# Games I Played As A Kid ## Foreword I thought it might be interesting to think through all of the video games I used to play when I was little; prior to 10 years old, let's say. I mentioned it a bit in my other post, [[On Time Spent Playing Video Games]], but I grew up with many game consoles — primarily [[Nintendo]] ones — that were handed down by my older siblings. I only had a few of my own as time went on. This allowed me to get a pretty wide range of experience with games of all genres. > [!warning] A Note About This Page > *Note that this part of the post is a work-in-progress, and some links might not work until I'm able to go through and make sure said linked pages only have public-facing information in them. They also may just lead to blank pages, as I haven't actually written something for all of them yet.* 😂 ## The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Even though we had an [[NES]] when I was little, I don't think I had a lot of the required dexterity to play any of the games on it. We had most of the classic titles, of course, like [[Super Mario Bros.]], [[Duck Hunt]], and so on, but the only memories I really have of that time would have been trying — very unsuccessfully — to figure out titles like [[Starcat Games/Wiki/Video Games/T/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]], [[Dragon Warrior]], [[Star Tropics]], and [[Skate or Die]]… This was an impossible task for me at that age. ## The Super Nintendo (SNES) Now we're talking. The [[SNES]] was (and still is) awesome. There are so many excellent games from this console's time that I still play today! Two of my all time favorite games that I would easily put into the top five games of all time are SNES games: [[EarthBound]] & [[Chrono Trigger]]. There are many other games that I really enjoy, too. All of the ones listed below were either ones that either my older siblings had, ones that I borrowed from my cousins, or played at someone else's house! - [[Super Mario World]] - [[Donkey Kong Country]] - [[Donkey Kong Country 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest]] - [[Donkey Kong Country 3 - Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]] - [[Zombies Ate My Neighbors]] - [[Super Mario All-Stars]] - [[Mega Man X]] - [[Super Metroid]] - [[Super Mario RPG]] - [[Starcat Games/Wiki/Video Games/T/The Addams Family|The Addams Family]] - [[Starcat Games/Wiki/Video Games/T/The Addams Family Values|The Addams Family Values]] ## The Nintendo 64 (N64) Things started to diversify quite a bit once we get into the 3D era of video games. The [[N64]] has a very interesting library of titles, some of which were the first more "mature" games that I got into. For example, I somehow talked my mom into getting me [[Duke Nukem 64]], which was awesome, but definitely earned that "M" rating! Another would be [[Turok 2 - Seeds of Evil]] — the music in this one by [[Darren Mitchell]] is excellent! Besides those sorts of games, there are exceptional titles on N64 like [[The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time]] and [[Super Mario 64]]. Some of my short-list favorite games are on the N64: - [[The Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask]] - [[Paper Mario]] - [[Mario Party]] - [[Mario Party 3]] - [[Banjo-Kazooie]] - [[Goldeneye 007]] - [[Donkey Kong 64]] - [[Star Fox 64]] There are many others, though, that I really enjoyed (and still do!), such as: - [[Blast Corps]] - [[Harvest Moon 64]] - [[Jet Force Gemini]] - [[Rayman 2 - The Great Escape]] - [[Perfect Dark]] - [[Diddy Kong Racing]] - [[Pokémon Snap]] - [[Army Men - Sarge's Heroes]] - [[Resident Evil 2]] - [[Yoshi's Story]] I have no doubt that there are other titles that I'm missing here, but you get the idea! As you can probably guess, the N64 was a major gaming platform for me growing up. My siblings and I had quite a few games, and many friends and extended family members also had N64 games that we would borrow from each other — fun times! ## The Nintendo GameBoy Advance (GBA) Strangely, I didn't actually have many games for the [[Game Boy Advance|GBA]], even though it was the first handheld console I ever had. In the end, I think I only ever got a couple of games for it, with one being [[X-Men - Reign of Apocalypse]], and the other being [[Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase]]. For whatever reason, I never really got into the GBA despite it having a pretty solid lineup of games. I still have the copies of the two aforementioned