See, you are right and that’s exactly why I started with “This might be a little on the side of the main topic”…

This is a fantastic timeline if you want to go into details.

Well then… To stay true to the history, we probably would have to go back to Galaxian from ‘79, which introduced 1-UPs / additional lives, bonus stages and player upgrades, plus simple summary / statistics for hits and misses.

Well, when I was writing that, after midnight I will add, I had this feeling that Mario was doing this thing earlier but for me Mario stands as an icon for the first level design overall as a golden standard for introduction to mechanics and really efficient use of memory for data, and one of the first uses of dynamic music… So you are totally right, Mario brought a lot of things, I’ve just played Crash much more.

This might be a little on the side of the main topic but there was always something cool about Crash Bandicoot 100 Apples > 1 Life, and you could grind more to make some levels more forgiving, like semi-adjustable difficulty level based on your previous approach… And later on — warp zones, you get to choose from a few options so the progression has variation.

Another thing that comes to mind, not sure if a first game to do it, THPS for unlocking movies and later cheat codes, modes and characters for finishing the career. Plus the whole gap marathon for Private Carrera.

Oh, and chanting from Oddword where it had various uses, for saving friends or for changing into enemies, or using special abilities. This definitely was something, because I still remember thinking as a kid, “how cool is that this one ability has so many different uses”.

With the original they wanted the immersion part to feel like you are actually racing with toy cars and make everyday / mundane surroundings feel unique from this perspective and scale — I guess they still want this to be the main fun factor / appeal.

For me the amazing part was somehow pacing. Every single time I felt like I am starting to cruise through levels, I was knocked down really hard… and my brain exploded more than a few times.

Stunningly, this created one of the best mechanics for me — “if it was too easy, you probably missed a valuable lesson there”.

Arvi created something special, where every bit of that frustration pays off at least tenfold.

Yeah… as remasters/remakes go, this would be one of my favorites just right next to Crash Bandicoot series and New ‘n’ Tasty Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. Oh! Tetris Effect kinda sorta fits in this group too.

All of those titles deserved some new generation graphics and polish, none of them lost their fun value, vibe or overall quality in the process. Plus there is no need to emulate anything, no crack-mod-tango, so bonus points for making some of the best games ever created widely accessible.

If one day, any studio would put the same amount of effort into Driver series or Remedy would go full nostalgia and re-do the Max Payne series — oops… I think, I ventured too deep into fantasy lands here.

I am a simple man… Some Stardew Valley — I try to visit my farm every so often, a little THPS1+2 action when it’s raining lately and I am waiting for a perfect / slow morning to tackle Gorogoa.

Let me take a personal spin on that question.

This wasn’t the first game that I played but it was the first game that I PLAYED. It really got me, made me draw stuff from the game, scratch my head and glued me to the screen.

My little brain melted from not understanding. The bitterness of every mistake and death was sprinkled by some mysterious force with the most magical feeling of solving the next level. This game explained by the example how games can be and are amazing. Before it, I just enjoyed the fun aspects of playing but here I was gaming and every level felt like a real achievement.

Now, when I think about it, this game made me skip building with LEGO for some time.

Oh, the title? Gobliiins.

First, first? Some bootleg version of Tetris.

Oh, no worries, I’ve read it. What I meant by the quote is, you are not stuck anywhere, you are just camping in one of the best spots in the game…

I can only hope you had the polaroid and some charcoal on you to map out that great vista in the meantime, between all that looting the cargo containers.

Well, as the devs wanted the visual feeling of the game to resemble a painting — then it only fits to say “there are no mistakes here, just happy accidents”…

For now, my favorite one was for Christmas — “On behalf of CyberLife I want to wish you very happy holidays. I hope Santa will bring you a CyberLife android soon!”.

This is one of the better thought through and well designed game menus, or even menu experience — perfectly fitting for the overall game vibe.

Tunic is really amazing, besides lovely graphics the overall concept there is top notch.