Your favorite moments in gaming (nostalgic or otherwise)

[genjiglove]

Everyone has favorite moments that stick out when they remember their favorite games, at least I think so. So share some of them.

One of my personal favorites comes from Metal Gear Solid back in 1998. The whole game was amazing, but the final battle with Metal Gear Rex and Liquid really stands out. Grey Fox's final words to Snake, Liquid's speech to Snake on top of the Metal Gear, their hand to hand fight and the final chase out of the base were just incredible. And the song "The Best is Yet to Come" playing during the credits fits the mood of the ending so well, I can't imagine a different song in its place. Very few games can match the emotion displayed in that ending IMO.

 

[JHendrix]

FFVII

Aerith dying.
Finnally getting to kill Sephiroth

FFVI

Kefka killing off the town of Doma.
Finnally getting to kill Kefka

Never since has a final boss fight been so worth it, just to extract revenge.

Good Villians make good stories.

 

[genjiglove]

FFVII

I'll never forget the music that plays while fighting Bizarro Sephiroth slowly fading out, the screen going black and then One Winged Angel starting up. Definitely one of the coolest moments in any game I've played. I remember thinking it was so cool I'd try to show it to a couple of my friends who didn't like RPGs at all and couldn't understand why they didn't think it was that great.

I was a huge nerd.

 

[djdelly]

FFVII for sure

I'll think of more later

 

[SPINMASTER X]

When I used to run with my Tekken crew from 2001-2003. Those were good times. We had some good sessions and enjoyed some good tournaments. We were all so close and then like 3 of us joined the military(including me) and left the country and 3 of us moved to another state leaving only like 5 or 6 guys left. Then the crew sorta disbanded, however a few new guys started a new crew with maybe 2 or 3 of the original members.

Our crew even had a name: "SCU" which stood for "South Coast Uprising". We were known among a few of the more well known players not only for our skill but cuz we were a nice group of guys who'd take anybody into our homes for an overnight stay.

We ate together, hung out together, watched movies together, helped each other out. We were like a family. However all good things must come to an end.

The other great thing about it is that when I met these guys they shot my skill level through the roof. From 1992 til early 2001 i was one of the sorriest fighting game players EVER. Summer of 2001 i started to get better on my own and in about 2002 these guys got me to such a high skill level that I played one of the top if not the Top Hwoarang player in the US at a Tournament and after he beat me he told me that I was one of the Best Lee Chaolan players he had ever seen in the states.

Those were the days..... I could almost cry sometimes when I think about it.

The only other thing that could equate to that are my early gaming days from the mid-late 80's to the mid 90's. Especially the mid 90's when fighting games hit the scene and would prove to be my prefered genre to this very day!

p.s. Fortunately for me I am kind of a "satellite" member of a crew from Stuttgart/Fellbach, Germany who kinda had the some problem my crew had except they disbanded and split in half because of a dispute. The shitty part is i live 4 hours away from them!!!

 

[Robi15]

Opera scene in FFIII (US) Just braking new ground in video gaming.. also the game has (as well as FFII) the best music ever, that Nobuo Uematsu has ever done!

Castlevania (1987) back in 1991 i think, finally me and some friends got to the clock tower and then whent on to meet Dracula.. adrenaline/exitement was beyond.. In that point of time I sold my soul to Akumajou Dracula..

 

[JHendrix]

I'll never forget the music that plays while fighting Bizarro Sephiroth slowly fading out, the screen going black and then One Winged Angel starting up. Definitely one of the coolest moments in any game I've played. I remember thinking it was so cool I'd try to show it to a couple of my friends who didn't like RPGs at all and couldn't understand why they didn't think it was that great.

I was a huge nerd.

It's what made the final fight that much MORE badass than it already was.

I mean you're geared up and ready, all sorts of crazy powerful crap for you guys, just ITCHING to finally kill this guy for what he did....and then that music geared up for the first time and it was just amazing.

Oh and at the end, when Cloud uses Omnislash. It's particularly awesome if you didn't bother to get Omnislash before going to kill Sephiroth.

 

[hermegildo]

I've been thinking about doing a thread like this, but I always forgot for some reason.

The top three that come to mind are:

1) Final Fantasy VI, when you first arrive in the Ruined World. Everything was so alien at that point, you lost your party, the world was destroyed and you were stuck in a small island in the middle of nowhere. Made the game new all over again.

2) Devil May Cry, can't remember what part of the game it is, but walking through the castle at night with 'Karnival' playing in the background has been one of the most atmospheric and memorable moments in gaming thus far.

