5 most nostalgic video games?

[Spoonist]

Pure nostalgia here showing my age;

First ever computer game I played was Space Invaders II as a table arcade at the local pizzeria which looked like this:

That blew me away and life would never really be the same.

Did your table arcades have the same fault as ours?

I remember guys 'banging' the slot area and coin eject button quite hard, and if done right it would give free credits.

Of course. But I never used it myself, I was too scared of the owner.
Now lots of old arcades had hardware faults like that, I remember the bad game where you where Bruce Lee fighting your way up a mansion. If you pressed the slot as you put in the coin you would get 100 credits. First Virtua Fighter I played had a fault where the whole machine would go to a boot command if you tilted it. Something which some jackasses of course did.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Star Control 2 (I sense a trend here)
Sun Dog
Dungeon Master
Syndicate/Syndicate Wars
Killing Time

Hey guys, I freaking remember playing "Adventure" on one of my Dads old PC's as a kid. now THAT is some serious game nostalgia.

Ah, I remember that! I had an uncle-in-law who'd let me play when we visited.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I liked the old nintendo puzzle games. Bomberman, Marble Madness, Bubble-bobble...

You could play those for YEARS.

[Whiplash]

super mario brothers wii

Not to nitpick, but is that a typo? I mean the game came out not even a year ago (it'll be a year next week). It hasn't even had a price drop yet.

[General Zod]

super mario brothers wii

Not to nitpick, but is that a typo? I mean the game came out not even a year ago (it'll be a year next week). It hasn't even had a price drop yet.

Did you bother reading the rest of his post?

[Guardsman Bass]

SNES:
-Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. I love this game. It's just so incredibly fun to play, even though I know it like the back of my hand by now.
-Donkey Kong Country. Fun adventure game, and the first SNES adventure game that I noticed for its lack of a level clock. The sequels were fun as well, but turned into Item Quests.

N64
-Star Fox 64: This game was way ahead of its time for Nintendo, with voice-over of virtually all the dialogue, and good use of the N64's capabilities. The only major flaw was the lack of a "save" function, forcing you to beat the game all the way through each time you turned it on.
-Super Mario 64: Obvious enough.

[Stark]

The Gremlins game on Atari was like that. I had a firm memory of complex tactical planning and graceful escalation in difficulty, but the reality was quite different.

[Whiplash]

super mario brothers wii

Not to nitpick, but is that a typo? I mean the game came out not even a year ago (it'll be a year next week). It hasn't even had a price drop yet.

Did you bother reading the rest of his post?

I actually did. I must have been high as shit then because I didn't notice most of that crap.

My bad.

[adam_grif]

Some of us aren't sixty years old, Destructionator. It's notalgic if I have nostalgia for it.

I have nostalgia for Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. That's about it.

[Darth Yan]

Oh crap. Rogue Squadron's another one I forgot. I played that with my father for ages.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Some of us aren't sixty years old, Destructionator. It's notalgic if I have nostalgia for it.

It may be an old joke, but it's nevertheless also the truth: you don't really know what true nostalgia is until you start to feel that nostalgia is no longer what it used to be

[Alyeska]

Nostalgic doesn't necessarily mean the game was good. But we have fond memories of it when we played it.

Star Control 2 (about as good as good gets)
X-Wing and Tie-Fighter games
Wing Commander Privateer
Master of Orion
Myth and Myth 2
Starfleet Command 1 and 2
Homeworld series
Super Mario Bro 3

Master of Orion is very nostalgic. But as Stark has said in the past, its pretty much about stomping the computer and there isn't really any challenge after a short point. I played it mostly when I was in school as a kid and into my teen years.

Star Control 2, I spent plenty of late nights enjoying that game and discovering every secret I could. I remember happening upon the Sun Device by pure luck when it was relatively unguarded. I didn't even know of its existence. My friends playing the game had searched for it for some time and were irritated I had stumbled upon it.

Privateer was the first free form game that I really played. An apparent ability to go where you wanted and do what you desired. Pirate, merchant, or badass. Your choice.

Of all the Mario games I played, SMB3 was my favorite. Well designed with improvements over the previous games. I got it on Gameboy Advance and can still waste hours playing it this very day.

[RedImperator]

Here's two ancient games that I have some nostalgia for: Ghostbusters and Rescue on Fractulas, both on the Apple II. I played them on an Apple IIc with a monochrome monitor. Ghostbusters worked okay, but Rescue on Fractulas became about thirty thousand times harder without color; you couldn't read your gauges and everything outside blended into the sky or the ground. If I was lucky, I rescued one guy before game over.

