What classic game from your childhood sticks out the most and why?

[disjaukifa]

Hey Guys,

 

Sure this topic has been done before, but I'm came across a game yesterday that I had honestly kind of forgotten about but now I remember spending a lot of time playing.

 

For me it was Impossible Mission II from Epyx on my old Apple II with just a Green and Black screen. That Apple II was my first computer that I got in 92 ~ 93, I can't remember exactly, however it was my first video game system/computer. My dad's friend game use two fo them with a bunch of software and games.

 

My brother played Zaxxon all the time and I played Impossible Mission II. I think what I liked about the game was both the simplicity and the complexity of the game, go to various rooms, search for numbers to unscramble a code to beat the game. I also loved the way your player would flip around the screen.

 

What games do stick out the most in your memory?

[MagitekAngel]

I could give you quite a list.

 

The first console my family owned was a Colecovision. The one game I remember vividly from it was - wait for it - Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park. It was sort of a simplified Pitfall clone, and it's my first gaming memory. I couldn't have been any older than three.

 

A short while after that, my family borrowed an NES from my Aunt and Uncle, and the three games I remember from that were the two Zelda games and Dr. Mario. I was thoroughly terrible at all of them, but I loved to play.

 

As far as the computer goes, it was DOS for the first few years, and on that I enjoyed a wide variety of games. The ones that stick out most are Treasure Mountain, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Electric Jigsaw, Jazz Jackrabbit, and Commander Keen.

 

The NES went back to my relatives, but we got a Super Nintendo shortly after it debuted. I vividly remember the box with the pack-in Super Mario World cartridge, and all the hours of fun that brought. Within a year or so we amassed a small library of some of the best games for the system: Mario World, Mario All-Stars, Zelda LTTP, and Lemmings.

 

I went through a bout of bad throat infections when I was four or five and had my tonsils taken out. To make my recovery more enjoyable my parents bought me a steady supply of ginger ale and SimCity on the SNES. I didn't really understand how to play it for years, but I eventually got the hang of it and loved it.

 

Super Mario Kart also inspires warm memories because it was the first game I "bought". For one summer, when I was seven or eight, I did extra chores and tasks around the house which carried with them a small credit value towards the game - folding the laundry might be a quarter in the jar. My dad put a chart on the fridge to track my progress, and I needed to reach half the price of the game. When I did, my Dad met me halfway and I got the game - the first thing I remember saving up for. A fond memory.

[raskar42]

polaris for the trs-80 coco. i loved it because it was mine.

[Algus]

Do I have to pick just one? lol

 

I was working out a big list of stuff but in the spirit of the topic I'll go with Resident Evil. One of my close friends introduced it to me when we were kids (and probably way to young to be playing it heh) and to this day it remains a favorite of ours. Whenever we get together (he lives across the country now so usually "get together" means online :/) it is inevitable that we will start quoting it and annoy everyone around us, heh.

[disjaukifa]

Yeah I know the list could be vast, same with me, I have a TON of games I played, however I was interested to see which game sticked out the most, I know for some that not easily done, but for me, I remember spending a ton of time playing Impossible Mission II and loving it. Interestingly enough I can't remember if I have ever beaten the game or not . . .

[TwinChargers]

The first one that really comes to mind for me would be Pitfall! I would guess it is more from not having it myself, but my grandparents having it at there house. I remember going over to visit and bypassing them and my aunts and uncles and heading straight for the Atari. While I had quite the collection myself, they had Tapper, Gyruss, Venture, Star Raiders (along with quite a few others) and what I concidered the crown jewel, Pitfall! I remember the challenges of hopping across the alligators and leaping over the scorpion all in search of more treasure. Still one of my favorite games to this day.

[bomberpunk]

my youth is filled with way too many gaming memories. i could maybe do a top 25. ha!

[A_Locomotive]

Donkey Kong for the SNES. My brother and I played the hell out of that game growing up, in fact we still do play it together on occasion.

[disjaukifa]

Donkey Kong for the SNES. My brother and I played the hell out of that game growing up, in fact we still do play it together on occasion.

 

The one multiplayer game I remember playing all the time with my brother was NBA Hangtime for the N64. Still to this day when we visit each other, we try getting in a couple of games of Hangtime. I don't know how many times we've beaten that games, but its been alot.

[+20ohm20]

Telengard on cassette for the Commodore 64. I didn't have a floppy drive for the first year that I had a C64 (got a 1541 the following Christmas), so I used to play this *a lot*. This was during a time where the only games I had for the C64 were a few of those early Commodore cartridges, a couple on cassette, and whatever I typed in from Compute! magazine.

[fiddlepaddle]

From my CHILDHOOD?!

