Your Favorite Gaming Moments

[devo 0]

I'm sure this thread has existed in some form at some point, but as far as I can tell, it wasn't in the recent past.

 

Anyway, what I'm looking for are the moments in our gaming careers that became the reasons we play video games. Moments where a huge grin creeps across our face, no matter how hard we try to supress it. Moments that make us happy we're gamers. Here are a few of mine. It'd be awkward to spoiler tag them, so be wary that there are in fact spoilers at work here.

 

Okami

 

I don't think I've ever been as happy playing a video game as when Amaterasu comes back to Kamiki after defeating Orochi. The scene of wonderfully-animated, gibberish-spewing villagers celebrating the defeat of their tormentor as beautiful music swells in the background is one of the most heartwarming and joyful I've ever seen in a video game. I wanted to take part in that scene as long as possible, and eventually had to force myself to leave the village and advance the storyline.

 

Dragon Quest VIII

 

This one's a lot more simple; once the player attains the Godbird's Soulstone, they're free to fly above the expansive, meticulously crafted world of DQVIII. Even though I've experienced it dozens of times, I still get goosebumps from soaring towards the setting sun as the majestic orchestral score rises and compliments the amazing beauty of the digital scenery.

 

Rez

 

Nothing in the video game world is quite like playing Rez in a darkened room wearing a good pair of headphones. I'll never forget the moment my ill-defined hacking sphere flew into a vast plain 1s and 0s and defeated the first wave of enemies in perfect techno harmony. Ba-dop, dop, dop.

 

Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy

 

Bit of a silly one; rolling up the King of all Cosmos. It was just a terrific combination of a supremely bizzare and yet monumentally triumphant moment. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had done it while playing the American version, so I could have understood the King's probable expressed shock and anger at becoming Katamari fodder.

 

There's more, but these are the ones I feel I can eloquently describe at the moment.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

The entirety of Xenogears, really.

[The Buzz 0]

Nothing quite gets me like the underground level in Mario.

[AndrewTS 0]

Acquiring the Master Sword in pretty much any Zelda game, especially in Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker (because in Wind Waker it's also accompanied by a really, really awesome cutscene of something else happening...).

 

Chrono Trigger: Frog dividing the mountain, Crono being brought back with the Trigger, fighting the final Lavos forms.

 

Mario 64: Flying with the Wing Cap, GIANT SWING~ing Bowser in the boss fights, and pretty much the entire ghost house level.

 

I mos def have to 2nd the Okami one.

[daileyxplanet 0]

This might sound stupid, but...

 

 

[World's Worst Man 0]

The end to MGS3 was one of the more powerful cinematic pieces I can remember seeing in a video game. The Zanarkand scene of FFX is another one I really liked. Part of what makes both of those so great is the music, as both had memorable and dramatic music accompanying them.

 

Pretty much all of FFVII during my first play through.

 

The very end of Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Fantastic twist to end things.

 

The very early days of playing Quake World: Team Fortress. It was something I hadn't experienced before and ended up being a large part of my life for many years. I've never played another FPS as much as I played TF.

[Guest Guerrero81]

I have a million favorite gaming moments but I'll just go into a few here.

 

A lot of games were such a great experience that I have to include the whole thing. The games like Super Mario Brothers 2, Punchout, Ninja Gaiden, Final Fantasy II and III, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears/Xenosaga, Super Smash TV, Battletoads, Metal Gear solid for PS, Zelda for N64 and Blades of Steel.

 

One time I beat my friend at Soul Caliber in my first try who just happens great at the Street Fighter/Tekken like games. I than pretty much retired and never game him a rematch ever again. Usually, he is the one who kicks my BUTT in with those type of games.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I dorked out when I finally beat Double Dragon and TMNT in the arcade...those were the first ones I beat

[Black Lushus 0]

I dorked out when I finally beat Double Dragon and TMNT in the arcade...those were the first ones I beat

 

I used to play arcade Double Dragon with my dad...we marked like little bitches when Double Dragon 2 hit the arcades.

 

There was only one time, as far as I can remember, that I along with 3 other guys played and beat TMNT together...that was a fun time.

 

I can remember long arcade sessions with Gauntlet as well, all 4 players in use.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Shit, I also beat Pit Fighter, add that one too. ALMOST beat Vigalanti, but got pissed and went broke

 

Arcades used to be so much fun.

[Black Lushus 0]

yeah, Pitfighter...fucking hated whenever Lord Humungous got you with that one hit kill (breaks your neck)

 

I used to pump mad amounts of quarters into Final Fight and Dragon's Lair 2.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I kicked ass with Ty on Pit Fighter. I want a Sega Genesis again JUST for that game. Wasn't as good on the super

[Jericholic82 0]

I never beat TMNT in the arcades , but did beat the nes version. I marked like mad when I finally got to beat the simpsons arcade game years after I first played it (maybe in like 1998 I think)

[AndrewTS 0]

The entirety of Xenogears, really.

 

Cop out.

 

Try naming some.

[Anya 0]

The first and last 20 minutes of Super Metroid. Boss battles too. The atmosphere and cinematic feeling was just amazing. Never seen anything like it in a game! This game was way ahead of it's time. I think out of the entire 8-16 bit era this one had the most impact on me besides SF II/MK.

