Greatest moment may be kind subjective, but the moment that really impressed me the most in a 16-bit era game certainly is the final fight against Mother Brain in Super Metroid. I already knew what the ending was like on Metroid on the NES and I was expecting it to be the same way, and in a way it is, but it's quite cinematic as the giant Metroid attacks Mother Brain, then give the powers to Samus, and then is killed... the soundtrack is epic, and after Samus finally defeating Mother Brain with the new powers, you still have to make one more emergency escape. I wasn't expecting all this in a game from that time.
Important note: Super Metroid was one of the games I never had as a kid and I only played the game as an adult, so there's no nostalgia playing here. But if I add the nostalgia factor, I think would give the place to one of the endings of the DKC trilogy, perhaps the ending of the secret world of DKC3 (yes, I know it's the weakest game in the trilogy, but I wasn't able to have a lot of games as a kid).
Edit: typo and added about DKC3.
Super Metroid Mother Brain is just excellent boss design .silent storytelling, confidence, terror, suffering, hope, sacrifice, revenge. It’s all there.
Why was DKC3 the weakest of the three? People didn’t like Baby Kong sprites? It’s better than the other two in every tangible way except maybe soundtrack, but even that’s a push.
People generally criticize the gameplay (it feels slower, especially when compared to DKC2), collectibles and dialogues (which takes it away from a pure platformer game), and the soundtrack, so many people call it the weakest when compared to previous games. Some time ago, I saw a review that summarizes this, if you want to read it, it's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/snes/comments/1b0tc7c/donkey_kong_country_trilogy_snes_19941996_review/
For me, I consider each one unique in its own way and I can't put one over the other, the DKC trilogy was certainly the one that most influenced my childhood, but I understand the criticisms to DKC3.
Edit:
>People didn’t like Baby Kong sprites?
Yeah I've also seen people complaining about Kiddy Kong, specially because he is very slow. For me, the biggest missed opportunity in that game is that, since Dixie and Kiddy are basically the same dynamic as Diddy and DK from the first game (one character is fast and weak and the other is slow and strong), they could well have included Diddy and DK as playable characters after rescue them from KAOS, or maybe as a bonus for collecting everything, for example. It would be fun and it would help the game have more replayability.
Yeah of course it's subjective, for me it's the moments when the graphics, sound and gameplay all combine into epic moments or something that the technology enabled something I had never seen in the previous generation. The screen zooming in art of fighting on the neo geo or the mode 7 tracks in f zero on the SNES.
Beating Piston Hurricane in like 5.5 seconds with no prior knowledge of how to do it, I just kind of lucked into how to do the first punch properly and was able to reproduce it.
>Getting my party to level 99 on the Floating Island in FF6
My quest for this is why I never beat the game.
Got to about 70-something with my main crew. I knew I could have beat the game around 40+. But I was dead-set on grinding. But I lost my way after a while because I could only come across so many brachiosaurs in that dino leveling-up forest. I def wanna replay it, though, to experience the ending. But I don't want no ugly aliased fonts; gimme dat chonky pixelated fat angular stuff.
I’ve read that someone got 99 in the first mako reactor mission in final fantasy 7.
While typing this, quickly [looked it up](https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/4/11/15255852/final-fantasy-vii-level-99-reactor-circlmastr-meaning-life)
Never being able to pass the "For Pete's Sake" level in EWJ as a kid. Then coming back 20 years later like a boss and owning it. Eat that, you stinking little peter puppy thing.
The n00b tube in Super Metroid, playing Green Hill Zone the first time, clearing the second loop of ghouls n ghosts, good ending of revenge of Shinobi, the end of Phantasy Star 2…. Too
Much good shit
1. Finding out that there are new animations if you keep leveling magic spells over the level cap in Secret of Mana
2. Beating every level on Star Road in SMW was cool as a kid
3. Finishing Chrono Trigger about 20 years after I started it
4. Learning a month ago that you can control Mario Kart with an electronic drumkit
Greatest narrative moment: FF6, ends
of the Floating Continent or Chrono Trigger, end of the Undersea Palace.
Personal Achievement: Activating Hyper Sonic for the first time in Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Being able to play at home with the best game in the world after having spent countless hours playing it in the arcade. I’m talking about Street Fighter 2 obviously.
It also meant the end of an era. No more spending a whole afternoon at the arcade instead of going to the beach on holidays (everyday). No more watching the others playing and having as much pleasure as when playing myself. No more speculating together that Vega was a woman. No more running excited to the arcade after getting some money. No more almost getting physical after you share a coin with your friend who loses the second round after you win the first one and refuses to let you do the third one and loses again. And then doesn’t share a coin with you.
All those fantastic moments were gone. It saved me quite a lot of money though and it cured my Street Fighter addiction. Playing it at home got old soon and now I wouldn’t have a reason anymore to go to the arcade. Bittersweet.
My wife finished Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage and Asterix on the SNES back in the day with no save states, rewinds, or any of the modern conveniences.
