1993 - Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle1994 - Blackthorne1995 - Comix Zone1996 - The Neverhood1997 - Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee1998 - Grim Fandango1999 - Outcast2000 - Jet Set Radio2001 - Advance Wars 2002 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 2003 - WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!2004 - Feel the Magic: XY/XX2005 - Psychonauts2006 - Ōkami2007 - BioShock2008 - Braid2009 - Zeno Clash2010 - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective2011 - Alice: Madness Returns2012 - Hotline Miami2013 - Proteus2014 - Lovely Planet2015 - Snakebird2016 - Superhot2017 - Cuphead
Styyyyyyyyle! It's not just a game's look; it's also the music, the setting, the voice acting, the character designs, the pacing, the smell! Definitely the smell.
Ultimately, this is a list that is filtered through my brain; it's not meant as an 'objective' best of list.
I've tried to only list the first game of a franchise that includes a particular art style. Also, the listed year is the game's first release date in any region.
Also, um, sorry about the weird layout, blame Giant Bomb!
2017: Not only would I consider this the best style of 2017, but just generally, one of the most stunning-looking games I've ever seen. It pulls of its style flawlessly. You can really tell how much time and effort was put into every aspect of the game.
2016: The original game jam version looked great, but the full version looks fantastic. I absolutely love its bold, minimalist style. Guys smashing into pieces when you shoot them was a real inspired choice.
2014: It was a tossup between this and Heavy Bullets, both feel like unique takes on first-person shooters, but Lovely Planet really felt like something else. Never before have I seen such a cute and charming first-person shooter.
2012: Hotline Miami's grimy pseudo-80s style felt revolutionary to me. I think this might be the one game on this list where the music is actually the main component of its style. Sure, the neon-drenched visuals are a key factor, but the music really sells it - particularly the tracks from M.O.O.N.
2011: I'm just going to say it - the original American McGee's Alice looked straight-up bad. Thankfully, things changed over the previous decade and Madness Returns really delivers on the first game's promise.
Madness Returns not only has stunning environments and set-pieces, but also Alice herself is stylish, with numerous thematic outfits.
2010: I feel like every part of this game's style fits together perfectly - The smooth animation, the colour palette, the jaunty music, the character designs. If I were to actually rank my favourite styles in video games, this would probably be in the top two or three.
2009: The wild cast of characters, the bizarre locations, the weird weaponry, Father-Mother; it all adds up to being, what I consider to be, a video game surrealist masterpiece.
2008: David Hellman's beautiful painterly artwork provides Braid with a dreamlike and almost magical feel. Not to mention the game's enchanting soundtrack.
2007: I feel like BioShock is one of those games where its shortcomings are so much easier to put up with simply because of how incredible its setting and world-building are.
1993: At the time, I remember this looking like no other game I had seen. Everything about Day of the Tentacle is so damn stylish! The first of several Peter Chan games on this list.
2003: In some way, it feels disingenuous to mention Warioware, given that each microgame essentially has its own style. Despite that though, I think the game as a whole still has a cohesive feel. There's always a feeling of frantic zaniness - a 'Warioness', if you will.
1998: This era of polygonal games was real rough. Thankfully, Peter Chan and the rest of the LucasArts team decided to embrace the lowpoly limitations of the time and produce an amazing Día de Muertos-styled game.
1997: It's not called Oddworld for nothing; Oddworld is really odd. It's the kind game that makes you realise just how bland the settings of most other games are.
1995: For better or worse, Comix Zone is among the first games I can think of where its aesthetics clearly informed all other aspects of its game design.
