StewartyMac
24-08-09, 21:45
So, here it was. Sometime in early 1997, my nephew let me have a loan of his newish games console, this wee grey thing called a PlayStation.
Got my mate round, and we naturally migrated straight to the current FIFA game, being massive football fans. A few games later, I thought we should maybe try some of the other games I was given a loan of.
The minute the original Tomb Raider was inserted into that machine changed things forever.
We didn't have a memory card with the machine at the time, so it was back to the start of the level every time we died. And boy, did we do that a lot in the beginning. But despite the frustrations of not being able to save the game, we persevered. We marvelled at the amazing graphics, we cursed the control system (until we got the hang of it), and nearly had a messy accident when the bear jumped out at us, after entering that hut.
And them came The Lost Valley. It was the equivalent of what marathon runners call, 'The Wall'. We spent over an hour going from the top of the waterfall to the wee cavern at the other end where the wolves came out, and just couldn't find any cogs to work the mechanism. I was convinced at that point, that the game was bugged and you couldn't get any farther, until a random, frustrated jump at this bit of wall ended in finding a ledge we would never have seen in a month of Sundays otherwise. The excitement of realising there was actually more to this level was palpable. Raptors attacked us, and we looked on in awe on entering this huge, open arena.....and then came the T.Rex. I had never experienced anything like this is a video game before. Ever.
We played on for another few hours, getting to the end of the Tomb of Qualopec before finally switching the thing off at 6 o'clock in the morning. I went over to the local shop for a paper about an hour later, and literally stopped at the kerb and jumped on it, my mind was so frazzled by the game. :D
It was not long after that I got a PS1 of my own, and of course, this game (and a memory card!) was my first purchase.
Even though this was now over twelve years ago, I can still remember that night as if it were yesterday.
Great stuff.
Got my mate round, and we naturally migrated straight to the current FIFA game, being massive football fans. A few games later, I thought we should maybe try some of the other games I was given a loan of.
The minute the original Tomb Raider was inserted into that machine changed things forever.
We didn't have a memory card with the machine at the time, so it was back to the start of the level every time we died. And boy, did we do that a lot in the beginning. But despite the frustrations of not being able to save the game, we persevered. We marvelled at the amazing graphics, we cursed the control system (until we got the hang of it), and nearly had a messy accident when the bear jumped out at us, after entering that hut.
And them came The Lost Valley. It was the equivalent of what marathon runners call, 'The Wall'. We spent over an hour going from the top of the waterfall to the wee cavern at the other end where the wolves came out, and just couldn't find any cogs to work the mechanism. I was convinced at that point, that the game was bugged and you couldn't get any farther, until a random, frustrated jump at this bit of wall ended in finding a ledge we would never have seen in a month of Sundays otherwise. The excitement of realising there was actually more to this level was palpable. Raptors attacked us, and we looked on in awe on entering this huge, open arena.....and then came the T.Rex. I had never experienced anything like this is a video game before. Ever.
We played on for another few hours, getting to the end of the Tomb of Qualopec before finally switching the thing off at 6 o'clock in the morning. I went over to the local shop for a paper about an hour later, and literally stopped at the kerb and jumped on it, my mind was so frazzled by the game. :D
It was not long after that I got a PS1 of my own, and of course, this game (and a memory card!) was my first purchase.
Even though this was now over twelve years ago, I can still remember that night as if it were yesterday.
Great stuff.