Sonic the Hedgehog
Out
of all of the items on my list, Sonic is my personal pick. That is not to
under-rate the impact that the character has had on gamer culture over the
decades; I myself have blogged about how he has come to represent 90’s culture
to the point he has become a cultural cliché. But Sonic is my pick because he
represents my introduction to gaming. The first moment I ever played a game was
playing Sonic the Hedgehog for the Mega Drive.
(Video credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL3Mbi1g9IY)
The
potential of gaming was apparent to me from the start. Ever since I played
Sonic, I felt somewhat undersold by other media. I grew up much preferring to
receive a game of a movie than the movie itself. I loved the sense that I could
interact with worlds, and that was
gaming’s biggest selling point to me. I needed to engage with the world in a
practical sense and this was exactly what gaming, as an interactive medium,
offered to me.
Sonic
was a beautiful game, filled with colour and enjoyable. It offered everything
that was classically ‘video-gamey’ within its package; the high score chasing,
the nostalgic sounds, the collecting of rings, the secret levels where you
could collect Chaos Emeralds, the jumping on enemies, and the boss battles, and
last but not least, the central character himself running the show. As an
introduction to gaming, I couldn’t think of anything that was better for me
than Sonic, and I will always remember the numerous iconic moments of the first
game; the opening notes of Green Hill Zone Act 1, the noise of Sonic’s jump,
the terror of drowning in Labyrinthe Zone. For me, Sonic the Hedgehog was the
video game that had it all.
Prison Architect
As
my ‘post-Minecraft’ indie pick, it was a toss-up between this game, Don’t
Starve, and Subnautica. However, what made Prison Architect win the day was the
near-perfect tribute to Tycoon games of the past. I was someone who loved Theme
Park and Theme Hospital, and what Prison Architect offered was a modern update
of that familiar idea; management of some industry or service delivered with an
almost-comic, yet decidedly ‘gamey’ twist.
(Video credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325Ycb6oy5U)
Prison
Architect, beyond that, is an excellent game, and one that even helped me to
easier understand concepts used in a Forensic Psychology class that I had at
university. It struck me, upon reading that class, just how accurately Prison
Architect portrayed the current theories on prisoner needs and their reactions. The way that the game’s
hidden depth demonstrated a fine attention to detail was astounding, not to
mention just how powerful the building was in the game. Just like Minecraft,
dedicated players could build anything they dreamed of, even using logic circuits.
Prison Architect has an astonishing level of attention to detail in every
little part of the game that you can think of, and I highly suggest watching the
YouTube series of developer diaries to show just how thought-out every concept
was in the game.
I
will always remember Prison Architect for being an excellent and fun
Tycoon-like game, that had a ton of depth and imagination behind almost every
concept, as well as being just an amazing value proposition for the price that
I paid compared to the hours of fun that I got back.
Honourable Picks:
I
don’t have time to gush about every game that I consider to be unforgettable;
this post has already gone on far too long as I have geeked out about so many
games that I love. But even so, I feel that I have left out so many important
games that have changed the way I look at gaming, or just were so damn good
they left that big an impression. That shows just how amazing this medium is,
and how much love I have for gaming in general! So, honourable mentions go to:
The
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: For being the game that introduced me to fantasy
games, and RPG mechanics. Prior to this, I had avoided RPG as a genre and this
game made me realise I was missing out.
Super
Mario 64: I would have included this on the list, but I feel everything has
been said about this game that could be said, and I can’t add anything to that
discussion. I loved the sense of adventure in this game as my first introduction
to Mario.
Sonic
Adventure: As Sonic the Hedgehog was already a pick, I don’t feel that I could
have gushed about this in a way that showed how significant Sonic was to my
early gaming days. It was a memorable game that, even though it’s aged badly,
was really fun in its time and a massive selling point for the Dreamcast.
Command
and Conquer: Red Alert 2: While I truly do count this game as among the best
I’ve ever played, I just don’t have enough enthusiasm for RTS as a genre to
really count it as such a massive impact on me as other games have been. It is
a wonderful game and I love playing with the Skirmish mode, it’s just omitted
because the other games on this list meant that much to me.
What
were some of your big memorable games that shaped the kind of gamer you are
today? I have gushed for over 2000 words on this and I still feel that I could
go on about these amazing experiences. I think that you can tell a lot about a
person by what games they consider to be the most significant, so I feel like this
has truly opened my heart and let you know about a big part of my life. Sorry
for the huge post, but I really hope you find some value in this!
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