Favorite Gaming Experiences

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

Hands down it would have to be when my friend and I discovered Gauntlet, Dark Legacy. The first night we played together we spent hours screaming in laughter as we pushed each other into exploding trunks/barrels and made endless fun of the Falconess/Sorceress voice overs when eating food or being hit. They always sounded like they were enjoying that food WAY too much. Also the Unicorn's movements when firing that souped up arrow was deliciously ripe for making bedroom grunts and inappropriate innuendo.

Non-gutter behavior included mocking the Jester''s sarcastic "I'm so happy for you!". I'm convinced I injured myself with laughter when we played the Your Worst Nightmare level. (But then, maybe the pain was caused when we saw the Rifftrax episode for Roadhouse together. Mike's reaction to the bad guy telling the Swayzter that he "f---d guys like [him] in prison"? Golden.)

We yearned for the weekends when we would mix up TGIF Mudslides full of chocolate syrup and have huge marathons of playing. We beat the whole game with every single character possible (including the creature counterparts). I'm sure my fond memories have a lot to do with whom I was playing, but I've never had that much fun with a game before or since. Makes me sad that I might not again.

[drew]

Madden '07 during my senior year of college: Six friends living under one roof, drinking Natty Light and playing the most heated Franchise mode ever (with fantasy draft for fairness).

[PoolMan]

My wife's puzzled look when I was shouting at my DS to open a door in Zelda Phantom Hourglass.

Honestly honey, I have to yell at it!

[TheLuckyOne]

Jun 3, 2008 12:45:56 GMT -5 PoolMan said:

Honestly honey, I have to yell at it!

Wives never understand that. Just like our parents never understood that shaking the controller up and down helps you dodge things better in Super Mario.

-D

[Rett Mikhal]

Jun 3, 2008 12:45:56 GMT -5 PoolMan said:

My wife's puzzled look when I was shouting at my DS to open a door in Zelda Phantom Hourglass.

Honestly honey, I have to yell at it!

'

Maybe wives would understand it if it made any sense. Sadly, no, it does not. I hate the DS because of all those stupid features being mandatory on their games. It's like Nintendo bursts into every game developer's private office once they've developed a working game model and blasts paintball guns all over the office signifying what areas need voice recognition, joystick emulation, wireless support, backward compatibility and two screens, most often one just being a map that you always have to stare at.

/rant.

Anyways. I have many favorite gaming experiences. The one I can think of off the top of my head is the final mission I flew in Europe with my P-51 Mustang in which I protected 20 B-24 Liberators and shot down six ME-262s by myself. SIX! Shooting down one JET FIGHTER with a piston powered aircraft is something to write home about. The mission took about two hours, not including the autopilot to and from Europe. The Last 262 I trailed for a good 45 minutes because I only had 20 bullets left. I outmaneuvered him and shot him in the cockpit using the last 4 bullets. I wish I saved the replay, but, once again, it WAS two hours long with a lot of me chasing green dots on the horizon. I was awarded the Medal of Honor for my actions.

I talk too much.

[Hucklebubba]

Jun 7, 2008 21:44:00 GMT -5 Rett Mikhal said:

Anyways. I have many favorite gaming experiences. The one I can think of off the top of my head is the final mission I flew in Europe with my P-51 Mustang in which I protected 20 B-24 Liberators and shot down six ME-262s by myself. SIX! Shooting down one JET FIGHTER with a piston powered aircraft is something to write home about. The mission took about two hours, not including the autopilot to and from Europe. The Last 262 I trailed for a good 45 minutes because I only had 20 bullets left. I outmaneuvered him and shot him in the cockpit using the last 4 bullets. I wish I saved the replay, but, once again, it WAS two hours long with a lot of me chasing green dots on the horizon. I was awarded the Medal of Honor for my actions.

Which game was this? Jane's WWII Fighters, perchance? Arguably still the greatest WWII-era flight simulator ever made?

I would give Pacific Fighters a tie for that spot, but I know it can't be the game you're referring to, due to a conspicuous absence of the Luftwaffe. (At least the P-51 is still flyable; although I've always been more of a Jug* man, myself.)


*This is not what it sounds like. Although what it sounds like is technically also true.

[Rett Mikhal]

Aces over Europe. One of the greatest flight sims ever, and EASILY the greatest dos-based one. It's free for download these days on Home of the Underdogs.

