Super Mario Kart - racing game (Nintendo)
From its cartoon-styled, Mode 7-powered visuals to its excellent physics and spot-on power-ups, it represented further confirmation at the time that Nintendo were the foremost game designers in the world. At a time when game characters were disposable, Nintendo demonstrated an awareness of their worth in a manner that even Disney would admire. And yes, it is better than Mario Kart 64.

R-Type - shoot 'em up (Irem)
Some games, while not particularly innovative, make a significant contribution to the advancement of game design. How? By being so far-and-away better than their rivals. Irem, a relative unknown in the arcade world, released R-Type to a standing ovation from critics and punters alike. Its weaponry was inventive and spectacular and its set pieces were far in advance of those found in almost any genre. It was, and is, a work of art.

Another World - adventure/shoot 'em up/platform game (Eric Chani)
Another World began with an incredible polygon-based intro sequence, and what followed was far ahead of its time. The highly-developed nature of its play-oriented narrative, the cut-scenes and events that mixed seamlessly with its action... this was a game out of sync with its 16bit contemporaries. Longevity was sacrificed in favour of a short, intense experience. But what an experience...

Elite - space combat/trading (Ian Bell & David Braben)
At a time when other games were tightly focused, Elite offered the freedom of entire galaxies. You could become a miner, a bounty hunter, a trader... the choice was yours. Generally, though, many players opted to become jacks of all trades, in search of the coveted Elite ranking - and never before, perhaps, has a game score meant so much to people.

Street Fighter 2 - beat 'em up (Capcom)
Many people remember Street Fighter - even fondly - but few give it any real credit as a game that reinvented a genre. Its achievement was to lay the groundwork for Street Fighter 2, the real talent of the family. Almost every feature, every aspect of beat 'em ups - from distinctive characters to moves, to the way that energy bars were depleted at different levels for different attacks - was defined or refined by this work of Capcom genius.

Stay tuned for the second part of our epic Games of the Millennium feature next week!