Gaming in the 80s and 90s

What made Gaming in the 80s and 90s so memorable? Why we still can't stop playing the classics and get so nostalgic over old game carts, magazines and arcades. Sure, the games were incredible with the birth of nearly every popular franchise we continue to play. But the games were only part of the story! What are some of your fondest memories of the time and what makes them so special for you?

As a 90s kid this video speaks to my heart. New subscriber here. Thank you!

A good review and loved how you touched on different topics related to nostalgia. Video games were first and foremost a form of entertainment and then there were other reasons for some. Either way the reason we are enjoying these games again is because there will never be another era like it and producers pushed the limits to achieve quality

Thank you for bringing me back home

I was the kid that had none of those things because I was poor. 😢

oh the nostalgia!!

This was my era. I dig the TG16 and Genesis… but to this day the SNES remains the GOLD standard to me.

When Stryder came out, I was completely blown away because I had never seen anything like it

This video is freaking AWESOME! What a throwback! I'm a 2000s kid but I've always taken an interest in retro gaming since I was a teen. I remember buying and downloading a number of NES and SNES games off the Nintendo eShop on my 3DS just to play some of the classics (Mario, Mega Man, Castlevania, LoZ Link to the Past, etc) which started my love of those franchises! I also had the Sonic's UGC for Xbox 360 which led to my love of Sonic and Streets of Rage! This whole video gave me feels! I love games both old and new, provided they're fun to play.

I'm just a very nostalgic person when it comes to the past considering how tough things are now. I always wanted to at least play one traditional arcade fighting game at least once in my life and part of me misses this era of gaming compared to how AAA games who can't even compare to the level of creativity and passion games of the past had in spades. Nice to see the indie devs picking up the slack!

I just felt like I had to leave a comment here. Keep doing what you're doing, man!

lol nerds

The 80s and 90s were the Renaissance Of Video Games.

I may be biased, but Ifeel like the 8 and 16-bit eras combined was the true "golden age" of gaming become it was the peak of experiencing games that sparked and engaged our imaginations.
Prior to that, gaming was in its infant stages in terms of production quality and mechanics, but the industry was too busy chasing money to care, flooding the market with crap gaming experiences (thus came the infamous crash in early 80s).
The 32-64bit/3D era that came afterwards was a bit more weird because polygons and 3D were new; the graphic fidelity didn't quite line up with the maturity of existing in a 3D space, and game makers struggled to create new mechanics for new tech. The 3D era initially challenged our imaginations more than it sparked it; as a result it was harder to fill in those gaps with our imaginations since we were too busy thinking it felt weird, and many early 3D games looked/played too similar.

I miss being able to go to the movie store, rent a game and just stick it in and play it. No updates or installs needed.

So many memories.... miss my old acrades, I host retro games eves at mine now, big capcom head...

Games brought the world together in the 80s and 90s. Whether we grew up in Europe, East Asia, or the Americas, we all had something in common.

I'm sorry. Did you say "Grodius"?😅

Wasn't the girl in the thumbnail on a Playboy cover?

This channel. Wow!

No-one owned a Neo Geo, that was god tier. I saw one, once, in a display cabinet in the capital city.

RIP Pier 1, had one in Brandon Fl.
Born in 76, I miss arcades, worked in one from 96 to 00 in the mall.

I agree with most of what you said but I 100% disagree with the indie vs AAA games statement. AAA games tend to be a lot better. Sure they’re buggy but so aren’t the supposed “great” indie games. 90% of indie games are garbage. The 10% are either decent or actually good.

Not had time to comment until now. Gaming in the 80s up to the 00s was was incredible because it was the birth and growth of a new means of entertainment. Looking from the perspective of someone today that did not live it, it looks very privative but through those gaming era's it was all new each time. It was a start of new possibilities when a new console came out. Though limited by hardware you really were limited by your imagination when it came to your enjoyment.

Today we really have it all but the true enjoyment, the true fun, the true adventure came from not knowing. That is what we have lost because we are now in an era which understands what sells and what does not. Games and consoles now are exceptional but it's no longer the era of the unknown and that is why we have such fond memories of the past. An excitement that can only be qualified by the time it happened.

The golden age of gaming.. glad I was at the right age to experience all this. Gaming back then was different, more exciting in my opinion.

OMG, It took me over eight years to finally beat Super Mario Lost Levels on the SNES. That was one tough game. I can see why Nintendo ditched it and gave us a different SMB 2 lol. I went from being a preschooler to becoming a teenager before beating it finally in the summer of 2000.

