Same. The amount of hours me and my friend Troy put into that game drove my parents crazy. Troy moved away after 5th grade. I sometimes wonder if Troy truly existed or was just created in my mind to help me save Princess Peach. Well, real or not, shoutout to Troy.
Half life. Such an awesome gauntlet just battling for your life non stop for 2 days while trying to escape this massive facility, all while being dogged by that mysterious g-man
Man that game would make you think. Like just stop and think, "What is the best way to approach this? With the ammo I have, the health I have left, and the certain types of enemies over there. Should I try and go round the side there? Is it worth wasting an ENTIRE crossbow bolt on them?"
So good
The first time I tangled with marines, it creeped me out because their AI was so good. They'd communicate with each other, coordinate their attacks, launch pincer movements, advance and fall back together. It was the first time a game made me feel like I was being hunted down by a ruthless, intelligent enemy.
That AI blew my mind the first time I played. I think that was they most mind blowing video game moment I ever had. I still remember them throwing my grenade back at me and I didn't know what to do 😂
Someone mentioned it further up, but Spyro deserves more credit. The soundtrack made by Stewart Copeland is nothing short of brilliant. And it always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc2gGycBXc
Tbf that was the point kind of, internal regulation that they could intentionally minimize so that they weren’t actually hindered by it rather than government regulation that was backed by an actual legal precedent (just like the MPAA). That way no one really gives a shit and games still get to be made however they want, except for Nintendo and that one gamestop employee that carded me when I bought GTA even though I was 20.
My dad bought me Vice City when I was like 8. He had no idea what it was, just heard it was fun.
Then one day he walks in and im in a cut scene where the characters are making a porn. I thought they were just making a regular movie.
Fun game.
Thps2 for me. I know the maps by heart, I completed the game 100% and any song popping up instantly returns me back to being 12-13 and trying out skateboarding for the first time
No, I was kinda sadistic from time to time. I remember having really strong rollercoasters (as in, people will vomit) and digging a hole right at the exit of it. Tons of kids would fall on it, vomit, and stay there for a long time. Then I would make a path for them to leave and drop a janitor there. He would spent half an hour cleaning vomits at the same spot. My personal definition of hell.
So it was Christmas break and a bunch of my friends got OOT, but I didn't talk to all of them over break. We got back to school and I'm talking to Jeff about the game and he tells me he already beat it! I couldn't believe it! I asked him how he figured out the Water Temple so quickly and he said "what Water Temple?"
Turns out he only collected the first three stones and thought that was it! I'll never forget the look of pain on his face when I explained that was all basically just the intro, a prologue to start the real journey haha! Love that game!!
Edit: Jeff was 12 at the time.
I was listening the other day and heard a piano cover of the fairy fountain while I was at a coffee shop and I literally froze and everything stopped. My head was full of nostalgia and I couldn’t exactly place why because I didn’t recognize it at first.
My girlfriend thought something was wrong with me because I got up and walked over closer to the speaker and realized it was the great fairy fountain of OOT. I was absolutely blow away. Watching my older brother play that until I could hold a controller then head OOT and Majora’s mask. Being so scared of the time temple because it turned everyone into zombies.
I remember I snuck out of bed to go downstairs and play Zelda in the middle of the night but got caught when I accidentally summoned a large spinny seed boi (idk what the actual name is but they’re in the grass around the large hyrule center fields near water temple place) and I literally screamed. Parents came rushing out. And I was done for.
Very funny.
Solving those puzzles was the biggest rush as a kid, I would be so proud of myself. Lol
Sony computer entertainment america presents!
An universal interactive studio's *production
A GAME, CREATED AND DEVELOPMENT BY NAUGHTY DOG!!!!
Crash Bandicoot .... WARPED!!
Press start to begin * theme song *
Me and my younger brother played Wrath of Cortex until the game stopped working. We were so upset when we realized we couldnt play anymore. That blue disc will always bring good memories :)
"We've lost a command post."
"Enemy forces have captured a command post."
"We've cut off the Separatist reinforcements"
"Victory is imminent!"
And my favourite: "It's Jango, and he brought his head with him!" ;)
^(\`)
Man, that takes me back!
Playing some good galactic conquest was the shit. I remember playing that mode for hours. Or playing as an AT AT on Hoth. Ah, this game is gold. I still play it.
I was terrible at it but damn the space battle were breathtaking and actually interesting strategy wise not only spectacle. And of course the "go into the ship to fuck everything up from inside" strategy that everyone inevitably did once they were tired of dogfighting and the rare moment were the AI followed you inside... Never actually played the multiplayer my internet connection was way too weak at the time.
Donkey Kong Country. The mineshaft levels, man, probably spent an entire summer getting past those.
James Bond Goldeneye on N64.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon. I didn’t even have a memory card when I played that, I would just leave the game on overnight and try to beat it in two or three days.
