RetroGaming

The original Luigi's Mansion. First off little kid me was still scared SHITLESS cause this game has ghosts everywhere. And that dumb kid didn't have a clue what "triangles" or animations" were so in his mind those ghosts could do ANYTHING to poor little Luigi just trying to save his brother.

And the story of course isn't anything super amazing of course, it's a non-rpg Mario game. But again little kid me doesn't know shit. In my mind I can remember thinking "what if E.Gadd is lying and is actually evil. What if I can still find Mario somewhere in this mansion and we can gtfo together.

My family used to rent that shit from Blockbuster all the time and I was youngest of three, so I barely got to play much back then and we wouldn't own it for years. But I can still remember major tears of joy when I finally did and Luigi just starts laughing at Mario with that vent stuck around his neck.

Others for my list that I've seen plenty here so won't gush about the same way is: Dark Souls 1, Both Portal, Destiny if I could experience it from release day and have the shitty content droughts D1 went through constantly, Halo 3, and another I haven't seen is JK: Jedi Outcast

That Zelda is on my list for sure. I'd add super Mario world as well, just like Zelda did, it introduced so many new mechanics and the maps were so HUGE you could spend absolute weeks trying to unlock all of certain areas.

NBA Jam on SNES.

Wolfenstein or Doom first time really seeing a 3d game. Being absolutely terrified of the ambient noises in Doom.

Half-Life for sure. Relatively intelligent soldier opponent tactics, puzzling real puzzles in 3d for the first time not just point and shoot.

Goldeneye 007. Trying to figure out how to aim, so slowly and ineptly. Then one of your friends says let's try multiplayer and 4 years later...

Warcraft 2 on dial-up with your friend across town.

GTA 2. Discovered almost by accident and the top down view was so great. Never cared much for the rest of the series.

Super Bomberman.

There are many games that I loved and would enjoy playing for the first time, but I'm going to pick Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga. My reason being that I spent the vast majority of the game waiting for it to morph into a spiritual successor of Super Mario RPG back when I first played it, rather than giving it a chance to stand on its own as a unique and hilarious game. My preconceived idea of what I hoped the game would be really hurt my initial enjoyment of it.

For a runner up, I'll mention Kirby's Dream Land 3. In the days of Blockbuster rentals, I'd rented Kirby Super Star first, so it took me a while to get used to the more traditional Kirby powerup system where copied abilities only do one type of action each.

Portal 2 and Undertale the true pacifist run

Portal or Arkham Asylum, something that surprised me in unexpected ways.

Portal because I thought I was getting a neat puzzle game (I was), but GLADoS blew me out of the water.

Arkham Asylum because of how effectively some of the Scarecrow sequences messed with me specifically (making me think my game had glitched, etc.)

Learning Team Fortress 2 for the first time as a teenager was such a crazy fun experience.

The return of the Obra Dinn. Really fun unique game

I feel its been so long since i last played it might feel new to me, but still it wont be the same as first playthrough.

Ultima Online. It was my first MMO. I could own a friggin house that other people could visit! I've been chasing that high for 20+ years now.

My nostalgic answer is Super Smash Bros Brawl (Subspace Emissary was wild to me), but my more modern answer is Elden Ring.

That game was like cocaine the first time I played through it.

Skyrim. After 200 hours, you start becoming really aware of the "seams" and the clunkiness of the Creation Engine. Although, while you're still working your way through the quests, and every stat isn't at 100 yet, it's pure pure pure bliss. To have that original feeling back. Gah!

Wings for Amiga, flying in WW1 and a cool story between missions. Everything I know about ww1 air battles, I know from that game :)

Final Fantasy 7 or 9, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Phantasy Star Online

Dwarf Fortress was an amazing experience the first few times when you had no idea what to expect or do. My fortress designs have become much more boring (even if efficient) since, and I'm just unable to do the sort of artistic weirdness that happened during the first games.

If I were to experience it as I am today (and judge it versus games with modern graphics etc), I'd pick Ori and the Will of the Wisps. It quickly became one of my all-time favourite games, and I finished it three times in a year when I discovered it. Beautiful in so many ways.

Half-Life is probably the game that has had the biggest impact on me, though, so that would be my pick if I experienced it as I did around 1998.

Quake 3 Arena. Or more specifically OpenArena + baseq3 and other mods like ratmod. Most fun I have had playing a game ever.

Probably Fallout New Vegas (if that even counts as retro yet). I've played it to death ever since it came out and can't even remember the first time I completed it.

I have seen no mention of Planescape Torment, so there you go.

FF6, FF9 and Links Awakening

Read dead redemption 1. A masterpiece.

Might and Magic 3

F-19

Wow

Half-life

Dishonored

Spyro the Dragon as I was back in the day. That game has always been so magical for me.

Bioshock. I am sure you can just replay it. The twist at the end... I wish I could relive the surprise again.

Morrowind but it wouldn't matter because I don't have enough time to get immersed in it anymore.

Space Invaders

Asteroids

Pitfall

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

The story has so many great twists and turns even up to the very end. There was a distinct point about 75% of the way through when I came to the realization that I had to binge the rest of game. Even if it meant I got zero sleep that night, I had to see how it ended.

It was so good I wish I could experience it again blind.