I've never been a fan of the P-47 Thunderbolt. I argue there's got to be something basically wrong with a 10,000 pound EMPTY piston powered fighter plane with enough surface area to make it less of a plane and more of a bullseye. I also don't like the fact it's so big I can't see while I taxi. In real life, the tarmac people would sit on the wings and signal directions to the pilot. Interestingly, the P-47 accounted for the most Allied kills and was the mount of choice for the top European Allied Ace, Gabreski. I've flown against Gabreski in the Ace Duel mode of Aces over Europe, and he is amazing. I have absolutely no idea how he takes advantage of a fighter with literally no advantages besides armor and diving speed. I still shot him down, though.

The P-51 is an amazing plane, but the Hellcat would be my mount of choice for Pacific fighting. The reason being the war sped up technology so fast by the time of Guadalcanal, the Mustang was obsolete. The Hellcat was a significant improvement, especially in engine power. The top fighter in the Pacific (which was the mount of choice for the top three American aces) was the P-38 Lightning. Ironically, the P-38 Lightning was a total failure in Europe, because of the cold affecting the dual fuel pumps, and the P-51 Mustang was a failure in the Pacific because it couldn't do carrier operations well.

[Hucklebubba]

This thread has officially been hijacked. Everyone remain calm.

I'll grant you the Mustang is a superb aircraft, and probably superior to the Thunderbolt once you tally up all the numbers; but I can't stop thinking about the gimpy radiator (was this addressed in later revisions? I can't remember, and I'm too lazy to research), and two fewer fifty-cals.

Plus--and I'll admit ahead of time that this isn't much of a coolness-determining factor--in addition to its legendary diving ability, the Jug had a service ceiling that was slightly higher than the Mustang, and considerably higher than its Luftwaffe adversaries (the BF-109 and FW-190, at least; not sure about the 262, and, again, I'm too lazy to research). In other words, a Jug pilot would always have the option of climbing to where the bad guys can't follow, and fleeing like a little girly-man.

On the Nazi side of things; I've always found the FW-190 to be the most interesting of the lot. I mean, how did it even come to be? Did some German engineers just suddenly wonder to themselves, "Hey, what if we took a giant pile of machineguns, and put wings on it?"

Of the countless times I've had head-on encounters with a Shrike in WWII Fighters, I've emerged victorious exactly once. And that was thanks half to dumb luck and half to a corkscrew maneuver I did mainly as a joke, and was dumbfounded by when it actually put me in an advantageous firing position.

As for the Pacific theater; make mine Coursair.

But by far my favorite WWII-vintage aircraft, across all theaters, factions and classes: The B-25 Mitchell. Specifically, the J revision. Solid-nosed variant (insane number of machineguns am best!)

[Rett Mikhal]

"Doomsday Device? AH! NOW THE BALL IS IN FARNWORTH'S COURT!"

ME-262 Swallow: 11,450 m (37,565 ft)
P-47 Thunderbolt: 13,100 m (43,000 ft)

Pretty impressive that an older, piston powered prop fighter could go well beyond the ceiling range of a newer, turbine powered craft. Then again the 262 was the first of its kind... and thus the worst of its kind. I'm not a fan of it at all.

The FW-190 Butcher-Bird (11,410 m (37,430 ft)) is by and far my favorite German aircraft. It was my mount of choice during the time I went crazy and did the 44-45 campaign on the side of the Germans. I had 118 air-to-air victories and was awarded every medal up to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. In my Mustang, I had 78 kills, and every medal up to the Medal of Honor. Granted, I did a lot more anti-bomber runs on the German side and shot down a lot of Avro Lancasters, which were practically defenseless. A mission in which I shot down 6/6 Lancasters or 9/9 Lancasters was pretty common, even if I had to shoot down guardian Lightnings or Spitfires.

The Focker Wulfe was a gun platform, the Hunter Killer of 44. The original model had 2x13 mm guns and 2x20mm cannons with 475 and 250 rounds, respectfully. Not enough! Upgrade it to the FW-190-A4 (otherwise known as the FW-190-F) with 2x13mm cannons and 4x20mm cannons, with an additional 150 rounds for the 20mm cannons. In addition, let's put more wooden bomb and rocket racks on it so it can hold three times as much. Still not enough!! Bolt on two medium infantry mortars on either side of the plane to shoot mortar rounds at bomber formations. The GR.21 mortar is a weapon you won't find in anything but the most specific FW-190 or WWII fighter plane schematic manual. Horribly inaccurate, but if you managed to get good with it, you could take out three bombers with one shot. Its most useful aspect was the fact bombers learned to fear the sound of mortars at 10,000 feet. They would usually scatter and be easy pickings. As stated before, 4x20mm with 400 rounds.