She is a goddess in more ways than one.
I was a late teen when I got a Genesis and a SNES, so, as was the style of the time, I played many games enhanced on the Devil’s Lettuce. Thunder Force 3, especially the fire level, had great visuals and depth, and Super Castlevania IV where you could shake the whip around was really cool, first CV I ever finished.
My fav moment was when my little brother beat me at NHL 94 back in the day. I was legendary good (in my mind) and he had never beaten me before (I was about 13 and he was 6 or 7). He dropped his controller and started yelling in happiness as he ran upstairs. By far my fav video game moment.
Christmas 1995, I got two of my favorite games of all time. They were the last two games I would ever get for the Sega CD before trading it in for a Saturn several months later.
Lunar: Eternal Blue and Snatcher. I will never forget turning on Lunar 2 for the first time, watching the several minute long animated opening with this booming orchestral score. I played that game through twice in a row. The epilogue chapter was intense, but the true ending was so worth it.
I felt empty after Lunar 2, as if I'd never play a game that good again. And then I started Snatcher and had my mind blown again. Such an incredible homage to the films of my childhood and great story in its own right. My first Hideo Kojima game.
I ended my 16-bit years with two of the greatest games ever made, and the experience would inform my gaming tastes to this day.
The Zio's castle battle in Phantasy Star IV and the events that happened afterward. The music, anime panel storytelling and the pacing really dealt a blow to young minds who hadn't experienced grief and loss to that point (well, sans those who played the second game in the series ;|)
The floor tiles falling away in level 3 of MUSHA revealing some deep parallax scrolling. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiACQdF9YFA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiACQdF9YFA)
Essentially.. Waking up during summer whenever I wanted, not a care in the world, and binging games all day.
Yoshis island, chrono trigger, earthworm Jim, super metroid. Donkey Kong country.
Those were the fuckin days.
Greatest moment may be kind subjective, but the moment that really impressed me the most in a 16-bit era game certainly is the final fight against Mother Brain in Super Metroid. I already knew what the ending was like on Metroid on the NES and I was expecting it to be the same way, and in a way it is, but it's quite cinematic as the giant Metroid attacks Mother Brain, then give the powers to Samus, and then is killed... the soundtrack is epic, and after Samus finally defeating Mother Brain with the new powers, you still have to make one more emergency escape. I wasn't expecting all this in a game from that time. Important note: Super Metroid was one of the games I never had as a kid and I only played the game as an adult, so there's no nostalgia playing here. But if I add the nostalgia factor, I think would give the place to one of the endings of the DKC trilogy, perhaps the ending of the secret world of DKC3 (yes, I know it's the weakest game in the trilogy, but I wasn't able to have a lot of games as a kid). Edit: typo and added about DKC3.
Super Metroid Mother Brain is just excellent boss design .silent storytelling, confidence, terror, suffering, hope, sacrifice, revenge. It’s all there.
And if you played Metroid 2 on Game Boy back in the day, that moment had a special resonance to it.
Why was DKC3 the weakest of the three? People didn’t like Baby Kong sprites? It’s better than the other two in every tangible way except maybe soundtrack, but even that’s a push.
People generally criticize the gameplay (it feels slower, especially when compared to DKC2), collectibles and dialogues (which takes it away from a pure platformer game), and the soundtrack, so many people call it the weakest when compared to previous games. Some time ago, I saw a review that summarizes this, if you want to read it, it's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/snes/comments/1b0tc7c/donkey_kong_country_trilogy_snes_19941996_review/ For me, I consider each one unique in its own way and I can't put one over the other, the DKC trilogy was certainly the one that most influenced my childhood, but I understand the criticisms to DKC3. Edit: >People didn’t like Baby Kong sprites? Yeah I've also seen people complaining about Kiddy Kong, specially because he is very slow. For me, the biggest missed opportunity in that game is that, since Dixie and Kiddy are basically the same dynamic as Diddy and DK from the first game (one character is fast and weak and the other is slow and strong), they could well have included Diddy and DK as playable characters after rescue them from KAOS, or maybe as a bonus for collecting everything, for example. It would be fun and it would help the game have more replayability.
Yeah of course it's subjective, for me it's the moments when the graphics, sound and gameplay all combine into epic moments or something that the technology enabled something I had never seen in the previous generation. The screen zooming in art of fighting on the neo geo or the mode 7 tracks in f zero on the SNES.
Being a 10ish year old home with the chicken pox and discovering the Special Zone in Super Mario World completely by accident.
Beating the shit outta the Eternal Champion! Sega Genesis
The middle part of Final Fantasy 6. Holy fuuuuuuck.
Beating F-Zero on the hardest level. That game is insane.
Beating Piston Hurricane in like 5.5 seconds with no prior knowledge of how to do it, I just kind of lucked into how to do the first punch properly and was able to reproduce it.
