Best memory from gaming?

[Will Zurmacht]

Holding the Wehrmacht's Summer 1942 blitzkrieg in Captain Nemo's Red Front scenario for Civ II by the skin of my teeth, halting the Hun at a geographical crescent from Leningrad to Moscow to Voronezh to Rostov to Sevastopol. And then a desperate defense of Leningrad/Rostov/Sevastopol, while managing the rapid industrialization of the Urals throughout Winter 1942 and most of 1943, into the massive counter-blitzkrieg of Winter 43/Summer 44, driving deep into the Hun's heartland to the soundtrack of Audioslave's Gasoline! All over the course of about a week of the most intense, engrossing, entertaining, and educational gaming of my entire life.

[Stormborn]

Not actually best memory, but may be the one that stays with me. Watching my mother attempt to play Lego Star Wars, she spent an hour wandering round the Mos Eisley Cantina trying to figure out how to start the game. Why did I suggest she try it, she said she wanted something easy with puzzles, jumping and fighting etc. She is going back to her ages 3+ hidden object games and I will never live down the shame.

[Mod-Loving Wood Elf]

I have one very special memory from.... Pokemon Leafgreen.

I was maybe 11 years old. The battle against my rival was tough, real tough. I fought him again and again but I kept losing while he still had at least a couple of Pokemon left. Fast-forward to 6 or so battles later. I was getting weary. I had done a good job of taking out his pokemon, and right then, he had one left, while I had my level 40 (estimation) Venusaur and level 20 Gyrados. So, basically the Gyrados was worthless, as you can imagine, so I was completely counting on Venusaur.

The battle began. I can't even remember what his last pokemon was; I think it was a Pidgeot. My first move was Venusaur's leech seed, to slowly drain health from Pidgeot. The PIdgeot just KEPT. USING. AERIAL ACE. But I was powerful too, and Pidgeot's helath was slowly being drained.

BOOM. Venusaur down. Pidgeot has health in the red. I have a gyrados, but I know it's useless. The pidgeot attacks first, because of its high level. My Gyrados is hit.... and it's down to exactly one hit point. ONE HITPOINT.

But of course, the Pidgeot gets wounded by the leech seed! It's health drains, and it gets K.O.ed! YAHOO!!!!

A marvelous victory. For an 11-year-old playing Pokemon, that is.

[Mauin]

The moment I finally managed to blast Nemesis into the Great Void all those years ago...
11 years old and I still love the original Black and White. And Quinn, my monstrously large and slightly murderous rainbow Turtle who happens to have a taste for people.
But there was nothing quite like defeating Nemesis for the first time. The final battle with Mirror was great, even though Nemesis is a cheat, and I actually cried when the two consciences revealed what needed to be done in order to destroy him.

And, more recently, stepping out of the sewers in Oblivion. I've started several different characters and that never fails to hit me every time.
Looking down from the top of the Throat of the World in Skyrim had much the same effect.
Morrowind? I haven't quite found one yet, unless the first multiple Cliff Racer battle counts...

[the Savage Hippie]

I totally forgot about this, even though I was not the one playing:
It was '96 - I was a young lad, not big of stature nor old of age, to be more exact I was five years old. I remember going with my big brother to our neighbour's house, keep in mind I live in the country, so there it is not just a few feet away. My neighbour and my brother were equal of age. Our neighbour was the the last kid in a group of four (we were four too, but we were much younger overall). His older brother was much into gaming and would eventually also introduce me to games such as Age of Empires II and Heroes of Might & Magic III. Anyway, I can still think back of those days where I sat struck with fear along with my brother and our neighbour watching our neigbour's brother play Diablo. I remember I would be afraid to go home when it got "late" (when I had to go home). I always feared that skeletons would ambush us on our way home. Nostalgia.

[anttiko]

Maybe the best memory is from when i was young and was playing crash bandicoot with playstation 1 with my dad and that was so awesome because my dad doesnt play games. One of the bests are also playing age of empires 2 first time, beating that wizard in morrowinds puzzle box quest, finding magebane because that really got me addicted to morrowind, getting out of of vault in fallout 3 first time andplaying ww2 1939 mod for civ4 when i lost with germany, it just happened like in real life when i first blized to poland, france, norway and russia but they stopped me and slowly destroyed me.

[cowleyj]

Creating the master sword in zelda skyward sword.
Or Fi going back into the master sword for the last time.

Or archangel=garrus on omega on me2

[DerangedPickle]

Finishing Pokemon for the first time is one of my best gaming memories, just everything about it.

Beating the mosquito in Rayman and seeing the two buddy up and work together later, I always remember that from my childhood gaming.

Playing Oblivion for the first time was a good point in my gaming life, as soon as I stepped out of the sewers, I was hooked on the game and just couldn't stop playing, I must have poured over 100 hours into my first game in about a week.

[aggie]

beating mario for the first time.
killing my first cliff racer.
realizing that vampire+gray cowl=bounty free feeding

[p-sto]

Different memories for different kinds of games.

I agree beating Mario a great memory, especially since it was the first video game I ever played.
Playing Double Dragon 3 with my cousin (loved that game)
A tie in the same genre getting through the obstacle course in Battle Toads
Also agree about first time playing FF8, I had played role playing games before but the complexity of story really drew me in
Playing Star Craft multiplayer over a modem
Raiding the cult of sirius for quick cash in X-Com Apocalypse

ETA: A couple more came to mind
Editing Command and Conquer using an unofficial mod-kit to make unit strengths more realistic. ie: Infantry units were made weaker so most would die in one or two hits, changing building strengths and so on.

Playing Day of the Tentacle. So much fun, all of it.

[Travalanche]

When I first played Oblivion and left the sewers it blew my mind, the graphics were pretty amazing at the time and my mind was officially blown, I didn't even start doing the main quest for days lol and I stayed up for like 20 hours straight on day 1. Plus I LOVED Oblivions soundtrack and to this day find it very relaxing and fitting for an rpg. Morrowind had a great Soundtrack as well but Oblivions just really stuck with me for some reason.


Also beating pokemon Blue was a pretty good memory from my childhood as someone else mentioned.

[The Tourist]

Aside from my very dramatic first felling of Sephiroth (Tifa was KO'd, Barrett would've killed himself - or Cloud - on his next turn, so my Limit break HAD to win the battle. and it did): jumping backwards off a cliff in the night/forest level of Tenchu, and stealthily decapitating an enemy samurai who was ambling far below me. My feet touched the snow before his head did.

Nothing I ever do in a virtual environment will give me as much satisfaction. There were witnesses (in the room. not the game... ), too - so my place in history is assured.

[OneWithTheGonz]

Playing through OoT for the first time ever, all of it was just magical.

[cowleyj]

Skyward sword is better though.