3) Ico, the scene in the bridge. I don't want to ruin it, but it was just amazing to see (experience would be a better word, I guess) how a game could make you act in what I could call nothing but instinct.

I'll think of some more later.

 

[djdelly]

When everything all came together in Xenogears.

Ending of Ace combat 5

 

[genjiglove]

Oh yeah, I can't forget about Ocarina of Time. After you defeat Ganondorf and escape from Hyrule Castle, then Ganon appears from the wreckage and Link has to take him on without his trusty Master Sword for a little bit. Awesome stuff.

Also, the part where you have to play the Ocarina for the Goron chief and he dances. There's a short part in there where the camera angle shows a flame in front of him, and he says "HOT HOT HOT!" as he boogies.

I thought it was funny.

Oh yeah, Chrono Trigger, finding out who Magus really was and that he wasn't as evil as we thought he was. Finding out who Melchoir the merchent really was goes hand in hand with that too. That whole game was just fucking great.

 

[beatifik]

Opera scene in FFIII (US)

yep, that's the one i remember most.

 

[K_K]

chrono's death in chrono trigger. it was the first time in an RPG i'd seen the main character actually die, and not because i lost a fight but because he was supposed to.

when i first learned how to do a super special in fatal fury special. i flipped out as i had done it on my own and not on accident and knew how to do it. i was the king of the laundromat arcade that day.

winback on the nintendo sixty four. i remember when i played through this game the first time, and discovered that the commanding officer of the group pf special forces members was actually the brother of the leader of the evil terrorist organization and was secretly killing all the other members on the team. it was a very shocking plot twist to me a seventh grader who played his N64 like there was no tomorrow.

 

[hermegildo]

Oh yeah, I can't forget about Ocarina of Time. After you defeat Ganondorf and escape from Hyrule Castle, then Ganon appears from the wreckage and Link has to take him on without his trusty Master Sword for a little bit. Awesome stuff.

Also, the part where you have to play the Ocarina for the Goron chief and he dances. There's a short part in there where the camera angle shows a flame in front of him, and he says "HOT HOT HOT!" as he boogies.

I thought it was funny.

Oh yeah, Chrono Trigger, finding out who Magus really was and that he wasn't as evil as we thought he was. Finding out who Melchoir the merchent really was goes hand in hand with that too. That whole game was just fucking great.

How could I forget?

Both of these games are gems from beginning to end.

 

[SPINMASTER X]

Oh was I supposed to pick something out of a game?

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

FFVII.. MGS... Chrono.. Man these are bringing tears to my eyes. Beautiful games.. Been playing through Chrono again (got the psone port) and it's still every bit as good as it was back in the day.

***~~~***~~~***~~~+++++++ (this is simulating time travel to the mid eighties)

I have great memory. My neighbor's mom was really hot. She was tall, skinny and chain smoked and had a bunch of kids. Cause she was always indoors she'd play Gradius while breast feeding.

She was so good. She wouldn't die. She'd just play a few loops until she had to stop. It was crazy how good she was at the game. I just watched in awe.

The music, the crazy easter island heads, the unique power up system, the code, the volcanoes, it's just a wicked wicked game.

 

[genjiglove]

Oh was I supposed to pick something out of a game?

Nah, your story was pretty cool too. I had a summer that I remember partially for the gaming. It was the last summer I had where I didn't have to do shit and just slept all day and did whatever I wanted all night. Most of the time it involved heavy drinking and smoking, but a lot of times me and my friends would bust out Tetris Attack or maybe Smash Bros. Melee and play for a while. So those two games always take me back to that time.

 

[SPINMASTER X]

Nah, your story was pretty cool too. I had a summer that I remember partially for the gaming. It was the last summer I had where I didn't have to do shit and just slept all day and did whatever I wanted all night. Most of the time it involved heavy drinking and smoking, but a lot of times me and my friends would bust out Tetris Attack or maybe Smash Bros. Melee and play for a while. So those two games always take me back to that time.

oh ok cool, I felt all out of place for a second. Anyway I'd say the older you get, times like those become few and far between. I guess thats what makes moments like those so special, they don't happen so often and even if they do it won't be like it used to be.

 

[2Heed]

Strider's all over the map on this one!

