Beginnings

I began my journey many years ago, around 1995.  As a youngster (middle school aged) I used to play Asterax on an old Macintosh Performa 410, if memory serves me.  It was amazing and I could play for hours.  The game was clean and responsive.  It included some strategy in addition to the arcade action.  For example, when you collected the crystals you could buy upgrades for your ship and various other things.  I continued to play it from time to time as the years passed.

My father was a bit of a collector of old macs and let me play with an old color classic, which was past its prime.  I loaded up many old mac games (like Bolo, oh the memories!), including Asterax.  It had a two player (not networked) mode where you could play with a friend, sharing keyboard space.  I played it with my brothers for many enjoyable hours and introduced it to my friends.  For me, it was the Asteroids of my era and platform.  I don't remember seeing Asteroids until later in life.