Retro Gaming: What Consoles/Games did you own?

I’ve been really delving into retro gaming lately through through the use of emulation as well downloading old PC games off www.gog.com (Great Old Games)

It’s been fun going back and checking out on stuff I missed out on or even stuff I used to own that I haven’t played in years.

So I’m wondering what consoles you guys have owned or still own? And what games did you have or what games did you enjoy?

Even though thread title says consoles you can talk about your computer games as well. Anything you owned or played at home.

My first experience with gaming was through IBM PC DOS based games. My older brother had an Atari 2600 but I guess they sold it or junked it before I was born. I had so many computer games over the years I really can’t list them all here.

The first console system I owned was the NES. Of course I had the pack in Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt. Duck Hunt was an interesting pack in title but it got old fast.

Also owned Contra and Super Contra. Those were great. My brother and I would try to do perfect runs through the games without dying.

Had a baseball game called Bases Loaded which I think I got as a birthday gift. Funny since I think baseball is kind of a boring sport, but the game was fun. No licensed teams or characters, not that I would have known who they were anyway.

Also had a game called Spy Vs. Spy (another gift) which was based off the characters from the MAD Magazine (which I wasn’t familiar with). Fun multiplayer game but probably not something I’d revisit today.

Also had Ninja Turtles II which was based on the popular arcade game. This was a big deal at the time since it did a pretty good job of capturing the arcade experience at home. Except 2 player only.

Had a game called Wrath Of The Black Manta which was ok but not really that great. It was sort of like Shinobi or Ninja Gaiden but not as good as either of those. I remember it only having five or six levels which I thought was kind of disappointing. Might have to go revisit that one though.

Also had the original Final Fantasy which was pretty epic. I had to buy a strategy guide because the game was so massive. Huge accomplishment beating that game. Cool music and obviously it inspired a very long running series which continues to this day.

My favorite game that I actually owned was Crystalis. It’s an action RPG in the vein of Zelda but so much better IMHO. The story, gameplay, and music was incredible. It’s also one of my favorites because it’s sort of a hidden gem. Most people hadn’t really heard of the game or played it and it never got any sequels, shockingly. Sort of a forgotten game at this point which is a shame because it really is one of the best games of that era.

That was all I owned. But I would borrow games from my friends all the time so got to experience many other NES classics but I’m just going to talk about the ones I actually owned here. Although I borrowed some of those games for such a long time and my friends never asked for them back so I guess I sort of owned them. I gave them back eventually...

Later on I moved on to a Sega Genesis, which I’ll discuss in another post.

My original nes came with super Mario bros, duck hunt, and track and field with the little mat that you were supposed to run on.

Still have the super nes, GameCube, and 64, along with a couple newer consoles.

My favorite old school games:
Mario 64
Mario kart for super nes
Mario kart 64
Donkey kong country
spyro
Crash bandicoot (I love them all, but the first one really holds up for me...it's pretty tough!)
Dr. Mario

I had an Atari when I was younger too, but other than frogger and ET, I don't remember playing it that often.

I still have my GameCube as well! Such an underrated system. So many greats games. And I really love the design of the console. Its so unique. And the controller feels great.

It sounds like you also had a PlayStation 1 at some point? All three of the original Crash Bandicoot games were recently remastered and re-released on modern systems. If you have one of the modern consoles you might want to check that out.

I never owned an N64 but I spent a summer playing my brother's N64 when I'd go to visit. He only had Super Mario 64 and Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire but that was enough.

Some of my buddies in college also had N64s so we played a lot of Smash Bros. or I'd hang out in their dorm playing Zelda: Ocarina Of Time.

Another friend of mine had Mario Kart 64 and a fighting game called Mace: The Dark Age which was sorta like Soul Calibur, a weapon based fighting game.

After enjoying my NES for many years I eventually wanted to upgrade to a 16 bit console. Because that's what everyone did.

I was really interested in both the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis, but the latter was the one I bugged my parents for. I can't remember why exactly. Think maybe I was just tired of Mario games at that point, even though Super Mario World was very impressive.

I think I had played Sonic The Hedgehog at the department store and I was just blown away by the graphics and the sound. So that was my first Genesis purchase. I think it came packed in with a console but I don't remember for sure. I know they had a couple different SKUs.

Sonic, of course, is a classic. I still find the graphics, speed, and soundtrack impressive to this day. It is still something I often pick up and play. I no longer have my Genesis (or my NES) so I'm just playing via emulation now. Sonic The Hedgehog had a ton of secret areas and some huge levels to explore although I hated the water levels. If you didn't come up for air or grab an air bubble you could die very easily.

I only had two other games for my Genesis, although I did rent other games often from Blockbuster. One was Mortal Kombat 3. I think it was a gift from someone. Was not really a huge Mortal Kombat fan and preferred Street Fighter but I did play it quite a bit. Its a bit awkward with only a 3 button Genesis controller but I was able to pull off some moves and at least finish the single player game with a few different characters. Probably not the best version of the game by a long shot but I didn't go to the arcade often enough to really notice all the differences.