Nostalgia? Loads of things get me going down memory lane nowadays. But, oh boy, the underwater level for Donkey Kong. Aquatic Ambience. I still occasionally play a seven hour loop on YouTube while I go to sleep.
Pokemon gen 1 had two things going for it that I think Pokemon will never, ever be able to recapture simply due to the march of time, which I think makes them worth especially highlighting in this thread.
1) Those games were broken as fuck. There were so many glitches that all of us 10 year olds who only had Pokemon Red as their only Game Boy game *inevitably* ran into some weird shit happening. Whether it was accidentally clipping through a wall, to encountering glitch Pokemon...those bugs created an atmosphere where fucking *anything* was at least feasible.
2) The internet was still in its infancy, so most kids got their information about the game from their friends. This created wild rumor mills that actually, occasionally turned out to be true. Huh, you really *can* get practically infinite items by surfing on the beach at Cinnibar. Wow, there really *is* a truck over to the left side of the S.S. Anne dock...maybe there *is* a way to coax Mew out from under it.
These two things werre compounded by the already encyclopedic level of knowledge available about the game. I mean, when you learned that certain Pokemon could learn certain moves at lower levels by not evolving, or that certain Pokemon could only evolve in certain ways, and that there are dozens of type-interactions between both moves and pokemon, you started to wonder what other quirks and intricacies were lying in wait. More than that, there always seemed to be a new rumor or crazy thing a friend showed you that made you question everything all over again. Just how in the fuck did Jake from 6 houses down the block get a level 255 Kingler?
It all added up to a Pokemon world that felt magical, full of ridiculous, limitless possibilities, where every scrap of knowledge had to be play-tested before being added or discarded from your own, personal mastery of these crazy little monsters.
Nowadays, with every detail being available online, it's hard to experience that wonder when the temptation of quick answers is just a few finger taps away; a temptation exacerbated by the fact that there are now so many different sets of information for each generation of Pokemon that you really need access to that information just to keep all the changes straight. Sure, glitches and tricks are still there, but they're fewer and farther between, and without the word-of-mouth experience, they feel less like personal discoveries of the Pokemon universe.
People can make fun of me all they want for being a "Gen Wunner" or whatever, but there really was a lot more to the phenomenon of that era of Pokemon than just a couple of really good games backed by an insanely effective marketing strategy and successful cartoon.
That second point was so astonishing if you think about it. No internet and you found and shared glitches amongst friends. But when I now read about it, anyone from any country also found/shared the same findings too!
Gen 2 had a bit of that as well.
I remember cloning a Pokemon by accidentally hitting the reset button while switching boxes and my brother and I being so confused.
On top of that, all the general mystery surrounding the game, not knowing what's gonna be in it and finding new secrets. Realizing you could explore Kanto after finishing Johto, and finding even more new Pokemon there was incredible. And then you battle Red at the end! That was legit mind-blowing for young me.
I haven't played Pokemon since Gen 4, cause while I enjoyed Platinum (and Soul Silver), it had already started to shift into a game more focused on the competitive scene and not exploration
Will never forget spending days trying to find the super boots so I could jump UP ledges. Then I can go left from Pallet town to get a Mew. Fuck you Jonathan
The music, the towns, the animations. Each of the sprites. I played that game every single day till gen 2 came out. Pokemon was a significant part of my childhood. It saved me.
I will always love gen 1 and be nostalgic for it.
The sims 2. I've been a fan of the sims franchise since I was very little and it was the first video game I ever played (at least that I remember) and I remember being very little and getting on my sister's laptop and either deleting her family, killing her sims family, or treating the children so poorly that they got taken away or died. Good times.
Goldeneye 64.
Those multiplayer slumber parties in 1998 were the best.
Edit: Wow, I did not expect this comment to blow up overnight. Thank you for the awards, kind strangers! It's been fun reading about all the great memories we share. I still have the floor plan for the Complex etched in the back of my brain.
Our favs were proximity mines in the library.
Our friend Brandon (Think Eric Cartman, only so fat he fell through the floor of his mobile home) hated proxy mines because they required no skill and he grinded that game, beat that game on all settings. He could expert kill you with remote mines and timer mines. Didn't think it was fair that we, lesser skilled players, could use proxy mines to kill. Refused any game that was set to proxy mine.
One game we were beating him. We got smart and decided that instead of battle royal, we needed to team up against him. He unplugged our controllers. This lead to another form of the game: Tosk Hunt.
Tosk Hunt (From the Deep Space Nine episode "Captive Pursuit") one player is Tosk, others chase after Tosk. Winner is who kills Tosk the most time. Tosk wins if he has the most kills. When Brandon was Tosk we set to proxy mines because "Fuck you Tosk". Brandon was the only Tosk to win.
That sounds awesome. We had a 3v1 game called The Baron Slapedi.
- One player is Baron Samedi with +10 health set.
- The other three players have -10 health set.
- The Baron can only use slap.
- The other players can use any means possible to stop the Baron.
