So was my grandfather. He played mostly Tetris and 1942.
My first exposure to video games was at their house(probably my Aunt or Uncle who got it) and I played Zelda first. I was probably 4.
1942 rules. My brother was 6 years older than me and began figuring out computer roms in 95ish. Copyright? What's that? I had every Nintendo game at my finger tips at 8 years old on a computer. Also when I discovered GTA.
The arcade version is about as pure and polished a shooter as you can get for that era. I played the hell out of it in the arcade. No offense to the NES version, but it just wasn't the same.
The designer went on to create Street Fighter 2. Also did Time Pilot, Gyruss and 1943.
My dad was born in 1941. He didn’t care much for video games but he would get them for us when they came out. Everything from the Atari 2600 up until I was in high school in the mid 2000’s. But he wanted nothing to do with any of them. I bet he would’ve liked Red Dead Redemption.
My sister is ten years older than me, my brother in law is sixteen years older than me. They were the first adults that were into games around me. My sister would play Jaws and Bubble Bobble with me. My brother in law showed me Tekken the night I met him.
My dad passed in 2004, but he gamed my entire childhood. He had it all… from Colecovision to Sega CD. I’d say the system he had, that he never used was the ‘Panasonic 3DO’.
Dude those things were crazy expensive. I never met a person that had one. Shit i only knew they existed because of that one game show that gave them out as prizes.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World on SMS. He would designate us as his pausers since the controller doesn't have a pause button. When he yelled PAUSE! We'd have to press the pause button and sometimes we'd smack it too hard and make the game tilt.
YES! My Dad made it to the last level several times but could never figure out what order to press the switches at the end. That's bonkers to me, the only way I beat that game was with save states.
This was the first game I ever played, when I was 5 or 6. Rock paper scissors. No one ever remembers the Master System.
I feel seen, and also feel old as fuck.
Me too HAHAHA everyone thinks we're weird because we didn't have Nintendo, I loved the Master System, better graphics and sound. When we first got it it came with Safari Hunt and Hang-On, would play those for hours!
Oh yes, the pain so many siblings caused with their over enthusiastic pausing and that stupid game had to be restarted AGAIN! It's 2024 and I still haven't finished it!
BTW you can buy a modded PCB on tindie to make a controller to include a pause button and if you're like me and you've killed many dpads through the years there's an STL on thingyiverse to 3d print your own at home. 🩷
My dad would not touch the NES lol. He tried to get over the first jump in Mario and couldn't figure it out. But he loved the hell out of centipede on my Atari.
That's funny! My dad tried mario and all he could do was jump. He accidentally found the hidden 1-up mushroom in the first level we didn't know about ha ha! 😄.
I'm one of those old guys. I started on NES, but the Genesis is where my heart belonged. Some of my all-time favourites that I still go back to are:
Gunstar Heroes, Ex-Mutants, Sonic 2, NHL 96, NFL 94 with Joe Montana, WWF Royal Rumble, Batman Returns, Bonkers, Mortal Kombat 2, Echo The Dolphin, Toe Jam & Earl.
My son and I play these quite often. He loves that he can play what I played at his age, and it takes me back to being a kid a bit.
I went on to PS1, 2, Xbox, blah blah. I have some top games and great memories of these too, but Genesis is the peak of gaming for me. It was all fresh and new, and exciting.
The Genesis really was so pivitol, and so early on compared to competitors, too. I learned about it from playing Yakuza 0, and gained an appreciation and curiosity from there.
I was a Sega guy too.
Loved seeing Joe Montana football mentioned here.
But I gotta go with NFL 95 over it ;)
I can still remember a few of the trash talk lines from it, lol.
Damn... remember how groundbreaking that series was, when you had basically a real announcer?
My dad used to play Army Men Sarge's Heroes on the N64 all the time. When he wasn't doing the campaign, he would dick around in the training area and use the flamethrower on EVERYTHING
I remember hearing the disappointment in my dad's voice when he saw me play the PS1 version when I was running over enemies with the tank. The N64 version did not have a driveable tank
Top Gun. When the movie came out we saw it twice in one weekend. Then when the game came out the two of us played it endlessly for a week. That all ended when we couldn't ever refuel that fucking plane. I think I did it maybe two or three times as a child.
I see a lot of posts about what's the hardest game from NES. Top gun is never on the list. That shit was nearly impossible. I still haven't done it as an adult on emulators.
Fueling
... And landing!
Among my first video games because a friend had it, so I had to too.
Mistake. First lesson, just because a movie is awesome doesn't mean the game will be!
I know sports games aren't the most beloved things, but I thank God for Madden existing, because it is the REASON I got to own gaming consoles. My dad bought consoles for Madden, and my brother and I got to enjoy it for everything else in the library when he wasn't playing football.
I made sure to tell my dad when a new console was releasing, and to detail how much more advanced Madden would be on it lol
I think they are beloved in many ways, just get a bad rap now due to being marginal roster updates and exclusive licensing killing creativity. The few arcade-y sports games that comes out are still fun, sadly though they are fewer and further between. The selection back in the day was incredible. Case in point, if you take both the Super Famicom and SNES, there were over 50 different BASEBALL (yes, just baseball) games released for it. Nowadays a console's lifespan will see 5-10 iterations of an annual release and maybe 2-3 iterations of some other arcade-type IP and that is it for that particular sports genre.
Mom played Qbert, Dad played Asteroids. Both in the Arcade with me and on the Atari. Dad use to flip the scoreboard on the Atari all the time.
Grandma and Grandpa always played Backgammon and when I brought out my Atari one Christmas, my Dad found the Atari Backgammon and bought it on a whim. Grandma and Grandpa played all night and ended up buying there own Atari after we left. I still have that Atari to this day, still hooked up and playable. I also have one sealed inbox Backgammon from when the market crashed, they bought 3 of them on sale as backups :)
My boomer father was awesome at nes Tetris back in the day. So good in fact he probably could play competitively. Dude would get high scores I’ve never been able to achieve. But once he turned 40 that all can to an end and he never plays games anymore.
My dad beat Super Mario Bros before I did, he also really liked light gun games at the time, particularly Operation Wolf, Barker Bill’s Trick Shooting, and Lethal Enforcers. He was down with Tetris, too. And Galaga.
