The video games I remember growing up with.
Whilst I primarily post about music here, a recent post (Albums that made me) got me thinking about other media related memories and that led me to something that has also played a big part, video games.
And so I decided to a post focusing on the video games that I have vivid memories of playing growing up. They’re not necessarily my favourite games, although some would also be included on that particular list.
I’d like to say that they’re all weird and obscure games because I’m so cool like that but for the most part, they’re just big popular titles that I happened to spend way too much time on. To the list!
The first game I have memories of is a super obscure one, you probably haven’t heard of it. It’s called Super Mario Bros. The first console I had growing up was NES. I think my dad brought one home in the early to mid 90s and we had four games. This, Duck Hunt, Tetris and The Legend of Zelda. I played so much of this but how it would have been nice to have checkpoints like modern games instead of starting over a lot.
The next game on my list is one that I only have vague memories of playing but vivid recollections of certain levels. Also sometime in the 90s my dad came home with a SEGA Genesis and a bunch of games that he got from a friend or colleague. I don’t really remember many of the games we got but I do remember Bart’s Nightmare. I liked the Simpsons. This was cool. I mostly remember the dinosaur level but this was fun!
After the NES and Genesis the next console we had was the PlayStation 1 and so the next four games will be from there. One of the games I definitely spent the most time with was Alien: Trilogy. There quite a lot of levels in a story loosely based on the movies where you play as Ripley. I absolutely loved this game and this was before I had seen the movies.
The next game I spent the most on from the PS1 was a football game. FIFA 98: Road to World Cup. My brother and I spent many hours playing this. Aside from being a regular FIFA game, you could have indoor 5-a-side games which I always missed on later editions. I also learnt how to push people over and get sent off. Useful but amusing.
Entry number 3 from the PS1 years is WWF: Attitude. Looking back on it now, obviously the characters look weird and blocky but at the time, ooh boy did I think it was great. I remember you had to learn combinations for different moves such as left-left-triangle for a body slam, with them getting more complex for more advanced moves. This is also my earliest memory of spending hours on the create a character mode and trying everything out. Good times.
The final round of PS1 nostalgia is a game I played less than the other three, probably because I wasn’t very good at it, but enjoyed nonetheless and that is Dino Crisis. I mostly have vivid memories of the first few parts of the story, specifically the T-Rex bursting through the window. Sorry for the spoiler for a 26 year old game.
Before moving on to the PS2. There are a few other directions we need to go in. First we travel to the Gameboy Colour (I had the teal one) and the game I spent the most time on out of almost any and that was Pokémon Yellow. If it was up to me I probably would have chosen Red or Blue so I could pick Bulbasaur but I was grateful anyway. I took this everywhere. Maybe I should compensate my parents for all the money they must have spent on batteries.
At some point in the late 90s we got our first PC and the next couple of games are in that arena. First is a game I still randomly say quotes from to this day and that is Stronghold. Essentially, you take the role of Medieval Lord and try create a booming economy and strong military. You could do invasion campaigns from what I remember but I preferred trying to get a thriving village. All good until the plague came.
The next PC game I spent a lot of my time with is Rollercoaster Tycoon. Essentially build a thriving theme park. I always started off with the best intentions but in the end I gave up, increased the speed and caused accidents. The best laid plans etc.
After this we go to the final console of the adventure and that is the PlayStation 2. There are three games that I’d like to highlight here but in reality, this is the console that I have the most clear memories of so this list could be a lot longer. The first PS2 game on the agenda is Tony Hawk’s Underground. I loved the earlier games and played a lot of it on Gameboy too but this one really stuck with me. The story was cool if not a little ridiculous, free play was badass and the soundtrack spoke for itself.
Unlike Alien: Trilogy, the next game was based on a movie I had saw before getting it and that was The Warriors. This game was just so cool to me. It mostly focussed on brawling but seeing all the gangs and outfits was badass. Stealing car stereos was also cool.
The final game of this post happens to be one of my favourite games of all time. Not a lot needs to be said about Resident Evil 4, it’s a revered classic for a reason and I have such strong memories of playing it that first time round. I think that this was my first experience with the Resident Evil franchise but the lack of backstory and context didn’t matter to me. This was amazing.
So there you have it. A bunch of games that I spent my childhood playing and have fond memories of. Some honourable mentions that just missed out were Disney’s Hercules and Rayman, both great games too. So how about what, what games do you have the strongest memories of playing?
Hails!