OG Monday Announcement and Honoring The Games That Shaped Us

Lately, I’ve been feeling nostalgic and I started reminiscing about good old times. My history with video games is so long that I’ve forgotten more games than I can remember. But even though they’re forgotten, the lessons that I’ve learned from them stay with me to this day. 

Fortunately, some of them were too memorable to forget. There was that time I got a Sega Mega. It was used, beaten up, worn down, but it didn’t matter because it came with over 50 cartridges and you better believe I tested every single one of them. 

On the chance of sounding old, I gotta admit, those were different times. If somebody gave me 50 games today, I would maybe play 3 or 4, and that’s only if I really like them. 

Anyway, all of this got me thinking that I should play more games from the early 2000’s. So, I’ve decided to revisit those glory days and play the games from that time. I was thinking of doing one OG game a week. 

But when I started creating a list, things got really out of hand and if I were to do one a week, it would take me years to go through them. With the list so big comes the problem of picking which one to start with. 

To kick things off, here are some of my favorite and most memorable games from childhood. Every week after this, I’ll play one of the oldies and report back on my thoughts on it. And if you have any of your own you’d like to see me play, feel free to let me know in the comments!

Adventure Island

Adventure Island is a game inspired by Sega’s arcade game called Wonder Boy. The story revolves around Master Higgins who traveled to a mysterious Adventure Island in order to save a princess in distress. 

From what I remember it was sort of a faster version of Super Mario. It had several areas that were made out of 4 stages. At the end of each area, there was a boss fight. Across those stages you were able to break the eggs and get various improvements (getting skateboards was one of my favorites). I used to play it for hours. Now come to think of it, it might be my favorite from those times. 

There’s an issue that I have with this memory. I distinctly remember playing Adventure Island and not Wonder Boy but the internet says that Adventure Island was only on NES, MSX, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and PlayStation 2. And I don’t remember owning any of those at that time. So how I played it is beyond me but I DID.  

Sonic the Hedgehog

The most obvious option when it comes to Sega is to play Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s a timeless classic. No matter how much time passes, the game still holds up. I wouldn’t change anything about it. Granted I wasn’t that great at playing it. To give you some idea on how bad I was, most of my runs were (if) finished with 1-2 coins in my bag. I always preferred speed over thoroughness. Mainly because that’s what I thought the point of the game was. Nowadays, besides numerous games, Sonic also features in a decent amount of tv shows and a few movies. 

Ecco

The first time I played Ecco, I found it absolutely mesmerizing. From the look of it to the weird sound effects and music, I adored everything about it. One bad thing I remember is getting constantly lost. It’s sort of a maze game and as a kid, I didn’t manage well. Ecco the Dolphin is a game (you guessed it) about the dolphin who is trying to save the earth, seas or his friends. It’s been a while since I played it fully, so don’t blame me for forgetting. It takes around 6 hours to beat, and I highly recommend trying it if you have spare time.

Golden Axe

Golden Axe is an arcade beat ’em up game released by Sega. The story features three champions that you can pick from to fight against an evil boss called Death Adder. Each of them has a “unique” weapon. There’s the champion with a battle-axe, Gilius Thunderhead. Another is  Ax Battler, who wields a two-handed broadsword. The last is Tyris Flare, who uses a longsword. My go-to champion was Ax. 

The main reason I liked this game so much is a cartoon called Conan the Adventurer. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with it but at the time I thought this was the closest I’ll get to playing a game featuring Conan (kinda). 

While making this list I also found out that there are multiple parts of Golden Axe and that they were planning a reboot of an original but it got cancelled, which I was never aware of. It just goes to show that even with the internet we miss so much. 

Aladdin

This is my first game from Disney that I played, and possibly the best one. I still remember how crispy the graphics and animations were. Especially for something like Sega. The story is similar to the cartoon. Which makes it an awesome experience if you grew up watching Aladdin. Last year I played it from start to end and even though the controls on the keyboard were weird, I enjoyed it fully. Now when I think about it, this might be the only Aladdin game or at least the only one worth checking out.

Streets of Rage

You might have noticed that I’ve added a few things as I was writing this article. Pleasant memories just kept flowing in. Which is how I remembered this game. Streets of Rage is a side-scrolling beat ’em up video game that caused a lot of fighting between me and my lil bro. You know how it is, while we did fight a lot, it’s also a game that helped us bond so I’m grateful for it. I’ve also found that they went on a 25 year hiatus but released a new part in 2020, which I’ll definitely check out at some point this year. Hopefully they stayed true to their original design and premise of the game. 

Final Word Of Wisdom

There are high chances that I missed a bunch of good games from my childhood but these are definitely those that help me make some core memories. Do you remember any of these? Which games were your favorites when you were a kid?