First game played of the series

[nocturnal YL]

I'm just curious... different people here have different types of nostalgia. So, let's say... which games are the ones that you first played, and which ones brought you into the series you like?

Just me, for example...


Super Mario:

Super Mario Bros. But back then, 1-year-old me was not impressed enough. Famicom in overall was fun to me, but I didn't find SMB1... particularly interesting.

Super Mario World got me into the series. Mostly because of the music. When you play it with an actual Super Famicom, it sounds... great. Something the GBA remake can never match up with.


Mario Kart:

Mario Kart 64. I didn't even knoe the existence of Mario Kart before that. And if it did happen, I could imagine 2D, Mode-7 courses did not attract me.

I think battles back then was a bit boring though. People can get very far away from each other easily, and attacks easily miss. Except at Toad Turnpike, where everything was much more intense.


Super Smash Bros:

Super Smash Bros for 64 was the one I played first. I and my cousin who was then living with my family enjoyed it enough and we played daily, but we weren't really interested until Melee. By then we were crazy about unlocking everything in every game we put our hands on.

We don't play that much now though. Our skills differed now, and he and his bro were into local online games now. His little bro could still beat me though, and we still enjoyed occasional SSB matches when I pay them a visit.


Fire Emblem:

First played Thracia 776. Quit because getting past Chapter 2x was beyond my skill back then. After a long while, very-easy FE8 caught my attention and I loved the series since then.


Kirby:

First Kirby game played was Dream Course, which I wasn't too aware about it since I played it on plane. First game I played because it had Kirby in it was KDL3. Fun, but a bit too difficult for me back then.

I think I liked Kirby as a series at... Amazing Mirror. It's after that game when I retrospectively looked back and... basically speaking, I'm a huge fan now.


The Legend of Zelda (2D):

I don't talk about it often, but I did try some non-8bit/non-DS* 2D Zelda games. Faving Four Swords Adventures now (the only one that I actually bought), but it was the Super Famicom one that got me try first. I swore not to play that game since I forgot to save once. It's been so long now, so I should have been trying that game again. And Minish Cap got more of my attention into part of the series.

Not into 3D Zelda becuase I still think I can get lost in some dungeons and it'll be annoying. If I have Mario-like camera control in those games, perhaps I'll like them more.

* Because 8-bit graphics and sound can be annoying, and DS because it's a continuation of a game I didn't play - because I don't think I'll like prolonged sea travelling.


WairoWare:

Played since the first game, and was interested in that game too. It's a bit too simple for me, but it's fun. It's completely different from any other gaming experience I had, where I'd have preffered games with my level of skill and "100 hours of gameplay". And it's the only game that, I think, is an action game by IntSys but does not have flaws as such (now, don't bash me too hard at it, but that's... what I tend to think. Paper Mario series don't stand well as platformers, for example. And Mario Kart Super Circuit was wacky - although it's better than the Super NES version in my book. Also, I used "action" here in context of the Japanese definition of action games).


...Most of the rest are individual games or small series.

[Fryguy64]

I'm not sure there's a single series I started playing halfway through. Either I was there for the start of the series, or I missed the whole thing and went back to play them again from the start (eg. Fire Emblem via emulation before a single title was launched here). I have sometimes missed an interim game (Zelda 2, Metroid 2) that I have since corrected... but I pretty much always played the first game first.

Actually, there's always Donkey Kong. I was aware of the original Donkey Kong games, but the first one I played was Donkey Kong on Game Boy, followed by the Donkey Kong Country series. The first time I played the original Donkey Kong would have been as the bonus game in Donkey Kong 64.

I may have played a friend's Donkey Kong Jr. Game & Watch back when I was a kid. I have very scattered memories of that whole series... I have also never seen a single PAL copy of the original NES Donkey Kong games, only ever Donkey Kong Classics.

[Wildcat]

Nov 27, 2009 3:34:23 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

So, let's say... which games are the ones that you first played, and which ones brought you into the series you like?

Mario series:
First played - Super Mario Bros.
What made me adore it? - Super Mario Bros. 3
SMB was a marvelous introduction into the Mario universe (and into gaming in particular), and it cemented the potential of this medium to me at the tender age of four. However, SMB3 took that blossoming interest and pushed it to the next level. My creative output following my exposure to SMB3 skyrocketed due to its level designs, varied world maps and the introduction of several new enemy types that would become Mario staples. I thank SMB3 for giving me the initial spark to create my own game designs.

