Five games that changed your gaming life

[homeforsummer]

I searched for a topic similar to this but couldn't find anything. If you know of another thread I shall resurrect it to add my own input and mods can lock this one, but as it is I think it's a decent idea for a thread and it'll be interesting to see people's responses.

Basically, I know there are a number of gamers on these forums who've been
gaming for a number of years, right from the start of some of the original consoles or some of the early PC games. There are even more gamers who may not have started that early, but whose gaming interest took off with the original Playstation, or an N64, and have played significant games since then.

What five games have made a significant impact on you throughout your gaming background?

Which games changed your perception of what to expect from a game, or which games were simply so good that they had a profound impact on you? They may not even necessarily be your favourite games ever. Hell, they might even be shocking to play today, but viewed through rose-tinted spectacles might have significant meaning.

Use of small pictures to illustrate your choices and a reasonable explanation of why said games are important are encouraged, as is discussion on other people's choices. Posting simple lists of five games is discouraged (I hate lists).

I'll start These are in no particular order. And yes, I know I've only picked four. The other one needs more thought!

Final Fantasy VIII (PSX)

I'd actually forgotten about this game until recently, when I came across a reference to it randomly. I'd played it when I was meant to be revising for my GCSEs, having unwisely bought it just before the exams. At first, it was simply a good game - a little slow to get going, and I hadn't really played any RPGs before so I wasn't sure what to expect.

But I kept on playing, and it all started to make sense. The plot began to get thicker and thicker. The battles got bigger and bigger. Discs came and went and I developed genuine affinity with the characters, something that I'd never felt in a game before. I can remember a genuinely heartfelt scene, where Squall had saved Rinoa from imminent death in the depths of space. It was a scene you were waiting for the whole game, to really see how they felt about each other and it gave me a genuinely warm feeling, like a happy ending in a film. And that was only at the end of disc 2, as far as I can remember. Out of four discs.

The game was epic, like all Final Fantasy games, but the game meant as much to me as it did because I genuinely loved the story. I'd play it again, but I don't have the time which is a real pity. If I could watch it as a film, all umpteen hours of it, I would. It would keep me enthralled in the same way.

Colin McRae Rally (PSX)

There have been better rally games. There have even been better Colin McRae games than the first one. But this was the first game I ever played on the PlayStation, and it wowed me. I'd previously played fairly rudimentary PC games on our fairly basic home PC, but myself and my brother had finally decided to get a PSX. CMR looked so slick, was so immersive at the time, with all those realistic weather effects, dirt building up on the car, and some great cars to drive. And yet, it was so accessible too. The other game we'd got was TOCA2, which was great and pretty realistic, but certainly not a smooth learning curve like CMR.

And out of all the PSX games I originally had, CMR is one of only two I still own (the other being an obscure title, Future Cop LAPD). I even sold GT2, yet I kept McRae.

Gran Turismo 4

Not a game that really needs any introduction on this forum, and a game that I know some members don't particularly think much of, given how high the bar was raised by previous Gran Turismos, and how high the bar is likely to be raised by the full GT5. Even the handling has now been surpassed by GT5P. So GT4 might seem a little... out of favour now. But again, a quick look around this forum shows how much GT4-related activity there still is. It's at the heart of the current UKGTP and SFGTP events, and there have been plenty of organised series on this forum for the game. It's still a game I play more than any other on the PS2. I play it more, in fact, than I play GT5P.

Why? It's a massive, massive game. I don't really do the races any more but when I do I can do them with a different car every single time. I spend most of my time doing time trials, again with different cars. I actually still discover cars I didn't know I could buy on the game. I don't even really drive the quick stuff. In common with a few on these forums, I actually enjoy picking the slower cars, the more unusual stuff, the plain weird stuff. That's the joy of GT4 - not in driving full-on racing cars that so many other games offer, but driving the things that no game has ever allowed you to drive.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

GTA:IV is a disappointment. There, I said it. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy playing it. I even kind of like the slight increase in realism that it offers. The new car handling is pretty good and the online races are fun. But it's not a patch on San Andreas.

GTA3 and Vice City were good, but something about San Andreas really stood out. I guess it pretty much combined all the best bits from previous GTAs, and added new bits, like being able to hop in the water without drowning, or the parachuting aspect, or more aircraft, or more cars, or more bikes... there was just so much of everything. The fact that the cities were pretty much the size of cities in the previous games, yet there were three of them - the game was cartoonised, but having a gaming area that big made it feel somehow more real, like you were living in that world. Obviously stopping short of it feeling real as you plough through crowds of people in a tank...

Perversely, rolling around the virtual representations of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas were partly the final inspiration for going to the real cities last year.

 

[Joey D]

1.) Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction expansion.
There has never been a game I've played more the DII and DII:LOD. To this day I still play it quite a bit because it was so easy just to pick up and go with it. Back in the day when Battle.net was going strong I could get lost on the world of online play for hours and hours. I remember countless sleepless nights dueling and helping n00bs beat Diablo. Quite fun.

2.) SimCity 4 and Rush Hour expansion
While I've played and liked other SimCity games this one just stands out as being the best as of yet. A great gameplay layout plus a huge mod community means hours of fun building the perfect city.

3.) Perfect Dark (N64)
Another game I spent countless hours on in my younger days, mostly in the created death match against bots. It was just like GoldenEye but seemed better and had better visuals.

4.) The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Another game I had played the predecessors to (not all of them though) but still found this one to be the best. Put in some 250hours on a single character and many more on others. This is the only game I've ever felt there was almost to much to do.