 

Final Fantasy VII's first 4 hours in Midgar. Midgar itself was bigger and more epic then a lot of games by itself. They set up Shinra and the president as the main villains. By the time you are assaulting Midgar HQ it feels like it could be the climax of a regular game. Then out of now where the "main villain" is killed, someone else comes in and you leave the city to find an entire world to explore. Having never played rpgs seriously before this just blew me away.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Finally kicking Roper's ass in Battletoads/Double Dragon. I owned it for years for Genesis and played it the other day at my friend Dee's house on her SNES, and finally learned the trick to whipping EVERYBODY'S ass: jumpkicks as one of the Lee brothers. Do 'em constantly, maybe pick the guy up if you're close enough to toss 'em, and then more jumpkicks. Cheap and effective.

[Craig Th 0]

Beating Resident Evil 2 with my friends after playing it forever.

 

Finishing everything in classic mode in Tony Hawk 4 (first one I really got into).

 

Beating Croc for PS. (I loved this game for some reason)

 

Finally, when I was younger maybe 5, when Nintendo first came out, I got it for X-Mas. I had Atari at the time and I opened one of my gifts and it was a Nintendo game. So I say to my Mom "Mom, I have Atari not Nintendo. You got me the wrong game." Then about 5 minutes later, I open the big package and its a Nintendo. I flipped out and was sooo freakin happy.

[Kapoutman 0]

The first time I beat Ocarina of Time. That was for two reasons.

 

1) I love video games, but I suck at playing them. So my brother had already finished his game, while I was still only at the Water Temple. My girlfriend, who got the game a whole month after me, was about to catch up. So when I finally beat the game just before she did, I had a huge feeling of satisfaction. That's a bit stupid, but I still felt pretty good.

 

2) The ending to that game was just incredible. The big party scene in Hyrule Field with all the major characters was a lot of fun to watch, and just left me with a big smile.

 

The first reason also means that finishing The Wind Waker was also a lot of fun because it's the first Zelda game ever that I finished before my brother. Seeing Link bury his sword in Ganondorf's skull was also pretty cool.

 

Finally, the numerous nights and week-ends I lost playing multiplayer Goldeneye with my brother and my friends are the reason I am such a big multiplayer games fan. I keep buying a lot of games mainly for their multiplayer mode, but I don't think I have found one that quite captured the fun we had in Goldeneye.

[Narcoleptic Jumper 0]

The entire skyworm battle in Shadow of the Colossus, I think it was like #13 or something, the one where you have to ride your horse along side its fin as it drags through the sand kicking up this enormous amount of dust so you can barely see, and you're standing on top of your horse galloping at full speed with this huge bombastic epic score in the background, then you have to jump and you are dangling there by one arm and have to wrench yourself up. it was literally the most exciting gaming experience I've ever had.

 

another moment late in that game, was right before I was going to fight the final colossus, I was riding Agro to where I thought the boss was, and stopped along the way to climb a tree and get some fruit. when I came down from the tree, Agro was gone. I found him drinking from a nearby pool of water. I went up and petted him. Then got on him and rode to the Boss, absolutely having no idea what to expect of the final Colossus.

when Agro fell into that chasm, I felt like a hole had been ripped out of my stomach. and I felt desperate and alone and when I finally saw what I was up against, with that massive storm and the huge bombs, I felt like I was in the trenches in World War I. utter helplessness.

what a brilliant game.

[Eclipse 0]

Booting up the NES for the first time was an awesome time for me. I was 3, and I had fun playing every level of Super Mario Bros, and finally beating Bowser.

 

Another BIG TIME gaming moment was playing Super Mario World. I LOVE Super Mario 3, ALOT, but playing this game blew me away. It was my reason to get a Super Nintendo.

 

Another one of my favorite gaming moments was the first time I played Super Mario 64's demo at Toys R Us. The moment I picked up the controller, it flashed me back to the moment I played NES. What a revolutionary jump into the 3D world....

 

Playing and beating FF7 was great. Such a great storyline, and it was awesome to see Advent Children continue the story just a bit. FFX is another game. After Tidus gets his life changed forever, all he wanted to do is head back to Zanarkand, but at that moment, it was just a sacred land. FINALLY entering Zanarkand was AWESOME.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Chalk me up as another one who liked Super Mario World more than SMB3. Maybe because the SNES was the first console I ever really wanted (as a 4 year old, I didn't really know any better when I got a NES), so playing the game ended up having special meaning.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Opening my Sega Master System in 1988 on Christmas morning was a huge one for me. I wanted one sooooo bad.

[Guest bigsheep305]

My most recent one is from Zelda: Twilight Princess. Spoilers if you will:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you go through the door at the ancient ruined temple, and it starts playing the "Temple of Time" music from Ocarina of Time, my friend and I both had our jaws drop. Just one more awesome moment from Nintendo.

[Rob Anybody 0]

Ocarina of Time.

 

2) The ending to that game was just incredible. The big party scene in Hyrule Field with all the major characters was a lot of fun to watch, and just left me with a big smile.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

The entirety of Xenogears, really.

 

Cop out.

 

Try naming some.

 

 

Xenogears - The Beginning:

 

I actually wasn't expecting much. The beginning was kind of confusing with the giant robots and all, something I was not used to. But oh, was I in for a ride.

 

To be continued...

[AndrewTS 0]

The entirety of Xenogears, really.

 

Cop out.

 

Try naming some.

 

 

Xenogears - The Beginning:

 

I actually wasn't expecting much. The beginning was kind of confusing with the giant robots and all, something I was not used to. But oh, was I in for a ride.

 

To be continued...

 

What a compelling account that is.