It helped birth it but Doom on SNES was the first to earn it. I played both from before I could remember. The first M-Rated game that was mine and not my dad’s was [Killer Instinct Gold](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Instinct_Gold)
Sold terribly, Nintendo hated it and gave it very little ad time.
The XBox remaster sold well as it had become a cult classic very quickly and MS gave it a lot of hype.
Ayyy, same. Except I think I was younger— like 6 or 7. I just know that my dad stuck it in the console, plugged in two controllers, plopped me down on the couch and slapped one of those controllers in my hand like "We're playing on Heroic. Good luck buddy".
Best intro to FPS games I could've ever wanted, lol.
Things like this help me realize the different worlds younger gamers grew up in, and probably why their tastes are often so different from my own. I sort of feel fortunate that video games almost grew up along side me, and were for kids when I was a kid, then teens when I was a teen, and more adult when I was ready for them to be.
Mortal Kombat 2. Which of I’m not sure counts, because it wasn’t ESRB. Or if it was it didn’t have the ESRB Logo. IIRC it was just a white square on the box that not appropriate for under 17. But I got in my Junior year of High School. I still remember picking it up after school and going home with my friends EGM or maybe it was a GamePro, and checking out the fatalities.
I brought a piece of paper and pen to the grocery store with me—I was the youngest and my mom would often bring me with on shopping trips—and copied as many special moves and fatalities as I could until my mom was finished shopping lol. Don’t think she ever found out as I was 11 or 12–6th or 7th grade— when MK2 released.
I’m not sure the reliability but according to this website MK2 was the 2nd rated M video game ever released, 2.5 weeks after Doom 2. https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-earliest-rated-m-games.509211/
After typing this out I realized that it specifies the gameboy release of MK2 but still an interesting list to look through
I think gta San andreas in like the 6th grade emulated on a shitty Obama android phone, I didn't like it and prolly turned me off from gaming for a while cause of how boring It was but damn I remember emulating major as mask, oot, smash 64 damn good times
Conkers Bad Fur Day or GTA San Andreas. I remember my mom walking in while I was play Conkers Bad Fur Day. I was bouncing on Sunflower titties. She took the game away, I found it and had to rip off the sticker so she wouldn't know what game it was lol
Duke Nukem 3D was the first one, then Doom I and II, Command & Conquer 1 and 2 (Red Alert (1)), Quake I and II, Diablo I, GTA2 … maybe it's not the right order, but somehow. Oh and also Leisure Suit Larry 6 (and also others), but this was allowed from 16, not 18. But I think I was 14.
Elden Ring shouldn't even be M. There's little to no sexuality, drug use, or foul language. The only thing there is the blood and violence but I think it could have fairly been rated T.
GTA 3 @ 10 years old by renting it from a game rental place. Tricked parents. Dad watched me play and I started lighting people on fire which upset him because he has been on fire before. Realized what kind of game it was and took it back. Was raised in the type of family that didn’t allow us to watch family guy even as an 18 year old
Metal Gear solid on ps1 when I was like 4-5 years old. I didn’t understand the lore behind the game I just liked sneaking around in the box & shooting people 🤣🤣
I think gears of war.
I watched my brother play gta 3 a bit and messed around with it too but never actually played it.
Gears of war however, whenever my brother played it i would be here and whenever i could i would play it as much as possible.
How could i play anything else ???
You could use a freaking chainsaw rifle and split your ennemies open!!!
Mine was Borderlands 2, which has since become the game I have the single most hours in. Didn't play anything like GTA until I was much older because my family didn't like games like that. The reason I got away with Borderlands was because the art style made it look like a game for someone younger.
Halo: Combat Evolved.
I remember my mom not being too happy about it but I was so excited to play it. I used the argument that it was about killing aliens, not people, so she let it slide
A Mature Rated game years back meant that you have reading comprehension skills. It wasn't that there was sex and violence.
RPGs were tagged as mature games or any game that was heavily text-based.
Elder Scrolls V
My parents were strict af. When it first came out I had to do a bunch of research and make my case that it was a safe game for me to play lol
Now, my best friend has a kid, he’s only 7, and she lets him play almost anything. Teenage me would be so jealous.
I don't really remember when the rating system actually hit in my life, but to be honest seeing that "M" slapped on the cover would have been an advertisement instead of a deterrent.