5.) Mass Effect
Not only is it one of the best stories in an RPG I've ever seen but it was one of the coolest RPG's I've played in a long time. It's also one of the only games I went on to learn the lore of by reading the two novels that went along with it. Most games I just play and learn from the ingame story but Mass Effect's was so good I wanted to keep going.

 

[skynyrd]

1) Uncharted Waters (SNES)

Totally unlike anything I had ever played before, the depth of the game blew me away. I was used to simple platformers and the occasional fighting game, so I was completely unprepared for the lasting changes you could make in this game. Very cool, and I still like to dust off the old SNES and play this game from time to time. Age of sail merchant/sailing simulator...heh.


2) Final Fantasy 7 (PSX)

First 'normal' rpg I ever played, and still one of my favorites next to the Suikoden series. Before I played this, I had all kinds of preconceived notions of what an rpg was like; this game shattered all of them. While I had played Uncharted Waters for up to 6 hours at a time, this is the first game I ever played all day long and halfway into the night. I thought Cloud was the coolest, I loved Tifa and resented Aeris, and I thought Sephiroth was a pretty cool villain with some pretty weird thought processes. I also felt terrible when the original members of Avalanche all died, especially the girl. It was just so pitiful. And oh, how I loathed the Midgar Zolom, and how another version of Jenova seemed to show up at every turn. I grew attached to the characters, and even though I didn't like Aeris, I still hated the end of Disc 1.


3) GT2 (PSX)

I had played racing games before, but never like this. I was used to games that gave you a Ferrari, a Lambo, a Jaguar, and another Ferrari...I was completely unprepared for anything that had more than 10 cars. Again, the depth of a game blew me away. Then when I got into hybrids, the depth was multiplied by 100.

4) Driver (PSX)

The first game I ever played where you drove through an actual city. The plot was interesting, the cars were fun to drive, and the game was just...fun. It looks terribly dated now, but to me it was the greatest thing ever at the time. One of the first of the modern 'sandbox' games IMO, even if you couldn't get out of the car. Nudging other cars as you ran from the police, making your car twitch so the police would run into a wall or a light pole...so fun. And the final mission, The President's Run. I was rammed so hard that my car barrel rolled into the parking garage where the mission ends, luckily ending up right side up.


5) Halo (Xbox)

The first FPS I actually enjoyed. Just when the whole Aliens Vs Humans thing began to get boring, the game threw a curveball and suddenly you're dodging little jumping squids and shotguns are plentiful and very, very useful. I'm pretty sure I grinned all the way through the rest of the game. My favorite of the FPS's I've played, I still run through it from time to time, and the Library levels are my favorites.

 

[Rykon Zero]

Here are a bunch of games that I have chosen as the five best ones that I have ever played.
1)Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. (Computer)

This was the first game I ever played, and the one single game that I credit with my undying love for cars. I remember, when I was about four. My dad came home with a shiny disk case. i was familiar with these. My dad was the senior computer technician of the city of Seattle, and thus he always had computer hardware at hand. I read the front cover, (Yes, I could read when I was three.) saying Need For Speed III. Okay. I took from that, it was about things going fast, and it was the third iteration. I also noted the strange yellow car on the front, how cool it looked, with it's low body, and bright vibrant color. I started up the game, and, as me are not idiot, within a week, I knew the best racing line to all the corners. I had also become biased to the silver Lamborghini Diablo SV. It remained as my favorite until a few years ago, when I heard of the Koenigsegg CCR, then the CCX. My dad was even nice enough to go online and download a few extra cars for me.

2)Gran Turismo 2. (Guess.)

I was so happy. We had a PS1 now, and I was growing weary of the repetitive tracks that NFS III was giving me. I turned the back, and saw something that shocked me. Over 600 cars?! that was more than 12 times what I had on my previous game! After I had booted it up, I drove the Dodge Viper around Trial Mountain. I realized at that point that racing games don't all have the same physics engine. I had read on the back that there was a lisence test, so I figured that would help me. By lisence test IB, I was pulling huge drifts around High Speed Ring, and beating the sompetition left and right. At the age of five, I was owning the competition. And having my brother complain that I was cheating.

3)GTA 3 (PS2)

"Vrooooo*splat*ooooooom!" this was the average day in Grand Theft Auto for me. I was stealing cars, running the owners over, and turning my white Infernus red. I wasn't even progressing the story line, I left that to BCR, I merely drove around and got about $100,000 from just running people over. (It's not really hard if you concentrate on drug dealers.) I was also having fun driving through the mafia district seeing how long I could last without dying or blowing up. I also remember that this was my first time with cheat codes. I spawned a Rhino tank, then with my knowledge of Newton's laws, I initiated the Dodo cheat, and flew very fast around the cities, swooping down occasionally and getting rid of the police's fleet of squad cars. The age of seven, and I had a higher death count than most armies.

4) Halo (XBox)

Oh god, this is going to suck. I had heard in school about this new game called Halo: Wombat Evolved. Oh, I'm sorry. Combat Evolved. I hated all FPSs, for the pure and simple reason that I needed something to hate after Father had died. Well, BCR (Goddamnit, fine. His name is Tim. Got it? Just don'tcall any pedos, because I don't want to have to deal with the dead bodies.) had come home soooo happy. He had just gotten his favorite game, Halo. (I think we were having a competiton, he hated racing games, for I think, the same reasons.) Balls. Damn it grandmother, why did you get him that? *sigh.* Well, he finally got me to play it, because he didn't want to be alone. Tun on co-op, and here we go. Yay, woohoo. Cool, enim-OMGthisisanawesomegamewhydidIshunitearlier!? I could not belive that I hated this genre earlier! (though I will have you know, Tim's soul is still empty due to his resistance to savoring the joy of racing games.) I was playing this with him day and night, hopefully to reach the level of normal without dying every few minutes. I still feel pain that my fanboyism to the Halo series has clouded my judgement, and I still love each game. Being nine, I couldn't stop playing it, until...

