Five games that changed your gaming life

[Lucas]

My top Five:

Gran Turismo 2: I will never forget those hours spent in front of the TV with the PS1 besides it. The first game that introduced me into cars!

Final Fantasy IX: While childish, I thank this game for introducing me to the Final Fantasy series, more properly into Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XII. 👍

Gran Turismo 4: If it wasn't for this one, I would have never bought a PS2. The game to end all racing games. Hands down, my favourite game.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3: My favourite Dragon Ball Z game. Who has never dreamt of being Goku and fight against the evil Freezer? You can't call yourself a real DB fan unless you have this game!

Driver: And finally... Driver. I owe this game so much: it was the one that made me throw away my NES and buy a Playstation. One of the main reasons for me to stay with my PS1 for a while

 

[socomplayer2]

1. Socom series, I spent 3 FULL years of my life playing all of them online and spends all of my free time playing it with my friends online, cant wait for ps3 so i can play the new one ... Just a classic game with awesome game play
2. Gran Turismo series (obviously), Basically the best racing series ever made, i have had them all (except the new one because no ps3)
3. Grand theft auto series from 3 on, nothing can describe the first time anyone played gta3 and just drove around and shoot helpless pedestrians
4. Dead Rising, This game is amazing and the reason for buying a 360, probably the best sandbox game I have played. I cant even describe all the things you can do in this game, never gets old to me
5. Forza Motorsport 2, if gt had these physics i would never want to leave my house, along with an extensive car customization feature, engine swaps and online play makes this an awesome game.

 

[nk4e]

I forgot to add Marvel Vs Capcom 2 though...yeah...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Colin McRae Rally was the first game I ever got on PlayStation, and I loved it. Arguably, it was also the game that led to me becoming something of a problem gamer through high school; I spent so much time on it that I'd heard my parents say on occasion that the PlayStation was the worst thing they'd ever bought. But that didn't stop my love for the game.

Final Fantasy IX was my first game outside the racing genre. It opened me up to storytelling on a much broader level than I had experienced before, and started my love for the series, which now includes VIII, X and XII. Admittedly, if I had started with VIII, I wuln't have gotten hooked on RPGs.

Crash Team Racing might be an odd choice, but it was the game that brought my brother and I closer together. We had never gotten along until he bought this game when his copy of Shane Warne Cricket refused to work. Unable to get a refund and with the story out of copies of that game, he grabbed this mascot karting game instead. Rather than argue all the time, we used to duke it out in multiplayer. It's the only game he's ever been better than me at, something he never lets my forget.

Age of Empires II and The Conquerers Expansion proved there was more to gaming than simply consoles. I've een meaning to dig it out and fire it up for a while now, but I don't think it will run on my computer.

Sim City 2000, one of the classics of gaming. Funnily enough, it was this game that got me started on geography; urban dynaimcs would alter prove to be my best subject as I even topped the state in my final high school geography exame. My dad - who never has and probably never will like games - thought this was great for me to play, because he figured I'd be a good town planner (and I think he's more than a little disappointed that I'm not doing that at uni).

 

[ceiling_fan]

Good idea for a thread hfs. 👍

In order of first being played:

Super Mario Land (Game Boy) - First game I played, on a friends GB. Hooked.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - I don't know what it is about this game. It is much greater than the sum of it's parts and has the magic factor that Nintendo has never been able to reproduce.

Gran Turismo 3 - This game got me interested in cars and driving. I had no real knowledge of cars, driving, and motorsport before this game and it also introduced me to GTP, the biggest timesink ever I was googling for pictures of Zonda LM Race Car I was also much better at GT3 than I ever was at GT4

Chrono Trigger (SNES, PSX) - The best game ever made. I'm not sure why, it's just great, it has a great story, great characters, great gameplay, a great amount of depth (~15 endings!), great graphics, great OST (own it), but most of all, charm.

Call of Duty 4 (PS3, 360, PC) - I never had any interest in FPS's before this game and in fact I used to diss FPS's for being 'dumb'. Well this game consumed my life Seriously, I have over 36 DAYS spent online which is, frankly, depressing.

Honorable mentions: Super Mario 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Tony Hawk 2, Final Fantasy X, GT4, Mass Effect, Persona 3

 

[Mad94d]

V8 Supercars Race Driver (PS2)
It was the first game I ever had on Playstation. The difference between PC and PS2 was massive. I thought it was amazing being able to drive V8 Supercars on a game.

Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 2 (PC)
Simply awesome. The graphics now are garbage, but the cars handle very realisticly. It was a hard and frustrating game the required a lot of patience. It was so easy to over step the mark and crash. I spent hours playing this game. 👍

Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 (PC)
The graphics on car games was stepped up to a new level with amazing shadows and modelling. Very hard like all the GP games when driving aids were turned off. I liked the changeable weather conditions, something we still don't have on Playstation. It was good how the track would gradually dry out or get wetter. Hard to tell how fast you had to go. Again an awesome game that I will always remember.

NHRA gold(top fuel cars, PC)
The first and only drag racing game i've ever played. A lot harder than you would think. It's not just driving down a straight, you had to really wrestle the car down the track. Especially when you had to pedal the car. Pedalling the car was awesome fun but a bit annoying because if the car went up into tyre smoke you were almost certain to lose the race. Again awesome game.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)
What can I say. Awesome game, first time I've ever played online and I loved it. The online play is fantastic (except for no private rooms). The AI cars are quite challenging. And the graphics are amazing. Now i'm just waiting for the full game, GT5.....

 

[FLK]

So many to choose from but in no particular order..

Elite (Atari ST - 1984)

It was very slow to get started off trying to find a good trade route that was safe while armed only with a puny pulse laser but once you got a good cash flow and large cargo bay things began to pick up. Then the missions such as finding the stolen Constrictor prototype once you got a good level of kills and reached competent rating. Everytime you made a witchspace jump you just hoped not to get jumped by Thargoid Warships. Now I'm reliving this with Oolite.

F-19 Stealth Fighter (Atari ST - 1987)

Another game I played for hours and hours and which sparked my interest in flight sims. There was no really campaign as such but you'd pick a theatre and type of war (conventional, limited or cold) and then a mission would be randomly generated. You'd select your plane (F-19 or F-117A) and then your loadout and off you went. AI in the game was challenging and you could fly at day or night. You did feel a bit invincible at times over the opposition but the game would always test you ability to use Stealth to the maximum of your ability. Also in the era where you got proper documentation i.e. two manuals, one for the game and one based solely on weapons, planes and ACM tactics.

F1 Grand Prix (Atari ST - 1992)

Again another weekend eater doing full race weekends at 100% distance. AI was good but I found you could always disappear into the lead too easily so I used to race at Ace level and handicap my setup so I stayed close to the AI, some epic 2 hour races were had!

Quake 2 (PC - 1997)

This has to be the strongest memory of all. I played this game online for 5 years solid. I played for several clans in the Savage UK Quake 2 Capture The Flag leagues though we never won a lot it was so much fun.

I used to spend the weekday evenings on public servers (in between friendlies and practices) and Sunday evenings we then had the league matches and mid-season Cup Events. From the IRC channel banter, mid match voice com chatter/abuse, weekend night duels with team mates (sometimes until 4am in the mornings) and the 2-3 hour sessions on public servers nothing has ever come close to my experiences with Quake 2 CTF not even Counter-Strike or COD4.

Before getting ISDN / Cable my phone bills were massive and my parents hated it. Always remember playing on cable for the first time and smoothness of it. Railing people was so much easier. I still have all my recorded demo from my games and watch them now and again but most of all I've unfortunately lost touch with all my old clan mates.

X-Wing (PC - 1993)

This was the first proper PC game I got and I've played every game from the series since. Some of the missions were extremely difficult but very memorable such as the trench run at the end of the game, defending the Rebel Cruisers, capturing the Frigate Priam and destroying the ISD Intrepid.

The game just captured the spirit of the films so well from the cutscenes to the missions and the artwork.

