🎮 "Can we review objectively the first ever games we played growing up, even if they were awful?" 🎮 @arcadeattackUK (Inspired By Arcade Attack)

Inspired by a recent tweet from our friends at Arcade Attack the lads asked:

"Can we review objectively the first ever games we played growing up, even if they were awful?"

It’s a great question and one I think is tough to answer as when I look at some of these video games I know that some were utter poop BUT my nostalgia gland kicks in when I think of the utter dog shite Bug Hunt!

I suppose what we can conclude is that good and bad games should be played in order to shape our video games journey and that they also help us to fully appreciate good video games more as how do you know a good game from a bad game if you’ve never played one?

I thought back to my early years of gaming up until the PS2 era and I listed out the video games that came with each of the systems I bought to work out how many bad games came with the systems that I actually have a soft spot for.

Actually, when you look at this list you can see that the games bought with my early systems were mostly bloody great!

Atari XEGS - Bug Hunt & Flight Simulator II

(Missile Command Built-in)

Bug Hunt was a poor man's Duck Hunt but I piled stacks of hours into this game with my dad as we tried to beat each others scores.

Then there was Flight Simulator II which was for some reason boxed in with the XEGS. It would take two people to play flight simulator II as one read the manual and the other frantically tried to stop the plane from crashing. Taking off was an achievement and landing was a miracle! Again my Dad and I would attempt this miracle on a regular basis.  

Missile Command was the star of the show for me, so addictive and such a fun game to play with friends as you try and outdo each others level run. Somehow i remember reaching level 12 at the age of 10 years old but that didn’t happen often and i don’t think has happened since!

SEGA Master System - Wonder Boy In Monster Land

(Snail Maze Game Built-in)

I bought a second hand SMS and was absolutely chuffed to bits. Originally I borrowed games from my mate Lee Tookey (games such as Alex Kidd in Shinobi World and Double Dragon) but my first game that I owned for the system was WBIML. I found an advert in the LOOT classified ads paper and begged my dad to take me to spend my money on Wonder boy. From memory, it was £25 and in perfect condition. That game lasted me an age as I completed it so many times with friends and mapped out the final labyrinth.

The Snail Maze Game is legendary but is absolutely rubbish, even then i knew it was crap! Maybe now I look back at it fondly…..sort of...

Super Nintendo - Super Mario World (Pack In Game)

One of the greatest video games consoles packs in one of the finest examples of a video game into its release package. It’s still an unbeatable combination in terms of launch material and still stands up as a great game to this day.

SEGA Megadrive - Sonic The Hedgehog

Okay, so I sold my SNES to own a Megadrive just like my mate Zeshan. He had a Japanese version and I bought myself a nice PAL version with the game that I thought was going to blow Mario away. I so enjoyed my time with Sonic and the Megadrive but beyond Sonic I yearned for more and eventually sold my Megadrive to own a SNES again!

Commodore AMIGA 600 - Deluxe Paint III

Deluxe Paint III is legendary amongst creative types who could actually use such an advanced package (for its time) It could animate and it you could create whatever you could imagine but I was awful with it and had no patience for it. Not long after purchasing my standalone Amiga I invested in a copied version of Championship Manager 94 and also a cracked copy of Sensible Soccer 1.1 so Deluxe Paint hardly saw the light of day but that wasn’t DP3’s fault it was mine.

Playstation - PS1 Demo Disk

Again when I came over to the PS1 I bought a standalone box with just the Demo Disk included. I’d often borrow friends games but the Demo Disk was my friend. T-Rex and Destruction Derby, what a combo!

Playstation 2 - Grand Theft Auto III

What a powerful release package this was. A game that I physically ached for on the system that I wasn’t ready for. This blows away most things before and even since.

N.B I never completed GTA III

Those are my early days games from all the early days consoles and computers that I owned.

I have a love for all the games I played in those days, even the crap ones.

Gaming IS AWESOME!

LISTEN TO THE ARCADE ATTACK DUDES TALK ABOUT THIS VERY SUBJECT HERE:

https://arcadeattackpodcast.podbean.com

Rich