Gaming Nostalgia

+ Top 5 Nostalgic Gaming Moments

This list isn't necessarily my top 5 game choices, nor do I think they are necessarily my all time best gaming moments. Rather, these 5 games are true nostalgia to me; I look back into my gaming past and these moments really do stand out. A few of these games are considered classics, others flops, but no matter what the case, I can look back at these games and remember fond memories. Without further ado, I present to you my top 5 nostalgic gaming experiences (In no particular order):

5. Road Rash series

I know you remember this one! Who could forget this series with its crazy motorcycle antics and addicting/annoying soundtrack. The original Road Rash, made by EA, was initially released for Sega Genesis. The basic synopsis of the series is that you compete in illegal motorcycle races and attempt to win by clubbing and fighting other players off their bikes to win. This series was so bad, but so good at the same time. Perhaps the most memorable things about the series were the soundtrack. and the fact that this was one of the first games to include an interactive race environment; for instance you could hit poles, signs, etc. Go back and play this one for Playstation, just don't get "busted"!

4. Tribes 2

To this day, I still remember receiving T2 as a birthday present from a friend, and from the first time I played it I became addicted. Although the learning curve was damn steep, and there were a good amount of glitches, this game was a blast. It was one of the first times you could play in massively multiplayer battles. I remember when I first started to play the game I was on 56k dialup, and during large matches as well as regular matches to a lesser extent, I would have to predict where I shot two seconds in advanced, lol. From the time I shot my spinfusor, to when it actually registered a click was a leading cause of death for me, due to accidental suicide, haha. Lag aside, I played this game competively for 2 years straight. The teamwork and tight-knit gaming experience of this game was in my opinion one of the best for any game, period. I still find that the clans ("tribes") in Tribes 2 involved massively more teamwork than any game out today. Coordinating a strong defense, along with and offense and flag capper in Capture the Flag, along with dealing with all the sleuth of vehicles, and build-types, and weapons, and on and on...You can quickly see this game had a lot of strategy if you've never played.
Some Tribes 2 footage:

If you are reading this and once played T2, contact me about playing again in the future. My gaming tag was Cypress Munky. Apparently, a site called Tribes Next is trying to restart the online community for Tribes 2 again. Check out the site here: Tribes Next

3. Gran Turismo 2 (GT2)

Gran Turismo 2 arguably changed and shaped what the racing simulation genre is today. Although there were plenty of influential racing games before it, GT2 really stepped up driving simulation to the next level. Because of its stunning graphics for the time, as well as realism and re-playability, GT2 received a lot of praise and went on to be one of the all time best selling games. My favorite thing about GT2 was winning new and special cars after a lot of hard work, or upgrading and endlessly modifying the cars I had. When released, Gran Turismo 2 featured one of the largest list of cars to be available in a game, with over 600 from various countries and manufacturers. I will to this day still remember the moments when I got three particular cars in the game that made me very ecstatic: the Dodge Copperhead concept car & Dodge Copperhead LM, the Ford GT90 concept car, and the Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak version car.
The Dodge Copperhead concept car:

And in GT2 (the LM version):

I loved the way this car looked. The LM edition in the game was very light and accelerated very quickly, which made it a very fun car.

The Ford GT90 concept car:

GT2 rendering:

This car also looked very awesome, mainly because it looked so futuristic. It looked like it could race down the track and then take off at the end.. Too bad Ford never put it into production.

Lastly, the Suzuki Escudo:

GT2:

Man, who doesn't remember this car?? This car could be tweaked to go well over 245 mph. I still remember trying to max out the speed on the test track, pure nostalgia.

2. Pokemon Blue and Pokemon Red

The amount of hours I put into the Pokemon series games throughout my childhood riveled the amount of hours I slept each day.. Seriously, I played everywhere; on the bus on the way to school, walking to and from my house, playing for a few hours before sleep, and even playing while eating Grandma's pasta. I just could not get enough Pokemon, literally. I don't think I'm alone in saying that, either. Pokemon Red/Blue have been on numerous top games of all time lists, including IGN's Top 100 Games of All Times. And these games didn't just appear and dissapear, they started a huge, multi-million dollar franchise of game cards, lunchboxes, shirts, tv shows, etc etc. They will go down in history as being some of the best selling RPGs of all time. I will never forget raising my Charizard, or Bulbasaur, and of course Pikachu. If you never got a chance to capture all 150 Pokemon, or just want to relive the experience, you can play any of the games in the Pokemon series by just downloading a Game Boy emulator and the respective ROMs for the games. Now go catch them all, phaggot.
Pokemon Blue screenshot:


1. Twisted Metal 2

Twisted Metal 2; the premier game that you'd go over to a friend's house and setup a split-screen all out deathmatch to wreck havok on everything. This goes down as one of the greatest games of all-time in my book. Twisted Metal 2 combined the two most awesome things you could do in video games for its time, drive cars and shoot people. This game was developed by the game studio SingleTrac and released for both PlayStation and PC in 1996. This game is basically a demolition derby with missiles with each character having their own specials and characteristics. The goal was to win the Twisted Metal tournament so Calypso would grant the winner any wish/prize they desire. There is no greater self-satisfaction than beating Dark Tooth on your own, getting to see your vehicles end story line and hearing Calypso say, I am Calypso and I thank you for playing Twisted Metal. Who also didn't love discovering secret areas or bangin' different key combinations to shoot freezes or jump?

Twisted Metal 2 gameplay:




I hope you could relate to some of these memories and remember some of the good gaming moments of your past. Hopefully I will write about some other older games in the future.

Post your classic gaming memories as well if you'd like!