THE Game That Defined Your Childhood

[Blizzard36]

Aces of the Pacific and a bunch of other flight sims like it. Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe was the other big one, then the X-Wing/TIE fighter series.

Mech games were my big thing by the time I got to high school, the Mechwarrior 2 series in particular. I played that so much I've occasionally gone through the campaign again in my head when really bored in college classes.

 

[nasteypenguin]

Pokemon Blue! First game I ever actually owned myself.
Although Age of Empires 2 and Unreal Tournament also give me fond memories when I try to think of my earliest gaming experiences. I remember going over to my friends house specifically to play unreal tournament, because i didnt have a computer... We're not very close anymore.

 

[Madock]

The legend of zelda: A link to the past. Most of my childhood was spent on that game, still haven't completed it either.

 

[Terramax]

It's nice to see Spyro appear on so many people's list. What a fine game.

It's a shame they've gone the typical 'lets make him edgier for all the cool kids' direction.

 

[dark707]

Rayman Maths and English.

It was an educational version of Rayman and was actually pretty good.

Started playing when I was about 5 and with my inability to do Maths or English, I just memorised my way through all of the levels.

Took me 5 years to beat the game, but it was so worth it.

 

[ubersyanyde]

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg was my favourite game when I was younger and I still want to get another copy of it. My dad sold mine years ago .

Also being a Sonic fan I have to mention Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. That game is still amazing today.

 

[go-10]

dunno is a mix up between Link to the Past which was the first game I played and understood and Final Fantasy VII which was the first game to actually affect and change me as a person... a 10 year old person, but still a person XD

 

[Zhadramekel]

Probably either:

Spyro: Season of Flame (GBA)
Spyro (PS1)
Mario Kart Double Dash (GC)

 

[ShotgunZombie]

This game represents some of the most awesome moments of my gaming childhood.

 

[F'Angus]

I'd have to say Oddworld.

My gaming started on PS1 although the first game I ever played was Heart of Darkness, 3D (see I started on 3D gaming..it had glasses and all)

Still Oddworld Abe's Oddyssey and Exodus were my favourite, I loved how you could talk on it.

 

[Dr Namgge]

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Which I didn't play until '99. Sounds odd I know, but hear me out. Back when I was first starting school Sonic was everywhere. TV shows, comics, toys, books, food, bedspreads, you name it, you could buy it with Sonic's blue grinning face on it. Hence practically every kid at school was a major Sonic fan, it was the in trend, not just in gaming, but the hottest fad. If you didn't have Sonic stuff, nobody wanted to know. But it was a bond of Sonic that brought me some of my closest friends. Sure, as time went on, we weren't as hyped as were about Sonic, but I remember having arguments over whether Tails was better than Knuckles, and playing pretend we were Sonic in the playground, writing our school work with Sonic pencils and generally just being good friends who initially bonded over a blue hedgehog.

Yes, there were other games I got into, and other games I played a shit tonne as a kid (such as Crash Bandicoot for one example), but Sonic's the thing I think of when I remember being a kid starting school.

 

[II2]

ZZT and Megazeux (DOS)

Both games and self contained game creation kits / object oriented scripting tools. ASCII graphics, 16 color. Brilliant. A lot like some of the dial up Bullet Board system games at the time. Also see Rouge, Nethack, Mines of Moria, etc...

Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Ed (AD&D)

I played a lot of boardgames, particularly fantasy/scifi board games of increasing complexity like Dark World, Omega Virus, Hero Quest and finally a tabletop gaming friend turned me onto the ULTIMATE 'board game' (also Warhammer 40K)... Thus it began.

Fallout 1 and late 90's PC gaming

Fallout will probably remain my favorite game 4evar, nostalgia wise, but it is merely the apex of an era of great personal significance to me. Fallout 2, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Diablo, Quake 1/2, Tribes 1 and 2, Half Life, Team Fortress, Dungeon keeper 1 and 2, Starcraft, C&C: Red Alert... Those were my halcyon days.

 

[purf]

Well, in my childhood there was, if any, Pong, Pac Man or Summer Games What pretty much defined my advent to gaming was a couple of years later:

 

[droop99]

hogs of war or oddworld abes oddysey

 

[Stormz]

Super Mario world. I didn't play a lot of games but when I did I played this a lot, never even beat it. I mostly watched my brother and dad play games like Metroid and Zelda. So I could also say those as well. Nintendo was our main form of gaming entertainment until the playstation made it's way into the house.

 

[MBurdock]

Toejam and Earl.

 

[FinalHeart95]

Either CTR or Crash 2 for early childhood, but going into like later elementary school probably Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Ruzinus]

One single game?

I can't just vaguely gesture at my Genesis?

Then it would have to be Phantasy Star IV.

 

[Awexsome]

Sonic 2 was my first ever game back for the Sega Genesis, but I think the one that defined my childhood was Pokemon. From my first gameboy (the special pikachu edition pack) that was the one I sunk many, many hours into.

 

[Esoomspark]

Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. It's STILL my favorite game of all time, hands down.

The DS remake didn't do it justice.