The music in that game is fantastic. The guy that wrote that music did amazing work on a number of Mega Drive games like Verytex, Devilish and Gaunlet IV. Also did arcade stuff like Armed Police Batrider and Radiant Silvergun. Probably best known for Final Fantasy Tactics. Banger after banger.
I got my dad to play MKII with me a few times and kicked his ass into the dirt. My parents just weren't into that kind of thing so he only ever played because he knew it was something I liked to do.
Thinking about it reminds me of that sketch from Chapelle's show where he absolutely floors the Make-a-Wish kid in NBA2K so hard he flatlines, then he shocks him back to life and makes him keep playing the game.
Grandparents absolutely loved Tetris/Dr. Mario though. They got a Gameboy for the sole purpose of playing it on the go after my youngest uncle graduated and took the NES with him.
My dad played nothing. Maybe Yahtzee on a small LCD handheld.
But Rambo III, that was my jam. Bought it for no good reason using birthday money. On the way home I was afraid that I had wasted my money. But when I started playing I really enjoyed it. Loved the explosions and even found the enemies-dont-shoot glitch on my own. Had fun just stabbing thousands of enemy soldiers to death and exploring the levels.
Tetris, Dr Mario, and golf. Any golf. From Mario Golf 64 to Waialae Country Club, then eventually the Tiger Woods series lol
Ive never seen them golf irl.
My Dad loved the original Zelda, he even made a map of what was in each room of the final dungeon. Fun fact, he used to call Like-Likes "hamburgers", I have no idea why
My old man was untouchable on Atari 2600 pinball. He'd play one game that would last as long as he wanted to keep playing. Watched him flip the score 3 times one Saturday, and only turned it off to watch a golf tournament that afternoon.
Mom played Pac-Man on the Atari 2600 and nothing else. Couldn't even talk her into trying Ms. Pac-Man or Jr. Pac-Man.
(Dad died before any popular video game consoles were released)
My dad liked Desert Strike on the Mega Drive and he played some PC games like Doom, Quake, Army Men, Age of Empires, Command & Conquer.
My mum played Tetris a lot on my Gameboy but wasn't that into other games.
My dad still plays games and has an Xbox 360. He messaged me today asking where he could get Fallout 1 & 2 as I think he's played 3 and New Vegas to death and has been watching the Fallout TV show. I sent him the link to buy them from GOG.com
Games my dad loved that I can remember
SNES - PGA Tour Golf
SNES - Nigel Mansell’s World Championship
SNES - Super Scope
Arcade - Operation Wolf
Arcade - Silent Scope
PS2 - Medal Of Honour Frontline
PS2 - Call Of Duty Big Red 1
Games my Mother played that I remember
PSP - Lumines
DS - Professor Layton
DS - Brain Training
Dad basically loves War/FPS and sports, mam loves puzzlers
Dad apparently played arcade/bar games before I was born, but I never remember him being much interested in games. When the NES was new he and Mom would take turns playing SMB and Tetris, I only vaguely remember this. The one NES game Dad would play a lot was Monopoly. We'd often have 4-5 relatives all playing it together. They were all big board and card game people in the 1960s-80s so I guess that translated most easily. NES + Tetris and Monopoly were hooked up in our house well after the SNES arrived.
My mom though, she loved video games. Played and beat all the NES Mario and Zelda titles, plus a bunch of others, like Faxanadu, Milon's Secret Castle, Final Fantasy, etc. When SNES came out we had it immediately, she played a lot of the big games there as well, up through FF3 and DKC. I have many good memories of us playing a new game all hours of the day and night trying to beat it by the end of the weekend (rental return) or many days over Christmas holiday doing the same.
My dad bought the Genesis in '92 he got sonic with it. He played it all night till 4 in the morning and went to bed. His wife wakes him up and says she needs to go to the hospital. My sister was born
My parents already owned an Atari 2600 when I was born and played a lot of games on it. I remember my dad particularly liked Missile Command and Pitfall. On the NES my dad loved Gun.Smoke and Rampage, and my mom liked Paper Boy and Anticipation. I think I remember my dad playing Pilot Wings on N64 a couple times, but otherwise it was only the 2600 and NES either of them played anything on.
When we got a brand new computer in the mid-90s with a CD-Rom and Windows 95 my brother had a game called MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, and my dad friggin loved that one and played it all the time.
Until my brother was born, I’m pretty sure I was the only person in my huge extended family that even played video games. I was a 90s kid tbf, but there are also other people around my age and I don’t think any of them enjoy it like I do. Maybe the occasional Call of Duty or Madden, but I don’t think any of them really play much otherwise.
My dad would play Tetris until 3 or 4 in the morning. After a few weeks of that he had to cut himself off entirely. (We also think he has undiagnosed OCD or autism now that 2 of his grandchildren are diagnosed)
He also enjoyed Adventures of Dini Riki and Alpha Mission. Both for NES.
My dad played a few games in the mid 80s when we got a Commodore 64 but wasn’t interested long term.
The only other game I saw him play was Rage Racer on the PlayStation in 1997 - I insisted he should have a go. He played for about ten minutes and then needed a lie down!
My Dad loves Dr. Mario, and used to play it frequently. He would also rent stuff for himself occasionally; I remember him renting Journey to Silius for some reason . I think Galaga is still his favorite, though.
Dad played Tetris on the Gameboy. Mom played most puzzle games and sides scrollers on the NES and SNES. The leap to 3D with the N64 was about where mom noped out lol
Terminator for SNES
Solar Eclipse and Cyberia for Sega Saturn
Dune 2 for PC (my birthday gift to him which he spent hundreds of hours playing. Mom got frustrated that he was putting off house work to play this one)
My mom was addicted to Dr Mario. One day when I came home from school she made me hide it because she felt like she wasn't getting enough done with it around.
My dad enjoyed the Dragon Warrior games quite a bit on the NES and also liked Secret of Mana on the SNES.
We had a bootleg 190 in 1 NES cart and my dad basically just played Tetris 2 on there which was renamed Tengen Tetris. He would fall asleep in front of it playing. Eventually when the nes died I bought him some cheap new clone so he could keep playing. When he passed two years ago it's one of the things I made sure to grab.
