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[Jingo]

Virtua racing was my first whoa with all the different perspectives of camera, i remember tekken also gave me chills

 

[benedictm]

Ridge Racer on the PS1 - got one a month after launch. Me and my brother just stared at it. It was like 'real life'

Newer gamers have never lived in a time where all you saw was screenshots - getting the game and playing it was often the first time you saw it in motion.

The first Assassin's Creed blew be away looks wise as well. Thought it looked just incredible.

Oh and finding my first hidden exit in Super Mario World made me sit down on the sofa in amazement.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

I remember this. It's such big BS, but when you figure it out... mmmm. I can't think of any modern games that leave you stuck at a segment like this with no hints.

There's another tube in the area which is already broken, it tipped me off as a 10 year old. I'd call that a hint.

 

[Khaliss]

You could make your tank missiles curve with the joystick in Atari's "Combat"!!

Yes I'm old.

 

[nkarafo]

My first was Golden Axe in the arcades, mostly the magic effects.

My biggest was DOOM. Everything about it.

 

[Fordfx2]

Playing MGS the first time through on Playstation, the Mantis boss fight. Having to switch the controller to port 2 was pretty shocking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHVf_ZvdUkE

 

[User 73706]

Probably had earlier ones, but a real standout was seeing some of the Golden Sun summons running on a GBA, of all things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DatHLd1uO2g

 

[Itaremustbedangeres]

Stepping out of the sewers in TES IV Oblivion. When the music kicked in and I realized that this is in fact an open world to explore and live in.

gotta admit though that there might have been woah's before that moment but this is the one that I'll always remember...

 

[TheOohChild]

Definitely scrolling against the background in Sonic. Blew my mind.

 

[Seanlole]

Playing Super Mario Bros. for the first time.

 

[PhantomZone]

Controlling Tommy Vercetti in GTA Vice City, hopping in the car and the first song on the radio Billie Jean... gaming perfection .

 

[WITHE1982]

Oh and when my dad hooked up the currah speech to the ZX spectrum for the first time and played Steve Davis snooker on it.

....that shit was like being in the distant future. Just listen to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMgHEG50aQM

 

[pirateluigi]

Huge Earthbound spoiler:

Spoiler

When Paula prayed to me, by name, for help. Blew my mind.

The other one, and it's really tiny, but made my freak out in excitement: Wii demo stain. .. turning my hand in real life made the pointer on the screen rotate. I still feel like the Wii is a bit magic.

 

[Son Of D]

Playing Tomb Raider, kill some raptors then suddenly a T-Rex appears.

Was the first "big" enemy I fought. Completely took me by surprise when I saw the size of it.

 

[User 73706]

Metroid: Zero Mission had a lot of cool little moments, but the whole endgame sequence following Mother Brain that ultimately leads up to you getting the Fully Powered Suit and truly unlocking the Space Jump, Gravity Suit and Plasma Beam in one fell swoop was also pretty amazing.

Here's a video of the sequence taken from a speedrun so you can glean the info from it in a pretty concise amount of time: https://youtu.be/Pw7aUzqkbfc?t=1419

 

[Interfectum]

Mortal Kombat - Sub-Zero's fatality changed my gaming life
Tomb Raider - 3D gaming
Mario 64 - 3D platforming
Resident Evil - First time a game truly scared me

Biggest one though: Grand Theft Auto 3 - Playing GTA3 for the first time was truly a jaw dropping experience. The possibilities seemed endless.

 

[sbkodama]

Scud race in 1996, one year after rave racer and sega rally, two years before gran tourismo, you could have played a sega racing game in cgi.

 

[Magnus]

I was 10 for Super Mario 64, so I don't think I was QUITE as blown away by it as people who would've already been gaming for 10-15 years. I can't imagine how mind-blowing it must have been. I recall thinking, damn, this is cool, and precisely what should be next in gaming! And proceeded to enjoy it.

