Lola’s Ramblings is a feature on my blog Lola’s Reviews where I ramble on about a book related or a non-book related topic. These are discussion type of posts where I talk about a topic and readers can weigh in on the topic in the comments. Usually these posts are everything that doesn’t fall under any standard header, like tours, cover reveals, memes, challenges, recaps or reviews. Lola’s Ramblings posts are discussions of a certain topic and my point of view on them. The banner for this feature is designed by Michelle from Limabean Designs.
A while ago I got interviewed on Daniela Ark her blog and mentioned I was a gamer. A few people said they would be interested in reading some gaming related posts by me, so I decided to talk about gaming for today’s Lola’s Ramblings post and see how it goes. I always have been an avid gamer, some times I play more games than others, but it’s always been part of my life.
As a kid we got a gameboy and then the late upgrades/ versions and a Nintento 64, those were our first consoles. I always was a console gamer growing up, even though nowadays I more of a computer gamer. For today’s post I want to talk about games that give me that nostalgic feeling, so all of those games will be console games. Today’s topic came to mind as my boyfriend and I recently talked about nostalgic games and as he always have been a computer gamer, we differ in which games make us feel nostalgic. For the list I came up with 10 games I remember fondly and played a lot as a kid. There’s no order and I just wrote down the first 10 games to come to mind. I tried to limit myself to games that I played when I was younger as those have the strongest nostalgia feeling attached to them. When we were little our english wasn’t as good and many games were and still are in english. So sometimes playing games could be troubling when you didn’t understood all the instructions or dialogue, many games we eventually gave up on, but we also had some we really enjoyed and over the years our english got better and it became easier to play those game.
Ten Games that Make me Feel Nostalgic
- Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts is a combination of Final Fantasy and Disney with a great storyline, an awesome world to discover and great characters.
Almost every list I make of games is probably going to include Kingdom Hearts one way or another. When we finally got a playstation Kingdom Hearts was one of the first games we got for it. I had seen ads on the tv channel we often watched and it just looked amazing. I had to have this game. The other game we got was a multiplayer Dragon Ball Z game, which was fun, but Kingdom Hearts is the one I remember most fondly. It’s probably the game I spend the most hours in. I replayed this game a lot, actually managed to finish the game and then start anew with another difficulty or just for fun. I love Kingdom Hearts, it’s a game that always will be one I remember fondly. The story and gameplay hooked me and I spent lots of hours playing this game. Even when I wad older I played this one a lot and I even got Kingdom Hearts 2 and some gameboy games of the franchise, I even lend someone’s PSP so I could play one fo the games, which was actually better than the two for the DS. But I prefer the first two games for the playstation as those are the best. - Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy games are story rich games set in a graphically appealing fantasy world.
Yes I am cheating here and listing Final Fantasy as one game. After we got the playstation we eventually got FF10 for it and my sister and I both really enjoyed that game. After that I eventually got FF10-2, FF12, FF13 and FF13-2. FF13 being the only game of those that I actually finished and is one of my favorites, but I enjoyed them all. With FF10 my sister got very close to finishing the game and FF10-2 and FF13-2 I almost finished the game. I eventually spoiled the ending of FF10-2 for myself as I had to know what happened. There’s just something about the rich fantasy world and the characters and their relationships that makes these games awesome. And nowadays most the of the Final Fantasy games have been adapted for the computer, so I hope to catch up one day and play many more of them. - Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. Banjo Kazooie is a collect-a-ton game with a to-the-point storyline, but where the focus is on discovering the levels and collecting things.
Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie are two of the most nostalgic games I can think of, my sister and I put hours of time in those games. And they were a lot of fun. We never got as far with Banjo Kazooie, until we lend the game to my cousin who was older and finished the game, so he unlocked all the levels and we ran around in his save game exploring all the levels instead. Banjo Kazooie is a collect-a-ton which means the whole goal of the game is collecting things, you can collect jigsaw pieces, music notes, Jinjo’s, feathers, eggs, golden feathers and skulls. And probably more, for everything you need in the game you need a certain amount of something, x amount of jigsaw pieces unlocks the next level. Skulls you can give Mumbo Jumbo who then changes you into something else which means you probably get to a few places you couldn’t before. When I was older I actually replayed Banjo kazooie and it was a lot easier then and I actually got to the boss, but didn’t actually manage to beat it. I did finish Banjo Tooie as a kid, as we were older by then and games as easier when you understand more of them. Banjo kazooie is a solid sequel. Both games had a multiplayer mode which my sister and I really enjoyed as well. Soon two spiritual successors of Banjo Kazooie will be releases, A Hat in Time and Yooka Laylee. And I am really exited for both of them as hopefully they will remind me of Banjo Kazooie while still being different as well. - Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet and Clank is an addictive shooter, where the plot falls to the sidelines in favor of great gameplay and weird weapons.
Ratchet and Clank is one of the earlier games I got for the playstation 2 as well. I always enjoyed ratchet and Clank and even got some of the newer games a few years ago. Ratchet and Clank is low on story with the focus on shooting things. It’s cartoonish and you have the weirdest weapons. It’s a lot of fun, a tad weird and great for if you need to let loose some aggression or frustrated feelings. There is some technique in the game and besides the shooting things down, there are also other things you have do like advancing through the level, some games give you special minigames like racing or boots or other gadgets you need for certain era’s. It’s just an all around great game that i enjoyed playing. - Super Smash Bros. Super Smash Bros is a multiplayer fighting game with characters from well known other games.
Super Smash Bros is a game we played so much as kids. It’s one of the good multiplayer games we had and my sister and I played it together a lot. It might seem repetitive as all you do is fight each other basically, but with different characters or in different worlds, but it’s a lot of fun. There are also some challenges and one player mode game modus, but we mostly played the multiplayer mode. - Pokémon. Do I never need to explain this one? Pokémon is a collection of tv series, games and lots of other merchandise focused around a world that’s inhabited with cute creatures called Pokémon that Pokémon trainers can catch and train to battle other Pokémon.
Once my sister and I discovered Pokémon we immediately feel in love with it. We had everything from Pokémon games on our gameboys, to Pokémon Stadion for the Nintendo or Gameqube, to Pokémon stuffed animals, figures and pokémon cards. Yes we were big pokémon fans and the Pokémon games for the gameboys and Pokémon Stadium for the Ninento are always games I remember fondly. I even bought one of the later Pokémon games for the DS and it was just so nostalgic and fun to play. - Dark Chronicle. Dark Chronicle is a safe-the-world type of dungeon crawling game with lots of grinding, but with an amazing storyline, building system and a weapon crafting system for your characters.
This game is so much fun, it’s singleplayer so my sister and I divided our time, first one of us would play and then the other. Dark Chronicle tells the story of a boy and girl. The boy lives in the current time and the girl comes from the future, they have to change the current day situation to make changes in the future. It has a great story and in between the story you do a lot of grinding, killing monsters and running through dungeon level after dungeon level. It could get a bit repetitive, but even the grinding is fun, so it never bothered us too much. In every section you have an X amount of levels to go through and after a few levels you get pieces of equipment you can use to build a small city for example and then go to the future and see what changes there. It’s such a good game, but I rarely hear from other people who know this one. It’s always have been one of my favorite games. - Jet Force Gemini. Jet Force Gemini is a third person shooter with an almost sci-fi feeling and a multiplayer game option.
To be honest I remember very little fo the single player storyline, my sister and I got this game from my cousin when he did his Nintendo 64 away. I don’t think we really understood much from the single player mode, but we loved the multiplayer part of the game. It’s a shooter game where you play a boy or a girl or my personal favorite a giant blue ant. I don’t even remember the storyline of this game, but we really enjoyed playing this game. - Super Mario 64. Super Mario 64 is a game where you make your ways through different levels and in the end try and save princess peach.
