my favorite game was and still is Chrono trigger. The music, art style, graphics, story, gameplay, characters, villains, etc man the list goes on. perfect 10
the SNES for me really took games to the next level. the N64 was the biggest change in gaming but the SNES for me was when gaming became the real deal.
Agreed, as a little kid it's hard to describe the feeling of finally being able to move and control the character as opposed to just watching a cartoon character. Also, Legend of Zelda, is the epitome of rescuing the princess from the dragon.
NES The legend of Zelda. I got so deep into this game that I drew maps and dungeons in great detail. BTW, still have the maps and yes, still have my original game (gold version).
Got to be Space invaders for me. When i was a kid my dad used to take me to the pub and in that pub was a cocktail space invaders machine. That was it, i was hooked for life. Christmas 1980 or 1981 i got a little table top game called "Astro Wars". It was more Galaga than Space invaders. I love that little machine that after all these years i still have it and it still works :).
It may be an unpopular opinion, but for me it was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It was one of the first games I played that I actually had no idea how to beat. I was dying left and right. In my box of hand-me-down NES games, THIS was the one that made me go "ok I need to really practice this". And I did beat it... Many many many attempts... But it definitely holds a very special place in my heart.
Haha! Unpopular opinion? Dude this question has nothing to do with someone else’s opinion! It’s the game that cemented gaming for YOU! Anything anyone else has to say is void.
Donkey Kong Country. I'd played plenty of NES as a young kid (Nintendo World Cup being one of my favourites), but it was Rare's amazing plattformer that hooked me for real. I first played it at a friend's house, and after that I begged my parents for a SNES and Donkey Kong. I eventually got the system, bundled with the game, when I turned 8 (I think). The joy I felt that day... Immeasurable.
I think it was the trio of Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, and Mega Man 2 that made me fall in love with video games. The world's of these games were so imaginative and memorable that they made a strong impression on my young mind in the late 80s. I've been hooked ever since.
The Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube, while not a singular game, felt like another world for me. From its iconic archive of Sonic games to Sonic's history via comics and videos just felt so gigantic and overwhelming for the better. It was not only my introduction to Sonic at a young age, but THE game that made me want to explore more and see what other amazing games could be possible. I played many great games before and after my experience with the Mega Collection, but history wrote itself from that point on for my passion for video games.
The SNES was my introduction to gaming. Super Mario World, Aladdin, Turtles in Time, all helped getting me into videogames. But I gotta say, it wasnt until the PS1 and Metal Gear Solid that my love was really cemented. My cousin and I finished that game 100% with a guide.
It was a dark stormy weekend night and I had just rented Zelda A Link to the Past from Blockbuster video. My parents left for the night and it was just me alone in my room. I could hear the rain bouncing off my roof when Link awoke. He and I journeyed through the rain into the castle to rescue the princess. That day will always be remembered as the day I became a gamer for life. Great video and topic Bird!
For me, it's more like I have a portfolio of milestone games that have stayed with me. Super Mario Bros. was the first game I ever played and beat, Sonic the Hedgehog made me an eternal fan of platformers, Super Mario Land secured my passion for handheld gaming, and Final Fantasy VII showed me how great stories can add so much to gaming.
Thanks for another great vid, Retro Bird guy! I still have memories of playing Donkey Kong on Intellivision as a 3 year old. Then I spilled milk on the system and fried it...
Twisted Metal 2, I remember the 1st time I blew up the eifel tower making a bridge to the rooftops, doing that made me go "weeeee, this is fun" . I promise I'm not a violent or destructive person.
1987 when I finally was able to buy & enjoy my very own gaming system, the C-64, couldn't wait to get it home after buying it on a Friday night after a long tough work week, I also bought the MicroProse "Silent Service", a WW2 Submarine sim game. I stayed up all night until dawn playing it totally immersed like nothing I had ever played at a arcade, a religious experience!
It was a month or so before my 11th birthday, when I walked into an arcade and saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 player cabinet. I waited about an hour to play it, and when I did it was the culmination of all I wanted and liked about video games. In reality, it was fun as hell, but not the greatest. Also, it was as if my favorite childhood cartoon was being controlled by me. This was mind blowing stuff for a younger me. After that day, I was in love with video games, with an emphasis on arcade-style 2D action. The fact that the Cowabunga Collection and Shredder's Revenge are set to release later this year, is particularly special to my personal gaming history, as you might imagine.
Sonic 2 and Metroid. Got a hand me down NES and Metroid for Christmas one year from my aunt. And a new Genesis bundle with Sonic 2 and Taz. Both games just blew my mind when I was 3. I'd draw Samus, Metroids, and Sonic all over my school work growing up. Still huge fans of both today
The first game I ever played was Pac-Man World 2 on the GameCube, and the first handheld game I played was Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland. Those two are very special to me for being the very first games I played. With that said, the two games that truly cemented my love for video games have got to be Sonic Adventure DX and Super Smash Bros. Melee on the GameCube. Those two game's opening cinematics completely blew my mind as a kid! I loved rock and roll as a little kid, so "Open Your Heart" still remains one of my favorite songs ever to this very day. I loved exploring the vast worlds of Sonic Adventure, and learning more about the characters and story to such kickass music! I love how that game told a serious story with real consequences and so much heart without talking down to kids, and treating them like they're dumb. But at the same time, not including any elements that aren't kid friendly. Melee on the other hand got me really into Nintendo and their history, while simultaneously being a blast to play with my family! I remember when me and my little sister were really small, if we had free time, we'd make a deal with each other. I'd either watch a Barbie or Disney Princess movie, then she'd play Smash Bros. with me! I always had such a great time spending time with her doing both of those things, and it still remains one of my fondest childhood memories to this day. Great video as always!
It was in the early 90's for me - my brother was in high school at the time, and he would play games like Super Mario Bros. 3, Gradius III, Axelay, Contra III, Super Mario World, Star Fox, Super Metroid and quite a few other titles. However, out of those games I would say Axelay and Contra III had the biggest impact on me as early favorites, but it did feel really broad with all the different selection of games my brother would play through. I just felt like Axelay was mesmerizing as a space shooter experience with those pretty mode 7 graphics and soundtrack, and Contra III was just so awesome with the two commandos going up against a scary and seemingly unstoppable alien force - I can't help but admire the bravery.
For a multiplayer game, it would have to be Goldeneye 007 sessions with my brother and friends back in the day - definitely some of my fondest childhood memories right there, and which sustain my love for gaming (and 007!) to this day.
The game that really hooked me was Dragon's Lair. I immediately stopped to watch game players at the arcade enjoying what looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. It was my first glimpse at what games could be.
Shenmue 2 on Xbox taught me an important lesson about life as a kid. Don’t try to take your small earnings from working and then think you can take the easy road and gamble your way to riches because eventually, you’ll lose everything. 🫣
Herzog Zwei on the Sega Mega Drive. Used to play with my mom when I was a kid, surprised that she'd actually be interested in a strategy game like that, but we'd play it for ages after school and i just have amazing memories from playing that game. It's a bloody epic game too :D
For me it was the very first game I ever witnessed being Sonic 2. I was blown away screaming "wait you can make the dude on the T.V move?!?!" 😮😯😲 The beautiful music and colorful art style with the fast paced action was so captivating
Great story about how you got your first dog! I used to think as a kid that games couldn't have good stories and I'd even skip cutscenes because I didn't like games' stories as a kid. But then I played Grandia and it's probably still my favorite JRPG of all time and definitely one of my favorite games of all time. It's about a kid who wants to explore the world and gets caught up in a big plot. You're always going to different continents and recruiting different party members. Everything always felt different. My favorite was the NPC dialogues. See, in most games the NPC will only react to the controlled player character. But in Grandia your entire party could have a conversation with a single NPC, it felt like actual conversations.... Another one of my favorite old JRPGs was Xenogears. It had an extremely rushed development but man it still felt like a grand game to me. Though the second disc was really made badly, there were a lot of crazy plot events, it was so exciting to me albeit rushed. You had both regular combat and mecha combat which I've never seen before. I'm happy to see that its spiritual successor, Xenoblade Chronicles, is still getting sequels to this day. For a more realistic kinda game it's definitely Shenmue. I didn't play it properly as a kid, see Shenmue had all the Sega arcade games as in-game games in Shenmue so I'd play on those all day, but then after a year I realized that Shenmue had an actual plot and story and combat. It was so much fun learning of a foreign country and culture back then where the internet was in its infancy! In Shenmue 2 for instance, most of the game takes place in the "Kowloon City building", which was a real-life building that was an entire city which was demolished a while ago now. I mean of course it was anime-style, but man that game really showed me what games could do, there were so many NPCs, so much dialogue, so much to do, and it was like going to an Asian country and getting lost in real-life. I re-experienced Shenmue from the recent anime adaptation to the games and it felt amazing.