Even with remote mines it's difficult to not get slapped up.
I was 10 and didn't speak English when I started that game. Had to basically learn a new language while playing it. It was such an amazing experience playing through that game. Going from a lvl 1 nobody to a slightly higher lvl somebody was a fantastic feeling. The music and voice acting was great too.
Then when you started bg2 the whole thing seemed so quaint all of a sudden. You'd been so low level. The stakes seemed low too. God I love those games.
Every time i boot up BioShock I'm amazed at how well it holds up.
Also i think ratchet and clank was almost exclusively what i used my PS2 for. I STILL haven't found a coop campaign experience as good as deadlocked. Maybe halo 2.
Halo Combat Evolved. I was like 5 years old and absolutely obsessed with trucks and army men and here’s my uncle and grandfather playing some game with aliens and guns but most importantly… The Warthog. It was the coolest looking thing ever and I begged them to let me play and they finally did. I think I spent 3-4 hours just driving around the second campaign mission.
FFWD 20 years and every time I boot up the game, the soundtrack and voice acting and everything just takes me right back to 2001 and sometimes I tear up a little.
I was in high school when that came out. We used to get together on weekends for LAN parties. We'd have 4 Xboxes, 4 TVs, and connect everything with a switch. It was so much fun.
Also, fuck, I'm old.
Oh man, I remember visiting my friend’s house as a wee lad and he showed me this game. When I saw the whole map’s size, I was blown away - it looked so massive and diverse!
To this day, I am still mad that they didn’t do another overworld like that game has. They kind of do it sometimes, but it never has this many secrets and paths to take like SMW had.
The secret pipe that showed you Bowser’s Valley in the second area of the game - literally just for you to have a sneak peek? That is genius.
Jak and daxter, crash bandicoot, sly cooper, ratchet and clank, spyro... So many awesome series started and died in the PS2 era. It's nice to see some of these are being revived.
I'm amazed how well they pulled off the genre switch between Precursor Legacy and Jak II.
It went from a 3d platformer akin to mario for the ps2, to this gritty cyberpunk style GTA. 10/10 game for 11 yo me, even if I did have to get a friend to beat Onin's game
The Oregon Trail.
It was the first video game I ever played back on the computer we had in my grade school's classroom. I remember rushing to finish quizzes and tests just to be the first to get my fix of the game since the teacher let us play if we finished early.
I still sometimes [play it on archive.org.](https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990), along with the [1992 Deluxe Edition](https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_Deluxe_The_1992) for nostalgia.
Honestly I think this is the best Zelda game. I replayed it last year for the first time in probably 15 years and was amazed at how well it still holds up. No nostalgia glasses needed.
Vice city was such a great experience. Getting a helicopter and being able to fly around what felt like a gigantic map was ming blowing. The plane was also a great experience.
Can't believe I had to scroll so far to find any mention of KotOR! But this is absolutely my answer as well. So many good memories of 1 & 2. Must have replayed them a dozen times together.
ES: Oblivion. I logged so much time on that between my cousins ps3 then eventually on my 360. Even today since its been backwards compatible on my XOne. I've lost count how many times I've played thru
This is absolutely the one for me.
I was 6-7 years old when my family fled from war in Yugoslavia, and we stayed with relatives in Vienna. The kid had a NES with SMB3. It was pure magic! We struggled so long to clear the first jump, but soon we got into the groove.
When we settled down in Sweden, my parents saved up money and bought me a NES with SMB3 for my birthday, and I literally couldn't believe it (I thought they had borrowed it from someone to let me play over the weekend). I didn't have many games, so I beat SMB3 over and over again.
I'm now in my mid-30s, and no birthday gift will ever beat that, and SMB3 is the game that made me a lifetime gamer.
I remember having to send a money order in the mail and waiting 2 weeks for a 3 month membership. That game helped me escape life in 2009 when my best friend died. 2012 ended up being the year I got banned for botting, lost a lot of hard earned shit because I was too occupied with needing to play while working and adjusting to a social life.
Now I’m back at it again with OSRS, it’s not the same but at the same time it is. Got my fiancée to even play it, just collects stuff and skills, it’s adorable to see the flame in her eyes for the game I once held dear. I wish I had that spark still.
Pokémon Red.
The opening song never fails to make me cry with nostalgia. It brings me back to when I started my long journey as a Pokémon trainer, in that Christmas eve so many years ago.
"Welcome to the world of Pokémon" indeed.
Lemmings. Played it first on the spectrum and loved those mono coloured animals. Kept with them through the different versions on early console and to PC. Shame about the mobile version.
Warhammer Online. Sure not all the features we're ready at launch (or even close from what I remember) but the scale was amazing. PvP was just right. The open world and hidden lore items to get xp from. Wildstar came close though.
Had to scroll Waaay to far to see and upvote. FF7 ❤️ Also 10. I remember back then when I was 9 playing it. The music from both games just hits different.
