Nostalgic video games for millennials
When I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, my dad revealed he’d bought something that day and told me to guess what it was. I asked what letter it started with, and he said “p.”
“A puppy!” I shouted, overjoyed and hilariously mistaken.
No, my dad chuckled, not a puppy. He had just purchased a PlayStation 2, a video game console that would, in time, become the first console that was truly mine. The PS2 featured some incredible games, as did its contemporaries, the Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube — all three of which featured heavily in the childhoods of many millennials.
While my parents get nostalgic about Blades of Steel and the original Super Mario Bros., these are the video games that get millennials, like me, nostalgic.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater introduced scads of kids to Bob Burnquist, the kickflip and Goldfinger’s ska punk. The skateboarding series was wildly popular, boosted by Tony Hawk landing the first-ever 900 a few months prior to the first game’s release.
A Reddit post on the r/nostalgia subreddit features a screenshot of the first level’s loading screen and the caption, “This abandoned warehouse.” It’s been upvoted nearly 16,000 times.
While this series isn’t dead, it’s pretty stagnant after numerous releases that crashed harder than most skateboarders ever have.
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Roller Coaster Tycoon let players take over a theme park and run wild. Ferris wheels, log jammers and, most importantly, custom roller coasters were all part of the fun. Even cleaning up the virtual puke was fun — in a weird way. Good! Plus, players got to exorcise demons by creating “death coasters” that led unwary riders to their fiery, explosive deaths.
Star Wars: Battlefront II
“Watch those wrist rockets!”
Star Wars: Battlefront II revolutionized both the first- and third-person shooter game and the Star Wars game. Massive battlefields where the site of dynamic battles full of Jedi. Destroying lines of battle droids, stormtroopers and Ewoks never gets old, as evidenced by this series’ recent resurrection by Electronic Arts.
Goldeneye 007
Another revolutionary shooter, Goldeneye 007 popularized the split-screen multiplayer battle. Inspired by the 1995 James Bond film, Goldeneye 007 let players mow down their enemies while fighting for the golden gun, which would kill anyone in a single bullet.
The inclusion of numerous Bond villains and allies, plus a few variations of 007 himself, gave players massive selection. No, you’re not allowed to be Oddball — he’s way too overpowered.
3D Pinball — Space Cadet
When the internet would go out, 3D Pinball — Space Cadet would get dialed up. The gameplay, the sounds, the graphic design — all were perfectly created. It’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t played it. But most millennials have.
Alex McCann is a student journalist and editor at Ohio University, where he is currently copy chief of that university’s editorially independent, student-run newspaper, The Post. This project was created for JOUR 4410J at OU, taught by Dr. Hans K. Meyer, associate professor of journalism, and its content is fully independent from that of The Post, its editors and its newsroom at large. You can follow Alex on Twitter @alexrmccann.
