What was the first game that struck you as the best game ever?

I've been gaming for a long time... When I was a kid I'd play the original Donkey Kong on my Intelivision along with astrosmash, tank Battle, Dungeons & Dragons etc... While I loved many games along the way, it wasn't untill about halfway through the lifespan of the Gamecube that a game just completely hit and floored me as the greatest game I ever played.

That game was Pikmin 2... I was just completely consumed by that world. All the creatures, all the silly observations by Olimar, all the hilarious recipes that Louie suggests using the monsters you encounter along the way, and the Ship's sales pitches for all the treasure you find... I've been in a reminiscent mood since Pikmin was confirmed to make a big appearance at this years E3 so I decided to revisit the wonderful world of Pikmin (a humanless earth) and explore it through the eyes of a 4cm tall alien explorer again... I have fallen in love once again.

This isn't about what your favourite game is now, but rather a question about what that very first major game was in your life that consumed your mind and sparked your imagination... What was that game?

Super Mario 64 for me

I've been gaming since around 1989-1990. I was born in 1986 so my early years playing games wasn't something I cherished quite as much as I do now. It wasn't until The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time that I actually fell in love with a game. At that time I couldn't envision a game getting any better. If not for this game I may not even be playing games today as an adult. It literally sparked a love for games in me and led me to other fantastic titles that I would have otherwise missed.

Mine is a three way tie between Castlevania SOTN, Metal Gear Solid and Xenogears.

I played the Intellavision also in the early 80's. I remember playing D&D. The first game that really drew me in was Zelda on the NES. When Zelda ALTTP came out it really blew me away. It's probobly still my all time favorite game.

MGS. I love everything about it to this day. I have ben playing games since '83 and had never experienced anything like it.

Sonic Adventure 2 probably, never played the first.

The original Tomb Raider

Started gaming in the mid 90's. But still nothing ever beats Vice City as an experience.

God knows how many hours i put into that world.

Super Mario Bros on the NES :) my jaw actually dropped when I saw that game back as a kid, it holds up well even now for me.

Probably MGS3 which oddly enough is probably the least mentioned in the series. MGS1 was is noted for ushering in cinematic videogames, MGS2 ... was MGS2 and MGS4 was a behemoth title that was anticipated in saving the PS3.

Reasons why? Gameplay was far superior to everyone one of those games from a creative and a pacing standpoint. Characters, the plot was far less convuluted and emotionally impactful and the boss fights are the best in gaming, period. It made me realize that games can be art and that games are a whole other beast in contrast to film and music. It still is, since 2005 my favorite game of all time. Even games like Ocarina have not been able to knock it off that mantel for me.

A Game called SWAT on my Atari ST. I have never been able to find it for emulation but another game of the same name always comes up. The SWAT I am talking about was a little character walking up a street from an almost top down view with people shooting at you from rooftops and people with baseball bats trying to club you. At the end of every level when you made it to the end of the street their was a hostage situation.

Also 'How to be a Complete B''tard' on the C64 or Amstrad CPC

More modern though I would have to say Sonic 2. Road Rash 2 or Streets of Rage 2 on the Megadrive/Genesis

I've played a lot of good games up until Chrono Trigger, but when I did play that one, that was the impression that I got and I remember not wanting it to end after I defeated Lavos the first time. Thankfully, it didn't. I ended up getting most of the endings and got everything I could out of that game. It's a masterpiece and will always be a masterpiece. It's the best game and the best RPG ever. No question in my mind.

mafia was the best game i ever played

It was FF7 and MGS1, man when those games came out it was like nothing came close to as epic as those two games, specially MGS1 just felt like it was ahead of it's time.

Iv'e been gaming since the original NES. A few titles over the years from SNES to the PS2, struck me as amazing. Super Double Dragon, Mariokart 64, Super Mario 64, Goldeney, Zelda OOT, Duke Nukem 64, GTA 3, Vice City. ( Just think of this as my list of nominees )

Really it wasnt until my 1st experience with Splinter Cell did i think i had found Gold. The sneaky, spy operative was something i had always dreamed about as a kid watching movies. I played Splinter Cell in my teen years & it brought to me what i never knew i had secretly yearned for.

The game provided me with a thrill. No your typical bullets flyin everywhere thrill but more of a " Im about to explode with anxiety & have a panic attack" while trying to sneak by unnoticed kind of thrill. It was something a game had never made me feel before.

Hiding 2 feet away from the worlds most dangerous terrorists while sneaking through a variety of top secret/off limits/dangerous environments, with pure skill, staying undetected. I felt vulnerable, full of anxiety but felt like the worlds best Spy operative.

Really it wasnt until my 1st experience with Splinter Cell did i think i had found Gold. The sneaky, spy operative was something i had always dreamed about as a kid watching movies. I played Splinter Cell in my teen years & it brought to me what i never knew i had secretly yearned for.

