Favorite Gaming Experiences

[Head Mutant]

It's been a while since we've had a good thread on gaming, so I wondered if we might start a thread on what were some of the most intense/exciting/exhilarating/frightening/memorable gaming experiences you've ever had.

I'll kick it off with a couple, and add some more later.

* Seeing and playing Super Mario Bros. for the first time. Up till this point, my brothers and I had been playing our Atari 2600 for the first half of the 80's. Then, Christmas one year (85 or 86), my friend Andrew got a NES for his present. We stayed up all night at a sleepover playing Super Mario Bros., pretty much going blind on this new and wonderful system. I can't really express how awesome it was to see the NES and it's many capabilities after being limited to the 2600 for so long, and it was agonizing that our parents wouldn't let us get a new game system until they caved in for the SNES in the early 90s. The next night, after playing SMB, I would lay awake thinking of an editing program that would let you design your own levels for the game.

* Ms. Pac-Man. As I said, we got a 2600 when it was all the rage, and this one game became my mother's absolute favorite. I've never seen her gaming before or since, but for a brief period of time, she was a madwoman for this game. I think it was the bow in her hair.

* Finishing The Longest Journey for the first time. I replayed this just this past month, to try to recapture this exprience and also prepare for the upcoming sequel, Dreamfall. Most people hadn't played TLJ, but you should -- and cheap copies are available in many stores (I picked up my second copy at Target for 9 bucks). This was one of the best and most incredible adventure games of the past decade, a period where this genre's been declining severely. TLJ is an epic adventure through two worlds and several hundred thousand lines of *spoken* dialogue, and I was just in awe of it the first time through. The main character was so interesting and delightful and snarky that I got very emotionally invested, particularly when she met her new best friend Crow (a... talking crow) and tried to accomplish the near-impossible of saving two linked worlds. It's like reading a terrific novel that you really wish would never end.

[Spiderdancer]

The first time I played the Undead Hordes on Disciples II. I deeply, deeply loved this game right from the start, with its detailed graphics, its labyrinthine levels, and its mathematical and precise battle structure - you really have to think a couple of moves ahead. I still can't figure out why nobody else likes it when people actually pay money for Age of Empires. Maybe it's just that I'm a detail freak.

But beyond all that, there's something about the Undead that just really appeals. (As anyone who has read any of my Warcraft fanfic knows.) I love that the Undead are more egalitarian than the poncing-white-guy Empire, with more and better female units (check out the Lich Queen with her "They will FEEL my power!" attitude). I love the double-voice effect of the banshees, where it sounds like they're holding a creepy little conversation with themselves. I love the skeletons, because, well, I just love skeletons. And I love the nonstereotypical look to the Undead capital, which has this sort of 1930's gray modern look. And a bat flapping around it. That did a lot for me, too.

I'm playing the Legions of the Damned right now, and they're definitely a close second, but the Undeads will always be what I think of when I think of turn-based fantasy gaming.

[pfrsue]

spiderdancer said:

I still can't figure out why nobody else likes it when people actually pay money for Age of Empires.

But... but I like Age of Empires.

[Hucklebubba]

And I'm rather fond of Disciples II. I especially like how the Witch Hunters look exactly like witch hunters are supposed to look.

Anyway, gaming moments. A recent award goes to Call of Duty for the first time I saw the "shell shock" effect. I was like, "Daaaang. That's cool! I want for explosions to occur near my guy more often!"

I'd also like to hand a sleeper award to Oni, one of my favorite PC games ever. I've recently started playing it again, and am freshly reminded of how badly I want a sequel, and how unlikely a sequel is.

Sure, the game had its flaws, but it was punchy-kicky fun overall, and I think it deserved better than the lukewarm reception it got. Plus, the main character is voiced quite nicely by Amanda Winn Lee, creating additional appeal for the anime geek in me. Indeed, in us all.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't say something about the ending sequence of Final Fantasy III. Unsurpassed to this day.

[DARTHMADLER]

Definitely playing Homeworld, very atmospheric, awesome story line and still looks good on my latest PC.

I'm playing it for the 3rd time now. Perfect game to play on dark semi-stormy nights.

[PoolMan]

I KNEW you were going to say Homeworld. Which reminds me, I forgot to grab it off you. Blast, we could be playing together! (and you'd be kicking my ass)

Let's see... favourite gaming memories...

First go at Super Mario Brothers, for sure. I remember it completely. At a friend of my brother's house, that legendary first kick on the block who had an NES. Complete with the 8 or so other kids who wanted to play. Very, very memorable.

I played the original Metroid on the NES so much as a kid that I had several of the 24 digit codes required to save the game (no save slots back then, let me tell you!) memorized. And not just the JUSTIN BAILEY code, but all our own superpowered ones. Our favourite was one nicknamed Mr Metallic.

Mega Man 2. How I longed to own that game. Haunted our local video store literally every day for WEEKS waiting for it to come in.

Jedi Outcast, because at long last someone had come up with a way to make hand to hand combat (with lightsabers, no less!) FUN on the PC in a FPS.

Final Fantasy III/VI for the SNES, because let's face it, it's the best of the series.

I'm sure I'll come with more...