My mind-blowing moments, though:

- Final Fantasy VII - those CG cutscenes, the overall scope of the game and the huge bump in cinematic-like storytelling for games. Receiving that PS Underground disc with the demo just set me on fire. I loved it.

- GTA3 - That unbelievable freedom. The chaos. The fun. I had so many sandbox-like moments that, today, are kind of standard in open-world games, but were just so unique at the time in mainstream gaming. Never before had I had so much fun just goofing off in a game. The single-player campaign was secondary to the experience of just driving around the city and causing mayhem. The game became "how many Wanted stars can I get and how long can I then survive" - it felt emergent, even if that's not quite the right word for it.

- World of Warcraft - Taking down Ragnaros, a big 40-man raid boss for the first time. My fellow guildmates and I confessed that our hands were shaking when he went down. Knowing you had 39 other buddies coordinating their efforts to take down a 'legendary' and powerful creature was just so thrilling. Fighting the first regular monster in a 40-man raid was neat enough. That was a wow moment in itself. Even just running around Stormwind and Darnassus in WoW was a wow moment - getting to inhabit iconic Warcraft locales from the RTS games up close and at full-scale was incredible.

- Shadow of the Colossus - 'nuff said. The sense of scale and artistry on display with PS2 tech limitations - just an unbelievable achievement.

- Portal - Momentum-based portal exits. I don't know why that particular element comes to mind first. The whole game is really just one fantastic, thrilling mindfuck.

 

[GrayDock]

NES's Ninja Gaiden intro with the sword clash was a divisive moment in my gaming life.

Star Fox as a whole was almost impossible to believe.

PSX's MGS is the most impressive gaming experience of all time IMO.

Playing the MGS2 demo was unbelievable.

Facing Gannon true form in ZeldaOoT was my first "shit got real" moment.

Meeting the Tower Knight in Demon's Souls... How in the world can I defeat that?!

 

[Glendemonium]

Wind Waker, seeing what became of

Spoiler

OoT Hyrule when you enter the castle underwater.

it's a small sample but you can take your time and soak in the nostalgia of a once majestic realm.

 

[thenexus6]

Absolutely playing Halo co-op on the second mission Halo. It was honestly a game changer for me.. got an Xbox and never looked back until when the new Xbox One / PS4 generation started where I moved away from Xbox.

 

[Nudull]

The opening of Ocarina of Time, from the title screen and everything up to Link waking up from his nap.

Super Mario 64 was one thing, but this felt like the start of a big, epic movie.

 

[nillah]

There are a few gaming moments that are burned into my brain. Many of them involved seeing incredible things for the first time. For me..

First time seeing Sonic on the Sega Genesis. Coming from NES, the graphics blew my mind. Going through that first loop in Green Hill...

First time playing Mario 64. Everything about it was just unreal. I actually forgot to pick up my sister from school because I was playing the demo at Toys R Us. Yes, that's a shame moment. ha

First time seeing Madden 2001 on the PS2. First time a sports game looked like real life to me. Came out in college and we were all blown away.

First goal scored in Winning Eleven on the PS2. After years of playing FIFA and being disappointed, there was something special about that first goal that made me realize how incredible soccer as a video game could be.

Yours?

OP! lol

Plenty of hell yeah moments from playing OOT and seeing Link go from a child to an adult with the flick of a switch, the entire realm went dark with zombies walking around but that's okay when you're a badass adult wielding the sword of time *takes breath* to seeing Dwade's sweat drip off his fucking head in a VIDEO GAME back then on NBA Live 06' on the Xbox 360, to another hell yeah moment with that train scene in Uncharted 2 video games never seize to amaze me and that's what keeps me going

 

[Baron Doggystyle von Woof]

Mario 64.

Seeing Mario in 3D for the first time and jumping in the first painting. Exploring a for that time big 3D world?

Blew my mind.

 

[Admodieus]

Pokémon Gold

This, but also

 

[AtomicShroom]

That screen right here.

I knew I was playing with 16-bit power.