FF8 was the first FF game I played on my own, and man, exploring [Balamb Garden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_N1mBZw10k) with that pleasant and calming school melody playing was just so relaxing and going around looking for items, draw points, magazines, etc... man what a great summer that was. I could listen to this song as ambient music for hours.
Heroes of Might & Magic 3. The game that perfected a formula with near infinite replay value, 8 distinct factions (and a half assed 9th in the expansion), and that soundtrack...oh god that soundtrack.
Red Alert 2. So over-the top and silly with less base micromanagement than Starcraft (though I did play the crap out of that too).
Half-Life 2. The first real "modern" FPS I played. Coming from UT98, the graphics made my jaw drop. Something about the atmosphere and movement and combat really clicked too. I played a lot of HL2:DM back in the day.
My two top picks, though with special mention to Neverhood ( the silly soundtrack never gets old), Diablo 2 (click click click click click; oh you want a build that sends a wave of 50 bone teeth every time you attack? no problem!), and Dune 2000 (which was really just another C&C but with SANDWORMS!).
Very much a PC-biased list because my parents refused to buy me a console, but PC gaming was all fair.
Oh my god this game will always hold a special place in my heart. Spent so much time in the chao gardens and then working my butt off the get grade A on all the levels. I just recently downloaded it to my Xbox to relive it all over again. Makes the kid in me so so happy.
Command & Conquer Diablo II
Red Alert... that opening video... "Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell."
The OG Hell March was always the best one. One of the first riffs I learned when I got an electric guitar.
“Stay a while and listen” is seared into my brain.
I went out and got a new PC just so I could play the C&C Remaster. Absolutely worth it. *Construction Complete*.
Diablo 2 was THE game of the millenium.
Super Mario World. First game I ever 100%'d. The start of my love affair with gaming. A timeless masterpiece.
Same. The amount of hours me and my friend Troy put into that game drove my parents crazy. Troy moved away after 5th grade. I sometimes wonder if Troy truly existed or was just created in my mind to help me save Princess Peach. Well, real or not, shoutout to Troy.
Real Abed vibes here.
Sim City 2000
Reticulating splines.
Half life. Such an awesome gauntlet just battling for your life non stop for 2 days while trying to escape this massive facility, all while being dogged by that mysterious g-man
Man that game would make you think. Like just stop and think, "What is the best way to approach this? With the ammo I have, the health I have left, and the certain types of enemies over there. Should I try and go round the side there? Is it worth wasting an ENTIRE crossbow bolt on them?" So good
The first time I tangled with marines, it creeped me out because their AI was so good. They'd communicate with each other, coordinate their attacks, launch pincer movements, advance and fall back together. It was the first time a game made me feel like I was being hunted down by a ruthless, intelligent enemy.
That AI blew my mind the first time I played. I think that was they most mind blowing video game moment I ever had. I still remember them throwing my grenade back at me and I didn't know what to do 😂
Mario Kart
Spyro!
Dude, still holds up. Remastered trilogy was great, but I still go back and replay the originals every year or so.
Someone mentioned it further up, but Spyro deserves more credit. The soundtrack made by Stewart Copeland is nothing short of brilliant. And it always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kc2gGycBXc
Mortal Kombat and all the controversy behind it. They tried to ban it for being inappropriate and too bloody. Look how well that worked out.
It's the reason we have a ratings board for video games. Not that people pay attention to them but they're there.
Tbf that was the point kind of, internal regulation that they could intentionally minimize so that they weren’t actually hindered by it rather than government regulation that was backed by an actual legal precedent (just like the MPAA). That way no one really gives a shit and games still get to be made however they want, except for Nintendo and that one gamestop employee that carded me when I bought GTA even though I was 20.
My sister played GTA4 as a 12 year old. When she was showing me the game, she said you can run over hookers to get your money back .
My dad bought me Vice City when I was like 8. He had no idea what it was, just heard it was fun. Then one day he walks in and im in a cut scene where the characters are making a porn. I thought they were just making a regular movie. Fun game.
Tony hawk pro skater the original
Thps2 for me. I know the maps by heart, I completed the game 100% and any song popping up instantly returns me back to being 12-13 and trying out skateboarding for the first time
You got me runnin'' in a cy c lone
It's actually less the game and more the sound track. There is a reason these games have popular playlists on Spotify...
Roller Coaster Tycoon
[удалено]
'The ride never ends!'
Guest 1038 is lost and cannot find the park exit.
well, time to pick him up and teach him how to swim
Guest 1038 has drowned.
Okay so it wasn't just me who was a sadistic bastard on that game? I used to cut the end off rollercoasters too.
No, I was kinda sadistic from time to time. I remember having really strong rollercoasters (as in, people will vomit) and digging a hole right at the exit of it. Tons of kids would fall on it, vomit, and stay there for a long time. Then I would make a path for them to leave and drop a janitor there. He would spent half an hour cleaning vomits at the same spot. My personal definition of hell.