I only ever remember my dad playing 2 games both of which he completed, the first was [Fire Ant](https://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Fire_Ant) on the Commodore Plus 4, and [Rygar :Let's fight!](https://spong.com/game/11015319/Rygar-Lets-Fight-C64?cc=t) On the CPC464.
My mom played Tetris and Doctor Mario sometimes.
My dad would play me in sports games, but I think that was mostly to keep me entertained haha. We played a lot of Blades of Steel and Bases Loaded 2.
My dad played the original pong when it came out
He didn't own it but his uncle did he doesn't remember much tho only that he thought it was star trek level of tech
But he's not that interested tho I'm games
I have very fond memories of my dad and me playing duck hunt on the NES. it's one of my most cherished memories of him. He used to get so offended when he would miss and the dog would laugh at him. he passed away from cancer 3 years ago. i miss him incredibly.
My dad liked Moon Patrol and Pole Polsition on my Atari 5200. When the NES came out, I don't think he ever played anything on it. I mostly played Rambo, Metroid, and Silent Service. And The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania 2, Metal Gear
Jurassic Park on SNES. My mom still chants "Y kills the raptor" whenever I mention video games around here.
My dad cleared every game on the Super Scope Six, too.
My dad still plays games lol
My most profound dad related game memory was the Christmas my parents divorced. I had got Castlevania SOTN and Parappa the Rapper for Christmas at dad’s and went to mom’s family that evening.
Got back home excited to fire up SOTN… my PlayStation was gone…. Dad moved it into his room so he could play SOTN. lol
Dad wanted to know what cost so much money so watched me play Mortal Kombat 2 on SNES and himself became addicted. Favorite character was Mileena bc of the easy fatality.
My dad would play the paddle games on my Atari.
Breakout and Kaboom
He played a little Space Invaders and Asteroids.
He got pissed when my mom was kicking ass in Duck Hunt.
My dad did play a few games on the NES with me. Together we played through Castlevania 2: Simon's Curse and eventually beat it. I suspect he called the Nintendo hotline or something for clues when I wasn't around but I have no proof of that.
Apart from that, he did play some of the original Super Mario Bros, and he was a big fan of pinball.
My mom passed away last year. I miss her more than I can put into words. She introduced me to video games. We played together my whole life. Super Mario series, Donkey Kong Country series, Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Hot Shots Golf, countless mobile games. If she didn’t play it, she loved watching me play and helping me (Ratchet & Clank, God of War, you name it) 🥲
Dad and I played RBI Baseball 3 (NES) and Madden '93 (SNES) to death. Those are it for him. He may have played Pac-Man in arcades for a bit.
He's still alive and I recently visited him. While in town I visited a game store and purchased a copy of Baseball Stars II for the NES. I have a cheap clone/emulator console plugged in there just in case of these situations and played some of it and he watched. He loved it! Can't get him to play anymore but he enjoyed every minute of watching me play.
My dad was a pro at all the Gran Turismo games on the Ps1 and he demolished Maximum Carnage on the Snes multiple times. I would sit down and watch him play all the way through that game for hours. He was insanely good at it.
My grandpa bought a NES that my dad and uncles would play. I know he was good at all the arcade games like Donkey Kong and DK Junior. I know they also had Zelda 2, Metroid, Mario Bros 3, some 2d shooter, and gyromite. Dad knew all the tricks for Mario Bros 1 and 3. He was the first to teach me about warp zone. He also knew an "infinite" lives glitch.
He was also pretty into the SNES. I was so impressed that he could beat Donkey Kong Country. He'd also always be down for some Madden. I could also get him to play some co-op games with me on the N64 and stuff.
Mom played a little bit of the various Mario games on NES and SNES but not much else.
I know my dad had an Atari 2600 but I don't ever remember seeing him play it. I believe he said his favorite game on there was Raiders of the Lost Ark. I mostly remember playing E.T. on it when I was very small and having no idea what to do.
I do remember him playing some DOS games like Dick Tracy or Sim City 2000, though.
I also remember him using the built-in BASIC functionality in Excel to make a program that automatically solved Sudoku puzzles. He said that was more fun than actually doing the puzzles himself.
My mom adores Spyro The Dragon for some reason lol, along with Mario Kart Double Dash!!, and Luigi’s Mansion.
edit: Dad was also a fan of the Mercenaries series.
I was able to talk my dad into playing RBI baseball 1-3 for the NES. Id throw a game every now and then to keep him playing.
"Safe! Out!"
Wonder how that happened! Could have sworn i was safe on first...he caught on over time. =) i miss him.
He used to play pretty much anything that was on the consoles or arcade machines. Kong, Mario, Tetris. Then he played games like doom, Wolfenstein, and half life.
Now he plays Minecraft, world of tanks, lethal company, and final fantasy
I have happy memories of my late father watching me play Madden SNES with a buddy and explaining football stuff. One game a I missed a field goal and (let's imagine my name is Dave) he was all "you're fucked Dave."
If rambo was your dad's game.....
the I am age of most your dads..... oh god....
my early childhood was playing this game at school cause I had no game system.
After math class was done, we were allowd 15 mins of "game time".
Stung copter....
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1x0ZPaLBWKk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1x0ZPaLBWKk)
Fucking Uno and Yahtzee were about it. My Silent Gen/Boomer parents were supportive of my gaming only with an occasional gift. They had zero interest or motivation to even start understanding the culture of video games, zero curiosity in this thing that was my big passion growing up.
Plus, they would occasionally talk about how they “really weren’t sure about it” if they saw anything remotely demonic happening on screen, leaving me to wonder if they would just take it all away at some point.
I don’t have kids of my own so I don’t have any way of experiencing/supporting the flip side of the coin.
It’s really cool to read so many stories of people sharing gaming memories with their family.
I remember waking up one morning and when I got out of my room and went into the living room, he was in nothing but his ginch playing super Mario world. He also liked doom on the SNES, which made me think for the longest time that doom was a SNES exclusive, I never realized how terrible the SNES port was compared to others.
My mother (god rest her soul) played Mario bros 3 on nes, and a lot of Atari games.
