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[Kai Dracon]

Mmkay, for a while some people have called games that had a very special feeling when first played a "near religious experience". So, what, historically, have been some of your ultimate games. The ones where you maybe even just knew something special was coming before you booted it up for the first time... the games where you open the case and go through the manual on the way home from the store.

These are the kinds of games that practically jade you to most others in their genres - spoiled for life.

For myself, in a vague chronological order:

The Revenge of Shinobi / Genesis
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past / SNES
Super Ghouls & Ghosts / SNES
Castlevania IV / SNES
Super Mario Kart / SNES
Final Fantasy III/VI / SNES
Chrono Trigger / SNES
Yoshi's Island / SNES

Battle Arena Toshinden (special case: Nick Rox Effect / Virgin 3D Overload, so lay off!) / PSOne
Ridge Racer / PSOne
Virtua Racing / Arcade
Darkstalkers / Arcade
Super Mario 64/ N64
Tekken 2 / PSOne
Street Fighter Alpha 2 / Arcade/Saturn
Final Fantasy VIII / PSOne
Final Fantasy Tactics / PSOne

PowerStone / Dreamcast
Soul Calibur / Dreamcast
Metropolis Street Racer / Dreamcast
Daytona 2001 / Dreamcast
Gran Turismo 3 / PS2
Super Smash Bros. Melee / GC
F-Zero GX / GC
Soul Calibur 2 / GC
Super Mario Sunshine / GC
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker / GC
Ninja Gaiden / Xbox
Project Gotham Racing 2 / Xbox
Wave Race: Blue Storm / GC
Resident Evil Remake / GC
Eternal Darkness / GC
Virtua Fighter 4: Evo / PS2
Panzer Dragoon Orta / Xbox
Mario Kart Double Dash / GC

 

[Shompola]

When I saw that awesome Halo 2 screenshot today or was it yesterday with the two pelicans etc.

 

[FortNinety]

Watching the Running Man boss scurry away in stage 4 of Rez.

 

[jarrod]

Y'know, I haven't really been 'wowed' this gen as much as last. Outside the initial DC stuff (Sonic Adventure & Soul Calibur mainly) nothing's really overly impressed me technically... it's just been stylistics wows (Ico, Rez, TWW, etc). Are we starting to hit a plateau?

 

[Saint Cornelius]

Watching the Running Man boss scurry away in stage 4 of Rez.

IAWTP - I was just going to say "Rez" in general, but what FortNinety said was much better.

 

[belgurdo]

Final Fantasy VIII

 

[Solid]

MGS1 & 2, FFVIII and Eternal Darkness are the first ones I think off.

 

[Justin Bailey]

The most recent one that comes to memory is Rez - Level 5. Before that it was climbing the tower in Metroid Prime to get the heat visor and then climbing back down in the darkness.

Also, sometimes when I'm sailing around in Wind Waker I like to look around and really listen to everything. It makes me feel like I'm actually sailing around the ocean (I'm from the beach so this hits a little closer to home for me than most people). This is not quite a religious experience, but it's still a nice, comfortable feeling.

 

[Vennt]

Grand Prix Legends demo in 1998

First attempt at a lap around Watkins Glen & then hitting a haybale and rolling the car several times... Still racing GPL 6 years later, and it's still very much the standard that PC racing sims physics engines are compared too. (and usually found wanting )

 

[bobbyconover]

Super Mario Bros 2 was a really memorable one for me. Here in Seattle, in the Northgate mall, we had a Nintendo-run kiosk that was set up in the middle of the mall. Probably because of the close proximity to Nintendo of America, and possibly for test-marketing reasons (a friend of mine was able to buy a Gameboy there something like 6 months before they came out. honest.), many games were released at the kiosk early. Even at that age I was crazy about following the new releases and getting them as soon as possible, so naturally I nagged the guys at the booth about the release of SMB2 constantly. The night it came in word spread like wildfire, and and hour or so later I showed up to pick up my copy. This must've been a good week or more before it came out.

Unfortunately my dad wanted to make the most out of our trip to the mall, so he decided to shop for shoes at Nordstrom on the way back to the car. I distinctly remember sitting there in the shoe department for what seemed like an eternity, flipping through the manual and reading about all the bizarre new characters like Birdo and Shyguy.

It was so thrilling being able to go to school the next day and tell all of my friends I had the game, none of whom believed me until I whipped out the manual!