Other notable games:

Skull Duggery (Atari ST)
Another World (Atari ST)
Nitro Racing (Atari ST)
Turrican 2 (Atari ST)
R-Type (Atari ST)
Cannon Fodder (Atari ST)
Stunt Car Racer (Atari ST)
Carrier Command (Atari ST)
F-14 Fleet Defender (Atari ST)
Epic (Atari ST)
War in the Gulf (Atari ST)

Virtual Racing (Sega MegaDrive)

Wipeout (PSX)
Resident Evil (PSX)
Final Fantasy VII (PSX)
Gran Turismo (PSX)
Metal Gear Solid (PSX)
Tomb Raider (PSX)
Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2)
Black (PS2)

TFX (PC)
F-22 ADF (PC)
Sim City 2000 (PC)
Command and Conquer (PC)
Operation Flashpoint 1985 (PC)
Doom (PC)
Half-Life 1/2 (PC)
Homeworld (PC)
Max Payne (PC)
Syndicate Wars (PC)
Aliens vs. Predator (PC)
Freespace 2 (PC)

 

[niky]

Elite (Atari ST - 1984)

It was very slow to get started off trying to find a good trade route that was safe while armed only with a puny pulse laser but once you got a good cash flow and large cargo bay things began to pick up. Then the missions such as finding the stolen Constrictor prototype once you got a good level of kills and reached competent rating. Everytime you made a witchspace jump you just hoped not to get jumped by Thargoid Warships. Now I'm reliving this with Oolite.

Old school, for the win! 👍 Elite was massive fun!

What's Oolite?

Oh... found it... score! http://oolite.org/

 

[NLxAROSA]

Moon Rider (MSX)
Elite
Wolfenstein 3D
Doom 1
Master of Orion II

 

[Paulie]

How do you choose? I'm sorry, my explainations won't be long, bu here goes.

1. Gran Turismo Series:

It has set the benchmark in all racing games, and there is just too much good about Gran Turismo to explain. In addition, it is the first decent racing sim to have Australian produced vehicles, it provided years of non-stop entertainment.

2. Final Fantasy VII and VIII:

(Not actual game photo)
In my honest opinion, no movie, novel, TV show, or other game has ever come close to the story, atmosphere and gameplay of these 2 Final Fantasy games. Everything about these games gives off the aura of "awesome", from the music, to the places, characters, weapons, side games, everything (Yes I loved the Chocobo farm ). Not only that, but there is incredible content in these games and the graphics were always ahead of their time. Some might not guess this photo is from a PS One:

3. Age of Empires

Before this game, probably the best I'd ever played was the original PC version of Prince of Persia, quite a step up no? It was such an awesome strategy game, and medieval warfare was and still is so cool.

I can't think of another 2 that were SO significant.

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice choices Paulie. FFVIII was a brilliant game, and you're right about the story line.

Thanks to Sporty for reviving the thread, but do feel free to expand on your list (ditto NLxAROSA) to explain why those games were important. It helps with discussion, rather than being a thread simply full of lists!

 

[danjama]

Man it is going to be hard to pick some after reading through this thread. It's impossible not to be influenced by what others have said. SO do i go for the games that i played early on that ultimately got me into gaming, or do i pick the games that have influenced me as a person, among millions of others? I'm not really sure. So here is a list of 5 games which i loved playing and spent hours on. They could probably be changed with many others but they are the ones that stand out in my mind right now.

1. Total Drivin' - This was a game i got bundled with my PS1. I was only 9 years old when i began playing playstation, although i had previously owned a Mega Drive and SNES where i learned that i would love gaming by playing Street Fighter, Streets of Rage, Mario and so many others. But Total Drivin really got me into racing games. I loved it.

2. Gran Turismo. Need i say more? Probably not but i will anyway. This game just hooked me by the mouth. There was so much to do and see. I will never forget the hundreds of hours spent just to buy that new car that i wanted. 2 played was the highlight for me having friends round showing off your garage and then smashing them on the track. Good times. Also of course GT2 GT3 and GT4. And TTC 1 & 2.

3. Grand Theft Auto - I still remember first playing the demo at a friends house and never having so much fun in my little life. All i had for months was the demo because i had to wait for my mum to buy it. What a game. Also would like to mention Driver here for the same reasons as others. It's a pig now but at the time it was revolutionary. The story was great. The cars were fun and the police could be brutal.

4. Age of Empires 1 and 2 - I spent alot of hours on these games when i was growing up. They had so much depth. My first online experience was with AoE2 and i loved it.

