Topic: Game with the most impact on your gaming

[Cypress]

sorry about the longass title.
What game(s) had the most impact on your gaming?

For me it is a tossup between Vandal Hearts 2, Final Fantasy VIII, and The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.

Zelda because it was the first N64 game I ever played. I went from playing mario bros to playing my first real adventure game. I remember thinking the first big skulltulla in the Deku tree was a boss.

Final Fantasy VIII because it was my first rpg and my first playstation game. I didn't have a memory card when I first bought it so I would play as far as I could until I died and then restart. (Fuckin t-rexars in the woods. I was trying to fight caterpillars! *learned to run after this occured several times*) I was so addicted. I beat the first disk over 10 times.

Vandal Hearts II because it was my first strategy game, I love the music and the story was so awesome that it is my favorite game of all time. The cool thing about it was that although the graphics are bad by today's standards, I didnt start playing it until a few years ago and still liked it. It is why im not a graphics whore.


...damn, now I want to play all of these games.

[JR]

My complete list would probably be too long, so I'm just pointing out the most important and a few of the most recent ones.

Double Dragon (Arcade) - This is the most memorable game from my childhood. And it's amazing how they did everything so perfectly for the time: the gameplay, the music, the graphics, the flawless transition between stages, everything about that game is perfect to me. Well, except for the crippling slowdown.

Street Fighter II (arcade) - The first fighting game I remember that was perfectly put together. So fun and addictive to play, and the original World Warrior version is still my favorite. I still go back and play it every now and then.

SotN - The first game that really sucked me into the PS1, and revived my interest in the series (I had just forgotten about it until this came along). An absolute masterpiece.

Metal Gear Solid - Another game that revived my interest in a forgotten series. So addictive, and the storyline was the best and most involving that I experienced at that point, hands down. I made a deal with my girlfriend that if I play her Onimusha next, she'll have to play this one, because it's too good of a franchise for anyone to go without experiencing.

Bioshock - To me, this game is an absolute work of art. Although it's no tactical shooter, the combat is certainly adequate, and everything else is just perfect to me. I always love games this deep...ones that really leave you thinking. But I love the MGS series, so it was probably a given that I'd be hooked on this one.

Other than Bioshock, Contra 4 has actually impacted me quite a bit lately. I forgot how fun it can be to conquer a seriously tough game. And the great thing about it is how it seems impossible at first, but then with time you can master it completely. It's the pinnacle of twitch gameplay for me. I've always been awesome at Contra, but I usually suck at shmups. 

[crisis]

Super Mario Bros.

[Slayer]

Super Mario Bros.

[Profbeanburrito]

Aside from the most obvious, Super Mario Bros. (which will always be #1), I would have to say Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, just because its one of my first video games to really absorb me.

However, a game that showed me video games can be more than just a kids game would be Secret of Mana. I must have been 7 or 8 years old when my brother and I first sat down and played it, and it showed me that games could have stories and personality, that it could be fleshed out into a medium of storytelling. And it also became a dedicated experience, not just a pick-up-and-play game but something worth time and effort. I have so many fond memories with that game, it's still my favorite RPG to this day

[Highwind Dragoon]

SHATTERHAND and totally rad. 

[The Last Belmont]

Super Mario bros., mario 3 and super mario world.

castlevania nes trilogy

Zelda nes duology and ALTTP

Contra and Super Contra

Metroid

Ninja Gaiden

Ninja turtles nes trilogy

Update (can't believe I forgot sonic, duh he's the reason I own a genesis/megadrive)

Sonic, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 and Knuckles

[Xain]

Hmm...i like this topic.

Rocket Knight Adventures: Ive beaten this game some many times its ridiculous. It just the gameplay, the music, and the theme go so well together. Every time i visit my aunt i whip out her Genesis and play RKA. Its funny, way back when i first started playing it i actually beat the game on all of the difficulty levels. (except for the hardest mode....1 hit kills are a bitch.) I've never done that for any other game. 

Ninja Gaiden (x-box): Before i played this game i always put a game on the lowest difficulty. After i beat it, i never put on easy mode again. (ive have actually gone back to a few games and re-played it on normal or hard.

Rez: This game....this game changed everything. I've never seen such a fusion of art, music and gameplay work so well. I just don't know how else better to explain it. I just know if a Rez 2 i would be in paradise.

Ikaruga: Almost the same reason as Rez. The exception is that Ikaruga showed me that I'm a shooter fan through and through.

   

[Slayer]

In Reply To #8

Ikaruga's coming to Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday.  I can't wait.

[Cypress]

In Reply To #9
I got Ikaruga on the cube. I like chaos field alot too but it lacks multiplayer.

[Ed Oscuro]

Twin Cobra (arcade 1987)
This game is fun - not my first choice to play, but very influential on the genre.  Most shooter games I like to play can trace much of their design back to this game.

My other choices along that reasoning:
Castlevania, Contra, DOOM, Goldeneye, Quake.

[Bad Wolf]

Zork. First game I ever played. EVER.

Graphics engine: The human imagination.
Ease of play: How well can you type?
Difficulty: INSANE.
Replay value: INFINITE (so much to do!)

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Most impact on my gaming?

Back when I was but a lad, my brother-in-law in Ecuador purchased a knockoff Atari and I got to play Missile Command and Phoenix.  Then he started getting more and more stuff and at one point I had a wall full o' carts, most of which I don't even remember, but Donkey Kong and Yar's Revenge somewhat stuck out... but those weren't IMPACT.

The IMPACT happened when I made it to the USA and I played the NES for the very very first time at a family friend's house.

The game was Castlevania.

I would not see the game again for two years, until I finally got a NES in 1989 or so and got to play SMB.

So I'd say the first three games to impact my gaming are:

Donkey Kong (Atari)
Castlevania (NES)
Super Mario Bros (NES)

Followed by Zelda and MegaMan, these are the ones that have shaped my gaming since I was young.

[Oralox]

Castlevania Symphony of the night
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid 2
Grand Theft Auto 3
Starcraft
Counter-Strike
Super Smash Bros

and thats about it I think

[Aridale]

Castlevania on NES is the first NES game I ever saw and played when I was young when the NES had first come out in the states. I had always loved monster movies especially vampires and stuff and CV just clicked. I never forgot about it from that moment on but I never really knew what it was as I was just watchin my cousin play.

After I got my own NES CV2 was the game that really stuck with me and is still my fav game of all time.

However the game that had the most impact on me was EverQuest. It was my first REAL mmo. I never got into Ultima Online (the true first mmo) and I had no clue what a MUD was. My experience with online gaming was NWN on AOL and messin around with /roll in chatrooms back when youd have to wait 2-3 hours to log into AOL cause it was so busy. And some Hexen2 laggy ass multiplayer lol.

I still remember seein banner ads on sites like this for EQ1 with the pics of real ppl sayin their jobs and then a pic of an ogre or somethin and sayin what they did in EQ with the big "Your in our world now" logo. And I kept thinkin to mself "wtf IS this thing" so one day I got tired of wonderin about it and went and bought it. I started playin about a month before Kunark (the very first expansion) and played for roughly 8 years. It completely changed the way I saw games and now if a game ISNT an mmo I lose interest pretty fast.