Pretty much the same thing played out with SMB3 when it was released. A friend of mine (the guy who got the Gameboy early, actually) and I decided that we HAD to beat the game on the first night at all costs. Somewhere around 4 or 5 AM we got stuck, and had to resort to calling the Nintendo hint line. This was not uncommon at the time, because the number was local to us and was therefore free. In fact, before SMB3 came out, I used to call the number over and over again just to be put on hold so I could listen to the SMB3 level 1 map music, which used as the hold tune. Anyway, we called up the 24 hour hint line for help, and got one of the biggest thrills of our young gaming lives - we stumped the gameplay counselor, who admitted that neither he nor any of the other counselors on duty had gotten that far into the game yet! Hard core.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

It's funny how you can tell how old a person is by their 'religious experiences'.

 

[Saint Cornelius]

Well if you're going by that, DCB, my first religious experience at a little bagel place in Wisconsin called "Lox, Stocks and Bagels". My mom was a waitress there. During the days she couldn't afford a babysitter - which were quite a few - she would set the Space Invaders machine to free play and let me just bug out. THAT was religious.

Or beating the world record in "Gorf"

 

[shuri]

Rez was quite teh experience, indeed.
Reaching 350+ lines in free mode in Tetris GB when it came out. I was one with Tetris

 

[Ranger X]

Every Super Mario except Sunshine
Every Castlevania except the 3d ones
Every Ninja Gaiden except the one on Xbox
Yoshi's Island
FF6-7-9
DKC 1-2
All Metroid games
Jumping Flash
RE1 and remake
Doom
Metal Gear Solid 1-2-3
Maximo 1-2
Jak and Daxter 1-2
Grand Theft Auto 3 - VC - SA

prolly much more that i forget at the moment

 

[drohne]

the first time i beat thunderforce iv. which is a long, punishing, brilliant game. i was actually sweating and tensing up by the time i'd gotten to the last boss, and when he went down, the sheer physical sense of relief was overwhelming; it came over me in waves. i had nothing to compare it to at the time, but now i can say that it was very like a certain narcotic. i experienced something similar but less intense the first time i one credit cleared soukyugurentai. games shouldn't be able to do that. it's pretty crazy.

 

[Cherubae]

Xenogears The whole man/woman partnership was a kick to my all-men-suck feminist attitude.

 

[iapetus]

Hampton Court Mazemaster (ZX80)
Rocket Raid (BBC Micro)
Elite (BBC Micro)
Angband (PC)
Final Fantasy VII (PSX)

 

[SpoonyBard]

Shenmue 2: End of disc 3 / disc 4
Final Fantasy 8
First half of Chrono Cross
Bits of The Wind Waker, MGS 2, Metroid Prime, ICO, ZOE 2

 

[chaostrophy]

Playing The Legend of Zelda for the first time
The ending of Phantasy Star II
The transition from the World of Balance to the World of Ruin in Final Fantasy VI
Pretty much all of Panzer Dragoon Saga

 

[Forsete]

Seeing the MGS2 intro for the first time.

Walking outside the Green Sages hut for the first time in Jak and Daxter, seeing the whole world. Amazing.

Seeing the first GT3 screenshots (not GT2000), I remember a Subaru Rally Car was in one of the very first shots.

Seeing the FMVs in FFVII.

Playing the Wipeout demo on the PSX at a friends house for the first time.

Finally being able to play JetStrike on my first PC, a 486dx100. Excellent game.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

the first time i beat thunderforce iv

FUCK YEAH!! Oooh, I probably shouldn't cap that since I only ever beat the game with the 99 ships trick, though I did beat it a lot. I still knew that game was special the first time I played it on a demos setup in a Sam's Club.


I don't know if I'd call them "religious" experiences, but I've certainly had my share of special sessions. they don't even have to be good games, just a session where everything comes together and you never forget it.

Crusader: No Remorse and Planescape: Torment are two games that, during the period that I first played them, I seriously had no concept of time or night and day. It sounds strange to long after an episode where all you do is play, go straight to work, come straight home and play for days at a time. I don't remeber eating and I don't remember sleeping, but I do remeber the way the cubed glass seperating the offices shattered as I swept my submachine gun from side to side to catch stragglers.

System Shock 2. Hooh boy. I think I actually fell in love with Shodan. I don't know how the fuck I can even say that, but at the time, during which I may not have been sleeping, I just felt so dominated by Shodan that I had no recourse but to adore her. I have a thing for bad girls, I know.

