These could be games that left a lasting impression on you, games that had stellar gameplay mechanics, characters that captivated you, games that you played tons of hours on, etc.
Secret of Mana on the SNES and Mario brothers 3.
A man of culture.
Secret of Evermore is also grossly underrated.
Finally found my people :)
- Diablo 2
- Starcraft broodwar
- Warcraft 2
- Quake 2 (with a ton of mods!)
- Need for speed 2
Replace Warcraft 2 and Quake 2 (Counterstrike 1.3 was my Quake) with Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Nox, and I was you.
I played Nox as well, but not so much. All those are great classics!
Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter series, Ratcher and Clank series mostly. Most people usually associate childhood with Nintendo games but they’re super rare in my country, I only ever got around to playing series like Zelda and Mario in the mid-2010s. For what it’s worth the playstation 2 really was the console to have at the time, the games were amazing. Pretty sad Sony is reluctant to make good ports of them for the new generation.
Oh, and everyone I knew had House of the Dead 2 on the computer. Now that’s a classic.
When I was a kid I used to walk to the movie store to rent games. I would go back every time I had money and rent Chrono Trigger, but some one would always erase my save, so I would have to start over.
On my birthday I got a check from my grandma that was for 50 dollars. I walked right up to the game store and slammed my check on the counter for one copy of Chrono Trigger. I didn’t know how money, checks, or sales tax worked.
Luckily, my mom bailed me out. I played that game for years. I still have such fond memories of that game.
I love Chrono Trigger. I still listen to the OST at least once a month.
It’s amazing that CT never spawned an ongoing franchise. Aside from the controversial CC, there have been no other followups or even remakes, only a remaster. It’s like the platonic ideal of a JRPG, sitting alone and unsullied in the timestream.
Honestly though, how do you even follow it up? That game had a ridiculous dev team.
- Akira Toriyama - creator/Artist of Dragon Ball
- Nobuo Uematsu - Writer of (many) Final Fantasy scores
- Yūji Horii - game designer and scenario writer from Dragon Quest
- Hironobu Sakaguchi - Game director/designer/producer of Final Fantasy
- Kazuhiko Aoki - (Getting this whole gang together)
Breath of Fire: 1 + 2 - Capcom
Contra: Hard Corps - Konami
DOOM 3 - id Software
Fable - Lionhead Studios
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - Square Enix
Golden Sun: 1 + 2(The Lost Age) - Camelot Software
Oni - Bungie
Prince of Persian: Sands of Time + Warrior Within + Two Thrones - Ubisoft
Red Alert 2 - Westwood Studios
Silent Hill: The Room - Team Silent
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis - Quest Corporation
Zeus: Master of Olympus - Impressions Games
I miss having enough time to play more games… Thanks for the nostalgia trip though OP.
Fuckin Golden Sun was super legit. I even loaded up an emulator and replayed just a few years ago. It holds up perfectly well.
If you’d be interested in a kind of spiritual successor, try CrossCode. Not exactly the same, the combat is very different, but the general exploration reminds me of Golden Sun a lot.
All hail Retroarch, All hail mobile emulation!
We need more Golden Sun in the world today
Alley Cat, Dukem Nukem 3D, Ultima (4, 5, and 7), Daytona, Day of the Tentacle, Zack McCracken…
I mentioned this in another comment as well… but…
Ultima IV is free on GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/ultima_4
Also have you seen MoonRing? It’s a very recently released game, very Ultima inspired game from one of the original devs on Fable.
How did I forget about Alley Cat?
As if I wasn’t making myself feel old enough man you had to mention Ultima…
Without a doubt Morrowind for me.
Halo and Diablo also, in different genre.
Damnit I was hoping I was in fast enough to be the Morrowind fan girl post but you’ve already mentioned it lol. Still play Morrowind, my favorite game, and the primary reason I’m in the game dev field.
I wasn’t even the first, someone else posted it also while I was typing my answer.
I didn’t even re play it that much. I think in the end I probably have more playtime on Oblivion. But much better/stronger memories from Morrowind. It was maybe because I had less video game experience to compare it with, but this one clearly left a big mark on me. I still have incredible goosebumps when “the road most travelled” or “nerevar rising” sounds start playing from my playlists.
The gameplay maybe clunky compared to today, especially to combine weapon and magic. But everything else was so amazing for the time, and some part are still much better than recent games.
I even had a talk with someone at an “ai in game dev” conference who took as an exemple the way the diary/quest log of Morrowind was working.
Mario RPG was my favorite (yes Im eating good right now). I like describing it as a toy, there are so many things to be done for no other reason than to have fun, enabled by the fact you’re a platformer character in a 3D fantasy world. You cant jump onto the store’s counter in other RPG’s of the time, but you get to in this game, and you’re rewarded with being scolded by the shopkeep. You can jump on all the NPC’s, on wedding cake, pianos, hyperactive kids, all the beds, catapults. Jumping is often times your response to NPC dialogue.
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
Super Mario Sunshine
Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons/Ages
Golden Sun 1 and 2
These are the games that made my childhood great!
Golden sun games are so good. I wish that series would get a revival
Oh golden sun was such a gem. My parents bought it used for cheap and I had such low expectations - spent so many hours playing through the storyline as a kid it has to be the best playtime/$ investment in my lifetime so far.
Definitely going to go hunt down Golden Sun 2 now
Command and conquer.
Super Mario 3
Smash Bros N64. Every day at lunchtime, we would inhale our food as fast as possible so we had a chance to play a few rounds
Also Goldeneye N64
I can’t believe that this is the first and only mention of Goldeneye. Though it was eclipsed by Perfect Dark, those two were the best console fps games until Halo came out and finally figured out the controls.
Freelancer
Transport Tycoon
The Guild (Europa 1400)
Empire Earth
Anno 1602 + 1503
Monkey Island
Heroes of Might and Magic 3+
Pokemon
C&C Generals
Stronghold
Star Wars Jedi Knight
Battlefield 1942 Desert Combat + Vietnam
World of Warcraft
Oh how could I forget Transport Tycoon! What a classic. I will fire it up occasionally to this day.
Pokemon gold and silver + smash bros
StarCraft
Super Mario world
Body harvest
Super smash brothers
Halo
3D Pinball Space Cadet
Pokémon Blue
Halo 1
Rollercoaster tycoon 1 and 2 (never 3)
Vigilante 8 second offense (twisted metal alternative)
Desert Strike for the Sega Genesis as wells the sequels urban strike and jungle strike. Badass attack helicopter saves the day.
Need for speed underground 2
Space cadet 3d pinball
T.H.U.G. 1 and 2
Monster Truck Madness for windows 95
Croc 1 and 2
Metal gear solid
Okay, how old am I? Lol
I’m gonna guess 37-39 depending on if you have older siblings or not.
Only child, but my best friend growing up was 3 years older than me. Surprisingly, I’m 33.
Mid thirties, cause you’re younger than me. I was already in my sophomore year of university by the time halo came out, and I’m 43.
Yeah, I’m 33.