The Tuesday 10s - The Titles That Shaped My Gaming Tastes

The Tuesday 10s return with a very special unordered (other than by A-Z) list, and I don't mean a Full House-style "very special episode" type of list either. No, instead, it's something near and dear to me, something I used to look back on my gaming history and do my best to properly analyze and identify those games that influenced and shaped who I am. These ten titles made me the type of gaymer I am, molded my tastes, and in part, made me who I am today, if we want to get utterly philosophical about this.

After you've checked out and hopefully read my ten picks, I'd be eager to read what some of your games that shaped your tastes (no need to post ten), if you'd be so kind to do so in the comments section below.

Banjo-Kazooie (N64)

Let's start off with a 3D platformer that takes claim as my favorite 3D platformer ever made. It's Banjo-Kazooie, featuring a robust repertoire of moves to learn, delightful and expansive worlds to explore, copious amounts of colorful characters to meet and engage with, and a plethora of secrets hidden inside Gruntilda's Castle and the worlds within. While Super Mario 64 innovated and revolutionized the gaming world, it's the iterative Banjo-Kazooie that has since stuck with me. It took the remarkable foundation that Mario 64 laid down and went to town on it. It presented me with my love for collectathon platformers in three dimensions (especially when they don't overwhelm the player--sorry, Donkey Kong 64) and continues to bring me joy. 

Breath of Fire (SNES)

One of the first role-playing games I ever played was a wondrous introduction to the genre for me: Breath of Fire. It was an albeit rather basic RPG, but a perfect intro to what the genre was all about. You had your turn-based battles, a sprawling world to explore, an engaging enough story, and one of the more important aspects of games that I've grown to greatly appreciate: a sensational soundtrack. Really, Breath of Fire was the beginning of my love for RPGs, and also one of the first games to make me shed tears due to a certain combo of story and music, showing that I could connect with games on an emotional level. Truly something special to me.

Final Fantasy II (SNES)

We move from one Squaresoft-published game to another with Final Fantasy II, at least that's how it was numbered back then. I'll spare you the well-known details on the numbered entries in the franchise. Regardless, Final Fantasy II started my love for the Final Fantasy series, opening me up to various aspects and constants in the series that I would discover myself appreciating to this day--whether that's familiar summons, items, monsters, places, characters like Cid, etc. And although the mainline games are not the ones I stick with, rather it's the spin-offs that I adore--and that's been a thing for as long as I can remember--Final Fantasy II was essentially the gateway game into the Square's role-playing world.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

Honestly, so many early games within The Legend of Zelda series could take a place on this list, but no doubt the one that bestowed its most influential impact on me was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I recall and remember fondly thumbing through each issue of Nintendo Power leading up to the game's release--heck, back when the game was simply titled Zelda 64 and Link still had his traditional green tunic with brown undershirt as opposed to the white undershirt he'd don in-game. I'd obsessively soak in every detail from every screenshot, every preview prose written in the magazines. 

Ocarina of Time was the first instance I can remember of a game living up to my seemingly impossible hype. It opened me up to the concept of a living, breathing world; thinking in a three-dimensional space to solve puzzles; thinking outside of the box for said puzzles; and falling in love with the mysteries and urban legends within Hyrule. Ocarina of Time persists in my mind to this day, living rent-free, as it's my favorite game ever made. Sure, I prefer the 3DS remake nowadays, but that doesn't take anything away from this highly important and influential Nintendo 64 gem.

Mario Kart 64 (N64)

While I played a fair amount of Super Mario Kart and F-Zero on the Super Nintendo, it wouldn't be until Mario Kart 64 where my love for arcade racing games--particularly the cartoon-y, wild and wacky style--would take shape and plant its foot in my heart, much like one would plant their foot on the pedal. Mario Kart 64 nowadays is my least favorite in the Mario Kart franchise due to lack of content, slippery steering, and such (though--to be fair--it's still enjoyed by me), but at the time I was absolutely addicted to the game. Between aiming for first place in each race of every cup on every difficulty, to meticulously exploring each track, even going backwards down tracks to see what sights I could discover (which no doubt annoyed Lakitu according to his constant holding up his "Reverse" sign), Mario Kart 64 was such an eye-opener for me. It definitely planted the seed of racing game love that would take root, grow, and prosper to this day.

