What game makes you nostalgic?

[sanquin]

Ragnarok online: Ah the good old days of community before getting that better item. And the community was needed too. There was no hand holding whatsoever. When I first started I had NO idea where to go the moment I exited the starting area. So all I could do was explore and ask around. In that game I remember actually feeling small and weak at early level. Back then you still had people just coming together at an entrance of a map, talking, and having fun to take a break from leveling. Even to this day RO actually has a very good online community. Or at least part of the community. I've played the game for a good 6 to 8 years of my life.

Final Fantasy 6: My first final fantasy ever. I loved the story, the summons, the classes, button press timing or repeated pressing for damage boosts... It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Quake: My very first FPS game. I used to be in a 'computer club' at school when I was...14~15 or something? We weren't allowed to play games during that club, but we all did of course. And the game we played 3/4 of the time was Quake multiplayer. Later on Quake 3 replaced Quake for lan parties, but the first one remains special for me.

It's a rather new game, imo, but I still feel nostalgia for the first time I played it; Mass Effect 1: That first time playing was so awesome. I wasn't a fan of 3rd person shooters at all, but after several recommendations and so many good user reviews I bought it. God was I glad I did. I went through the game in 2 days, finishing in 15 hours. And I immediately started a new playthrough.

Super smash bros: Played it a lot on the N64 whenever one of my friends came over. To this day kirby is mine and my friend's favourite to use.

 

[UltimaeFanBoy]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates.

That was a good 1st FF game.

 

[Dizchu]

Doom.

Now this is a strange example because I mostly play Doom with modern source ports that have mouselook, 3D rendering and lots of mods in addition to a community that produces high-quality maps that far exceed those that were in the original game.

However,

My first experience with Doom was on the PS1 and recently members of the Doom community have modded Doom so it runs almost exactly like the PS1 version. Downgraded graphics, upgraded sound, exclusive maps... everything.

Playing it made me feel like I was 5 years old again (yes that is when I started playing FPS games, I am hardcore and I go to bed whenever I want and I don't do my chores because I am a rebel).

 

[Arina Love]

Lineage 2 - Chronicle 4 Ah what a time, it was my first MMO and first game i got completely hooked on. Still remember the raids, mass 100x100 pvp , Olympics and first time i got hero status. Played it for 4 years. No MMO i've played since could ever evoke feelings i got with L2.

 

[Insanityblues]

Final Fantasy IX. The first game I got on playstation. I also have fond memories of VII but I never finished it.

 

[chaser5000]

Kingdom Hearts. I've never really been a nostalgic person but KH is the one game that can do it for me.

 

[leberkaese]

Like OP it's probably World of Warcraft Classic during the first few months I played the game.

It's the only game that managed to give me memories of a game that make me really feel nostalgia.
When I remember some things I did back then it has this "oh boy, do you remember [...]. That was so great. I wish, we could go back to those times"-feeling to it, I normally only get from big events with friends in real life.

Why? Probably because I experienced the most memorable things in WoW together with friends. Exploring the world together, having certain victories together,... World of Warcraft was a great game to experience all these things like that.

I played World of Warcraft for many years, each and every addon. But I have these feelings of nostalgia only for the first few months of WoW.
I think it's this nostalgic feeling's fault, that many people think that WoW was the best during Classic or BC. The later added content wasn't worse (at least most of it), but you have these very intense moments in WoW only during your time at the beginning.
It's also the same memories and nostalgic feelings that makes me go back to WoW again and again and again (but probably not for WoD!).

 

[Pink Gregory]

CoD WaW Nazi Zombies - Shi No Numa and Der Riese.

This was my last hurrah of local co op, there was a time after finishing college in which my associate and I would play just those maps for at least 3 hours at a time, at least once a week. Every single line is etched indelibly into my memory, it's the reason that I know who Steve Blum is.

Similarly Halo 2, Coagulation, 4-player system link.

