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[xrnzaaas]

Probably Monkey Island. Had to use a separate disk for that.

 

[Solobbos]

Zelda for NES.

 

[Teppic]

But you can't save in Mario 3...

Depends on which version you have.

 

[Graphics Horse]

There were some ZX Spectrum games that let players save the progress on the tape. I remember that I had a separate tape for saving, but I don't remember the titles of the games.

I just about remember making a save tape for Mercenary, Either CPC or ZX Spectrum.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

The first console one was certainly Zelda 2.

Which was quite generous, there is little enough info in the game that needs saving that a password wouldn't have been that long.

Not sure if I played any pc games that saved before it. Probably did play a graphic adventure that allowed saves, but it's been so long the timelines kinda muddled.

 

[Boss Doggie]

The original Tetris that was a pack-in with the original Game Boy did not have a battery for saving. But Tetris DX for the Game Boy Colour (which is also backwards compatible with the original Game Boy) does have a save feature. You probably are thinking of DX.

I actually had both, hehehe.

But which came out earlier, DX or SMAS+W?

 

[correojon]

Zelda 1, like a lot of others here.

Now, the question is: Zelda was released quite early in the NES's life cycle and already had battery saves, so the hell did some later games use ridiculously long passwords instead of saves? I'm looking at you, Willow, and The Magic of Scheherazade.

I still remember the pain it was writing down and reentering Super Castlevania IV passwords on the SNES. This was a gen later and I remember loosing progress more than once because I messed up and the game wouldn´t recognize my badly written password.

But you can't save in Mario 3...

I must be misremembering. My first savefile-ready game should then be SMW.

 

[MrCunningham]

I actually had both, hehehe.

But which came out earlier, DX or SMAS+W?

Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World = 1994
Tertris DX = 1998 (this was a launch game with the Game Boy Color)

 

[Peterc]

Zelda1 or metroid 1

While metroid 1 was based on password to save it.

Mega man2 did also used something like that

 

[Kyzon]

Link's Awakening I believe.

 

[Rellik]

I had Mario and Donkey Kong Country but I don't remember saves now. I was too young I think. First time I really remember it was the original Tomb Raider and having to reach the crystals.

 

[dracula_x]

Beyond Oasis or Light Crusader on Sega MegaDrive. Don't remember which was the first.

 

[Andyliini]

Probably Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I rented the hame back then, and naturally it had some save files in it. I didn't even now what save files were back then, so I jst mashed Start until I could play something. The game was completed all the way to the Great Palace, but I douldn't even reach there.

The first game I played, where I knew what saves where and how to use them was StarTropics for NES.

 

[Erdnuckel01]

Zelda on NES and Maniac Mansion on Amiga.

 

[Velurian]

on a console - die hard trilogy or tekken 1, i can't remember which one i played first.
on pc - leisure suit larry, though i was like 4 years old at the time and didn't really play. the "definitely correct" answer would be indiana jones: the fate of atlantis.

 

[smudge]

Can't remember specific game titles but a few games on the spectrum in the 1980s allowed for saving games to tape.

 

[nan0]

Probably some obscure PC game I can't remember. Could've been SimCity 2000 or SimTower. Console: Asterix on GB had passwords IIRC, otherwise Links Awakening.

 

[jesu]

Must have been Football Manager in 82/83, we would save our game on a blank tape.
Rewind the tape and tape over it when we wanted to save again.

 

[Thud]

Super Mario Allstars.

One of the first games I played as well.

 

[120v]

probably zelda 1 and its funny because i never really appreciated it at the time. in retrospect having a battery save was a revelation

 

[Wiitardation]

Sonic 3

 

[jptuo]

Company of Heroes 2

 

[Fug Slanderson]

Zelda

 

[Captain Europe]

Kirby's Adventure. It's also the best looking NES game IMO.

 

[xVodevil]

GTA2, though I took me a while to understand how that in-game saving mechanic worked

 

[woopWOOP]

Cousin had Zelda 2, but I was only allowed to watch him play it, lol

If Mega Man's password systems don't count then it'd be Super Mario World for me.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World = 1994
Tertris DX = 1998 (this was a launch game with the Game Boy Color)

So a SNES game then. Neat, was also my first game there (it was a bundle).

I forgot, was Zelda the only NES game with a save system or did Castlevania also had one?

 

[hodgy100]

I didn't have sonic 3 as a kid just 1,2 and S&K.

So I think the only game I had where you could save was Soleil (Crusader of Centy)

awesome game that one

 

[SomTervo]

Pokemon Red, I think, although probably a PC game before that I can't remember.

