Inspired by TerraDelu's list. This list is probably for me more than an anyone, a way to reflect on games that have been important to me and what or whom I associate them with. I hope anyone who stumbles upon it may find it interesting, though.
1991
I can't say if this is the first game I've ever played. That's going way back into a period too blurry to be definitive. Certainly it's the game I remember playing most as a young child, sitting in the living room playing a 2-player game with my dad. He didn't play a ton of games; a few Game Boy games and this are the only ones I remember. He's always seemed open to the idea of playing games but didn't bite on many. He still plays Tetris on the GB today. But Mario World was our co-op game, played through pretty consistently and repeatedly until I guess the SNES went away into the attic and the Playstation moved in. It's hard for me to think of any childhood memories I value more than all that time we spent foiling Bowser.
1997
I've enjoyed a number of fighting games over the years, especially with friends, but overall I've never gotten too deep into them. I just don't have that much skill or the commitment to learning all the characters. Bushido Blade, though, is something else.
It stands out to me because of how fragile everyone is. One well placed slash to the head or chest will kill you or your opponent instantly. Going for that high attack leaves you vulnerable, so it's not always the best idea, but of course it's tempting. Limbs can be crippled as well; one hit to the arm/hand will cripple it, hurting your ability to attack, but you can still do it. You can run and block and wait for an opening and prevail. A second arm hit will cripple both arms, though, and render you defenseless. Similarly for legs, one shot will make it hard to move but leave the player capable of blocking and attacking, but a second blow leaves you crippled on the ground, not able to do a lot. You can also commit suicide for an honorable death during the match. It has a pretty small move list, with the combat based on the weapon chosen more so than the character. Some weapons have more reach but take longer to swing, etc., kind of what you'd expect.
Body parts hit in one round of the match will appear bandaged in the next. You can run between sections of levels; some stage have 2-3 screens to go between, if you don't mind waiting for the load. I recall specifically one stage has bamboo trees you can cut down as you fight, with pretty good slicing tech for 1997. The rounds tend to be very short because of how easily characters die; you can probably blow through the arcade mode with a character in under 10 minutes if you do it right. I can see why for some it would be too simple or easy, but the style of it, how fragile you are and how that changes how you play, the exciting comebacks possible by overcoming crippled limbs, make it one of the more memorable fighting games I've played. The memories I have of playing this with friends are very strong.
1997
My introduction to the RPG genre, really. I played some Super Mario RPG before this but I don't remember it too well. FF7 was a more important, formative experience. I didn't even own this game for a long time. An older friend of mine named Isaac used to bring it to daycare and I'd watch him play it, entranced. I was a little too young to truly appreciate it from a mechanical standpoint, but the fights, characters, and story were fascinating to me. This game had a significant impact on both what I wanted from games and what I thought games could be.
1998
I don't think it would be possible to overstate how big of a deal this game was when I was in school. Trading with friends to obtain rare Pokemon or monsters that weren't available in your version was an unceasing activity. I still remember when a friend of mine and I tried to use the duplication trick, where you would turn off the game mid-trade so that both of you would have the Pokemon involved in the trade, without either having to give something up, only for him to get a corrupted save message when he tried to resume his game. His grief was palpable and I feel bad even now just thinking about it, even though we both knew the risk. Needless to say everyone I knew bought into the Pokemon craze hook, line, and sinker, and it didn't let go for a long, long time.
1998
One of my most vivid memories of this game is just trying to get my mom to buy it. It was full price and had an M rating, but I wanted it more than anything and eventually won. It didn't take me long to realize that I may be in over my head, though. It was just extremely scary to my 10 year-old brain, although I still made myself play it and eventually beat it with the help of my brother. I had rented the original Resident Evil at least once before playing this, but RE2 was what really got me into the series and I've been a fan ever since.