Zelda series:
First played - Legend of Zelda
What made me adore it? - Legend of Zelda
An odd case, this one, as the original game was the one that overtook me. I love the gameplay mechanics in the original, and feel that it's one of the greatest 8-bit universes conceived. It may look dated, but it remains sophisticated and richly populated with quirky enemies and tons of secrets.

Metroid series:
First played - Metroid
What made me adore it? - Super Metroid
The original Metroid presented a open, free-roaming world with very little direction, which provoked exploration and discovery. It was a lot to understand and take in as a kid, and I don't know if I ever properly appreciated it then. Thankfully, Super Metroid was experienced when I was much older, and the core mechanics were so polished and refined in the generation gap that it's difficult to return to the first Metroid. This game is nigh-perfect and flawless to me, and it's my second favorite game of all time. Just a remarkable achievement.

Fire Emblem series:
First played - Fire Emblem (7)
What made me adore it? - Fire Emblem (7)
The other domestically released FE games have been good, but for some reason or another I just really like the first game the most. The character designs are incredible, the maps seem more diverse, the plot is solid, and the gameplay feels the most focused and balanced of the three I've tackled.

Kirby series:
First played - Kirby's Dream Land
What made me adore it? - Kirby's Adventure
The original KDL had potential, but something about it seemed off to me. KA remedied that with the newfound ability to capture powers from enemies. No other Kirby game that I've played matches up to the excellence of KA (although SuperStar comes close).

I'll tackle some more later. This is fun.

[wanderingshadow]

Kirby Series
Kirby's Dream Course for this one. I had some cousins totally into Nintendo in the 90s and they played this with me when I visited.

Mario Series
My first game in this series was Super Mario Bros. When I was 3 or 4, I came across an arcade with a Vs. Multisystem and played the game on that. The controls were a bit stiff, but it was otherwise alright.

Metroid Series
I'm definitely a late comer to this one. My first Metroid experience was Metroid Fusion. I had a gift card for this store. I don't know what to call it, but basically they buy unwanted merchandise cheaply and sell it at a discount. They had a copy of Metroid Fusion, so I decided to rescue it. Nintendo games do not belong with THQ's Nickelodeon games! Second best $10 I ever spent.

Pokemon Series
Pokemon Red version was my first experience. After hearing from all my friends how amazing the game was, I had to pick it up.

Zelda Series
Link's Awakening was my first Zelda game. I had seen A Link to the Past at my aforementioned cousins' house. Since the only systems I had at the time were a Gameboy and an Atari 2600, I got a Link's Awakening.

[Sqrt2]

Mario Series
Super Mario Kart for the SNES was not only my first mario game, but the first ever videogame I ever played. I went round one of my friends house for tea one day. I wasn't very good at it, but it made me pester my parents for a SNES at Christmas.

Zelda Series
After getting the SNES and SMBAS, my brother decided to get this game based solely on the boxart. Thankfully, it turned out to be a good game, and one that I still think highly of.

Pokemon
Pokemon Blue was the first one I got, mainly due to the enormous hype surrounding its UK release.

Fire Emblem
I only started being interested in FE when it was announced that Ike (who I'd never heard of before) was in Brawl. So I borrowed my brothers copy of Radiant Dawn, and found that it was quite an interesting game.

Metroid
Like FE I am quite a newcomer to the Metroid series, my first game being Metroid Prime. I guess I got into it from Samus's inclusion in the original SSB.

Ace Attorney
I actually got into this series because of Mario Kart DS. I was searching for a FAQ on how to complete one of MKDS's mission mode levels and found "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" in GameFaqs "Top 10 games" list. I clicked on the link and read one of the (very few) FAQs to get a feel for it. A couple of days later I decided to buy it and the rest is history...

[Hiker of Games]

This is going to be long. For the most part these are in the order I was introduced to each series. Some of them I've not mentioned if there's not much to say about them, like with recent series like Pikmin and Battalion wars.

Mario series
Super Mario Bros. was my first. That was so long ago now, but I remember the fun in finding Warp Pipes. I wouldn't play Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. until much later.

Zelda series
My first one was the original. I loved the game, but I wasn't able to beat Ganon until years later (it was mostly the last dungeon that left me a pitiful mess before I reached him). Zelda II was the first one I managed to beat proper.