Here's the thing: Ghostbusters was a terrible game. The Angry Video Game Nerd sums it up here (he reviews the NES version, but so far as I can remember, the version for the Apple II was identical). But I don't remember it as a terrible game. I remember playing it with my dad and having fun, even though we never won (I never even got to the last boss). And I loved Ghostbusters when I was a kid; I had, like, one Transformer and no G.I. Joes, but I had the Ghostbusters firehouse, Ecto I, multiple versions of the guys, and shitboats of ghosts. When you're eight years old and a computer game lets you pretend to be a Ghostbuster, who gives a shit if the game actually sucks?

Likewise, Rescue on Fractulas was interesting and fun, but almost unplayable on a monochrome monitor. No joy hooking the computer up to a TV, either--we only had two. One was black and white, and the other was a disco-era console model that probably weighed close to 200 lbs. Again, I think the nostalgia comes more from being a kid and having fun with my dad than the actual quality of the game.

[Darksider]

Oh crap. Rogue Squadron's another one I forgot. I played that with my father for ages.

Did you ever manage to beat the Sullust level without using the infinite lives cheat? No one i've ever talked to about it has been able to do that. (goddamn missile launchers)

My list:

SNES:
Starfox
All the Super Star Wars games

N64:
Goldeneye 64
Rogue Squadron
Shadows of the Empire (Basically I kept playing the first hoth level over and over until the above game came out)
Starfox 64

PS1:
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy Tactics
Colony Wars 2 & 3
Wing Commander IV

Anything from a later system isn't old enough to be considered "nostalgic."

[RogueIce]

Age of Empires 2:
Brutal multiplayer, shame MSN Gaming Zone closed and everyone only wants to play Castle Blood on the replacements.

GameRanger usually has a ton of AoE2 games. And that is rather fun, though the only MP I've ever done was CompStomp. Luckily I'm not a great RTS player in general so the AIs can still present a good challenge, even with help. Fucking games take hours though...

Simpsons Arcade
TMNT Arcade

I remember both of those! I especially loved Simpsons Arcade, just because I'm a jerk and would get hit with Homer a lot just to hear "D'oh!" over and over.

I played a few of those old school Atari games, too. Pitfall (grrrr), some Keystone Kops game, and I think Missile Command? Or whatever it was where you shot pew-pew lasers at incoming missiles. These were probably more of Alyeska's definition of nostalgic: I remember having fun playing it, but they probably aren't great games.

Oh, and just to finish off on some arcade stuff: the local MOSI used to have a huge room full of classic arcade games. You could spend days in there and never get bored. It's where I got to play Donkey Kong in all its arcade glory.

There was also an Asteroids machine in a dentist's office I used to go to. Especially notable because it was free! And man, was your triangle spaceship ever fucking bright on that screen.

[Stravo]

For me here are the ones that bring misty eyed memories:

Defender - I played this exclusively in the arcades and when it came out for the Atari 2600 it was ridiculous. The entire day would go by playing it. It was the first viedogame that made me suffer physically playing it. The red sores that developed in the palm of my hand and thumb from using the big blocky Atari 2600 joystick for hours on end.

Bard's Tale III The Thief of Fate- This one was a real awesome experience. Who needs automapping? I had my graph paper and pencil. Puzzles that made you really think, great ideas (Tarmitia the plane of war where your team of medieval adventurers fought Nazis and Panzer tanks. Nice.) as well as just a really good story that gripped. All of it done with text and very little graphics. Unfortunately I could never get my hands on the other Bard's Tales so I'm sure I would have loved those too.

Master of Orion II - I probably miss playing this one the most. I don't know why they can't just replicate this again with better graphics and more features because I played this one late into the night for many years.

Civilization II - The one that hooked me like a crack addict to the series. Pulled my first all nighter gaming with this particular title. I remember the glee I felt discovering gunpowder in the BC era and just laying waste to my foes.

Command and Conquer: Red Alert - to this day my favorite game in the whole series. The final mission where you land in England as Russia and just blast your way through with Mammoth tanks is close to my heart. Everything about the game worked for me, back story, cut scenes (why don't we see those more often these days?) game balance, graphics, missions. It was all there.

[General Zod]

I used to own that old Ghostbusters game on the NES. I think it's at least partly responsible for making me leery of any game movie tie-ins to this day.

