My Top 10 Childhood Video Games

Okay so I decided to do this list to introduce myself as the gamer I am - and to inform (and also warn) you all that a lot of my posts will be about some sort of gaming series.

Ever since I got my PlayStation one faithful Christmas (or was it my birthday?) I have always LOVED playing video games. This then prompt me to beg my parents to non-existence for a PS2 and a gameboy, and when that gameboy got outdated, I ranted and raved for the new NintendoDS. Now I was a retro kid - I had the gba despite the gameboy sp being out AND I had the very first ever DS - can I just add that I still own my very first DS, or would that be boasting!

Anyway, enough waffle, lets get on with it!
(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the franchises displayed. Plus,this list only includes console/hand-held console games & my ranks are based upon my most nostalgic choices!)



10.  The Sims - PlayStation2!
My list starts off with one of the best PS2 games of all time (or at least, in my opinion) - The original Sims. What makes this game one of the best games I have ever played? merely the fact that you can control people's lives and make them do almost anything! I used to love playing God in this game, making certain Sims hate or love each other, taking away their free will. Did I mention I enjoy watching game character's lives destruct?
One of my best memories that holds this game very close to my heart, is when my friend Holley came round and told me you could make babies on there. 'You've got to be kidding me!' I gasped.
'I'll show you!' She insisted. Whether we were too young to comprehend that 20 minutes was not an hour long or it genuinely took us light years to figure out how to make a couple have babies, is still unknown to me to this day; but what I do know is that after what seemed ages, we finally figured out how you can have babies **SPOILER ALERT** which is through making two Sims fall in love and keep clicking on make-out until one of them asks if the other wanted to try for a baby. Myself and Holley were thrilled we literally screamed when it came up we were so happy.
But yeah, definitely a game to try out if you haven't already; a fun and easy mechanism to make your life feel a little less pathetic or boring.


9. Nintendogs - NintendoDS
What do you do when you really want a puppy but your mum won't allow you to have one due to her excuses being: 'It'll make the house a mess' or 'I'd be the only one walking it' or 'It's a lot of responsibility'. So, before my mum agreed to getting another dog which landed us with Ozzie, I put Nintendogs on my Christmas list to Santa.
I remember having endless fun on this game. Training your dog to compete in trials (my favorite by far was agility - probably because it was the easiest), taking them for the longest walk they can do and still trying to work out how the hell you get rid of fleas with a comb that never seemed to WORK (it might just be me being stupid and it's probably so simple - if you know how please end my years of torture of not knowing this information!) and everything in between.Overall though, the best thing I really did like about this game was the multi-player - meeting up with your friend's pooches!
So yeah, if you have always wanted a pup like I have but your parents won't allow it, or even if you have no time to get an actual real animal of some sort for yourself, then Nintendog's is definitely the game to grab next! (suitable for all ages!)



8. Mariokart - NintendoDS
By far the GREATEST racing game of all time - not only with the power ups and items you obtained through colourful bobbing question mark boxes, but by far the funniest. Playing this on multi-player against my brother as a kid was awesome - I enjoyed every last second of always beating him!
Although the controls were a bit off and awkward from time to time, I still had an awful lot of fun playing this game. I enjoyed working out all the shortcuts so I could beat my brother - harder and faster! But, he would never admit to that...



7. Pokemon Ruby - Gameboy Advance
This was the second Pokemon game I ever played and I adored every minute of it. I loved the story behind Groundon and Kyogre and their battle from thousands of years ago - the capturing of Groundon himself was epic (I assume he's a male...wouldn't it be weird if he was a she?) by Pokemon standards and creating your own secret hideouts and decorating them with toys and furniture
I honestly am so excited about the remark release and I wish it wasn't as expensive as it is because I would so buy it. If you're a Pokemon fan and you've never played this game, it's pratically a classic and you are definately missing out by a long shot!


6. Super Mario Bros - NintendoDS
Everything about this game screams renaissance - or am I being too much of a nerdy history student (those of you who got the pun, I am so sorry it was so crap!) of the first few Mario games NES and SNES. Super Mario Bros has everything - the rather challenging levels for an 8 year old kid, the rebirth of some old Mario world tunes and just a really great game in general. I think what I most love about this game, is the multi-player. This was once again one of the many games me and my brother competed at and it just made the entire game so much more fun. My favorite memory from this game was when myself and my brother were playing it in the pipe world (or whatever it's actually called) and I obtained the mega mushroom and became, as the game title kindly states, SUPER Mario!! So I was stomping around, as you do, trying to tackle my brother down and then steal his precious stars, until I shrank into normal Mario. Rather than just landing on the ground, Mario began to float away into the pipework and myself and my brother couldn't help but roar with laughter at that glitch. Honestly, I wished I recorded it, because explaining it does not give it enough credit for how hilarious I found it at the time.