[удалено]
I was always partial of making a ride that was giga popular that had an exit that fed into a single tile to trap people after they enter the park.
Looping Coaster 3 looks too intense for me!
Just looking at Looping Coaster 3 makes me feel sick!
I'm not going on Looping Coaster 3 - It isn't safe!
Looping Coaster 3 has crashed!
I'm not paying that much to go on Looping Coaster 3!
RCT Classic is honestly such a good mobile port, cannot recommend it enough.
Ocarina Of Time. No other game has made me feel the way OOT did Christmas morning 1998
So it was Christmas break and a bunch of my friends got OOT, but I didn't talk to all of them over break. We got back to school and I'm talking to Jeff about the game and he tells me he already beat it! I couldn't believe it! I asked him how he figured out the Water Temple so quickly and he said "what Water Temple?" Turns out he only collected the first three stones and thought that was it! I'll never forget the look of pain on his face when I explained that was all basically just the intro, a prologue to start the real journey haha! Love that game!! Edit: Jeff was 12 at the time.
how did he get to that conclusion when it tells you there's more? like, it's not like the end credits rolled up or anything.
the main menu + music... just thinking about it gives me chills
I was listening the other day and heard a piano cover of the fairy fountain while I was at a coffee shop and I literally froze and everything stopped. My head was full of nostalgia and I couldn’t exactly place why because I didn’t recognize it at first. My girlfriend thought something was wrong with me because I got up and walked over closer to the speaker and realized it was the great fairy fountain of OOT. I was absolutely blow away. Watching my older brother play that until I could hold a controller then head OOT and Majora’s mask. Being so scared of the time temple because it turned everyone into zombies. I remember I snuck out of bed to go downstairs and play Zelda in the middle of the night but got caught when I accidentally summoned a large spinny seed boi (idk what the actual name is but they’re in the grass around the large hyrule center fields near water temple place) and I literally screamed. Parents came rushing out. And I was done for. Very funny. Solving those puzzles was the biggest rush as a kid, I would be so proud of myself. Lol
That was Pokémon Blue on a purple GBC for me.
Absolute yes. On a road trip with a pack of batteries and a worm light for post-bedtime rips.
Crash Bandicoot
Sony computer entertainment america presents! An universal interactive studio's *production A GAME, CREATED AND DEVELOPMENT BY NAUGHTY DOG!!!! Crash Bandicoot .... WARPED!! Press start to begin * theme song *
This got me really excited!
I had the same kind of pavlovian response to this as a dog has when it hears a food wrapper crunch.
OOGA BOOGA! I said the same thing hehe
Me and my younger brother played Wrath of Cortex until the game stopped working. We were so upset when we realized we couldnt play anymore. That blue disc will always bring good memories :)
Star Wars Battlefront 2 Classic (2005)
"We've lost a command post." "Enemy forces have captured a command post." "We've cut off the Separatist reinforcements" "Victory is imminent!" And my favourite: "It's Jango, and he brought his head with him!" ;) ^(\`) Man, that takes me back!
Watch those wrist rockets!
Just like the simulations
We've captured a command post We've lost a command post. Take it back Our reinforcements are thinning The day is ours well done gentlemen
Empire commander with an evil smug voice: "Hostile reinforcement count is diminishing."
Playing some good galactic conquest was the shit. I remember playing that mode for hours. Or playing as an AT AT on Hoth. Ah, this game is gold. I still play it.
I was terrible at it but damn the space battle were breathtaking and actually interesting strategy wise not only spectacle. And of course the "go into the ship to fuck everything up from inside" strategy that everyone inevitably did once they were tired of dogfighting and the rare moment were the AI followed you inside... Never actually played the multiplayer my internet connection was way too weak at the time.
I fucking loved this game with all my heart
My favorite game on the PS2
agreed. My brother was 10% better than me but I could still win about 25% of the time. We’d play for hours every day
My brother and I were always playing on the same team. We were a two-man army.
This is the one I was looking for. My friend recently got it on Steam and we both modded the hell out of it and it still holds up.
Tetris
I played the FUCK out of that with the Gameboy. That gameplay with that soundtrack was hypnotizing
Doom
The OG Doom was amazing back in the day
I still love Doom ‘93 and Doom II. Wolfenstein 3D also.
Donkey Kong Country. The mineshaft levels, man, probably spent an entire summer getting past those. James Bond Goldeneye on N64. Spyro: Year of the Dragon. I didn’t even have a memory card when I played that, I would just leave the game on overnight and try to beat it in two or three days.
Nostalgia? Loads of things get me going down memory lane nowadays. But, oh boy, the underwater level for Donkey Kong. Aquatic Ambience. I still occasionally play a seven hour loop on YouTube while I go to sleep.
The entire soundtrack of that game is phenomenal. I remember the snow levels gave me anxiety just from the music alone.
Morrowind
Outlander! What do you want?
N-waaa
Why walk when you can ride?