In terms of games that got me into gaming, it was that one fateful Christmas morning where I was introduced to the Wii, with Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lol mine was also star fox 64, I also got the vhs promo. Loved the music, the voice acting, secrets, alternate routes, and gameplay. I also loved the fact that I can see my skills improving with each run through, and get rewarded with new levels.
When I was 5 my mother got me a gameboy pocket and Pokemon Red Version, I have loved gaming ever since. I remember jacking AAAs from everything in the house and freezing them when I ran out of batteries to try and get a little extra game time. I still own that copy of Red Version and just a couple years ago completed the pokedex on my Pikachu Edition Gameboy Color my wife got me for my birthday. I think Pokemon was probably the gateway drug for many young gamers. Thanks for the great vid Retro Bird!
Super Mario Bros 3 is the game for me. The variety of different worlds and mechanics blew my mind as a kid. I about pooped my pants when I got to world 4 and saw everything was giant.
I had been playing for years by then, but Hishou Same/Flying Shark/Sky Shark in the arcade was a real game changer for me: the look, the sound, the powerups, it had bombs (I think it was the first game ever that did that), it was hard as balls and still is. I got it on my micro as soon as it was teleased, and played it to death….It really cemented my love for games in general, but especially for shmups.
Fell out of games for a bit in 2016 or whenever Yooka-Laylee came out, just got bored of games in general. Then Cuphead came out and wow it felt like a fire was lit inside me again. That game unironically made me say "I love video games" out loud.
Growing up we had an Apple II and it was Karateka on that system that made me realize I'd be doing this for a while. Something about the grind getting past enemy after enemy to get to final boss with those classic Apple II sounds just was awesome. I couldn't get enough. Not sure anyone today has even heard of that game but for me it was Karateka that made me love gaming.
I mean, Super Mario Bros was the first game I ever played and I was immediately hooked… but if I were to name the game that changed how I thought/felt about games, that would have to be Chrono Trigger. That was the first game where I actually had an emotional response to what was going on in the game. And when I first played Mario 64, that opening scene with the camera man whipping around blew my friggin’ mind. I knew video games were never going to be the same after seeing that.
For me it was the first game I remember playing and kept going back to ever since I was introduced to video games, Super Smash Bros. Melee, which in turn introduced me to an amazing catalog of Nintendo's timeless line up of characters. I played it with friends and myself all the time. Melee will always be my favorite game for this reason and the fact that it still holds up and has a community.
If I had to pin it down, I'd say the thing that cemented me as a gamer has to be the entire transition from the 4th to 5th generation. Everything seemed to be making leaps and bounds, and the N64 appeared to have a level of exploration that was totally unmatched with titles like Mario 64 and StarFox. While the PS came across as a big kid console. I was first exposed to a lot of JRPG's, Vandal Hearts, Suikoden etc. Plus with managing game file saves, PS seemed to involve a lot of math. While the N64 appeared superior with 3D exploration, the PS came across that it could hold its own because of all the math it could deal with. We had the more kiddie satisfyingly full games coming out on the N64 and more adult themed math driven games coming out on PS. It felt magical and I knew I was going to be a part of this forever
Final Fantasy 6 was that game for me. I wouldn't have gotten into game collecting if it wasn't for that life-changing experience, along with Chrono Trigger.
Mine probably boils down to two experiences- the first is pulling all nighters with my friend who was sleeping over trying to beat games on NES like TMNT 3. The other is when my uncle got an n64, watching the “adults” play golden eye split screen (my uncle even build a wooden divider to block players from cheating/screen watching) and playing through the first parts of Ocarina of Time made me want an n64 so much that it’s still my favorite retro system.
My mom won an nes at a raffle in 88 when she was 14, and grew up playing super Mario bros. So naturally my brother and I grew up playing that very same nes. That cemented our love for video games.!! 👍👍😄
There's been several games over the years that cemented my love of gaming. In no particular order. 1. Super Mario World - First game I owned & my grade 1journal was effectively a strategy guide written by a 6 year old. 2. SimCity 2000 - the original was fun at school, but I got this at home & I'd be terrified to have a play time counter from over the years. 3. Chrono Trigger - I'd enjoyed Final Fantasy, but Dragon ball art + Time travel & a tight yet epic story sealed the deal. 4. Gears of War - this was the go to game for a new group of friends at the time, we still play games co-op to this day. 5. World Of Warcraft (Vanilla to WOLTK) - first MMO I got heavily into & changed the way I thought of multiplayer. Also Wisdom teeth removal + Weird AL + Codine + WoW is a special memory. 6. Zombies ate my neighbours - my existing love of Halloween & memories of playing this with my mom as a kid means it holds a special place in my collection.
@@boyonthephone1 they are ones I'll take to my grave, same with her. Just waiting on the collectors edition from Limited Run, my game room needs the extras despite my rule to not buy anymore collectors editions. Had to make the exception, same goes for Chrono Trigger if they even do one.
TMNT on arcade by Konami. When I heard the theme song in the attract mode, my jaws dropped immediately and the game was so good that I kept playing it. I never would had thought that I could get to play with the Ninja Turtles in that very game.
For me it was getting a PS1 with Final Fantasy VII as a gift from my dad in 1997. I'd liked videogames before as a little side hobby, but that masterpiece made me ignore my chores, my homework and...well...my life for something like two months straight. Hardcore gamer for life after that.
I started on NES at a young age, but was pretty quickly given a PS1 when I was 6 for Christmas. I had Jet Moto, Crash Bandicoot, and Gran Turismo, which I still really like to this day. But the game that cemented my love for gaming came late summer of 1999. I went to a friends house who couldn't stop going on about this game called Driver. I got the controller and was immediately obsessed. I was a car guy from a young age that had seen the classic car chase movies and shows like Bullit, the original Gone In 60 Seconds(not that awful Nicholas Cage movie), Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky and Hutch, ect. It was like living out my wildest driving fantasies playing Driver, drifting through intersections, jumping the hills of San Fransisco, burning rubber and leaving cops in the rear view mirror. My dad picked up on my new obsession for the game and he suprised me with it a few weeks later. That was the first game I played over and over and put thousands of hours into. And I would do the same with the sequel. I had the PS1 Slim with the flip up screen, so any long road trips, Driver/Driver 2 would be the games to bring with me. I still go back and replay them to this day, they were such well designed and thought out games.
The game that started my love for gaming was Break-Out and Super Break-Out on the Atari 2600. I loved using the enormous “roller/ball” controller. I always came back to it up until my mom got me the NES.
Dig Dug Waaaaaay back in the 80s, my dad was friends with our neighbor, an arcade machine repair man. One night, my dad and him were hanging out at his house and he took us down to check out the game he was fixing. It was the arcade cabinet for Dig Dug. I'd never seen in before, but was immediately hooked. He had it set up to play without quarters, so while him and my dad were shooting the breeze, I played it as much as I could. I was probably 5 or 6 at the time. All I knew was that it was way better than the Pong game my dad had on our TV. That was probably the moment when I knew that video games were my "thing".
I would say it was the trifecta of River Raid II, Chopper Command, and Pitfall 2 for the 2600. I couldn’t tell you how many hours I spent with those. Yeah, I’m old.
My first foray in video games was the the NES/SNES and while I had plenty of exposure to Mario, I felt it was just “fun”. I didn’t dive too deeply into their game libraries as a child and it was really just platformers I remember playing. But when I got my hands on the N64, I remember Ocarina of Time just blew my mind with how epic the story felt, because I had never really played games that were story driven too. This cemented my love of video games as they could be fun and provide almost a feeling of a live-action movie experience too opening up my love for RPGs.
Tough Question.... I remember how *mind blowing* SMB3 on the NES was for me in 1990... Had other mind blowing Gaming experiences in the following years(SoM, Starfox, Terranigma, SM64, FF7, AoE, StarCraft and SoulCalibur), but SMB3 might be the First time I considered Gaming more than just "playing Games" 🤔
Super Mario World started my entire gaming adventure at age 6. However, once I played Illusion of Gaia at 7, I respected video games on a much higher level. Music choices, level design, sprite work, sound effects. I understood during that game how important and impressive it all actually is. So, for me, its Illusion of Gaia. Illusion of Time, if you prefer.
