Blockbuster Rentals
Blockbuster was one of my favorite stops as a kid. My parents and I went there almost weekly, and I always went home with a game and/or movie we rented out.
I thought it'd be fun to make a list of most of the games I rented there. A few particular highlights to me;
Sonic 06 - Only highlighting this because my brother and I were stuck on that Silver boss fight for DAYS. I remember him finally beating it and that was one of the biggest reliefs of my childhood
Smash Bros Brawl - This and Black Ops were the two that REALLY stuck with me. I loved Brawl so much I would rent it again and again until I couldn't anymore. The day it was supposed to be brought back, I asked my mom when she picked me up from school if she returned the game, and she surprised me by telling me she bought the game for me to keep. Needless to say I was very happy. Thanks mom. Also, unlocking Sonic after multiple attempts to beat him was one of the most exciting moments of my childhood.
Kirby's Return to Dreamland and Kirby's Dream Collection - Brawl made me love the little puffball and made me curious to try out these games. I had a blast with both of these, unfortunately though I never bought either. Seeing how much they cost now, I wish I did lol. I did get around to playing and beating Return to Dreamland via the Switch port though. Also, random fun fact - the rental for Dream Collection came with the soundtrack CD and I used it to rip one of the songs onto my Original Xbox. Frankly I don't know which Kirby song it is, but I thought it was so cool hearing a Nintendo song on an Xbox console back then.
Donkey Kong Country Returns - 9/10 year old me was NOT ready for how damn hard this game is. I was never able to get far in it. I could tell it was a good game, but the difficulty was too much for me back then. Recently though I completed the Switch port, and thought it was fantastic.
Call of Duty: Black Ops - This was the other game that stuck with me the most. My first online multiplayer game too. I rented it a few times before receiving it as a gift while on vacation. I poured HOURS into this as a kid, making a bunch of potato quality videos on me doing glitches, dicking around, etc. I played it so much it ended up bricking my Wii and I had to get a new one. There's no real reason to play the Wii version anymore, but I still play the Xbox version every now and then. I'd consider it among my all time favorite games.
Sonic Generations - I rented this shortly after it came out and beat it in one night. I also bought it on sale when my Blockbuster was getting ready to close down. Easily one of my favorite Sonic games
Angry Birds Trilogy - I was one of many kids obsessed with these games in the early 2010s. I remember REALLY wanting to play these games on the Wii for some reason and even had my dad help me contact Rovio support, requesting they port the games there. Clearly they listened to their biggest fan because my dream came true. I now get to play this free mobile game with my fancy remote!! My mom rented it for me for a week and it was fun, but I think at this point I felt like it was more of a cool novelty than something I would play on my TV for hours.
List link https://bckl.gg/w8VR