Half-Life was one of the first games in which I just couldn't believe what I was playing. The things that were going on, and the shit I was seeing and doing just hadn't seemed possible in my concepts of electronic entertainment at that time. Dealing with the first giant claw worm was a stand-out point through all this.
Unbelieveable events like this still happen, but they are pretty damn rare. I had one just the other night with Katamari Damacy. Nothing special, just rolling down a hill into the town. But the realization of the game's scope, dressed up so with the depth-of-field, dropped my jaw and my brain insisted that this just shouldn't be possible right now. I wanted to turn my PS2 off and call it a liar.
Planetside is a certain religious experience, but it only works for a little while, and then you get sick of the game changing. But at first, you can get swept up very easily.

Music can be the key element that pulls me in. A game that I was already going to play until four a.m. might be the game that i end up playing every possible waking minute for a solid week if the music can pull me in just that little bit more. JSRF is a clear canidate for this, so much so that it was overall more effective the second time through. Morrowind is my favorite music example though, because I turned off the game music and only played while listening to "Karma" by Deleruim. The ambiance of the music not only fit the game, for me, but improved it, and now the game and the album are one in my memories.


EDIT: How could I forget Shenmue? The whole Dreamcast is a saint, for that matter. I put so much into my Shenmue experience, that my Euro copy of Shenmue 2 reamains unbeaten, because I'm so afraid I'll progress to quickly and reach the end without enough martial skill. I've been told this fear is false, but I can't do much about it for now. I hope I remember to finish it when I get back home.

EDIT 2: Valkyrie Profile. That game defined a whole summer for me. It's the only Japanese RPG I've ever played, and if it remains so, all the better.

PRE-EMPTIVE EDIT 3: Also, obviously, playing a good fighter with a good arcade stick, even in a practice mode, is literally what defines core gaming for me. My truely excellent versus sessions have been few and far in-between, but I assure you that I walked away with a boner. Maybe that's not religious, maybe that's some kinda sexual thing.
Rotating the stick silently wih thumb and forefinger before the match begins, sliding my fingers across the smooth, soft tension of convex buttons in preparation of an opening attack... yeah it's a fetish.


FINAL SCORE: I'm fucking gushing here. Look at this...

 

[evil ways]

Final Fantasy VII, PSX- I pre-ordered it and got a free PS Underground demo disc and a shirt, then I skipped the last 3 classes to go pick up my copy.

Wrestlemania 2000, N64- The first WWF wrestling game by AKI, I loved the engine ever since the WCW games, but was never a big fan of the WCW roster, plus this had cage match.

Legend of Zelda Link to the Past, Snes- I made a deal with my mother for her to put the game on lay-away and I would give her some money, which really was the money she gave me for lunch at school to pay it. It was hell cause the day we went to pick it up at the store, we got there about 20 minutes before they closed and I couldn't play it until the next afternoon cause it was late and I had school the next day.

Street Fighter II, Snes- Xmas present 1991, sat on a bag for weeks, then under the tree for days until I could play it. After playing it for hours I went to options and listened to all the theme songs and sounds.

Mortal Kombat II, Snes- Back then I was a bit uninformed as far as game releases and shipping dates, so I figured if all my magazines said Friday September 13th 1994, then the game would be there when I went to the mall at 9:00 am. I waited hours, browsing shelves, walking around the mall, running into my classmates who went there to eat lunch, until the game finally arrived at noon.

 

[iapetus]

How could I forget Shenmue?

I don't know, but if you ever work it out, could you let the rest of us know?

 

[djtiesto]

The first one would be the first time I played the original Phantasy Star... Then, it was hearing and seeing FF4 the first time, watching Cecil become a paladin. Then, it was Xenogears' storyline... finally, ICO's setting and graphics.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

ICO's final boss battle is the only one that merits to be here for me.

 

[slayn]

the onyl games I would consider "religious experiences" would be those I had dreams about.

namely zelda 1 and lemmings 2 the tribes. Those games so completely took over my mind as a kid that any time I was stuck I would literally dream the solutions/secrets in my sleep.

I couldn't fuckin figure out how to get into the dungeon under the lake in zelda 1. So what did I do? go to sleep. woke up. knew the solution.

did that a lot with lemmings 2 as well as perhaps a couple other games that I can't remember anymore.

 

[madara]

Oh boy, it all started thanks to a girl. Besides acting out Star Wars in her backyard she sometimes would take me downstairs and load up this thing called Colecovision. After playing Donkey Kong and Mousetrap I was hooked. Got some Gemini knock off for christmas.

But true experiences though didnt start until first zelda, from golden box to the long manual to a game that didnt repeat when I past 3 screens, I was blewn away.

Shortly after, well during zelda really was Super Mario Bros. What makes a game extra special is shared experiences you get out of it. I had so many friends come move to play that game since I got nintendo right when I came out I only wish I was on commission. Too many all nighters and great times with gaming started with that one.

