Forgot To Remember To Forget

It’s funny which moments stick with us. Ask any of my family and they will tell you that I have one of the worst memories ever; short and long term. However, whilst I’ve been known in the past to struggle with things like my fiancée’s birthday, you’d be amazed at how much of an early 90’s episode of The Simpson’s I can recite from start to finish.

As related to gaming, my poor memory fares in a similar way. Portal 2 is my favourite game of 2011 so far, and is up there with my favourite games of all time. However, if I were to sit down and play it right now, I’d probably struggle just as much as I did first time through on some levels. Heck, I’d even probably chuckle at some of the jokes, so plentiful as they were that memories of them all could not be stored in my floppy-disc capacity brain. I found it weird, then, that last night as I was watching TV with my other half I recited most of the major plot points of the Metal Gear Solid series, and detailed all the cool things that happened in Metal Gear Solid 3, despite never having that great an affinity for them. I joyfully told the future Mrs. Forgetful about the boss fight with The Boss in a field of flowers, with The Sorrow in a river of dead populated by enemies YOU ACTUALLY KILLED IN THE GAME, and the fight with The End that could be beaten by advancing the internal clock on your PS2 forward a little while. I was stunned by how much of the game I could remember in great detail, despite only playing through it one time a number of years ago. I found it strange that a game I had no great deal of love for would stay with me so well.

I wondered then what makes a game memorable? Were these things memorable to me because they were good, or because they were designed to be unique and different. It’s an interesting thing to think about. What specific gaming moments hold up perfectly in your mind, and does that surprise you?