5) Forza Motorsport (XBox)

Well, what do you know. Another racing game. This was my second experience with second gen. racing games. (My first was GT3, but that wasn't such a huge leap.) I was in absolute awe of how ****ing hard this game was. I hadn't even turned off any aids for the first month of playing, let alone the guide line. This was an extensive game, it had a much different feel to any Gran Turismo game, but it took me far longer to get through it. It's major difference to the GT series was the fact that I could take the bumpers off, and switch them around. At about the third month, I was taking an AE86, and drifting down Fujimi Kaido, years before I had even heard of Inital D. I lost this game a few months back, thanks to me obtaining an X360, and Forza 2, but I still remember the clean, free feel it gave me, and I'm now saving up for another copy, so I can feel the rush I get driving a prototype LMP around Alpine Ring. The age of 10, and I then realized my goal of becoming champion of the DTM, BTCC, or JGTC tournaments.

I'm almost 14, now, and I have to say, I think my next most influential game will either be GT5, or Forza 3. Ten years is all it took for me to go from a potential doctor, or computer technologist, to being a definite Car Designer/Racer/Company CEO/All of the above.

 

[Turbo Lag]

1) Super Mario Bros (on SNES)

This game got me into...well games. I used to play this at a very young age, it was the first console game I ever played. My cousin handed me down an old SNES (which was in perfect condition, and I still have it today), and the game itself. It was seriously the most fun I have ever had, I still haven't found a game to beat the sheer excitement of beating a level or killing an enemy. The simplicity and nice story line make it even better aswell. Oh the joys I had of finding a secret path or trying out tricks or jumping onto the finishing line flag pole! This is a must play for any gamer out there.

2) Vigilante 8: Second Offence (PS/PS1)

This is the game which got me interested in cars, this is also the first game I ever played on the original Playstation. I never did the story line, I loved cruising around in Alaska blowing up oil tankers and battling against enemies who fired missiles at me. Or driving down ski slops while firing machine guns and jumping over ski lifts and landing on and killing your opponents. Or what about blowing bridges to bits and driving semis right over your enemies? The menu music was also another small, but nice part of the game some of which can be heard here, here, and here. Just typing this makes me want to go and play it now. Infact, I will.

3) Gran Turismo 2 (PS/PS1)

I first got this game for the PS1 right after V8:2nd O. I had heard that this was the game for any car fanatic. My uncle was nice enough to buy me it for Christmas, mind you I was still around 5 years old. Ever since I started out, in that poo-green-cyan coloured Toyota Yaris/Vitz/Echo, I was hooked. I remember struggling to beat the licence tests, getting a few kids awards along the way. My main memories were with an Evo VI, specifically in Issel Blue Pearl with around 500hp or so. I used to keep racing in the Sunday Cup with it, to get $500 until I realised there are so many more races to explore. I saved up for a Vector M12, which ended up being one of my favourite cars of all time (even though it is kind of rubbish). I hold most of my childhood memories with this game, it's something I know I'll never forget.

4) Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (PS/PS1)

This is the game which introduced me to adventure style games. Although I didn't really like it all that much on first play, it gave me the opportunity to learn about adventure games and basic moves, aka Double Jumping, attacking etc. I think it rather fits the thread since it's about games changing your gaming life.

5) GTA II (PS/PS1) & GTA III (PC)

GTA II was another game which changed how I looked at games altogether, at the time it was amazing to have such an open space for you to do almost anything you liked. I loved how the territories worked, how the cops were stupid and ofcourse that music. Simply put, I loved it.

GTA III was given to me as a present on PC for my birthday. To add on what I said before, I loved the open endedness to it.

I'm going to add a few more, just because I'm in the mood. Think of these as my honourable mentions.

Driver (PS/PS1)
It introduced me to a 'city' themed game, which led on to me buying the rest of the series and getting interested in GTA III.

World's Scariest Police Chases (PS/PS1)
Again, loved the open city where you could cruise around and shoot at anything you liked. I loved chasing criminals through small tight alleys then having a tence chase down a busy, raining street.

Test Drive Unlimited (PS2)
I bought this game simply for the roads, the epic driving roads which are surrounded by the gorgeous scenery of the Hawaiian islands. It's not that good a game TBH, but I still play it from time to time.

Bleh, that's it from me, I could go on for some time more.

 

[homeforsummer]

I thought Cloud was the coolest, I loved Tifa and resented Aeris, and I thought Sephiroth was a pretty cool villain with some pretty weird thought processes. I also felt terrible when the original members of Avalanche all died, especially the girl. It was just so pitiful. And oh, how I loathed the Midgar Zolom, and how another version of Jenova seemed to show up at every turn. I grew attached to the characters, and even though I didn't like Aeris, I still hated the end of Disc 1.

I think these are the things Final Fantasy in general does so well - provokes emotion. I've played FF7 but only for a couple of weeks and didn't have enough time to get into it, but with FF8, I've never played another game that's provoked so many emotions. I've not even watched a film that's done the same. I don't really play RPGs any more as I haven't the time and there are already too many racing games that I want, but one day I may buy FF8 cheaply again, and boot up my PS2 to become enthralled with the game all over again.