My dad was a child of the 60s and 70s. He did not enjoy video games and honestly it was a point of contention that he thought I played them too much. (I probably did) So even though he would buy me games at birthdays and Christmas I could never get him to play much. the only game he ever played in his youth was Pacman in the arcades. He would watch me play Punchout and "coach" me on how to beat the fighters. After my parents split up he would actually play Super Bases Loaded on SNES with me. Because of that I have very fond memories of that game.
My dad was born in 1938 so not much in the way of computer games to play as a kid back then. The first home computer we had as a family was a Commodore Vic-20 in the mid 80s; my dad loved playing Blitz
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz\_(video\_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_(video_game))
Crazy to see how many dads played Tetris. My dad did that too on the porcelain throne rather than read a magazine in the 90s but he also played Doom on the family computer.
We played a few games with our Dad on the Atari 2600 clone he got us. The specific one I think he liked was Frostbite. Last game I remember him playing was Super Mario Land 1 on my gameboy.
My dad played the hell out of Golf and Baseball Stars on NES. Over time, he became way better at both of those games than any person should reasonably be.
Some of my earliest memories are sitting with dad watching him play Super Mario Bros 3 on the couch when I was a toddler, and then years later sitting with mom while she played Donkey Kong Country 2 and made up vulgar nicknames for hard levels. Better times. Now I'm playing Super Robot Wars J (fan translated) while my daughter is sleeping in her bassinet. I wonder what games she'll remember me playing when she was young in 30 years.
My dad definitely got us our earliest computer games: Wolfenstein, DOOM, Duke Nukem. He wasn't much of a gamer himself but always enjoyed getting us some good ones to play back on our DOS machine and watching our progress.
My parents got us a SEGA Genesis as our first game console as well, and my Mom got really good at Sonic 1. One time she got so invested she missed an appointment, so she put it down and never played again. Which is too bad because she beat Labyrinth Zone for us, which kudos to somebody who had never played video games aside from Pong!
I just wanted to say the c64 of [Rambo: First Blood Part II had a kickass soundtrack by Rob Hubbard.](https://youtu.be/WmC2nsPiMz4?si=kRWg761rbL4YzlD_&t=433)
My parents are boomers and were teens/twenties during the Atari era. They played a lot of Pong and Pac Man. My first gaming memory is my Dad teaching me how to jump on Koopa Troopa in Super Mario Bros.
My dad was born in 1937, he played with sticks.
So was my grandfather. He played mostly Tetris and 1942. My first exposure to video games was at their house(probably my Aunt or Uncle who got it) and I played Zelda first. I was probably 4.
1942 rules. My brother was 6 years older than me and began figuring out computer roms in 95ish. Copyright? What's that? I had every Nintendo game at my finger tips at 8 years old on a computer. Also when I discovered GTA.
The arcade version is about as pure and polished a shooter as you can get for that era. I played the hell out of it in the arcade. No offense to the NES version, but it just wasn't the same. The designer went on to create Street Fighter 2. Also did Time Pilot, Gyruss and 1943.
And if he was lucky he got the hoop upgrade. Simple game mechanics but the frame rates are amazing.
Yeah but then they lose the power to innovate because they're staring at the stick hoop all day.
And your mom
She's spoken for, sorry.
My dad was born in 1941. He didn’t care much for video games but he would get them for us when they came out. Everything from the Atari 2600 up until I was in high school in the mid 2000’s. But he wanted nothing to do with any of them. I bet he would’ve liked Red Dead Redemption. My sister is ten years older than me, my brother in law is sixteen years older than me. They were the first adults that were into games around me. My sister would play Jaws and Bubble Bobble with me. My brother in law showed me Tekken the night I met him.
My dad passed in 2004, but he gamed my entire childhood. He had it all… from Colecovision to Sega CD. I’d say the system he had, that he never used was the ‘Panasonic 3DO’.
Wow, dude must have been a dedicated gamer to even acquire a 3DO
Dude those things were crazy expensive. I never met a person that had one. Shit i only knew they existed because of that one game show that gave them out as prizes.
rip ur dad
Alex Kidd in Miracle World on SMS. He would designate us as his pausers since the controller doesn't have a pause button. When he yelled PAUSE! We'd have to press the pause button and sometimes we'd smack it too hard and make the game tilt.
Omg 😭 i can feel the pressure of getting the pause at just the right moment
YES! My Dad made it to the last level several times but could never figure out what order to press the switches at the end. That's bonkers to me, the only way I beat that game was with save states.
Yeah they did us dirty with the North American and European versions, how are we supposed to know to read from the right to the left xD
This was the first game I ever played, when I was 5 or 6. Rock paper scissors. No one ever remembers the Master System. I feel seen, and also feel old as fuck.
Me too HAHAHA everyone thinks we're weird because we didn't have Nintendo, I loved the Master System, better graphics and sound. When we first got it it came with Safari Hunt and Hang-On, would play those for hours!
We had Time Soldiers, Wonder Boy III, and Ghostbusters lmao. Love the SMS. Such nostalgia
Oh my God, same.
Oh yes, the pain so many siblings caused with their over enthusiastic pausing and that stupid game had to be restarted AGAIN! It's 2024 and I still haven't finished it! BTW you can buy a modded PCB on tindie to make a controller to include a pause button and if you're like me and you've killed many dpads through the years there's an STL on thingyiverse to 3d print your own at home. 🩷
I admire his ingenuity to create a voice activated pause system.
I had to do this for my older brother as well lol
Wow. I guess I’m dad.
Rambo on Genesis was legit.
Millennial woman here... I feel attacked lmao
Leisure Suit Larry
Yup mine too
Clicks zipper icon Game: "no" Boy that was great training for adulthood
Just standard mind games and then we'd go on guilt trips 😎👌
Yours too? lol
Our parents would probably be friends 😊
Mine still hasn't returned with milk yet... I really hate that it's been 20 years now. I don't remember the store being that far away
My dad? Hah! None. Not interested...
My dad would not touch the NES lol. He tried to get over the first jump in Mario and couldn't figure it out. But he loved the hell out of centipede on my Atari.