Donkey Kong series
Donkey Kong Jr. was my first. I remember I wanted to play the original, but my older sister somehow convinced me "DK Jr." was for little kids. I don't remember much about it when I played it as a kid, so Donkey Kong Country was my first entry into the series proper.

Pokemon series
Once upon a time I was in love with Final Fantasy and was doing some sprite things with them. Someone asked me to do a sprite thing for Pikachu and I was like "Pikawho?" I downloaded Pokemon, got hooked, and by Christmas that year I had my first Gameboy with a copy of Pokemon Blue. I've been an on and off fan ever since.

Metroid series
When I got into Pokemon via emulation, my parents got me a GB that Christmas. It was a used one and it came with Metroid II. I ignored that game for awhile until one day we were on a looong road trip (Indiana to Mexico!) and that game was my only entertainment. I was in love with the Metroid series forever afterwards. That was 12 years ago. Metroid Prime would come out three years later to really hook me in.

F-Zero series
When I got my Gameboy Advance, the availability of games sucked. The best they had was F-Zero: Maximum Velocity. I was okay in it, but for the most part I sucked. Thanks to SSB's Captain Falcon, I decided to try other F-Zero games. I sucked at those too. Despite my love for the franchise's quirky universe, I suck spectacularly at the games.

Wario series
I remember never caring for Wario back in the old days. I never had any of his games because I didn't get a Gameboy until about '97 and even then only for Pokemon and the odd Zelda game. When I got around on the internet, I even came to dislike Wario because he was so popular and I had never really been exposed to him aside from my occasional brushes with games like Mario Kart 64 (which I never owned). Eventually I got a Gameboy Advance and picked up Wario Land 4 when it came out and fell in love. Since then I've caught up with most of the series.

Mother series
The first one I played was Earthbound on an emulator, but I never even left Onett and lost interest in it. Thanks to the massive hype of the Mother 3 translation patch (and a certain Nintendo RP I was in), I ended up playing through Mother 3 and though it was a pretty wacky and fun game. I'd like to play Earthbound proper, but I'm holding out on the VC release, in spite of the legality issues surrounding it.

Kirby series
This is another classic series I just kind of ignored up until the internet (and SSB) educated me. I first played Kirby proper with Kirby Squeak Squad and liked that. After that I've played Kirby's Adventure, Kirby 64, and Kirby Superstar Ultra. I still have a few I need to play.

Advance Wars series
I played the first game we received on this side of the pond. I was introduced to it thanks to DMG Ice, otherwise I probably would've never heard of it. I've looked into the pre-Advance series quite a bit, but never played any of them proper.

Star Fox series
This is another one I can blame SSB on. I went back and picked up Star Fox 64 some years after the original SSB and enjoyed it. After that I picked up Star Fox Assault and such was my devotion, I even went back and forced my way through Star Fox Adventures.

Fire Emblem series
In spite or Marth and Roy in SSB:M, I never quite got on the Fire Emblem bandwagon. My memory is fuzzy on that and I think I may have picked up FE7 when it came out, but failed to get into it. When FE8: Sacred Stones came out a few years later, I played that and got hooked. I enjoyed it enough I went back and finished 7 too. Thus far I've only completed games 6-9 and my interest in the series has dwindled.

That's all I can think of for now. I may chime in later with some third party franchises.

[8bitretroshit]

Alright let me give it a shot:

Mario Series
Super Mario Bros I think. When I started playing the NES regularly around the age of 5 both Mario 1 & 2 were released already and my cousin had 'em both. I played SMB2 more though, that game's easy peasy.

Mario Kart Series
Super Mario Kart. Aside from GP racing, insane amounts of time spent with battle mode. One thing I remember clearly was in some Nintendo magazine they posted the code to unlock Special cup. When I entered that bitch me and my friend just stared at each other with open jaws as we raced on Rainbow Road and it's kickass music.

Donkey Kong Series
Either Donkey Kong or DK.Jr. My neighbours had this 372 in 1 cartridge containing both games that I could borrow from time to time.
Then I broke it. Oops

Zelda Series
That same cousin had Zelda II aswell, but he wouldn't let me play it Years later I finally got to have a go with OoT. Couldn't really get into it though, was more into blasting shit with my spaceship then solving BOOOORING puzzles. Still planning on playing it through one day though.

