In The Beginning There Was Pong!

Let me start by saying I love Video Games!  To date I have played well in excess of 600 Video Games which have come in all shapes & sizes.  Growing up I was lucky enough to have a cool Dad who owned Pong (also known as Home Pong).  

While Pong was by no means the first video game ever made it was arguably the first one to become a household name. It also brought to attention to a yet unexplored territory that we know today as the Games industry.

The first console my parents bought me was the Sega Master System 2. It came with Alex the Kidd in Miracle World built into it.  Alex had a powerful fist he used to do everything from killing enemies, breaking blocks & of course playing jan-ken-pon (rock, paper, scissors).  The idea was simple battle through a number of levels & save your long lost brother Prince Egle.  Who is being held by the evil Janken the Great who has taken over the peaceful lands of Radaxian. A brilliant & challenging game!

Unlike a lot of kids my first introduction to Sonic the Hedgehog was on the Master System not the Mega Drive.  The game felt very different to the Mega Drive version & in some ways tougher (although to be fair it is a long time since I played it so in retrospect maybe it was just as tough).  Sonic was & is still a brilliant character; if you ignore some of the bad games & some of his not so cool friends - Vector the Crocodile? When you are trying that hard it's not cool yo!

I am just going to through out a few titles I really enjoyed before moving on; Double Dragon (played this alot with my Dad),Operation Wolf, Asterix, Bubble Bobble, Ghostbusters, Action Fighter & of course Paperboy!

Next up the Sega Mega Drive - 2! I love this console, so many great games, so many hours spent burning my eyes out my head staring at the screen!  

Where to begin.......I guess Streets of Rage!  You get to pick from three awesome characters; Axel, Blaze & Adam - all with there own set of skills.  The city has been taken over by Mr X & his Syndicate.  Unwilling to bend over & take it any more these ex-police officers take to the streets & clean up the city.  Of course it going to be tough as the city is littered with random building supplies, there are payphones which literally fall apart with the smallest touch & empty barrels of oil containing gold & collectible figures inside them - which strangely look like our hero's. To make things worse there are apples & turkeys left out everywhere which as we all know causes ants!  Some of the local entertainers have lost their shit! We have guys who are supposed to just juggle but now they throw axes & fire.  We have Dominatrix's roaming the streets whipping you any time they see you (there is a time & a place for this) & these punks who slide tackle you like your a damn ball! 

If you play only one game on this console then it has to be Streets of Rage I love the whole series & if you get the chance to play the Japanese version (Bare Knuckle) I highly recommend it.

Outside of that there are gems like; Sonic & Knuckles which was awesome for many reasons. One of the best reasons is that it had a slot in the top of the cartridge which allowed space for another Sonic Game to be added to it.  This then would completely change the game (check it out below).

Another great game was Micro Machines 2: Tournament Edition. You have 4 friends that want to play & you don't have the 4 player adapter - what will you do?  No need to worry Codemasters made it a J-Cart giving you two additional ports on the game itself.  A fun game, brilliant tracks, crazy characters & it even came with Game Invites to give to your friends & Certificates for the Winners.

I want to mention some other games that were just awesome as well before moving on: Stryder, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Mortal Kombat 3, ESwat, Desert Strike, Street Fighter 2, Bubba N' Stix, Earthworm Jim,  Aladdin, Tiny Toons Adventure: Busters Hidden Treasure. A big shout out to Andrea Agassi Tennis- why?  I am not a tennis fan - hell I am not a sports fan at all but this game is what got me & my dad playing Video Games together & I am thankful for it.