 

I'd have to say Pong. Me and my friend used to walk over to Sears at the mall after high school and play Pong on the "big" TV in the TV department where they used it to attract and rope-in walk-bys. We got pretty good playing each other and could keep that ball going back and forth for quite a while before missing. TV games were still quite a novelty and crowds would gather and watch us, and the winner would be challenged by someone else.

 

I didn't really consider myself a child at the time, but I guess I would now...

[LynxVGL]

Childhood would probably be "Star Raiders." I remember a local Computer Company at the County Fair having a booth, featuring an Atari 800 running the seminal game. I was fascinated by its complexity (and that the Zylons looked like TIE Fighters) and hung out endlessly that Summer trying to get one more game of "Star Raiders" in. Good times.

[disjaukifa]

From my CHILDHOOD?!

 

I'd have to say Pong. Me and my friend used to walk over to Sears at the mall after high school and play Pong on the "big" TV in the TV department where they used it to attract and rope-in walk-bys. We got pretty good playing each other and could keep that ball going back and forth for quite a while before missing. TV games were still quite a novelty and crowds would gather and watch us, and the winner would be challenged by someone else.

 

I didn't really consider myself a child at the time, but I guess I would now...

 

Yeah honestly I'm a generation after the Atari 2600, 5200 and 7800, I was born in the mid 80's so for me, I'm actually into a video game system that came out before I was born

[+save2600]

2600 Tutankham. It was a hot summer day and was helping my Dad fix busted pinball machines. Afterwards, we stopped in to the local Jewel/Osco to pickup some cookout food for later that night. My Dad, for whatever reason, did not want to pay the money that was owed for working with him (probably cause he knew I was going to waste it on a 2600 game) and refused to let me buy Tutankham that was behind the Osco counter. Think it was only $7-$8. No big whoop. Got home, got paid and rode my bike right back up there to get it.

[AlvinKarpis]

I will just do it by systems

 

Arcade: Tie between Robotron and Joust

 

2600: Pitfall!

 

7800: Pole Positon 2

 

NES: Super Mario Bros 2

 

Sega Genisis: NHL 94

 

SNES: Sim City

 

N64: Mario Kart 64

 

 

Systems I didnt own but my friends did

 

ColecoVision: Donkey Kong and DK Jr.

 

 

 

 

The reason is because I played these games the most, on the NES I would say I spent more time on Dragon Warrior and Zelda, but SMB2 was my favorite game and I could always come back to it

Edited September 21, 2011 by AlvinKarpis

[AtariTexas]

I remember playing the hell out of Defender

[vanderveen88]

Definitely Sonic 2 on the Genesis. I remember playing this game at a friend's house on Sundays after church when I was 5 or 6 years old. My family didn't have any games at all then; my parents waited till I was 8 before they bought our first computer, and it would be a couple more years before my brother and I bought our first system together (a used Genesis). But I can clearly and fondly recall which systems each of my friends and relatives had at the time.

 

Anyway, we'd always play in 2-player mode and as the guest I'd inevitably get stuck with Tails, but I never minded. I don't remember what other games they had since we never seemed to tire of it. The special stage was the best, of course, but playing any video game at all was just so exciting for me then. It was kind of hard to tell what was going on at times with the crunched screens, but we loved it anyway.

[disjaukifa]

Definitely Sonic 2 on the Genesis. I remember playing this game at a friend's house on Sundays after church when I was 5 or 6 years old. My family didn't have any games at all then; my parents waited till I was 8 before they bought our first computer, and it would be a couple more years before my brother and I bought our first system together (a used Genesis). But I can clearly and fondly recall which systems each of my friends and relatives had at the time.

 

Anyway, we'd always play in 2-player mode and as the guest I'd inevitably get stuck with Tails, but I never minded. I don't remember what other games they had since we never seemed to tire of it. The special stage was the best, of course, but playing any video game at all was just so exciting for me then. It was kind of hard to tell what was going on at times with the crunched screens, but we loved it anyway.

 

Hahah yeah good times! I love hearing stories like this! I remember I went to visit some family in Germany in 95, and one of my cousins had Jazz Jack Rabbit on his computer, my brother and I were hooked the entire time we stayed at their house, that game was awesome!

[+thegoldenband]

Tough to answer this question because I've been into video games for about as long as I can remember, so it really depends on what phase of my childhood we're talking about. I became a far more proficient gamer in the post-crash era, but in some ways I think pre-crash systems had a more lasting impact on my gaming psyche, so I'll only talk about those.

 

My earliest years were saturated with the VCS and arcade games, but I wasn't really good enough at games to make much headway, and it's all a bit of a blur. I know I played Tempest, Robotron, Targ, Major Havoc, and other games, but I can't remember a chronology, and no one arcade experience stands out. Similarly, I'm told that we had Combat and other games when we first got our VCS in 1980-ish, but those memories are mixed up with later ones.

 

Later on, it's hard to single out any one title. I have individual memories but they often reflect the context more than the game itself: I remember imploring my mother to keep the copy of Gorf we received in the mail from the game-of-the-month club, for example.

