Best Graphics and Sound
1	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) By Nintendo	Graphics and sound are both excellent. Too bad every other game can't be as good as this.
2	Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64) By Nintendo and LucasArts and Factor 5	Graphics and sound are great, even without use of the 4MB Expansion Pak.
3	Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (N64) By Acclaim and Iguana West	Graphics and sound are great, even without use of the 4MB Expansion Pak.
Best Play Control
1	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) By Nintendo	The control is so good that it feels like you're in the game.
2	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GB Color) By Nintendo	This game has some of the best control of any Game Boy game.
3	Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64) By Nintendo and LucasArts and Factor 5	This game has great control. (You'll need it.)
Best Challenge
1	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) By Nintendo	This game has some of the best challenge of any game, ever.
2	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GB Color) By Nintendo	Same is true here.
3	Space Station: Silicon Valley (N64) By Take 2 and DMA Design	With all the problem solving, this game can be pretty challenging.
Best Theme and Fun
1	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time By Nintendo	This game is FUN. (Didn't someone say that about Super Mario 64?)
2	Banjo-Kazooie (N64) By Nintendo and Rare	Is it fun to be a bear? I guess so...
3	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GB Color) By Nintendo	Great theme, great fun. Period.

When it comes to the mood and feel of the game, Graphics and Sound are very important. Also, it's a good idea to have good graphics, so that you can see what you are doing and where you are going on the game. In the case of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the graphics give you a sense of realism that can be compared to a movie. But just because a game may have very good graphics and/or sound, it doesn't necessarily mean that the game is challenging or fun. (Scroll down more to see 1998's most challenging and most fun games.) There have been a few graphic improvements in 1998. First of all, Yoshi's Story used ACM (Advanced Computer Modeling) graphics, like the Donkey Kong Country games for the Super NES. Also, Nintendo released the 4MB Expansion Pak in November. Several big games used this for hi-res graphics: Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, NFL Quarterback Club '99, Top Gear Overdrive, etc. 1998 was the year that Nintendo released Game Boy Color. On this new portable system, players could play all of the "regular" Game Boy games on it in color! There have also been games specially made for Game Boy Color: Tetris DX, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Pocket Bomberman, etc. Play Control is important when playing action or sports games. Players would most likely want what they do on their controllers to happen on the screen. Mega Man and Super Mario games have always had excellent play control. In 1998, games such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, and Banjo-Kazooie were among the games with the best play control. Check what readers of KNP voted as the Top 3 games for best play control to the left. When it comes to the Nintendo 64 controller, there are two ways of controlling your character on the screen. One way is digital control, which every other Nintendo system has (it's up, down, left, right). The other is analog control (which is movement in a 360° radius), using the "control stick". In 1998, Yoshi's Story, which is a side-scrolling game, made use of the analog control. It worked out rather well, actually. What's the use of playing a game if there's no challenge? Challenge is one of the most important aspects of a game. In addition to having challenge in a game, it is also important to have the right levels of challenge. For example, it should be easy at the beginning, moderately hard at the middle, and hard at the end. This is called a "learning curve". Also, you may have heard of the term "replay value". Is the game challenging after you have finished the game? Is it still worth playing? These are important things to think about when establishing whether a game is challenging or not. Remember that if a game has a good challenge, that doesn't mean that the game is hard. It just means that the challenge is evenly dispersed throughout the game. Some good examples of past games include: Super Mario 64, GoldenEye 007, and the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. Usually, the most challenging games are action, adventure, and RPG's. But other genres can have good overall challenge, too. Theme and Fun indicate two different things. Theme is basically how well the storyline is laid out and if the game has a good plot. The theme itself is also important, to a certain degree. Never base a game's challenge and fun on the theme, as in Banjo-Kazooie or Diddy Kong Racing. Both of these games turned out to be great games. Fun is ... well, you can figure this one out by yourself. Multi-player games are usually more fun than one-player games. Probably because players can play with their friends.

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