5. Combat Flight Simulator and ultimately IL2 series - Although my first Flight Sim was FS98 i have always been a lover of WW2 planes, probably even more so than cars. So as soon as i got a whiff of CFS i had to have it. I made my mum buy me a new PC so i could run it. I spent many hours completing the missions. It was buggy as hell but it was the best at the time. Until i discovered IL2. I still play il2 to this day and have spent more time on it than any other game. It is ww2 fan heaven. Probably over 800 hours online and more offline. I built myself a rig just to run il2 on full spec by spending all the wages from my first job when i was 16. It wasn't just the games contents either. Dont get me wrong the plane set is awesome and the maps are gorgeous. And i have never seen such great support and updates from any developers. Patches and updates are never far away. But what i loved the most was the friends i made online and the community feel. As Dragonistic experienced his fame in MC3, Il2 was where i achieved my fame. I was friends with everybody and would host my famous Co-op missions nightly. I had my own squad and had too many requests to join other squads. I had my own website and forums. Our own comms. It was great being so well known online. There was a great feeling when you teamed up with a few guys to pack hunt another flight. I also loved bombing missions, when little friends would fly with you to beat off attackers who thought your B25 was easy meat. There is just no other experience out there with a game that compares for me.

Honourable mentions -

Theme Hospital - i spent ALOT of time on this game and thought it was great even though i was very young.
Rollercoaster Tycoon 1/3 and Theme Park - Brilliantly fun games.
Tropico - I spent many hours finding out i couldnt run my own tropical island But i did try and i loved every minute.
GTR1/2 - What can i say that you wont know?!
Tony Hawks - I skated in real life from the age of 10-20 and TH was there the whole time in one form or another.
Medal of honour and BiA series - Great WW2 games. Frontline was awesome, and so was Allied Assault. BiA Earned in Blood was so hard and realistic it was shocking.
European air war - i played this in between CFS and IL2 and loved it. Simulation physcis were revolutionary.
Sudden Strike - i recommend to everyone. It still isnt even really dated and the missions are brilliant.
NFS series in particular Hot Pursuit 2 - Another racing game that had me hooked for hours. I would love to play it now. Anyway i'm done i could go on listing forever.
MGS 1 - amazing.

Thanks for the nostalgic opportunity

 

[Alex.]

The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
My first game I completed, about age 8 or 9, bloody brilliant.
Ridge Racer 64
The first game I was awesome at, I still love RR64 to this day
GTA San Andreas
Game of the decade maybe, never has exploring been so much fun, forget about the hundreds of other things to do on the game,
Timesplitters: Future Perfect
My first online game with headset, so much fun, I spent all my gaming time on that until I got a 360

Halo 3
A combat simulator you have to learn, not get used to. The most fun I've ever had on a game. Campaign mode was fantastic as well.


Special Mention: GTR2
The king of race simulations, make's GT4 look pretty Arcade and even finishing a race is so rewarding.

 

[-ultraflow-]

GT2 - my first experience in GT world!

GT4 - the best racing game ever!

Racing Battle C1GP - Excellent gameplay and very nice Japanese cars!

GTA San Andreas - One of the best game ever made!

Kilzone - Very cool game!

 

[Sureboss]

1) Championship Manager 00/01

Ah, the thing that got me hooked, on and off, for about 8 years or so into the series. I say that, I went to FM when BGS and SI split, as they had the game, just not the title. The "Just one more game..." phrase is so true and there is nothing quite like taking a bunch of rubbish footballers and making them slightly less rubbish footballers. FM09 is the latest incarnation and has a 3-D engine, another step. CM00-01 was a timekiller though, I think I spent about 23 days on my Sheffield Wednesday save.

2) Gran Turismo

Completely unsurprising choice, spent many a hour on the PSX on that. Addictive (did it really only have 11 tracks?) and full of fun. 12 years on, I'm still playing the series. 12 years on, I'll still be playing the series.

3) Theme Hospital

Bloaty head syndrome! I see they have the PSX version on PSN, I'm not going to buy it though, as I know it will be a disappointment seeing as it's been 5-6 years since I've played it. Best to keep the memories of shooting rats, grumpy patients and the other hilarious content in my head.

4) Transport Tycoon

Spent as much time on this as FM. Building mental stations, huge maps, massive empires and hoping that I wouldn't leave a junction open to crashes! I sometimes play Locomotion, but it's not the same, like with Theme Hospital, it's in the past. I daren't touch into it too much as it will ruin the great time it was!