 

Still, two games really stuck with me in a way that others didn't: Raiders of the Lost Ark for VCS, and Dungeons of Daggorath for Tandy CoCo.

 

It's difficult to pinpoint it, but...both games communicated something enigmatic and foreboding, and both involve waiting and the passage of time as a central gameplay element. I think these games, and others like them, gave me a lifelong taste for games that have a bleak or uncanny quality. I'm thinking here of games like Drakkhen, Out of This World, and Lord of the Rings Vol. 1 for SNES.

 

A related memory is something I might call "the feeling of being far from home". When I would get deep into Pitfall, or reach an advanced level of Q*bert or Frogger, it would feel like I'd traveled on a journey and reached a place that was half-familiar. Part of this is that the VCS often doesn't give you level numbers, so unless you're keeping count, the association is formed in visual-spatial terms. The VCS port of Q*bert gives each level a distinctive color, and when I'd reach "the grey and yellow level" or whatever, it felt like a specific place, akin to a landmark deep in the woods. This is something the VCS is really good at -- the association of color and gameplay -- Missile Command does it too, and also Superman in a different way.

 

By the way, one more vivid memory is looking at the Parker Bros. catalog of upcoming VCS titles, and seeing the ad for the Lord of the Rings game with its "more than 2000 exciting screens". Just look at the screenshot -- it looks like the first stage of a long journey, with that road trailing off into the distance. I always imagined what it would be like to set off into that distant landscape; I thought the game would have all these different scenes and places, like a cross between Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark, only better.

 

I always wanted the VCS to offer that sense of walking off into the unknown, of trekking into the wilderness and passing through a series of nameless, yet deeply specific locations. Alas, the closest thing I could find was Chuck Norris Superkicks.

Edited September 21, 2011 by thegoldenband

[BydoEmpire]

When I was a preteen in the late 70s or early 80s - don't remember the exact year - my mom couldn't find a sitter so my older brother had to take me with him to his friend's house for a D&D session. I wasn't particularly welcome in their gaming session, but his friend had a 2600 in his bedroom and he let me play Adventure all night, lights off, TV flickering. It was awesome. That's how I'll always remember Adventure and the 2600. I eventually got a 2600 of my own a couple years later.

[stinkoman]

My favorite has to be Sitting in the basement of my parents house with my mom,dad,and brother playing mario and watching my parents trying to finish Zelda.Its the only game that ever really had us all togethor.

 

I remember saving cash and pre-ordering Final Fantasy 7 getting the guide and getting hyped and excited.as I thought it was going to be the biggest game of all time.

 

One memory that still creates new ones is getting togethor with a childhood friend and trying to beat Toejam and earl on genesis.we have done this for years and still cant beat it.

[Vic George 2K3]

Not sure which game in my early years of living really sticks out in my mind. Just being able to play a game on the TV instead of merely watching TV was fascinating enough.

[Mendon]

Childhood would probably be "Star Raiders." I remember a local Computer Company at the County Fair having a booth, featuring an Atari 800 running the seminal game. I was fascinated by its complexity (and that the Zylons looked like TIE Fighters) and hung out endlessly that Summer trying to get one more game of "Star Raiders" in. Good times.

 

Same thing here.

 

I was in a department store and the electronic's department had an Atari800 set up with Star Raiders available to play. I was so totally blown away by the graphic's and gameplay that after I was "asked" to give someone else a chance to play (sheesh, I had only occupied the machine for an hour or so... the nerve of some pushy people) I bought one on the spot.

 

Had to open a charge account to afford the 800 and 810 disk drive and the wife-unit threatened to divorce me. But man, did that game and computer system change my life!

 

 

Mendon

[Chuck D. Head]

Playing Stunt Cycle at the skating rink when I was maybe ten

 

Playing Sea Wolf at the arcade tent at the fair

 

Riding my bike six miles to the arcade to play Scramble every weekend

 

Picking strawberries for three weeks to get money to buy my 2600 and putting that first cart in (basketball) it was the first time I touched an Atari

 

Making my own little text adventures on the Coco that no one ever played but me

 

Playing Yar's Revenge for hours and hours and hours

 

Buying a Genesis after I got married and playing tons and tons of Sonic, DeCapAttack, and Toe Jam and Earl

 

Buying an N64 and playing Mario 64, Pliot Wings and other games with my kids

 

Playing lots of Mario Party and Gauntlet with my family over the years

[Tr3vor]

Zelda LttP, I used to play this game constantly.

Kirby's Adventure: every time I went to my cousin's house, we would play this a ton.

Family feud on the SNES: only for rediculous memories of me and my cousin playing this putting in retarded stuff like "bra" and "shit" in the text box and surprisingly some of our explicit words came up as answers randomly that were different than what we put in.