What is the very first game that comes to your mind when you think of each console?
 

Despite all the things you can do on video game systems nowadays, the primary focus of them is playing games. Games are what truly make a system. And wach console has its own iconic titles. So, what is the very first game that comes to your mind when you think of each console? This could be anything. Could just be due to a game being the highest selling game for that console, or due to it being the very first game you owned for it, or the game you spent the most time with, etc.

Atari 2600: Space Invaders.

NES: Super Mario Bros. The very first one. The beginning of Nintendo as a powerhouse and of the juggernaut series that is Mario.

Master System: Never owned or played on one before, but I always think of Alex Kidd when I think of this system. He was Sega's mascot before Sonic came along even, I believe?

Mega Drive: Sonic the Hedgehog, obviously. The character that once rivalled with Mario and took the world by storm.

SNES: A Link to the Past. One of my all-time favourite games and one of the best of all time. Super Mario World might have come bundled with the SNES, but when I think of the SNES nowadays I think of ALttP.

Game Boy/GBC: Pokémon Red, of course!

Saturn: I'd say it's a tie between 3 games: Virtua Cop 2, Virtua Fighter 2 and Daytona USA CCE. Hard for me to pick one of the trio.

PS1: Well, I've never owned a PS1, but I'd say Crash Bandicoot is the game that I immediately think of when I think of the console. That and Tekken 3.

Nintendo 64: Definitely Ocarina of Time. That was the game I swore for years to be the GOAT. One of the most important games of my childhood. Many other N64 titles were magical to me at the time, but Ocarina was the cream of the crop for my 8-9 year old self.

Dreamcast: Sonic Adventure, definitely.

PS2: Oh boy, this one is very hard. This console had a HUGE library and it's hard to pick a game that comes immediately to my mind when I think of the PS2. I'm going with Final Fantasy X, though. Its commercial left a burning impression in my mind back in the day. Often I think of GTA San Andreas as well.

Xbox: Halo. Easy.

GameCube: Super Smash Bros Melee, obviously.

GBA: Hmm I dunno... maybe Mario Kart: Super Circuit. It was my first GBA game.

360: Halo 3. Easy.

DS: Mario Kart DS. I'd say.

PS3: Uncharted, I guess.

Wii: Wii Sports. That game was rather hot for a while.

3DS: I dunno. This one is tough. Not one game in particular comes to my mind more often than others.

Wii U:.Super Mario Maker. One of the most creative ideas ever.

Switch: Breath of the Wild.

I don't even know regarding the PS4 and the Xbone, tbh.

As for others:

Arcade: Too many arcade games out there, but I'll say Pacman.

PC: Championship Manager/Football Manager games in general.

This list includes consoles I never owned.

Mega Drive: Sonic 3. First game I ever played (not counting the Tiger Electronics handheld games). The graphics blew me away.
Game Boy Color: Sylvester and Tweety: Breakfast on the Run.
Dreamcast: I agree with Sonic Adventure. Like Sonic 3, the graphics blew me away, especially since I went from the Mega Drive straight to Dreamcast.
Nintendo 64: Pokemon Stadium. Was amazing seeing the Pokémon that I trained in Blue fight in 3D.
Game Boy Advance: Rayman Advance.
GameCube: Luigi’s Mansion
DS: Pokemon Dash
Wii: I agree with Wii Sports.
3DS: Pokemon X
PlayStation: Metal Gear Solid
PlayStation 2: GTA: San Andreas
Neo Geo Pocket Color: Sonic Pocket Adventure
PlayStation 3: BigLittlePlanet
PlayStation Portable: Yugioh 5D’s Tag Force 5
XBox: Halo

The game that was sold with the console.

Consoles that I own or owned:

NES: Super Mario Bros.
Sega Mega Drive: sonic
PlayStation: Metal Gear Solid
Game Boy Color: Pokémon Blue
Game Boy Advance: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Camecube: Super Mario Sunshine
Wii: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
PlayStation 3: Metal Gear Solid 4
Xbox 360: Fable 3
WiiU: super Smash Bros for WiiU
3DS: super Mario 3D Land

Pretty interesting thread idea here....

Atari 2600: Asteroids
My Dad and played this all the time when I was a kid. He could hit the fire button so fast and I think he was so good at it that he would get killed on purpose so that I could have my turn.

NES: The Legend of Zelda
This was the first video game that felt like some kind of epic experience to me. I remember kids in grammar school talking about the secret room under the waterfall before I had an N.E.S. and I think conversations like that really built the whole thing up for me.

Master System: Fantasy Zone
I never owned this system either, but everyone I knew that did have one seemed to always be playing his game and so this sticks out for me. If I didn't say this, I would've also said Alex Kidd though.

SNES: Actraiser
I loved this game. This was as unique an RPG development for Eniix as Parasite Eve was on the PSOne. Just a super cool game that crossed hack and slash with city building simulation.

Game Boy/GBC: Tetris
This is the system that got me into this puzzle game, and it didn't matter if it was in color or black and white.