And that's only two or three years ago, anything else I don't really have any feels for, oddly.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Many games on the SNES and a handful on the NES. Games like California Games, Star Tropics, Link to the Past, and Super Mario World are really nostalgic to me. Super Mario World and Link to the Past were the first games of those franchises that I've ever beaten for example.

 

[the_great_cessation]

All the Zelda games released between 1992 and 2006, with the most nostalgic being probably being Ocarina of Time (although Wind Waker and Twilight Princess hold strong nostalgia value).Whenever I see the title screen to Ocarina of Time, a big, dumb, nostalgic grin will come across my face every time without fail. I don't really feel like going into much detail as I've gone on about why these games are so nostalgic to me far too many times on this forum. Instead, I'll list some other games that hit a similar sweet spot even if it's nowhere near the degree (or have anywhere near the influence) that Zelda does.


For me, they have to be something I don't revist often but still hold a lot of sentimentality to me. Either from playing with friends or from how much time I spent playing them. For the most part, a lot of my most nostalgic games are from the late 90s and early 00s (although, there are quite a few games from the mid aughts that hold some nostalgia value for me).

- Smash 64, Battle Tanx 64, Army Men, GoldenEye and Mario Tennis: These are the games I rented the most growing up (Smash especially). For a good portion of my childhood, I only ever really played games when I had friends over (which tended to be weekend). As a result, the majority of my early gaming memories where couch-multiplayer experiences like the ones I listed.

- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, 3 and Underground 2: I became a bit obsessed with these games as a kid. So much so, that they actually got me interested in extreme sports and introduced me to a number of punk rock, metal and hip hop artists. I haven't played an installment in years but any game that gets compared to them immediately gets my interest based on pure nostalgia alone (ie; Sunset Overdrive).

- Banjo-Kazooie, Kirby 64, DK 64, Croc, Gex, Rayman 2, Tonic Trouble and the 3D character-platformer - These style of games made the bulk of my gaming diet growing up but they have since gone the way of the dodo. I don't know if I necessarily miss them but they do remind me of a time long past. Even some of the later incarnations (Ratchet, Jak, Sly) or ones I never played growing up (anyone remember Jersey Devil? Tomba 2? Vexx?) are pretty nostalgic to me and remind me of a far simpler time.

- Rare's N64 line-up in general

- The first two generations of Pokemon and it's N64 spin-offs - I was 8 when Pokemon launched. I had no choice.

To be honest, I find all games hold a certain nostalgia value to me. However, I find the games I have the fondest memories of are ones I define as "all-time favorites" and as such kind of transcend the title of "nostalgic games" (ie; I have a lot of strong, nostalgic memories attached to titles like Beyond Good and Evil and Shadow of the Colossus but I engage with them and think about them on a regular enough basis that they sort of cease to be nostalgic). Hence, the ones I listed; most of which may not be my favorites but are easily ones I have strong nostalgia for.

 

[SerenaS]

Bitcoin Billionaire - Makes me think of those games that I played back to the deepest memories that I can remember. But this game is no fun, since all you need is just tapping on your screen to make those virtual money. I'd really prefer some game that makes me more involved.

Armor Blade - Just started playing this game, it's not new on iOS, but it has just launched its Android new release. Initial I downloaded this game simply because of its adorable character, which is somewhat similar to a game that I played when I was this tiny little girl.

 

[Pete Oddly]

There are lots of games which make me slightly nostalgic, but there are only two which really affect me. Simply hearing any given song from either game's soundtrack brings tears to my eyes and a feeling of longing for better days to my heart.

Those games are Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII.

 

[Kyrian007]

easy that would be arcade star wars. nothing quite like walking through an arcade back in the day and having a machine actually speaking, and it was freaking star wars, i spent enough money in that think to probably buy my own one

That's the one. Great big booming bass speakers built into the sit down cabinet. Hearing the "Use the force," "Wahooo," and "The force will be with you... always" over the buzzes, blonks, and bwongs of all the other games in the arcade. Gawd that was a long time ago, the one I played (at an arcade in a MALL) had ashtrays bolted to the inside and outside of it.