5) Fallout 3

Most modern game on the list, I've not normally been a fan of RPG's/Shoot 'em ups, until this. Very good game, a bit glitchy, but you forgive it for the size of the map, the variety, the quirky sense of humour and the slow-mo kills.

 

[Touring Mars]

1. Jet Set Willy - Commodore 64

The first game that I can remember getting properly addicted to, and for some odd reason, it was more mysterious than just about any other game I had for the C64.


2. IK+ - Atari ST

One of the few games I had for the Atari ST, and it changed the way I played games to the extent that it was the first game that was better against a real opponent than against the computer.


3. Formula One - Sony Playstation

The first game I got with the Playstation, and it blew me away - probably single-handedly responsible for reintroducing me to the idea of gaming after many years without a computer at all... This was also the first game I ever played all day.


4. TOCA Touring Cars Final Fantasy VII - Sony Playstation

TOCA was arguably the worst game I ever bought, I hated it's lousy graphics and was bitterly disappointed, expecting it to be as good as Formula One, which it wasn't a patch on. I disliked it so much, I took it back to the store and pleaded for a refund, which they wouldn't give me - but they did allow me to swap it for another game. Not having anything I wanted, I opted for FF7 because a friend said they liked it. This spur of the moment purchase turned out to be my favourite game ever, so much so I played the whole thing twice, and it still has a special place in my heart to this day.


5. Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec - Sony Playstation 2

The zenith of my gaming 'career', this is arguably the only game I ever played "obsessively", completing 100% and playing it solidly for about 2 years. Although GT4 would better it in almost every regard, I never fell in love with a game anywhere near as much as GT3 ever again, all PS3 titles so far included (hence why my list ends here). Maybe GT5 will change all that, but like FF7, I fear that GT3 wasn't just a game, but a special time and place in my life, which no amount of technology or amazing graphics can recapture...


Honorable mentions: Batty (C64); Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2); Super Hang-On (Atari ST); Pitstop II (C64); Gran Turismo 4 (PS2); WipEout (PS1)

 

[GTP_ENERGIYA]

There is only 1 game i can say & that is GRAN TURISMO. Since then, all i have been waiting for the most was the next GT in the series & soon GT5

 

[G.T.Ace]

Wow there are so many to be honest, i will just pick 5 which are more important but this is really hard for me:

Gran Turismo
Dont have to explain anything here right?

WipEout
One of my first 3 games (WipEout, NASCAR 98 & Disc World II) on the PS1 i got on Christmas 1997.
Made me love speed and electronic music.

ToCA 2
Made me love racing games even more.

Need 4 Speed: Brennender Asphalt (High Stakes in the US )
Made me love racing games even morerer.

SOCOM II
My first online game and at the same time the only one i enjoyed so much.

Air Combat/Ace Combat
I owned every PAL Ace Combat on homeconsoles except Zero, which i wanted to buy till 6 was an 360 exclusive (Fu** you Namco).

Oops.... already 6. lol
Well some games i have to point out:
WingOver 1 & 2, TEKKEN 3 (i hate fighting games though, this was the only one i really enjoyed), NHL 99, GTA2/3/VC/SA, Driver, THPS 1&2, NASCAR 98 (of course it was the first PlayStation game i played and also the first racing game), Test Drive 5 and soooo many more.

EDIT: Oh and i completely forgot TimeSplitters 2.

 

[Syntax error]

When I first looked at the title I thought this would be easy, I have spent probably the better half of my life playing games. As I sat down and thought about it, it got harder and harder. There have been too many games that I really enjoyed, some I almost obsessed about, and far too many that I probably wish I never wasted my time with. I thought about the first games I ever played and how they changed my gaming life, however not all the first games I played where the defining ones.

Full Throttle
The good old point and Click adventure games genre, I think I could pick almost the entire line up of the Lucasarts point & click games. They where witty, smart, outrages and sometimes frustratingly hard. Monkey Island, DOTT, Sam & Max, Indian Jones and to a lesser extent The Dig. But one in particular stood out amongst the rest. I have a feeling that it may have shaped my life a little more than I care to admit but when I loaded up Full throttle and became Ben the leader of the Polecats, I knew at a young age I wanted to be on a motorbike….