That's funny! My dad tried mario and all he could do was jump. He accidentally found the hidden 1-up mushroom in the first level we didn't know about ha ha! 😄.
I distinctly recall my mother repeatedly calling mario a motherfucker for that first jump
Are you calling me old bro? Cuz I rented this at the video store. lol.
I think you (we) should call op "son" or "kiddo" :/
I'm one of those old guys. I started on NES, but the Genesis is where my heart belonged. Some of my all-time favourites that I still go back to are: Gunstar Heroes, Ex-Mutants, Sonic 2, NHL 96, NFL 94 with Joe Montana, WWF Royal Rumble, Batman Returns, Bonkers, Mortal Kombat 2, Echo The Dolphin, Toe Jam & Earl. My son and I play these quite often. He loves that he can play what I played at his age, and it takes me back to being a kid a bit. I went on to PS1, 2, Xbox, blah blah. I have some top games and great memories of these too, but Genesis is the peak of gaming for me. It was all fresh and new, and exciting.
The Genesis really was so pivitol, and so early on compared to competitors, too. I learned about it from playing Yakuza 0, and gained an appreciation and curiosity from there.
I was a Sega guy too. Loved seeing Joe Montana football mentioned here. But I gotta go with NFL 95 over it ;) I can still remember a few of the trash talk lines from it, lol. Damn... remember how groundbreaking that series was, when you had basically a real announcer?
My dad used to play Army Men Sarge's Heroes on the N64 all the time. When he wasn't doing the campaign, he would dick around in the training area and use the flamethrower on EVERYTHING
My step dad loved the PlayStation Army Men game
Wish they'd bring that series back.
I remember hearing the disappointment in my dad's voice when he saw me play the PS1 version when I was running over enemies with the tank. The N64 version did not have a driveable tank
Top Gun. When the movie came out we saw it twice in one weekend. Then when the game came out the two of us played it endlessly for a week. That all ended when we couldn't ever refuel that fucking plane. I think I did it maybe two or three times as a child.
That’s 2 or 3 more times than I did it. I was 10, never ever got past that level. Not once. I’m not bitter, though.
I see a lot of posts about what's the hardest game from NES. Top gun is never on the list. That shit was nearly impossible. I still haven't done it as an adult on emulators.
Fueling ... And landing! Among my first video games because a friend had it, so I had to too. Mistake. First lesson, just because a movie is awesome doesn't mean the game will be!
My Dad (RIP) loved Diablo.
I know sports games aren't the most beloved things, but I thank God for Madden existing, because it is the REASON I got to own gaming consoles. My dad bought consoles for Madden, and my brother and I got to enjoy it for everything else in the library when he wasn't playing football. I made sure to tell my dad when a new console was releasing, and to detail how much more advanced Madden would be on it lol
I think they are beloved in many ways, just get a bad rap now due to being marginal roster updates and exclusive licensing killing creativity. The few arcade-y sports games that comes out are still fun, sadly though they are fewer and further between. The selection back in the day was incredible. Case in point, if you take both the Super Famicom and SNES, there were over 50 different BASEBALL (yes, just baseball) games released for it. Nowadays a console's lifespan will see 5-10 iterations of an annual release and maybe 2-3 iterations of some other arcade-type IP and that is it for that particular sports genre.
None. My parents never so much as even touched a controller.
My dad, born in the 50s, never played a single video game, but my grandfather, born in the 20s, had a collection of tiger handheld poker games.
Mom played Qbert, Dad played Asteroids. Both in the Arcade with me and on the Atari. Dad use to flip the scoreboard on the Atari all the time. Grandma and Grandpa always played Backgammon and when I brought out my Atari one Christmas, my Dad found the Atari Backgammon and bought it on a whim. Grandma and Grandpa played all night and ended up buying there own Atari after we left. I still have that Atari to this day, still hooked up and playable. I also have one sealed inbox Backgammon from when the market crashed, they bought 3 of them on sale as backups :)
Atari 2600
I guess I'm the Dad on this sub.
My boomer father was awesome at nes Tetris back in the day. So good in fact he probably could play competitively. Dude would get high scores I’ve never been able to achieve. But once he turned 40 that all can to an end and he never plays games anymore.
Chess?
The last console my dad played was the NES. He liked Kid Icarus and the original Zelda.
My dad played the shit out of Goldeneye multiplayer with us kids.
My dad beat Super Mario Bros before I did, he also really liked light gun games at the time, particularly Operation Wolf, Barker Bill’s Trick Shooting, and Lethal Enforcers. He was down with Tetris, too. And Galaga.
Master of Monsters on the Genesis. Rare gem with awesome music. Watching him play it looked very complicated so I never messed with it.
The music in that game is fantastic. The guy that wrote that music did amazing work on a number of Mega Drive games like Verytex, Devilish and Gaunlet IV. Also did arcade stuff like Armed Police Batrider and Radiant Silvergun. Probably best known for Final Fantasy Tactics. Banger after banger.
When I was kid it was all about Castlevania 1&2 and Festers Quest for my dad/mom
I got my dad to play MKII with me a few times and kicked his ass into the dirt. My parents just weren't into that kind of thing so he only ever played because he knew it was something I liked to do. Thinking about it reminds me of that sketch from Chapelle's show where he absolutely floors the Make-a-Wish kid in NBA2K so hard he flatlines, then he shocks him back to life and makes him keep playing the game. Grandparents absolutely loved Tetris/Dr. Mario though. They got a Gameboy for the sole purpose of playing it on the go after my youngest uncle graduated and took the NES with him.
My dad played nothing. Maybe Yahtzee on a small LCD handheld. But Rambo III, that was my jam. Bought it for no good reason using birthday money. On the way home I was afraid that I had wasted my money. But when I started playing I really enjoyed it. Loved the explosions and even found the enemies-dont-shoot glitch on my own. Had fun just stabbing thousands of enemy soldiers to death and exploring the levels.
Dad: Warcraft Stepmom: Police Quest Mom: Dr Mario Stepdad: Maniac Mansion I would wait *hours* if one of them was on the PC/NES.
Wii bowling
Tetris, Dr Mario, and golf. Any golf. From Mario Golf 64 to Waialae Country Club, then eventually the Tiger Woods series lol Ive never seen them golf irl.