I guess I've had several over the year that brought me back to loving video games. when I was a kid, I think the first one was Ocarina of Time. for a long time it was WoW. Most recently, I think Oblivion is what's brought me back to why I love video games. Such a classic game.
Oblivion was surreal playing it when it came out, I didnt know games were anywhere close to being as big and realized as that. I remember thinking about it all day during school and what I was going to do next in it when I got home. I had like a full week long adventure just going through the gladiator arena let alome the rest of the game, it was a great game
The original Super Mario Bros. for me. I remember playing my NES for the first time when I was 5 years old. I remember not being able to beat level 4-1. That Lakitu was the 5 year old me’s greatest enemy.
@@krisrk1 I didn't even read most of the manuals when I was a kid. I read a lot of them now. For retro games they actually help a lot for a said game you play. Yeah I used to call him the cloud guy too lol.
Tony Hawk pro skater 2 for Dreamcast is the game that made me know games were my thing. Really the Dreamcast itself was! Although most of my favorite gaming memories were watching my sister play super nes. Bajo and Kazooie was the first game i finished though, and on the family tv, with mom and dad watching. lol ahh cruis'n the world was the game we would play as a family. man I love gaming!
I had a pretty bad childhood, once I discovered Final Fantasy II on the snes (among all the other JRPGs) I had a form of escapism. I remember being so pissed in 97, the day FF7 came out my sister overdosed and had to be hospitalized. A month later my mom died and my family split so I was on the streets at 14. I'd play games when I could but it wasn't until I got my own place in 2001 that I could get back into the swing of things.
Dang I'm sorry to hear that, I hope things are much better for you these days. And that games could help you move on with life, there's so much to play and get into.
Mario Bros on the NES!!!! For sure. I'm a true classic player. A true classic retro gamer. From the beginning of when games came back in the lime light
Me too. I remember a teacher asking me about a drawing I did of the ending staircase before the flagpole on mario brothers. Also Legend of Zelda is a classic rescue the princess from the dragon kind of story, but put into a game.
Long time listener, first time responder! Ocarina of Time is the game that made me really see what gaming had to offer. The intuitive puzzles and complete world just had me completely engrossed! Even though I had played previous Zelda games, this one really affected me, and even retroactively made me like the previous games better! I learned all the usual Zelda tricks and mechanics in OOT, including using the dungeon item to progress, collecting keys, collecting over world collectables, and, of course, always keeping your eyes peeled for a bombable wall or other secret! Thank you for your videos, I listen to them at work and then go watch the parts that should be seen at home 😅🤷 Also thank you SO MUCH for putting them all in a playlist! Keep up the good work, sir!
For me, the game that got me into video games was likely either Duck Hunt for the NES, or Pokémon Gold on the Game Boy Colour. Coincidentally, whichever it was was also the first video game I ever played.
Playing Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Stadium on the N64 made me the Pokemon Fan I am today! And I became a Nintendo Fan well by playing Mario 64,Zelda Ocarina of Time,and Banjo kazooie. But my first portable console was the GBA and what turned me into a Mario Fan was Super Mario World 2! I absolutely love the SNES port to this day! That game cemented me as a Nintendo Fan.
I’m a bit more recent/young of a gamer (in Highschool and really started playing in 2017) but Ys VIII on switch really made me fall in love with games. I just randomly picked it up inside a bestbuy enchanted by the box art and was completely hooked from start to end. Great game, and definitely made me go “I love video games” lol
For retro games, while I’d always enjoy watching AVGN, playing Super Metroid in the Switch online app and the collection of mana games really made me appreciate them in a different plane than current games. It’s because of this I’m really willing to wait a long time for a discount/clearance for these newer games, not buying them on day one, because I know I still have decades of backlog of great titles. Never in a rush.
To be honest, I was hooked from the very beginning. My uncle bought an 8086 when I was really little and he had a few games on it. The ones I fondly remember were Space Invaders, Frogger and Tapper. I loved it. He also had others like Silent Service which I wanted to love, but I had no clue how it even worked. A year or so later, I was 6 years old, my parents bought a brand new and shiny 386, our first computer, and of course we had games. I loved Microsoft Flight Simulator as well as Summer Games, Winter Games and California Games. But I fell in love with adventure games, even though I barely understood what was going on, given that I didn’t speak English. I learned my first English with Kings Quest 3 and Leisure Suit Larry. Now, I never owned a console as a kid, but I played on those of my friends. Though the chronology is a bit blurry. But I think the game that really cemented my love for video games was Super Mario Land on the GameBoy. A friend of mine had it and we took turns playing. It was a brilliant platformer, very simple and yet so well though out. Mario moved fast and responsive and of course the GameBoy controls were so much nicer than the keyboard I was used to playing with - gamepads for the PC weren’t a thing yet, not to mention that there weren’t any good platformers on the PC anyway. But the PC also had its advantages when it comes to controls, namely the mouse. I did mention above that I fell in love with adventure games. Well, in 1992, I played my first Lucas Arts adventure: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. If Mario Land cemented my love for video games, Indiana Jones built a concrete dome on top of it. An honorable mention also has to go to Prince of Persia. I loved that game and eventually became really good at it. The interesting part is that this may be the only platformer out there where I would always prefer the keyboard over a controller. It may have to do with the fact that I perfected the game on a keyboard, to this day, more than 30 years later, my muscle memory would probably be intact and I could likely still beat the game in my first try, but I think there’s more to it. You need extremely precise inputs which I find very hard on a controller. You know what, thinking about it, scrap everything I said above. It was Prince of Persia which cemented my love for video games. Though specifically the PC version. I later also played it on the SNES and it just never worked for me. The keyboard was key. Speaking about it makes me want to fire it up again right now. I haven’t played it through in more than 30 years, instead I have been (re)discovering old console games. But now I need to change that.
My uncle had an NES before we ever got one. I can remember going to his house on weekends and playing Mario/duck hunt and Castlevania around age 4 and those games completely blowing my mind. Castlevania in particular has always stuck with me. The spooky gothic setting, the nonstop action and (at the time) intimidating boss fights (which my uncle had to fight while I watched with wide eyes and my breath held) I’m still a huge fan of the franchise to this day. 🧛🏻♂️ 🦇 ❤️
For me it was Contra on the NES. Everything about it was just so cool and enjoyable - graphics, music, shooting, level design, enemies etc. Over 30 years later I still play it and have a blast
Chrono Trigger the "attract mode" cutscene blew my mind in.... 96 or 97. To this day i consider it to be the game with the most influence over me. And that's despite the fact that back when i first played it, i could not read English. So I had to wait a good 4-5 years before i played it and could actually understand it. Amusingly, the biggest thing to learn English was playing Pokemon Red...
It was the original Castlevania on the NES. My buddy had it & I slept over to play it all night. What really got me to want to go into gaming was the next day I asked my parents if I could get a Nintendo and they said, NO!!! Oh boy, when your a kid & your parents don't want you to do something guess what? You want to do it more than anything else! It was that day that I told myself I would play video games for the rest of my life!
Super Mario Bros. with my family was the one. It's probably my earliest gaming memory and it was really just wholesome with us all laughing and having fun playing it. It's a bit of a sad memory now since the good times are long gone...
I don't know about games as a whole but I remember the day I rented xenogears from Hollywood video sparked my love for turn based rpgs.im 33 now still going strong. .keep flying bird 🐦
For me the game that cemented my love for videogames was Contra. A friend from elementary school invited me to come over and play NES. My 10 year old mind was blown with all the excitement and skill needed to play the game. Then several years later, when I was in a birthday party at a laser tag joint I found an arcade cabinet with Metal Slug and felt the same. Metal Slug was one of the first games I emulated on my family computer when i found out that emulation was a thing.
While I grew up with Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the games I actually loved were Atlantis Squarepantis, Nicktoons Globs of Doom, Just Dance, and Wii Sports.
As a 90's kid I loved my Windows 95 computer and my Super Nintendo and my Gameboy pocket, there's a lot of overlap of games that I fell in love with and have warm memories of, it's hard to point to a single game as the "Cement" game, but some contenders for me would be Day of the Tentacle, Spider-Man Cartoon Maker, Super Mario All Stars, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Land 2, Wario Land.
