As a young child, I remember spending so many hours a week over the course of many, many years playing the arcade games at local restaurants, such as "Joust", "Pac-Man" and a bunch of others. Â But the one I spent the most time (and quarters/tokens) playing was the old Star Wars arcade game that was built so that you sat inside the frame and played as if you were piloting a starfighter. Â
![[Image: 117624-atari_star_wars_arcade_game.jpg]](http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/ul/117624-atari_star_wars_arcade_game.jpg)
For console and other video games, I had all the usual games (the Super Mario Bros. series, Duck Hunt, Tetris, etc.), but it was the RPGs like Final Fantasy and other games that ate away most of my time playing. Â
In my teens, while I still loved RPGs, I also became addicted to Monster Rancher. Â To this day, I still consider Monster Rancher 2 to be one of the best games ever. Â The influence Monster Rancher had on me is still pretty evident today with how I enjoy other games where you raise a monster pet, such as the main Pokemon series and select spinoffs (like Pokemon Conquest), some Digimon games and many others (including sites with a pet monster theme). Â I also think it might be a part of the reason I enjoy pet classes in many MMO games as well, such as the Beastlord of EverQuest 2 or the Hunters of WoW. Â I may be in my mid 30's, but I have never truly given up my dream of having my own pet monster.
For console and other video games, I had all the usual games (the Super Mario Bros. series, Duck Hunt, Tetris, etc.), but it was the RPGs like Final Fantasy and other games that ate away most of my time playing. Â
In my teens, while I still loved RPGs, I also became addicted to Monster Rancher. Â To this day, I still consider Monster Rancher 2 to be one of the best games ever. Â The influence Monster Rancher had on me is still pretty evident today with how I enjoy other games where you raise a monster pet, such as the main Pokemon series and select spinoffs (like Pokemon Conquest), some Digimon games and many others (including sites with a pet monster theme). Â I also think it might be a part of the reason I enjoy pet classes in many MMO games as well, such as the Beastlord of EverQuest 2 or the Hunters of WoW. Â I may be in my mid 30's, but I have never truly given up my dream of having my own pet monster.
