Walking Wounded

I know you may see this article and pass over it without interest because you may not like video games and think you just won’t get it or be interested. However I hope you read some of it. I tried to talk about the games as a glimpse into some of my life history and stories to try and make it more interesting for those who don’t like video games. Hopefully I succeed in that.

10. 007: Goldeneye [N64]

I had a really hard time filling my number 10. I still doubt my decision because I don’t know that this game still holds up today. However, Goldeneye was the first FPS (first person shooter) I played all the way through. I had played this game a lot with friends in High School. The multiplayer was the best part. We would have 4 player matches and it was a blast. Though one of my friends had memorized where you would re-spawn after dying depending on where you died. That made him near impossible to beat. When I went to college I bought an N64 off of a friend’s roommate and it had this game. I finally got to play through it. Besides the fact that playing as James Bond is just awesome, the game was lots of fun. This games biggest strengths were level design, computer AI and the multiplayer. I think this game set the stage for how good FPS multiplayer should be and that’s one of the main reasons it made my list.

9. Twisted Metal 2 [PS1]

It was Jr. High. My best friend Nathan had rented or borrowed a PS1 and had the first Twisted Metal. The next morning we were going to help out with a paper delivery stuffing or something. So we stayed up all night playing Twisted Metal. Vehicles with weapons battling, how could you go wrong?! My introduction to Twisted Metal 2 (bigger and better) was when I stayed with my grandparents by myself for about a week and a half. They wanted to make sure I was entertained so they rented me a PS1 and I quickly picked up Twisted Metal 2. I had a blast that week, but played way too much video games (what else was there to do?). When I got to college and finally owned my own PS1 this game got tons more play time. I remember my roommate complaining about the annoying music (yeah, music was kind of crappy) that would wake him up in the morning, lol. I kept the volume low when he was sleeping from then on.

8. Super Mario Brothers [NES]

My dad was away on a business trip. This rarely happened, especially as I got older. I believe it was about 1988. We were still living in the first house I ever lived in. My dad came home from that trip and had brought something special home. That’s right, a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) along with Super Mario Brothers. Thank God I was in Kindergarten with only half days of school because otherwise it would have been quite difficult to get play time away from my two older brothers. We had had an Atari 2600 but I didn’t play it much and wasn’t old enough to really understand anything. However, when we got SMB I was fully able to play. Oh, and yes I definitely jerked the controller up every time I jumped and over every time I needed to get over a gap. This game was awesome and I can practically label as the beginning of a revival of video gaming (it had almost died in the early to mid 80′s). I can still play this game and have a blast with it. It will always remain a classic in my mind.

7. Diablo 2 with expansion [PC]

My introduction to the first Diablo came from a gaming magazine (sometime in Early High School). I read some strategies about it in there and thought it looked like the coolest game ever. I borrowed it from a friend of a friend and had a blast with it. My best friend at the time (Nathan) and I would take turns playing our characters. However, my first year in college Diablo II came out and controlled my life for a good while. Though I never played it as much as the original Diablo (I played that one way too much) it’s such an incredible game compared to the first one that it makes the list. When the expansion came out the game went from amazing to “Holy Crap, this is phenomenal”. The online was also a blast. I can still go back and play this one with friends at my rare attendance of LAN parties.

6. Final Fantasy [NES]

There was a group of families in our church that would often have cookouts and we’d all get together. At one of these, one of the family’s sons (the family who was currently hosting this one) had Final Fantasy. Whoa! I watched him play for about an hour in amazement. Warriors! Mages! Spells! Weapons! Monsters! Epic Battles! Exploration! Adventure! Dragons! I had to have this game. I asked for it for Christmas. Our family always spent our Christmas with my Grandparents in GA. But before we left we got to open one gift. I took my best guess at which one could be Final Fantasy and sure enough I was right. I played for hours that night. I loved it. Needless to say, it was hard to have to wait another 10 days till our vacation was over to play it. My dad even loved this game. We had to take turns playing it. His goal was to beat it with the most difficult combination of characters. A little overboard, but my dad likes a challenge.

::Stay Tuned for part 2, my top 5 games coming soon!::

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