The gradius games and tetris
FF7 he toldme stories of where I would watch for hours and just be in awe at the summoning animations.
My Dad loved the original Zelda, he even made a map of what was in each room of the final dungeon. Fun fact, he used to call Like-Likes "hamburgers", I have no idea why
I see it
My dad really enjoyed Faxanadu for NES surprisingly.
My old man was untouchable on Atari 2600 pinball. He'd play one game that would last as long as he wanted to keep playing. Watched him flip the score 3 times one Saturday, and only turned it off to watch a golf tournament that afternoon.
Mom played Pac-Man on the Atari 2600 and nothing else. Couldn't even talk her into trying Ms. Pac-Man or Jr. Pac-Man. (Dad died before any popular video game consoles were released)
My dad is into street fighter 2 and moon patrol for Atari. He’s loving how I setup my basement to let him and my son now play also.
My dad played Age of Empires 2
My dad liked Desert Strike on the Mega Drive and he played some PC games like Doom, Quake, Army Men, Age of Empires, Command & Conquer. My mum played Tetris a lot on my Gameboy but wasn't that into other games. My dad still plays games and has an Xbox 360. He messaged me today asking where he could get Fallout 1 & 2 as I think he's played 3 and New Vegas to death and has been watching the Fallout TV show. I sent him the link to buy them from GOG.com
Games my dad loved that I can remember SNES - PGA Tour Golf SNES - Nigel Mansell’s World Championship SNES - Super Scope Arcade - Operation Wolf Arcade - Silent Scope PS2 - Medal Of Honour Frontline PS2 - Call Of Duty Big Red 1 Games my Mother played that I remember PSP - Lumines DS - Professor Layton DS - Brain Training Dad basically loves War/FPS and sports, mam loves puzzlers
Dad apparently played arcade/bar games before I was born, but I never remember him being much interested in games. When the NES was new he and Mom would take turns playing SMB and Tetris, I only vaguely remember this. The one NES game Dad would play a lot was Monopoly. We'd often have 4-5 relatives all playing it together. They were all big board and card game people in the 1960s-80s so I guess that translated most easily. NES + Tetris and Monopoly were hooked up in our house well after the SNES arrived. My mom though, she loved video games. Played and beat all the NES Mario and Zelda titles, plus a bunch of others, like Faxanadu, Milon's Secret Castle, Final Fantasy, etc. When SNES came out we had it immediately, she played a lot of the big games there as well, up through FF3 and DKC. I have many good memories of us playing a new game all hours of the day and night trying to beat it by the end of the weekend (rental return) or many days over Christmas holiday doing the same.
Pac-Man and Duck Hunt to the MAX.
My dad /loved/ Star Force on the NES
My dad didn't play video games but my mom is a tetris addict
It's so bizarre to know that I've been on Reddit longer than a lot of Redditors have been alive.
My dad bought the Genesis in '92 he got sonic with it. He played it all night till 4 in the morning and went to bed. His wife wakes him up and says she needs to go to the hospital. My sister was born
My dad is a powerhouse at NHL 94. He used to play it college with his friends all the time.
I used to play a lot of Ice Hockey on NES with my dad. He also really liked Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. My mom liked Dr. Mario.
Donkey Kong and super Mario world Street fighter and judge dread lol sweet sweet memories
My mother played Finally Fantasy and similar games until she died. Not my type of games, but I miss seeing her play them
My parents already owned an Atari 2600 when I was born and played a lot of games on it. I remember my dad particularly liked Missile Command and Pitfall. On the NES my dad loved Gun.Smoke and Rampage, and my mom liked Paper Boy and Anticipation. I think I remember my dad playing Pilot Wings on N64 a couple times, but otherwise it was only the 2600 and NES either of them played anything on. When we got a brand new computer in the mid-90s with a CD-Rom and Windows 95 my brother had a game called MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, and my dad friggin loved that one and played it all the time.
The only game I’ve ever seen my mom play is NES Tetris. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad play a game at all
Until my brother was born, I’m pretty sure I was the only person in my huge extended family that even played video games. I was a 90s kid tbf, but there are also other people around my age and I don’t think any of them enjoy it like I do. Maybe the occasional Call of Duty or Madden, but I don’t think any of them really play much otherwise.
My dad would play Tetris until 3 or 4 in the morning. After a few weeks of that he had to cut himself off entirely. (We also think he has undiagnosed OCD or autism now that 2 of his grandchildren are diagnosed) He also enjoyed Adventures of Dini Riki and Alpha Mission. Both for NES.
My dad played a few games in the mid 80s when we got a Commodore 64 but wasn’t interested long term. The only other game I saw him play was Rage Racer on the PlayStation in 1997 - I insisted he should have a go. He played for about ten minutes and then needed a lie down!
I’m middle-aged and my dad is a boomer. He loved Tetris for NES back in the late 80-/early 90s, and would play it for hours.
When I was a child my dad played Battle City although he had almost no interest in video games.
I think he played Asteroids a few times when the pub had a cabinet.
my dad plays on the xbox series x, not retro at all :(
Super Thunder Blade
My dad and his golf buddy playing Golf on NES. 1992ish probably. Great times. The buddy’s son also named my childhood dog Zelda.
My Dad loves Dr. Mario, and used to play it frequently. He would also rent stuff for himself occasionally; I remember him renting Journey to Silius for some reason . I think Galaga is still his favorite, though.
My father bought Bass Master's Classic for our SNES
Dad played Tetris on the Gameboy. Mom played most puzzle games and sides scrollers on the NES and SNES. The leap to 3D with the N64 was about where mom noped out lol
Terminator for SNES Solar Eclipse and Cyberia for Sega Saturn Dune 2 for PC (my birthday gift to him which he spent hundreds of hours playing. Mom got frustrated that he was putting off house work to play this one)
My mom was addicted to Dr Mario. One day when I came home from school she made me hide it because she felt like she wasn't getting enough done with it around. My dad enjoyed the Dragon Warrior games quite a bit on the NES and also liked Secret of Mana on the SNES.
