Whether you’re a gamer now or not, you’ve most likely played a video game (or two) in your youth.
And since video games have been the talk of the town as of late (thanks to things like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last of Us), we asked the BuzzFeed Community: “What was your favorite video game from your childhood?” And the answers were beyond nostalgic. Here’s what they had to say.
1.
“Earthworm Jim! I would watch my dad play this game in absolute awe — the graphics, the tires and junkyards, and the random weird cows will always stick in my mind. I loved watching and playing this game.”
2.
“Pokémon Snap. I don’t understand why taking pictures of Pokémon was so fun but it was. I always played it with my mom growing up. So many great memories from it!”
3.
“Final Fantasy IV (originally marketed as FF2) for the SNES. It’s the first game I really got into. I wanted to understand the text so much that I learned to read because of it (I was 4). Every time they released it on a new system, I bought it. I can’t help it because it just feels like going home when I play it.”
4.
“Super Mario Sunshine. This was by far my favorite Mario game. The graphics were great, the locations in the game were unique, and all the big colorful characters that looked like weird elephants were adorable. I recently got it for my Nintendo Switch so I can relive my childhood! It’s still as great as I remember.”
5.
“Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest on the Super Nintendo. Not only does that game have one of the best soundtracks of all time, but its gameplay also holds up today. Later 2D platform-style games really hit their stride with the SNES, and DKC2 embodies everything that made that generation of games so iconic: smooth controls, clever puzzles, secret items, exciting minigames, and diverse worlds that kept you guessing. To this day, this is my go-to if I just want to sit and immerse myself in a game. Just talking about it makes me want to get my SNES plugged back in.”
6.
“Kingdom Hearts on the PlayStation! Every moment felt like magic, from flying in the Peter Pan world to exploring Halloweentown, to the iconic declaration that ‘My friends are my power!’”
7.
“Bugs Bunny and Taz: Time Busters! It was amazing, so ahead of its time. You got to switch bodies with the two characters in so many different worlds. I have such fond memories and wish I could play it again!”
8.
“The Legend of Zelda. No, not a sequel. The original NES game, with the unique gold cartridge you had to blow on every now and then. I bought the fancy full-color guidebook with the maps, and I had to get my mom’s permission to call the 900 number to get tips every now and then. Yes, I’m old lol.”
9.
“I swear NO ONE ever remembers this one, but I had a game I was utterly obsessed with as a kid. It was called Where in Time Is Carmen SanDiego? and it was a historical/time-traveling version of the more well-known Where in the World Is Carmen SanDiego? game. I remember there was one time when you’d meet the first novelist, Murasaki, in 11th-century Japan. And another where you had to help Gutenberg organize the movable types in his first printing press. And I think there was even one where you had to use an abacus to help an Incan village in Peru. I don’t know, but all I know is that I was obsessed, and to be honest, I’d probably still play it to this day.”
10.
“Banjo-Kazooie hands down. I still play it and Banjo-Tooie about once a year, and I’m 33. Everything about it brings me joy. I’m hoping to turn my kids onto it when they’re a little older.”
11.
“Zoombinis, the Freddi Fish series, and the Pajama Sam series. They’re all kids computer games from the late ’90s/early ’00s. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who remembers and loves these. Most of them are available on Steam. I grew up on these games. They taught me so much about empathy, helping others, pattern recognition, and some basic reading/phonics and math skills. Overall, these games were just relaxing ways to end the day. Getting to play them now as an adult is like *chef’s kiss* for remembering the good ol’ days before I had to worry about rent and making a living.”
12.
“Definitely the Metroid Prime trilogy on the Wii! Not only was Samus Aran my lesbian awakening as a child, but each game brought something new to the table. Prime was the first 3D/first-person Metroid game, and it really shook up the formula in a good way. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes turned up the exploration aspect, even though it was full of backtracking, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption had the best storyline of any Metroid game until Metroid Dread came out in 2021.”
13.
“The Pokémon games on GameBoy were a huge deal when I was in elementary school. One thing I think few people remember was having to go to the store and buy ‘guidebooks’ for the game. The books would detail locations on maps, where you could find certain Pokémon, and give tips to get past otherwise difficult-to-pass levels. There was a level where you were in a dark cave and wouldn’t be able to navigate through it without luck, or the guidebook laying out exactly where to go.”
14.
“One game that does still manage to be unbelievably fun is Mario Kart 64. I would say that Mario Kart 64 is even better than the newer versions of the game. It’s simple enough for a child to play yet complex enough for someone to work hard to master. My wife and I still boot up the N64 from time to time to race.”
15.
“OMG. The Oregon Trail. I use to play it in middle school and since the whole school used the computer lab, we would take the balls out of the mouse they used to have on the desktop computers and hide them so no one else could play and mess up our traveling. We couldn’t save it on the floppy disks because it wasn’t compatible yet!! Ahhhh, I just really aged myself.”
16.
“I have several but to this day, I absolutely love Super Mario Bros. 3 on NES! I loved everything about it: the gameplay, the music, and all the hidden things to find. I remember playing it and hoarding the power wings, raccoon suits, and green leaves. I still know where to find all the whistles.”
17.
“Boogerman on Sega Genesis. It was disgusting and hilarious and amazing. I was 12 when the game came out in 1994 and it appealed to all of my adolescent sensibilities — lots of burps and boogers and farts. I used to play it while listening to Weezer’s Blue Album on repeat (which also came out that year). It was a simpler time.”
18.
“Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis). The music alone in that game is iconic, even in the two and three sequels, there were some classics, and I still listen to them now. The gameplay was fun, the boss battles were awesome, and I just think there’s nothing that brings me ’90s nostalgia more than those games. I think those games made me fall in love with gaming.”
19.
“My cousin and I used to go to the video store across the street and rent a game for SNES called Vegas Stakes. It was a very basic game. You went to Vegas with some friends, you chose one to go gambling with, and you could play different games (slots, poker, craps, roulette, and blackjack). It was interesting because random people in each casino would come up to you and talk, sometimes pickpocket you, and sometimes give you money in various ways. He and I had so much fun playing it but we could never find it to buy it instead of continuously renting it. If anyone knows how I can contact Nintendo to request that game be brought to the Switch’s SNES app, that would be awesome.”
20.
“I was the weird kid who was obsessed with Brave Fencer Musashi, and I don’t know anyone else who played this game. To the point where I thought it was a fever dream until I googled it recently.”
21.
“It was an online game called VMK, or Virtual Magical Kingdom. I spent hours upon hours playing. It actually shut down at a certain time or else I would have probably been on endlessly.”
22.
“Tekken 3. I skipped school for this game. Beat the champion of my country in it once. It was just fun. When Tekken Tag came out we played it as a friend group. I and a friend were barred from teaming up and eventually had to change characters as no one was able to beat ut. Usually, our 1-on-1 with each other ended up being a boring stalemate as we both knew exactly how to defend from each other.”
23.
“Metal Gear Solid. The intensity, innovative-ish gameplay of avoiding your enemies, and the boss battles that were more like puzzles.” Seriously, if they remade it now, they’d cash in big time. And yes: the long-ass cutscenes.”
24.
“Crash Bandicoot held my generation together. Yes, millennials loved Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Zelda, but CRASH was our guy!”
Do you have a favorite video game from childhood? If so, tell us what it is and why you loved it so much in the comments below.
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