 

[popa_qwerty]

For me it has to be Pokemon Fire Red, Final fantasy 8 and 10, and the old Crash Bandicoot games. Fire red I still play till this day I'm playing Pokemon Fire Red Omega at the moment. I cant get in to the newer Pokemon games tried X and it has been sitting in my desk for about 5 months untouched mostly because I don't find the Pokemon interesting. I'm also playing final fantasy 10 HD on my vita.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

My answer to this will probably always be Chrono Trigger. It was the first time in my life that I realized the profound effects that games could have on me emotionally, and I was a dyed in the wool gamer after that (despite having grown up with and enjoying SMB 1-3 like everyone else).

If I hear about it (just like I made myself hear about it), I'll fire it up again for any unknown amount of time. I've probably beaten it upwards of 2 dozen times as well.

Also, it is incredible how much it not only holds up, but is still unemulated in respects. Most modern JRPG battle systems continue to ignore the advancements that game made (including Blue Dragon, inexplicably). Also, very few time travel stories in any media fail to tell such a story so well, mainly by refusing to keep things simple and end up making a lot of things convoluted. An amazing gem, I have no issue recommending that anyone play it today, even if they've not enjoyed the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest series.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

True Crime: Streets of LA.

First 'actual' game I ever played. I still remember the main theme, as well as the main character's voice.

Damn I liked that game.

Same thing goes for KoTOR I(and other Bioware titles from this era like Jade Empire), though more often than not, it makes me want to play KoTOR II again(which is a timeless classic imho).

I don't have too much nostalgia. I remember revisiting the games I played in my youth, and most of them have not aged well at all.

I think I only really get rose-tinted upon mention of Rurouni Kenshin. First anime I ever saw, and it was pretty good. Way better than DBZ at any rate.

 

[Zen Bard]

Diablo - I got it as a Christmas present when it first came out and played it relentlessly. Had that whole week off,so that's literally all I did aside from eat and sleep (and sometimes I even skipped those). The thing that sticks in my mind is how it was overcast and gloomy all week. But when I finally killed the Lord of Terror...the sun came out.

Fable - This was the first RPG I'd played since Ultima and Wizardry (ask your parents...). I loved the storybook quality of the game. And some of the areas actually reminded me of places from my childhood. Plus I think it's the best in the series. So it makes me nostalgic for that bygone era when Fable was, you know, good...

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Creatures 1 & 2 on the C64. The first games i loved.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

-Any top-down Zelda game. The original Legend of Zelda on NES is what made me a gamer. Link's Awakening on Game Boy was excellent. Link to the Past cemented my status as a Zelda fanatic for a long time. While these games are nostalgic in their own right, any game that apes this style (the Oracle games, Minish Cap, etc.) is enough to make me feel like a kid all over again.

-Gen 1 Pokemon. I still have a copy of the FireRed remake and a working GBA and anytime I feel like I just want to chill out, I go through the motions of the original Pokemon adventure all over again.

-Chrono Trigger. This was the first RPG (besides Pokemon) that I played. I also played for the first it when I was in the twilight of my wide-eyed and idealistic teenage years, just before the onset of my confused, angry, conflicted teenage years. I've played this game at least a dozen times and it never fails to take me back.

-Final Fantasy VII and IX. See above comments on Chrono Trigger. These were the next two RPGs I played. I actually went back and re-played FFVII in this past year and I still loved it. I even tried to be as mentally critical as possible and I still loved it; though the flaws are much more apparent now, I still loved it. How much of that is the game holding up and how much is nostalgia? I don't really care.

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Yeah, I know. Egoraptor and his goons are gonna kill me for saying that; but it was the first game I remember being totally sucked into.