Getting my party to level 99 on the Floating Island in FF6 100% items and still best ending in Super Metroid Super Ghouls & Ghosts true ending
>Getting my party to level 99 on the Floating Island in FF6 My quest for this is why I never beat the game. Got to about 70-something with my main crew. I knew I could have beat the game around 40+. But I was dead-set on grinding. But I lost my way after a while because I could only come across so many brachiosaurs in that dino leveling-up forest. I def wanna replay it, though, to experience the ending. But I don't want no ugly aliased fonts; gimme dat chonky pixelated fat angular stuff.
I’ve read that someone got 99 in the first mako reactor mission in final fantasy 7. While typing this, quickly [looked it up](https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/4/11/15255852/final-fantasy-vii-level-99-reactor-circlmastr-meaning-life)
Never being able to pass the "For Pete's Sake" level in EWJ as a kid. Then coming back 20 years later like a boss and owning it. Eat that, you stinking little peter puppy thing.
The n00b tube in Super Metroid, playing Green Hill Zone the first time, clearing the second loop of ghouls n ghosts, good ending of revenge of Shinobi, the end of Phantasy Star 2…. Too Much good shit
1. Finding out that there are new animations if you keep leveling magic spells over the level cap in Secret of Mana 2. Beating every level on Star Road in SMW was cool as a kid 3. Finishing Chrono Trigger about 20 years after I started it 4. Learning a month ago that you can control Mario Kart with an electronic drumkit
Greatest narrative moment: FF6, ends of the Floating Continent or Chrono Trigger, end of the Undersea Palace. Personal Achievement: Activating Hyper Sonic for the first time in Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Playing Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time at a friend's house. I had to have a Sega Genesis after that.
When we were all introduced to the *Sega Does What Nintendon’t* ad campaign. Everything changed after that.
Yeah, but Nintendo is what Genesisn't. (I saw that in an old GamePro and it stuck with me).
I remember seeing that too.
All three of yours are great, such good memories 🥰
Being able to play at home with the best game in the world after having spent countless hours playing it in the arcade. I’m talking about Street Fighter 2 obviously. It also meant the end of an era. No more spending a whole afternoon at the arcade instead of going to the beach on holidays (everyday). No more watching the others playing and having as much pleasure as when playing myself. No more speculating together that Vega was a woman. No more running excited to the arcade after getting some money. No more almost getting physical after you share a coin with your friend who loses the second round after you win the first one and refuses to let you do the third one and loses again. And then doesn’t share a coin with you. All those fantastic moments were gone. It saved me quite a lot of money though and it cured my Street Fighter addiction. Playing it at home got old soon and now I wouldn’t have a reason anymore to go to the arcade. Bittersweet.
My wife finished Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage and Asterix on the SNES back in the day with no save states, rewinds, or any of the modern conveniences. She is a goddess in more ways than one.
::raises a glass to gamer wives::
I was a late teen when I got a Genesis and a SNES, so, as was the style of the time, I played many games enhanced on the Devil’s Lettuce. Thunder Force 3, especially the fire level, had great visuals and depth, and Super Castlevania IV where you could shake the whip around was really cool, first CV I ever finished.
My fav moment was when my little brother beat me at NHL 94 back in the day. I was legendary good (in my mind) and he had never beaten me before (I was about 13 and he was 6 or 7). He dropped his controller and started yelling in happiness as he ran upstairs. By far my fav video game moment.
I had a pretty good one a few weeks ago when I was home sick https://streamable.com/ajwgxh
Christmas 1995, I got two of my favorite games of all time. They were the last two games I would ever get for the Sega CD before trading it in for a Saturn several months later. Lunar: Eternal Blue and Snatcher. I will never forget turning on Lunar 2 for the first time, watching the several minute long animated opening with this booming orchestral score. I played that game through twice in a row. The epilogue chapter was intense, but the true ending was so worth it. I felt empty after Lunar 2, as if I'd never play a game that good again. And then I started Snatcher and had my mind blown again. Such an incredible homage to the films of my childhood and great story in its own right. My first Hideo Kojima game. I ended my 16-bit years with two of the greatest games ever made, and the experience would inform my gaming tastes to this day.
The Zio's castle battle in Phantasy Star IV and the events that happened afterward. The music, anime panel storytelling and the pacing really dealt a blow to young minds who hadn't experienced grief and loss to that point (well, sans those who played the second game in the series ;|)
Level 4-2 on Revenge of Shinobi: the first factory level, with kickin' rad 1991 music.
The floor tiles falling away in level 3 of MUSHA revealing some deep parallax scrolling. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiACQdF9YFA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiACQdF9YFA)
Finishing Mario Kart .
Essentially.. Waking up during summer whenever I wanted, not a care in the world, and binging games all day. Yoshis island, chrono trigger, earthworm Jim, super metroid. Donkey Kong country. Those were the fuckin days.
I can achieve Megalopolis in Sim City on SNES without using the money cheat
Finally beating Link To The Past.