1) The first boss: the coolest, most RANDOM boss I've ever seen in any game. A room full of politicians starts hooting and hollering and jumps out of their chairs to form a hammer-and-sickle wielding, flying mecha centipede? That's the best boss character ever, bar none. I mean, that was just flat-out creative and more than a little disturbing, especially for the time Strider was released (I've always maintained that Strider was ahead of its time more than any other game, arcade or console).

2) Running down the hill in the second stage: sure, it only lasts for a few seconds, but the SCENERY...! I can't even put it into words. This, along with the aforementioned boss, were simply unforgettable moments for anyone that had the pleasure of seeing this game in an arcade/roller skating rink/bowling alley in the late 80s. It's still my all-time favorite graphical showcase. I'm absolutely convinced that this scene "inspired" the speed gimmicks in the Sonic series (loops and all that other crap where you do nothing but watch as Sonic Runs Really Fast; in Strider, if you spent too much time gawking at the background you'd forget you had to jump/avoid the bombs). Strider 2 actually sort of emulated this scene in the arctic stage (there was snow on the ground in Moscow in the original) and it looked horrible in comparison. Then again, I hold Strider 2 in about the same regard as your typical Star Wars fan does Episode II.

3) The anti-grav room. Did I mention how far ahead of its time Strider was?

4) Strider standing on a humpback whale during the ending credits. All right, now I'm just running on empty.

--FFIV/US FF2--
1) The main theme that plays during the cutscene with Castle Baron near the beginning has ALWAYS given me goosebumps. That theme has never sounded better, and it always kind of annoyed me when it was brought back at the end of the other titles. It's every bit as compelling while it plays right before the final battle when Cecil is literally down on one knee against evil incarnate.

2) Cecil becomes a Paladin. Hero sheds his dark past and comes full circle. A simple, timeless story that was told perfectly here.

3) The ending. It laid everything out and explained exactly what happened; no loose ends or cop-out "leave it to the imagination" hack-jobs. Everybody's happy.

I know I could come up with more, but I've gotta leave now...

 

[PUNJABEE]

Super Mario Bros:Saving the Princess in 8-4. I seriously can't believe no one mentioned that.
Guardian Legend: Beating the last boss (one of the greatest games ever made)
Chrono Trigger: Every second in that game, especially when you beat the game in half an hour with only Crono. All the endings. Gold, Jerry.. GOLD.
Final Fantasy III: Shadow's sacrifice (depending on your decision), then waking up in the World of Ruin, also the ending sequence.
Terranigma: Finding out which Ark and Nomi you really are.
Super Metroid: Opening through Credits
Zelda LttP: Fighting Ganon with the silver arrow and watching the ending.
Super Mario World: Achieving all 96 goals.

16Bit era > Every era ever since.

Some from the 32bit and newer era:

Knights of the Old Republic: Finding out who Revan was/is.
Resident Evil: The first time that dog crashed through that window in the hallway.
Resident Evil 4: "He's not a Zombie."
Advent Rising: The destruction of your home planet, and the story (except for the bad controls and crappy targeting system). I mean seriously, its fucking Orson Scott Card, bitches.
Halo: Finding out about Guilty Spark, also running the gauntlet at the end.
Halo 2 : lol nah, just kidding.

 

[turbopants]

It was getting the Turbo Grafx CD-ROM attachment, and a copy of Ys Book I and II, switching it on, turning up the amazing music and sound, watching the anime cinematics, and just playing the game for hours. A great game, and a new gaming experience that the cd-rom brought to the table.

 

[SML]

placeholder post until I come back to talk about Baldur's Gate.

.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I was about 20 or so and just getting back into gaming. The one system I had never gotten rid of was my Genesis, so I was mainly picking up games for it. I had never played a Phantasy Star game in my life, and I picked up IV first. That whole game from start to finish was amazing.

 

[ray_7]

FF7 - Beating those Weapons feel so good.

Oh and when I finally got Gold Chocobo and the KotR materia.

 

[Lagduf]

3) Ico, the scene in the bridge. I don't want to ruin it, but it was just amazing to see (experience would be a better word, I guess) how a game could make you act in what I could call nothing but instinct.

Word son.

Word.

Almost forgot about that part. Fuck, I love that game so much.

Honestly, one of my favorite parts ever in a video game: When you go into outer space in FFVII.

 

[Domino-chan]

-When I defeated my brother at SF II for the first time. That victory paved the way for me as a fighting game lover.

-In FF VI as the floating island's crumbling, and the airship falls apart. Then watching the world split apart.

-Finding out the truth about the Desians via Remiel in Tales of Symphonia.

That's all I can think of at the top of my head. XD