a 3D world, and a joypad with analogue precision and enough buttons to control the camera as well as Mario, the game was both technically impressive and awfully good fun to play. It was the same year the Game Boy was blessed with legendary collect-em-up Pokémon: a pocket-sized RPG in which you've gotta catch 'em all. The franchise inspired an animated series, films, a trading card game, and has resulted in a longstanding series of video game instalments.