The Top 5 games that defined your childhood

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

heyyyy, I WANT TO TYPE MINI REVIEWS AS WELL

[cverz2]

In no particular order.

The Legend of Zelda (NES)  Great memory of first seeing it at my cousins house. My brother and I begged mom & dad to get this game for us. We finally got it as a surprise in our Easter basket and played it to death.

Sim City (SNES)  Borrowed this game from my friend all the time. I would play this game sooo long that I would l stay up all night playing it.

NHL 94 (Genesis) Me, my brother, my best friend and his brother would have tournaments all the time.  Great memories of us all hanging out and talking smack.

Off Road Challenge (Arcade)  The small town I grew up in opened a kids/teen center.  My best friend and I would spend tons of quarters trying to "Beef up your truck"  

Man this is so hard to pick the last one.  So many games that meant alot to me over the years.  How do I pick between SMB, SMB 3, Castlevania, NBA Jam, Double Dragon, NBA Live, Mike Tyson's PO, Sonic, TMNT Arcade, Mortal Kombat, Contra, Final Fight Arcade, Link to the Past.

But I think I'll have to go with Tecmo Super Bowl.  Just like NHL 94, we would have big tournaments, we would make up snacks and drinks.  It was like my Super Bowl Parties are now.  LOL

[blcklblskt]

In no particular order:

Pokemon Series - The first game I owned was Pokemon Red, and I played that game for countless hours.  After Red came Yellow, Gold, and so on.  This game was easily my favorite game as a child, and I looked forward to the rare occasion that my parents would let me play it.  The series also has a huge amount of sentimental value as well.  My brother and I played every generation together up until Black/White, and they are some of the fondest memories I have of him.  I miss you, Jon. 

Animal Crossing (GC) - This was a game that my entire family played.  The GameCube would be running for hours a day as we ran through our daily chores in own towns.  It was fun helping each other out by getting Tom Nook's store to it's final expansion, trading items, etc.

Fire Emblem/The Sacred Stones (GBA) - I picked up the first game out of chance at a GameStop a couple years after release and immediately fell in love with it.  After hundreds of hours, I had to pick up TSS and liked it just as much.  They remain two of my favorite games to this day.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - Another game that my entire family played.  My dad beat the game while my brothers and I looked on in awe.  I was ~8 years old when the game came out, so my brothers and I weren't able to beat the game completely by ourselves back then.  Years later, we have all played it through again and loved it even more.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) - I'd be willing to bet that I've logged well over 500 hours in this game.  Not only did my brothers and I play the crap out of the game at home, we would always play it over our cousins' houses as well.  We still play it to this day.


And there are so many titles I've left out, like Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario & Luigi series, Metroid series, Star Fox 64, Super Mario Bros. series, etc.  I have so many great memories of playing games with my family as a kid.

[ixtaileddemonfox]

I would have to go with

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II for nes (First game I ever played and beat with my dad)
Excite Bike (Me and my brothers played this one all the time)
Final Fantasy (First RPG I played pretty much all over from there)
Ridge Racer for PS (also beat this one with my dad)
Final Fantasy VII for PS ( I have played through this so many times)

Had to add Tony Hawk's pro skater (played this non stop)
                   And Soul Calibur 2 (awesome)

[techwizard]

In no particular order:

Pokemon Series - The first game I owned was Pokemon Red, and I played that game for countless hours.  After Red came Yellow, Gold, and so on.  This game was easily my favorite game as a child, and I looked forward to the rare occasion that my parents would let me play it.  The series also has a huge amount of sentimental value as well.  My brother and I played every generation together up until Black/White, and they are some of the fondest memories I have of him.  I miss you, Jon. 

Animal Crossing (GC) - This was a game that my entire family played.  The GameCube would be running for hours a day as we ran through our daily chores in own towns.  It was fun helping each other out by getting Tom Nook's store to it's final expansion, trading items, etc.

Fire Emblem/The Sacred Stones (GBA) - I picked up the first game out of chance at a GameStop a couple years after release and immediately fell in love with it.  After hundreds of hours, I had to pick up TSS and liked it just as much.  They remain two of my favorite games to this day.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - Another game that my entire family played.  My dad beat the game while my brothers and I looked on in awe.  I was ~8 years old when the game came out, so my brothers and I weren't able to beat the game completely by ourselves back then.  Years later, we have all played it through again and loved it even more.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) - I'd be willing to bet that I've logged well over 500 hours in this game.  Not only did my brothers and I play the crap out of the game at home, we would always play it over our cousins' houses as well.  We still play it to this day.