5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - PlayStation

For those of you up to date specimen who played the PS2 version of this game - I envy you, as I played that a few years back and I felt that if I was a kid I would have really enjoyed it. To be honest, I've written here a specific title, the 'Chamber of Secrets' but honestly, the first 3 Harry Potter games were top notch! I think what really put this game on the list isn't that it's an amazing, classic game like the rest - because honestly, this game has a lot of flaws. But me being biased me has decided to put it this high on the list because it would just be a crime not to mention this title, let alone put it high on the list; the hours and hours of effort and swear my dad and I put into this game together - it was a really special bonding few hours we had together and what actually made us super close when I was younger. I just remember how hard I found the entire game, trying to steer the broom when flying in a Quidditch match as well as waiting after every storybook scene to see the little quill and parchment come up so you knew your game was definitely auto-saved. There were even some parts I hated playing in this game, for example the de-knoming took me absolute years to figure out (note: I was 6/7 when I first played this game).
However, I really enjoyed visiting Diagon Alley and doing in all the different shops to win Potion ingredients. I remember when I finally completed this game (which was probably the first game I had ever completed at this point) and the thrill I had, the pride that thudded through my chest and then telling dad that I had completed it and how proud he was of
me. This game holds a lot of emotional memories, if you hadn't already noticed.



4. Animal Crossing - NintendoDS
There was so much about Animal Crossing that I really loved; for one, the characters were out of this world. My absolute favorite had to be Peewee, the bad-tempered Gorilla who owned a golden Japanese cat (sorry - I don't know the name of it!). One of my favorite events on Animal Crossing was the flea market - where I would cheat and go to lost property and the recycling bin in the Town Hall and take any tacky furniture/clothing I would find and try and sell it at a reasonable price to the animals. I made some pretty good deals - selling shirts for 2,000 bells - I don't know why they refused to buy it...
I also really liked the fact that the Animal Crossing neighbours would always remember your birthday - your best friend giving you a gift which was always a cake. It was something very small but actually quite sweet at the same time - again, like the Sims, Animal Crossing is one of those games you should definitely play if you're feeling lonely! I also became a pro at fishing (if I do say so myself) and would constantly use it as a meals of making money - rather than selling fruit for a living. I feel that was the game's biggest downfall - the fact that you were unable to run your own buisness - I mean, how cool would that be?


3. Sims 2 - PlayStation2
How could I miss this game out of my list? I mean come on! It was amazing! The amount of different types of furniture you could buy/unlock, you could also Woohoo in bed with a Sim and on the PS2 that was never possible before (or from what I know of!). The graphic design improved an awful lot too so the females didn't constantly glare and the men didn't have that 'I just sucked a lemon' look anymore. Even the music had really improved and I loved creating the Sim, because the music made me feel like I was giving this Sim a promising start to the game and it was going to be oh so exciting and fun (yeah...I didn't really get up to much as a kid...) One feature I also really adored in this was the fact that if your Sims die, you could still play them but as ghosts! Creepy, right? Well, not really. But it made the game 10x more fun to haunt the crap out of the Sim's housemates, then bargain your life with the Grim Reaper through a battle of violins.
Despite all the positives this game had to offer, I was still very disappointing that in this game you couldn't actually have offspring, not even when I tried the making-out over and over again trick. I also think another downfall to this game was that you could only have 4 people living in a house together - what if I wanted 6? Then what EA games? Hm??

2. Pokemon Leaf Green - Gameboy Advance
This game really is a trip down memory lane - my first ever Pokemon game. Ever. And I loved every minute of it!
I remember my childhood best friend Zoe purchasing this game and watching her play it. I was baffled at how to fight other Pokemon and get as good as Zoe did. After having my first try at it on Zoe's gameboy sp, I fell hopelessly in love with it and decided to purchase the game myself (or at least beg mum to buy it for me...thanks mum!)
I'll be honest: I think that overall, Ruby is better than Leaf Green in lots of ways, despite being older than it by a year (although it must be taken in consideration that Leaf Green is a remake of Pokemon Blue and Red) it had a lot more to offer: for instance, the PokeNav, The secret hideouts, the move 'Dive'and so on. But Leaf Green holds the key to my heart, as I remember just how much fun I had playing this game as a kid, and being my first Pokemon game, it really came to life to me. I loved battling Misty and Brock as they were two of the main characters in the first season of the Pokemon Anime series, I just loved the entire story of the game, and although not being as in depth as Ruby's was, I still had a lot of fun and a lot of good memories of this game.
Oh, and just for the record, my starter Pokemon was either Baulbasaur or Charmander. I never picked Squirtle as I always struggled with him when I got to Misty. Stupid, right?


1. Super Mario 64 - NintendoDS

This game is the bee's knees no doubt about it! I love the cut scenes, the simple story line, and I just really really enjoyed playing this in my youth. I remember my friend Joe had this game and I watched him play it and it just looked so fun and interesting, I had to buy it! For a DS back in the day (oh god, how old do I sound?) the graphics were out of this world and the game play incredible. I loved all the levels and sometimes I didn't even get stars but wandered around  trying to get to places I couldn't reach before I unlocked the mystery question box or whatever. I loved the cheeky little rabbits and the fact that you could unlock all four of the characters: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Wario. It just really brought the game to life to me.


So that's my list of my Top 10 Childhood Video games. I appreciate that different people would have different views on what their top childhood games are and please remember that these are my personal choices for personal reasons.