And the final mission, The President's Run. I was rammed so hard that my car barrel rolled into the parking garage where the mission ends, luckily ending up right side up.

Oh my God, I'd forgotten about that mission. It's probably one of the most difficult missions in a game I've ever, ever attempted. It drove me crazy literally for weeks, I'd get completely sick of the game and have to leave it for a few days before attempting again. The wet weather and darkness made it all the more difficult. Maybe I was doing it badly but that feeling when I completed it was one of complete relief! Driver 2's last mission was a cinch in comparison.

It's cool to see people mentioning GT2, I thought that would pop up a lot. My first experience of that game was on a demo disc I got with a PSX magazine. The sounds on the demo were so OTT (massive turbo sounds, huge whooshes!) and so were the reflections, it all looked way too polished - but that's why you should never treat a demo as the full game, and the full game had been toned down a little. There are several cars in that game I wish we'd had in PS2-based GT games and hopefully GT5 will provide, but overall I chose GT4 in preference because of the more unusual cars, the fantastic graphics, and of course the photo mode, which is definitely something I hope GT5 includes.

 

[nk4e]

Gran Turismo series: Though when one came up, I was never into it. Though with a push of sibling rivalry made me play it over and over again. Just remember those 200 laps that you had to do on the Super Speed Way and all you did was tape the X button down and the Left Joy stick to win as you took turns looking out for the car in-case it crashed.

Street Fighter Third Strike: Gotta love this game, though being a fighter and part of the old school genre of 2D gaming. My friends and I would spent hours playing match after match. Because the outcome is more of mental game than the actual button mashing.

Same goes for Third STrike as well for Tekken.

Xeno Gears: Though it took days trying to find those deathblows daily and when achieving them. Just constantly using them against your opponent is very victorious. Sometimes impossible Boss Fights.

my brothers and I spent countless hours playing this game. Sneaking around a box, trying to figure out how to kill a certain boss or how to defeat Psycho Mantis with the 2nd controller with the help of my late cousin. But once we got the camo..I use to drag in countless soldiers and just booby trap a single area. The Fight with Grey Fox was really hard also.


Socom: Navy Seals

I spent countless Weekend hours playing online, organizing plans and plenty of headshots, which is still with me today.

 

[bevo]

1. The first great game I ever played was Hardball for the commodore 64. It was the first great sports game ever.




2. 4th and inches. Another commodore 64 great.
Couldn't find a youtube video of it. It was a very addictive football game.

3.Socom 2.

I literally logged in well over 2000 hours online with this game. It was the first shooter me, and my friends had played online. I live in a very small town, and only got high speed internet in about 2003. That game ruined my life for almost 2 years. I couldn't hold a job during that time because of this game.

4. Gran turismo 3. I had played the others, but this was the first one that I raced regularly against friends. I have been hooked to racing games ever since.

5. The Microsoft wireless racing wheel.

I know, I know. This wheel sucks, and it's not a game, but it was my first force feedback wheel. I had used other wheels before, but they either didn't work right or didn't work at all. The M$ wheel, did what it was suppose to, and led me to buy the g25, and playseat evo. Racing games will never be the same for me again. The money that I have spent, and will spend on new wheels, (fanatec 911 turbo s wheel clubsport) racing cockpits (maybe the obutto, not sure yet) and dedicated surround sound systems (gonna buy a new one for my home theater so I can dedicate my old one to racing setup) is ridiculous.

 

[Tornado]

Here you go.

 

[MagpieRacer]

1. TOCA Touring Cars - PSX
This was my racing game benchmark for a very long time when I had the old PS1, a game I can only wish they would remake, it was amazing in every way and ToCa 2 built on that, but without this one, ToCa 2 wouldnt exist hence why this is here instead.


2. V Rally - PSX
Such an amazing amazing game, hours and hours of fun to be had playing it, it had great cars, great tracks and good gameplay, albeit very arcadey but you forgave it easily.


3. Gran Turismo 4 - PS2
How can it not be here, years of playing and being amazed, never getting bored with it, its just brilliant, the benchmark for all console racing games.


4. Guitar Hero - PS2/PS3/360
Changed the fave of music gaming forever, every version of it is amazing, they GH series is probably my most played series of games, it is just so addictive and brilliant to play, where would I be without it? (probably be a bit better at real guitar)


5. FIFA series (04 onwards) - xbox/ps2/ps3
From 04 its has just been getting better, another game that I cant live without, addictive, fun, great online, great looking everything you need in a sports game.

 

[Pupik]

I'm going to (try to) go in chronological order:

1) [wikipedia]Space Invaders[/wikipedia]
This is the first game I can remember in person. Black-and-white, shoot first, ask questions later. Mind you, I was about 5, and my dad could play it, so I had to be held up to move the joystick left and right and slam the Fire button with my right palm. Space Invaders almost always had a deep bass sound that haunts me to this day, as the group of aliens (whump whump) would (whump whump) move (whump whump) across (whump whump) the screen. It didn't matter how many lives you had left, if the aliens landed...Insert Coin Please.

Arcades were mostly a few games stacked next to each other in bowling alleys and maybe one or coin-operated consoles could be found in grocery stores (we also had one at the local Kroger, with a step stool!) around 1980-81. Then, the same Kroger changed it for a Pac-Man, which wasn't that addictive to me.