Gran Turismo 3
Well it would almost be remiss not to mention a GT game in this line up. I had previously played a little of the first GT and just a little of GT2 but GT3 really captured my imagination. It also came to me at the time that I bought my first car and so hand in hand, and although I had always had a love for cars, the bug bit and I was spending hours upon hours in the virtual world racing and then taking that knowledge of racing lines etc with me to real circuit where on more than one occasion I successfully wedged my car into a sand trap… my real life exploits in track might have been a flop but damned if I was not a decent racer in GT3.

Metal Gear Solid
Well here is another waster of time that needs no introduction. At one stage, I had this game down to a fine art I played it so damn much. It is more of a work of art than a game. It really stands out in my mind as one of the best games I have ever played. Cinematic in quality (not by today’s standards but it was a long time ago) and a story that put almost all other games to shame, this one is really special. I am also ashamed to say I have yet to play the last two installments of the MGS series.

Evil Genius
This game is probably not as polished as it should be. There are a lot of little glitches and problems with it, but the idea is simply brilliant. It is the game I have waited for all my life. It is fun, challenging and at the end of the day, who hear can honestly say they have never imagined how cool it would be being an Evil genius like Blofeld, Largo or Dr No.

CC: Red Alert
This one takes me back. Groundbreaking for it’s time, and oh so much fun, I found this so much better than the original CC, maybe because it was a little bit easier to relate to it. It worked well, and the cut scenes and music was brilliant at immersing you in the game. It was also the first game I started playing online against other people so I got a real big kick out of that.

There are so many others I could list, it goes on and on but I thought an honorable mention should go to a few games that for me, stood out among the see of titles:

Goldeneye, Wolfenstien 3D, Warcraft 2, Mortal Kombat, Sim City 2, Civilisation & Road & Track: The Need for Speed.

 

[Patrik]

POD (PC):

Need For Speed II (PC):

Interstate 76 (PC):

Tomb Raider (Playstation):

Gran Turismo (Playstation):

Gran Turismo is the only game changing my life though, but the other I have the best memories from since I always played them with friend(s).

 

[spauldj3800]

1. Chuck Yeager's Air Combat

First real game I ever really played. Sure, I had a crack on a few on the old Commodore 64, but this is the first I really got into. I cant even fathom the time I spent on thsi as a child. I didnt even play it with a joystick for the first few years, just used the mouse.

2. Medal Of Honor (PSX)

Best game on PSX. Ever. I could draw a map for the first 3 levels, with enemy locations and patrol routes off the top of my head now, and I havent played it in years.

3. Driver 1

Got me into driving games. After this I couldn't really go back to anything else. I was amazed at the graphics too, back in the day.

3. Sim Tower

Very underrated game. Got it when I was 10, been playing it sporadically ever since. Just re installed it the other week actually

4. GTA III

The reason I bought a PS2. The rest of the GTA games were fanastic, beleive me, but none really had the feel of GTAIII -in my opinion.

5. Wolfenstein 3D

Nuff said. Shame the remake was so earth shatteringly crap.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Commandos 2:

Not as hard as its older siblings, just right. So challenging, yet so rewarding.

GT4:

Played the rest, but this is the one that stood out the most. Was not quite influential enough to make the full list however.

Age Of Empires:

Got it free with our second PC. Played it for ages.

 

[Syntax error]

Interstate 76 (PC):
*snip*

Tomb Raider (Playstation):
*snip*

Ohhh.. I remember having great fun with both these games.....

On that note, another honorable mention goes to Spycraft.... I completely forgot how much I loved that game when I was younger.

 

[Paulie]

How do you choose? I'm sorry, my explainations won't be long, bu here goes.

1. Gran Turismo Series:

It has set the benchmark in all racing games, and there is just too much good about Gran Turismo to explain. In addition, it is the first decent racing sim to have Australian produced vehicles, it provided years of non-stop entertainment.

2. Final Fantasy VII and VIII:

(Not actual game photo)
In my honest opinion, no movie, novel, TV show, or other game has ever come close to the story, atmosphere and gameplay of these 2 Final Fantasy games. Everything about these games gives off the aura of "awesome", from the music, to the places, characters, weapons, side games, everything (Yes I loved the Chocobo farm ). Not only that, but there is incredible content in these games and the graphics were always ahead of their time. Some might not guess this photo is from a PS One:

3. Age of Empires

Before this game, probably the best I'd ever played was the original PC version of Prince of Persia, quite a step up no? It was such an awesome strategy game, and medieval warfare was and still is so cool.

