5 Brilliant Video Games We Were Too Young To Be Playing

Confession time. Most kids are brought up on age-old classic video games like Mario Kart, Spyro the Dragon, or Crash Bandicoot, games that are definitely appropriate for kids. Well…some of us may have had older brothers, sisters, or cousins, and some of us may have been a little more devious than your average whipper-snapper.

Let’s face it, the allure of the M-rated has been around since the dawn of time, and there is nothing more tantalizing than seeing what the bigger kids do (moms and dads included) when they think you’re safely tucked up in bed after dark. So for all of you that snuck down the stairs and peeked through the bars on the landing, for those whose brothers and sisters allowed you into their room to let you watch them kick the ass of some terrible alien-esque creature that gave you nightmares for months, this listicle is for you.

#1: Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider came out in 1996 and paved the way for the evolution of platforming video games and action-adventure games alike. It was given the rating T for Teens and was labeled as such due to mild language, mild suggestive themes, and violence. None of that ever stopped us from enjoying its stunning pixelated environments, explosive and heart-pounding soundtrack, and the pure delight of Lara’s maneuverability with some of the best camera work seen in gaming even today.

Of course, ratings are given for a reason, and hiding behind the couch when the big alien boss appeared is probably a memory that several of us share with a fondly wistful smile and a therapist on speed dial. The T Rex in the third level is much the same, stomping out of darkness and scaring the pants off of six-year-olds everywhere. And does anyone else remember the mummies? Why were they so fast? Why did they make such terrifying noises, and why did they explode when you actually succeeded in killing them?

All that aside, though, Tomb Raider taught a lot of us how to play video games. The gradual increase in difficulty over the marvelously designed levels allowed players of all ages to grow and change with the game’s demands in a way that didn’t just make us all rage quit like a baby.

#2: DOOM

Such an iconic staple of the gaming world, DOOM originally graced our screens in 1993, bringing with it fast-paced, violent gameplay that really shouldn’t have been ignored by parents who used to dismiss anything even vaguely animated. The game is easily accessible, with no long-winded tutorials, and it shows a slew of enemies that are very typically designed for the period, being mowed down like orange bollards in a driver’s ed test with little to no remorse.

Rather disturbingly, the picture of the protagonist, which sits in the center of the bottom screen, gets more and more beaten up the more damage he takes, and though the character winces when he takes said damage, he just gets up and carries on in typical Terminator fashion. The game was given an M rating for violence and frightening or intense scenes, and sure enough, the brutality of the game is a bit of an eye-opener for a child used to watching the Disney channel.

#3: Parasite Eve 2

This is one of those video games where nobody is quite old enough to play, quite frankly. It’s also one of those games that parents see as made by their beloved offspring’s favorite company, and with the misleading female anime protagonist gracing the cover, it doesn’t exactly scream red flags. So those dear, misled parents would pick up a copy and bring it home, thinking that it was just another day in the world of Final Fantasy.

Of course, Parasite Eve is a far cry from Final Fantasy, featuring monsters dubbed Neo Mitochondrial creatures that were enough to turn children’s minds inside out and introduce elements of basic horror survival video games incorporated with Square Enix’s traditional role-playing style. The game was written and directed by Kenichi Iwao, the writer of Resident Evil, and really showed off his flair for immersive horror. Who doesn’t remember walking into the bathroom at Dryfield only to see that poor girl warp into a strangely proportioned alien, or watching those weird, veiny babies crawl out from beneath one of the stained beds?

The game secured itself an M rating for blood, gore, and violence and leaned far harder into the horror aspects of the story than the first game, which provoked controversy in the gaming community. The change in gameplay, too, sparked debate, with some people loving the real-time aspects of the combat system, saying it upped the stakes to fit the survival horror immersiveness, and others wishing it was more like the first game and the Final Fantasy series as a whole with a more turn-based JRPG approach.

#Grand Theft Auto

Okay, look. Some of us have older brothers. Grand Theft Auto was originally released in 1997, and as the sequels rolled on, anyone who was anyone had a copy of at least one version of this violently free game. One of the pioneering video games for true sandbox exploration, Grand Theft Auto introduced the idea of individualized gameplay styles, and helped to forge paths for things like Fortnite and Minecraft, both beloved video games that still see success today.

Once again, the casual brutality, sexually explicit content, and hard language merited an M rating and there were also side concerns about ethical problems such as painting the police, or members of authority, as bad guys or the ill-treatment of the infamous hookers roaming the streets. The kids, of course, saw none of this, and with older brothers around the world introducing their baby siblings to the various things that only adults and watershed TV had previously been able to access, a whole new generation was set up to have their shock receptors pretty much eliminated.

The cool thing about Grand Theft Auto, and the real reason kids kept coming back to such an off-the-wall and very adult game, was the ability to forge one’s own purpose. It was the first game of its kind where ignoring the main quests of the story was pretty much encouraged until you wanted to explore a new map. We’re sure that many kids spent hours stealing more and more ridiculous vehicles until they were happily crashing copters into military bases or all the tour buses they could get their grimy little mitts on into the sea (guilty).

#5: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

We can blame PewDiePie for this one. At first, Amnesia looks like it’s going to be a nice, historically accurate haunting sort of game. Then the screen starts warping in flashes of blurred-out colour, the heartbeat in your ears starts, the volume goes screwy, and all that delicious stuff. You end up realising that no, no, this isn’t just going to be a quiet, historical exploration in the country with a nice Casper the Friendly Ghost-esque companion floating around behind you.

Thank goodness for the king of YouTube showing us how to use humor to mitigate a heart attack. Watching PewDiePie throwing barrels around in the basement areas and hiding from the monster was the first time that some of us had ever really thought that humor and horror could mix in such a way. It was both thrilling and a little shocking.

And then, of course, when we went back to the game ourselves, it was supposed to be easier knowing what was coming. There is something to be said for being in control of poor Daniel as he comes across the creature for the first time and is thereby stalked through the darkness, sanity slowly depleting; it is a whole lot scarier when you’re in the driver’s seat.

Games That Shaped Your Life

No matter what you end up breaking the rules to witness or play, there’s no denying that video games have shaped the lives of so many people today, no matter what their rating or content. While a lot of these games introduced us to concepts that may have been best left to those violence and sex ed lessons at school or to birds and bees talks with mom or dad, they also expanded our imaginations, taught us how to play video games, and gave us a more open mind with regards to gameplay and content that could be manipulated in our own stories in the future.

These video games paved the way for the next generation of gamers and developers, and it’s always such a thrill of pleasure when you’re able to spot a tribute in a new game to one of those older classics that scared the pants off of you as a child. So, what games are missing from this list that shaped your life? What games left you cowering behind the couch or squaring your shoulders, discovering the mettle within yourself, and provoking you to fight your way to a new, impressive victory?