 

[adamsapple]

First was probably the Tekken PSX CGI trailer. I was like 8 or something when I first saw that. Shit was so unreal.

 

[knguyen]

First time I saw Konami's Winning Eleven on PlayStation. I was amazed, and when the commentator said "Ronaldo, goal!". I was like woah.

 

[GAFDooMsDaY]

I think my first major WOW moment was when I popped in Sons of Liberty in the Ps2...that whole game was perfect. Even the rain leaving behind footsteps in the first tanker level blew me away.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Probably looking through a SEARS catalog (I think?) in the mid '80s and seeing the first screen for Castlevania

(obviously not the exact screen, but it was definitely a shot of the first level)

It was some kind of Nintendo preview thing they were doing and I just flipped out. Honestly couldn't believe I could play a game at home that would look that good. :}

 

[MrRudiMentary]

I remember playing Uncharted 3 being the first gameplay of the series I'd seen. The graphics, humour and contextual melee stuff in the opening blew me the fuck away.

 

[Drac84]

Playing Aussie Rules Footy on the NES and hearing an actual recorded human voice.

http://youtu.be/0Ql6HJX7OsA

 

[cireza]

Sonic 2 on Genesis (first game I saw on Genesis).

Virtua Racing on Genesis.

Many 32X games (this was my first 3D console).

Soul Calibur on Dreamcast.

 

[Krathoon]

being able to play with Mario's face on Super Mario 64


also, hello Gaf

I wish they kept that in the DS version. We got the silly string version instead.

Mine would be seeing Zelda OoT for the first time. I was in college and it was mind blowing.

The transition of Mario and Zelda in to 3D were both landmark moments.

 

[eXistor]

Seeing Super Mario World for the first time was pretty sweet,

That's a good one actually. I remember being on holiday in England and seeing the Super Famicom version running in a shopwindow. I was absolutely mesmerized and was just dreaming of that game non-stop. Magical times

 

[Cormano]

Super Mario Bros 3.

Also, this is not my first, but walking into Stormwind with my Paladin for the first time was overwhelming.

 

[F4r0_Atak]

Me it happened almost every gen:

NES: First time playing Duck Hunt/Mario bundle.

SNES/Genesis: First time be amazed by more defined 2D visuals.

N64/PS1: First time playing in 3D world/envrionments. Mario 64 + Crash + Spyro for me.

PS2/GC/XBOX: MGS 2 (entry point to the MGS for me), Luigi's Mansion and Ninja Gaiden were the first games that showed me what could be done with visuals (lighting) and storytelling.

PS3/360: Resistance and Gear of Wars were my first HD games. They were the ones to baptize my new TV.

PS4/XB1: The Order 1886 and Sunset Overdrive showed me what could be achieved with the current specs on a technical level (lighting and rendering system) and artistic level (photorealistic look vs stylized look). And playing Ratchet and Clank on PS4 feels like I'm playing it again for the first time (first introduced to the series through the Future series and then went on to the HD trilogy). In awe every time I play the new R&C.

 

[Supersonicclank]

For me, it was when I was scared out of my pants and had nightmares of Andross from Starfox as a kid. Haha, good times

 

[HappyBivouac]

First time playing Mario 64 was definitely the single most mind-blowing new gaming experience.

 

[Jonboy]

Not my first, but this moment was glorious.

 

[Ensoul]

I can go way back. It was probably dragons lair in the arcade.

Some other times:
Altered beast for the Genesis

Final fantasy II for the snes. I was climbing some mountain and there was a sunset colored sky in the background. At the time I remembering marveling at the graphics.

When my friend brought his dreamcast over and put in NFL 2K. I was completely blown away.

Fallout 3 after exiting the vault.

 

[AdmiralMikey]

Getting to the Dark World in Zelda: Link to the Past and realizing you're not even halfway done yet.