@@brianhatcher2799 Right on. Yeah, I was all about those cartoon maker games, I had Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman & Robin, 3D Movie Maker, Hollywood High. I had just as much fun if not more fun with those types of games as the traditional "game" games. I recently got a Windows 95 laptop to re-experience these nostalgic old games that I hadn't played since childhood.
oh man, I remember being 6 years old and had severe asthma, and around holidays I got really sick, and my uncle, who was 16 back then, came to aid my mother and watch over me in the night. He brought this nintendo 64 and put a new game that came out, me being kind of dizzy and practically only focusing in breathing with my nebulizer, but I remember hearing that intro music of Ocarina of Time and since then I fell in love with videogames and more specifically the music
Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the SNES for me. Yeah I started on a difficult game to learn and even more difficult to master. That did make all the other types of game much easier to play and enjoy.
My game is also Star Fox 64! It was a gift from a friend. I still have that original cartridge (and friend). We would go into school and constantly speak as if we were the characters, I'm sure our teacher probably couldn't stand hearing "Hey Einstein I'm on your side!" Or "Use the boost to get through!" anymore!
OVERLAP INCOMING!!! For me, it was watching my older friends tackle the original Legend of Zelda right after it came out that led to me finding what cemented my love in gaming. I wanted to play that game so bad myself, and my parents said "No" despite all the effort I put into begging for it, but shortly after that they miraculously ponied up the cash and handed me that beautiful golden box. Right after I got it my aunt came to visit, and I was bummed because I knew I would have to put the game aside to spend time with my beloved family member, but she actually spent a ton of time with me as my navigator and helped me push through the game. It was the best of both worlds! To this day, she is a legend in my book, and so is the game.
Super Mario Bros. 1 for the NES. It was the first video game we got in our household. However, my love for video games was reinforced by... - Dr. Mario (NES) - I loved the competitive aspect of it - Super Mario World (SNES) - an absolute game-changer - Super Bomberman with Multitap (SNES) - it reminded me of the competitiveness of Dr. Mario but ramped up - God of War III (PS3) - this was the game that caused me to come "out of retirement" after a ~ 7 year hiatus from gaming - Sonic's Genesis Collection (PS3) - I think this is the reason I eventually found my way back to retro gaming Thanks Retro Bird for the trip down memory lane! Have a. good one!
The NES was great, but when I got the SNES with SMW in 1991 I was a gamer for life. Mortal Kombat is a close second, but nothing will beat the feeling of listening to the music while Mario, Yoshi, Peach, and the little eggs march through the world you just conquered
For me it's tied between Mario Kart DS (my first video game) and Banjo Kazooie (one of the first retro video games I played) they should me what video games could be (new and old) and how fun they can alone or with others. Mario kart is what made me fall in love with video games and Banjo made me fall in love with them all over again
I was five years old when I first played Ocarina of Time. That's the day I knew I wanted to make my own games someday. Ever since then I've been obsessed with video games. It would be an understatement to say it forever changed my life. Edit: Fyi my first game ever was Super Mario World
Super Mario 3 was the first game I remember seeing someone play and trying it out when my brother or cousins allowed me to. The original teenaged ninja mutant turtles and a game called P.O.W were close seconds and I have a good nostalgic love for all of those. The game that cemented my love for video games would either be Links Awakening or Goldeneye. Links awakening was my first Zelda and I didn't know a video game could be so good before that. Even though it was a relatively small world, it felt big and highly explorable. Goldeneye just because how involved everybody was in the split screen multi-player. My brother and I had raised money to buy our youth group an N64, Goldeneye and a couple of star wars games (pod racing and shadow of the empire I believe). Every body was right in to Goldeneye and being with people who enjoyed it so much really set my love for videogames. I don't remember which came first so I thought I'd mention both.
I know it's a pretty generic answer, but for me it was "SMB3" on NES.. The way that game introduced all the different power-ups, and all the secret paths to reach the exit of the levels. As well as the secret areas within a level that rewarded you with an awesome new power-up or other cool treasures. That feeling of exploration was blowing my little mind at the time! But one of the best experiences I ever have had in a game back in the early days, was playing multiplayer on the NES game "Rockball" with my brothers. It's a really awesome action puzzle game. You can upgrade your character with different weapons and different stats like speed and strength, and the game also have a ton of secrets to discover, much like SMB3, just a bit different.. Also I have to mention the awesome fun we had playing "Battletoads".. There is no denying it's a tough game - but that's exactly why me and my bros loved it! It always gave us a challenge, and since we never beat it - we always kept coming back to it! Some might call it a vicious circle, but I rather see it as the gift that keeps on giving!
The very first video game I ever saw with my child eyes was the original Super Mario Bros for the NES. I got an NES shortly after. I'll never forget running into a neighbor kids house and seeing them playing that on the screen when I was 5 years old. It was definitely the game that started my passion and love for video games.
Street fighter 2, but for different reasons. It was such a thing at the arcade and the older kids were so good at it that it was intimidating. That mystic cemented a curiosity that lasted a lifetime
1994-1995: SNES: Street Fighter 2 and Super Mario World.. SEGA 1994-1995: Sonic The Hegehog and Street Fighter 2. Godzilla for TIGER ELECTRONICS. Playing video games with my brother Scott who was older than I, was a great time. I was either 3 or 4 when I first started enjoying video games with my older brother Scott, I miss him very much.
While its not my favorite game of all-time, I would say the game that did it for me is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I spent so many hours as a kid with that game and cemented my love for video games.
In 1995 my parents bought me a Sega CD and Sonic CD and the graphics and just the soundtrack and the feel of that game. And every couple years a game comes out that really recement my love of video games
Super Mario Bros on the NES, I was at a friend's house and his older brother started playing that game (I didn't even know what an NES was until that very moment)....the flame for video games has been burning ever since.
my favorite game was and still is Chrono trigger. The music, art style, graphics, story, gameplay, characters, villains, etc man the list goes on. perfect 10
Not really a game but I remember the SNES was a game changer for me. The bright vibrant colors and the music it was able to produce had me hooked.
Can't fault you there!
the SNES for me really took games to the next level. the N64 was the biggest change in gaming but the SNES for me was when gaming became the real deal.
The original Super Mario Bros. on the NES. I can still remember playing it vividly. A “gamer” was born that day.
Agreed, as a little kid it's hard to describe the feeling of finally being able to move and control the character as opposed to just watching a cartoon character. Also, Legend of Zelda, is the epitome of rescuing the princess from the dragon.
I think many of us older gamers had that same experience with SMB. It was ubiquitous AND amazing. A winning combo indeed.
There was an older girl I would play this game with. While she played I would have my head in her lap 😊
@@khiclark31 Damn, that’s one hell of a memory. What were the ages of you two?
Good choice
NES The legend of Zelda. I got so deep into this game that I drew maps and dungeons in great detail. BTW, still have the maps and yes, still have my original game (gold version).
Got to be Space invaders for me. When i was a kid my dad used to take me to the pub and in that pub was a cocktail space invaders machine. That was it, i was hooked for life. Christmas 1980 or 1981 i got a little table top game called "Astro Wars". It was more Galaga than Space invaders. I love that little machine that after all these years i still have it and it still works :).
Astro Wars and the Tomy Pac Man games were my childhood. Great yours still works.
It may be an unpopular opinion, but for me it was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It was one of the first games I played that I actually had no idea how to beat. I was dying left and right. In my box of hand-me-down NES games, THIS was the one that made me go "ok I need to really practice this". And I did beat it... Many many many attempts... But it definitely holds a very special place in my heart.
I remember playing that. I played it for a while then quit it.
Adventure of Link is underrated as heck. The music was top-notch, the dungeons were fun to explore, and learning new moves and spells was satisfying.
Haha! Unpopular opinion? Dude this question has nothing to do with someone else’s opinion! It’s the game that cemented gaming for YOU! Anything anyone else has to say is void.
It was one of the first games I owned as a kid, as well, along with Super Mario Bros./Track Meet/Duck Hunt.
Donkey Kong Country. I'd played plenty of NES as a young kid (Nintendo World Cup being one of my favourites), but it was Rare's amazing plattformer that hooked me for real. I first played it at a friend's house, and after that I begged my parents for a SNES and Donkey Kong. I eventually got the system, bundled with the game, when I turned 8 (I think). The joy I felt that day... Immeasurable.
