Saw this question elsewhere and thought it'd be an interesting discussion topic.
Explain what games were "system sellers" for you. The games that were so big, or so attractive to you they made you decide to buy the system. A sentence or two describing how you felt before and after getting that game/system, whether it lived up to your hopes, and even some launch memories could be fun to share.
I know sometimes you buy a system late, so there isn't one specific game, or couple of games that warranted the purchase for you, but you could still list a few of your reasons for getting the system.
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NES Super Mario Bros.
Before we got the NES me and my sibling played SMB/Duck Hunt at a friend's house. I was too young to be part of the decision to get the system, but if there was one game that clearly stood head and shoulders above the rest, it was clearly Super Mario Bros.
This game doesn't capture much attention nowadays, but back then it was HUGE. Everyone played it and loved it. I remember that as the years went by this game continued to get as much play time as newer games, while others were left on the shelf. It was inherently playable, and always a good play.
GB
Again I was too young to be part of the decision, but my Dad surprised me with it one Christmas. I remember seeing friends play Super Mario Land, but I never owned that game (I borrowed it once). I loved the Game Boy and must have dropped it 1,000 times before it stopped working, I even had a rubber band around it to keep the battery lid on because the latch that kept it in place was broken. My main games were Mega Man 2, Battletoads, Kirby's Dream Land, and Super Mario Land 2
Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog (& Knuckles)
Sonic all the way. I got this system after the 16-bit era, and as a long time Nintendo user, the Sonic games had all my envy, I wanted to play them so bad. I could see my neighbor playing Sonic 1 (their TV was near a window) and I was blown away playing Sonic & Knuckles in a toy store. I LOVED everything about the new playable character and the mushroom hill zone, the graphics, the music, exploring the layout of the level, it was perfection. Sonic 2 fell short of my expectations (unpopular opinion) but 1, 3 and Knuckles had all my love. I also had Sonic Spinball, which was... okay. I bought Vectorman which is a fave and Clayfighter, and Street Fighter 2:SCE, which was good, but was missing some signature attacks like E. Honda's 100-hand slap (not good) and I bought two 6-button controllers because pressing Start to switch between punches and kicks is just bad. I never really got into the Genesis library beyond that. I guess I did pick up TMNT:HH, which was fair.
SNES
I only recently bought one. I used to only play this at my cousin's. He had Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart (which we played endlessly), we also enjoyed Turtles in Time and Street Fighter 2. The first two DKC games were a huge hit with me, and still are.
N64 Ocarina of Time
I didn't get an N64 until people were moving on to the next thing, but I got it with OoT, and was pulled in like nothing else. I'll gripe about the game's flaws today, but my initial experience with it was amazing and beyond anything else I'd experienced. I wish I could recapture that experience today. It wasn't till some time later that I finally got my hands on SM64, I had played a little of that at a friend's near release and was completely blown away. Rogue Squadron is also incredible.
GBC Link's Awakening DX
While I didn't really know the Zelda games at all at this time (I was too young for them in the NES era), I saw the screenshots of LA:DX in Nintendo Power and just KNEW this game was for me. I'd heard great things about it, and my imagination saw that in the screenshots, and I played a few minutes of it in store- the metallic colors on the reflective GBC screen and the sharpness of its pixels was beautiful! However the GBC was sold out everywhere, I went back to Toy's R Us and KB Toys again and again, hoping they'd have one in stock. In the meantime I bought and played the new Pokemon Red on GB, which was a really great game. Eventually I did get a GBC and fell in love with LA:DX, still my favorite in the series. Shortly thereafter I picked up Wario Land 2 (quite good) and Conker's Pocket Tales (not so good), but I was thrilled with the GBC as a system, and I had a number great titles on it.
GCN Zelda/Collections
I picked up a GCN maybe halfway into it's life? Thanks to Zelda Collector's Edition you could now play EVERY existing Zelda game on the GameCube, that seemed huge at the time. Also, Mega Man Anniversary collection was an enormous deal to me, as I loved the NES Mega Man games (my favorite series of all time), and the Sonic Mega Collection was also a must-own for me. And the system had Sonic Adventure 2 battle right near launch! Sonic on Nintendo? Unbelievable!!
GBA Pokemon Sapphire
I waited until the SP came out, then bought it with Pokemon Sapphire, having skipped Gen 2, Sapphire was mesmerizing and incredible to me, such a huge advance! And the rechargeable battery made the system pay for itself! I loved my SP and soon got Super Mario World, Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Sword of Mana, and my all-time favorite GBA game Metroid: Zero Mission (I love Zero Mission so much!). Oh, and I got Superstar Saga, that game is a real gem. GBA was definitely great.
DS Mario Kart DS
A 3D handheld with online multiplayer? What?? That was jaw-dropping. Apart from Mario Kart DS, most DS games I played were... okay. I put a lot of time into Pokemon Diamond, but it wasn't much of a step forward for the series to be honest. But I had a blast with Mario Kart DS, that and Super Mario Kart are my favorites in the series. I waited until the DS Lite came out to get this system, and that d-pad made snaking wonderfully easy to pull off : )
PS2
I got the "Slim" new, direct from Sony, when it dropped to its lowest price. I don't think I had any real specific games in mind when I bought it, but I did revisit Tomb Raider, and Medal of Honor from PS1 and pick up Capcom's Street Fighter and Classic Arcade compilations, and the Metal Gear Solid games.
Wii Virtual Console
Being completely honest here, whatever the system had in store, I was dying to play all the old retro hits I never owned before. I was also overjoyed to get Mega Man 9 and 10
3DS Pokemon Moon
I guess I was excited about OoT 3DS, but when I saw Pokemon X and Y in action I really wanted to get back into the series I hadn't touched since Diamond. I waited until the next release (Sun and Moon) and picked up a 2DS for just $80 (the standard low price). I've enjoyed my 3DS, it's cool, and I really thought Sun/Moon was a wonderful new direction/entry in the series.
(I didn't think my OP was going to be such a wall of text... )
Edited by Cukeman, 30 October 2017 - 07:02 AM.