- James Bond Action Pack (Zx Spectrum): This has to be 1st on the list (even though there is no particular order to this list - I suppose vaguely chronological) (see previous post). This game truly set me on my way.
- Alex Kid in Miracle World (SEGA Master System): I first played this at a friend's house and life would never be the same again. I was appallingly bad at this game - I've never completed it (like most games). But the colours, the characters, the levels... everything blew me away!
- Troy Aikman Football (SNES): This was on my brother's console. He never liked American football, so why he had it is a slight mystery - I however LOVED it and it began a continuing love of American football games. I really really, still, love the graphics from that game.
- Tekken (2 & 3) (Playstation): I love martial arts. I always have - blame it the Karate Kid and my Uncle (who did both Karate & Judo). Tekken, especially Tekken 2 & 3 consumed hours of my life - and hours of my friends' and brother's lives when they came round and we spent all day playing "Winner stays on". It was an introduction to learning strategies and button combos from magazines (along with, at one point, memorising the entire "family tree" of all the current Tekken characters. I was also my first fighting game in 3D.
- Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES): I loved this game. I still do. Except Ken.... I never liked Ken. Much like Paul in Tekken (who I could never beat).... I could never get to grips with Ken.
- DOOM II (PC): This game came with a computer my parents bought. There is no way they would have ever bought it for us :) Every weekend I would play this game. All the way through. Then I acquired the cheat codes (who knows from where - this was before the internet!) and I played it through again, level hopping - playing it backwards. I would sit with a headset & mic on and pretend I was talking to other teammates while playing (I know). When Monday came, I would go in to school and talk about the game with 3 or 4 friends who also had it. We'd compare levels and what we did.. everything. It was on 5 x 3.5" floppy disks - eventually disk 1 corrupted and I haven't played Doom II since. I'm generally not a 1st person shooter fan - some even give me 'motion-sickness' - Doom seems to be the exception. It was also the moment in my life when BFG stopped meaning Big Friendly Giant.
- GTA: Vice City (Playstation 2): I vaguely remember playing the original GTAs on my brother's console and he tried to show me GTA 3, but I didn't like it. Vice City however.... I played a little bit with him while home from Uni one holiday and I was hooked. Everything - how it looks, the music, the missions, the cheat codes, the sweet spot on the top of some structure where you could blast the crap out of everything and the police couldn't get to you, the clothes, the cars... maybe because I'm a child of the 80s - aesthetically it appealed to me in every way. And, it was the right size. Those islands were the perfect size for me - when I played San Andreas the world was too big. I wonder off, get lost, forget what I'm doing. I enjoy quite linear narrative/gameplay I guess - I'm happy to be in a sandbox and be able to do as I please, but San Andreas was too big for me. Once I lose attention to the core storyline - the core game - I stop playing. Which is why since Vice City I've not played GTA games. Also, now, the game itself doesn't appeal to me anymore. Vice City however, will always have space on the game shelf in my heart
- Dungeon Keeper II (and 1, but mainly 2) (PC): I'm guessing that Dungeon Keeper must have come with a computer my parents bought... I don't know how else we would have got it. Both my brother and I were hooked on number 1 and then when number 2 came out, there was a demo on a disk that came with a magazine and I was firstly: not happy that the look had changed (but I quickly got over that) and secondly: I loved the humour. Micro piglets stalk you dungeon! I cannot tell you you how many times I have played through those 20 level of DK2, but it's a lot. I still have it in it's box (I miss those big PC boxes), although I haven't played for a few years now; but any time I'm asked for a list of my favourite games it appears in the top 3.
- Warcraft III (PC): I lost an entire summer to this game. Zap... Gone. Just like that. What did you do this summer? I played Warcraft. I went to work (at a bar) came home, slept and then woke up and played more Warcraft. When I finished, I bought the expansion♦. The Arthas/Lich King storyline is my favourite of all the Warcraft stories and lore. I love strategy games - I played a lot of Civilisation and Populous with my brother growing up (and lot of Theme Park), but Warcraft really got under my skin. The fantasy setting was probably what did it above and beyond other games I'd played. I remember buying it in an HMV store - I'd wondered around and on the floor in the games section was this big black box. I picked it up and it was on sale, looked interesting, was a special edition... So I bought it and zap.... Gone. The whole summer. So much so, that when World of Warcraft first came along I refused to play it because of what would happen (even though I knew I would love it). Which leads me on nicely to:
- World of Warcraft (PC): WoW is my only forray in to MMOs and also one of very few jaunts in to RPGs. I generally don't feel a need to play online with or against other people and I'm not a fan of the grind and thought that goes in to RPGs. I do, however, love Warcraft. I started playing in 2009 when I was introduced to someone by a friend, who played and was in a guild and told me I should definitely come play with them. So I did. 6 years later I'm still playing and 2 of my best friends have come from that guild and I still play with them now (albeit in a different guild). This game has consumed hours... No, HOURS of my time - not just playing, but researching too. I'm very much a casual player by a lot of WoW standards of play. I enjoy that I can play by myself or with others (which goes completely against my usual not wanting to play online with others). I like exploring as much as questing as much as dungeons (again, going against my dislike of straying from the narratives), but it's such a massive world. I don't get in to the stats and a lot of things pass me by. I don't care: I just love this game and the friends it has brought me.
So, there we go! Sure, I've played loads more - many of those I can't even remember the name of! These are the ones that have really stuck with me or made a lasting mark, games I've poured hours in to, games I've actually completed (which is very rare!) Worth every single penny and minute, all of them.