 

[Ikkyu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5f-VKEq0JA

 

[Hulohot]

The first time I played RuneScape back in 2006. It was the first game I ever played online and the fact that all these people walking around, killing cows, offering items for trade, or just chatting were actual people blew my mind.

This! So nostalgic it was my first, and so far only MMO experience. All of my friends were playing too. Finally doing the dragon slayer quest and finishing the free content with my friends was amazing, then all of us managed to get subscriptions and the game really opened up. A truly special game, I have the fondest memories of balloon popping in busy party rooms when somebody put an expensive item up for grabs, adventuring together in the wilderness.

It was like a job for kids which was a fresh experience. Woodcutting, mining, farming whilst talking to new people and your friends. Losing my brand new 100k ring of wealth from dying in a dungeon... Dark times but the best times. Played it with my friends consistently for about two years (2004-2006), then on and off for another two before stopping. Now I only log on every year or two for the nostalgic feelings. Walking around listening to the tunes and remembering the good times.

I remember the Falador massacre glitch, logging on as it was going on and panicking about getting murdered and losing my dragon long sword. The moderators were on in force ushering everyone into the banks yelling with coloured shimmering text for everyone to bank their goods so they don't lose everything whilst players were getting killed all around by other players exploiting the glitch. So surreal and nothing like it had happened before ever.

 

[espher]

Some I can think of offhand. First is 'hard' because most of these were 'wows' for different reasons, but I guess the Atari wins chronologically.

Console

* Solaris, on the Atari 2600. In hindsight, I'm not sure why, but clearly something clicked.
* First time seeing NES Super Mario Bros. pop up on a TV. Just a big 'wow' moment.
* Too many things to list in Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI.
* The night I impulse purchased Guitar Hero II and played it until 6 AM. To a lesser extent, the moment drumming 'clicked' for me in Rock Band was huge.
* Diddy Kong Racing and Snowboard Kids on N64. DKR's multiple vehicles/hub area and SBK's course design really stuck with me as things that I wished more kart games did.
* Soul Calibur graphics in arcade and, subsequently, on Dreamcast.
* The sense of scale in Shadow of the Colossus.
* MAG Beta.
* First time seeing Gears of War on an HD display. Even though I had been an avid PC gamer I had low spec machines through 2008, for the most part, so this looked staggeringly good.
* Wii Sports Bowling.
* Gaur Plains in Xenoblade.

PC

* TIE Fighter on PC, including the quantity of 'dynamic' voice clips and the entire iMUSE music system.
* Doom - especially the first time I tried using a level editor.
* BBS door games, across the board. So many neat concepts. BRE/FE, Legend of the Red Dragon, TradeWars 2002, etc. Just the concept of a multiplayer online game in and of itself - even turn-based/async - was huge for me.
* The first non-local online game I played was a text-driven MUD on a local BBS that was linked to some college server on the US. Like the above, that was a big 'wow' moment for me re: the concept of playing with people internationally (and, eventually, overseas).
* Unreal Tournament (1999). I booted it up and the first thing I played was CTF online. Hooked me for five years.
* The first time I went on a relic raid as a newbie DAoC player. I did not know that you could have that many people in the same zone - was my first true 'massive' online experience.
* The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Just because of how much there was to do.
* The first time I read about EVE Online's political machinations.
* Left 4 Dead - The first No Mercy campaign playthrough. My friends and I went into the game /mostly/ blind and had no idea what we were in for.

 

[biteren]

the first time i saw Killzone 2 i guess, the visuals blew me away

 

[megashock5]

Running down the snowy mountain, outrunning explosions in Strider.

The sheer speed in the original Sonic the Hedgehog.


Genesis for life. \m/

 

[MrSourpuss]

Psycho Mantis fight in MGS. Mind blowing.

 

[Iced]

the first time i saw Killzone 2 i guess, the visuals blew me away

heh

 

[llehuty]

I'll go with Eternal Darkness sanity effects. That still is super imaginative and fascinating. I was so impressed with the one telling you that is deleting all the save files.