The game provided me with a thrill. No your typical bullets flyin everywhere thrill but more of a " Im about to explode with anxiety & have a panic attack" while trying to sneak by unnoticed kind of thrill. It was something a game had never made me feel before.

Hiding 2 feet away from the worlds most dangerous terrorists while sneaking through a variety of top secret/off limits/dangerous environments, with pure skill, staying undetected. I felt vulnerable, full of anxiety but felt like the worlds best Spy operative.

brucecambell

Fvck yeah!

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In retrospect, if I had this mentality during the SNES era, I'd say 'Super Metroid', in the 90's. But OoT is the game that re-defined the hobby for me (3D, scope, size, difficulty, music - everything). It's not even my favorite Zelda -- I'm more of a ALttP and Majora's Mask fan myself -- but I realize it's the game that did the most for the series (ALttP, while great, didn't change as much from its predecessors as OoT did -- same goes for MM, which is essentially OoT with a new mechanism and improved setting).

I started gaming in the video arcades back in about '81 - '82. The games were great and I certainly stuck plenty of quarters in them (well actually it was 10 tokens for a dollar), but none really blew me away. Got an NES a while later and had a lot of fun with that, and later a PS1, but I enjoy those games because I was young and I'd enjoy anything.

The first game that really, REALLY impressed me was Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix on the PS1. It had a real story and real characters - just a huge step up from anything I'd played before. And the quantity of environments and length of the game was in an entirely different league than anything else. Gameplay kept me enthralled for weeks. Best Game Ever :)

Landstalker for Sega Genesis was the very first i thought it was just out of this world. Back in 1993.

Landstalker for Sega Genesis was the very first i thought it was just out of this world. Back in 1993.

EvilSelf

Never heard of it, but from the youtube videos I'm seeing, it looks interesting :o. Might give it a try on the VC later today.

my first "Best Game Ever" was Half-Life 1

Currently, it's Mass Effect 3 (or the entire series, however you want to look at it)

Streets of rage 2...

Mine was Final Fantasy IX (PS1) but then Persona 4 (PS2) sooner after that

Frogger. I could kick butt in Frogger.

Majora's mask... and look! It still is!

black throne (NES)

Legend of Zelda (NES)

starcraft (PC)

Diablo II (PC)

The first game I played; Street Fighter 2: Turbo.

Born 1987 Got a NES 1991 and a SNES a few years later But it wasnt untill i got a PC around 1997 that i started to really appreciate games. LittleBigAdventure2 would probaly be the first game i would say is the best ive played. Many games would have took over that by now Halflife1/2, Deus Ex, GrandTheftAuto3, CounterStrike, Unreal Tournament, Warcraft3, TotalWar Series, and just recently Dark Souls. Theres just to many to mention now really.

Final Fantasy VII

KOTOR on the original Xbox. Even though I couldn't understand what was happening most of time (I was young!), it is one of my favorite games. My 6 year old mind was turned inside out when I found out I was Revan!:)

Star Fox64. I liked how bad guys talked to you and how your teammates would talk during gameplay. I also like how they were all animals.

Then later it was DMC, never has a game mixed guns, swords, magic, and style into fast gameplay along with a final 3 tiered epic final boss fight along with some cool villians to boot.

I was born in '93 and I've only been gaming since '97 so the first game for me was Majora's Mask followed by San Andreas, Oblivion, Mass Effect 2 and now Mass Effect 3. I remember the first time I played all of those games I ended up playing all day to the point that my parents would laugh at me. :lol:

Like others, I have been gaming since the original NES. I have enjoyed many games over the years and my "best game ever" has changed throughout the years. But once I played Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception, I got exactly what I wanted from a game.

I don't just want simple gameplay, like the original Mario Bros games. I also want an expierence. With Uncharted I got that true blockbuster, action adventure feeling that no game has been able to replicate. Uncharted 3 had everything I wanted, great on foot chases, platforming, puzzles, hand to hand combat, stealth, cover based shooting mechanics and great, likable characters as well.

It didn't just feel like I was going from hallway to room to room to arena shooting enemies like so many games. And no area/level/chapter of any game has left me as floored as the cruise ship in Uncharted 3. The game wasn't a movie, like some ignorant people would like to claim. But it resembled an action movie in video game form better than any other developer has EVER been able to do.

I also must give special credit to a few other games like Hitman Blood Money, and the Splinter Cell series except for Conviction.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Hmm, best game

There is to many to mention and each year have its own best game.

So nonone has taken the best game ever made and to be honest isent that what games are all about? the day there is a best game EVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR is the day the gaming industry has destroyed it self.

Super Mario World. I poured hundreds of hours into this game as a kid, and it's still a blast to play now.

Super Metroid

Only 1 game has ever made me say "that is the best game I've ever played"... and that's Half-Life 2.

Although Bioshock came close.

It's a toss up for me the moment I played Bubsy 3d Furbitten planet, and sonic 06 i knew i had just touched the holy grail of video games