[xthetenth]

Oh crap. Rogue Squadron's another one I forgot. I played that with my father for ages.

Did you ever manage to beat the Sullust level without using the infinite lives cheat? No one i've ever talked to about it has been able to do that. (goddamn missile launchers)

Think I did, pretty sure my dad golded. He was unholy good at that game, and I'm pretty sure he straight up unlocked Hoth the cool kids way. I still have no idea how much he played of that game, just that it was a lot.

My list (sorry for the inclusion of a 3d game and a pair with modern ports, but my general rule is I'm nostalgic if the graphics can make me physically ill and I gloss over it).

Crimson skies
x-wing
chip's challenge
skifree
and some world cup soccer game on the nes I totally forget the name of.

[Losonti Tokash]

Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back

[Oni Koneko Damien]

Ah Dungeon Master. I remember playing that game long before I got the hang of actually using combat commands. I survived a floor or two by repeatedly throwing (literally throwing) everything I had at those shrieking shrubbery things before I got killed by a mummy.

Other games... a lot of stuff on the Amiga, but notably:
Xenon: a mediocre shooter that had the 'innovation' where you could shift between jet and tank form.
Time Bandit: Actually sorta fun, though I was constantly stumped by the game's brief typing/rpg moments.
Arkanoid: Still the best breakout game in existence, in my highly subjective opinion.
Populous: I just liked getting to the point where I could destroy my own people with a volcano.


On the NES:
Legacy of the Wizard: I sank way too many hours into that game.

[Andrew_Fireborn]

Hmm... I've had games since I could walk... (I could hook up my NES long, LONG before anyone actually trusted me to be able to.)

Though, the NES era all kinda blends together. I vaguely remember being excited for Mario 3. Though, most of my summers were spent with Mega Man 4...

Family had an Apple II, though I never got to play anything on it. Outside of edutainment games like Number Munchers and this other thing I don't recall the name of that starred a weird orange diamond shaped guy... Dad had the Kings and Space Quest lines...

The SNES era is when I'd say nostalgia kicked in.

Robotrek takes the place as my first RPG love. I spent forever running around with those robots. Illusion of Gaea and Soul Blazer, by the same devs, were also great games I played when the SNES was still SotA.

N64 had Golden Eye, which I had a lot of fun with at the time... But laugh at the people who -still- think it's the pinnacle of FPS gameplay...

I played a few things on friend's Playstations. Played FF7 when it was new... It -really- didn't register with me. A fine game, but I just don't understand the nostalgia wave that surrounds it. The original Armored Core was fun.

Though, I guess that's a bit too much of my "pedigree."


Robotrek, SNES
Secret of Evermore, SNES
M.A.X., PC
Mega Man 4, NES
X-COM: UFOD, PC

[CaiusWickersham]

1. The 7th Guest -- say what you will, the game had an atmosphere that sucked me in and made me want to explore the mansion

2. System Shock -- DOOM for pros. SHODAN remains my favorite villain.

3. Star Trek 25th Anniversary -- The game was simply AWESOME.

4. Buried in Time: Journeyman Project 2 -- Eye candy in its day. Arthur was a riot in the Middle Ages.

5. DuckTales (PC) -- Epic adventure romp for treasure with Scrooge McDuck.

[Batman]

Bard's Tale III The Thief of Fate- This one was a real awesome experience. Who needs automapping? I had my graph paper and pencil.

Aah, yes, the graph paper and pencil days...
And their limitations. I still remember that day when we went down into those mine tunnels in Secret of the Silver Blades...and the grid location we came down at was 139 by 97 or something like that. The asteroid base from Countdown to Doomsday comes to mind too. Some of those graph paper maps could turn out to be pretty awkward to create and handle
And if you liked Thief of Fate, I agree you would have probably enjoyed BG 1 and 2 ( I still remember that close to/end battle from BG1-'Before you, you see 99 berserks, 99 berserks, 99 berserks, and 99 berserks.' 'Um-is there anything worthwhile on TV?')

[Lord of the Abyss]

Populous: I just liked getting to the point where I could destroy my own people with a volcano.

Oooh, yeah, Populous! Loved that game.

Ultima III: Exodus; that was another I recall really playing obsessively.

[Stormin]

Dark Age of Camelot. My first MMO and the one I still compare all others to.
Wing Commander 1-4 + Privateer
Warlords III: Darklords Rising. Wait, I still play this one!
Command & Conquer + C&C Red Alert
Diablo I and II