It was September of 1998, and I was 7 years old by then. I have had some minor experience with video-games before since I used to own a Tetris (aka Brick Game ). Although it wasn't considered what we call "video-game system".
So during this September evening, before we went upstairs to our house, my dad (R.I.P.) told me to close my eyes since there was a surprise waiting for me when I would enter into my room. When he told me to open my eyes I saw the original Demo 1 case and Gran Turismo (they were giving it along with the console I suppose) jewel case too.
"Do you know what those are?", he asked me. I responded "Umm, no.". So he took me to the living-room and he presented me the original Playstation. Obviously I was super excited once I saw it. He sat me on the couch, and turned on the console, putting Demo 1 Disc. When It started a list of games appeared on the selection screen.
We went through each game and played each for a few minutes, but among all those games, there were 2 that stood out for me. Dead Or Alive (original) and Hercules. Still I was feeling disappointed by the fact games were too short (didn't know what "Demo" was by the time), and feeling disappointed by the lack of characters in Dead Or Alive's case.
Playstation Magazine, was a really big thing during that period. Internet was still a privilege among a small portion of the total population so most people used to buy Playstation Magazines, in order to gather more info about games, read reviews or find tips and cheats.
I used to buy those as well and I still have some of them. Those magazines were always providing a demo disc as a gift. Since I wasn't capable to understand reviews much (I think they were more dedicated to teens and not kids, so they were using a more "teenish" lingo.), I preferred to play the Demo disc, in order to get a general idea about those games, then ask my parents to buy me the full-game if I liked a certain game.
The excitement of playing the full-game was even greater than playing just the demo. Although the first full-game I "owned" was Gran Turismo, I wasn't really playing it since it was really hard for me by then. My dad used to play it though. Anyway the first full-game I played was the original Crash Bandicoot
I still play this game till today like once or twice per year (and the 2 follow-ups as well) since it has great replay value. But the first time I played it is what it matters most. The graphics were really ahead for its time, and it was a game which was more accessible to 6-9 year old kids. I really had a hard time getting the gems at this point though, but I could pass the levels with some difficulty.
I found follow-ups much easier, and they were the first games I completed 100%. (I had to go through every magazine to find out how to get the Red Gem in Crash Bandicoot 2 though! Whoever had played this game, knows what I mean.)
Other games (full) I played during this period were:
Abe's Odyssey
Ace Combat 2
Ape Escape
Croc
Dead Or Alive
Gex: Enter The Gecko
Hercules
Klonoa: Door To The Phantomvile
Rascal
Rayman
Skullmonkeys
Tekken 2
Tekken 3
Tombi! (aka Tomba!)
Wild 9
Some of them.
Well, that's all more or less. Even though I didn't understand much by then, seems like I was enjoying it!
Most Helpful Opinions