With a new generation of video game consoles looming over, I thought now was the best time to look back at the previous gaming generations!
Time for another TLC blog post for the occasion!
TLC #03: My Most Memorable Past VideoGame Experiences!
First of all, once again, let me just by telling you guys and gals this is my very own personal selection.
I didn't want to just pick what sold best, or was necessary the best of the best.
Just select one and only one unique memorable gaming experience per generation of videogame consoles. From the ones I played, of course you might want to pick some other games over the ones I picked below. So in this case I invite you all to write down your own list in the comments section below.
People like to count the pre-Atari days (1940s-1970s) as the first true gaming generation, but I skipped that since I wasn't even born yet.
There's a lot of other great fun memorable experiences out there, but I left many of those to only pick one game per era. So without further ado...
Honorable mentions to the following games which didn't make the cut:
ovies, had classic directors and writers attached and are a must for scifi or horror fans!
The original Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic 3, games I played so many times over and over again.
Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia.
The Nes classic Super Mario Bros 3 and equally awesome Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
Both EarthWorm Jim games. Such stunning games that hold up pretty well over the years thanks to incredible cartoon graphics.
Cult vintage games I played over so many times with great memories of 'em such as Pong (thank you Commander Keen!) and Tetris.
Tiny Toons: Buster's Hidden Treasure!
The original Shinobi, Pitfal and Elevator Action.
Stunning 16-bit originals such as Comix Zone or Flashback.
The hilarious but hard Dragon's Lair.
The Monkey Island series.
Zelda 1, A Link to the Past or even Link's Awakening.
But also 3D-era classics such as the classic Half-Life, Parappa, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil 1 and Duke Nukem 3D.
The amazing Super Tempo and the mesmerizing NiGHTS.
More recent original creative games such as Ico.
Portal 1 & Portal 2.
The super original and original experience No More Heroes (which almost made the list).
And finally the very fun original and crazy obscure Wii title, Disaster: Day of Crisis.
Here's the list now:
#1st Generation (early 8-bit era) Pac-Man (1980) genre: Arcade maze
The original Pac-Man is a defining cult classic for the videogame industry. But also a close personal favorite of mine. I game I never hesitate replaying time and again. It just never really gets old.
For example, I was checking out if Google had taken out their Anniversary Pac-Man game... and ended up playing lots of it right away!
I tend to prefer Ms. Pac-Man to it, layout and gameplay-wise.. but it's the original one I keep close to heart!
Be it on early game systems, later compilations (such as the Namco Museum on the Dreamcast) or more recent digital release.
A classic for age and one of the earliest most memorable videogame experiences I had!
#2nd Generation (8-bit) Paperboy (1984) genre: Arcade
Originally a 1984 arcade game, it's more precisely the Game Boy version I remember the most playing over and over again (... I'm getting the feeling you might be starting to see this repeated all over the post, so I'll just stop right now).
It was also pretty well ported on the Nes and Master System. With the SNES and Megadrive 16-bit ports only looking slightly updated in the music dpt., the graphics still very much 8-bit.
The game's memorable tune, simple gameplay and original visual made it most memorable.
And it's still quite a challenging game to try again.
Avoid any of the 3D sequels too...
#3rd Generation (16-bit) Doom (1993) genre: FPS
The grandfather of First Person Shooter games! (although I'm pretty sure Wolfenstein deserves more that title)
So much that we used to call other games of the genre Doom-like for years. (up to Half-Life one at least)
I'm still even currently playing through a Doom game - at the time I'm writing this article. (near completion again)
There were loads of fun unique and memorable games on the 16-bit consoles back then. But it's this "little" PC Dos game that left a mark.
Personally I never quite liked as much any of the consoles port of Doom...
#4th Gen (32/64-bit era) Rayman (1995) genre: Platformer
The mid-90s saw the arrival of the first 32-bit systems and 3D graphics. While a few were revolutionary, most were also pretty cheap and bland.
Amongst all these generic games? A handful of 2D games tried to innovate and make relevant the old school graphics.
Chief amongst those? The original Rayman 1!
Such amazing graphics, only made possible by the newfound power in the hardware. Instead of wasting it on demanding 3D engines, Ubisoft powered up their sidescroller to new horizons!
It was like looking at an animated interactive cartoon!
Such a brilliant game, with a fantastic atmosphere. And, oh, so gorgeous!
#5th Gen (128-bit era) Shenmue (2000) genre: F.R.E.E.
The Dreamcast launched what would be known as the "128-bit era", followed later by the PS2, Gamecube and Xbox once Sega had to retire from the market.
Yet, my personal most memorable unique experience of the generation, and from the entire gaming as a whole I might add, is probably the first Shenmue on the DC.
Granted many games that would follow would achieve bigger sense of scale, from GTA3 to the Yakuza series, including its own sequel Shenmue 2.
But it was such an incredible game at the time. I played over every inch of it, several times, and yet still finding new stuff to do, look at and discover.
A great story, engaging protagonists and an amazing atmosphere like any other.
I still wish Ryo will be able to avenge his father someday...
#6th Gen (HD era) Deadly Premonition (2010) genre: Twin Peaks
And here we are, "today" generation, ending this year with the arrival of its successors, the Wii U already slowly taking over the Wii.
My bias with the current direction in gaming, in general, is that the quest for more hardware power as been making games tending to reality more and more each day. That's what the "Next Gen" is all about, having games mimic reality, with HD-super detailed realistic graphics. Most production already tending to slowly turn into interactive movies and shows.
And what we're losing in the process is creativity and original art direction.
In a way, Deadly Premonition is a Dreamcast game that came out way too late for its own good. Clunky, cheesy, badly animated, sluggish controls.
But once you start to play it, the sum of its parts is much better than those taken apart.
Sure, it's basically a Twin Peaks video game, a 1990s show no less! But it doesn't hide the fact it's just a game at the end of it!
Even York talking to his imaginary friend Zack is basically him talking to us, the player.
The game is part-weird murder mystery, part-zombie Survival Horror and part-David Lynch. It's strange at times, there's loads of quests and sub-quests to explore. And you better shave York once in a while or he's gonna look like Santa Claus!
And give him stuff to eat. And see that he gets enough sleep.
And... and...
Simply a unique memorable experience, which I'll gladly take over any other generic 3rd person shooter or FPS this generation saw released every other week..
Anyways, that is my entire selection!
You can agree or disagree with me, but thing is these are all my personal most memorable experiences.
The ones I enjoyed most and will probably do all over again.
I'm not saying there wasn't better games, there probably were a lot actually. But those are the one memories I cherish the most of these past decades.
You can find some of these above and other games as well reviewed on this page.
Artwork © Eyz. Other materials © Respective owners.
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