Saturn: Nights Into Dreams
The Saturn's big claim to fame was how well it processed sprites and parallax background scrolling. And so, it's 2-d platformers where top notch and this is the game that stands out for me from it's short lived run.

PS1: Tomb Raider II
This was basically the flagship title that allowed the PSOne to reboot it's branding and put sales over the top. Reviews of this game where huge and it was the first game I played the Christmas I got my system.

Nintendo 64: Killer Instinct
I actually wasn't too big of a fan of this game. But I remember, I think it was 8th grade, and all of the big video game magazines of the time were touting the technical achievement of the graphics and modeling style in this game. And they made an arcade version and I remember them touting that even the arcade game was simply running on N64 hardware. The industry made a big deal out of it as an N64 launch title. Basically the hype was so great for Killer Instinct that this game is inextricably linked to the N64 for me.

Dreamcast: Sonic Adventure
I saw this running on a display in this aftermarket, small town game shop this guy tried to start in a surburb of Chicago. It was a cooler store at the time than any FuncoLand or Gamestop. He had this running as a showpiece of the time and it aways looked great.

PS2: Legaia 2
This is an unorthodox choice, but it was a great RPG and a sequel to a scarce PSOne game that I loved. The fight mechanics were really great, and you could spend this time cooking over a campfire to reinforce your party. The sound effects of the fire always made me want to eat soup. LMAO!

Xbox: Halo
I suppose I'd go with this because I never owned an X-Box.

GameCube: Metroid: Prime
I never had this either, but I had a buddy that swears by this game, and it looked cool, watching him play it.

GBA: Mega Man Zero
A legit entry into the Mega Man series that was the only one to feature someone other than Mega Man as the PC, but was still cool. And graphically it was terrific.

360: -ugh-
I bought a 360S for use as a 4k player in the early days of 4k. It was a terrible player. I unhooked it and it's sat in a box ever since. I never even ran a game on it.

DS: -shrugs-

PS3: [I]

Wii: Wii Sports
I'd go with Wii sports too. I never really liked or understood the Wii, but you could just turn on Wii sports with a bunch of people around and everyone could just play it and goof off.

3DS: -shrugs-

Switch: -shrugs-

PS4 Attack On Titan
My video game playing days have dwindled significantly to made 1/20th of what it used to be. Maybe less than that. But this game and it's sequel really capture the spirit of the anime and graphically it is terrific. There are probably better games, but this is on of the few that I bought and played to platinum, whereas my PS3 is loaded with platinum trophies. Big, big difference in gaming for me from the PS3 to the PS4.

Arcade: Final Fight
These kinds of games were huge at the arcade when I was a kid.

PC: Space Quest
My parents and I played these Sierra games together when I was a kid. I'll never forget it.

Yes, the game was full of secrets. My brother actually drew a map of it when he was a kid as he progressed in the game.


I usually think of the NES when it comes to Tetris, since I owned the NES version of Tetris and it was awesome back then. I did also own Tetris DX for the GBC, though.


Oh, yeah. Odd how I didn't think of Tomb Raider at all as far as PS1 games go. I do tend to forget it was a pretty big seres back in the late 90s. How could anyone find Lara Croft hot in the early 3D era, though? :lol:


The game was quite hyped yes. Even at a time when the console was rumoured to be named Ultra 64, as it said in the commercial. It sure had its place in history. It was probably the only explicit violence fighting game that has achieved some success other than Mortal Kombat. Can't think of any other either. There was Kazumi Ninja for the Atari Jaguar, but that game sucked. :lol:

The DC is a console that deserved to have had a longer lifespan.

Indeed. When my mother, of all people, willingly accepts to play a game and has fun with it you know that game has something about it haha

As someone born in 1990, arcades were already slowly dying when I was old enough to play games. I vaguely recall playing Virtua Fighter 3 and some other Sega racing games(Rally and Daytona prolly) at Arcade booths at various malls. Occasionally you can still run into a 90s Sega arcade machine in my country. I once saw one at a gas station near the cafetaria section. It was quite a surprise. But I didn't stop to play on it.

These aren't necessarily my #1 favorite of each, just what first comes to mind.

NES: Never owned it, but emulate it plenty. One thinks of Super Mario Bros for the obvious reason.

SNES: Donkey Kong Country. Played sooo much of this, both on my own, & with my parents. Beautiful graphics, killer music, amazing level design, definitely a defining title of the console & era.

Gameboy: Super Mario Land 2. Probably what got the most re-play value. Of course, Pokemon comes to mind for its prolific status.

Playstation: Crash Bandicoot. Need I say more?

Gamecube: Super Monkey Ball 2. I went in on those mini-games. Such a charming little title with a lot of play variety, charming visuals & upbeat tunes.

Gameboy Advance: Castlevania Circle Of The Moon. First one I got/played. Remains a stand-out in the series for me.