I think it was the trio of Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, and Mega Man 2 that made me fall in love with video games. The world's of these games were so imaginative and memorable that they made a strong impression on my young mind in the late 80s. I've been hooked ever since.
That’s a darn solid trio right there.
The Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube, while not a singular game, felt like another world for me. From its iconic archive of Sonic games to Sonic's history via comics and videos just felt so gigantic and overwhelming for the better. It was not only my introduction to Sonic at a young age, but THE game that made me want to explore more and see what other amazing games could be possible. I played many great games before and after my experience with the Mega Collection, but history wrote itself from that point on for my passion for video games.
Bruh I’m literally playing sonic 2 on mega collection as I’m reading this 😂😂
@@agamelegend9441 ahh haha! That's so cool! Enjoy it!
Those games are great. I have both of those.
The SNES was my introduction to gaming. Super Mario World, Aladdin, Turtles in Time, all helped getting me into videogames. But I gotta say, it wasnt until the PS1 and Metal Gear Solid that my love was really cemented. My cousin and I finished that game 100% with a guide.
It was a dark stormy weekend night and I had just rented Zelda A Link to the Past from Blockbuster video. My parents left for the night and it was just me alone in my room. I could hear the rain bouncing off my roof when Link awoke. He and I journeyed through the rain into the castle to rescue the princess. That day will always be remembered as the day I became a gamer for life. Great video and topic Bird!
For me, it's more like I have a portfolio of milestone games that have stayed with me. Super Mario Bros. was the first game I ever played and beat, Sonic the Hedgehog made me an eternal fan of platformers, Super Mario Land secured my passion for handheld gaming, and Final Fantasy VII showed me how great stories can add so much to gaming.
Those are all generally considered landmark games too. So, you're not alone!
Same for me.with Super Mario bros. Seeing this in the eighties was a mind blowing experience compared with everything I've know up to that point.
Thanks for another great vid, Retro Bird guy! I still have memories of playing Donkey Kong on Intellivision as a 3 year old. Then I spilled milk on the system and fried it...
the first was Atlantis on C64 and I keep finding games to continue cementing my love for games to this very day!
yeah this one was also one of my first loves
Super Mario Bros. 3 and Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Also, Twisted Metal2
Twisted Metal 2, I remember the 1st time I blew up the eifel tower making a bridge to the rooftops, doing that made me go "weeeee, this is fun" . I promise I'm not a violent or destructive person.
1987 when I finally was able to buy & enjoy my very own gaming system, the C-64, couldn't wait to get it home after buying it on a Friday night after a long tough work week, I also bought the MicroProse "Silent Service", a WW2 Submarine sim game. I stayed up all night until dawn playing it totally immersed like nothing I had ever played at a arcade, a religious experience!
Thought you were going to say Mike Tyson's Punchout cuz you mentioned 87 or Mega man
@@davepage2466 A odd but interesting channel bud, my friend Jeremy told me to check it out. Of course zero interaction compared to others or mine.
@@davepage2466 Can you imagine my vlogs delivered like this, pretty humorous.
It was a month or so before my 11th birthday, when I walked into an arcade and saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 player cabinet. I waited about an hour to play it, and when I did it was the culmination of all I wanted and liked about video games. In reality, it was fun as hell, but not the greatest. Also, it was as if my favorite childhood cartoon was being controlled by me. This was mind blowing stuff for a younger me. After that day, I was in love with video games, with an emphasis on arcade-style 2D action. The fact that the Cowabunga Collection and Shredder's Revenge are set to release later this year, is particularly special to my personal gaming history, as you might imagine.
I'm pretty excited for Shredder's Revenge!
Sonic 2 and Metroid. Got a hand me down NES and Metroid for Christmas one year from my aunt. And a new Genesis bundle with Sonic 2 and Taz. Both games just blew my mind when I was 3. I'd draw Samus, Metroids, and Sonic all over my school work growing up. Still huge fans of both today
I always love it when games inspire people to draw! Would probably be the same for me if I could actually draw worth a darn!
The first game I ever played was Pac-Man World 2 on the GameCube, and the first handheld game I played was Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland. Those two are very special to me for being the very first games I played.
With that said, the two games that truly cemented my love for video games have got to be Sonic Adventure DX and Super Smash Bros. Melee on the GameCube. Those two game's opening cinematics completely blew my mind as a kid! I loved rock and roll as a little kid, so "Open Your Heart" still remains one of my favorite songs ever to this very day.
I loved exploring the vast worlds of Sonic Adventure, and learning more about the characters and story to such kickass music! I love how that game told a serious story with real consequences and so much heart without talking down to kids, and treating them like they're dumb. But at the same time, not including any elements that aren't kid friendly.
Melee on the other hand got me really into Nintendo and their history, while simultaneously being a blast to play with my family! I remember when me and my little sister were really small, if we had free time, we'd make a deal with each other. I'd either watch a Barbie or Disney Princess movie, then she'd play Smash Bros. with me! I always had such a great time spending time with her doing both of those things, and it still remains one of my fondest childhood memories to this day. Great video as always!
It was in the early 90's for me - my brother was in high school at the time, and he would play games like Super Mario Bros. 3, Gradius III, Axelay, Contra III, Super Mario World, Star Fox, Super Metroid and quite a few other titles. However, out of those games I would say Axelay and Contra III had the biggest impact on me as early favorites, but it did feel really broad with all the different selection of games my brother would play through. I just felt like Axelay was mesmerizing as a space shooter experience with those pretty mode 7 graphics and soundtrack, and Contra III was just so awesome with the two commandos going up against a scary and seemingly unstoppable alien force - I can't help but admire the bravery.
Axelay was the first shmup that hooked me, I died a lot in that game but the beautiful art and music kept bringing me back!
For a multiplayer game, it would have to be Goldeneye 007 sessions with my brother and friends back in the day - definitely some of my fondest childhood memories right there, and which sustain my love for gaming (and 007!) to this day.
Same here!
Same
Final Fantasy for NES and Mega Man 2.
The game that really hooked me was Dragon's Lair. I immediately stopped to watch game players at the arcade enjoying what looked like a Saturday morning cartoon. It was my first glimpse at what games could be.
that game for me is Shenmue on the dreamcast, just that opening alone blew my mind and opened it to the things that games could be
Shenmue 2 on Xbox taught me an important lesson about life as a kid. Don’t try to take your small earnings from working and then think you can take the easy road and gamble your way to riches because eventually, you’ll lose everything. 🫣
I see a lot of people answering Super Mario Bros. I'm really glad to see that.
Probably the most popular answer I've seen! It makes sense.
Herzog Zwei on the Sega Mega Drive. Used to play with my mom when I was a kid, surprised that she'd actually be interested in a strategy game like that, but we'd play it for ages after school and i just have amazing memories from playing that game. It's a bloody epic game too :D
My game was Luigis Mansion. I did play games before it but that's where it clicked and I was a addicted (used to play it like in one go per day)
For me it was the very first game I ever witnessed being Sonic 2. I was blown away screaming "wait you can make the dude on the T.V move?!?!" 😮😯😲
The beautiful music and colorful art style with the fast paced action was so captivating
Great story about how you got your first dog! I used to think as a kid that games couldn't have good stories and I'd even skip cutscenes because I didn't like games' stories as a kid.
But then I played Grandia and it's probably still my favorite JRPG of all time and definitely one of my favorite games of all time. It's about a kid who wants to explore the world and gets caught up in a big plot. You're always going to different continents and recruiting different party members. Everything always felt different. My favorite was the NPC dialogues. See, in most games the NPC will only react to the controlled player character. But in Grandia your entire party could have a conversation with a single NPC, it felt like actual conversations....
Another one of my favorite old JRPGs was Xenogears. It had an extremely rushed development but man it still felt like a grand game to me. Though the second disc was really made badly, there were a lot of crazy plot events, it was so exciting to me albeit rushed. You had both regular combat and mecha combat which I've never seen before. I'm happy to see that its spiritual successor, Xenoblade Chronicles, is still getting sequels to this day.
