Old home video game systems/handhelds you had, what games and when you got them?

[HappyGilmore]

Never did manage to complete Jet Set Willy, although I did get Manic Miner done.

kudos. never completed either, to this day (and I have a spectrum emulator now)

that's a thing about games in those days... you almost didn't even expect to complete them half the time.

Playstation 1--Fun times. Favorite games included the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, and a bunch of fighting games.

absolutely loved Tony Hawk. especially the 2nd one. so good

Everybody's Golf 2 was another PS game that was way too much fun... and I don't even like golf!

Haven't people being up Golf in a long time.

[Alex]

If I could bring back any computer system I've played, I think it would be my Spectrum 48, rubber keys included (I do have an emulator for it, but it just isn't quite the same).

[Jim H]

I have a lot of nostalgic memories tied up in getting old games in my childhood.  So I could write a very long post about this, but I'll just go up to the NES.

The very first video game I ever owned was this:



This came out in 1988, and I definitely got in either '88 or '89.  It has very limited graphics, like Tiger handhelds for those who have seen those.  But, it's legitimately a pretty good game, and does a lot with a little.  Nintendo knows how to handle limited hardware.  I remember playing this in the back of the family station wagon, which was baby blue, on trips to the grocery store and stuff.  I still have the thing somewhere, and it still works too.  Image has gotten hard to see though.

A year or two later, we got an NES after over a year of my sister and I begging.  I remember we wanted Super Mario Bros 2, but it was sold out - likely from residual effects of the chip shortage of the late 80s.  So my dad got Tetris instead.  Which was disappointing for me, but great for my sister - she got great at it back then, and still a solid player today. 

Tetris was also the ONLY NES game my dad would ever try for more than a few minutes; he hated almost every other game on the system.  Which is a bit odd looking back, as my dad wasn't too bad of a gamer in some ways.  He could play Pac-Man for hours on one credit, loved StarCastle, and could beat the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy text game without hints - which is bonkers to me, as that game is extremely difficult.  I feel like my dad would have enjoyed some other NES games if he'd given them more of a chance, like Adventures of Lolo, maybe Zelda, Solar Jetman, or even just the various maze games that felt a bit like Pac-Man.  But he never did, and too late now.

Other games I remember getting...  I got very sick a year or two after we got the NES, and my parents had to rush home from a vacation in Europe.  I was hospitalized for three days, and they presented me a copy of Super Mario 3 while I lay in bed.  I was pretty out of it, but I still remember it, vaguely.  It was a huge game that everyone wanted.

I got Battletoads from my grandmother, and I remember a guy in second grade overhearing this and being super impressed.  He came over to play it, and we became very good friends all the way through high school.

I remember seeing Castlevania III for $20 at Recordtown.  This was INCREDIBLY cheap at the time, so cheap it convinced my mom to get it for me.  Thinking back, this was probably 1991-1992, so about $40 in today's money.  Kind of crazy that that was "ultra cheap".  We are spoiled in pricing for games today, if you are at all patient.

Bionic Commando and Contra Force I bought from the mom and pop rental shop that I used to bike to.  They sold a lot of games off when new systems came out.

If anyone wants to see, I still have a large retro collection (especially NES stuff).  I think I have some photos online somewhere.