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Ever go back to a particular game, one that brings back memories of losing your virginity to gaming or a title that just has defining moments in your gaming history? A heart-touching or addictive title that sticks with you, even beyond the advancements in high definition visuals, cinematics, animations and gameplay? For some of our community members, some of these first loves include Super Mario Bros., Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Mega Man II.

While I’ll agree with many on how Super Mario Bros. w/ DuckHunt was probably the first ever game to become a life experience, it wasn’t the most definitive. On the Nintendo NES alone, I had a decent collection of titles, ranging from Castlevania, Double Dragon, and Contra to Rescue Rangers and Capcom’s Yo! Noid (Dominos character video-game). However, none of these games brought me back to gaming after a year or two of use. The day the original PSone and Blizzard’s StarCraft came into my life, was the day I learned a true taste for gaming.

The original PlayStation console was a gift Christmas of 1997 along with three major titles, Final Fantasy VII, Tekken 2, and Crash Bandicoot. As I’d probably be agreeing with many RPG fans out there, Final Fantasy VII was a very impactful game, not only because of the enthralling storyline and unique characters but the summon cinematics and hand-drawn art are spectacular. From the franchise, Square Enix has been able to make a full length CGI movie, Advent Children, and several other Final Fantasy VII offshoots, further continuing parts of the storyline.

Everyone knows the excitement surrounding Square Enix’s 2005 E3 Final Fantasy VII PlayStation 3 tech demo. The very thought of a remake has hyped Square Enix both the company and with recent titles such as Final Fantasy XIII, more specifically Versus XIII.

As for StarCraft. Those who have played through the campaign, and have made your own full side campaign with Blizzard’s map editor, unique with fully animated cut-scenes, animated text w/colors, triggers, AI, location maps, and dialog than you know what I’m talking about. I’ve even put many hours into the N64 version, as it provided split-screen co-op and the ability to select more than eight units at a time. However, the N64 version lags horribly for those wanting to try it. Very hard antique to find in game stores.

Bringing us into the future, out of many of the amazing games that have come in over recent years, my likings have geared towards Civilization V, replacing StarCraft 2, for now. Also, past memorable titles that have played an impact leading up to modern today include Conkers Bad Fur Day on the N64, Odin Sphere on the PS2, Rainbow Six series (mainly Black Arrow on the Xbox), Halo series (mainly Halo 2), and EA/DICE are touting something quite impressive lately, Battlefield 3.

According to some of our members the Mass Effect series, Uncharted series, and Heavy Rain have been most impressive providing influential and impressive moments.

“Zelda OoT since it was the most memorable adventure and showed how big games can be with story, exploration, and combat.” – One Shot

“It’s hard for me to pick one current gen game that impressed me the most. Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, the original BioShock, Portal, and Batman: Arkham Asylum are all experiences that I’ll likely never forget.” – WonsAuto

“Mega Man 3. Picked up an NES controller when I was 4 and never looked back. I think Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt deserves an honorable mention since just about everyone and their dog had one of those.” – Jinkanator

“The game that made me a gamer was God of War. Game was unbelievable and blew me away. God of War 2 was my first pre-order game in my entire life and that was all because of the first God of War. That’s the game that comes to my mind when I think about me becoming a gamer. Might have been Grand Theft Auto 3.” SonyJunkie

“As for this gen, it’s a hard choice between heavy rain and Valkyria Chronicles both for their originality and story telling” – xero135

“My favorite games this generation would be like NIER and Demon’s Souls. The ones that really impressed me as technical achievements are Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, and Red Dead Redemption.” – +silent55