Your Nintendo highlights

[darkjak]

What are your Nintendo higlights?

Write about them in no particular order.

 

Goldeneye:

Back in 1997 I was casual. I was most certainly not a gamer. But I still asked for an N64 for christmas. Mum found it in a catalogue and asked me what game I wanted. I looked at the ten covershots that were in that catalogue, and since I liked James Bond, I picked Goldeneye.

Come christmas eve, I was in for a real treat. I'd really want to see a readout of how many enemies I've killed, probably it's up to the tens of thousands on the runway alone, and even today I go back to that game.

 

Mario 64:

Finally I bought SM64. The game was completely different, and I was stuck. I collected all the stars and I could barelly wait for the two sequels the format was going to get. Of course the N64 was going to get three Mario games, the NES, SNES and the Gameboy all did!

 

Zelda:

After a fair bit of time I decided to get Zelda. The story, the surroundings, the feel, I loved every second of it. Even to this day, I still think this is the best game ever. If Nintendo release a graphically enhanced version of this game, I'll pay full price. It's that good!

 

Pokémon:

I played through Super Mario Land, I got boored with the other games on I had for the format, and the Gameboy wasn't exactly portable. The console layed in a drawer for like five years. Pokémon made me pick the console up again, and I don't even want to think what environmental impact my overconsumption of batteries had.

[mcj metroid]

hmm pretty much like asking what are our favourite nintendo games but oh well..

 

majora's mask:

I loved the time element.. The moments of panic when you had so little time left to finish off a task is just brilliant... the music and atmosphere had an awesome way of making you feel like the world was ending. Fabolous.

 

pokemopn gold:

A simple minded kid.. I had finished Johto and guess what? A WHOLE new world has been opened up to me in kanto.. yes it was small and a little tacked on but it gave an excellent feeling of reward... It gave you something to do after you beat the elite four andso o so forth.

 

super mario 64:

Wow this one had plenty.. It's the little things about this game.. the endless staircase,the clock, unlocking powers,changing pictures... You all know this already but this is still one of th best games ever. Galaxy is ecellent but it's missing the little loveable things that 64 had.

I'd also like to add that playing in a castle is far more fun than a space station would in fairness could have been a lot more fun.

 

goldeneye:

I was TERRIBLE at this game but the first time playing fps co-op nevertheless was excelent.. A lot of new gamers take this for granted because it aged kinda badly but this was the best.

 

super mario world:

Better than super mario 3... seriously.

I know it didn't have the impact that 3 had and has less animals for mario to change into.

But the cape>racoon tail and more levels = more fun..

Like super mario 64 it's the little things that made this magic.. The secrets were amazing.. the double exits which would give you more world map.. new super mario bros had this feature as well. But new foolishly tried to pull this off on a super mario bros 3 style map.

 

Best 2d mario experience and far better than it's disappointing(but stillgood) sequel yoshi's island.

 

Super metroid:

er atmosphere, atmosphere and you know atmosphere.. Still the best metroid game. Still not perfect mind you.. Like metroid prime 1 and 2.. every metroid game has this habit of slowing down or annoying you for the last hour before the final boss stages...

 

But oh well.. Can you believe this was released in 1993? 16 years later and it's about the same size as most average console games?

[darkjak]

This isn't really like asking about fave games. You can have different stuff as highlights, like E3's, console releases etc.

[Cube]

Super Mario 64: I first played this at my cousin's house, and it was the first time I'd ever heard of Mario. I instantly sold my PlayStation and got an N64 for Christmas.

 

GoldenEye: I got this and Mario Kart for Christmas, I still remember spending aroung an hour looking for bungee rope until I just thought "screw it" and made Bond commit suicide by throwing him off the dam. It then told me I had completed the mission.

 

RareWare: Rare made the N64 into what it is. I have loads of fond memories of Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Jet Force Gemini, Blast Corps, Donkey Kong 64 and Perfect Dark.

 

Majora's Mask: I decided to give this ago, even though I got bored of Ocarina of Time. The side-quests, masks, towns and dungeons were all brilliant. So good that I went back and completed Ocarina of Time afterwards.