2) [wikipedia]Bump 'n' Jump[/wikipedia]
A cartoony driving/racing/demolition game. The first game I ever played that would eat up an entire roll of quarters or tokens. Knock away your competition, smash them into other cars, and press the jump button to leap over or onto other cars for more points. The road would change shape, have a river running through it, or even just have a few islands in the middle of the waterway. You would have to jump over that, too. And if you wanted to be a clean racer, you could...Extra bonus points for not creating chaos.

Spring would turn to Summer, then Autumn, and Winter (look out for the ice). Race the clock and don't destroy your car or run into the contents of a dump truck. Or hit a wall. Or drive into the ocean. A full-bore driving game with no physics model but a mix between Turbo GP and Donkey Kong with a surefire case of Attention Deficit Disorder when you were done playing.

Edit: I never realized there was a girl involved. I never got that far, I suppose...but I was only 8-10, anyhow.


3) Pole Position (or II)
"Fweepare Due Kwaffily!" To be honest, I played this maybe once or twice, when it arrived in 1982 (or so) and left it alone until I was about 12. I couldn't reach the pedals, and I did not understand the concept of a two-speed transmission (insert laugh here). When I was about 12, I started to understand the basic concepts of racing and driving: Shifting at the right time, and actually braking for slow turns, and using the steering wheel to pass cars, rather than making them explode.

Yes, this was as about close as a real driving simulator was in 1986, until Hard Driving came to the scene. Which I sucked at, until I could actually drive a real car; then I merely stunk it up.

4) Formula One
After a hiatus from playing video games for a while (I hadn't owned a console since the NES) I thumbed though a game magazine one day at the supermarket, and this game caught my eye. It was going to be released for the upcoming Sony PlayStation. I thought, hmmm....quite realistic. But I forgot about it until a buddy of mine rented it for his new console.

After a weekend of non-stop playing, it was the only reason I needed to buy a PSX.

5) Gran Turismo 2
Do a search or something: Ignored the original GT because the F1 game was more interesting to me at the time, Received GT2 as a gift in 2000, never really involved myself in any other series since, save maybe a GTA game or two.

 

[homeforsummer]

It's interesting seeing patterns emerging. Unsurprising to see a version of Gran Turismo in everyone's list, but good to see a bit of variety, though GT2 and GT4 seem to be taking a lead. I'm pretty sure their high car counts have at least something to do with that, and them being the ultimate version of Gran Turismo on their respective platforms. Maybe the GT game we should all be really waiting for is GT6

 

[Joey D]

It's interesting seeing patterns emerging. Unsurprising to see a version of Gran Turismo in everyone's list, but good to see a bit of variety, though GT2 and GT4 seem to be taking a lead. I'm pretty sure their high car counts have at least something to do with that, and them being the ultimate version of Gran Turismo on their respective platforms. Maybe the GT game we should all be really waiting for is GT6

No GT in my list, it's always been a good game but hasn't changed my life as a gamer any.

 

[homeforsummer]

No GT in my list, it's always been a good game but hasn't changed my life as a gamer any.

Ah no, so there isn't I stand corrected. It does seem to be pretty popular though...

 

[fafat]

1. Alex kid, on Sega Master system, my first video game !

2. FFVII, first RPG i've played and i loved the story, the graphics...

3. Racing Lagoon High Speed RPG, one the best game ever ! I can't understand why Square hasn't made other Racing lagoon.
First and only game to feature bosozoku kits for your cars!




4. the Gran turismo series

5. the Pro evolution soccer series

 

[Turbo Lag]

Oh my God, I'd forgotten about that mission. It's probably one of the most difficult missions in a game I've ever, ever attempted. It drove me crazy literally for weeks, I'd get completely sick of the game and have to leave it for a few days before attempting again. The wet weather and darkness made it all the more difficult. Maybe I was doing it badly but that feeling when I completed it was one of complete relief! Driver 2's last mission was a cinch in comparison.

I'll never, ever forget that either. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done for a game, I tried it when I was around 8 or so and simply couldn't do it. About a few years later, tried it with, and with lots of hours and difficulty I beat it...just.

1. TOCA Touring Cars - PSX
This was my racing game benchmark for a very long time when I had the old PS1, a game I can only wish they would remake, it was amazing in every way and ToCa 2 built on that, but without this one, ToCa 2 wouldnt exist hence why this is here instead.

Ah yes Toca, it was the first game ever which I rented from a video store. It really is a fun game, i'd love to play it again now.

 

[niky]

Five games that changed my gaming life... very tough... I'll give it a shot, but my answers aren't all going to be popular ones:

1. Lode Runner (Apple ][E, IBM PC 8086)

Such a simple game, really, but with amazing depth. It's one of the first platformers, and one of the most successful, and deserves kudos for being such a great game.

2. Chuck Yeager Air Combat - PC

So the AI wasn't that great... still, the challenge of dogfighting a jet fighter with a Mustang helped make the game interesting, and this is one of the first flight simulators that you could realistically fly with the keyboard. The replay system was wonderful, allowing you to watch your balletic dogfights over-and-over again in slow-motion 3D. This game spawned a personal obsession with flight simulators that lasted for years.

3. Doom - PC

For those of you born in the age of Resident Evil 21 (or was that 23? I've lost count), Fatal Frame, Silent Hill and all those other photo-realistic horror survival games, you might not understand the rush of adrenaline and that cold trill down your spine when a demon first lobs a pixelated fireball at you in a darkened room. This is one of the most pivotal video games of all time.

4. Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec - PS2

I think Gran Turismo 4 has a better physics engine and is, overall, a much better game, but my love affair started with 3. 1 and 2 were somewhat arcade-ish by comparison (though more realistic than most console games), in my opinion... it was the combination of Gran Turismo 3's photorealistic cars and the Playstation 2 Dual Shock that brought the series into full immersion, and elevated the car racing game to the level of car simulation. There have been better ones since, but 3 A-Spec is the one that raised the bar for everyone to follow.

5. Counterstrike - PC

There are a ton of shooters out there... more realistic ones, like Rainbow Six... and those that reward lightning quick reflexes more, like Quake... but Counterstrike was the shooter that brought a social element to the gameplay. It was no longer "every man for himself"... it was "us versus them"... a theme that made it very VERY popular. Oh... and the real-world settings, huge map variety and the layers of strategy helped a lot. I've wasted hours upon hours of my life on this game. I still miss playing, sometimes.

Honorable Mentions:

- Metal Gear Solid 2: excellent game. We finished it in one night... then played for another few weeks to get the "Meryl doesn't die" ending.

- Gran Turismo 4: Because I could only have one GT on the list, and I feel that the ridiculously anal license tests let it down.

- Starcraft: Gotta love em' Zergs.

- Quake: The first 3D shooter. And a damn good one, at that.

- Aces of the Pacific: You don't know the horrors of war till you try to fly a Douglas Dauntless torpedo bomber (turns like a truck, doesn't fly much better than one) through a cloud of Mitsubishi Zeroes (which are, oviously, infinitely superior) to hit a Japanese warship, then try to limp home with your engine on fire, your tailgunner dead, and a squad of fighters on your tail... only to have to ditch in hostile waters and spend the rest of the war as a POW.

 

[homeforsummer]

3. Doom - PC

For those of you born in the age of Resident Evil 21 (or was that 23? I've lost count), Fatal Frame, Silent Hill and all those other photo-realistic horror survival games, you might not understand the rush of adrenaline and that cold trill down your spine when a demon first lobs a pixelated fireball at you in a darkened room. This is one of the most pivotal video games of all time.

Ah, Doom was great. I only ever did the first episode but to be fair I was about 10 or 11 at the time. I seem to remember it was the game that introduced the walking sensation, bobbing up and down as you moved along. And who could forget the BFG-9000! (Or whatever it was called...)

- Quake: The first 3D shooter. And a damn good one, at that.

Erm... wasn't Doom a 3D shooter before Quake? And wasn't Wolfenstein 3D a 3D shooter before Doom?...

 

[turboash78]

^ Yep.

 

[Greycap]

- Aces of the Pacific: You don't know the horrors of war till you try to fly a Douglas Dauntless torpedo bomber (turns like a truck, doesn't fly much better than one) through a cloud of Mitsubishi Zeroes (which are, oviously, infinitely superior) to hit a Japanese warship, then try to limp home with your engine on fire, your tailgunner dead, and a squad of fighters on your tail... only to have to ditch in hostile waters and spend the rest of the war as a POW.

Try a Douglas Devastator... that's a hopeless aircraft right there.

My list, then. In no particular order as they're so different.

Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

My first ever game, and a damn good one at that. Amazing graphics, great gameplay and the bonus level music I still remember. If only they still made games like this.

Aces Of The Pacific (PC)

Also mentioned above, this was the game that got me into flight simulators - a road that has yet to end. I've gone through SWOTL and the entire Combat Flight Simulator series since but AOTP began it all. The menu music was great.

Wolfenstein 3D (PC)

BJ Blazkowicz was one tough guy, that has to be said. As old as the game is it still has one of the best atmospheres I've ever seen and it opened the doors for all the other WWII shooters, which leads me to the next one...

Medal Of Honor (PSX)

Something of a ground breaker being the first of its kind for the PSX and arguably unbeaten to the day. The sequel MoH Underground followed before the series moved on to the PS2 with the superb Frontline, still the best of the MoH series in my opinion combining the style of the original with the graphics of the PS2.

Gran Turismo (PSX)

Yep, the original. Because without it I would probably never have got interested in the newer versions. In the era of Ridge Racer and V-Rally it was something totally unseen, the rest is history.

 

[Dave A]

Key games for me were

Ridge Racer - It got my driving game collection going after all.

Final Fantasy VII - My first RPG and still one of few RPG's I've actually owned. I was hooked on this and despite not being much of an RPG fan in general I have to say I really enjoyed this game.

Gran Turismo - This took me beyond where Ridge Racer took me. Ridge Racer was a catalyst for my interest in racing games but I wasn't so interested in cars, I juts liked the racing. Gran Turismo was a catalyst for my interest in cars, not just car models but how they work as well.

Metal Gear Solid - it was the forst Metal Gear game I played but certainly not the last. I have always felt that the scripts we're a bit overdone but the sheer brillaince of the games as a whole experience was mind blowing. I loved it.

Command and Conquer - The RTS that got me into RTS games. I had played games like Populous and Settlers before but never spent much time with them. Certainly not enough to get far. C&C was the first RTS game I persoanlly owned and although I never completed the single player capaign in the first one my interest in RTS games grew from this one.

 

[Gil]

Life changers, Huh?
1. I had a TELSTAR console and a Breakout! Console when I was a kid back in the 70's. These were the first "pong" type games, and I've been hooked on gaming ever since.

2. Atari 2600 - This game console along with games like Pacman, Asteroids, and Space Invaders allowed me to learn the patterns and "secrets" to ultrahigh scores on the Arcade games.
It was also the beginning of the end for Arcades.

