THE Game That Defined Your Childhood

[Richardplex]

1 game? really? But... damn it. Well, it would either be Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmar or Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded. Probably the former; the latter was more of my tween years.

Edit: Actually no, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. The game that got me my first real friend, whom is still my closest friend today.

 

[Kayevcee]

Turrican 2 for the Amiga. I had the demo on a coverdisk- I was very new to gaming and Turrican was quite tough, so it took me many attempts to complete it. Once I did, I explored every nook and cranny of the single level and played it till the disk wore out. 3.5" floppy. Took about a minute to load. Frustrating for what was, by the time I had the level down pat, a five minute demo game, but I learned platform/shooter patience watching my mates wait for Robocop to load on the Spectrum.

-Nick

 

[Gnoekeos]

I think its a tie between Banjo Kazooie and The ocarina of time

 

[Skoldpadda]

Playing doctor behind the sand pit, of course. For you guys it was actual video games? I mean, I like 'em, I LOVE 'em, but that's kinda sad.

 

[Fleetfiend]

Spyro the Dragon was the defining game of my childhood. An adventure game with eclectic levels made me the gamer I am today. It also indirectly led to me discovering Sly Cooper when I was a little older that got me into my favorite type of game: Stealth.

Kingdom Hearts was also a big one and it got me into Final Fantasy and really made story one of the most important elements I look for in a game.

All the same for me, except stealth isn't necessarily my favorite genre.

Age 6-10 -- Spyro the Dragon, leading to all others
Age 10-13 -- Kingdom Hearts, leading eventually to FFX

That's my life, right there.

EDIT: Oh my god, how did I forget about pokemon.

Age 6-near present -- Pokemon.

 

[godofallu]

I suppose Mario 1 and 2, and the Mario on super Nintendo where Yoshi shows up occasionally.

It was Goldeneye followed closely by Perfect Dark and then Halo which solidified my need to play FPS games in multiplayer mode.

 

[Chupacabra]

Forestia (kudos if you know the game!) and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.

EDIT: Oh goodness me, how could I forget Pokémon Yellow, Red Alert, Age of Empires and Mario Bros.!? Those came later, however.

 

[Joseph Alexander]

MegaMan X, I played the living shit out of that game.

 

[Yarpie]

Super Metroid. It is still to date one of the best games I have ever played and would be the game I would compare all others to in terms of how big of an impact thy had on me. The combat, the music, the atmosphere... it was all just so damn brilliant that I replayed untold number of times. It was also the first (in my mind at least) mature game I ever played and the first time I saw a dead human body in a video game. I could go on all day, but yeah, that was the game that began to shape me into the gamer I am today.

Also, when this theme started playing, enough bricks were shat to build a small castle.
<youtube=AqaNrWcIRYY>

 

[theSteamSupported]

I mostly grew up with child oriented point-and-click games. The games from 'Levande Böcker' come to mind.

 

[Godhead]

Dungeon Siege. It was the first RPG I ever played and I still think it's the best. (fuck Diablo)

 

[ElPatron]

Spoiler: Road Rash

Kicking bikes into the side rails and into a river?

Totaling your bike a mere hundreds of feet away from the finish line and finishing the race on foot?

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

The first Crash Bandicoot.

Man that was awesome

 

[Shraggler]

I know I keep talking about it, but Total Annihilation

Fuck fuck fuck yes. Developed about a mile down the road from me; parents still live in the same house. Oh Cavedog...

Man, that game. During the time when game titles adequately defined what you were getting into. This game was it for me, at least on PC. It ran on almost any hardware and the graphics were jaw dropping. One of the most underrated games of all time.

 

[kgpspyguy]

The Pajama Sam adventure games

 

[StriderShinryu]

Not sure I can pick just one, so I'll go with a few that are all actually a little similar. Zelda 2, Castlevania 2, Bionic Commando, and Strider (all for the NES). All sidescrolling platformers with at least a touch of RPG, and all with a slightly more mature sensibility and a penchant for being really damn hard at times (though CV2 is more hard due to it's poor translation). They were easily the touchstone games of my childhood and tend to still inform a lot of the gaming choices I make today. I still like games that trend a little more mature, that mix action and RPG, and that can be a bit challenging.

 

[Slayer_2]

Quake 2... what a great game, I'm gonna go play it again.

 

[Palmerama]

In my early child hood there were two games I remember playing the most:

The Ninja for the Sega Master System! My god was that a hard game! But hearing the music & the scroll bring it back! Still have it!

Also it would be Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers for NES! Me & My brother played that constantly!
The music was awesome aswell! Though listening back to the sound effects don't half give you a headache!

Not to mention Super Mario Bros. 3!

In my latter childhood it would have been Streets of Rage 2 for the Megadrive! I've actually lost times the amount of times I have completed it over the years!

Also I love how it says name THE game but nearly everyone can't keep it down to one game! That's brilliant!

 

[Nyaoku]

Turok 2 Seeds of evil. Taught me to read from memorizing the cheat codes. It was my first FPS. I got to play as a velociraptor in multiplayer. It had a gun that sends a flying drill into the brain of your enemy. My second game with gore (first was Jet Force Gemini). You got to ride a triceratops with grenade and machineguns mounted on the saddle. There was a frisbee with blades on it that worked like a boomerang. I was 6, it was heaven.

 

[thememan]

Contra. The original Contra for NES. One of the few games from the system I can still stand to play countless times for no discernible reason.