Quake didn't have the best gameplay but it had the best technology. Entering a true 3d world on your computer was possible for the first time. Duke 3D had game

Quake didn't have the best gameplay but it had the best technology. Entering a true 3d world on your computer was possible for the first time. Duke 3D had gameplay that was more fun, but it was a 2.5D game with a Doom-style engine (it was much more sophisticated with scripting and slanted ceiling/floors but still not true 3D like Quake). Post-release, Quake had patches called GLQuake which added 3d accelerator support, and Quakeworld which added internet movement prediction so playing online didn't feel as jank. Quake 2 came out with these features integrated and more - colored lighting, transparent surfaces, etc.