I'm of the age to remember when having an Atari made you the cool kid on the street. Pit Fall, anyone? Then in the mid 80's, the Nintendo Entertainment System hit store shelves. Every kid had to have it. Every kid would trade games. Every kid would trade the secrets they found.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Fast forward to 2020 and being able to play these games is still alive and well. From the Nintendo and Super Nintendo Classic Minis to Sega Genesis Mini to the PlayStation Classic, you just pick up a system, plug it in and enjoy between twenty to thirty games from years ago. I have them all. Thanks to the hacking community, I've been able to add games to each of them which just adds to the fun.

These legacy systems can also survive the test of time. For example, my parents found mine and my sister's original Nintendo Entertainment System we had as kids. It still works and I've amassed a decent collection of games to keep this system just as awesome as it was when I was a kid.

Michael Gibson / Townsquare Media
Michael Gibson / Townsquare Media
loading...

Yes, that's an original PlayStation on the left with a few games below it. Getting to hear that iconic startup sound is still fun to this day.

One of my personal top five favorite Nintendo games was Tecmo Superbowl. Madden is great and all, but it doesn't compare to the fun of the arcade style of football you could play.

There was a time when if you wanted the definitive video game experience, you went to an arcade. There were many Saturday's that me and my friend would take our quarters and deposit them in machines for hours of fun. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of those excellent arcade games. At the time, being able to play those games at home was not possible. That's why it was so cool to have a version for the Nintendo to play at home. And with extra levels.

One game I've been revisiting lately is Final Fantasy X. That has been one of my favorite game franchises since the first Final Fantasy debuted on the Nintendo.

Michael Gibson / Townsquare Media
Michael Gibson / Townsquare Media
loading...

I play new games, too. But it's weird to think that I could be labeled a 'retro gamer'. To me, I'm just playing video games. Old or new, it's still fun to me.

And I like sharing the love of playing these original games. I've had a couple of get togethers at my place to play. I've even brought it to the station for some down time.

Hey, anything to get through this pandemic without going insane is a good thing.

Michael Gibson's Favorite Video Games

More From 101.5 KNUE