For a more realistic kinda game it's definitely Shenmue. I didn't play it properly as a kid, see Shenmue had all the Sega arcade games as in-game games in Shenmue so I'd play on those all day, but then after a year I realized that Shenmue had an actual plot and story and combat. It was so much fun learning of a foreign country and culture back then where the internet was in its infancy! In Shenmue 2 for instance, most of the game takes place in the "Kowloon City building", which was a real-life building that was an entire city which was demolished a while ago now. I mean of course it was anime-style, but man that game really showed me what games could do, there were so many NPCs, so much dialogue, so much to do, and it was like going to an Asian country and getting lost in real-life. I re-experienced Shenmue from the recent anime adaptation to the games and it felt amazing.
In terms of games that got me into gaming, it was that one fateful Christmas morning where I was introduced to the Wii, with Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lol mine was also star fox 64, I also got the vhs promo. Loved the music, the voice acting, secrets, alternate routes, and gameplay. I also loved the fact that I can see my skills improving with each run through, and get rewarded with new levels.
When I was 5 my mother got me a gameboy pocket and Pokemon Red Version, I have loved gaming ever since. I remember jacking AAAs from everything in the house and freezing them when I ran out of batteries to try and get a little extra game time. I still own that copy of Red Version and just a couple years ago completed the pokedex on my Pikachu Edition Gameboy Color my wife got me for my birthday. I think Pokemon was probably the gateway drug for many young gamers. Thanks for the great vid Retro Bird!
Super Mario Bros 3 is the game for me. The variety of different worlds and mechanics blew my mind as a kid. I about pooped my pants when I got to world 4 and saw everything was giant.
3rd fav Mario game.
I had been playing for years by then, but Hishou Same/Flying Shark/Sky Shark in the arcade was a real game changer for me: the look, the sound, the powerups, it had bombs (I think it was the first game ever that did that), it was hard as balls and still is. I got it on my micro as soon as it was teleased, and played it to death….It really cemented my love for games in general, but especially for shmups.
Fell out of games for a bit in 2016 or whenever Yooka-Laylee came out, just got bored of games in general.
Then Cuphead came out and wow it felt like a fire was lit inside me again. That game unironically made me say "I love video games" out loud.
Cuphead is excellent. I'm ready for that DLC
Growing up we had an Apple II and it was Karateka on that system that made me realize I'd be doing this for a while. Something about the grind getting past enemy after enemy to get to final boss with those classic Apple II sounds just was awesome. I couldn't get enough. Not sure anyone today has even heard of that game but for me it was Karateka that made me love gaming.
The Lost World Jurassic Park on my friend's Sega Saturn. Being able to control the T-Rex was one of the most singular awesome moments of my childhood.
I mean, Super Mario Bros was the first game I ever played and I was immediately hooked… but if I were to name the game that changed how I thought/felt about games, that would have to be Chrono Trigger. That was the first game where I actually had an emotional response to what was going on in the game. And when I first played Mario 64, that opening scene with the camera man whipping around blew my friggin’ mind. I knew video games were never going to be the same after seeing that.
For me it was the first game I remember playing and kept going back to ever since I was introduced to video games, Super Smash Bros. Melee, which in turn introduced me to an amazing catalog of Nintendo's timeless line up of characters. I played it with friends and myself all the time. Melee will always be my favorite game for this reason and the fact that it still holds up and has a community.
If I had to pin it down, I'd say the thing that cemented me as a gamer has to be the entire transition from the 4th to 5th generation. Everything seemed to be making leaps and bounds, and the N64 appeared to have a level of exploration that was totally unmatched with titles like Mario 64 and StarFox. While the PS came across as a big kid console. I was first exposed to a lot of JRPG's, Vandal Hearts, Suikoden etc. Plus with managing game file saves, PS seemed to involve a lot of math. While the N64 appeared superior with 3D exploration, the PS came across that it could hold its own because of all the math it could deal with. We had the more kiddie satisfyingly full games coming out on the N64 and more adult themed math driven games coming out on PS. It felt magical and I knew I was going to be a part of this forever
Final Fantasy 6 was that game for me. I wouldn't have gotten into game collecting if it wasn't for that life-changing experience, along with Chrono Trigger.
Mine probably boils down to two experiences- the first is pulling all nighters with my friend who was sleeping over trying to beat games on NES like TMNT 3. The other is when my uncle got an n64, watching the “adults” play golden eye split screen (my uncle even build a wooden divider to block players from cheating/screen watching) and playing through the first parts of Ocarina of Time made me want an n64 so much that it’s still my favorite retro system.
The original Legend of Zelda on NES blew my mind as a kid and still does today. I play through it periodically, such an early masterpiece on the NES.
That's a awesome game. Except I will only play that with a map. Will not play that without.
For me it was Miniature Pinscher and Shining Force II. ☘️🦉
My mom won an nes at a raffle in 88 when she was 14, and grew up playing super Mario bros. So naturally my brother and I grew up playing that very same nes. That cemented our love for video games.!! 👍👍😄
There's been several games over the years that cemented my love of gaming. In no particular order.
1. Super Mario World - First game I owned & my grade 1journal was effectively a strategy guide written by a 6 year old.
2. SimCity 2000 - the original was fun at school, but I got this at home & I'd be terrified to have a play time counter from over the years.
3. Chrono Trigger - I'd enjoyed Final Fantasy, but Dragon ball art + Time travel & a tight yet epic story sealed the deal.
4. Gears of War - this was the go to game for a new group of friends at the time, we still play games co-op to this day.
5. World Of Warcraft (Vanilla to WOLTK) - first MMO I got heavily into & changed the way I thought of multiplayer. Also Wisdom teeth removal + Weird AL + Codine + WoW is a special memory.
6. Zombies ate my neighbours - my existing love of Halloween & memories of playing this with my mom as a kid means it holds a special place in my collection.
Aw dude, love the fact that you played ZAMN with your mom. They must be the best memories!
@@boyonthephone1 they are ones I'll take to my grave, same with her. Just waiting on the collectors edition from Limited Run, my game room needs the extras despite my rule to not buy anymore collectors editions. Had to make the exception, same goes for Chrono Trigger if they even do one.
Xbox 360 was the first console I bought with my own money and gears of war was the first game I bought for it
TMNT on arcade by Konami. When I heard the theme song in the attract mode, my jaws dropped immediately and the game was so good that I kept playing it. I never would had thought that I could get to play with the Ninja Turtles in that very game.
For me it was getting a PS1 with Final Fantasy VII as a gift from my dad in 1997. I'd liked videogames before as a little side hobby, but that masterpiece made me ignore my chores, my homework and...well...my life for something like two months straight. Hardcore gamer for life after that.
I started on NES at a young age, but was pretty quickly given a PS1 when I was 6 for Christmas. I had Jet Moto, Crash Bandicoot, and Gran Turismo, which I still really like to this day. But the game that cemented my love for gaming came late summer of 1999. I went to a friends house who couldn't stop going on about this game called Driver. I got the controller and was immediately obsessed. I was a car guy from a young age that had seen the classic car chase movies and shows like Bullit, the original Gone In 60 Seconds(not that awful Nicholas Cage movie), Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky and Hutch, ect. It was like living out my wildest driving fantasies playing Driver, drifting through intersections, jumping the hills of San Fransisco, burning rubber and leaving cops in the rear view mirror. My dad picked up on my new obsession for the game and he suprised me with it a few weeks later. That was the first game I played over and over and put thousands of hours into. And I would do the same with the sequel. I had the PS1 Slim with the flip up screen, so any long road trips, Driver/Driver 2 would be the games to bring with me. I still go back and replay them to this day, they were such well designed and thought out games.
Contra started it. Myst cemented it. I think it was the first time I realized what "art" meant, and that video games were very much an artform.
The game that started my love for gaming was Break-Out and Super Break-Out on the Atari 2600. I loved using the enormous “roller/ball” controller. I always came back to it up until my mom got me the NES.
Chrono Trigger created a lifelong love of not only video games but JRPGs in particular.
Dig Dug
Waaaaaay back in the 80s, my dad was friends with our neighbor, an arcade machine repair man. One night, my dad and him were hanging out at his house and he took us down to check out the game he was fixing. It was the arcade cabinet for Dig Dug. I'd never seen in before, but was immediately hooked. He had it set up to play without quarters, so while him and my dad were shooting the breeze, I played it as much as I could. I was probably 5 or 6 at the time. All I knew was that it was way better than the Pong game my dad had on our TV. That was probably the moment when I knew that video games were my "thing".
I would say it was the trifecta of River Raid II, Chopper Command, and Pitfall 2 for the 2600. I couldn’t tell you how many hours I spent with those. Yeah, I’m old.
