My Personal History of Gaming

In the Beginning...

At the age of around 3-4, I picked up Nintendo's Game boy for the first time ever and I was absolutely astounded by it. Even though it had no bright colours or flashy graphics, at the time it was revolutionary to me. The first game I ever played was Kirby's Dream Land (see below). It was a simple game, but that by no means meant I still couldn't enjoy it for years to come. Other Game Boy games included Super Mario Land, Tetris and Donkey Kong Land.

Kirby's Dream Land for Game Boy (1992)

Seeing the Bigger Picture

When I made the transition to console gaming, my tastes mostly remained the same. For a while I had just a SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), which played home to some of the greatest games ever made including Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario Kart. A few years down the line, I'd get my first taste of mature gaming on this console with the bloody Mortal Kombat series (see below). As great as all of the Nintendo mascots were, my focus would soon be driven to a faster atmosphere...

Midway's Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)

True Blue

When SEGA released the Mega Drive (Genesis in the USA), I was captivated by the one and only, Sonic the Hedgehog (see below). It has since become my favourite series of all-time. With it's bright graphics, excellently catchy music and addictive speed-orientated gameplay, it was just perfect. The sequels somehow managed to get even better, with bigger levels and more involving stories. Other games on the Mega Drive seemed to cater to a slightly older audience, with games such as Earthworm Jim and Zero Wing being highlights in the shooting genre.

The start of SEGA's rise to glory: Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

The Jump to 3D

After the days of the Mega-Drive, my family owned both the Nintendo 64 and SEGA Saturn. On my first play, I was instantly drawn in by the captivating 3D worlds and, like many others at the time, my gaming experiences would never be the same again. Since there weren't a great array of games available for the Saturn, most of my time was spent on the N64 playing the likes of Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, Paper Mario and Kirby 64. Then we got a Playstation.

My colour of choice for the N64: Clear Blue

Crashing the Party
With the launch of the Playstation, families around the world were amazed by the (slightly) crisper 3D graphics and library of amazing games such as Crash Bandicoot. With Mario 64, they gave Mario a voice to add a little more personality. With Crash, he had the movement, the facial expressions, and a voice to give him a perfect personality. The gameplay and environments were unique, the characters were amazing, this game had everything a kid my age could want.

Crash Bandicoot by Naughty Dog (1996)

Old-SchoolOver the years I shifted between each console, including the PS2, until the Nintendo Gamecube came along.  Here I went back and stayed with my childhood heroes like Mario and Sonic for a long while, right through to the Nintendo Wii's release. Since then, I've slightly drifted away from the Mario franchise but  my die-hard love for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise grew even more as time went by. Although most of the Sonic games released weren't up too scratch, it didn't put me off at all. I impatiently awaited each game's release, from the Gamecube to the Game Boy Advance and DS and the Wii. 

Sonic and the Secret Rings was a personal
favourite of mine.

Caving In
Eventually, when the Wii's catalogue of games started to run a little dry, I turned to the Xbox 360. Since, by the time I decided to buy one, the console had been in it's like for 3-4 years already it had a huge library of great games. Here, I got lured into games like Crackdown, Bioshock and Gears of War. Some of my usual taste in games had carried over from the PS2, such as Burnout and Grand Theft Auto. Luckily, Sonic games were also released for the 360 too, so I got my fix in that respect. I also remember playing over Xbox Live for the first time ever, and I remember it being an amazing experience. I'd never done anything like it, and now I use it like a second nature. It's funny what can change over only a few years, and what can stay the exact same.