The Nostalgia
I've got some really sweet memories from the C64 but also from the Amiga and 8-bit Nintendo (NES).
I've had other, later consoles but they are not in the nostalgia department yet. And to be honest, it's difficult to see what to be nostalgic about on for example Playstation. But time will probably tell.
My first experience from the C64 was the game Friday the 13:th. It was at a friends house and I remember being so impressed that the computer was able to remember where all those people were killed!
I eventually got my own C64. Best Christmas present I ever had and ever will have. Like magic, all those boring days during summer holidays were gone. Parents of course telling me to get out of the house more.
Me and some friends used to record music with a tape recorder close to the TV speaker, being able to listen to the music in our walkmans at the bus. When at home, start a favorite game to listen to the music and do some homework. My life was SID music.
I never imagined making music of my own, I thought it just wasn't possible except for the gods: Hubbard, Galway, Whittaker, Daglish, Matt Gray and some others few selected.
Ghost's & Goblins was a game I played pretty much in the beginning. It had it all: the action, gameplay, graphics and music.
Giana Sisters had a really nice title tune and I liked the similarities with Super Mario.
The Last Ninja also had quite a big impact on my early gaming experiences. It was in a different league. It was the first game to make me feel emotional when I finished it, I felt so sad because it was over. It felt like a long, beautiful journey had come to an end.
Last Ninja 2 was also a bit emotional after finishing it. Part of me was happy and proud to have beat the game and the other part sad because it was over.
I can go on forever on how I remember those old games but that is probably true for most readers of this page.
One thing also very memorable about the C64 was the turbo tape. I can remember the feeling when you borrowed a tape from a friend and you got about 20-30 games to try out. Getting that tape on Friday and being on you way home from school knowing what you are about to do for the weekend - I loved that time of my life.
I had a NES when I first saw the Amiga in action so that set the bar of how a game should look like for me. Of course I had seen screenshots in magazines and such but watching all those colors, stunning graphics and hearing the kick-ass sound in real life was amazing.
I remember watching a show on Swedish TV where you could see games being played and even some demos. You wouldn't miss that show. Danish TV also had a great show, Troldspejlet, which actually still runs today.
The first games I played was Battle Squadron, Shadow of the Beast and IK+ where the later had really cool sampled sound effects compared to the C64 version. SOTB was a great game to show off the capabilities of the Amiga, lots of jaw-dropping graphics.
Since you had a mouse, new types of games showed up. Point and click adventures were a big favorite with the Lucasarts games Monkey Island and Indiana Jones.
At first we all wanted to throw the mouse out the window whining "give back my joystick" but soon it became a really powerful device.
I experimented a lot more with my Amiga than my C64, I didnt' just play games. Mainly because the programs were easier to get but also because I was a bit older and began understanding how things worked. I painted with Deluxe Paint, made some lame demos with demomaker programs and of course tried Soundtracker.
Cracktros and demos was also nice to boot up for background music while doing homework.
Super Mario Brothers was one of the most memorable games and that game alone made me sell my C64 and get a NES (which I regret later on). Zelda 1&2 and Castlevania were really great games too. Castlevania actually had some cool music for a NES game. The first Megaman was a fresh addition to the standard platformers, getting the powers of the bosses you've just beat. Ducktales had a nice atmosphere and was also a cool platformer.
Games were really expensive for a kid too, not like the "free" games on the C64.
So what about the music? Many tunes on NES were really annoying, especially the "death"-tunes. Nintendo also did a good job picking sucky waveforms for the NES - square, triangle and noise. PWM and saw should have been a better choice but would probably need a more sophisticated sound chip.
NES tunes never got me to a "wow, this is really great music"-level. For example, I never fired up a NES game just to listen to the music. I'm not sure if it was because of the sound itself sounding more simple, static and thin or if it was the music styles in games just being different. Swapping my C64 for a NES was definitely a step back in the audio department.
The tunes were really "game tunes". If you put them out of their context (the game) they often fall flat, not being listenable music at all.
Some games had better soundtracks, Castlevania and Megaman series being some of the better.