I can't think of another 2 that were SO significant.

I have decided on number 4, and I'll be the only person brave enough to admit it probably, but just keep in mind that when it first came out I wasn't even 10yrs old yet.

4. Pokemon Red, Yellow, Gold, Crystal- Gameboy Colour

I think I can safely say that this game introduced me to "past midnight gaming". My cousin and I had some sort of fierce rivalry in these games, I remember that when we battled once I brought out my Zapdos a few of his pokemon were going down lol, that Zapdos of mine was freakishly strong. Yep, this game was also pretty good in its day, especially since it was only on Gameboy!

 

[TheCracker]

I've been meaning to add my selection to this list for ages, but i've never been able to pin down my definitive top 5 without thinking 'no no, what about.....' So, i've had a good think and i believe these are the games that changed my gaming life:

The Great Escape - ZX Spectrum

So many fantastic Speccy games to choose from, but this one stands out for me for being such a different game in a time where platformers and horizontal/vertical shooters seemed to be the norm. The Great Escape, as you can guess from the title, was a WW2 set game where you as an allied serviceman have to escape from a prison camp. What set it apart was the advanced at the time '3D' graphics and very advanced sandbox style game playing area. You had a Grand Theft Auto style condensed 24hr clock, with night time and day time changes to the graphics. You could roam where you wanted, as long as the prison guards didn't see you in an area off limits or out of curfew. You picked up or stole objects that would help you flee the prison camp and you actually had to really plan out your escape route and the timing of every stage. I don't ever remember finishing the game but i must of spent hours trying. Nothing else around at the time had such depth.



Gran Turismo 2 - PSX

I'm sure everyone on this site i'm sure must have a Gran Turismo as one of their games. GT2 is my pick. I did have and love the original Gran Turismo, but when GT2 came out it totally blew me away with it's scale of cars, tracks and events and also the variety of car types. The original game had a lot of contemporary Japanese road cars with the odd US or European oddball thrown into the mix. GT2 had the same but with so many more Euro and American cars with stacks of Sports Prototypes, Rally cars, Touring cars, Drag cars, Classics etc etc. It really had something for everyone. GT3 had better graphics but with a seemingly reduced content. GT4 bettered this but never quite lived up to GT2 in my opinion. Hopefully GT5 will.



Simcity 2000 - Mac/PC

Out of all the, as Paulie put it, 'past midnight' games Simcity 2000 is the one that probably stands out the most in the impressive 'god' genre. I could quite easily substitute it with Starcraft, Age of Empires, Railroad Tycoon, Command & Conquer or Tropico, but Simcity 2000 and 3000, probably because of their steady pace really are the kind of game where you begin playing and 9pm and an hour latter it's 1am!!!



GTAIII - PS2

I wouldn't class GTAIII as my favourite GTA by a long way, that would be San Andreas, but it was the original and it did introduce me to these huge scale sandbox games that just keep you coming back again and again. You can either play the story lines or just mess around killing, crashing, jumping or probably doing all three at the same time.



Black - PS2

My first FPS of any description and what a game! The graphics were arguably the best ever seen on the PS2 and still stand out today. It could be frustrating at times with the inability to save progress mid level, especially when the playing time for some levels were well over an hour. It also didn't have the important multi-player aspect that other similar games at the time had, but it didn't stop me from coming back to it again and again. It also directly led me to my current obsession of CoD4.

 

[FourwheelBrow]

Five games is it then? Hmmm, okay then, in no particular order...

Gran Turismo 4 - This is the version I had most exposure to. The look of the game was mind-boggling and (although I've never driven a 500+BHP supercar so I'm not fully informed to make this judgement but) it felt like the most realistic simulation of the whole driving experience imaginable. I feel I know the Nurburgring now, and when Top Gear went there to test drive the something-or-other, I found myself not just looking out for familiar landmarks and turns, but even trying to pick the line and the gear for each corner. Yes, I realise that this does not necessesarily reflect well on me...

Street Fighter II - sure there were fighting games before this, but not any I'd seen in which you had a choice of EIGHT different characters to pick from from the get go ,with a random sequence of opponents. The permutations were (surely) incalculable!! Plus the whole look, feel and balance of the game were pretty much perfect!