They eventually did fix the radiator problem in the Mustang and most water-cooled engine fighters. There's always an inherent danger without redundancy in the water-cooled engines. Without expanding rubber or extra hoses for the coolant, a kid with a BB gun could shoot you down. The 6 .50 cals is the only disadvantage to the Mustang. It also only had around 626 rounds. It meant you had to only take a shot when you knew you'd hit them. The 20mm cannon on the Lightning, Spitfire and German fighters made it easier, but you tended to waste ammo more. A cockpit or engine shot with 20 rounds left in a Mustang is just priceless.

As for both the Jug and the Lightning's legendary diving ability, I find that more of a disadvantage. Since compressibility was just beginning to be understood, diving too fast was extremely dangerous. If you got too ambitious and dove too steep, you could almost break the sound barrier, and the compressed air in front of you would make a shockwave pushing all the air away from your rudder and ailerons, thus making your control surfaces useless.

You seem to favor the slower, heavily armored creatures, like the B-25 Mitchell and the A-10 Warthog. I myself used to be totally in love with the Y-wing. That one had the perfect mix of diving ability and control. If you ever really needed speed, you could always turn potential energy into it. I long for the day of an updated and online X-wing vs TIE Fighter so I may fly the Y-wing again. In terms of WWII aircraft - give me the SBD-Dauntless (A-24 Banshee). Awesome, awesome dive bomber, and you gotta love the rear 50 cal. It sank the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu during the battle of Midway.

[PoolMan]

I just thought of a favourite gaming experience: Gears of War. Which shocks the heck out of me, because who thought I'd ever be an Xbox 360 backer? But me and my roommate while I was away on work training last summer spent many, many nights up till 2am screaming at each other while playing through all the difficulty levels of GOW. TONS of fun, just awesome. The game allows for such cooperative play you almost can't conceive of playing the single player mode.

[Rett Mikhal]

I'd have to second that. Co-op in that game was pretty fun. Multiplayer....... no. 4v4, only, with no difference in game modes, and no option for respawn? Lame. If I want Counter-strike in Space with only 8 people I'll play a Counter-strike in space mod with only 8 people!

[eatmyshorts]

I think my favorite gaming experience would have to be playing through Metal Gear Solid for the first time. It was very memorable because I did not have a memory card, I finished the first disc, and had no clue I could just switch the discs without turning the PS1 off. I was in severe depression for several days until finally someone told me what to do.

PS: The ending of the game is the only video game related experience that has affected as much as a movie or a book. Truly amazing game.

[whansen02]

by far ... i mean ... by far ... my fav (seems like forever) has been WOW. i can't get enough. totally addicted. i'm sure one day i'll have to broaden my horizons ... but until that day ... WOW all the way!!!!

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

Jun 3, 2008 18:34:14 GMT -5 TheLuckyOne said:

Jun 3, 2008 12:45:56 GMT -5 PoolMan said:

Honestly honey, I have to yell at it!

Wives never understand that. Just like our parents never understood that shaking the controller up and down helps you dodge things better in Super Mario.

-D

Okay I'm a wife and I'M the one with the gaming anger issues. I totally understand.

Body count (since I was a young 'un)
2 Super Nintendo controllers
1 Donkey Kong game
1 Super Mario All Stars game (I still apologize to my cousins for that one)
2 Sega Game Gears. Yeah. The whole thing. I almost Hulk ripped that first one in two and then smashed the second one, mostly due to the Addams Family Game.
1 Addams Family Game
1 Near miss with the Batman Forever game for Sega Game Gear
2 PS2 conrollers
2 PS2 consoles left with minor scars


My husband doesn't allow me to touch his Guitar Hero when he's not around to referee.

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

If I still have an audience that doesn't fear speaking to me after that last post, I have to say that Medal of Honor is certainly one of my most memorable games. I STILL can't watch anything made by Dreamworks without imagining the little boy parachuting off the "D", then yelling an indignant "hey!" when his parachute gets caught on the corner of it. I first played that game 10 years ago.