 

[whiteninja]

Crystalis on the nes. It was better than Zelda.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

I think it was Strike Commander. I can probably recognize right away the sound made by typing things down in that game.

 

[MrCunningham]

So a SNES game then. Neat, was also my first game there (it was a bundle).

I forgot, was Zelda the only NES game with a save system or did Castlevania also had one?

There are about 55-60 NES games total that use battery back up save systems (list here) . Zelda wasn't the only one, but it was the very first game on a cartridge (for any console) to use a battery for saving progress. There are no game cartridges produced before 1987 with built in batteries.

The NES Castlevania games do not use battery back up save systems, instead Castlevania II and III use password save systems.

 

[Jacknapes]

Sonic 3 for me. Thought it was the same as previous games, so was pleasantly surprised when the save system appeared.

 

[Shizza]

The Legend of Zelda (NES)

I first tried it out at a friend's house, and loved that I could save my progress (unlike Super Mario Bros), and pick up where I left off. I enjoyed the game so much that it made it's way into my rental queue at the local movie store. I don't know how many copies they had, but I would frequently get the cart with my save on it, allowing me to continue previous adventures! Eventually, I got my own copy and made solid progress, and eventually beat it.

As an aside, I remember playground rumors of "the battery won't last that long, and you'll lose your save", which terrified me at the time. I had a few copies of the game over the years, but never ran into that problem (which apparently does happen).

 

[Sephzilla]

Super Mario World

 

[butman]

Super Mario world

This!

 

[Gxgear]

The Mega Man grid code thingy. I always forget them bit at least they were there.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Don't know about the first but I remember Super Tennis gave you a massive long code to save - it was about 100 characters and I remember writing it down and then when I went to load typing it all out and it being incorrect. Junior me must of noted it down wrong. I was gutted.

 

[Linkark07]

Doom

 

[sflufan]

edit: I think I remember actually being mad at Crysis because, like Far Cry, you couldn't save anywhere. It used checkpoints I'm pretty sure.

You could absolutely quick-save/save anywhere in Crysis (unlike Far Cry).

 

[Mercador]

Dragon Warrior or Zelda, Can't remember. Could we save in Kid Icarus, if yes, then it is the first one.

 

[superNESjoe]

It was either Zelda 2 or Dragon Warrior 1. Can't remember which was first.

Same for me. These were the two save based games I had when we got our NES.

 

[Ludger Kresnik]

Sonic 3 was the first game I played, so... that.

 

[SliceSabre]

Sonic 3


"Huh? What is a 'save slot'?" I freaked when I realized what that meant I could actually stop playing the game and come back later!!!

 

[Lurch666]

'Ship of doom' Text adventure by Artic computing on the ZX-81
I had to save the game to a tape.

 

[Infernostew]

It was either Legend of Zelda or Zelda 2... I can't really remember but if I were to guess it would probably be Legend of Zelda.

 

[pete_clarf]

I think mine was actually Baseball Stars. I don't remember actually owning Legend of Zelda (but did play it at a friend's house). It could also be Dragon Warrior, but I think I played Baseball Stars first.

 

[eerik9000]

Commander Keen 4 or Supaplex, probably, or whatever else I had on my first PC ~23 years ago.

 

[Terrorblot]

Thinking about it it must have been Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country. I only had minimal exposure to the NES until a few years later secondhand.

Also this only sort of fits the topic of discussion but a couple users mentioning their lack of understanding for how save systems worked, that was me on the Nintendo 64 to a tee. It was awhile before I got a controller pak (I only realized I even needed one after I got my playstation) and when I did it was a third party one that had multiple blocks that could be accessed with a button switch (with an LED that displayed which state it was in) which I think was their way of circumventing storage size limit on the paks. Anyway I had no understanding of how this worked and everytime I would push that button I would lose all my recent progress while also rediscovering saves I thought I had lost forever. It had like, 24 different slots which made it crazier.

My PSX memory card was a real piece of artwork too. I had absolutely no interest in wrestling but the only card Toys R Us had for sale was shaped like Goldberg. His arms were so huge you couldn't fit a second card into the other slot, preventing me from ever transferring data off it, so I was stuck with this freaking Goldberg card until I was like 16. At some point I hacked his poor arms and championship belt off so I could transfer MGS saves.

 

[womp]

For me it was probably Bard's Tale for my Commodore 64 in 1985. Hard to pin it down, many games allowed saving back then before Nintendo brought it to carts later.