1998
Definitely my first Zelda, unless there's a major gap in my memory. I wish I could remember how I first heard of or came across Link's Awakening, but I can't. All I know is this is by far the Zelda game I've played through the most, with the current count being more than five, I'm sure, the most recent of which was only about a year ago. I can remember playing this game on my Game Boy Color during middle school, between sessions of Pokemon, obviously. I've bought and sold it multiple times over the years because I'm a sucker and trading in games at GameStop can be pretty appealing to a kid with no money. I've wised up, though, and won't be parting with the copy I have currently. It's probably the Zelda game that's closest to my heart.
1999
The first Final Fantasy I ever owned, I'm pretty sure. My experience with FF7 had me very excited for this game, and it didn't disappoint. I still think the opening cinematic is amazing, as is the FMV that ends the Dollet mission. Too bad I wasn't quite ready for Final Fantasy VIII. I wasn't using the junction system to its maximum potential, and I didn't play the card game. With my limited understanding of the game's systems, I eventually hit a wall and gave up. It wasn't until a few years ago, maybe 2009, that I finally beat FF8, and grasping the depth and flexibility of its mechanics only made me appreciate it more. It's one of my favorite games of all-time now. Still, the parts of the game I'm most fond of are the areas of disc 1 and 2 that I was so amazed by as a kid.
1999
I had played Resident Evils coming into this, and that's basically what I expected going in from anything billed as a horror game on PS1. In a lot of ways Silent Hill is Konami's answer to RE, of course. Puzzles, monsters to shoot, and not great controls, it has the hallmarks. But Silent Hill did so many things I wasn't prepared for that stuck with me. Surreal horror where the world itself feels like it's targeting you, a story with a lot of ambiguity that requires analysis to suss out, and a lonely, moody atmosphere. Silent Hill opened me up to a lot of elements I seek out in games to this day.
2000
Chrono Cross is a game of secrets, of hidden items, optional party members, and sidequests. This made it a very popular topic of discussion among my friends, where someone was always talking about how to get a certain character or what do next to progress a quest. Because you only leveled up after boss fights, there was no way to grind to make battles easier. Fights were as tough as the developer intended, and in some cases they were definitely meant to be hard. I can remember struggling with a particular boss, who I won't name since it's probably a spoiler, but with the help of my friends devised a strategy that created then exploited an elemental weakness. It worked beautifully, and that moment if shared triumph is one of my fonder video game memories.
2000
I cannot even fathom how many hours I played this game with friends and on my own. I remember the announce table being this new, permanent fixture to put guys through and digging under the ring for the dumbest possible weapons. It was a hit any time we were able to play games at school, and even by myself I could set up fantasy match-ups and mess around for long periods. I feel like the awful music and low-res titantron intros for wrestlers will stick with me forever. I remember hearing the rumors about unlocking Andre the Giant in Survival Mode and doing it myself just to see if it was true. And sure enough, after 98 other opponents, here he comes: a guy I never saw wrestle but was still amazed by in the game due to mystique. There were a number of wrestling games in the same vein from AKI in this generation, and while I can't state for certain this is the best one, it certainly occupies the largest space in my heart.
Dig-diggity-dog. Break it.
2001
This is, of course, the Final Fantasy Chronicles version of the game. I never played the FFIV part of that package, though. Being so nostalgic for a re-release of a game seems kind of weird to me, but I think that just shows how good it is. I feel like this game is timeless. A kid today could pick up the DS version of Chrono Trigger and love it as much as I do. Despite the pretty neat anime cutscenes, the PSX version of the game is probably the worst to be released because of the load times, but I was too blown away for loads to bother me. Just talking about it makes me want to start a new game and take down Lavos one more time.
2001
2003
Not the the first strategy game I played; that honor may go to the Advance Wars games. Honestly not sure at this point. I guess Fire Emblem stood out to me more because of the units being individual characters with progression, and there also being just a little more density to it, some more things to manage that made triumph ultimately more satisfying. The mechanics as far as the weapon triangle, different unit types, etc. were new and relatively complex but not overwhelming. It sounds like later games improve upon it further [I know one has because I played it, Awakening], but this game was my introduction and got me more open to playing strategy games.
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