It's hard to believe it's been nearly two decades since the original release of Halo in Europe. Following its initial release as a North American launch title for the Xbox back in November 2001, Halo: Combat Evolved finally made its way to the UK and Europe on March 14th 2002, as did the console itself.

The game proved wildly popular, as it had in North America. Microsoft reported back in April 2002 that a massive 86% of all original Xbox system purchasers had also bought a copy of Halo, with the game eventually going on to spawn countless sequels, as well as a 2011 remake called Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (which has also just been enhanced and added to the PC version of the Master Chief Collection).

The first Halo conjures up nostalgic memories for pretty much anyone who owned an Xbox in its early days. Check out one of the very first (and very grainy) trailers for the game in the video at the top of this page, and tell us your favourite memories of Halo: Combat Evolved in the comments below.

[source twitter.com, via news.microsoft.com, eurogamer.net]