80s kid and early teen and 90s teen (born in 76). Started with classics like Phoenix, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Frogger. Later games too many to call. Double Dragon, Golden Axe, Bubble Bobble, Wonderboy are some of the best I recall on arcade. I played Kid Icarus on Nintendo when I visited a cousin and instantly fell in love (played it for hours in the night).

I feel so fortunate to have been a teenager in the 80s and in my 20s in the 90s. those were good times. never had to worry about getting shot in school but enjoyed shooting things up in the arcade. countless hours in the arcade then go home and spend countless hours of more gaming

I’m confused, I played hundreds of games in the 90ties, but you only shown japanese games I have zero nostalgica for....

TMNT The Arcade. At my friends 9th birthday party we played it from start to finish three times. Parents had to drag us away.

This was great. That era was my childhood of Gaming. Cartoons and movies (if not the music). 80s and 90s

I was the Kid with all the gaming magazines lol Then i became an import game maniac in HS. My parents were the ones with a crazy library of horror movies. I was the artist kid of the crew that drew a lot. The anime kid in HS (before the shit got "cool"). I was the NY china town arcade kid for sure too who loved fighting games. I was the kid that friends and friends of friends who come to for cheat codes and strategies how to beat the games too lol

The thumbnail image of the woman is from a playboy cover. April 1991

Born 73 in England. Grew up on the C64 and Amiga. Disk boxes full of games. Some of them were even original. My arcade machine was Final Fight. I worked for SCEE in the 90's and had a Tekken Tag arcade machine next to my desk. Shame it was never turned on.

Being born in 1977 I can identify with every single second of this masterpiece of a video. Such great work man. Talk about nailing it. Best time to be a kid, I was lucky to live through that golden era.

79 origin. Man I miss the connection we had as kids wether riding bikes calling your buddies house asking mr smith if Joey was around sleepovers or having friends over or going to friends for dinner hanging at the mall. And talking smack to each other without nobody getting upset. Making a mixtape for your crush. Dang I really appreciated this video. Truly an amazing time to been around thank you!

As I watch this video I think of the Glorious beginning of online gaming and now the absolute toxicity of it

This is a delusional look at the past through rose colored glasses. As someone who actually grew up in the 80s and 90s as a gaming nerd it was not fun and most of us have very few actual good memories. I had to move because of the bullying and just hid my love for gaming in my new school until I graduated. Thats how it actually was. 💯

Thank you for this 🥲

Great video buddy, this brought back so many memories!

As a kid. I went from school directly to the city center. The shops had consoles open to play games. NES, SNES, Mega Drive(Genesis) and later the Sony stuff. I always met the same kids, and we all played all day long. Even the staff knew us, and sometimes they let us play our wishgame. Now 30 years later. One of them is my best friend.

I've been nastalgic for the 80s since the mid 90s about 96 I started thinking about it, hair metal, just the calmness and kind of chillness of the 80s and the fashion, and games and movies. I used to talk about how awesome the 80s were in the 90s people thought I was crazy.

If you didn’t grow up as a 80s & 90s kid… It sucks to be you! It’s a Nostalgia thing that can never ever be replaced! All those Nintendo Power magazines & running up our phone bills to learn & find another secret & hint! & all those over nights with friends & cousins trying to see who could out do each other on points & beating games!!

Fav game is wonderboy in monsterland,closely followed by double dragon

Awesome video

90's teen here. My parents got me a yard sale 2600 when all my friends were gittin' NES. Grew up an hour drive from any arcade so we were all console kids. I was the Genesis kid. Still have my copy of Ranger X. All my friend group together probably had every console to share with each other. Most of us only owned a handful of games and just rented from lil' mom and pop shops til Blockbuster came along. I got limited to 10 wins in a row on Twisted Metal 2 showdowns. I kicked ass at car combat games back in the day.

Great video, like seeing a reel of my childhood. I was born in 81. Went to the arcade, had all the Nintendo systems, and was a big PC gamer who built my own systems (PC Gamer magazine was my guide to my first self-build).
When I see that Super Nintendo box art, something turns over in my chest. That twinge is nostalgia, remembering unwrapping them on Christmas day. Reading through the manual. Hearing that music. I remember just gazing at the box art of games I didn't have and imagining what they were like. Your imagination added a lot to it. As simple as the graphics were, by the 16 bit era they were already amazing.