When we were kids, there were always those “forbidden fruit” games—titles we desperately wanted to play, but our parents wouldn’t let us near because of the big M rating on the box. Whether it was because of violence or language those games felt like they were off-limits and extra cool because of it.

Sometimes, though, we found ways to get around that. Maybe a cool older relative bought it for us, or a clueless one. Or maybe one of our friends just so happens to own one.

Now when I say own, I don’t mean borrowed for a couple days or played at a friend’s house. Like for me, There were a couple games I remember playing at friends including the South Park game on Nintendo 64 and Halo on Xbox. I also remember playing Grand Theft Auto 3 my older cousin’s place.

But if I were to say, what was the first game not only played but I owned, that would be Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance on the GameCube. I remember getting that game for my 10th birthday from one of my aunts and I remember having a lot of fun with that game: Trying to try all the fatalities and trying to open all of the Krypts.

What about you guys: what was the first M-rated game (Or M rated equivalent) you ever owned?

Oh, interesting thread idea :) It was either Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on SNES or Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on N64.

Does the original Doom count? My family got that when it first came out, but that was before the ESRB existed. The game came out in 1993 and I was 5 at the time. I remember strictly playing the game with god mode on. I still remember some of the cheats after all these years - IDDQD (god mode) and IDKFA (All guns, ammo, and keys).

Probably Mortal Kombat 2 on Snes.

I had older brothers so I played many M rated games when I was far too young.

The first M rated game I can remember buying and owning for myself was Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube. I was 13 at the time. Still one of my favorites.

Fun fact: MK2 launched one week before the ESRB system was rolled out. MK2 on SNES had a generic warning on it.

I had MK2 SNES, but my first actual M-rated game was Doom 2. I played games before that that would likely have qualified for a M-rating, had it existed before then. 

Ah. In that case I Mortal Kombat 3.

My family did not have any restrictions on M rated games or R rated movies like so many other families apparently had. I was playing M rated games and watching R rated movies for as long as I can remember. That being said, if we go by earliest release date, then it would be Doom (PC) or Mortal Kombat (SNES), though like trunkswd said, these were technically released before the ESRB and were only retroactively given an M rating.

For a game that released after the ESRB was established and was given an M rating upon release (going off of a Resetera forum post because a cursory google search did not bring up any kind of official list) then the first game I can remember my family owning with an M rating would be Resident Evil for the Playstation, released in March 1996.

For an M rated game that I specifically requested and got for myself, and wasn't just an older sibling or family purchase, I think it may have been Legacy of Kain: Defiance, released in November 2003. This seems way late to me as I would have been 14 at the time and I feel like I must be missing some other M rated game(s) that I would have asked for before this, but none that I can specifically recall. It's difficult because I did have older siblings that would also get a lot of games, so most of the M rated games we had back then were probably requested by them (and getting an M rated game would not have been all that special to me, so it doesn't stick out in my memory).

I hope somebody can make a comprehensive list of M rated games that can be sorted by release date (and date ESRB rating was granted) so I can perform a better search, because I'm kinda curious.

I barely remember how, but Unreal Tournament. I was only 9 at the time. Thankfully the Mature rating sticker was off to the right side and REALLY small to where you had to be really looking to notice it. So thankfully my mom being the boomer she is not only didn't notice the M rating, but didn't know you could open the front flap to see more info on the game. It was somewhere along the lines of me saying it was a sports game, hence the "tournament" in the name lol.

Whatever it was, it was good enough to where even my dad bought it. And he was the gamer in our family, but thankfully he was into Strategy games. So he wasn't aware of the likes of FPS games lol. He was busy playing Heroes of Might & Magic, Age of Empires, and Alpha Centauri to notice what I was playing.

Mostly I thought it was funny. The ESRB basically existed because of Mortal Kombat, and yet they launched the second MK game just a couple of days before the ESRB rollout. The Genesis version still sported Sega’s rating sticker.