3. Commodore 64 - Introduced me to the more "intricate" games like Beach-Head, and Lode Runner. Unlike the pattern following in games like Pac-Man and the Sniping in games like Asteroids you had to actually THINK to win.

4. PC-Introduced me to simulators and shooters.
I still love X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and Rebel Assault II. Used to love Outlaws! but developed a vertigo that makes me nearly puke if I play it for more than a few minutes, yet I can get all upside down and spinny in the flying games with no ill-effects.

5. PSone and PS2 brought me GT2, GT, GT3 and GT4.
Now I can race about with most of the fun and none of the danger.
It's also opened me up to games like Baldur's Gate, and the Ace Combat series.

This doesn't even tough on the Nintendo, Sega, and other consoles that I've had the joy of playing over the years.

 

[homeforsummer]

Command and Conquer - The RTS that got me into RTS games. I had played games like Populous and Settlers before but never spent much time with them. Certainly not enough to get far. C&C was the first RTS game I persoanlly owned and although I never completed the single player capaign in the first one my interest in RTS games grew from this one.

In all honesty C&C Red Alert is one of the best games I've ever played. Nowadays I pretty much just stick to racing games but back when I had my PSX I had a few different genres. FFVIII was one game that stood out (see my OP) but Red Alert was just brilliant. I don't know if you can get the PC version to run on Vista (it's a 95/98 game) but if you can then I'd buy a copy today. Great atmospheric music, good learning curve, and the skirmish mode was great fun, being able to pick the technology level from pretty much just having infantry and tents, right the way to massive tanks, nuclear power stations and tesla coils.

However, it still doesn't quite make the missing 5th game off my list... I'm still thinking of that one.

 

[niky]

@Greycap: I don't think I was ever desparate enough for a challenge to sign up for a squadron that used the Devastator. ...I liked the Dauntless because even though it was a pig, it could soak up a ton of punishment.

Erm... wasn't Doom a 3D shooter before Quake? And wasn't Wolfenstein 3D a 3D shooter before Doom?...

Ah. Both yes and no.

Wolfenstein was a strictly 2D game rendered in a 3D manner. It introduced to arcade shooters the sensation of 3D by giving you full 360 degree mobility, but gaming was strictly on a two dimensional plane.

Doom was an interesting development on this. Think back to Doom... did you ever have to aim up at a monster? Nope. You took a shot, and if your aim was true, your bullet or missile would fly up or down to the monster you were shooting at (only true of shotgun shells, missiles and BFG bolts... pistol and chaingun shots were counted as "instant" events and bullets were not modelled as travelling through space... much like the blast effects of a BFG.). In Doom, levels are rendered in 3D, but this executed like a table-top game... you have terrain height, but you can't have terrain above and below the main terrain. No tunnels, no bridges. Nuthin'. In fact, you can't have a player jump over an enemy creature... If you're standing on a cliff and an Imp or zombie is at the bottom of the cliff, he can effectively block you from falling off!

That most players never notice this is a testament to the clever level design of Doom. Hidden underground tunnels and rooms are underneath walls. Hidden powerups that pop out of the floor or ceiling are covered by columns. Bridges are usually over bottomless chasms that you can't enter.

Thus, these two games are rendered in 3D, but gameplay was strictly 2D. Quake brought the experience into true 3D while still keeping the creepy atmosphere of Doom... very difficult, you might imagine, given the state of 3D graphics at the time (Doom avoided this by using ray-trace... the illusion of three-dimensionality for Doom's sprite-characters only broke up at very close range).

 

[TRUENOSAM]

My 5 big games were as followed

Gran turismo 1- The bible

Grand theft auto san andreas- Just an awesome game

Medal of Hounor frontline- Very educating game

Tony hawk skateboarding- Many hours spent on this

The Getaway- My home City

 

[homeforsummer]

@TRUENOSAM - care to expand? I'm trying to discourage fairly basic lists...

@niky - thanks for the explanation, I understand what you meant now

 

[Dragonistic]

It's certainly quite the task to get this down to 5, but I'll give it my best shot, in order of when they influenced me, it's difficult for me to say which had the biggest effect so this is the best way to order mine.

Gran Turismo 2 - PlayStation

Still a young fellow, this was the first time I ever took a game for more then just a short term source of entertainment. Countless hours were spent on this game, I was never the best driver, nor did I understand the tuning physics. Infact I was to young to really understand any of the real elements, to me it was take a car, slap some parts on and take it out on the track. I certainly never came close to completing it, I used an action replay to open up the game to me so I could buy whatever I wanted and just drive for hours and hours. Oddly when thinking about it, despite numerous hours on the old Playstation, this is the only one which effected my gaming life on the system. The effects of this one have been in effect up til today, now I can't buy a game unless I think it will involve me for a long time.

Metal Gear Solid 2 - PS2

​

My PS2 arrives, with just 1 single title, MGS2, I had previously played and completed the arguably better and more iconic MGS1 but at an age where I could never understand the plots complexity. Then along came MGS2, the first game to teach me that a game could be more then just something you played, but something with a plot, a story. No it wasn't the first game I played with a story, but it was the first game I played with a story when I could realistically understand and relate to one. Previously I had only spent alot of time with a game that was fun to play, sometimes fantastic, but never had anything else (not a problem with most genres) but MGS2 was something else to me. It brought to the table a decent game, even though the combat wasn't as fluent as other game which would've previously bothered me, now I was playing for a reason. To drive the plot, to find out what happens, I was completely hooked. MGS2 was also the first game where I really thought about my actions, rather then blindly just do the job, I would be planning my movements and attacks. I relished this new way of playing games, it allowed me to get stacks of enjoyment out of at first linear titles, as I could take a different approach to the same task, even in racing games like Gran Turismo.

