30 Days of Video Games

[krazystitch]

Aww man..my very first video game ever? Jeez, I can't remember that, but..I can at least try to think of one of my earliest ones, which I know will have to be..

I definitely remember getting this game. In fact, I had gotten Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow all the same time..kind of. My father ended up getting the red game and my sister got the yellow version, so I was the one who ended up with Blue. I remember everything from the music, picking Charmander as my starter because he was the fire type, and running around in the grass outside of the second town you go to over and over again. It's great because I tried going back and playing this game after so many years and it's incredible how much I can still remember! Layouts of towns and routes, the way the songs go, augh so much nostalgia! Pokemon games are still good nowadays, but..this is where it all started!

Oh yeah, and my dad ended up catching EVERY SINGLE POKEMON IN THE GAME.​ His reward was a virtual diploma he could see on a small Gameboy screen. Totally worth it.

[Covskin]

Some of these posts make me feel SO old. Mario Kart: Double Dash? Eek.

I'm not actually certain of my first game. We had a Commodore, and I have very vague visions of Prince of Persia, a Win, Lose Or Draw game, and some Count Duckula game.

So, after that I have a choice. Again, I don't remember which came first. I can do what many others have done, and say Super Mario Bros. on the NES, or go for something different.

Pushover, on the Amiga! This was a pretty difficult puzzle game looking back, considering it had about 100 odd levels. I was only about 3 when I had this, so I'm amazed I got as far as I did (20+ levels in). The game also had a few references to Quavers in, as even the plot was you trying to recover a lost packet of crisps for the Quavers mascot. You were only allowed one push a level, which meant you really had to think about what you were doing. Get it wrong - lose a life. Very harsh.

There were also many varieties of domino, to make things even more complicated. Dominoes that would roll over a few times, blockers, exploders, flying...

You know, thinking about it, I'm amazed that my three-year-old self could even do the first five levels. I'm feeling smug about my young self now.

[Phantomime]

TY THE TASMANIAN TIGER

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was... I dunno. 5, maybe 6 years old, or something. I had just moved to my new, much bigger house, in a newly developed neighborhood, and thus, a place without that many people moved in yet, as our house was only the second one completely finished. A couple days later, I went over to my new friend's house. What is that? It was then I discovered the Playstation 2. He had a couple games, this being one of them. I played it for a bit, and knew I wanted a PS2 of my own.

As for the game itself, it at least holds up in that it is still very fun. The levels and music are memorable, and the controls work well. Also, after I fought the first boss I ever fought, riding said boss in the next level was pretty much the best thing ever. The second boss was almost traumatizing to little me. The idea of not being able to do some things in earlier levels until you had better abilities was baffling to me at the time. I could go on for days about what I remember about this game. Also, these swimming controls are some of the best in any platformer.

[Rawpowered]

Oh, my first video game.

I have my dad to thank for this. A lot of my first games were based on Disney movies because we used to watch a lot of them when I had visitation with him (my parents have been divorced for as long as I can remember). The Lion King came bundled with the system with a really unique box that I still have in my closet, even after moving.

The game itself was mindblowing. The animation was done by Disney animators so it looked really smooth, and it used a few voice clips from the movie. I remember learning about the mechanics of the game, specifically my dad telling me that some enemies had to be beaten with a roll and some with a jump attack.

I also remember spending a lot of time trying to beat the second stage and the stampede level. I tried playing the game again a little over a year ago, and I don't know how we ever beat it. The collision detection's kinda wonky, to say the least.

Definitely not the favorite game of my childhood, but it's really nostalgic for me.

Fuck yes my friend. I need to play this game again, like right now =P

[null]

Day 1 - The First Game You Ever Played

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sega Game Gear - 1992

Though to be honest, I'm not exactly 100% sure I played this first. I remember watching my cousins play Sonic 1 on Genesis and Tekken and Parappa the Rapper on PS1, so I may have been offered a hands-on of those games, but I can't really salvage more details of those memories. So instead I always answer the question with the first game I owned.

Christ this game was hard. It still is hard. If you played this game, you will know what I'm talking about. Thankfully if you do manage to get past the first boss, the game's difficulty spike does lower a bit, but not by that much. To this day, I have never beat it without save states, and even with them I've never gotten the good ending. I might consider buying it once it hits the 3DS eShop, but purely for nostalgia's sake. It's definitively not my favorite Sonic GG game; That honor goes to Sonic Chaos.

