These are some titles that shaped my love for video games growing up. These may not have been the greatest games of all time but they sure were a ton of fun. They represent hours of my life that I will never get back. That may sound like I regret those hours, but that would be a lie. I do not regret any of the time I spent playing these games at all. Granted if I spent those hours studying physics or something I could probably have become the next Albert Einstein (a bit much?). But, alas here is the list of ten games that I believe our generation grew up on and were shaped by.

10. Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot may seem like the oddball in the group. But the more people I talked to that had a PlayStation; this is the game that comes up. It seems like everybody and their brother had this game and for good reason. This reckless player was so much fun to control. As I smashed my way through crates and enemies seeking the end of the game which never seemed to come. I never wanted the game to end. Unlike modern games, after you beat this game, that was it, finished. I may not even remember what the plot of this game was but the name brings up so many good memories of sitting in from of my PlayStation and massive box T.V. which weighed literally 120 pounds and playing this game.

9. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

SWKOTOR is number nine on my list for two reasons. The number one reason it is on the list is because I got to choose my own destiny. I got to choose weather I wanted to be a good guy or a bad guy. I got to decide if I wanted my emotions to take over and join the evil Darth Malak, or if I wanted to stay with the good guys. This game allowed you to be the Horrible person you had always wanted to be, smashing into people’s lives and stealing all their money. Or it allowed you to pursue your true passion of helping people (like anybody actually chose this path). The second reason is the massive story behind it. You had to play SWKOTOR for days upon days until you got to the end. The massive amount of characters made this game truly feel like you were in a giant universe.

8. Super Smash Bros

Nobody can refute the fact that Super Smash Bros will go down as one of the most fun games to ever play. If you ever got a large group of friends together, this was the game to play. Whether you played it on the GameCube or on the Wii, it was intense. Whether you were the guy smashing people off the map constantly (Falcon Punch!) or if you were the guy constantly trying to jump back to the map to avoid death (that would be me) this game was fun for everybody. Super Smash Bros also allowed you to play as some of your favorite characters against some of your favorite characters. Even if these characters were from completely different stories. You cannot tell me you weren’t a little curious who would win between Jiggly Puff and Kirby. Overall, this was just a super fun game that was a smash hit.

7. Morrowind

Where do I even start with The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. So much of my life was lost in this game and yet, there are still hundreds of side quests yet to be discovered. If you are like me, this was one of the first open world games that you got the chance to dive into and love. I loved the ability to play however you wanted. There was no specific way that you had to go through the game which is common now. But for me, this was my favorite open world game to date. I spent hours collecting (and reading) books, weapons, armor, potions, and other random items. Without this game, the Elder Scrolls would be nothing that they are today. Skyrim may not have even had the chance to exist if this game was not an epic hit.

6. Conker’s Bad Fur Day

This makes the list for one main reason: Humor. Raunchy as it may be this is one of the funniest games that was ever made. Conker’s Bad Fur Day would not have gotten a 9.9 review on IGN if it were not one of the funniest games that they had ever played. The weird, bizarre, and crazy violence makes this game a ton of fun. For being a game that came out early in the 2000’s, this game pushed the limits of what was an M rating then. It has some of the most hilarious gameplay I have ever seen. It is crazy to me how this missed the radar of many gamers.

5. World of Warcraft

How could this list go without the most classic game of them all? I mean “LEEEERRRRRROOOOOYYYYYYYY JEEEENNNKKKINNNSS”. Just thinking about the names makes me pee a little in laughter. But this is not the main reason that this game was on the list. World of Warcraft made the list because people have lost years of their life playing it. It was a game that took away a lot of our younger years. I’ve talked to people who are stunned at how much they played that game and yet it is still going strong. This is one of the MMORPG’s that took away a ton of time and we do not miss any of it.

4. Runescape

Slipping in just above World of Warcraft is the game that I spent hours in. There was just something about Runescape that I could not get myself away from. If you have played Runescape recently and did not play it in the early 2000’s, then we are talking about a different game. I am talking about the time before the Grand Exchange. I am talking about trying to buy black armor by standing outside the bank and reading though hundreds of texts at the same time. People made the text flash, change colors, and even do the wave. This is the Runescape I am talking about and I loved every minute of it. I chopped down hundreds of trees, slayed hundreds of goblins, and made a lot of gold. This was the game that I would say first got me into online gaming.

3. Halo

The original halo was straight up the savior of Microsoft and the Xbox. Without this game the Xbox would never have become what it is today. I believe this to be 100% true. Halo was the first great first person shooter. Many people will disagree with me and list other titles that I know are great. But if you do not think Halo was the first great one, then you are wrong. There is no way around that. From pistol whipping people to splattering the walls with human and alien blood, there was no greater feeling in a first person shooter. Some people may have been distracted by Counter Strike, but Halo was where it was at. If anyone ever attended a Halo party, they know exactly what I am talking about. 16 of your friends battling it out on Blood Gultch was where it was at. Halo was one of the games that turned the 21st century.

2. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time

It is hard to describe the amount of satisfaction one gets from fully beating The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. People still to this day brag about beating it. Nobody has a bad thing to say about this game. It has received the best possible score on multiple review sites for good reason. Ocarina of Time will go down as a Legend of all games (yes pun intended). The satisfaction of getting all the way to the end and pulling the sword from the stone is so immense and cannot even be described. If you have beaten this game you will no doubt agree with me. Besides beating OoT, the gameplay itself, is so much fun and so immersive. I loved every minute of it.

1.    Pokémon (Red, Blue, Yellow, Silver, or Gold)

This was the beginning. My entire childhood could be summed up in one word, Pokémon. I was lucky enough to have an uncle who gave me the other half of his red. I collected the cards, watched the TV show (and movies), and tried so hard to catch all of the original Pokémon. To this day I will still go back and play Pokémon blue because it is a part of my childhood. It is like going home after a long time away. I loved trying to catch Pokémon and battling trainers. This may not have been the greatest game ever made (I may almost argue for it) but Pokémon had the greatest impact on my childhood and I feel indebted to it.

Thanks for reading though the 10 games I feel changed my childhood and adolescence. There are so many games that came to mind when I was trying to make this list and getting it down to 10 was so hard. Games like Guitar Hero, Star Fox n64, Mario Party, Mario Cart, GTA III, Resident Evil, Team Fortress 1, and Spyro all were amazing. But these 10 games listed about changed the video game industry and impacted many of our lives. It is hard not to feel nostalgic when I think of the memories associated with these games. Other people have made lists similar to this but because I am posting this on the internet they are wrong (because we all know everything posted on the internet is true).

Feel free to comment games you feel like I left out of this list because I am super curious to see what other people think!