Anyway, it's cool to listen to the tunes sometimes to get some nostalgia.
I've had other, later consoles but they are not in the nostalgia department yet. And to be honest, it's difficult to see what to be nostalgic about on for example Playstation. But time will probably tell.
Commodore 64
My first experience from the C64 was the game Friday the 13:th. It was at a friends house and I remember being so impressed that the computer was able to remember where all those people were killed! I eventually got my own C64. Best Christmas present I ever had and ever will have. Like magic, all those boring days during summer holidays were gone. Parents of course telling me to get out of the house more.
Me and some friends used to record music with a tape recorder close to the TV speaker, being able to listen to the music in our walkmans at the bus. When at home, start a favorite game to listen to the music and do some homework. My life was SID music.
I never imagined making music of my own, I thought it just wasn't possible except for the gods: Hubbard, Galway, Whittaker, Daglish, Matt Gray and some others few selected.
Ghost's & Goblins was a game I played pretty much in the beginning. It had it all: the action, gameplay, graphics and music.
Giana Sisters had a really nice title tune and I liked the similarities with Super Mario.
The Last Ninja also had quite a big impact on my early gaming experiences. It was in a different league. It was the first game to make me feel emotional when I finished it, I felt so sad because it was over. It felt like a long, beautiful journey had come to an end.
Last Ninja 2 was also a bit emotional after finishing it. Part of me was happy and proud to have beat the game and the other part sad because it was over.
I can go on forever on how I remember those old games but that is probably true for most readers of this page.
One thing also very memorable about the C64 was the turbo tape. I can remember the feeling when you borrowed a tape from a friend and you got about 20-30 games to try out. Getting that tape on Friday and being on you way home from school knowing what you are about to do for the weekend - I loved that time of my life.
Amiga
I had a NES when I first saw the Amiga in action so that set the bar of how a game should look like for me. Of course I had seen screenshots in magazines and such but watching all those colors, stunning graphics and hearing the kick-ass sound in real life was amazing. I remember watching a show on Swedish TV where you could see games being played and even some demos. You wouldn't miss that show. Danish TV also had a great show, Troldspejlet, which actually still runs today.
The first games I played was Battle Squadron, Shadow of the Beast and IK+ where the later had really cool sampled sound effects compared to the C64 version. SOTB was a great game to show off the capabilities of the Amiga, lots of jaw-dropping graphics.
Since you had a mouse, new types of games showed up. Point and click adventures were a big favorite with the Lucasarts games Monkey Island and Indiana Jones.
At first we all wanted to throw the mouse out the window whining "give back my joystick" but soon it became a really powerful device.
I experimented a lot more with my Amiga than my C64, I didnt' just play games. Mainly because the programs were easier to get but also because I was a bit older and began understanding how things worked. I painted with Deluxe Paint, made some lame demos with demomaker programs and of course tried Soundtracker.
Cracktros and demos was also nice to boot up for background music while doing homework.
NES
Super Mario Brothers was one of the most memorable games and that game alone made me sell my C64 and get a NES (which I regret later on). Zelda 1&2 and Castlevania were really great games too. Castlevania actually had some cool music for a NES game. The first Megaman was a fresh addition to the standard platformers, getting the powers of the bosses you've just beat. Ducktales had a nice atmosphere and was also a cool platformer. Games were really expensive for a kid too, not like the "free" games on the C64.
So what about the music? Many tunes on NES were really annoying, especially the "death"-tunes. Nintendo also did a good job picking sucky waveforms for the NES - square, triangle and noise. PWM and saw should have been a better choice but would probably need a more sophisticated sound chip.
NES tunes never got me to a "wow, this is really great music"-level. For example, I never fired up a NES game just to listen to the music. I'm not sure if it was because of the sound itself sounding more simple, static and thin or if it was the music styles in games just being different. Swapping my C64 for a NES was definitely a step back in the audio department.
The tunes were really "game tunes". If you put them out of their context (the game) they often fall flat, not being listenable music at all.
Some games had better soundtracks, Castlevania and Megaman series being some of the better.
Anyway, it's cool to listen to the tunes sometimes to get some nostalgia.