Socom 2 - PS2

​

First game I took online seriously, I had played Need For Speed Underground 1 the first day with my PS2 network adaptor, then had a go on Socom 2, and never went back. Infact it was months before another game saw the PS2. It was the first time I'd talked to other gamers who took things a bit more seriously. It didn't take to long before I was picked up by a clan on the basis of 'potential' even though I wasn't to good at the time. I stuck with this community for a good year, just the clan and the subsequent clans with the same guys. It was just fun, plain simple fun. A bunch of guys chatting having a laugh whilst shooting some people, what more could you want? We also took part in some tournaments and things but to be honest rarely got to the final stages of them, although we never did badly. However I was putting in so many hours, it wasn't long before I was one of the stars of the show and it was nice to be appreciated by people I'd never actually met. The game itself was just fantastic, the different modes and maps online were so diverse I just didn't get bored. It was my first social experience of gaming, and I relished it. There has only been one community on a game which was more closely knit which came in the form of...

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (& Remix) - PS2

​

What?! I hear screaming Gran Turismo fans shouting and loading the flame rifle. Midnight Club 3, it wasn't the best game in the world, the physics were strange, the graphics average and a car list full of alot of things you don't need (like SUVs and choppers). It wasn't the game that kept me hooked, not by any stretch of the imagination, this was and still is the game I have played most, ever, simply because of the people who played it. Everybody knew everybody it seemed, there were childish rivalrys, different groups with different tastes and interests, conflict, alliances. Infact it was almost stupidly silly how much these guys conflicted and strived to beat each other, muscle cars went up against tuners, drifters went up against drag racers, clan (or club on MC3) took on rival clubs in the same sector. You picked your city, you picked your car, you picked your friends, that became your identity. Transfering groups could become very difficult if you were associated with just one club, one person. I'm not the kind of person who person who gets involved in the drama, I spent most of my time being the unknown quantity until I eventually stumbled upon drifting. There was a bug/glitch (no-one really knew if it was deliberate on R*s part or not), which allow you to be much quicker by sliding, then driving normally. I was one of the first people to pick up on how it was done, and one of the very first to use it on cars outside of the top class. Now this sparks interest, I was still avoiding the conflict but it was my foot in the door of the community. I would join clubs and sometimes partake in the conflicts as simply a driver representing my beliefs rather then childish flame wars. It was truly a living breathing world of street racing in the strangest of ways which some of you may not quite understand.

It was overdramatised, over the top cars, people, beliefs, but at the end of the day you had your friends, people who shared your interests, and it was always good to socialise with these people, and made that little bit more fun when you can have a slice of it rather then just talk about it. Midnight Club remained my most played game when Remix arrived, with a city I had been longing for, Tokyo. This caused a sideways explosion as drifting became more well known in both the community on MC3, and the world in general, even in glammed up movies like Tokyo Drift (a movie I actively don't enjoy, but I enjoy drifting). I was putting in alot of time into honing my skills in the discipline, and being the overdramatised ridiculousness of a world, people soon begin to talk once someone gets good.

This time last year I couldn't join a room without being recognised, I left the game in the spring finally, went back online just last week to see some old friends. Still people recognised the name, the club I was in (and was the leader of which I take great pride in) was still a name which struck the exact image I intended to portray, one of respect for others, for sharing and interest, and for being good at what we did. This whole game online was just such a different place to be in, it was it's own world where you had to climb the rungs of the ladder to become well known, respected. It may seem childish to want to be at the top, but if you're there for the right reasons, it's a satisfying place to be.

The only game where I've ever been famed amongst it's community, the only time I'd ran my own clan, the most hours played on a single title, the first game to leave me with a feeling of belonging, and the only game which I truly miss being a part of. Again call it stupid, but it was a great experience, no matter how childish alot of people were on there, they made up part of the rivalries, sparked conflict, and it was good to represent your sector in your own manner, be it honourably as I strived, or more petty as many people did.

This is probably the game that has had the most effect, in ways alot of people may never experience or understand.


I can't think of a 5th which is as significant as these but their are honourable mentions, Grand Theft Auto (3 onwards) for introducing me to open world gaming, Need For Speed High Stakes the first racing game I enjoyed, Need For Speed Underground 1 first online game, Final Fantasy XII first RPG (and only thus far) I've taken seriously and last but not least, it's not a game but it's going here, the PlayStation brand in itself.

 

[homeforsummer]

Good to see another vote for GT2, it was my first GT game and it ran GT4 so close in my choice of which GT game should go on my list!

Another vote for FFVII too, I see. It definitely seems to be the game that defines the FF series, but I urge anyone who hasn't played FFVIII to buy it cheaply somewhere, chuck it in their PSX or PS2 and have a whirl.

In fact, you might have to scratch that idea. It seems the game is in quite some demand - have a look at the prices on Amazon UK...

 

[Dragonistic]

Another vote for FFVII too, I see. It definitely seems to be the game that defines the FF series, but I urge anyone who hasn't played FFVIII to buy it cheaply somewhere, chuck it in their PSX or PS2 and have a whirl.

I said XII if thats in reference to me, I can't stand turn based combat in RPGs.

 

[homeforsummer]

Oh, it was. Damn. I really need to learn to read properly...