Mega Man X (SNES)

There are plenty of platformers that shaped my love for the genre--my favorite gaming genre, might I add, at that--and Mega Man X is the one that brought forth my desire for lots of action while doing all the running and jumping the genre is primarily known for. It also gave me my adoration and appreciation for Capcom's Blue Bomber. Mega Man X was introduced to me by Nintendo Power. It was the first issue my older brother and I ever received via subscription, and it was an impressive silver cover commemorating the magazine's 50th issue. I was amazed by the Robot Maverick designs, how cool everything seemed, and just how much I wanted to freaking play this awesome-looking game! Needless to say, I soon was able to, and thus, my love and respect for Mega Man began, as did the continuation of my passion for platformers.

Resident Evil 4 (GC)

The most recent game that shaped my gaming tastes is one that I didn't think I would have bothered with. Perhaps I wouldn't have if I hadn't been quite a bit of an overzealous Nintendo fan back in the GameCube era. Fortunately, that zeal lessened in a toxicity sense to more of an enjoyable fandom. Regardless, Resident Evil 4 was once a GameCube exclusive--or at least planned that way. Without both its exclusivity and the copious amount of coverage in Nintendo Power, I no doubt would have been delayed to my Resident Evil fandom. I would have also missed out on one of my favorite games of all time. Really, Resident Evil 4 was an entry point to Resident Evil, horror games, and heck, even cosplay as I would go on to dress up as the debonair protagonist Leon S. Kennedy on streams and such. As such, in a bizarre way, perhaps I can thank my Nintendo fanboyism at the time for introducing me to one of my favorite games ever made.

RPG Maker (PS1)

This next game, or rather software for the purpose of creating your own RPGs, RPG Maker was one that turned me on to the idea of making games and doing so for fun. It taught me the basics of scripting and if/when statements, but in a visual form that was easy enough for even my simple mind to pick up on. I learned that I really love making and designing game worlds, building stories in games, and concocting all of the bits and pieces that make up the genre that so many love. Of course, the PlayStation 1 entry was as basic as all get out, not offering much, especially compared to what we see on PC nowadays, but it was a nice and pleasant start for my hobbyist game-creating career. It also taught me the utter importance of not utilizing third-party memory cards, lest you find 50 hours of work corrupted. Yeah... A lesson learned the hard way, unfortunately, with lots of tears from middle school-aged me.

Star Ocean: The Second Story (PS1)

If Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy II opened my eyes to the world of role-playing games, titles on the PlayStation like Wild ARMs and Star Ocean: The Second Story cemented my love and passion for the genre. The latter especially brought forth to my attention the idea of dual protagonists and real-time action combat. It also introduced me to composer Motoi Sakuraba whose Star Ocean: The Second Story soundtrack remains one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time. Essentially, the concepts that I was taught from Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy, and Star Ocean would go on to influence how I design my own RPG that I'm currently in the process of developing. So, if the game finally launches (who knows when that will happen, as RPGs are quite the time investment) and players end up disliking it, we now have some martyrs to blame.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

It wouldn't be a list of games that shaped this gaming superhero as a gamer without mentioning one of the very first titles I ever remember playing. That was Super Mario Bros. 2 (the Western release and not what's known as The Lost Levels here). Perhaps Super Mario Bros. 2 was an early example in my life that taught me that I could persevere and overcome challenges with enough persistence and patience. I recall struggling with the game considerably--understandably so considering my age and it being my first game--but slowly making progress with each attempt. 

Eventually I hit a roadblock with the ice world and dealing with a combination of slippery platforming and those white enemies that would skate across the ice. For months I battled that level, always taking too much damage or falling into the abyss below, but eventually I did it--I made it to a new screen--one with whales. I cherished that moment. Making it to that new screen was my white whale as a kid, funnily enough, and making it was one of my proudest moments growing up. I would eventually clear the game, but nothing compared to pushing through and smashing through that earlier roadblock.

Not only did Super Mario Bros. 2 show me through sheer will and determination that I could overcome that kind of challenge and be proud of myself for it, but of course, it also introduced me to a little known plumber named Mario. I wonder whatever happened to that guy...