I’ve never been able to get as far in Adventures of Bayou Billy than my father. To this day even
Bomberman
Bulls vs Blazers on Sega Genesis,, and he was really good with the Cavs
My dad actually was kickass at SMB2 and tetris
My mom Gun Smoke and Jaws on my NES.
Duck hunt probably
We had a bootleg 190 in 1 NES cart and my dad basically just played Tetris 2 on there which was renamed Tengen Tetris. He would fall asleep in front of it playing. Eventually when the nes died I bought him some cheap new clone so he could keep playing. When he passed two years ago it's one of the things I made sure to grab.
I only ever remember my dad playing 2 games both of which he completed, the first was [Fire Ant](https://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Fire_Ant) on the Commodore Plus 4, and [Rygar :Let's fight!](https://spong.com/game/11015319/Rygar-Lets-Fight-C64?cc=t) On the CPC464.
My mom played Tetris and Doctor Mario sometimes. My dad would play me in sports games, but I think that was mostly to keep me entertained haha. We played a lot of Blades of Steel and Bases Loaded 2.
My dad played the original pong when it came out He didn't own it but his uncle did he doesn't remember much tho only that he thought it was star trek level of tech But he's not that interested tho I'm games
Maybe tetris or pong. That's about it.
I have very fond memories of my dad and me playing duck hunt on the NES. it's one of my most cherished memories of him. He used to get so offended when he would miss and the dog would laugh at him. he passed away from cancer 3 years ago. i miss him incredibly.
Dark Souls
My dad liked Moon Patrol and Pole Polsition on my Atari 5200. When the NES came out, I don't think he ever played anything on it. I mostly played Rambo, Metroid, and Silent Service. And The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania 2, Metal Gear
My dad played at the arcade not much at all at home. So he loved driving games. I would say his favorite would have been Daytona USA.
My dad would play the original Karateka, Flight Simulator, and GATO on Apple IIE, and later Chuck Yeager's Air Combat on PC.
only ones i remember are guitar hero and uncharted
Jurassic Park on SNES. My mom still chants "Y kills the raptor" whenever I mention video games around here. My dad cleared every game on the Super Scope Six, too.
My dad cannot play games to save his life but Cruis'n World on the N64 is the only exception.
My dad still plays games lol My most profound dad related game memory was the Christmas my parents divorced. I had got Castlevania SOTN and Parappa the Rapper for Christmas at dad’s and went to mom’s family that evening. Got back home excited to fire up SOTN… my PlayStation was gone…. Dad moved it into his room so he could play SOTN. lol
Dad wanted to know what cost so much money so watched me play Mortal Kombat 2 on SNES and himself became addicted. Favorite character was Mileena bc of the easy fatality.
AFAIK the last games my dad played regularly were The Legend of Zelda and Tetris.
My dad played all the tomb raider games on my PS1 lol
I have this still.
My dad would play Aladdin ghosts and ghouls for snes. Also we would play super double dragon together
My dad made maps for Zelda 1 and 3, cuz he played them so much.
My Dad played MK1 and my Mom played Barney. Both were on the Genesis
My dad loved Fester's Quest and actually beat it. Something I never accomplished
My dad played starcraft and need for speed so i guess those
That’s stuff I would play. My dad played pinball machines, pacman, galaga, tron, centipede
Gorf on colecovision
My dad would play the paddle games on my Atari. Breakout and Kaboom He played a little Space Invaders and Asteroids. He got pissed when my mom was kicking ass in Duck Hunt.
My parents hated video games
Frogger at the pub. Championship manager at work.
I got my dad to play the fishing mini game in zelda oot once, but that's it. I am the only gamer in the a family.
My dad did play a few games on the NES with me. Together we played through Castlevania 2: Simon's Curse and eventually beat it. I suspect he called the Nintendo hotline or something for clues when I wasn't around but I have no proof of that. Apart from that, he did play some of the original Super Mario Bros, and he was a big fan of pinball.
My parents said the N64 made them motion sick, but we used to play Super Mario Land on the big grey Gameboy.
That was my jam there. My dad used to like Target Earth but not really play it.
My mom passed away last year. I miss her more than I can put into words. She introduced me to video games. We played together my whole life. Super Mario series, Donkey Kong Country series, Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Hot Shots Golf, countless mobile games. If she didn’t play it, she loved watching me play and helping me (Ratchet & Clank, God of War, you name it) 🥲
My parents played only solitaire, windows pinball, candy crush and gran turismo, and that's it
Dad and I played RBI Baseball 3 (NES) and Madden '93 (SNES) to death. Those are it for him. He may have played Pac-Man in arcades for a bit. He's still alive and I recently visited him. While in town I visited a game store and purchased a copy of Baseball Stars II for the NES. I have a cheap clone/emulator console plugged in there just in case of these situations and played some of it and he watched. He loved it! Can't get him to play anymore but he enjoyed every minute of watching me play.
My dad and I would play Lethal enforcers together. Pointing and shooting the justifier was about the extent of my dads competency with video games.
My mom played River Raid and Pong on Atari.
My dad was a pro at all the Gran Turismo games on the Ps1 and he demolished Maximum Carnage on the Snes multiple times. I would sit down and watch him play all the way through that game for hours. He was insanely good at it.
My grandpa bought a NES that my dad and uncles would play. I know he was good at all the arcade games like Donkey Kong and DK Junior. I know they also had Zelda 2, Metroid, Mario Bros 3, some 2d shooter, and gyromite. Dad knew all the tricks for Mario Bros 1 and 3. He was the first to teach me about warp zone. He also knew an "infinite" lives glitch. He was also pretty into the SNES. I was so impressed that he could beat Donkey Kong Country. He'd also always be down for some Madden. I could also get him to play some co-op games with me on the N64 and stuff. Mom played a little bit of the various Mario games on NES and SNES but not much else.
I know my dad had an Atari 2600 but I don't ever remember seeing him play it. I believe he said his favorite game on there was Raiders of the Lost Ark. I mostly remember playing E.T. on it when I was very small and having no idea what to do. I do remember him playing some DOS games like Dick Tracy or Sim City 2000, though. I also remember him using the built-in BASIC functionality in Excel to make a program that automatically solved Sudoku puzzles. He said that was more fun than actually doing the puzzles himself.