[Tornado]

There were any number of games that I could have played "first," as when my parents bought their Genny in 1992 they bought a dozen games with it. However, for the purposes of not listing Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 (because come on, that's boring) I'm going to say Out Run 2019:

I've played this game off-and-on for 10 years now, and I believe that, short of 2006 Coast 2 Coast, it is the best Out Run game that you can play on a home console. I even prefer this game to the arcade version o the first game (though admittedly not to the arcade version of Out Runners. That shit was insanely good. Fuck the Genny version, though).

The music is awesome, the scrolling is really smooth, the turbo mechanic is really nifty once you master it, and the game does things with the stages that I've never seen any other sprite-scaling driving game accomplish. Not even arcade ones. The stuff this game does with bridges, ramps and secret pathways still impresses me all those years on. I love it so much that, when I finished hooking up my Genny to my HDTV through my SCART -> Component adapter, that was the game that I played first on it.

Now enjoy this shitty video of it I made 4 years ago:

Remember, we will have that in only 7 years.

Edit: Shit. I'm gonna go play it right now.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Tornado

[JezMM]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sega Game Gear - 1992

Though to be honest, I'm not exactly 100% sure I played this first. I remember watching my cousins play Sonic 1 on Genesis and Tekken and Parappa the Rapper on PS1, so I may have been offered a hands-on of those games, but I can't really salvage more details of those memories. So instead I always answer the question with the first game I owned.

Christ this game was hard. It still is hard. If you played this game, you will know what I'm talking about. Thankfully if you do manage to get past the first boss, the game's difficulty spike does lower a bit, but not by that much. To this day, I have never beat it without save states, and even with them I've never gotten the good ending. I might consider buying it once it hits the 3DS eShop, but purely for nostalgia's sake. It's definitively not my favorite Sonic GG game; That honor goes to Sonic Chaos.

*spooky voice*

Get the Master System version on the Wii Virtual Consooooole. It's much more manageablllllllle.

[Random Rhyme]

Well its a bit hard to remember but so far this game came to mind as my first one.

I played it many times among friends and family with my personal fav character being Guile and my most used character being Ken. I remember day after day of me playing this. The time was usually after school after I did my homework.

I still remember the many times M. Bison kicked my ass imo.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Random Rhyme 3rd Verse

[Octarine]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2's multiplayer. I was Tails, and I lost a lot.

My memory's really fuzzy, but I vaguely recall being over at a friend of my mother's house and having to play with her older son, who promptly introduced me to the delights of video games by kicking my ass at Sonic 2 about a dozen times. I barely had any idea what was going on, never having touched a video game before in my life, but the colours and the detail and the ridiculous speed completely blew my tiny mind. It was that one impression that got me into Sonic many years later; I wasn't a fan of the franchise as a child or even really in high school, but nostalgia hit me hard in my late teens and the classic Sonic games were one of the first things I went back to. They couldn't live up to that first impression, of course, but they still managed to hook me.

...I'm pretty sure we played a bunch of other games that evening, but the only ones that have stuck with me are Sonic, since we played that first, and Jurassic Park, since I think I'd seen the movie recently and I was still terrified of dinosaurs. I've actually never gone back and given that game a shot; maybe there's a Jurassic Park fanboy inside me just waiting to be released.

Of course, there's a pretty good chance that I'm remembering this wrong and I had played other games before this. Other contenders for my first game ever include the early Duke Nukem and Commander Keen games, Super Mario Bros. (of course) and various edutainment titles and horrible Tiger Electronics "games".

[SuperStingray]

First game I ever played? Still one of my favorites ever. Super Mario 64.

It can easily be said that this revolutionized gaming, but for me it meant even more, as it informed me that video games exist. I first encountered the game when my cousins showed me their Nintendo 64. I was already enthralled by the idea of television, but television that you can play with? That just blew my mind.

When I finally got an N64 the following year, I was drawn into Super Mario 64 like mad. At the time my mom only let me play an hour a day, but I could make it count. I spent the summer collecting stars and finding secrets. I'd formed a bit of an obsession with the game, creating my own fan levels and seeking little hidden glitches. Hell, the strategy guide is the the first book I ever read on my own. In retrospect, I think largely I owe my inherently strong spacial reasoning to this game. Navigating the more labyrinthine environments was no easy feat, but now there's not a polygon in this game that I haven't memorized the position of.

To this day Mario 64 is still unsurpased in many ways in my eyes; even with nostalgia aside, it still has some of the most iconic, varied, identifiable and overall well done level design in gaming. But beating the final form of Bowser after weeks of struggling is still one of my most cherished moments in my gaming career.