Metroid Series
I remember messing around with Super Metroid on emulation at some point after Smash64. Only years later, after goofing with Brawl's demo, I bought it via VC and completed the game.

Pokemon Series
I didn't have the money for any of the Gameboy games, but a good friend of mine got all his for christmas, birthdays and whatnot. By the time he had Red, Blue and Yellow I was allowed to borrow Blue. Still have it lying around here somewhere filled with rare candy spammed critters. I kept borrowing new Pokemon games of his and didn't buy one myself until the Ruby and Sapphire generation.

F-Zero Series
Some kid in the neighbourhood also had a Snes and for some reason we decided to switch games for a week or so. This included F-Zero. I liked it because unlike Mariokart or Streetracer it was just racing without trying to screw over your opponent. Years later when my richass friend got F-Zero X I was all 'Woah I remember that!'

Kirby Series
I too ignored this series until Smash64. I think the first game was Kirby Superstar via emulation, playing it co-op with that same friend. Was hard to get into the other Kirby games because they weren't as, well, violent I suppose. After completing Kirby's Adventure and Dreamland 3 it's one of my favourite Nintendo franchises.

Starfox Series
Same cousin again had Starwing and it was awesome because HOLY SHIT THREE DEE. Much later I got Lylat Wars for my birthday, I must've played that one atLEAST 100 times.

Mother Series
Earthbound via emulation, but living in Europe that's pretty much the only way. Played this game on and off, sometimes taking 2 month breaks (mostly because I played multiple different RPGs at once). I managed to finish it finally. Years later I went through the trouble of buying a US Snes, a copy of Earthbound (60 friggen bucks) and played it all over again from start to finish. Game's awesome.

Advance Wars Series
Went by a different cousin one day and noticed his copy of Advance Wars. Borrowed it, was hooked and bought my own copy. I enjoyed the second aswell, but couldn't get into the DS games for different reasons.

Yoshi Series
After playing SMW to death my friend immidiatly bought SMW2:YI upon release. The first time we faced off giant Bowser was a mix of excitement and terror.

Wario Series
Does Super Mario Land 2 count? It was my first gameboy game. Years later I impulse bought Wario World. Didn't like it that much despite the acid inspired bosses.

Fire Emblem
Aside from fiddling with translated roms of some of the SNES titles, the very first FE game I actually played from start to finish was the newest DS remake. I still have the Gamecube one lying around here too, catching dust...

Phew, I suppose that's about it Nintendo-wise.

[kirbychu]

I think the only ones I didn't start from the start with are Mario, (I played either Mario 3, Mario World or Mario Land first, but I don't remember which), Zelda (started at LA) and Mother (started at EarthBound, still haven't really played the original). Oh, and StarFox and F-Zero. I started both of those at their N64 incarnations.

Everything else I played from the very beginning, except Advance Wars and Fire Emblem, which I just never played. Kirby's always been a special series for me, since the original game was the first game I ever finished all on my own.

[nocturnal YL]

You did the original Kirby? That's awesome.

The original Kirby is pretty hard!

[kirbychu]

I thought the whole point of the original Kirby was for it to be easy. I was six when I finished it, it was at least three years before I ever finished anything else.

[nocturnal YL]

I'm aware that it's designed to be easy. Yet, I think it turned out to be pretty hard. Some enemies are too erratic and hard to evade, and that's what made me think it's hard.

And not to mention it has the seriess most difficult Dedede fight (mostly thanks to the small arena and the fact that you can't copy anything in the game).

At age 6 I was mostly playing things like Super Bomberman series and Mario 64. I'd call those easy.

[kirbychu]

I definitely had a harder time with Mario 64. Those Bowser fights were much harder than Dedede!

[Deleted]

Most of my first games were on the Gameboy - it was the only video game system I was allowed to own, short of those Game & Watch rip-offs that...who made those? Konami? Anyway.

The most prominent of these titles is Megaman: Dr. Wily's Revenge and Megaman II. I never really got far in Megaman: DWR because of how obscenely hard it was, but my love of Cutman comes from the fact that he's the first Robot Master that I ever managed to reach. I never beat him, but he was definitely the first I ever saw. The same applies for Elecman (my second-favorite Robot Master), whom I reached second and also never managed to beat.

