We all love video games, but that passion had to start somewhere.

Video games are an art-form, and we all have artistic preferences that help us fall in love with the medium. It’s always fun to have retrospection and see where it all started for each of us.

I have memories of playing video games back in the early Nintendo 64 days. I used to fondly play Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 along with a host of other games on the system. 

Coupled this with Sonic the Hedgehog games on my SEGA Genesis, and that was my early console gaming career. Unsolicited hot take: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is, in my opinion, the best one of the bunch.

As for handhelds, my devotion went to Pokemon Red and later Pokemon Gold on my Game Boy Color. I used to stay up late with friends taking advantage of the day-night system of Gold Version and just losing myself in the world.

When I look back, I don’t know if one set game was the reason I fell in love with gaming. In my younger days, it was a collection of games that slowly crafted my love for the medium. By the GameCube era, I was hooked. Games like Metroid Prime and Super Mario Sunshine had me coming back constantly. 

A Falling Out and a Return to Form

I also have a unique perspective in that shortly after getting hooked on games, I fell out of love. I thought I was too cool to play video games as my interests started to shift to sports as I played high school athletics. 

I never outright hated video games, but I was just “too cool” to play them. This, unfortunately, led me to missing the Wii era of gaming. It wasn’t until after high school and a proselytizing mission for my church that I started to fall in love again. 

My brothers continued playing video games and after I finished my two-year mission, I was watching one of my brothers play The Legend of Zelda. I don’t remember if it was Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword, but the nostalgia of my days playing the N64 and GameCube came flooding back.

The game that reignited my love for gaming was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and I’m talking about the original one played on the Wii Virtual Console.

It was this game that helped me fall in love with gaming again and helped me remember to embrace my interests and passions. As far as the game itself, it was the music, dungeons, and story that just enthralled me.

From that point on, I was hooked, again.

What about you? Which game or moments helped you fall in love with gaming? What personal experiences do you look back at fondly thanks to video games? Let us know in the comments below or on our Discord channel.

The Boss Rush Podcast – Fridays at 7AM ET

The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, LeRon, Stephanie, Edward, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk their week in games, entertainment, and more while also bringing topics for conversation, answer listener and community questions, and cover major news and events happening in the video game industry. Watch The Boss Rush Podcast live on Wednesday Nights on Twitch at 8:30PM ET / 5:30PM PT or on Friday mornings at 7AM ET on YouTube and podcast services everywhere. Thanks for listening! You can also get this episode one week early on Patreon.

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Featured Image: Nintendo (via The Los Angeles Times)