The third game I owned was X-Men. I was obsessed with the X-Men around that time. I was collecting loads of comics and I loved the animated series. So I begged my parents for the Genesis game. And it was almost everything I wanted.

The graphics and music really captured the 90s Jim Lee era X-Men very well. And the gameplay was solid although there were some quirks. You had four playable characters Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Gambit. All controlled differently and were useful in different situations. Although Nightcrawler was easily the most useful since you could skip through the whole level with him. They even included Wolverine's healing factor into the game which was a nice touch although you had to sit somewhere and wait a while for the health gauge to recharge.

They also had five assist characters Phoenix, Storm, Iceman, Archangel, and Rogue. Would have been nice to have been able to play as all of them but the game only had five levels. There was also a really weird part of the game which stumped me for a long time. The plot of the game is that you get stuck in the Danger Room which is the holographic training room for the X-Men. And to finish a particular level you are told that you need to reset the computer. What I didn't figure out for a long time was that you actually had to get up and hit the reset button on the console to do a soft reboot of the cartridge and advance past the stage! That was just the craziest thing but still a really cool idea for the developers to throw in there. I tried everything to get past that point and finally stumbled on the true solution out of desperation.

Eventually I sold off or gave away my NES and my Genesis and all the games. I was starting college and didn't think I'd play them much anymore. I never got an N64, PS1, or Sega Saturn and didn't pick up another console until maybe 2006.

I had a NES as a child. By the time the SNES came around, I had almost completely moved to PC (at the time, a 386SX), though I did read all about it in the German Nintendo fan magazine.

As an adult, I have mostly stuck to the PC, though my SO had a Wii for a few years. I have played several SNES games in emulation though, and I love Link to the Past and Super Metroid.

My favourite NES game has always been the underrated Faxanadu, which still holds up today. I want to whistle the tune even as I type this.

Here's every "hook it up to a TV" gaming console I have ever had:

Atari 2600
Odyssey 2
Atari 5200
NES
SNES
Playstation
PS2
PS3
XBOX 360
XBOX One

I've got pretty much all of them. I've been a life long PC and console gamer. Favorite games are The Secret of Monkey Island, Halo1&2, Final Fantasy, Fallout New Vegas, Mario 3, NBA Jam, it's a long list.

Friend of mine got the remastered bandicoots on PS4 and we plowed through all three. She would leave me voice mails while I was at work talkin' bout if I just come over for 15 minutes when I get off...just long enough to get this one gem.....

Interesting! didn't know anyone with an Odyssey 2 or an Atari 5200. What was your experience like with those systems? Do you still have any of the older consoles?

Why did you decide on Xbox1 over PS4? Seems like you had all the other Sony consoles.

Did you own either the Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast? I missed out on those consoles, I'm kind of interested in checking out their game libraries. Sega was really a great 1st party (and then later 3rd party) game developer. Almost on par with Nintendo even though they struggled financially, they have a great catalog of titles and IPs.

Have an import saturn, amazing system, so was the dreamcast, such a shame it went belly up.

What Saturn games would you recommend? Sounds like they got a lot more titles in Japan that never came out over here. I know a lot Saturn games are also available on PS1 but some like the Capcom fighting games are much better on Saturn.

the panzer dragoon games are a good start, I also recommend nights into dreams and die hard arcade.

zor they got wc3 4 on psn.
www.wcsaga.com is great total conversion.

Odyssey2
ColecoVision
Atari 2600 System
NES
SNES
N64
TurboGrafx 16
Genesis
Dreamcast
GameCube
PS
PS2
PS3
PS4 Pro
Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One S

Wow. How many of those do you still own?

Commander keen
dark forces
ultimate doom
king's quest
quest for glory
space quest
wing commander games
wolf 3d
complete xwing series
wolf spear of destin
through gog or steam

Odyssey2, no longer have it. No idea where it went
ColecoVision Stopped working about 20 years ago
Atari 2600 System Gave it away, I think
NES have here a home
SNES have here a home
N64 have here a home
TurboGrafx 16 at my mom's house
Genesis have here a home
Dreamcast have here a home
GameCube have here a home
PS have here a home
PS2 have here a home
PS3 have here a home
PS4 Pro have here a home
Xbox my sister has it, lives about 20 mins from me
Xbox 360 sister has it, lives about 20 mins from me
Xbox One S have here at home

Plan is to eventually set them all up in a display below a TV that I'll be mounting in my man cave when I get around to setting it up. No plan on actually connecting them all, just want them displayed. I'll probably set up an emulator, well emulators on a raspberry pi.

