The Bait That Got You Hooked

Every gamer didn't start out a gamer. They got hooked to gaming by finding that game that put them on the road to digital bliss. It's the games that hooked us that we treat with the most nostalgia and feel like a kid again just by watching the intro sequence.

In a semi chronological / random order here's my top 10 game influences.

1.
King's Quest (PC) - KQ started it for me as a wee little lad no older than 10. There you are looking at this little pixelated chap wearing a Robin Hood cap waiting to do your every whim. Admittedly the best draw to a kid under ten for a game like King's Quest would be the chat command. You could spend all afternoon on that thing trying to insult your siblings or giggling when you type any command related to boogers. The other draw would naturally be the one part in the game (KQ 2 maybe?) where you throw the horse bridal on the snake and it turns into a bloody pegasus. That's mind blowing for a kid.

2.
Jill of the Jungle (PC) - Most people wouldn't know this one if I mentioned it. It was a shareware game that I played a few years after KQ. This is essentially my platforming equivalent to Mario Bros. It had three games of varying difficulty and had some pretty good puzzles in it as well. Plus of course you had flying knives, rebounding throwing stars, and the ability to turn into a phoenix. I loved every minute of it.

3.
Duke Nukem 3D (PC) - This was really my first serious introduction to FPS and PvP. I played it over LAN with the local kids on my street. In the beginning of course I stuck with the default weapon (pistol) because that's what worked in solo play. Suffice to say I didn't do well against people who knew what an RPG was. Over time we had some fun rounds of Hide-N-Seek and Try-To-Gun-Down-The-Dingus-With-The-Jetpack. We played many rounds of the latter. Some of my best gaming memories stem from moments in this game such as using the Shrink Ray to stomp the other player or trying to have jousting sessions with each other.

4.
Tie Fighter (PC) - Tie Fighter to me is quite possibly the best aviation simulator I have ever played. Not only do you fulfill your lifelong dream of being a pilot for The Empire but you get the coolest training missions. A tube filled with all sorts of obstacles to shoot and dodge while still trying to beat the clock? It's heaven. Of course the nifty thing about dogfighting in space is the lack of ground to smash into. In your face, physics.

5.
Starcraft (PC) - The same people I played in Duke Nukem I also played against in Starcraft. We would play for hours trying to whoop each other. The larger scaled fights were even better. Naturally like the goobers we were most fights ended up with people making bunker lines 3-4 bunkers thick in a manner of turtling to victory. Eventually I got a little tired of this inaction and decided to take matters into my own hands. I set up my three bases to crank out as many Mutalisks as I could possibly afford. I got about 3-4 groups (36-48 units) and sent them into battle. The sight of a Mutalisk swarm big enough to blot out your screen resulted in the most girlish scream from a boy I had ever heard. Of course after they wised up to my Mutalisk swarm they overcompensated air defense in the next match while I swarmed them with Ultralisks and Zerglings. Good times.

6.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - If you have followed my history up to now you will notice a trend. Every game up to now was for the PC. It was Zelda and Final Fantasy 7 that got me into console gaming. At this point I'm around 13 years of age with absolutely no critical thinking skills (I am edumacated good). The result of said judgment was struggling for three hours in the Great Deku Tree (first and easiest dungeon) wondering how the hell to get past the spider web on the floor so I could gain access to the basement levels. The idea of jumping from a high ledge to cut said web or bringing out a stick to set fire to said web was a completely foreign concept. This of course also hallmarks the dependency on gaming guides from the local bookstore. Later on I received redemption after beating Master Quest (OOC hard mode) and Twilight Princess with no dungeon guide aid. Sure I may have needed it outside the dungeons but give me a break, Skulltula and Poe hunting sucked.

On another note, I spent many months avoiding progressing in the game because the Shadow Temple scared me stiff. What? Dry-humping zombies, giant grab hands, skinless octopus handed things trying to eat you, and blood soaked walls are scary for a 13 year old right? Shut up, I got scared watching Jurassic Park, but I'm okay with that now.

7.
Chrono Cross (PS1) - I fell in love with Chrono Cross from the get go. The music from starting up the game was the wonderful thing I had heard in a video game. As for the game itself, I loved it for several reasons. (1) There were tons of people to put in my group. I like having such a large diversity of characters that could also have synergy (2 man special moves based on characters). (2) I loved the humor in it. A walking voodoo doll? Inept guards? Social awkwardness? It was great. (3) There was no level. In a typical RPG you will have your characters gain levels via experience bars and whatnot. In this game there were no experience bars. People simply gained stats. I loved that aspect. (4) The art was simply beautiful. The watercolored zones were a treat to play.

8.
Half-Life/Counterstrike (PC) - Round up the kiddies, it's time to go to town. I got to play this with a bunch of schoolmates during the high school years. The multiplayer matches were great. There was this one fellow who could top the charts using nothing but shotgun headshots. Even better was when he did nothing but fight with the crowbar. I myself go to have a little fun playing sniper and regular meat-shield. In one team match I was the only one standing on my side. Sure I lost, but I took a few down with me.

9.
Devil May Cry (PS2) - DMC got me into the newer age of platformers. It had good style and some pretty fun levels. It had a lava spider of course. You really can't go wrong with a game that lets you fight a lava spider. Now if you recall from earlier in the Zelda section I mentioned that I was easily spooked. DMC brought that back into the mix. From that first twitching puppet monster to the dark hallways there was plenty of opportunity to get spooked. The underwater levels were pretty good in the scare department as well. Over time I got to like the spookings and even got a kick out of the third installment of the series. Against my better judgment I replayed DMC2 several times over, but let's pretend that never happened.

10.
World of Warcraft (PC) - What can I say? Any game that got me to play for 3-odd years has got to be of some importance. WoW showed me some interesting tidbits of the human psyche and gave me a better scope of how large scale a multiplayer game could be. I led guilds and followed them. I saw and did a great many things that is similar, yet different from another player who played. I like how each player's gameplay is somewhat unique to themselves due to the open-ended style of the game. For me of course I became interested in the game's official forums. They rather remind me of a car wreck that you just can't take your eyes off of. I pity to poor soul who gets trapped in it's alluring web.