And there are so many titles I've left out, like Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario & Luigi series, Metroid series, Star Fox 64, Super Mario Bros. series, etc.  I have so many great memories of playing games with my family as a kid.

i don't know how i forgot about metroid series...i would have to put metroid prime instead of the jurassic park game for me.

[Silent Scythe]

heyyyy, I WANT TO TYPE MINI REVIEWS AS WELL

You should! It's a lot more interesting than just seeing a bunch of random little lists.

[xtincthed]

Really glad you posted this on RFG (too much to type on my phone).

you're welcome :p I didn't expect I would learn about new games in this topic

[Am4zingGam3r]

1) StarCraft (and all expansions) (PC)
2) Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World (SNES)
3) Mohawk & Headphone Jack (SNES)
4) Glover (N64)
5) Star Wars (Arcade)

[Crazy_Opossum]

Okay mine goes #5 is Great but not something that Defined me that much  ---> #1 which is HOLY BALLS!!! THIS CHANGED MY LIFE!!!

5) E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Atari 2600) - this brought back so many memories of going to my grandmothers house and playing video games, I remember I was about 4 or 5 when I played and I remember getting stuck in that pit and end up just rage quitting. :3

4) Pitfall (Atari 2600) - I used to love the 8-bit music when you swing on the vines... and I loved the Indiana Jones series so, being a 5 year old I thought playing pitfall I was pretty BA.

3) Killer Instinct (SNES) - The first Game I beat all by myself :3 and I remember that moment when i got to the final boss my sister was cheering me on and my bro was like "HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!!!" (I was 7 years old at the time of this)

2) Mortal Kombat II (SNES) - This was a game I never attempted to beat yet, but the memories of my bro KILLING me at this game are fond memories I wish I could do again with my bro.

1) Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES) - This was my first Experience with the SNES ever ... before this all I ever played was the Atari 2600... and well this is the game that made me have a phobia of zombies which still lasts today... how it started was my bro told me "if you die in the game they'll come out and get you" me being a 5 year old took it seriously, so I played it and SUCKED terribly at it... and the game didn't scare me... but the Little angel sprite that comes up when you see a zombie get someone SCARED THE HELL out of me...

So now those are the games the Changed my life.

Games that almost made it on the top 5
Total Carnage (Arcade)
Rampage (Arcade)
Bloody Roar (PS1)

[raffa1985]

Street Fighter II is the game of my childhood without thinking too much. I still remember clearly back in 1991/1992 the many nights i spent playing it with my brothers, cousins and friends till dawn and the many times we fought during these matches because some can't stand to lose or take a joke

The rest of my top 5:

2) Super Mario Bros. (NES)
3) Mônica no Castelo do Dragão (know as Wonder Boy in Monster Land in United States) (SMS)
4) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (NES)
5) Alex Kidd in the Miracle World (SMS)

You mind if i do a top 10? There are other games that were special to me too when i was a child:
6) Road Rash (3DO)
7) Samurai Shodown (NEO GEO)
Fatal Fury 2 (NEO GEO)
9) World Heroes 2(NEO GEO)
10) Night Trap (3DO)

[slackur]

If 'childhood' is determined to be birth 'till around 14 or so...

5. Crossroads I & Crossroads II Pandemonium (C64)  The games that sealed my love for the hobby.  Fast action, a dash of simple strategy, Enemies with different behaviors that would even attack each-other, power-ups, the ability to set up traps, two player co-op/competition, and still hardly known as it was a 'Compute! Gazette' exclusive.  I never really got tired of them.



4. Necromancer (C64)  Superb atmosphere developed with so few tools.  Everything about the game, from the graphics and animation, gameplay, sound design, inventive enemies, and the odd vibe of pervasive harshness make this largely missed gem a game that still impresses me, then and now.  The fact that it plays across three completely different scenarios where success in one is dependent upon how well you did in the previous one makes every playthrough intense.  If you've just seen/played the opening scenario, its easy to miss how forward-thinking and unique this game is, especially since it has an ultimate boss at the end, and despite getting VERY close, I have yet to beat it. 



3. Gate of Thunder (Turbo Duo)  I always enjoyed shmups, starting with the C64 version of Threshold.  That title almost got this place, but Gate of Thunder edges it out because it took the outlying interest I had in the genre and stomped it permanently in the ground.  It plays so smoothly, the enemies are interesting, varied, and (on highly difficulties) full of well animated tricks.  It's more accessible than the earlier Thunder Force prequels, with Normal able to be conquered by novices, and the Devil difficulty still giving this old pro a challenge.  Also, my favorite game soundtrack.  Ever.



2. Tetris (Gameboy)  I still track down a version for every system, and while the GBC DX version is the best one IMHO, the old brick one went with me everywhere for years.  Once in the hospital, with an IV in my good hand, I played Level 9 High 5 on B type with only my free hand.  Took three days, but I beat it one handed.  Still one of my proudest gaming accomplishments.