[Head Mutant]

I was quite fond of our first home computer that we had through the bulk of the 80s, which I was always trying to find software and games for (often writing many games myself in BASIC). Since the computer didn't have a hard drive, it was up to the trusty 5 1/4" floppy disc to provide entertainment.

And thus, games like Starflight (a terrific outer space adventure marred by a horrible copy protection and no save game system to speak of) and the Kroz shareware games came to my rescue.

I was overly fond of Wasteland, that 1988 post-apocalyptic RPG that just kicked all sorts of booty and spiritually continued in the Fallout games. Wasteland was just fun, gritty and had a number of scenes I think my parents would not have been supportive of me seeing.

[Spiderdancer]

Recently Morrowind, also. This game is everything I WANTED the Final Fantasy games for the SNES to be (sorry, Justin). It's a great RPG that also has good graphics - no more salt shaker people! And, while you CAN dress your female character in scanty clothing if you wish, you will subsequently be killed instantly the first time she fights anyone wearing armor. Heh heh. The female characters are more streamlined, the way you'd expect a woman who spends hours running all over the landscape in armor to be, and do not have ridiculous proportions.

You can, if you wish, play an Orc or one of two other nonhuman-looking races in addition to the various Elven and Human races, though I'd have been happier if there hadn't been so (^*^%* many Elves (but I suppose that was inevitable). The quests are varied and interesting, and you can eventually make your own spells and enchanted weapons, etc. It's an amazingly detailed game. True, there are occasional moments of having to spend five minutes just traveling, but the game landscape is not hard to look at and you don't have to spend hours in one area for the purpose of fighting the same monsters over and over and OVER and OVER.

Daedric shrines are still one of my favorite things about the game design. They're just cool.

[Head Mutant]

I played Morrowind for a long while, and I'll concede that there's many great things about it... but ultimately, it lacked. The world was so wooden -- particularly the NPCs and dialogue -- and the combat faulty. I'm very much looking forward to Oblivion and seeing how they improved the whole vast world mechanic.

...Just curious, why would I be offended if you didn't like SNES games? I didn't make them, personally. Plus, I'm more of a defender of FFVII (playstation) -- go to Pooly for a defense of the SNES games.

[Spiderdancer]

I think it's because I know so many people who are so into the SNES (including my own dear Sib 1), and many of them argue vehemently against any criticism of the graphics, world building, sound effects, etc. I still don't get how she can play Chrono Trigger for hours on end. But hey, it takes all kinds and besides, the more time she spends on MY computer, the less time I get to spend playing Morrowind, Disciples II, and Warcraft III.

What do you mean, wooden? Let's not make this official, Outlander. Move along. And no, I did NOT say the exact same thing the last fifty times I saw you!

[bc]

Favorite gaming experiences...

I don't quite remember how old I was when the first Mortal Kombat was out there, I just remember i used to go to the arcades and play hours and hours of course making me good at it, so there I was a little kid at the arcades owning the "hardcore" MK players, I smile when I remember their faces and comments... "I can't believe that kid just killed me" "Don't you have to go ride a bike or something" Ahhhh the good times.

With my hunter in WoW I remember once just watching my cat destroy a mage on his own, that guy probably hates me and my pet....

I will think of more probably right now my mind is blocked.

I just searched the net for MK information and I was 8 years old when it was out there ;D

[funkymartini]

admin said:

* Finishing The Longest Journey for the first time. I replayed this just this past month, to try to recapture this exprience and also prepare for the upcoming sequel, Dreamfall. Most people hadn't played TLJ, but you should -- and cheap copies are available in many stores (I picked up my second copy at Target for 9 bucks). This was one of the best and most incredible adventure games of the past decade, a period where this genre's been declining severely. TLJ is an epic adventure through two worlds and several hundred thousand lines of *spoken* dialogue, and I was just in awe of it the first time through. The main character was so interesting and delightful and snarky that I got very emotionally invested, particularly when she met her new best friend Crow (a... talking crow) and tried to accomplish the near-impossible of saving two linked worlds. It's like reading a terrific novel that you really wish would never end.

I have a copy of that game... haven't had the time to get into it yet though!

my favourite experience... probably the first time I played Metal Gear Solid.. it was just so intense, you couldn't stop playing until it was over. I must've beat the whole game in 2-3 days.

Another good fantasy one is Ico... its about a boy with horns who is about to be sacrificed, and he has to escape from this evil witch who has trapped him in this castle. There is very little dialogue in the whole game, and yet you still become emotionally involved... its a very surreal game.

[StarOpal]

funkymartini said:

Another good fantasy one is Ico... its about a boy with horns who is about to be sacrificed, and he has to escape from this evil witch who has trapped him in this castle. There is very little dialogue in the whole game, and yet you still become emotionally involved... its a very surreal game.

If you like Ico you should try Shadow of the Colossus. It's made by the same people, looks gorgeous, and I've heard nothing but good things about the game.

[Dr Acula]

Bubble Bobble

[Head Mutant]

COMPLETE flashback to 1997, when the Interweb was a wild and untamed place, overrun with animated .gif graphics. Ah, those were the days when we didn't think anyone would ever become irritated by repetitive motion!