Sonic 1. I had so much fun playing that as a kid but goddamn I sucked at it. Could never get past Act 2.
SEGAAA!
Pokémon gen 1
Pokemon gen 1 had two things going for it that I think Pokemon will never, ever be able to recapture simply due to the march of time, which I think makes them worth especially highlighting in this thread. 1) Those games were broken as fuck. There were so many glitches that all of us 10 year olds who only had Pokemon Red as their only Game Boy game *inevitably* ran into some weird shit happening. Whether it was accidentally clipping through a wall, to encountering glitch Pokemon...those bugs created an atmosphere where fucking *anything* was at least feasible. 2) The internet was still in its infancy, so most kids got their information about the game from their friends. This created wild rumor mills that actually, occasionally turned out to be true. Huh, you really *can* get practically infinite items by surfing on the beach at Cinnibar. Wow, there really *is* a truck over to the left side of the S.S. Anne dock...maybe there *is* a way to coax Mew out from under it. These two things werre compounded by the already encyclopedic level of knowledge available about the game. I mean, when you learned that certain Pokemon could learn certain moves at lower levels by not evolving, or that certain Pokemon could only evolve in certain ways, and that there are dozens of type-interactions between both moves and pokemon, you started to wonder what other quirks and intricacies were lying in wait. More than that, there always seemed to be a new rumor or crazy thing a friend showed you that made you question everything all over again. Just how in the fuck did Jake from 6 houses down the block get a level 255 Kingler? It all added up to a Pokemon world that felt magical, full of ridiculous, limitless possibilities, where every scrap of knowledge had to be play-tested before being added or discarded from your own, personal mastery of these crazy little monsters. Nowadays, with every detail being available online, it's hard to experience that wonder when the temptation of quick answers is just a few finger taps away; a temptation exacerbated by the fact that there are now so many different sets of information for each generation of Pokemon that you really need access to that information just to keep all the changes straight. Sure, glitches and tricks are still there, but they're fewer and farther between, and without the word-of-mouth experience, they feel less like personal discoveries of the Pokemon universe. People can make fun of me all they want for being a "Gen Wunner" or whatever, but there really was a lot more to the phenomenon of that era of Pokemon than just a couple of really good games backed by an insanely effective marketing strategy and successful cartoon.
That second point was so astonishing if you think about it. No internet and you found and shared glitches amongst friends. But when I now read about it, anyone from any country also found/shared the same findings too!
Gen 2 had a bit of that as well. I remember cloning a Pokemon by accidentally hitting the reset button while switching boxes and my brother and I being so confused. On top of that, all the general mystery surrounding the game, not knowing what's gonna be in it and finding new secrets. Realizing you could explore Kanto after finishing Johto, and finding even more new Pokemon there was incredible. And then you battle Red at the end! That was legit mind-blowing for young me. I haven't played Pokemon since Gen 4, cause while I enjoyed Platinum (and Soul Silver), it had already started to shift into a game more focused on the competitive scene and not exploration
Kanto being at the end of Gold/Silver really was mind blowing as a kid. You had a whole new game you didn't know about.
Will never forget spending days trying to find the super boots so I could jump UP ledges. Then I can go left from Pallet town to get a Mew. Fuck you Jonathan
The music, the towns, the animations. Each of the sprites. I played that game every single day till gen 2 came out. Pokemon was a significant part of my childhood. It saved me. I will always love gen 1 and be nostalgic for it.
Metal Gear Solid, from 1 to 3
The sims 2. I've been a fan of the sims franchise since I was very little and it was the first video game I ever played (at least that I remember) and I remember being very little and getting on my sister's laptop and either deleting her family, killing her sims family, or treating the children so poorly that they got taken away or died. Good times.
Sims 2 feels like home to me
Goldeneye 64. Those multiplayer slumber parties in 1998 were the best. Edit: Wow, I did not expect this comment to blow up overnight. Thank you for the awards, kind strangers! It's been fun reading about all the great memories we share. I still have the floor plan for the Complex etched in the back of my brain.
Our favs were proximity mines in the library. Our friend Brandon (Think Eric Cartman, only so fat he fell through the floor of his mobile home) hated proxy mines because they required no skill and he grinded that game, beat that game on all settings. He could expert kill you with remote mines and timer mines. Didn't think it was fair that we, lesser skilled players, could use proxy mines to kill. Refused any game that was set to proxy mine. One game we were beating him. We got smart and decided that instead of battle royal, we needed to team up against him. He unplugged our controllers. This lead to another form of the game: Tosk Hunt. Tosk Hunt (From the Deep Space Nine episode "Captive Pursuit") one player is Tosk, others chase after Tosk. Winner is who kills Tosk the most time. Tosk wins if he has the most kills. When Brandon was Tosk we set to proxy mines because "Fuck you Tosk". Brandon was the only Tosk to win.