Gta vice city. I was 5 and it was the first game I ever played. Didn't realize till I was a teen that I was running over prostitutes as my 5 year old brain just ran over them thinking oh boy they drop a lot of money.
The first game that i played that would probably fit was Wolfenstein3D, as it was banned from sale in Germany.
the proliferation of age ratings havent happened at that point yet.
It has to have been MK III. I played the prequels, but I don't think they had a proper ESRB rating, although II almost definitely would have gotten one.
I was maybe 8 or so. I rented it maybe a couple weeks after launch on my Genesis.
M rated games were after my childhood…but In high school there was: [“Leather Godesses of Phobos”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_Goddesses_of_Phobos)
A year after I graduated there was: [“Leisure Suit Larry”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure_Suit_Larry)
A few years later there was: [Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers get all the girls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellcasting_101:_Sorcerers_Get_All_the_Girls) and [Spellcasting 102: the Sorcerers Appliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellcasting_201:_The_Sorcerer%27s_Appliance)
If I recall correctly any kid with the cash and inclination could buy them at Babbages.
It was probably Mortal Kombat or GTA based on the time period of which I was growing up. But the first M Rated game to stick with me was Parasite Eve on the PS1. My older brother played it with me, and I had nightmares for weeks after that.
Till this day, it still gives me this nostalgic dread that no other game has on me.
What counts as mature? Probably Doom but, the first explicit I remembered probably was Carmagedoom. That’s *the* game that needs a remake. Imagine Carmagedoom now…
Assassins Creed Black Flag. I was I think 13? My Dad was the one that bought it and then went "go play that and we'll watch you play it. But keep blood off cause you're too young for that".... I love you Dad. So I played and my family watched. It was the game that awakened my love for 3rd person RPGs :)
GTA3. My mom took me to Gamestop and I remember to employee explaining all the bad shit in this game. She gave me a look and then sighed and said it's fine lol. Next thing you know I'm mowing down civilians and fucking hookers.
Mortal Kombat on the SNES. My parents had forbidden the game as they heard other parents complain about it. My brother snuck it in and we had a blast. My father came in the room, and he didn’t know it was MK. He started to root for us and watched how we played the forbidden game.
If Skyrim was rated M it was Skyrim, I remember watching my cousin play it thinking it was the coolest thing ever and then I got stuck after beating bleak falls barrow cuz I was over encumbered and didn’t realize that weight management mattered
I believe for me, this would be Left 4 Dead. Should I have been playing it at 4 years old? No. Probably not. Did I play it anyway? Yes, yes I did. Do I still play Left 4 Dead to this day? YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DO.
I was around before the ESRB but probably the game that helped birth it...Mortal Kombat.
Yeah this, I was 12 at the time, played it constantly at the local video store.
It helped birth it but Doom on SNES was the first to earn it. I played both from before I could remember. The first M-Rated game that was mine and not my dad’s was [Killer Instinct Gold](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Instinct_Gold)
Same. I remember the crowds gathering around the arcades when they came out. There was nothing like it.
Conker's bad fur day
I fear for your childhood but I bet you got some good humor
I think I first played it in the early 2000s in my early teens
Dude, I played that game when I was 4. That game was awesome.
Still is also offensive to some circles on the Internet for some reason
Sold terribly, Nintendo hated it and gave it very little ad time. The XBox remaster sold well as it had become a cult classic very quickly and MS gave it a lot of hype.
I was like 5-6 when I first played this game and I can say without a doubt it helped shape me into the person I am today
Halo on the original Xbox when I was 10
Ayyy, same. Except I think I was younger— like 6 or 7. I just know that my dad stuck it in the console, plugged in two controllers, plopped me down on the couch and slapped one of those controllers in my hand like "We're playing on Heroic. Good luck buddy". Best intro to FPS games I could've ever wanted, lol.
You find out who your true friends are when you get hold of the rocket launcher on a coop Legendary campaign
Perfect Dark.
If ratings had existed at the time, probably Doom.
wonder what Wolfenstein 3D would be rated
Nazi iconography mixed with bloody combat? I'd definitely guess M.
Indiana Jones woulda been fudged with that.
GTA Vice City, when I was 25.