Freedom Force - This game... ah, what can I say about this game? Well, it was replayable as anything, what with the widely varied set of abilities each of the squad had so that each play through was that bit different. The style and humour were spot on too - a proper homage to the classics of the genre. Plus the online community made so many modifications and additions that it was truly the game that kept on giving.

Civilization - I'm calling the whole series in on this one - no particular version stands out. I was hooked on this from the very beginning though. A real time-sink this one, to an almost frightening extent; the various options and means you had to take over the world made replays essential, and the balance between the various aspects of advancement made for some great games.

Valkyria Chronicles - Perhaps its too soon to properly judge this one to be at the top table, but it certainly felt like it was at all times when playing it and, looking back with hindsight (if you will), its lustre has certainly not dimmed. A great strategy game, beautifully presented, and the characters were so well put together, each one an individual - I felt more affinity for some of the grunts on my squad than i have for the leads in most games! You'll laugh, you'll cry...

 

[nk4e]

Street Fighter IV gotta love the old school zone control.

 

[stodge]

Hmm, this'll take me back! Note sure about the order or years though.

1) Elite (BBC Micro)
2) DOOM
3) Ridge Racer (Arcade, with a full size roadster you sat in!)
4) Kick Off/Goal (Atari)
5) Transport Tycoon (PC)

 

[homeforsummer]

Simcity 2000 - Mac/PC

I never played SimCity 2000, only the very original, top-down version. However, I had such fond memories of that game that I actually bought SimCity DS a while back, which I think is a DS version of 3000. Such good fun.

Hmm, this'll take me back! Note sure about the order or years though.

1) Elite (BBC Micro)
2) DOOM
3) Ridge Racer (Arcade, with a full size roadster you sat in!)
4) Kick Off/Goal (Atari)
5) Transport Tycoon (PC)

You like them - why do you like them? In this thread we're aiming for discussion and stories rather than just lists 👍

 

[stodge]

Sorry, was pushed for time.

1) Elite (BBC Micro)

The scale of the game was astonishing for such a small machine. And it had 3D graphics. It was the kind of game that drew you in and made you feel like you were piloting this little space ship in this massive, massive world.

2) DOOM

No explanation necessary. We downloaded this at university via email in chunks, concatenated the uuencoded text chunks into one large file. Which we then copied to another machine via kermit. decompressed and played. Ok, enough of the boring stuff. It was the first game that I can remember playing on a LAN - it may have a null-modem cable - with a friend. The atmosphere was astonishing, especially when played in a dark room. It was an amazing experience.

3) Ridge Racer (Arcade, with a full size roadster you sat in!)

You sat in a full sized roadster in front of an incredibly wide screen - what more needs to be said?

4) Kick Off/Goal (Atari)

I spent hours playing these games with a friend. The gameplay was fast, furious and fun and the controls were easy. Notable competitor would have been Matchday/Matchday 2 on the Spectrum with the Diamond Deflection System.

5) Transport Tycoon (PC)

Addiction exrtaordinaire! I spent hours and hours playing this one. The detail and control were superb. It was the kind of game that made me forget there was a world outside. I loved building the rail and road networks and trying to get the damn program to link them all together. Pure addiction.

Other notable old games:

- ASCII only golf game on a really old TRS-type computer. My friend's dad brought it home from work (late 70s I think). Noone else had a computer and it was my first introduction to home computing.
- Can't remember the name, but Minotaur something or other on the Dragon32 - a text only adventure.
- Tim Love's Cricket on the Dragon32. THE cricket game!

Notable recent games:

- Championship Manager, played this for hours with a friend. Astounding depth and very addictive, if slow!
- Elder Scrolls, amazing scope but overly ambitious and repetitive. Still, it was an amazing forerunner to Morrowind, which is also on my list of notables.
- Burnout Paradise - my first sandbox racing game, the scope just blew me away.
- Day of Defeat (the original), amazing fun when played with decent players who want to cooperate as a team. Wonderful experience and intense firefights.

I'm sure there are many more, but I can't begin to list them. Is that enough detail?

 

[BloodyBandage]

Great question. Racing game that changed my life (Mario Kart) as it was so addictive...MMORPG - Ultima Online and EverQuest. Fighting game Marvel vs Capcom in the arcade (so fast, and so fun), and Madden 05 (best football game ever)