My first foray in video games was the the NES/SNES and while I had plenty of exposure to Mario, I felt it was just “fun”. I didn’t dive too deeply into their game libraries as a child and it was really just platformers I remember playing.
But when I got my hands on the N64, I remember Ocarina of Time just blew my mind with how epic the story felt, because I had never really played games that were story driven too. This cemented my love of video games as they could be fun and provide almost a feeling of a live-action movie experience too opening up my love for RPGs.
Tough Question.... I remember how *mind blowing* SMB3 on the NES was for me in 1990... Had other mind blowing Gaming experiences in the following years(SoM, Starfox, Terranigma, SM64, FF7, AoE, StarCraft and SoulCalibur), but SMB3 might be the First time I considered Gaming more than just "playing Games" 🤔
Super Mario World started my entire gaming adventure at age 6. However, once I played Illusion of Gaia at 7, I respected video games on a much higher level. Music choices, level design, sprite work, sound effects. I understood during that game how important and impressive it all actually is. So, for me, its Illusion of Gaia. Illusion of Time, if you prefer.
I guess I've had several over the year that brought me back to loving video games. when I was a kid, I think the first one was Ocarina of Time. for a long time it was WoW. Most recently, I think Oblivion is what's brought me back to why I love video games. Such a classic game.
Should have never left in the first place.
Oblivion was surreal playing it when it came out, I didnt know games were anywhere close to being as big and realized as that. I remember thinking about it all day during school and what I was going to do next in it when I got home. I had like a full week long adventure just going through the gladiator arena let alome the rest of the game, it was a great game
It's really difficult to say. I mean, my first game was Super Mario World, so...love at first sight. From the very beginning.
The original Super Mario Bros. for me. I remember playing my NES for the first time when I was 5 years old. I remember not being able to beat level 4-1. That Lakitu was the 5 year old me’s greatest enemy.
Yeah lakitu was hard as a kid. I didn't know what that enemey was called.
@@tonyp9313 I think I called him “Cloud Guy” as a kid since I did not have the manual.
@@krisrk1 I didn't even read most of the manuals when I was a kid. I read a lot of them now. For retro games they actually help a lot for a said game you play. Yeah I used to call him the cloud guy too lol.
Tony Hawk pro skater 2 for Dreamcast is the game that made me know games were my thing. Really the Dreamcast itself was! Although most of my favorite gaming memories were watching my sister play super nes. Bajo and Kazooie was the first game i finished though, and on the family tv, with mom and dad watching. lol ahh cruis'n the world was the game we would play as a family. man I love gaming!
I had a pretty bad childhood, once I discovered Final Fantasy II on the snes (among all the other JRPGs) I had a form of escapism. I remember being so pissed in 97, the day FF7 came out my sister overdosed and had to be hospitalized. A month later my mom died and my family split so I was on the streets at 14. I'd play games when I could but it wasn't until I got my own place in 2001 that I could get back into the swing of things.
Dang I'm sorry to hear that, I hope things are much better for you these days. And that games could help you move on with life, there's so much to play and get into.
Mario Bros on the NES!!!! For sure. I'm a true classic player. A true classic retro gamer. From the beginning of when games came back in the lime light
Me too. I remember a teacher asking me about a drawing I did of the ending staircase before the flagpole on mario brothers. Also Legend of Zelda is a classic rescue the princess from the dragon kind of story, but put into a game.
@@matthewbain21 very true. I experienced that too!!!
Long time listener, first time responder!
Ocarina of Time is the game that made me really see what gaming had to offer. The intuitive puzzles and complete world just had me completely engrossed! Even though I had played previous Zelda games, this one really affected me, and even retroactively made me like the previous games better! I learned all the usual Zelda tricks and mechanics in OOT, including using the dungeon item to progress, collecting keys, collecting over world collectables, and, of course, always keeping your eyes peeled for a bombable wall or other secret!
Thank you for your videos, I listen to them at work and then go watch the parts that should be seen at home 😅🤷
Also thank you SO MUCH for putting them all in a playlist! Keep up the good work, sir!
SMB & the LoZ on the original NES!!! Life has never been the same...:)
For me, the game that got me into video games was likely either Duck Hunt for the NES, or Pokémon Gold on the Game Boy Colour. Coincidentally, whichever it was was also the first video game I ever played.
Playing Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Stadium on the N64 made me the Pokemon Fan I am today! And I became a Nintendo Fan well by playing Mario 64,Zelda Ocarina of Time,and Banjo kazooie. But my first portable console was the GBA and what turned me into a Mario Fan was Super Mario World 2! I absolutely love the SNES port to this day! That game cemented me as a Nintendo Fan.
Pokemon stadiums late game was brutal back in the day, I remember getting so mad at that game, haha.
I’m a bit more recent/young of a gamer (in Highschool and really started playing in 2017) but Ys VIII on switch really made me fall in love with games. I just randomly picked it up inside a bestbuy enchanted by the box art and was completely hooked from start to end. Great game, and definitely made me go “I love video games” lol
For retro games, while I’d always enjoy watching AVGN, playing Super Metroid in the Switch online app and the collection of mana games really made me appreciate them in a different plane than current games. It’s because of this I’m really willing to wait a long time for a discount/clearance for these newer games, not buying them on day one, because I know I still have decades of backlog of great titles. Never in a rush.
Link's Awakening GB? Super Mario Bros 1? Duck Hunt? It has to be one of these games.
To be honest, I was hooked from the very beginning.
My uncle bought an 8086 when I was really little and he had a few games on it. The ones I fondly remember were Space Invaders, Frogger and Tapper. I loved it. He also had others like Silent Service which I wanted to love, but I had no clue how it even worked.
A year or so later, I was 6 years old, my parents bought a brand new and shiny 386, our first computer, and of course we had games. I loved Microsoft Flight Simulator as well as Summer Games, Winter Games and California Games. But I fell in love with adventure games, even though I barely understood what was going on, given that I didn’t speak English. I learned my first English with Kings Quest 3 and Leisure Suit Larry.
Now, I never owned a console as a kid, but I played on those of my friends. Though the chronology is a bit blurry. But I think the game that really cemented my love for video games was Super Mario Land on the GameBoy. A friend of mine had it and we took turns playing. It was a brilliant platformer, very simple and yet so well though out. Mario moved fast and responsive and of course the GameBoy controls were so much nicer than the keyboard I was used to playing with - gamepads for the PC weren’t a thing yet, not to mention that there weren’t any good platformers on the PC anyway.
But the PC also had its advantages when it comes to controls, namely the mouse. I did mention above that I fell in love with adventure games. Well, in 1992, I played my first Lucas Arts adventure: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. If Mario Land cemented my love for video games, Indiana Jones built a concrete dome on top of it.
An honorable mention also has to go to Prince of Persia. I loved that game and eventually became really good at it. The interesting part is that this may be the only platformer out there where I would always prefer the keyboard over a controller. It may have to do with the fact that I perfected the game on a keyboard, to this day, more than 30 years later, my muscle memory would probably be intact and I could likely still beat the game in my first try, but I think there’s more to it. You need extremely precise inputs which I find very hard on a controller.
You know what, thinking about it, scrap everything I said above. It was Prince of Persia which cemented my love for video games. Though specifically the PC version. I later also played it on the SNES and it just never worked for me. The keyboard was key. Speaking about it makes me want to fire it up again right now. I haven’t played it through in more than 30 years, instead I have been (re)discovering old console games. But now I need to change that.
My uncle had an NES before we ever got one. I can remember going to his house on weekends and playing Mario/duck hunt and Castlevania around age 4 and those games completely blowing my mind. Castlevania in particular has always stuck with me. The spooky gothic setting, the nonstop action and (at the time) intimidating boss fights (which my uncle had to fight while I watched with wide eyes and my breath held) I’m still a huge fan of the franchise to this day. 🧛🏻♂️ 🦇 ❤️
So no mega man?
@@tonyp9313 lol that came later
For me it was Contra on the NES. Everything about it was just so cool and enjoyable - graphics, music, shooting, level design, enemies etc. Over 30 years later I still play it and have a blast
Chrono Trigger the "attract mode" cutscene blew my mind in.... 96 or 97. To this day i consider it to be the game with the most influence over me. And that's despite the fact that back when i first played it, i could not read English. So I had to wait a good 4-5 years before i played it and could actually understand it. Amusingly, the biggest thing to learn English was playing Pokemon Red...
