Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

When Turok: Dinosaur Hunter arrived in 1997, it proved that first-person shooters had a future on consoles. Studio Iguana, under the Acclaim banner, cast players as the Native American warrior Turok, who fights his way through the primeval jungles of the Lost Land, hunting not only enemy soldiers but entire herds of dinosaurs.

The game combined a freer, exploration-driven level design full of secret nooks with an impressive arsenal of weapons. The Cerebral Bore became legendary above all — a projectile that drills into an enemy's skull and explodes. The atmosphere was cult-classic material too: the thick fog on the horizon originally masked the technical limits of the Nintendo 64, but at the same time it gave the jungle an oppressive, mysterious air that is inseparable from Turok.

For retro gamers, Turok is a symbol of the bold N64 era, when console FPS were still learning to walk. It delivered raw action, exotic settings, and a sense of adventure the competition of the time couldn't offer. Even by today's standards it retains a distinctive charm and reminds us how thrilling it was to hunt dinosaurs long before it became commonplace.