It’s December, and that means the editors at Shacknews are back with yet another batch of inductees for the Shacknews Hall of Fame.
The Shacknews Hall of Fame operates on a 25-year eligibility window, so any game released before or during 1998 is eligible to be enshrined in the outlet’s pantheon of play. The Class of 2023 is the third group of games selected by the site’s editors, and with most of the obvious titles from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s already accounted for, the majority of this year’s inductees were originally released between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1998 (though one selection, Mario Party, didn’t make it to the US until February 1999).
Among the 38 new additions to the Shacknews Hall of Fame are Half-Life and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the twin titans of 1998 that are perennially at the top of Best Games lists from across the decades. A lot of people have gone to bat for 2023 as one of the best years ever for games, but that sentiment was also in the air during 1998, and those two games are far from alone in the Class of 2023.
Heavy hitters such as Metal Gear Solid, Pokemon Red and Blue, Resident Evil 2, and StarCraft are well represented, as are fan favorites like Banjo-Kazooie, Final Fantasy Tactics, The House of the Dead, and Thief: The Dark Project.
Aside from all this flash and substance, the editors also found some well-deserved space for Nokia’s Snake in the Shacknews Hall of Fame.
All of the titles included in the Shacknews Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023 will be added to the Video Game Canon as part of next year’s update.