1988 - Tetris
Honestly, what can I say? One of the most iconic games, perhaps of all time? This was a tough one though, because 1988 had some bangers: Dragon Warrior III, the original Ninja Gaiden, and Mario Bros 3, just to name a few. And I have fond memories of those games, but Tetris clears.
Tetris rules because it is kind of a simple premise with a surprising amount of depth. Little Guy (gender-neutral) and delightful artist, pocketghosts, has streamed it a few times and we're all afraid to play them in versus Tetris because they started learning the meta-game, a thing I previously did not consider for Tetris.
But, because of that simplicity and potential depth, there's not an enormous amount to add. All versions of Tetris are still the same game whereas you look at something like Mario Sunshine and it's WAY different than the original Mario Bros. But Tetris is not much different. And that's cool as heck! I think that Mario Bros. 3 is a contender, but the sheer staying power of Tetris makes it a real winner of a game. It's such a banger of a game, I really think a version of it should appear on phones like Snake and Brick breaker did back in the day. To this day, I make sure to put some version on my handhelds just so I can bust it out if I feel like cooling off with a little puzzling.
P. S. Go watch the Tetris movie, it's insane how good it is.