Edited January 16, 2012 by SuperStingray

[SonicHOG]

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

My parents got a Genesis for the family when I was young and Sonic 2 happened to come with it. That said, it wasn't until 1996 that I actually played the game and what an adventure it was. It was this game that made me want to play the other Sonic titles on the Genesis, despite not becoming a huge fan until Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. My fondest memories of Sonic 2 would be playing with my best friend (I was Sonic, he was Tails.) and trying to get past Chemical Plant Act 2. (We could never do it. Bloody Mega Mack!) Today, I appreciate the game even more, going back to it every once and a while just to kick Eggman's ass once more. Of course, the platforming and the sense of speed really got to me as well and still does to this day.

[Mandyrobin]

Anyone remember this gem? Jill of the Jungle for PC (or MS-DOS back then). This is, as far as I can remember, my first game.

You play Jill, an Amazon woman, and fight your way through wild animals and traps while completing puzzles and gathering keys to reach the end of the game. There are 15 levels to the first game with a world map through which you can run around to the next stage and even gather weapons and keys just like the levels themselves. She collects apples to restore her health. Weapons include daggers and throwing blades, and you can multiple copies of a weapon at one time. At certain points, Jill can also transform into animals, such as a frog, phoenix or fish. The other two episodes are Jill Goes Underground and Jill Saves the Prince. Jill's attire changes slightly depending on which episode you play. She wears a green outfit in episode 1, red in 2 and blue in 3.

I played through all three episodes and loved every moment of it. Heck, I still play it sometimes. Definitely one of my all-time favourites.

[mcsleepy]

First game. Hrmmmmmmm. If remember right it was...

I managed to convince my mom to get me a Game Boy Color, just so I could play Pokemon Yellow and go on a Pokemon journey with my Pikachu and beat up Team Rocket just like the TV show. I didn't even know Red and Blue version existed, and when I eventually played those I was confused because Jessie and James weren't in it.

Anyway being my first game ever, and being in first grade with no knowledge of RPG's, I didn't understand any of the mechanics, and I mean that in the most extreme way possible. I didn't understand why certain moves were more effective than others, or what the hell a level up was. But the main thing I didn't figure out until well after I beat the game, was switching the order of your Pokemon. So Pikachu was the first Pokemon in my party for the entire game, so he ended up gaining all of the levels. When I beat the elite 4 (somehow) I had a Pidgey that was below level 20, possibly still in the single digits. I do remember that the final battle with Gary (that was actually named Gary and not fartface, or poopy), was very intense. At the end of the battle the only Pokemon that could hope to do damage to Gary's team was Pikachu, and the only move he has left was Thunder, so every time I attacked I'd be incredibly tense, PRAYING for a direct hit, and when I managed to get them and win, possibly one of the most satisfying moments of my elementary school life.

I have plenty of other stories about this game, but I'm not going to list them all. I go back and play it every now and then for nostalgias sake, and my party almost always ends up being the same, the 4 starters, a Snorlax, and an Alakazam. I don't think it compares to any main Pokemon game that came after it though.

Edited January 16, 2012 by mcsleepy

[Jimbo]

Toejam and Earl. I didn't own it, but I played it at my friend's house (even though I was about 1 or 2 and had no clue what I was doing at all). This same friend actually gave me his copy of the game and I've owned it ever since. Seriously, if you haven't tried this game out, you NEED to play it.

It still holds up as one of the fondest games I've ever played.

Here's a play-through if any of you have not seen the game in-action.

Edited January 16, 2012 by o T a iIi lL sS

[Conando]

Hrrrmmm...my early memories as a gamer as rather fuzzy, as I was only 3 when I received my first video game system. A Nintendo Entertainment system, which my uncle gave to me and my brother after he had bought himself a Super Nintendo. It's hard to remember all the games I had for it. Blaster Master, Zelda II...and not much else I can remember. Something I won't forget is the first game my brother ever popped into the machine.

Interestingly enough, I don't remember having the Zapper or Power Pad to go with the other 2, so it was all Super Mario Brothers for me. I was so young I could never get past World 2 but, damn it if I didn't try. Mario was what got me into games, it's no surprise I'm such a diehard fan of the series. I finally beat the game years later when I got its remake, Super Mario Brothers DX, on my Game Boy Color. Of course it isn't the best game in the series but, it will always have a special place in my heart for being the first, and its legacy is staggering.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Hero Of Fate

[Meow]

Now, this is the story all about how

My life got flipped-turned upside down

And I'd like to take a minute

Just sit right there

I'll tell you how it wasn't because of the first game I played here.

