For 90s kids, there’s no need for explanation. For others, well, pokemon was a phenomenon. It was everywhere, on TV, in magazines, toys, stickers. You could trade pokemon at the school excursion on the bus.
You felt alive in this world, pokemon gen 1-2 were the pinnacle of pokemon for me. And in gen2, finishing the game, and lo and behold, there’s a whole other region (kanto) waiting for you to explore it. The night cycle in the game blew my mind in ways that I have been chasing ever since.
I know it will never be reached again, but the memory will remain as powerful as it was that evening of the early 00s. What is your greatest gaming high, that you know will never be topped again, and that you have been chasing ever since?
Getting called out by my name in the literature club, or being told about how I could have used my superpower better in that other game. Two get-up-and-take-a-walk moments for me.
On a different tack, the introverted but social Unreal Tournament clan nights, Instagib with Relics. Played that to absolute death, clan nights with pizza and beers. Worms, too, with four people sharing a keyboard.
Lands Of Lore, Eye of the Beholder, BG1 and 2, etc. when solving a puzzle or finding a secret after being lost for hours.