For me, that game would have to be Resident Evil, on the PSONE. Sure, my family had a couple games including Philosoma and Battle Arena Toshinden, and while Toshinden was definitely a leap above graphically, it was the game play of Resident Evil, and the cinematic nature of it, that kind of swallowed me into the next generation.
Soon enough, Final Fantasy VII would come out, and some time after that the N64 would come out with the amazing Mario 64 which was a whole other experience. But prior to that there was the PSONE, and my initial experiences with 3D worlds. I still love PSONE graphics, haters be damned, and while it might just be nostalgia, there's a beauty I can see in low-poly models that I just don't experience anymore.
So what about you? What was your first dazzling, post 16-bit experience?
I pretty much skipped over the 16 bit era the first time around so it would have to be Mario 64 then probably Turok Dinosaur Hunter. We went right from the NES to the N64
dammit Mothman, your nonconformist ways are going to get you killed one of these days! 
If the drinking doesn't get me first.
Legend of Dragoon. That was the game that had me stop playing crappy licenced games and into a hardcore RPG gamer. My mind was blown again by FFVII directly after that.
You know, a lot of people have told me they love that game. I bought it but haven't played it yet.
Star Fox 60 fuckin 4!
But Tekken was also very impressive at the time and I probably saw that first.
You like Starfox 64 a lot huh? I remember being blown away too. Loved the tank parts. Game was too short though -- not enough awesome to satisfy my star fox cravings.
I am in total agreement, but I was 7 at the time and had trouble finishing the whole thing until I was older.
The N64 and that game are my most memorable Christmas gift ever though.
I guess it would be Road Rash on PSone. Not sure if it was exactly mind-blowing. I don't remember being wowed by the graphics or anything, but Mark and I played that thing like crazy. Probably the first bit hit for me in the post 16-bit generation.
you know, I played a lot of Road Rash 2 on Genesis with my friend (A LOT!) but I never played any of them after that. I guess I missed out. Knocking someone off their bike is endlessly entertaining.
I started with the Playstation game. I think it was their fourth, but I hear it's kind of a remake of the first Road Rash. I have the first three on various collections, but have only played a few minutes of one of them on Genesis. I'd like to check them all out for real sometime.
The first mind-blower for me was Jumping Flash and Ridge Racer. Both games took my lige in gaming to warp 9.
I don't think I've ever played that PSONE Ridge Racer. I wonder if that's on PSN.
I guess what sold me on gaming and dragged me back in was early Playstation games like 1X, Ridge Racer, but the first wow for me was NBA 99. I loved that game especially since it looked head and shoulders better than my first Playstation game, NBA In the Zone 2. It looked so good, and completely different than the ones on the Genesis.
I had to google what NBA 99 looks like. It looks pretty good for a PSONE game! I can see why you were impressed.
"Mind blowing" is a little hyperbolic for me :D But the ones that had my eyes glued to the screen were probably Battle Arena Toshinden when I saw it in a news report, and then Resident Evil, which piqued my interest in an magazine preview but moved into must-have/game changer territory when I saw a friend play it. I bought a PS1 soon after.
yeah we played a lot of Toshinden in my house between me and my two brothers. I guess that was our first real 3D experience.
Abe's Exoddus, because you could control your own farts and use them to blow up enemies. Hey, I was 7 when ps1 became popular.
Other than that, Silent Hill. As a kid I got really into horror because I read the goosebumps series and then graduated to Stephen King. I played Resident Evil first and thought it was cool and all, but Silent Hill's demo gave me proper nightmares and I couldn't finish it.
I thought that was fucking awesome. Like in a "Dude, this games so scary I couldn't even finish the demo!" kind of way.
what, can't you control your own farts to blow up people in real life?
Yeah, Resident Evil, as good as it was, is kind of b-movie, where Silent Hill is some serious shit.
I'm gonna say Tomb Raider. I liked Turok, Mario 64, Zelda OoT, and Starfox, but something about exploring tombs and exploring ruins really grabbed me at the time, and there haven't really been many other games that do the same thing, not even current re-booted Tomb Raider, except for maybe Soul Reaver?
I think people forget what a big deal those Tomb Raider games were. Even people I knew who didn't play games much played those. And Lara was a cultural icon!
I remember when it came out. I was in art school. Didn't own a PS1 but there were a few people around who had, and they even brought their systems with them to hook up to the TV in one of the classrooms after class (the atmosphere was very loose at this school). One day someone brought Tomb Raider, the week it came out. We sat there and watched him play it for a few minutes, and I could feel the excitement in the air as the action unfolded before us. Very memorable moment. You just knew it was a game changer just by looking at it, and that PS1 was the console to have.
Yes. This was the similar reaction I had when I first saw Tomb Raider.
Post 16-bit? Probably Mario 64. I had a N64 for a couple of years before I even got a PSOne. The 3-D in Mario 64 was pretty amazing at the time.
yeah man that game really blew my mind too. I remember swimming on the underwater boards and just being amazed and amazed.