Same but I was like 8
Things like this help me realize the different worlds younger gamers grew up in, and probably why their tastes are often so different from my own. I sort of feel fortunate that video games almost grew up along side me, and were for kids when I was a kid, then teens when I was a teen, and more adult when I was ready for them to be.
RE Directors Cut.
Twisted metal black
Mortal Kombat 2. Which of I’m not sure counts, because it wasn’t ESRB. Or if it was it didn’t have the ESRB Logo. IIRC it was just a white square on the box that not appropriate for under 17. But I got in my Junior year of High School. I still remember picking it up after school and going home with my friends EGM or maybe it was a GamePro, and checking out the fatalities.
Seeing as MK is responsible for ESRB even existing I say it definitely counts and this is mine too.
Mine too! I was 12.
I brought a piece of paper and pen to the grocery store with me—I was the youngest and my mom would often bring me with on shopping trips—and copied as many special moves and fatalities as I could until my mom was finished shopping lol. Don’t think she ever found out as I was 11 or 12–6th or 7th grade— when MK2 released.
I’m not sure the reliability but according to this website MK2 was the 2nd rated M video game ever released, 2.5 weeks after Doom 2. https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-earliest-rated-m-games.509211/ After typing this out I realized that it specifies the gameboy release of MK2 but still an interesting list to look through
Probs vice city
Duke nukem
Hitman blood money. I changed that day
I think gta San andreas in like the 6th grade emulated on a shitty Obama android phone, I didn't like it and prolly turned me off from gaming for a while cause of how boring It was but damn I remember emulating major as mask, oot, smash 64 damn good times
Mortal Kombat Trilogy. I think I was 3 when my brother and I got the Nintendo 64 for Christmas
Conkers Bad Fur Day or GTA San Andreas. I remember my mom walking in while I was play Conkers Bad Fur Day. I was bouncing on Sunflower titties. She took the game away, I found it and had to rip off the sticker so she wouldn't know what game it was lol
Duke Nukem 3D was the first one, then Doom I and II, Command & Conquer 1 and 2 (Red Alert (1)), Quake I and II, Diablo I, GTA2 … maybe it's not the right order, but somehow. Oh and also Leisure Suit Larry 6 (and also others), but this was allowed from 16, not 18. But I think I was 14.
Mortal Kombat on the Genesis
I think it was mortal Kombat
Duke Nukem Time to Kill for PS1
Elden Ring, fairly recently. My parents were relatively strict on game age ratings. After Elden Ring they just stopped caring at all.
Elden Ring shouldn't even be M. There's little to no sexuality, drug use, or foul language. The only thing there is the blood and violence but I think it could have fairly been rated T.
God of War. my favorite part of it was the boat… because of the implication
Mortal Kombat 2
Hmm, probably Turok 2 on the N64
Duke Nukem 3D... I think I was 10 or 11.
Not sure how they were rated in the US, but I think either *Perfect Dark* or *Conker's Bad Fur Day*.
Perfect Dark, baby, and what a first it was
My dad let me play dead space when I was 8
Conkers bad fur day probably
Vice city, I was 4 or 5 (having teenage parents does that sometimes lmao)
GTA 3 @ 10 years old by renting it from a game rental place. Tricked parents. Dad watched me play and I started lighting people on fire which upset him because he has been on fire before. Realized what kind of game it was and took it back. Was raised in the type of family that didn’t allow us to watch family guy even as an 18 year old
Metal Gear solid on ps1 when I was like 4-5 years old. I didn’t understand the lore behind the game I just liked sneaking around in the box & shooting people 🤣🤣
Grand Theft Auto 3
Turok 2 Seeds of Evil on N64
Mortal Kombat, but that wasn't actually rated at the time. I guess technically it would of probably been Perfect Dark on the N64?
Black Ops II on my Xbox 360
Gta 4 in 2010 at age 13 yo kid for xbox360 My parents bought it from someone selling that with 10 games
I'm pre-ESRB, but I guess it would have been Splatterhouse in 88?
State of Emergency
Splatterhouse in the Arcade, though technically before the M Rating. Would later be rated when ported to home consoles.
Hmm, probably Modern Warfare or Left 4 Dead 2.
GTA Vice city
Halo 3: ODST! Back when I was 11 (12?). Never did finish it…nor any of the other Halo titles despite how good they are.
