The nostalgia thread - Tell us about your favourite games from your childhood

[Pikachu]

So what games were the most memorable for you? What games really pulled you in with their compelling stories, beautiful soundtracks, cool designs and awesome characters? What games could you not wait to get back to playing?

Probably the game that had the biggest impact on me as a child was Final Fantasy VII. For one thing, it was long. And it was made considerably longer by my lack of gaming skills at the time. But there was so much more than that, of course. It was the first Playstation game I bought, and one of the first RPGs (I can't remember if I played FF7 or Super Mario RPG first). It had an amazing soundtrack that I still love listening to today, an intriguing story, and characters that you became emotionally invested in. I don't want to put out any spoilers, but I'm sure you all know what event I'm referring to when I say that a certain part made me cry. I loved how customizable the materia system allowed your characters to be, and while they're nothing special by today's standards, the FMVs really blew me away back then.

[ErinWDK]

Pikachu,

Some of us are OLD.  When I was a child there was no play station.  There were no home computers.  Games to me were board games.  I know, those make anyone now bored - but so it goes.

So I am going to dip way back into the way back and pick Stratego.  You needed another person to play with as there were NO computer aids...

I know OLD....


Erin

[Pikachu]

Well, I actually started out gaming back in the NES days, so I'm older than the Playstation era. But yeah, anyone is welcome to talk about any sort of games from their childhood. It doesn't necessarily have to be video/computer games.

[Jo-is-amazing]

For me it was Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic, like the 2002 one
It was also like the first RPG I ever played.

I play it all the time even now, and I am proud to say that I have not even once selected a male character, 6 yr old me was on to something
Its just so fun to hear the sexist drivel coming out of the mouth of some Sith captain or whatever and then just force choke him till he dies. Actually come to think of it I tend to force choke everyone till they die, I'm a total arsehole in that game XD
It really is a great way to vent anger, and so satisfying to beat all your enemies without even touching them

+ playing it on 'the dark side' just makes me feel so delightfully fiendish
I love it soooooo much 😀

[Eevee]

My favorite games to get all nostalgic about are: "Zelda: A Link to The Past" for the SNES, "Final Fantasy Tactics" for the Playstation, and all of the early Pokemon games on the original and advanced Gameboy (2nd gen was my favorite).

Also a bit of this:

Stratego

[minxiejinxielynxie]

My favourite games from my childhood are definitely Donkey Kong 64 and Super Mario 64. I absolutely love those kind of games (Banjo Kazooie is another one) and it would be amazing if they created HD remakes of them or something for the current gen consoles!

It's a game that's not as old, but I would absolutely love to play Timesplitters : Future Perfect again! That was the most played game on the PS2 in my home haha, that and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4

[Jill F]

Space Invaders, Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man.

When I was a kid, you had to go to an arcade and put a quarter in a machine.

I'm sure in another generation the kids will ask, "What's a quarter?"

[Miss_Bungle1991]

When I was a kid, you had to go to an arcade and put a quarter in a machine.

Yeah, I did that too. I remember the huge arcade that was downtown for a year or two in the late 80's/early 90's. Then once the mall opened on the other side of town. That put the nail in their coffin. But now that arcade is a pathetic shell of its former self.

But we always had a home video game system of some sort. I remember my parents had Pong. Then we got an Atari 2600 when I was around 5 or 6. I was really into Combat and Pac-Man. But we had tons of other titles too.

[LittleBoyBear]

Oh man, where to start?
Board games: Clue, connect four, Nightmare (a video-board game)
Video Games: All the way back to the NES with Tetris for an all-time favorite!!!! (I recently found my second gameboy, with Tetris still inside. New batteries and it worked like a charm!) Final Fantasy 3 (3 in the US, 5 elsewhere, I think) on the SNES, FF10 on the PS1.
Good stuff. The reminds me, I think I have a version of FF3 for the playstation somewhere....

[Carrie Liz]

Favorite early childhood games: (ages 5-10)
-Disney's Coaster (PC)
-Lemmings (PC)
-Super Mario Kart (SNES)
-Madden Football '93 (SNES)
-Nickelodeon GUTS (SNES)
-Number Munchers (Apple II-E) (By far my favorite computer game in school...)
-NCAA Basketball (SNES)
-Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (PC/SNES)
-Wizardry (Apple II-E) (my obsession in 3rd/4th grade.)

Favorite later childhood games: (ages 10-18)
-Roller Coaster Tycoon / Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (PC)
-NoLimits Coaster (PC)
-Pokemon Red/Blue (Game Boy)
-Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (Game Boy Color)
-Pokemon Snap (N64)
-Pokemon Stadium (N64) (Are we seeing a theme here? 😛 I probably spent a good 400 hours playing Pokemon games between 7th and 11th grades, hand-leveling every single one of my pokemon up to level 100, opening my own gym, and trying to become the best Pokemon trainer in the school. That was my official childhood gaming obsession that my entire life revolved around.)
-Mario Kart 64 (N64)
-Super Smash Bros (N64)
-Marvel vs. Capcom (Arcade) (the only button-masher fighting game I was ever remotely decent at.)
-Minesweeper (PC) (Yes, I was that much of a nerd...)


And since you didn't necessarily say "video gaming," you just said "gaming...
-Magic: the Gathering. My other biggest obsession, which I played competitively all the way from 5th grade until my 2nd year of college. (Never did very well, but I spent a LOT of time building decks and playtesting them against my other decks.)
-Pokemon TCG (not that anyone ever actually played the game... the cards were more of a status symbol than anything.)
-Yu-Gi-Oh (More in late high school, but I still spent a lot of time playing it.)

I also very fondly remember my gaming nights that I had with my mom and dad, where we'd play Hearts against each-other every Tuesday night. That was always fun! And I also had great fun playing chess against my dad. (And beating him. 🙂 )

[Blue Senpai]

Pokemon Red/Yellow/Blue/Gold/SIlver/Crystal
Spyro the Dragon 1/2/3
Croc: Legends of the Gobbos
Sonic the Hedgehog 1/2/3
Crash Bandicoot

[LordKAT]

What happened to kick the can and charades?  Or all those homemade games we played outside.

[Chloe]

Pikachu,

Some of us are OLD. 

LOL I still have Stratego, on shelf collecting dust!

G.I. Joe dolls in boy mode . . . Barbie & Friends with 'lil sister and girl next door!!!

What happened to kick the can . . . homemade games we played outside.

Yep yep!! "Tap tap 123 here I come" 'They' don't allow kids play outside anymore, something to do with 'danger stranger'?

[Devlyn]

Loved Statego! Also non-electronic Battleship and Barrel O' Monkeys.

[LordKAT]

I still have a half barrel of monkeys. Remember cootie?

[Devlyn]

Operation! The goofy game for goofy doctors!

[Jill F]

I had a barrel of monkeys 40 years ago.

What was that tag line again?

[Jaime R D]

Board games was something we played at other people's houses. We had rocks, sticks and pine cones to play with.

[Pikachu]

I spent my time outside as a kid doing things like riding my bike, swinging while listening to music (and singing along)... Some kid down the road had a trampoline at one point and we sometimes played on that.

Pretty much all my gaming was done electronically, though.

[Devlyn]

I wonder if there's any money in a transgender version of Operation? The patient in the original is named Cavity Sam by the way. Can you name all the ailments?