What really solidified my love of Megaman though was Megaman II, which I actually DID manage to beat...without using the Robot Master's weapons on each other. Don't ask me how I did it, because I have no idea; all I know is that I was a tard and didn't know any better at the time. Even though MMII had terrible music compared to other Megaman games already released and those soon to come, I still remember it very vividly.

Kirby's Dreamland was also very important to me as a gamer because it was 'bright and colorful' (in the only way original GB games could get) and the world was really fantastic. It was also easy enough for a shitty gamer like me to beat - the first time I ever managed that. This is why I have so many superhearts for King Dedede. >_>

I played Super Mario Land and beat it some time after KDL, but as memorable as my time with it was, it wasn't what really hooked me on Mario. When I got Super Mario Land 2, though, that turned me onto that shit so hardcore.

[Shrikeswind]

EDIT: Got computer use, so I'm going to be explaining the entirety of it now.

Super Mario series - Back when I was a kid, my dad had a Super NES (for that matter, we still have it.) He had the original Super Mario World on it, and I played it. I liked it, but it didn't hook me to Mario as a series. Another game we had was Super Mario All-Stars. I played Super Mario Bros. 3 on it alot, but wasn't too good at it (the Koopahari gave us alot of trouble. We were kids. I say "We" because I have two sisters who would also play.) One day, my babysitter decided that, to entertain me (and to an extent the girls, who were watching us, she'd play some SMB3 with me. So, we're doing a playthrough, and I watch as this woman takes that fat boy for a fly in the first dungeon and picks up the flute. Been a Mario freak ever since.

Donkey Kong series - I missed the Arcade games by age: The day of going to an arcade with a roll of quarters had went by before I was even born, and though my father had a Colecovision with the original Donkey Kong, I was unaware until much later. One of the games Dad had on his SNES, however, was Donkey Kong Country. I LOVED that game. (Still do, we still have it.) One day, he breaks out this Colecovision with DKA (which I'd heard of and always wanted to play, but never got to for a reason already stated.) I think his games were Venture and Donkey Kong. I tried both, and liked Donkey Kong better. But neither were that easy for me, being that I was like 6 or 7 at this time. Oh well, got to say I played DK on the Colecovision. The Coleco is ancient now, and barely works.

Legend of Zelda - I'm going to be honest, I really got into Zelda later than I should have. Later than I wanted to, for that matter, because all throughout the N64 years I never bought games, I got them as gifts, and neither of the Zelda games were included there. My first brush with Zelda was Link to the Past back when I was in third grade. How it went was that I knew this first-grader named Kevin. We were buds. He had an SNES and among his games were Link to the Past, Earthbound, and if I'm not mistaken Super Metroid. I'm not sure. So I really had brushes with three series (at least, I remember he had more that I never really saw in action) through one friend. We moved, but I remembered the games, but never got to play them again because most stores stopped selling SNES games by this point, moving on to the N64. Later, though, I did manage to play LttP again, this time on my GBA. I liked it and it was one of my top GBA games, but around that time, I was pretty much for my consoles. When Twilight Princess came out, I wanted it BAD. So, I bought it and LOVED it. Since, I've played a few more games in the Zelda series and in general through Wii points, namely Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (with Zelda in mind.)

Pokémon - My life story in a nut-shell: When I was a kid, I was unpopular but didn't want to be. Pokémon has always been a pretty solid indicator of the growth of my maturity since it came out. Here's how it goes. When Pokémon came out EVERYBODY had a Gameboy and EVERYBODY played Pokémon. Everybody but me. Not to say I wasn't into Pokémon, not at all! You couldn't find a bigger PokéManiac than me. Thing is, I didn't even know the games existed, I watched the TV show and collected the cards (and played the spin-offs, but I thought it was licensed from the people who made the anime. Not in that wording, but still.) Then Pokémon went out of vogue and I started acting like I hated it. Soon, though, I stopped kidding myself, and developed a minor interest in it again. One day, I bought Ruby, later bought Fire Red, and both were fun, and so now I'm really interested again. Now I have Diamond as well, and will be getting Soul Silver sooner or later.

I can't say I ever played too many games in alot of series (though I have alot of games from diverse series, and for that matter have played alot of games from diverse series, in most cases, I don't have multiple games from a single series.) Even my current favorite, Zelda, only recently kicked off. I'm a bit embarrassed.