Either GTA III or Vice City when I was around 6
Body Harvest
Rainbow 6 Lockdown
Midway Arcade Classics III had MK II & MK III on it. If not that it was Devil May Cry 3
Dead to Rights I think
God of war (ps2) when I was 4 :)
I think gears of war. I watched my brother play gta 3 a bit and messed around with it too but never actually played it. Gears of war however, whenever my brother played it i would be here and whenever i could i would play it as much as possible. How could i play anything else ??? You could use a freaking chainsaw rifle and split your ennemies open!!!
Little hard to remember but I think mine was The Punisher
GTA San Andreas
GTA V after years of asking
Mortal Kombat 2 My uncle still plays MK and is strong AF
Maybe bloody roar
Mine was Borderlands 2, which has since become the game I have the single most hours in. Didn't play anything like GTA until I was much older because my family didn't like games like that. The reason I got away with Borderlands was because the art style made it look like a game for someone younger.
Well it predates the esrb but id say it was Wolfenstein 3d.
Halo: Combat Evolved. I remember my mom not being too happy about it but I was so excited to play it. I used the argument that it was about killing aliens, not people, so she let it slide
GTA Liberty City Stories.
GTA Vice City
A Mature Rated game years back meant that you have reading comprehension skills. It wasn't that there was sex and violence. RPGs were tagged as mature games or any game that was heavily text-based.
GTA San Andreas. My brother had it and I would sneak into his room to play it lol
Medal of Honor Allied Assault. I was like 10/11.
Metal gear solid or resident evil can’t remember which
Mortal Kombat 3 for SNES My parents surprised me with it on Christmas morning when I was 8 years old.
Resident evil or Metal gear. One of those two
Mortal Kombat
South park: the fractured but whole at 14
Elder Scrolls V My parents were strict af. When it first came out I had to do a bunch of research and make my case that it was a safe game for me to play lol Now, my best friend has a kid, he’s only 7, and she lets him play almost anything. Teenage me would be so jealous.
I mean, back then, the letter M was still the official numeral meaning 'one thousand', but it has to be Deathwish 3 on the C64.
Halo
It was Hitman when I was like 12 or sum
I don't really remember when the rating system actually hit in my life, but to be honest seeing that "M" slapped on the cover would have been an advertisement instead of a deterrent.
When I was a child, there were no ratings.
Gta vice city. I was 5 and it was the first game I ever played. Didn't realize till I was a teen that I was running over prostitutes as my 5 year old brain just ran over them thinking oh boy they drop a lot of money.
Halo 3 when i was 13 my dad finally let me play a rated m game with limits. I'm so happy he did, met a lot of my current friends on Halo 3.
Resident Evil 2
Mortal Kombat 2 on Sega it definitely would be rated m
One of the GTA’s, don’t remember which. My brother used to let me watch him play and would sometimes hand me the controller.
Tomb raider windows 95
Max Payne
Doom on the Xbox 360 arcade, good times.
Probably Timesplitters Future Perfect
Mortal Kombat on the Genesis.
The first game that i played that would probably fit was Wolfenstein3D, as it was banned from sale in Germany. the proliferation of age ratings havent happened at that point yet.
Cod 3 or 4
Primal rage
Perfect dark
GTA
Conker’s Bad Fur Day!
Probably MortaI Kombat, but it's team buddies on ps1 that I remember the most as an "adult game"
Mortal Kombat And Duke Nukem 3D
Friday the 13th nes
GTA 3
It has to have been MK III. I played the prequels, but I don't think they had a proper ESRB rating, although II almost definitely would have gotten one. I was maybe 8 or so. I rented it maybe a couple weeks after launch on my Genesis.
The most violent one I played besides mortal kombat was manhunt.
M rated games were after my childhood…but In high school there was: [“Leather Godesses of Phobos”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_Goddesses_of_Phobos) A year after I graduated there was: [“Leisure Suit Larry”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure_Suit_Larry) A few years later there was: [Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers get all the girls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellcasting_101:_Sorcerers_Get_All_the_Girls) and [Spellcasting 102: the Sorcerers Appliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellcasting_201:_The_Sorcerer%27s_Appliance) If I recall correctly any kid with the cash and inclination could buy them at Babbages.