Original and Color Gameboys (teal - that was the only color Toys 'R' Us still had when we arrived, so both of us had the same color)

Radar Mission, which is really good
Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, which is . . . not
Football and hockey, played both of those a lot. The difference between football teams was the offensive playbook. The hockey game was wide-open programming where the fastest player skated five times faster than the slowest, any goalie could let the dumbest shot trickle through, and even the worst shooter could one-time a pass from outside the blue line for a cheap goal
6 Golden Coins, fun but probably one of the easier Marios
A Missile Command / Asteroids twofer
Pokemon RBY and I guess GS is headed toward retro territory by now
That dirt track truck racing game, I kept going past track 100 once just to see if there were an endgame condition

DOS/Win 95

I have yet to find a game as best-fun-ever as Magic Carpet
Descent
Might and Magic 6 and 7
a hockey game that actually had the licensing rights for players' names
the Stars! demo, Slay, Mother Of All Battles, Gemstorm, Sabacc, and a lot of other games on a compilation CD
heading back in time, Sokoban
3D Tetris
Wildcatter

those are the ones that stand out and whose names I can remember right off

The only console I ever had was one of those pong consoles back in the early eighties. I then went from a ZX Spectrum Plus 3 in the Eighties to an Atari ST in 1990, both of which were essentially consoles for most users. I then went on to PC in 1995 and have only every had PCs ever since. People I know find this strange, but I never saw the point in something that could only play games.

That said, I do have a first edition Gameboy knocking around somewhere.

Excluding computers themselves (which made up the bulk of my gaming in later years), these were my consoles (in chronological order of purchase):

NES - My first game system was a Christmas gift. The NES came with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, along with two controllers, and a light gun.
Favorite NES Games: Air Fortress, Tetris, Marble Madness, Silent Service, Star Voyager, T&C Surf Designs
Played: Constantly.

SNES - My second console was self-purchased when I was 16. It came with two controllers and the Killer Instinct kit, which included Killer Instinct, the Killer Kuts CD, and a Killer Instinct hat.
Favorite SNES Games: Killer Instinct (duh), Donkey Kong Country, Sunset Riders, Starfox, Pilotwings, Seaquest, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Played: Often.

Playstation - The Playstation console (the PS1) was the third console I owned. It came with one controller, and a demo disc.
Favorite PS1 Games: Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi, Metal Gear: Solid, Final Fantasy VII, Spyro The Dragon, Tony Hawk's Pro-Skater, Cool Boarders 3,
Played: Sometimes.

Playstation 2 - My PS2 came with one controller, and a demo disc.
Favorite PS2 Games: Metal Gear Solid 2, Need For Speed: Underground, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 & 4, Devil May Cry, Soul Calibur II
Played: Often.

Nintendo Gamecube - Just the system itself, and one controller.
Favorite Gamecube Games: Super Mario Sunshine, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer
Played: Rarely.

Xbox 360 - My Xbox 360 came with one wired controller, and no games.
Favorite Xbox 360 Games: Assassin's Creed, Ace Combat 6, Brutal Legend, Child of Eden, Sega Superstars Tennis, Forza Motorsport 4
Played: Rarely.

Xbox One - My XB1 came with a single controller, 500 GB HDD, headset, and the Halo Master Chief pack.
Favorite Xbox One Games: Doritos Crash Course, Need For Speed Rivals
Played: Exceedingly Rare.


I've also played N64s, Colecovisions, Ataris, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Virtual Boy, Game Gear, and Game Boy, but I didn't own them.

Including Computers:

Commodore 64 - Homerun Baseball, Strip Poker

Zenith 286 - Crystal Caves, Commander Keen 1-4, Secret Agent Man, Wolfenstein 3D, Arkanoid

Laser 386 - Epic Pinball, Spellcasting 301: Spring Break, Heart of China, Police Quest III, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Space Quest V, Stellar 7, A-10 Tank Killer

Skip a few systems...

Current System:

iMac 20" (early 2009) - An assload of visual novels, Game Dev Tycoon, VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action, and a few browser games.

Amaris was the worst wing commander pilot of all time along with Dayton just messing with you,

Dug out my dad's old odyssey 3 last week, trying to figure out how to fix the cable so it will run on my modern TV. Any thoughts?

I suggest going back to your home dimension or parallel reality of origin.

In our universe, no Odyssey 3 was ever released.

My mistake, It is an odyssey 300, this thing.

https://www.twingalaxies.com/tfried4048/wall/4150/magnavox-odyssey-300

This should work.

the 300 doesnt have an RCA cable, has some 2 pronged connector which is broken.

If that's the case, then you could probably do a 300 ohm twin lead to coax, then use a short coax cable to the antenna lead on the TV. Then set the TV to channel 3 or 4.

Chucky Egg, Roland On The Ropes, Bomb Jack, Dizzy, Rambo, Robocop...

All on tape, drinking a cup of tea whilst waiting to load and hearing the fax noises.

Ahhh, those were the days....