titles, though! An older cousin of mine was really into the GBA at that time, and he had a whole GBA game folio thing that was full of different games, which I thought was cool. However, I think at this time I was just more interested in home console games since the hardware was simply way more capable. I didn't really appreciate the mobile/portable aspect of this system like my cousin, but years later, I definitely do more! ## The Nintendo GameCube (GCN) While the [[GameCube]] came out years before I had one of my own, it was the first home console that was "mine" as a kid. This was also the point that my interests in games started diverge quite a bit from those of my friends in school. This generation of consoles also had the likes of the [[Xbox]] and, of course, the [[PS2]]. Where before many of my friends were Nintendo fans, they changed sides, if you will, to the couple of other competitors. System-sellers like [[Halo - Combat Evolved]] and [[Final Fantasy VII]] were enticing, indeed! I never had those platforms growing up, so it wasn't until much later that I would dabble in some of those exclusive titles. Some of my favorite games on the 'Cube from the time would definitely be: - [[Paper Mario - The Thousand-Year Door]] - [[Mario Kart - Double Dash!!]] - [[Metroid Prime]] - [[James Bond 007 - Nightfire]] - [[Super Mario Sunshine]] - [[Skies of Arcadia Legends]] - [[The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker]] - [[TimeSplitters - Future Perfect]] - [[Animal Crossing]] ## The Nintendo DS The [[DS]] has a solid library of great games! Originally, I had one of the OG "brick" DS systems in titanium gray, and later, a DS Lite in pure white. Compared to the GBA, I had many more games for the DS. I think it was because at this point, handheld consoles had reached the point of running games that were much more elaborate in both visuals and mechanics, not to mention the dual screens! Having two screens with one of them being a touch screen was a pretty impressive bit of kit at the time. I feel like the DS is at a really nice intersection of capable hardware and charming software. The graphics are usually a mix of pixel art and low-poly 3D, and the gameplay has lots of interesting possibilities between the dual screen + touchscreen configuration. As for games, I can definitely recall having and regularly playing: - [[New Super Mario Bros.]] - [[Nintendogs - Dachshund & Friends]] - [[Mario Kart DS]] - [[Brain Age - Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!]] - [[Clubhouse Games]] One of my cousins also had a DS, and they had other games that we played together, like [[Mario & Luigi - Partners In Time]], [[Mario Party DS]], and [[Super Mario 64 DS]]. > *It was only recently that I picked up a nice cobalt blue [[DS Lite]] on eBay to check out more of the games that I never tried back in the day! Some of the ones I have on hand now are [[The Legend of Zelda - The Phantom Hourglass]], [[Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney]], [[Drawn To Life]], and [[Professor Layton and the Curious Village]]. I just finished Phantom Hourglass a few days ago, and I have Ace Attorney underway!* ## The Nintendo Wii Of all of the consoles listed here, none of them in their prime are as memorable to me as the [[Wii]]! *Everyone* was hyped for it back in the day. I distinctly remember opening it at [[Christmas]], as my mom and my cousin had waited in line to each get one for something like six and a half hours in the weeks following the system's launch. >*One a side note, it's amazing to me how its defining feature, motion controls, completely went by the wayside as time went on. There are certain exceptions, of course, as the [[Switch]] and [[Switch 2]] have similar capabilities, but there's no traction for novel input devices anymore, it seems like.* Certain games readily come to mind when I think of the Wii: - [[Wii Sports]] - [[The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess]] - [[Mario Kart Wii]] - [[Mario Party 8]] - [[Rayman Raving Rabbids]] - [[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]] - [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]] - [[Super Mario Galaxy]] ## Beyond The Early Era After I got into high school and beyond, I've played innumerable games across all genres and platforms. Video games are a pastime that I never expect will get old for me. > *The day that we stop playing is the day we start getting old.* > — Mr. Bloom, [[The Twilight Zone]] #games #childhood