1. Final Fantasy II/IV (SNES)  Ah, my favorite story in a video game.  The music is still in my top three gaming soundtracks (next to Shadow of the Colossus and Gate of Thunder.)  First game I played with characters that developed, and not just leveled.  Before FFII, my RPG knowledge was the first Dragon Warrior and some old PC dungeon crawlers.  FFII opened my eyes to gaming's narrative potential.  FFIII/VI had great characters and was far more refined, but FFII was the first to dig the well deep enough for everything else to fit in.

A whole lot more then and since, obviously, but those are probably the most defining ones for me from my youth.

[Wempster]

In no particular order, I chose 5 games from age 5 to around 12 or 13.  Teenage years were a whole other story with gaming.

Super Mario World (Snes)
Tecmo Super Bowl (Snes)
Robot Tank (Atari 2600)
After Burner (Sega Master System)
Star Fox (Snes)

[singlebanana]

Tempest (arcade Vector cab) - small general store near my great-grandparent's lake house had this cab, among others. Use to walk to the store with my cousin to play it. It's the reason I am addicted to the Vectrex now.

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (C64) - A buddy of mine had a C64 with several games and luckily his dad also owned a video rental (VHS) and NES rental store. Needless to say, we hung out a lot. We played a hell of a lot of 2-player Barbarian. Decapitating your opponent with that spinning sword was so cool....and then a goblin would come punt their head off the screen (see 1:30). Mortal Kombat whaaaaaaaa? ? ? ?




Grand Prix (2600) - My cousin had an Atari 2600 growing up with about 30 games (not something to thumb your nose at, at the time. My grandmother would take me over to her house to play and it was the only game my grandmother played with us. She would scream when she crashed and it made those electrocution sounds.

Metroid (NES) - Got a telescope from my grandparents one Christmas. They bought it off the display since it was the last one and "unfortunately" it didn't work. Took it back and pissed my parents off by coming home with an NES. Ironically, I bought the pack with the Official Nintendo Player's Strategy Guide....yeah, no Mario...no game at all.  Went to Roses that weekend and put a copy of Metroid on layaway and had to wait to pay it off with my meager allowance before I even had a game to play.

World of Warcraft - consumed my life for 3 years and even almost distanced myself from my wife. When my daughter was born, I gave it up completely and haven't looked back since. I replaced this part of my life with collecting NES/2600 games. BOING!

[Beardcore84]

I'm going with childhood, I'm talking 10 and under, which would be 1984-1994. Sooo in no particular order...

1) Maniac Mansion. I have such fond memories of my friend and I trying everything and anything we could to try to beat this game. We had no idea it was a bastardized version of a much better computer version. Just the idea of moving a panel, finding a cassette tape, and listening to it etc was awesome. Trying not to get caught by Aunt Edna was thrilling and learning the secret brick trick blew our minds at the time. We finally beat the game without and internet, Nintendo Power etc and couldn't be more proud to this day.

2) Dragon Warrior. This is the game that got me into RPGs, simple though it may be. I played for hours upon hours searching every single space, fighting as much as I could. I remember a Nintendo Power Howard & Nester comic that showed were to get Erdrick's Armor and I was so happy lol. To this day I love playing through this game. I remember playing Dragon Warrior in real life with my friend, we would use random toys as treasures and "explore" the neighborhood, fighting Slimes etc.

3)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project. THIS was the game. A lot of people loves TMNT II but THIS GAME. This was the game we stayed up as late as possible playing, then left the NES on overnight hoping it didn't freeze so we could continue in the morning. This was the game that really made us fall in love with the NES and made me personally fall in love with the bet em up genre.

4) Sonic The Hedgehog 2. I didn't get around much, and I didn't even know what Sega really was. This was when I was REALLY young, so I wasn't even really checking the magazines out. I was shocked to see a video game at my cousin's house that wasn't an NES. I was even more shocked when I played Sonic 2. It was so fast, so colorful. I practically begged to go to my cousin's all the time after I found out they had this machine. I remember the first time I beat this game and it was epic.

5) Super Mario Brothers 3. I don't really need to say much. This game shaped my childhood. Without this game, I don't know if I'd be on this site right now. I've beaten it over 100 times guaranteed. I have every little secret memorized, I know how to get every white mushroom house, the best levels to use the P-Wings, and god I wish I could use the SHOE in the whole game! How did a code never come out for that?!

Legend of Zelda gets honorable mention for being another game I played for hours on end.

[monkees19]

In no particular order:

Super Mario World
Tecmo Super Bowl
Final Fantasy II
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Pitfall (Atari)