Afterburner in the arcades completely blew my mind after that it was TMNT in the arcade. But for home console it was Star Wars Shadows of the Empire.
It was the original Castlevania on the NES. My buddy had it & I slept over to play it all night. What really got me to want to go into gaming was the next day I asked my parents if I could get a Nintendo and they said, NO!!! Oh boy, when your a kid & your parents don't want you to do something guess what? You want to do it more than anything else!
It was that day that I told myself I would play video games for the rest of my life!
Super Mario Bros. with my family was the one. It's probably my earliest gaming memory and it was really just wholesome with us all laughing and having fun playing it. It's a bit of a sad memory now since the good times are long gone...
I don't know about games as a whole but I remember the day I rented xenogears from Hollywood video sparked my love for turn based rpgs.im 33 now still going strong. .keep flying bird 🐦
For me the game that cemented my love for videogames was Contra. A friend from elementary school invited me to come over and play NES. My 10 year old mind was blown with all the excitement and skill needed to play the game. Then several years later, when I was in a birthday party at a laser tag joint I found an arcade cabinet with Metal Slug and felt the same. Metal Slug was one of the first games I emulated on my family computer when i found out that emulation was a thing.
While I grew up with Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the games I actually loved were Atlantis Squarepantis, Nicktoons Globs of Doom, Just Dance, and Wii Sports.
As a 90's kid I loved my Windows 95 computer and my Super Nintendo and my Gameboy pocket, there's a lot of overlap of games that I fell in love with and have warm memories of, it's hard to point to a single game as the "Cement" game, but some contenders for me would be Day of the Tentacle, Spider-Man Cartoon Maker, Super Mario All Stars, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Land 2, Wario Land.
Dude, I loved Spider-Man Cartoon Maker!! If they ever rereleased many of those 90s point and click games on a modern system, I would totally buy it.
@@brianhatcher2799 Right on. Yeah, I was all about those cartoon maker games, I had Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman & Robin, 3D Movie Maker, Hollywood High. I had just as much fun if not more fun with those types of games as the traditional "game" games. I recently got a Windows 95 laptop to re-experience these nostalgic old games that I hadn't played since childhood.
@@DanSills That’s awesome!!! Thanks for helping me to relive some old memories.🙂
oh man, I remember being 6 years old and had severe asthma, and around holidays I got really sick, and my uncle, who was 16 back then, came to aid my mother and watch over me in the night. He brought this nintendo 64 and put a new game that came out, me being kind of dizzy and practically only focusing in breathing with my nebulizer, but I remember hearing that intro music of Ocarina of Time and since then I fell in love with videogames and more specifically the music
Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the SNES for me. Yeah I started on a difficult game to learn and even more difficult to master. That did make all the other types of game much easier to play and enjoy.
Yeah that's a very great game
My game is also Star Fox 64! It was a gift from a friend. I still have that original cartridge (and friend). We would go into school and constantly speak as if we were the characters, I'm sure our teacher probably couldn't stand hearing "Hey Einstein I'm on your side!" Or "Use the boost to get through!" anymore!
OVERLAP INCOMING!!! For me, it was watching my older friends tackle the original Legend of Zelda right after it came out that led to me finding what cemented my love in gaming. I wanted to play that game so bad myself, and my parents said "No" despite all the effort I put into begging for it, but shortly after that they miraculously ponied up the cash and handed me that beautiful golden box. Right after I got it my aunt came to visit, and I was bummed because I knew I would have to put the game aside to spend time with my beloved family member, but she actually spent a ton of time with me as my navigator and helped me push through the game. It was the best of both worlds! To this day, she is a legend in my book, and so is the game.
Super Mario Bros. 1 for the NES. It was the first video game we got in our household.
However, my love for video games was reinforced by...
- Dr. Mario (NES) - I loved the competitive aspect of it
- Super Mario World (SNES) - an absolute game-changer
- Super Bomberman with Multitap (SNES) - it reminded me of the competitiveness of Dr. Mario but ramped up
- God of War III (PS3) - this was the game that caused me to come "out of retirement" after a ~ 7 year hiatus from gaming
- Sonic's Genesis Collection (PS3) - I think this is the reason I eventually found my way back to retro gaming
Thanks Retro Bird for the trip down memory lane! Have a. good one!
The NES was great, but when I got the SNES with SMW in 1991 I was a gamer for life. Mortal Kombat is a close second, but nothing will beat the feeling of listening to the music while Mario, Yoshi, Peach, and the little eggs march through the world you just conquered
For me it's tied between Mario Kart DS (my first video game) and Banjo Kazooie (one of the first retro video games I played) they should me what video games could be (new and old) and how fun they can alone or with others. Mario kart is what made me fall in love with video games and Banjo made me fall in love with them all over again
MKDS is a pure classic
Mine was love at first sight. Watching my uncle get Epona's song in Ocarina of Time literally blew my mind. It's been my favorite hobby since.
I was five years old when I first played Ocarina of Time. That's the day I knew I wanted to make my own games someday. Ever since then I've been obsessed with video games. It would be an understatement to say it forever changed my life.
Edit: Fyi my first game ever was Super Mario World
Super Mario 3 was the first game I remember seeing someone play and trying it out when my brother or cousins allowed me to. The original teenaged ninja mutant turtles and a game called P.O.W were close seconds and I have a good nostalgic love for all of those.
The game that cemented my love for video games would either be Links Awakening or Goldeneye. Links awakening was my first Zelda and I didn't know a video game could be so good before that. Even though it was a relatively small world, it felt big and highly explorable. Goldeneye just because how involved everybody was in the split screen multi-player. My brother and I had raised money to buy our youth group an N64, Goldeneye and a couple of star wars games (pod racing and shadow of the empire I believe). Every body was right in to Goldeneye and being with people who enjoyed it so much really set my love for videogames. I don't remember which came first so I thought I'd mention both.
Golden eye was my fav N 64 game when it came out
I know it's a pretty generic answer, but for me it was "SMB3" on NES.. The way that game introduced all the different power-ups, and all the secret paths to reach the exit of the levels. As well as the secret areas within a level that rewarded you with an awesome new power-up or other cool treasures. That feeling of exploration was blowing my little mind at the time!
But one of the best experiences I ever have had in a game back in the early days, was playing multiplayer on the NES game "Rockball" with my brothers. It's a really awesome action puzzle game. You can upgrade your character with different weapons and different stats like speed and strength, and the game also have a ton of secrets to discover, much like SMB3, just a bit different..
Also I have to mention the awesome fun we had playing "Battletoads".. There is no denying it's a tough game - but that's exactly why me and my bros loved it! It always gave us a challenge, and since we never beat it - we always kept coming back to it! Some might call it a vicious circle, but I rather see it as the gift that keeps on giving!
Smb 3 is awesome. 3rd fav Mario game of all time.
@@tonyp9313 I know Super Mario World has got to be #1.... Bu I'm curious - what is number 2 then...?
The very first video game I ever saw with my child eyes was the original Super Mario Bros for the NES. I got an NES shortly after. I'll never forget running into a neighbor kids house and seeing them playing that on the screen when I was 5 years old. It was definitely the game that started my passion and love for video games.
Street fighter 2, but for different reasons. It was such a thing at the arcade and the older kids were so good at it that it was intimidating. That mystic cemented a curiosity that lasted a lifetime
Mortal Kombat. Thee 1992 OG! Knockn a guy in the pit, the crowd around the arcade was like Ooooow at the same time. Fun times! Hooked from that point.
Need for speed underground when I was 5. Made me love video games and cars! 2 birds one stone!
1994-1995: SNES: Street Fighter 2 and Super Mario World.. SEGA 1994-1995: Sonic The Hegehog and Street Fighter 2. Godzilla for TIGER ELECTRONICS. Playing video games with my brother Scott who was older than I, was a great time. I was either 3 or 4 when I first started enjoying video games with my older brother Scott, I miss him very much.
While its not my favorite game of all-time, I would say the game that did it for me is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I spent so many hours as a kid with that game and cemented my love for video games.
In 1995 my parents bought me a Sega CD and Sonic CD and the graphics and just the soundtrack and the feel of that game. And every couple years a game comes out that really recement my love of video games
Super Mario Bros on the NES, I was at a friend's house and his older brother started playing that game (I didn't even know what an NES was until that very moment)....the flame for video games has been burning ever since.
Super Mario Kart SNES with my best friend around 7 years old. So much fun and fighting caused by the same game