The "wow" moments

MobyGames.com

We've all experienced them.

More often that not, they happen with your first game. Even after that, a game comes every once in a while that creates those same feelings.

While many vary from person to person, there are some moments within games that we all agree were amazing. Those "wow" moments, the moments that we see for the first time and never forget, ones that, when we think about them years later, we remember just how special they were (warning: some spoilers ahead).

Those moments do exist in movies, books and television as well, but they're sort of different for video games because of the element of control. 

Take a movie like The Avengers for example. All these superheroes were in one film together, and it was incredible. A movie like that had never been done before, it was such a huge risk, but it worked. Then, as the credits began to roll, we all talked about how great the movie was, how awesome it was when Hulk absolutely demolished Loki, and how insane it was when he punched that...wait, was that Thanos?!

Full disclosure: I love me some Marvel movies. But the point is, we left the theaters talking about the cool things the Avengers did.

With video games, it's about the cool things YOU did. There may be a main character, but you control him/her. You're in charge.

It's the players that collects all 120 stars. It's the players that keep Gotham safe at night, and it's the player that guides the Flyers to the Stanley Cup (  :')  ).

Hexy's got a plan. It's going to happen for real soon.......someday... (YouTube)

A moment that is synonymous in almost every gamer's mind during the 1990s is the opening to Super Mario 64.

When the Nintendo 64 launched in 1996, the use of 3D graphics was uncharted territory. Only a handful of games ran with the concept, and even less did so with any sort of success.

Then came Nintendo, equipped with one of the weirdest controllers ever, and its mascot of the last 20 years...and Pilotwings, but you can click here for more about that game.

Anyway, you pop in the cartridge, get done screwing around with Mario's weird, polygonal head and press start. What happens next is like the video game equivalent of getting handed the keys to a Porsche.

You're shown the castle, and the court yard out front. Then, as soon as Mario jumps out of the pipe, you're in control.

It's a tough feeling to describe, but ask anyone who played this game back in '96, and they will not fail to tell you that controlling Mario in 3D for the first time was something special.

There are plenty of other moments like Super Mario 64, too. Ocarina of Time blew people's minds back in 1998, so much so that many still regard it as the best game of all-time.

Games like Bioshock and Portal turned "would you kindly?" and "the cake is a lie" into phrases that are instantly associated with those games upon their utterance.

And we'll be talking about The Last of Us, and its giraffes, for years to come. Seriously, one of the most random, yet beautiful scenes I've ever experienced in a game.

There is an almost endless list of moments from all types of games that I could go on about here, with each having their own unique impact on people. But in the end, they all lead toward the same reaction...

"Wow."

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There is one more moment I would like to mention real quick. It's from NHL 2001 on the Playstation 2.

I got the PS2 for Christmas the year of its launch (I was 6-years old), and NHL was wrapped up with it.

My Dad hooked up the system and set up the game while I was upstairs, and when he called me down, the 5:47 mark was the first thing I saw, except it was the Flyers that were skating out of the tunnel.

The game looks extremely dated now, but at the time, that looked like the real thing to me.

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Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, click here to check out the last post where I wrote about the first impressions given off by Final Fantasy Type-0 and the Final Fantasy XV demo.