[Emasher]

The best moment in Nintendo history has to be the revelation of twilight princess at E3 2004. Outside of games anyway.

[Grazza]

Good thread, darkjak.

 

Super Mario World

This was my first SNES game. I had a Megadrive, but my neighbour kept telling me how much better the SNES was. We actually first encountered it in the arcade (via a sort of promotional coin-op). My friend put his money in, chose the "Yoshi house" stage near the beginning that isn't really a stage. His time ran out and he declared it amazing!

 

I didn't think it was amazing based on that evidence alone, but I was soon convinced when my neighbour bought a SNES and we played it co-op round his house so much. Still the best Mario game, in a way.

 

Link to the Past

I saw this in Mean Machine magazine and I had a feeling it was a bit special. Well, needless to say, when it was released it was the talk of the school (or at least the SNES owners!) We all had to own this amazing game.

 

I wish I'd have played Super Metroid, but I didn't.

 

Link's Awakening

There was something so special about playing this on my Game Boy/Game Boy Pocket. It was like delving into a different world. The hooting of the owl was strangely dream-like and it was a joy to hear Ballad of the Wind Fish played ever-more richly the more musical instruments you acquired.

 

Super Mario 64

We all know the story with this one! I saw it in a magazine and thought "Wow!" And we all remember our first test of this in a games shop!

 

Ocarina of Time

I actually sold my N64, then re-bought it for this, and it was simply as good as everyone says.

 

Majora's Mask

I was beginning to get bored with games at this point, but this was the one last game I really enjoyed.

 

Super Mario Sunshine

I had been completely bored with games for years at this point, but I remembered Mario and Zelda games were special, so, one dark November I treated myself to a GameCube. It was brilliant! I'll never forget being able to escape from the cold and dark into beautiful Caribbean, Hawaiian and other exotic environments. Not only was the atmosphere perfect, so was the gameplay. This well and truly got me back into gaming.

 

Wind Waker

I waited until the same Christmas to play Wind Waker, and... Oh my word! I couldn't believe how much the formula had been improved from the (brilliant) N64 games. I rushed through it and, yes, it felt a bit short as I completed it in about a week. However, the following week, spent exploring all the different islands, is to this day the most enjoyable gaming experience I've had.

 

The Legend of Zelda 2004 Trailer

This was jaw-dropping. At this point, I expected a sort of "Majora's Mask", ie. as good as the main Zelda of that gen (Wind Waker), but in a different place. I feel even as early as 2005, when the Wolf, Midna and the Twilight were revealed it had lost something compared to what I had imagined. Add all the technical issues and the fact it was set in Hyrule, and I feel it strayed way too far from that trailer and what it could have been.

 

Metroid: Zero Mission

I really disliked Metroid Prime, but I thought I'd give a 2D Metroid a go. I'm glad I did! Playing this on my lovely Game Boy Micro was the first time I'd loved a handheld game since Link's Awakening.

[Jonnas]

Let's see, off the top of my head:

 

Pokémon Silver: The whole Kanto arc. Revisiting old places, checking the changes made over time, battling Blue all over again (with nearly the same old-school team, no less), and eventually finding Red. And have I mentioned that the Kanto Gym Leader theme was awesome in this game?

 

Ocarina of Time: Finding out who Sheik was. Definitely one of the most surprising twists I've seen. And the game itself was beyond fantastic.

 

Megaman 2: It was a brilliant platformer, but what I liked about it so much was how you could play the levels in any order. Also, the weapons were so useful and distinct, they made sure it wouldn't become linear (unlike later MM games, where the weapons were mostly useless, and served only to defeat the robot masters like dominoes)

 

Megaman - Dr. Wily's Revenge: It was more linear, but every weapon was useful (even moreso than in MM2), making it a blast to play. Being a pretty challenging game helped, as well.

 

Super Mario 64: Above all, how you could freely explore so much. Everything was so versatile, and allowed to complete the game in any order. Basically what grabbed me in MM2, but developed and expanded.

 

Super Mario Land 2: What grabbed everyone in Super Mario World was what grabbed me here, except SML2 had the variety and freedom I like so much in platformers. The secret passages were there, but you could still play the main game in any order. And in portable form.