Then a real RPG came along, called Dragon Warrior. I'd been following it for ages in magazines and craze with 3 of them already overseas. Finally I walked into Kohls one day and there it was, only to get a call from casual gamer friend saying he got it day before, thought it looked neat and was level 11 already! Well quite contest started with me winning of coarse but never to point of rushing and not enjoy such a prize. That started many dragon warrior parties at friends houses threw out years and sequels.
Castlevania 2 was extra special, my brother and I got it for christmas and really bonded over it. We loved how didnt take place all in castle and had more rpg many towns feel to it. We got lucky and got Bionic Commando on christmas eve from Ed Semrad at Toyrus one year and boy did we have alot fun with that too. Me throwing the controller against the wall and my brother finally having a game that I could not beat but he could.
There of coarse were many more, querky games me and my brother only liked, like Guardian Legends and Stinger, etc.

Then came greatest era of all. After seeing some mock shots in EGM about super famicom and word that first one was too successful here for it come over seas I started a mailing campaign. I spent over $300 in postage listing hundreds of reason why it should come over, being young back then I didnt realize what line of bull that was. But before it became public knowledge or was printed in magazines I got letter back from Nintendo comfirming that indeed it will come over shortly.
Then the most magical gaming experience of my life happened. I got into the Summer CES 91 for unveiling of Super Nintendo. All these amazing games, so many of them on huge screens! Actraiser, FF4, fzero, mario,joe&mac, ghouls N ghost, castlevania, etc all for first time! It was pleasure overload. As well as Sonic unveiling and other sega games.

Then it launched and I had scramble to land 3 of them on August 27th 1991, hitting more then 3 babbages as their was limit so all family and friends could get one. Mario ruled! Fzero Ruled! Final Fight was fun! Castlevania so ruled! Final Fantasy 4 was godly. Even my brother beat that game though it took him 117hrs logged and I made him rename his girl party members to proper names! Then I shocked my brother for christmas by importing Zelda that year. Watching that opening over and over with rain effects....speechless.
So many great snes memories I could only list fraction and this part would still be ten pages but Super Mario Kart has to top list, boy they tryed to duplicate it but that first snes one was such riot, that vs mode had all my friends in stitchs. Then there was game called Final Fantasy 6(well 3 us back then). How profound experience there was. That opening, that beautiful soul filled game, the series kind of ended with that one, it was about story not big budget wanna be films, it was about gameplay and glorious music. Even that one could not touch Super Metroid though as far getting people back into games. Once again my brother came out of uber athleticdome to play it, as well as few friends. I had alot fun watching them with my copy of the game and telling them how to jump walls after my personal experience was over. The import scene deserves a special nod, it was world of its own with rewards few got to experience. Nods to Madara 2, Twinbee, Nosferatu, DQs and their remakes, FF5,Big Shell Monsters, Go Go Ackman, and hundreds of other great titles, especially rpgs.

I did have alot nice Genesis experiences to, Landstalker being experience I give my two legs for to feel again.

Future gens past this I surely had alot more, FF7 was such an event even if was too commerical of an rpg. But I feel very sad for folks that grew up with psx era and beyond instead of my time. Eighties so rocked in so many ways, I was very lucky.

 

[jett]

Final Fantasy VI

Super Mario 64

Wave Race 64

Sonic Adventure

Those are probably the only games that made me think HOLY SHIT while I was playing them for the first time.

 

[Takuan]

Super Mario World
Diablo 2
Starcraft
Donkey Kong Country
MGS
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics

... there are more, I just can't remember.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Oh yeah Mario 64 - I played it for the first time at a kiosk in Sears when I was like 15 or 16. I played video games religiously as a kid but got out of it sometime in middle school. When I started running Mario around in circles collecting coins I was reminded of how much joy video games brought me as a child and I was sort of overrun with bliss - didn't last too long, maybe 30 seconds - but it was enough to get me back into gaming again. I owe a lot to that game.

 

[Razoric]

The Legend of Zelda
Super Mario World
Castlevania 4
Super Metroid
Super Mario Kart
Street Fighter 2
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2
Final Fantasy II (4)
Final Fantasy III (6)
Chrono Trigger
Killer Instinct
Resident Evil
Final Fantasy VII
Metal Gear Solid
Quake
Starcraft
Ultima Online
Counter Strike
Warcraft 3
Grand Theft Auto 3
World of Warcraft - Stress Test

 

[DSN2K]

Mario 64! remember looking at it and just being amazed at everything, from the graphics to way Mario moved on the screen.

special moment for me.