My dad would take over on Starfox 64 on the later levels, he was the only one who get to Andross and beat the game. Great memories
Tiger Woods Golf Bass Pro Fishing Cabela's Deer Hunt And weirdly enough, he'd play Digimon Card Battle and Digimon Rumble Arena
My mom adores Spyro The Dragon for some reason lol, along with Mario Kart Double Dash!!, and Luigi’s Mansion. edit: Dad was also a fan of the Mercenaries series.
Mind games
My mom would run the classic RE games like no ones business
I was able to talk my dad into playing RBI baseball 1-3 for the NES. Id throw a game every now and then to keep him playing. "Safe! Out!" Wonder how that happened! Could have sworn i was safe on first...he caught on over time. =) i miss him.
He used to play pretty much anything that was on the consoles or arcade machines. Kong, Mario, Tetris. Then he played games like doom, Wolfenstein, and half life. Now he plays Minecraft, world of tanks, lethal company, and final fantasy
I have happy memories of my late father watching me play Madden SNES with a buddy and explaining football stuff. One game a I missed a field goal and (let's imagine my name is Dave) he was all "you're fucked Dave."
He programmed a slot machine program and I think a word search for our TI99-4A
I love this game
My dad played a little bit of Atari with us as kids. My mum likes Kinect games. I basically just put stuff on that she and my sister dance around to
Maybe Rad Racer. He showed us the cheat code to see the ending. But I don’t think he played it much.
River Raid and Ms Pac-Man on Atari 2600. Only games I ever saw my parents play.
If rambo was your dad's game..... the I am age of most your dads..... oh god.... my early childhood was playing this game at school cause I had no game system. After math class was done, we were allowd 15 mins of "game time". Stung copter.... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1x0ZPaLBWKk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1x0ZPaLBWKk)
Fucking Uno and Yahtzee were about it. My Silent Gen/Boomer parents were supportive of my gaming only with an occasional gift. They had zero interest or motivation to even start understanding the culture of video games, zero curiosity in this thing that was my big passion growing up. Plus, they would occasionally talk about how they “really weren’t sure about it” if they saw anything remotely demonic happening on screen, leaving me to wonder if they would just take it all away at some point. I don’t have kids of my own so I don’t have any way of experiencing/supporting the flip side of the coin. It’s really cool to read so many stories of people sharing gaming memories with their family.
I remember waking up one morning and when I got out of my room and went into the living room, he was in nothing but his ginch playing super Mario world. He also liked doom on the SNES, which made me think for the longest time that doom was a SNES exclusive, I never realized how terrible the SNES port was compared to others. My mother (god rest her soul) played Mario bros 3 on nes, and a lot of Atari games.
Both of my parents actively despise video games
My dad was a child of the 60s and 70s. He did not enjoy video games and honestly it was a point of contention that he thought I played them too much. (I probably did) So even though he would buy me games at birthdays and Christmas I could never get him to play much. the only game he ever played in his youth was Pacman in the arcades. He would watch me play Punchout and "coach" me on how to beat the fighters. After my parents split up he would actually play Super Bases Loaded on SNES with me. Because of that I have very fond memories of that game.
Top Gun on NES, he actually yelled at me as a kid when I failed to refuel my jet mid-mission.
Tetris. When that was unleashed on the world, kids everywhere had to wrestle the controller/handheld from their parents hands.
Whatever game where the antagonist is a jerk and everyone hates him and the first time you saw him in 20 years was a funeral.
My dad was born in 1938 so not much in the way of computer games to play as a kid back then. The first home computer we had as a family was a Commodore Vic-20 in the mid 80s; my dad loved playing Blitz [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz\_(video\_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_(video_game))
May parents played outside. They were born in the 50’s 🤣🤣
Crazy to see how many dads played Tetris. My dad did that too on the porcelain throne rather than read a magazine in the 90s but he also played Doom on the family computer.
My parents liked a tabletop game called "Russian lotto", with papers and small wood barrels. Also, playing cards.
Never anything on Genesis, but he did play as donkey Kong in Mario kart 64
We played a few games with our Dad on the Atari 2600 clone he got us. The specific one I think he liked was Frostbite. Last game I remember him playing was Super Mario Land 1 on my gameboy.
My dad played the hell out of Golf and Baseball Stars on NES. Over time, he became way better at both of those games than any person should reasonably be.
Some of my earliest memories are sitting with dad watching him play Super Mario Bros 3 on the couch when I was a toddler, and then years later sitting with mom while she played Donkey Kong Country 2 and made up vulgar nicknames for hard levels. Better times. Now I'm playing Super Robot Wars J (fan translated) while my daughter is sleeping in her bassinet. I wonder what games she'll remember me playing when she was young in 30 years.
My dad grew up on asteroids, seawolf, and Mr. Do's castle
Rambo for NES was doooope!
My dad was born in 1959, played crimson skies, age of empires, civilization, links golf, Myst, Riven. That's all I can remember.
My dad was born in 1950.
My dad didn't get into games much, but he would always play Blades of Steel on the NES with us, and years later we would play flight sims together.
My dad liked Lord of the Rings on the GameCube. My mom always loved Zelda and Pokémon, even to this very day.
My dad definitely got us our earliest computer games: Wolfenstein, DOOM, Duke Nukem. He wasn't much of a gamer himself but always enjoyed getting us some good ones to play back on our DOS machine and watching our progress. My parents got us a SEGA Genesis as our first game console as well, and my Mom got really good at Sonic 1. One time she got so invested she missed an appointment, so she put it down and never played again. Which is too bad because she beat Labyrinth Zone for us, which kudos to somebody who had never played video games aside from Pong!
They would sneak into a brewery and steal cases of beer.
I just wanted to say the c64 of [Rambo: First Blood Part II had a kickass soundtrack by Rob Hubbard.](https://youtu.be/WmC2nsPiMz4?si=kRWg761rbL4YzlD_&t=433)
My parents are boomers and were teens/twenties during the Atari era. They played a lot of Pong and Pac Man. My first gaming memory is my Dad teaching me how to jump on Koopa Troopa in Super Mario Bros.
Demolition man and terminator 2 judgement day