Video games of my youth

2019-05-31 3 min read

      Lately I’ve been feeling nostalgic about the video games from my youth and spent some time browsing YouTube and trying to remember my favorites. I was exclusively a PC gamer except for one month period where I had a Sega Genesis - which my parents got for me as a reward for reading a 1000 pages of Russian. Unfortunately (or fortunately), our “deal” did not include any additional games so the system was returned within a month of me getting it. I have a ton more memories from the mid-90s but these stood out as my earliest memories. I’m pretty sure I didn’t beat any of them but it was a wonderful time playing these as a kid in the early 90s.

      • Golden Axe. I loved the hack and slash here and remember being awed by the graphics. This also had a great multiplayer component that I spent hours on with my brother.

      • Jill of the Jungle. I came across this game in a shareware (remember those?) magazine and after trying the demo really wanted the actual game. I don't recall whether I saved up to buy it or whether it was a gift but was a big fan of the side-scroller style action/adventure game.

      • Commander Keen. Similar to the above this was a fun side-scroller that was just fun to play and explore. I don't recall how I got into this but do remember eagerly trying to get the sequels.

      • Wolfenstein 3D/Doom. I grouped these together since they were both first person shooters and I jumped from one to the other as soon as it came out. I was arguably way too young to play either one but had a blast. I also recall mods of the game but don't remember the actual details.

      • Impossible Mission. I spent a lot of time on this game. I don't even think I knew what the goal was other than to run around and explore.

      • Alley Cat. I have no idea why I played this game as much as I did. It had a series of mini-levels and there were definitely favorites and levels I hated.

      • Alone in the Dark. Another game I should have probably not been playing. I don't recall liking this too much since it felt slow and I didn't know what I was doing but I do have memories.

      • Prince of Persia/Karateka. No list could be complete without this. This game was way too hard for me until I found cheat codes.

      • Airborne Ranger. This brings back memories. It was so fun running around and exploring the map trying to complete various objectives.

      • Star Goose. Damn this game was difficult. The graphics blew me away but what an incredibly difficult game.

      • Budokan. The graphics were great and what's not to liking about a karate fighting game? I vaguely recall the nunchucks being the easiest to use.

      • Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs. I knew nothing about basketball yet enjoyed playing the game - probably for the graphics. My most significant memory here is having to type in words from the manual in order to bypass the theft protection.