In Oshawa, Ontario, born and raised

In my diapers was where I spent most of my days

Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool

And all shootin some goombas at the same time I drooled

When a couple of guys

Who were up to no good

Startin making trouble in my neighborhood

My NES got in one little fight and my dad got scared

He said 'We're getting a SEGA Genesis, cause its got flair'

But honestly Super Mario Brothers on the NES was my first game. It was in the household from when I was born to when I became the almighty age of two years old, when suddenly it broke and then I would go on to have a SEGA Genesis and Sonic 2. Sonic would be the franchise that would define me as a gamer for ages and ages and ages, but I guess I have to give some credit to the red plumber for actually being my first exposure to games. I was never able to beat Mario Bros on the NES as a kid, but I knew I was able to get far and I definitely had discovered some of the secret warp rooms as a kid too. Basically I can't remember TOO much, and I think because of that Mario never really stuck with me too hardcore over the years. I'm gonna come right out and say that the only Mario games I really like is the original, Mario Bros 3, Super Mario 64, and the Paper Mario series. Overall as a kid the Genesis was WHERE IT WAS AT and Sonic was (and is) a zillion times cooler.

Edited January 16, 2012 by SuperchargedBatteryKnife

[ovarloard]

First game I ever played, hm?

Yeah, a GBA was my first system. I wasn't allowed to so much as look at video games for most of my childhood. All throughout elementary, I envied my friends, talking about their favorite Pokemon, what they would do in battles, and about the cards and the TV show. (My parents were also of the firm belief that Pokemon was violent and therefore would be a bad influence, and that TV did nothing but rot your brain. So we didn't have TV. We still don't have TV now, although I do have the Internet for that. But that's besides the point.)

This was a gift from a family member who somehow didn't know of my parents' extreme prejudice towards video games, and it hurt. It pained me to think about the fact that I had a perfectly good LeafGreen cartridge rotting away with nothing to play it on.

So I did the unthinkable. I decided to do something without my parents' approval. Shocker, I know. I had been saving up for a while (despite the fact that I received no allowance, I never had anything to spend any birthday or Christmas money on), so I managed to hop on my bike, ride down to the nearest Target, and get myself a GBA SP.

Oh, my parents found out a while later, and there was hell to pay, but after finding me playing it multiple times after they had confiscated it and attempted to break it (holy shit that thing was sturdy), they gave up on enforcing their rule. I have no idea how or why, but I'm not complaining.

Oh, memories. It was only after that that I managed to get through the game. Even if LeafGreen had turned out to be a shitty game, I would've enjoyed it just to embrace the historical moment that my parents actually let me play.

But it was magical. It was my very first trip through a world of Pokemon, and while it wasn't quite like starting with Red and Blue, it was Kanto, and I did get to see why people had raved about the series. I never completed the Pokedex, as the trading/collecting-em-all aspect never really hooked me, but the battles were just about the most intense thing I could imagine.

Pokemon, you saved my childhood. Thank you.

[Nix]

This was the first game I remember playing. As far back as I can remember we always had an NES in our house and we only had like 3 games for it: some Mickey Mouse game, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, and this, and SMB3 is definitely the one I remember the most, and it was also the first game I ever beat. The only reason I wanted to beat it is because I looked up to my dad as a child and he beat it and that meant I had to do so too. So I spent hours upon hours playing this game, discovering its secrets, and just trying to get to the end. I remember discovering those warp flutes in World 1 so I didn't have to replay through all of the other worlds, I remember me having trouble flying when I got the power-up that let me do so, I remember the countless times I died going through a continuous and tedious process of trial-and-error just to get to the next section of one level (I was only like 5 or 6 after all), but dammit I made it through regardless and I was so damn proud when I finally kicked Bowser's ass for the first time and saved the Mushroom Kingdom. A lot of my childhood went into this game and don't regret a second of it.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Nix

[Commissar Hurricane]

I do not remember much of the game itself all I remember is playing it everyday but never getting very far.

Even then it was entertaining and made me interested enough in trying other games I saw.

Something I have to admit, even if it is my first game I have never beat it nor have I ever played it since.

[Danj86]

So everyone's on Facebook except me?! *cries*

Hmm, my first game? Hard to say after all these years...but I would have to guess that it must be at least one of the Commodore 64 games, as that's the earliest "console" I can remember having.

Here's some possibilities for what my very first game might have been.

It could take a while for me to go in detail about each of these games, so I'll try to be brief. It's just as well, since I'm not sure how much I can remember. Here's the titles in plain text in order of the image appearance in my post.

(All on the Commodore 64)

Dizzy: Fast Food

Dizzy: Down The Rapids

Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends

Bubble Bobble

Kwik Snax

I don't know if it can still be considered true with each generation, but for me, the biggest thing that attracted me to these games has to be the colourful characters and art. Even looking back, 3 of these games all star the same character and if I remember correctly, they all play differently. Bubble Bobble brought to my attention something that I would enjoy more on most games that don't appear as much as I'd like. That being Co-Op play. Playing and helping someone else in a game is something I always enjoy more than other types of games. It encourages teamwork. And would be one of the defining factors in getting into a certain series a couple of years later.

