6 Moments That Defined 90s Console Gaming
Our idea of what video games are for is constantly changing. What started out as a way to get people to spend money in arcades turned into a way for nerds to achieve their dream of rescuing an elven maiden, and gaming has now turned into a social phenomenon. Nowadays, theyre used by everyone from teachers, to the military, to sexual deviants. This article is dedicated to the moments that made us realise that gaming could be awesome in whole new ways they hadnt even considered yet that changed our whole perspective of the medium. 6. Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Defining Moment: Plugging in that 2nd Controller
The year was 1992. Up until that point, youd stomped a few Goombas in Super Mario Land 1 and 2, and youd destroyed an accumulated total of 9484742 lines of blocks in Tetris. However, all of your greatest achievements in video games were limited to an audience of one person that cared. Maybe youd played Street Fighter in an arcade with your friend, but chances were youd never thought about games as an especially sociable activity.
Mario Kart is the game that opened our eyes. Suddenly, your friend could come over and youd spend hours in your room together, possibly prompting your parents to have some discussions in which they decided that theyd love you no matter what your sexual orientation. Friendships were made and broken over a well executed feather jump, or a perfectly judged green shell spinning towards your opponent on the final straight of a race.
Mario Kart (and to a lesser extent Bomberman) changed the world of gaming in ways that not many of the 12 year olds who chose to play instead of doing their homework could have appreciated. It ushered in the age of 4 teenage friends clustered around a tv screen, laughing and screaming insults at each other. Other games (such as Goldeneye) would later take that formula and improve it to borderline-perfection.