Playstation 2: The Godfather. I am a huge fan of that film series & the game it spawned. So fun being a part of that universe, with most of the original cast involved & everything. Bought the Wii port after the fact, & I very seldom double dip!

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy. Innovative as hell, beautiful, endlessly fun. Was my first with the system, too.

DS: Pokemon Platinum, it's what I bought the thing for, & it got me back into Pkmn after skipping gen 3.

3DS: Nothing leaps to mind immediately, which is odd considering this is one of my all time favorite consoles. Hmm, I guess I'd say Mario Kart 7, 'cause it made me care about that series. Previously I wasn't too invested (I know, this probably comes as a surprise).

Wii U: Yoshi's Wooly World. The first time since Yoshi's Island that a Yoshi game was genuinely amazing & worthy of comparison to the OG.

Switch: Mario Odyssey, having a wonderful play-through of that which I started a week ago yesterday.

PC: Portal/TF 2/Half Life, Valve 4 lyfe.

Shout out to Jezzball, a Windows game I played the heck out of on our old Packard Bell 20-something years ago.

Windows games? Either Solitaire or Minesweeper.

NES: Mario
Nintendo Handhelds: Pokemon
PlayStation: Spyro
ps2: Dbz budokai
GameCube/Wii: Smash Bros./Naruto Clash of Ninja
PSP/ps3/ps4: Kamen Rider (goes without saying I’m Rider trash

NES: Super Mario Bros. 3
Sega Genesis: Sonic & Knuckles
Playstation: Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
N64: WWF No Mercy
GBA: Metroid Fusion
Playstation 2: The Getaway
Gamecube: Super Mario Sunshine
Xbox: Halo: Combat Evolved
DS: Super Mario 64 DS
Xbox 360: Halo 3
Wii: Wii Sports
Playstation 3: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
3DS: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Wii U: Super Mario 3D World
Xbox One: Halo: The Master Chief Collection
PS4: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Switch: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

PC - Solitaire, DOOM, Heretic, and Hexen.

Sega Genesis - Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles.

NES - Super Mario Bros.

SNES - Star Fox.

GameBoy Color - Pokemon Blue, Red, & Yellow.

N64 - Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Gauntlet Legends, and Rampage World Tour.

PS1 & PS2 - Crash Bandicoot games, the Legend Of Spyro games & Soul Cailbur 2.

~ Other honorable mentions ~

Arcade Games - Primal Rage, Gauntlet Legends & Dark Legacy.

Other Misc. Arcade Games - Pinball and Skee-Ball.

For most consoles, my picks are pretty standard and shared by most members here (Melee for Gamecube, Pokemon Red for Gameboy, etc. etc.)

But one pick which I bet I share with no one is Pepsi-Man for Playstation One.

Super entertaining game from my childhood but also frustratingly hard. Released only in Japan offically but I was able to get it in my country since all PS1s there were modded to play all region games and the game itself was distributed over there due to the cult following it had garnered.

Game Grumps did a playthrough of the game and their reactions are pretty funny if you're looking for a good playthrough of cult classic games to watch.

Sega Master System: Alex Kidd in Miracle World.

NES: Dragon Warrior.

SNES: Final Fantasy "II."

PSX: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

PS2: Half Grand Theft Auto 3, half Tekken Tag Tournament.

PS3: Final Fantasy XIII. And Grand Theft Auto 4.

X-Box 360: Ghostbusters. Only reason I got it and only game I played on it.

PS4: Eh. Dunno. Nothing seems definitively PS4 about any of the games I've played on it.

X-Box One: Same.

Wow, I had no idea such game existed. LMAO

NES: Super Mario Bros.
Gameboy: Tetris
SNES: Super Mario World
Sega Master System: Zillion
Game Gear: Columns
Genesis: Toejam and Earl
Sega CD: Joe Montana Sportstalk Football
Dreamcast: Chu Chu Rocket
Gameboy Advance: Rayman
N64: Mario 64
Playstation: Silent Hill
DS: Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
3DS: Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Gamecube: Animal Crossing
Wii: Wii Sports
Wii U: Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Turbo Grafx 16: Blazing Lasers

NES: SMB1
SNES: SMW
N64: Banjo-Kazooie
GCN: Mario Sunshine
Wii: Twilight Princess
Wii U: Mario Maker
Switch: Ultra SFII
Megadrive: Sonic 3
Saturn: NIGHTS
Dreamcast: Sonic Adventure
PS1: Crash bandicoot
PS2: MGS2
PS3: MGS4
PS4: Dishonored 2
Xbox: Conker Live and Reloaded
360: Bioshock
Xbone: Rare replay
Atari 2600: Pitfall

A few others:

Gameboy: Super Mario Land

N64: Castlevania 64

Gamecube: Super Mario Sunshine

Wii: Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

And I was sure Phantasy star 1 for the master system would be the game.

Castlevania 64 for the Nintendo 64? Interesting. How come?

^ He could probably beat that game many times over. Those Bomb Skeletons were always a friggin' pain in the rear for me to deal with.

Then again, so were the controller options for the game.