Most Influential Games?

[Alienblue]

We've had lists of best and worst, but what were the most INFLUENTIAL games in your life....that got you started, introduced you to your favorite genre, or even got you hooked up with your Signifigant Other or a freind? Here's my top 5:

1: TANK...coin-op was the first videogame I ever played (in a sleezy bar in 1974 or 5) ...later, Coleco's TANK BATTLE was my first home Videogame.

2: AIR SEA BATTLE...first HOME game I played, though the Sears Tele games 2600 I got came with Pac Man and I bought Space Invaders with it.

3: Coleco's portable MS. PAC-MAN.... this was the first portable game that I became addicted to, obsessed with! Long before gameboy and TETRIS, I stayed up all night trying to get one more maze or get my score a little higher.... I went through hundreds of D cell batteries with this!

4: LADYBUG...Colecovision. This, to me, was the first truly ARCADE QUALITY home videogame. I knew I was hooked for life at this point. To this day Ladybug is my #1 game!

5: SUPER MARIO BROS .... Truly the begining of the second coming and rebirth of videogames, and was the first multi-level platform "beat the game" game for me. Thus began the mordern era and ended the "golden age", so I became a collector and "classic" old-timer while still playing the "new" with the NES and SMB.

There were many other defining moments like first computer, first handheld, 16-bit and more but you get the picture.
Now let's hear yours!

[feilong801]

Great thread idea. Here is my personal list of games that influenced me (going chronologically, from earliest memories of my life):

 

Kangaroo (Atari 2600): My family had sold off/given away their 2600 by the time I turned 5 years old (1985), but I have memories of playing my neighbor's system, and I remember this game particularly. Not a spectacular game, but it put the idea of wanting a home gaming system in my mind, ultimately influencing me to ask Santa (who was in reality a family friend that looked exactly like Santa, but I didn't know this of course!) for a Nintendo after I saw that advertised.

 

Donkey Kong (Arcade): My early, pre-public school life consisted of pre-school, then going to my father's employee lounge (he owned his own business), where he had a Donkey Kong machine. Big Red soda, Nickolodeon on the tube, and Donkey Kong on freeplay. Life was simple and fun, eh?

 

Zelda (NES): This was the game I specifically asked for when I also asked for a Nintendo back in Christmas of 1986. Mario was awesome, but this was the game that I really spent a huge amount of time playing.

 

Contra (NES): One of the first games that wasn't Nintendo made that I remember really digging. We all know the deal here. Spead gun. Co-op. Pure bliss.

 

Dragon Warrior (NES): I received the free Nintendo Power copy of the game, and was thus introduced into the world of RPG gaming.

 

Dark Designs (Apple IIgs, via the Softdisk subscription service): Anyone remember Softdisk? They were a magazine on a floppy that Apple and PC users used to subscribe to. They were notable in that the two founders of ID software, John Romero and John Carmack, got their start there. Dark Designs was a Carmack designed RPG game that introduced me to Ultima type PC style RPGs, but with the (at the time) superior graphics ability that the Apple IIgs had.

 

Street Fighter II (Arcade and SNES): I could devide my gaming hobby into several phases: Phase one could be called the "Zelda era," while phase II was clearly the "Street Fighter II era." I had my parents buy this for my birthday a month ahead of time, fearing that it wouldn't be available after the title launch (I was correct to make this assumption). I then had to stare at the sealed box for 30 agonizing days until the birthday arrived (which was on a Friday, which is HUGE when you are in k-12 school, Friday is a like a holiday every week, because you could stay up late!). Needless to say I had a great birthday that year!

 

Wing Commander IV (PC): I'm not sure but I'm thinking this was the one that had Mark Hamil playing the lead in one of the most well produced FMV games of all time. But unlike most games that featured lots of video, Wing Commander also had its premier, top level space combat gameplay to marry it to, and hence it was an experience few games could equal. With a large budget and name stars, this game (and its sequel) set a benchmark that couldn't really be touched in the FMV era.

 

Xcom: UFO Defense (PC): A certified classic by Microprose, a brilliant and deep turn based stratagy game that modern gamers can now get on the Gameboy Advance.

 

Super Mario64 (N64): Awesome in everyway, we all know how innovative in original this game was. All I'll say here is that I video taped myself playing this game and passed it around school, so incredible was this game at the time.

 

Final Fantasy VII (PS1): Probably the first game where the story line really pulled me in hard, and also shattered forever (despite what some here might think, heh) my Nintendo fanboyism. Future sequels would get too cut scene heavy for my tastes.

 

Metal Gear Solid II (PS2): I took a several year gaming hiatus after going to college, and I was so bookish that my parents actually surprised me on Christmas with a PS2, which I did not ask for nor expect. They were actually worried that I wasn't "having enough fun" in school (did they realize that, since I was studying jazz as my major, that I was gigging in bars, essentially getting paid to drink gin and tonics? ). You know, I never recall them having that problem with other members of my family.... ones that took more than 4 years to graduate, I might add! Anyway, I didn't like the ridiculous plot, but the gameplay was tight and pulled me back into gaming.

 

Super Smash Bros. Melee (Gamecube): I had written off Nintendo entirely before I tried out this game at my sister's house. Mustering what little cash I had after my sophomore year at school (with only a $5.15 per hour radio gig as my income at that point, and a few scattered music gigs), I bought a 'cube and this game. Smart move. This game has inspired RIDICULOUS multiplayer trashtalking on a level only equaled by....

 

Halo 1 and 2 (Xbox): Some of the finest console multiplayer ever, and a fine single player experience as well. Not revolutionary, just a great refinement of the FPS genre. Eagerly anticipation the conclusion of the storyline this summer on the 360.

 

Fire Emblem II (GBA): Totally hipped me to the awesomeness of Intelligent Systems and their balanced, thoughtful stratagy titles. Also one of the finest storylines I've played in a game (and on a GBA!!!).

 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS): Kept me riveted in a way few modern games have, this title made me realize how much I've changed as I've aged all the way up to 26 . I value substance now as much as explosions, and the clever, witty script and well developed characters kept me glued to the DS.

 

Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii): I'm not quite done with this game yet, but I'm thrilled with the result. I enjoyed Wind Waker and Minnish Cap, but other than the non-orchestral music (a slight bummer, though the music is still great), this is pretty close to perfection. I love the magical feeling that this whole series invokes, and this game is the total maturation of that. 

 

Whew! Okay, I can probably think of many othes, but that's what I can come up with today...

 

-Rob

www.therobzone.com

 

[Crevalle]

I have so many nostalgic/influential games that I can't even list them all without boring everyone to tears. 

Pitfall - I remember spending hours enthralled with this 2600 title.  I was so little that I sucked, but I still remember it well.  Played with friends, etc.

Zaxxon/DK Jr/Smurfs - ColecoVision games that I loved.  Man oh man did I ever.  I still remember the DAY I got each one of them.

SMB - Same as everyone else

Bionic Commando - AHHHHH....never did beat Hitler, but had a blast getting there.  I remember being so proud of myself after getting so close (I was a kid).

SMB2 - Unlike most people, this is my all-time favorite Mario game.  Just loved it in so many ways.  Great music, great graphics, and I remember the day it came out playing at a friends house.  Such a blast, and a great ending.

I could go on, but I'll stop boring everyone.

[feilong801]

Yeah Crevalle, I actually liked virtually every NES sequel that people thought stunk. Zelda II: thought it was great. Loved Simon's Quest. And I also liked SMB II quite a bit as well.

 

Nintendo (and Konami) had a surprising tendancy to want to innovate for sequels in those days.

 

-Rob