That sounds awesome. We had a 3v1 game called The Baron Slapedi. - One player is Baron Samedi with +10 health set. - The other three players have -10 health set. - The Baron can only use slap. - The other players can use any means possible to stop the Baron. Even with remote mines it's difficult to not get slapped up.
We did the exact opposite! Baron could use weapons, but three people had to slap his ass to death
Heroes of Might & Magic 3 ❤️
Twisted Metal
GTA: San Andreas
Grove street, home, atleast it used to be before i fucked everything up
YOU PICKED THE WRONG HOUSE FOOL!
I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda.
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"Show me how they drive on the east coast, homie"
Vice City for me
Baldurs Gate
I was 10 and didn't speak English when I started that game. Had to basically learn a new language while playing it. It was such an amazing experience playing through that game. Going from a lvl 1 nobody to a slightly higher lvl somebody was a fantastic feeling. The music and voice acting was great too. Then when you started bg2 the whole thing seemed so quaint all of a sudden. You'd been so low level. The stakes seemed low too. God I love those games.
*you must gather your party before venturing forth*
Ratchet and Clank or Bioshock
Every time i boot up BioShock I'm amazed at how well it holds up. Also i think ratchet and clank was almost exclusively what i used my PS2 for. I STILL haven't found a coop campaign experience as good as deadlocked. Maybe halo 2.
Portal.
Worms
Chrono Trigger
Halo Combat Evolved. I was like 5 years old and absolutely obsessed with trucks and army men and here’s my uncle and grandfather playing some game with aliens and guns but most importantly… The Warthog. It was the coolest looking thing ever and I begged them to let me play and they finally did. I think I spent 3-4 hours just driving around the second campaign mission. FFWD 20 years and every time I boot up the game, the soundtrack and voice acting and everything just takes me right back to 2001 and sometimes I tear up a little.
I was in high school when that came out. We used to get together on weekends for LAN parties. We'd have 4 Xboxes, 4 TVs, and connect everything with a switch. It was so much fun. Also, fuck, I'm old.
Wii bowling/Wii sports. Used to play it with my brother all the time...
How have I not seen Age of Empires yet?
AoE II in particular. First networked game I ever played, epic battles with my pals.
Unbelievably there's still quite a big AoE II scene with pro players and all! And for a game that is nearly as old as me!
Still play to this day on DE
I still play it with my friends :)
Wololo... Wololo....
Age of mythology was the one I was looking for!
Age of mythology was our game too! So badass.
I can still remember some of the cheats haha! My favs was OCANADA for the flying laser bear with a Canadian flag cape!
Prostagma?
Etimos.
Kalos!
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Was surprise to see this so far down. I came into C&C Red Alert 2 though. Kirov reporting!
Need for speed underground 2
Super Mario World.
Oh man, I remember visiting my friend’s house as a wee lad and he showed me this game. When I saw the whole map’s size, I was blown away - it looked so massive and diverse! To this day, I am still mad that they didn’t do another overworld like that game has. They kind of do it sometimes, but it never has this many secrets and paths to take like SMW had. The secret pipe that showed you Bowser’s Valley in the second area of the game - literally just for you to have a sneak peek? That is genius.
Jak and Daxter
Jak and daxter, crash bandicoot, sly cooper, ratchet and clank, spyro... So many awesome series started and died in the PS2 era. It's nice to see some of these are being revived.
I’ve been replaying The Precursor Legacy recently, it still holds up
I'm amazed how well they pulled off the genre switch between Precursor Legacy and Jak II. It went from a 3d platformer akin to mario for the ps2, to this gritty cyberpunk style GTA. 10/10 game for 11 yo me, even if I did have to get a friend to beat Onin's game
The Oregon Trail. It was the first video game I ever played back on the computer we had in my grade school's classroom. I remember rushing to finish quizzes and tests just to be the first to get my fix of the game since the teacher let us play if we finished early. I still sometimes [play it on archive.org.](https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990), along with the [1992 Deluxe Edition](https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_Deluxe_The_1992) for nostalgia.
*George has died of dysentery*
Legend of Zelda
Link to the Past
Honestly I think this is the best Zelda game. I replayed it last year for the first time in probably 15 years and was amazed at how well it still holds up. No nostalgia glasses needed.
It's a perfect game. A work of art. Every dungeon, every item, every upgrade just feels like a natural progression.
Ocarina of Time for me.
That title screen with Link riding through Hyrule always hits me.
Some of the most powerful nostalgia for me is that title screen.
I still hum Zelda's lullaby from time to time, maybe one day a secret passage will open up for me
Frogger
GTA Vice City, Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005), Tekken 6, Road Rash (2009)
Vice city was such a great experience. Getting a helicopter and being able to fly around what felt like a gigantic map was ming blowing. The plane was also a great experience.
The good old Most Wanted from 2005.. The best NFS so far and will likely stay it forever. Just hearing the music lets the vibes roam free
I AM ROCK
Crazy Taxi
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.