 

[Ollie Pooch]

well not quite religious but the main one i can remember is when i first played metroid prime - when i took the first elevator to chozo ruins.. OHHH so good

probably super mario world as well - the weird geometric shaped hills in the backgrounds of the levels, and the music from vanilla dome. i sometimes wish i could get that feeling back again !

 

[chocoholic]

Metal Gear Solid 1
Metal Gear Solid 2
Tales Of Symphonia

 

[Koshiro]

Panzer Dragoon Saga over and over and over again.

Also Rez (stage 5, beautiful visual design + superb beats from Adam Freeland = awesome), Streets of Rage 1 and 2, Shenmue 1 and 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog on Megadrive.

Only a select few truely fall under this category for me, and admitedly they're all Sega games. But when Sega games were good, they were absolutely awesome.

 

[FortNinety]

I also have the add the final boss in Panzer Dragoon Saga, as well as Thunder Force 4, and even Radiant Silvergun.

I also recall the feeling I got when I reached the sixth or seventh saucer in Xevious as a little kid in the arcade. I was like six at the time and it was the furthest I ever went; my hands were totally shaking.

Plus there was finally beating Wily's final form in Mega Man 2.

 

[Scrow]

The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time immediately comes to mind.

 

[Lakitu]

Resident Evil 2 (PSX) - It may not be that popular amongst your lists but damn that game was an experience, still my favourite Resident Evil to date, it gets immense, especially when you're in the underground lab and the alarm goes off playing with that awesome music.

Devil May Cry (PS2) - Remember playing that for the first time, "holy shit" was the first thought in my mind. Probably one of my fave action titles this gen. God I loved the Nelo Angelo fights, I sure as hell hope DMC retains those kind of fights.

Tekken 3 (PSX) - Looking to buy it again actually, I was anticipating this baby as soon as Tekken 2 came out, and when it was announced. I remember getting the game and playing non-stop, still an amazing experience even now.

Street Fighter 2 Turbo (SNES) - Oh yes, one of the best fighters of all time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - Obviously, still remember going into Hyrule Field for the first time, I was awestruck.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC) - Well, bits of it, still a great game, I really loved the exploration, really felt like you were on an adventure, the see had all these locations and secrets.

Super Mario 64 (N64) - Probably popular for others aswell, wow, I remember playing it for the first time, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, what followed, to me... is one of the best games of all time. I sure hope they retain the same feeling with Super Mario 128 since Shigsy is directing it.

Metal Gear Solid (PSX) - I bought it on the day of the released, and I was stunned, great/powerful cinematics, great gameplay, great story, mind-blowing game.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2) - Another amazing experience from Kojima, awesome to me, even though the story wasn't the best.

GoldenEye 007 (N64) - Another classic, great single-player and lovely multi-player, I actually still try to play it whenever I can.

Halo: Combat Evolved (XBOX) - One of my favourite games ever, no doubt it's a worthy mention on my list, all of the campaign was and still is so amazing, it really felt like you were part of a war. The multi-player is just as superb. Bring on Halo 2!

Max Payne (XBOX) - This one came out of nowhere, I seriously fucking loved this game, it really felt like a noir thriller, you could sense the pain Max Payne was feeling (get it? pain, payne? huhuhu!!) and to top it all off, the music rocked Still have to play the sequel though.

Rez (PS2) - 'Nuff said.

Ridge Racer Type 4 (PSX) - My favourite arcade racer of all time.

Super Mario Kart (SNES) - Remember playing that game, non-stop, day after day, wow!

Mario Kart 64 (N64) - Great multi-player, brilliant game, played it like a crack whore all the time.

Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - Same as above.

That's all for now but I'm very sure there are more, I'm lazy so I won't put em yet.

 

[sasimirobot]

Mario 64

 

[Gek54]

MGS1
Conker's Bad FurDay
Gran Turismo 1 and 3
Colin McRae Rally 1,2 and 4
Richard Burns Rally
Halo
REZ

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Probably when I opened the package for Final Fantasy 1 and got that rush of "New game smell" then took a look at the huge instruction manual.

 

[bjork]

I don't know if it counts but when I played through Klonoa and saw that

Spoiler

Huepow did the biggest heel turn in the history of history

, I wished for the wrath of the heavens to be unleashed on whoever came up with that plot sequence.

 

[way more]

Playing Deus Ex in Hells Kitchen. I thought "this is the future of video games and all of entertainment." And then the industry did nothing inventive since then.

 

[Prospero]

Final boss of Bard's Tale 1
Any time I spent playing The Sentry
Final boss of Wolfenstein 3-D episode 3
Final boss of Ocarina of Time
Final boss of Final Fantasy X