 

Kirby's Dream Land 2: I managed to find every single one of those collectibles, all by myself. Sure, they were only 8, but the game was popular at school, and I was still the only one who did that (everyone else asked me for help). The ways to get them were quite clever for the mind of a kid, so I felt some pride in that.

 

Mole Mania: First puzzle game I managed to complete without any spoilers whatsoever. Great feeling.

 

Super Smash Bros. Melee: Too much nostalgia for words. The game was great, but the attention to detail, and mentioning fellas I hadn't seen in a long time (like Rick the Hamster) was incredible. Similar to the feeling I had when I saw Sonic in SSBB, behaving like he was still in the Mega Drive days.

 

Metroid Prime: Amazing attention to detail, the scans made this game. But something I loved was exploring the sunken frigate...and recognising the rooms I explored at the beginning of the game.

 

Wind Waker: The amazing amount of sidequests, coupled with the fantastic ocean setting really made this game. Just fantastic, everytime I visited a small island to find something worthy inside.

Edited March 29, 2009 by Jonnas

[Pookiablo]

I gotta agree with Cube about Rareware for the 64 - they're the ones who kept that console going and they did so by churning out classic after classic.

 

4-player multiplayer - The N64 did this and by God it did it well. Yes I know you could get it on SNES but who wants a shitty multitap and a very meagre selection of games with the ability to have 4 people playing? Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, Super Smash Bros (64 that is), Perfect Dark, F-Zero X and many, many more. All perfect for getting a few mates round yours to battle it out and trash talk!

 

I'll come up with some more later, for now, it's back to work!

[Strider Hiryu 78]

super mario world:

Better than super mario 3... seriously.

I know it didn't have the impact that 3 had and has less animals for mario to change into.

But the cape>racoon tail and more levels = more fun..

Like super mario 64 it's the little things that made this magic.. The secrets were amazing.. the double exits which would give you more world map.. new super mario bros had this feature as well. But new foolishly tried to pull this off on a super mario bros 3 style map.

 

Best 2d mario experience and far better than it's disappointing(but stillgood) sequel yoshi's island.

 

Super metroid:

er atmosphere, atmosphere and you know atmosphere.. Still the best metroid game. Still not perfect mind you.. Like metroid prime 1 and 2.. every metroid game has this habit of slowing down or annoying you for the last hour before the final boss stages...

 

I really like both those games, those had to be my highlights for my days on the SNES. The increase of story, graphics and fun from their original NES versions was a great thing.

 

Something about Mario 3 for NES I can't get over, maybe a sentimental reason from the time of which I bought it here in the US, I was about 9 years old without many cares in the world other than going to school. Mario 3 & Mario World is a tie for me.

 

Another would have to be Ninja Gaiden or Rad Racer, me and my best friend played that game for hours on end as kids.

[Pit-Jr]

these are on a more personal level than , say, an e3 announcement but:

 

-getting grounded from my NES the first day i got it because i turned into a 'vegetable' and was told to

'GO OUTSIDE'

 

-getting a free Dragon Warrior (Quest) cartridge with my Nintendo Power subscription

 

-getting my 2nd game in the form of a golden Legend of Zelda cart from my grandma of all people

 

-getting a Super NES for Xmas after being told that i definately would NOT be getting it

 

-bought an N64 on the same day as i started my first real job

 

-scoring the last available black GC on launch day at my local Wal-Mart

[Strider Hiryu 78]

these are on a more personal level than , say, an e3 announcement but:

 

-getting grounded from my NES the first day i got it because i turned into a 'vegetable' and was told to

'GO OUTSIDE'

 

-getting my 2nd game in the form of a golden Legend of Zelda cart from my grandma of all people

 

Turning to a vegetable was a definite part of early NES days, now that I think back I could have used a better balance as a child between real life and just sitting there in that imaginary digital world, which is kinda the same story for many people today as technology increases, both young and old.

 

It's good to have fun with technology, but also know when time comes to move on to something else and realize what is truly important in life.

 

That gold Zelda cartridge brings back memories! I used to stare at and hold that like some kind of treasure as a kid, probably the first gold item I ever owned.