A few of the members of Gaming Respawn have been caught doing a little bit of reminiscing and getting all nostalgic over their first ever video game. Check out what games they are.
Kane Newell – Streets of Rage 3
The Sega Mega Drive was my first ever taste of gaming, back in the 90’s while my memory of back then is fuzzy I still have a few fond memories of my first ever game, that being side-scrolling beat ’em up Streets of Rage 3. This game was fun, fast paced and hard, me and my younger brother spent hours trying to master and beat the game to no avail. Beating up low life thugs was easy, but working as a team and not wasting health proved to difficult for us both at that young age and we never got to see those end credits, the game was a blast and picking it up to start over was an easy choice.
Daniel Garcia-Montes – Super Mario Land
I’ve played a number of random games when I was between five and seven years old that I barely remember. The Ninja Turtles and X-Men arcade games come to mind, as do some random football game and what might have been Gladius for the original Nintendo. However, before all those games, I’m quite sure my very first video game was Super Mario Land for the original Gameboy. This game was released when I was a mere boy at the age of five, and since I recently came upon the somewhat disturbing discovery that I am one of the oldest members of this site, it can be concluded that I was playing this game before most of my associates were even the smallest collections of molecules within their mothers’ wombs. That’s kind of adorable in a way, but for the most part, I find it a bit depressing. Hell, Super Mario Land was on the original Gameboy, an older system which was in black and white, so it’s entirely possible that most of my fellow Gaming Respawners haven’t even heard of this game, making this reminiscence all the more painful.
From what I remember about Super Mario Land, it was quite fun and I spent a lot of time playing through the many challenging levels, with Mario doing the usual breaking of bricks with his head and jumping on Goombas. I never beat the game of course, my gaming skills were simply not up to the task at such a young age. In fact, I rarely beat any games I played back then, not just because of my lack of skills, but my short attention span was another contributing factor. I am happy and proud to say that the sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, was a much more fun game for me and I actually managed to beat it multiple times. In fact, it might have been my first time beating a game. Still, I enjoyed the first Super Mario Land as well, and it made those times I was stuck running errands with mom more bearable.
Michael Fitzgerald – Treasure Island
The first game I ever played was Treasure Island on, I think, the ZX Spectrum. We had an old one lying around the house and I remember the console ran on cassette tapes. I wasn’t very good at the game, so I mostly watched my dad play it while I gave helpful advice. Pirates in the game would fling cutlasses at you and you would have to pick them up and throw them back to kill them. Why the pirates thought this was a good tactic to employ was beyond me, but then again pirates aren’t really renowned for being the brightest are they?
The first game I have vivid memories of is the original Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo Entertainment System. An absolute arse burger of a game, this was the moment I truly fell in love with the medium. I remember playing it at my cousin’s house a year or so before I got my SNES and thinking it was just the best bloody thing that had ever been created by humanity.
Yeah, you can keep your sliced bread and Penicillen, SMB is where it’s at!!!
James Haxell – Sonic the Hedgehog
My first game is a hazy one, meaning I’m going to have to go for the most likely which is Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Game Gear – a console I only have love for. This is different to the Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis and is one I prefer far more. This was released some years before I was born and so when I played it, not only was it a good few years old when I played it but I was barely the sub-standard player I am now. Being this young meant whenever I played a game, on the Game Gear or the Game Boy, I never got far in any of them but those first few levels were all pretty sweet. The Game Gear was my dad’s console and I remember the burst of excitement when he would let me go on it, and Sonic was always my first choice. There are other first game contenders including Star Wars on the original Game Boy, but that was my sister’s and so it is more likely my dad let me on the Game Gear first.
This is the Sonic game I base all others on, seeing as my memory of it is only how awesome it was, it means all other Sonic games have a steep hill to climb, and ones like Lost World barely get off the ground. The game is no different from your average old-school Sonic, with the same principles of running and collecting rings. This was my first ever experience of it and I adored it. Sonic was a cool character and somehow I never got annoyed at it, even though I’m sure I died more often than not. I remember fighting Eggman at the end of the first act, I never managed to complete the game and this was roughly the furthest I got unless I got help, and the sheer joy I had for managing to do it. It took me some years to realise I died if I didn’t have rings. I’m sure my dad would have told me when I first played it but I was finding far more fun in running than to take note of what he was saying.
I have seen it for sale on the Nintendo e-shop and I’m soon to purchase it to relive some memories – hopefully I’ve improved a little since then.
Ian Cooper – Renegade
My first ever game that started my love for gaming for some years to come was Renegade for the ZX Spectrum.
You were a guy who kicked the living daylights out of other guys. That was it. I’d seen Atari games before it with their crappy graphics but this game really took me in. So much so I asked for a ZX for Christmas and my parents were great enough to grant me one. Games were £3 each at a computer shop in town so I could pretty much help myself. I wasn’t overly keen on games so I never knew what was new but Renegade took my eye. I took it home and loaded it. The first level was a subway. My character stood between a few enemies with a ledge to the right that meant my demise. One key threw a punch that could be tapped for a flurry of haymakers, one was for jumping and pressing two keys meant I could unleash a back kick. These moves were all I needed. It was superb fun. After beating the guys, I was faced with my very first boss. I can’t remember his name but he was tough and big but perseverance and a bit of strategy or punch and run got me through it. This stands out as my very first gaming experience. The one that started it all.