Super Mario 64 probably would fit the term collect-a-thon as well, you make your ways through multiple levels and in each level you can find stars, I think it was 7 stars in each world or level. You need x amount of stars to unlock doors and after those doors you usually find new levels. The game takes place in a castle where the evil guy Bowser has captured Princess Peach and you have to work your way through the levels to save her. - Mario Party. Mario Party is a party game with a board game and mini games using Mario characters.
Mario Party always was one of our favorite multiplayer games, we used to play this with the of us, my sister and I and often even with my mom as well. You play some sort of board game in the game and after 20 rounds the person with the most stars wins. Each game takes about an hour as every round you move your characters over the board and at the end of each round you play a mini game. There are also some minigames you can play without playing a full board game modes. We have bought most of the earlier Mario Party games, I think we owned Mario Party 1-5 at some point. And I always enjoyed these games and remember fondly evenings or weekends/ Christmas days spent playing this game with my sister and mom.
Wow, I feel so old!
English is my second language too, our thing back then was watching a lot of Sesame Street and cartoons. The games we used to play didn’t have dialogue so no go there lol
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Nowadays my english is so much better than when I was little. It was really difficult sometimes to play english games when you don’t know enough of the language.
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I remember getting the original Nintendo for Christmas when it came out, and driving my uncle crazy playing Duck Hunt. The dog’s laugh got irritating after awhile. lol. Donkey Kong country is one that makes me feel nostalgic too. I played that in high school and remember staying up all night playing it. I got so pissed because it took me forever to get past one of the ice levels. This was before we could just look up on the internet how to beat levels.
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We had a nintendo 64 and we played a lot of Mario on that. I don’t think I have every Played Donkey Kong Country. And yes I remember that time were I didn’t even knew you could look up how to get past a level on the internet, the internet sure has made that easier. It could be so frustrating when you were stuck in a level and didn’t know how to get through it.
I’m more of a computer gamer than a console gamer too, but we did have a Nintendo growing up and Super Mario was a big deal. 🙂 I’ve heard of Kingdom Hearts but never played it… and Pokemon, I never played that either. I tended towards the RPG style games and there was a time when I gamed all the time but not so much anymore. I love Bioware’s stuff… I’ve played a few MMO’s, mostly LOTRO and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
This is a great topic.
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We had a Nintendo 64, a Gameqube and gameboys. And Super Mario was one of our first and favorite games for the Nintendo, it was so much fun! Kingdom Hearts is an RPG I think. I also don’t play as much games as I used, but I do try to find some time to game now and then. I haven’t played many MMO’s, so I haven’t played those games, but they do all sound familiar.
I’m not a gamer, but I do remember playing some video games when I was younger because my brother had a system. Thanks for sharing though! I like to see what bloggers enjoy beyond reading or blogging. Did you ever see the movie Ratchet and Clank? I didn’t realize it was based on a video game…
-Lauren
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Glad to hear you enjoyed the post :). I never realized they had made a movie from Ratchet and Clank, now I am curious about that and will have to look it up.
Final Fantasy FOREVER!!! The first time I ever played it I rented the game from Blockbuster and played it on my Nintendo for about 983984338 hours straight. LOVED that game. Would love to play it again. Mario 1,2,& 3 will always bring me back to my childhood bedroom and playing it with my neighbors. Also there was a game called Maniac Mansion that I was obsessed with… AND Dr. Mario, and Kirby.
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Which Final Fantasy game did you play? Final Fantasy really is great and I’ve enjoyed the ones that I played. And Mario will always be nostalgic, i also had a Mario game on the gameboy, but I never got as far. I think Super Mario 64 was the one we had for the Nintendo which we played a lot. Oh and Kirby! We had some Kirby games too, they were great!
I’ve never been much of a gamer but I did love Super Mario. And although I didn’t play most of these, I recognise all the names as most of my friends were obsessed with their consoles.