But which was the first? I just can't be sure...

Edited January 16, 2012 by ファント

[The Kid]

Oh so we're doing a video game 30 day topic extravaganza? Challenge accepted!

My very first game is something I'll always remember. It was Christmas morning, 1994 (I wasn't even 3 yet >.>) when my parents handed me two small packages instead of the usual assortment of smaller crap (crap because I don't remember one single item after all these years). I tore the larger one open with the ferocity rivaling that of a grizzly bear, with rabies, and a gun.

http://en.wikipedia....ndo_Gameboy.jpg

The Gameboy. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It looked like a calculator to me, but bulkier. I didn't know what the hell I was doing with it until my parents prompted me to open the other box.

http://en.wikipedia....olandboxart.jpg

Super Mario Land was the cause of so much frustration over the following years. I could barely get past the first level for over a week. I remember by the time I was bored with the game months later, I had gotten to world 6 (?), the fucking submarine level. To this day underwater levels fill me with so much rage that I just want to punch something. I questioned why a game that was mainly a platformer turned into a shooter for a level.

Even with all the hours I spent just trying to advance to the next level in that game, spending day upon day absorbed around a tiny screen, I wouldn't trade that Christmas morning for the world. It is what caused me to bond more with other gamers now, and really gave me something I wanted to do with my life. I'm not saying all I wanted to do was play video games for a living, but years later after getting a Gameboy Color and an N64 I realized I wanted to do something involving video games. I didn't care if I was merely some underling who didn't contribute to the overall game's development in a major way, as long as I had a career that helped video games get made.

Even now I still want a job that is involved with video games. I'm planning to major in computer science, and take some courses in game development. It's probably a long shot, but I'd hate myself if I didn't try.

I'd better stop myself before I ramble on forever.

TY THE TASMANIAN TIGER

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was... I dunno. 5, maybe 6 years old, or something. I had just moved to my new, much bigger house, in a newly developed neighborhood, and thus, a place without that many people moved in yet, as our house was only the second one completely finished. A couple days later, I went over to my new friend's house. What is that? It was then I discovered the Playstation 2. He had a couple games, this being one of them. I played it for a bit, and knew I wanted a PS2 of my own.

As for the game itself, it at least holds up in that it is still very fun. The levels and music are memorable, and the controls work well. Also, after I fought the first boss I ever fought, riding said boss in the next level was pretty much the best thing ever. The second boss was almost traumatizing to little me. The idea of not being able to do some things in earlier levels until you had better abilities was baffling to me at the time. I could go on for days about what I remember about this game. Also, these swimming controls are some of the best in any platformer.

That game was amazing! It may have had cheesy fake Australian accents, a supporting cast that was so pitiful that I couldn't help but laugh every time they showed up, and a plot that was rather weak, but the game was pure fun. I really wish I still had it.

That final boss was horrible though. I can't believe I spent so long controlling a boomerang through a robot.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Big Ran Over By A Reindeer

[SuperStingray]

That game was amazing! It may have had cheesy fake Australian accents, a supporting cast that was so pitiful that I couldn't help but laugh every time they showed up, and a plot that was rather weak, but the game was pure fun. I really wish I still had it.

That final boss was horrible though. I can't believe I spent so long controlling a boomerang through a robot.

Seems weird, considering the developer was Australian.

[The Kid]

Seems weird, considering the developer was Australian.

It may have been Australian but most of the characters ended up sounding like Stereotypes. It would of been one thing if the characters merely had a hint of an Australian accent, but some of the phrases were just laughably cheesy.

[Tornado]

Seems weird, considering the developer was Australian.

It may have been Australian but most of the characters ended up sounding like Stereotypes. It would of been one thing if the characters merely had a hint of an Australian accent, but some of the phrases were just laughably cheesy.

I have to imagine it was done intentionally like it was with the Crocodile Dundee movies.

[King Frosty]

First game I ever played huh.....

Oh man this brings back good memories as a kid. After seeing my cousin play Super Mario 64. ....I was really scared of the game as a kid due to Bowser's laugh and other stuff, so I told my mom to buy me Mario Kart 64 instead. Needless to say, I loved playing the game with family. It was always chaotic during a birthday party or just a summer day. Usually won most of the races. And I got over my fear of Bowser's roar and stuff through the game, and got Mario 64 and Zelda a year later. So guys, PLAY SOME MARIO KART 64.