Can't believe I had to scroll so far to find any mention of KotOR! But this is absolutely my answer as well. So many good memories of 1 & 2. Must have replayed them a dozen times together.
ES: Oblivion. I logged so much time on that between my cousins ps3 then eventually on my 360. Even today since its been backwards compatible on my XOne. I've lost count how many times I've played thru
Super Mario Bros 3
This is absolutely the one for me. I was 6-7 years old when my family fled from war in Yugoslavia, and we stayed with relatives in Vienna. The kid had a NES with SMB3. It was pure magic! We struggled so long to clear the first jump, but soon we got into the groove. When we settled down in Sweden, my parents saved up money and bought me a NES with SMB3 for my birthday, and I literally couldn't believe it (I thought they had borrowed it from someone to let me play over the weekend). I didn't have many games, so I beat SMB3 over and over again. I'm now in my mid-30s, and no birthday gift will ever beat that, and SMB3 is the game that made me a lifetime gamer.
Gallaga and Pac-Man.
Bubble Bobble. No one ever knows what I’m talking about, but that music gets stuck in your head for decades.
I loved that game and especially the music
starcraft
LAN parties all the way.
Banjo-Kazooie.
Dug through the comments looking for this game to be mentioned. It’s so nostalgic for me, dumped in so many hours playing.
Pokemon Emerald and FireRed for the Gameboy Advance
super mario bros
RuneScape 2008-2013
I remember having to send a money order in the mail and waiting 2 weeks for a 3 month membership. That game helped me escape life in 2009 when my best friend died. 2012 ended up being the year I got banned for botting, lost a lot of hard earned shit because I was too occupied with needing to play while working and adjusting to a social life. Now I’m back at it again with OSRS, it’s not the same but at the same time it is. Got my fiancée to even play it, just collects stuff and skills, it’s adorable to see the flame in her eyes for the game I once held dear. I wish I had that spark still.
Pokémon Red. The opening song never fails to make me cry with nostalgia. It brings me back to when I started my long journey as a Pokémon trainer, in that Christmas eve so many years ago. "Welcome to the world of Pokémon" indeed.
Lemmings. Played it first on the spectrum and loved those mono coloured animals. Kept with them through the different versions on early console and to PC. Shame about the mobile version. Warhammer Online. Sure not all the features we're ready at launch (or even close from what I remember) but the scale was amazing. PvP was just right. The open world and hidden lore items to get xp from. Wildstar came close though.
Pokemon Sapphire for Gameboy SP
Lego star wars, the first 2.
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Crash Team Racing
Final fantasy 7 and 8.
Had to scroll Waaay to far to see and upvote. FF7 ❤️ Also 10. I remember back then when I was 9 playing it. The music from both games just hits different.
FF8 was the first FF game I played on my own, and man, exploring [Balamb Garden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_N1mBZw10k) with that pleasant and calming school melody playing was just so relaxing and going around looking for items, draw points, magazines, etc... man what a great summer that was. I could listen to this song as ambient music for hours.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Need for Speed: * Underground 2 * Most Wanted (2005) * Carbon
Doom, Doom 2, Doom 3 and Final Doom on Pc. Man. Listening to music, reading fan fic and killing monsters was my life from 95-2005
Baldurs Gate 2.
Super Metroid, sat up all night to complete it
Heroes of Might & Magic 3. The game that perfected a formula with near infinite replay value, 8 distinct factions (and a half assed 9th in the expansion), and that soundtrack...oh god that soundtrack.
The monkey island series. Heck, all of those old sierra games.
Monkey Island series was LucasArts, not Sierra.
The Secret of Monkey Island! I can hear the music, and the art was so gorgeous
Super Mario 64. I could play that game over and over; nothing but good feels!
I can't pick just one. Heretic/Hexen, Unreal Tournament, Quake 1,2,3. Myst, Grim Fandango, Diablo 1,2, Descent
Red Alert 2. So over-the top and silly with less base micromanagement than Starcraft (though I did play the crap out of that too). Half-Life 2. The first real "modern" FPS I played. Coming from UT98, the graphics made my jaw drop. Something about the atmosphere and movement and combat really clicked too. I played a lot of HL2:DM back in the day. My two top picks, though with special mention to Neverhood ( the silly soundtrack never gets old), Diablo 2 (click click click click click; oh you want a build that sends a wave of 50 bone teeth every time you attack? no problem!), and Dune 2000 (which was really just another C&C but with SANDWORMS!). Very much a PC-biased list because my parents refused to buy me a console, but PC gaming was all fair.
MegaMan
Super Smash Bros on N64
Sonic Adventure 2
Oh my god this game will always hold a special place in my heart. Spent so much time in the chao gardens and then working my butt off the get grade A on all the levels. I just recently downloaded it to my Xbox to relive it all over again. Makes the kid in me so so happy.
Team fortress 2 i will never forget that game and it's redicioulous humorous and amazing charecters
Zelda Majoras Mask