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The Mario games were always good ones! And that’s fun you at least recognize most of these games by name 🙂
Neat topic! My first games were the old hand helds, Ataari, and video arcades for Pong, Pacman and Donkey Kong. But that was just once in a while. It was only later when I was college age that I actually played games seriously though still not very often. I was like you and started playing with a console before finally trying games on the PC. We had the old Nintendo and played Super Mario, 1942, Baseball, and a car race one. On the PC, I enjoy mystery themed games like Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie while my husband does World of Warcraft.
Your fantasy game on the list sounds fun. I love that sort of world so I will have to look for it.
Glad to hear you also played Super Mario. I don’t think I have ever played a mystery game like those before, but they do sound fun! The Final Fantasy games have an amazingly build world and it’s awesome to just run around in there and discover it all.
I’m not a gamer, my daughter loves playing all the games though. I think one of the only games I remember playing back when I was a kid as Pac Man. Yes, I’m old. LOL There used to be arcades in the Pizza places that I went to with my family and my mom would give my brother and I a few dollars to go play the games.
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I’ve also played Pac man, but I found the game pretty difficult as a kid. We often elt my mom play and we watched. It’s a great game too. I don’t think I’ve ever went to an arcade like that, but it sounds fun!
I’ve never played any of these, but I did have one of the original Nintendo systems growing up, so that was what I played. (Well, I was always more of a computer gamer, I guess, since I started playing The Sims when I was maybe 9, but I digress.) I had the Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt games lol. I also had a bunch of really random games that were never big or popular. My favorite was this game called Deja Vu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GojaxH3Se7A) in which you wake up but don’t know who or where you are and then you have to search around and figure things out. I got so close to beating it once, I think, but then I got stuck literally because I couldn’t figure out how to pay the cab driver -_- Like, you had limited options to click things or whatever, and none of them were working to give him the money. It was fun though because you had to do a lot of thinking, and I liked that.
I also used to have this handheld… idk what it was called. It was old, not the Gameboy. Like a Sega or something. But anyway, I had this Sonic game and this Lion King game that I played. So those are all the games that make me feel nostalgic.
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I never had any handheld older than the gameboy. I have played a few sonic games on the gameboy, I loved those games. And they were easy enough to understand the concept, but still challenging as well.
Growing up we had an computer and we had a few games like Charlie the Duck (it was a dutch game, so not sure if it was translated or not) and a few other games. But mostly we played on consoles.
That deja vu game sounds fun, but it’s frustrating when you get stuck and can’t figure out how to get past it. I always google things like that nowadays when i really can’t figure it out.
Erm yeah I’ve never played (or heard of some of them). lol I wasn’t much of a gamer. We didn’t have a lot of electronic stuff when I was growing up. It was out there just not at our house. It is fun to look back on things though:)
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Glad to hear you have heard of a few of these at least. As soon as my sister and I heard of the gameboy and nintendo we kept asking my mom for one. I always enjoyed gaming 🙂
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Lol, games that make me feel nostalgic are Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Brothers 2, and Contra. We had an old Nintendo that had the cartridges and we had to blow the dust out of them to make them work. HI! I’M OLD!!
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I’ve played one or two Zelda games. I had one for the gameboy were you had to change the seasons, but I didn’t know english well enough to understand the clues. It really was difficult. I remember this part were you had to follow someone without being seen and I had no clue what without being seen meant. Needless to say I needed a walkthrough to get through that part, lol.
We did that with our Nintendo 64 sometimes too blow the dust out of the cartridges. I don’t think I played Super Mario brothers, but I did play a few Mario games, they were great!
oh this is a great list you have here!!! Super Mario is a big one for me.
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The Mario games were always good!
I’m going to show my age here, but I had an Atari when I was a kid. I remember Frogger, Pacman, Space Invaders, Pole Position and others. Then later, I did upgrade to the original Nintendo, but I only ever had Super Mario Brothers (the original) and Duck Hunt. I’m pretty horrible at games today. I don’t put forth the effort into getting better.
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I’ve never had an Atari, but we did have Pacman on the pc. I haven’t heard of the other games, although someone else also mentioned Duck Hunt.