I didn't own any consoles growing up, nothing before the N64. So I played what I could at friends' houses. I managed to beat the very first game since my best friend had an NES, and I got stuck at his house for like 3 days during a blizzard. However, between literal availability and my lack of the correct console, it wasn't until 12 that a game was coming out for something I had. I've played everything from 7 forward in passing, but the only one I put serious time into was 8, and that was on a cruddy PC port that crashed constantly. I got frustrated and quit. And then 13 came out, and I slogged through it.
So yeah, I've only ever beaten the first and the last games. Nothing in-between.