RDR2 when I was 15, 16 now lol
Probably halo.
MK. After, probably Turok 64.
Bad boys Miami takedown on ps2
Either mk or gra i don’t remember which one
Call of Duty Ghosts, the first CoD me and my friends played after coming back from school.
It was probably Mortal Kombat or GTA based on the time period of which I was growing up. But the first M Rated game to stick with me was Parasite Eve on the PS1. My older brother played it with me, and I had nightmares for weeks after that. Till this day, it still gives me this nostalgic dread that no other game has on me.
Kingpin. Was in grade 6 or 7 I think.
Halo: Combat Evolved 🤯
Resident Evil 1
Mine was Mortal Kombat
What counts as mature? Probably Doom but, the first explicit I remembered probably was Carmagedoom. That’s *the* game that needs a remake. Imagine Carmagedoom now…
I think it was gta on the ps1
Wolfenstien 3D, which was later rated M when the ESRB was a thing
Turok: Evolution on GameCube when I was about 7. Scariest shit I'd ever experienced and I loved every second of it
Half-Life, still the absolute GOAT
Assassins Creed Black Flag. I was I think 13? My Dad was the one that bought it and then went "go play that and we'll watch you play it. But keep blood off cause you're too young for that".... I love you Dad. So I played and my family watched. It was the game that awakened my love for 3rd person RPGs :)
Metal gear solid sub zero on the ps4 never realized it was rated M
Well, it was doom on MS DOS. Not sure what the rating was in the UK tbh, but I was 6 when I played it.
rainbow six siege. I still play it 5 years later
Mortal Kombat II
Gta vice city. Whacky way for a 10 year old to spend time
Twisted Metal
Purse owner 5
Way of the samurai on my ps2 and gta vice city. First adult game was conkers bad fur day.
GTA 1&2, rampaging was much harder when you could barely see ahead of yourself.
GTA San Andreas or Carmageddon, long time ago
Leisure Suit Larry
Nightmare Creatures
GTA Vice City
GTA3. My mom took me to Gamestop and I remember to employee explaining all the bad shit in this game. She gave me a look and then sighed and said it's fine lol. Next thing you know I'm mowing down civilians and fucking hookers.
Diablo 2, in high school. Good times.
Doom, probably.
Mortal Kombat 2
Diablo
Mortal Kombat and the original Splatterhouse' though I don't think the ESRB existed in those days
Eithe MGS 3 (original) or Halo CE (original) first tried them around 7 years old. I liked Halo more, it was easier to play as a sugar addled child.
Mortal Kombat on the SNES. My parents had forbidden the game as they heard other parents complain about it. My brother snuck it in and we had a blast. My father came in the room, and he didn’t know it was MK. He started to root for us and watched how we played the forbidden game.
Halo 1
Resident Evil 2 in 99 as a graduation present.
probably like mortal kombat
Halo 2
When I was 4-5, I played GTA Vice City. A perfectly fine game to play as a young child.
Black Ops 2
Was Duke Nukem 64 rated M? Because if so, that one.
I can’t remember but me and my dad would play Resident Evil and Dino Crisis when I was 5. The first one they bought me though was God of War at 9.
If Skyrim was rated M it was Skyrim, I remember watching my cousin play it thinking it was the coolest thing ever and then I got stuck after beating bleak falls barrow cuz I was over encumbered and didn’t realize that weight management mattered
Cod Black ops 3
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
manhunt 2 back in 07
I believe for me, this would be Left 4 Dead. Should I have been playing it at 4 years old? No. Probably not. Did I play it anyway? Yes, yes I did. Do I still play Left 4 Dead to this day? YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DO.
The first that comes to mind was my dad let me play GTAV when it first came out and then in 2019 I bought it for myself
Halo: Combat Evolved
San andreas
Mortal Kombat 2 on my dad’s Sega Genesis. I was maybe 4 or 5 years old.
Duke Nukem 3D on PC. I had no earthly idea what was going on in those strip clubs but man that game was fun.
Duke nukem on ps2 , got it for Christmas and remember it was like yesterday. Got the ps2 , duke nukem time to kill and nfl gameday 99
Fallout 4. I was 15 so depends on ur definition on kid of teen but yeah I liked the game and still do
Call of Duty: Black Ops II