(Note: This is a lengthy post filled with unimportant details and romanticized nostalgic fluff. Feel free to skip if you’re looking for quick and easy.)
Before we get into it, I wanted to mention that I watched the Academy Awards last night. Truthfully I could care less, but my wife enjoys watching the celebs and likes to be in the know. The one part of the show I do look forward to is the “In Memoriam” piece where they show all of the people who died the previous year. There were only a few surprises for me in there, but there was an absolute glaring omission: Brad Renfro. C’mon Academy! He died barely a month ago! Don’t act like you didn’t know. It’s not like he wasn’t a high profile actor as well. The Client, Sleepers, Apt Pupil, Deuces Wild; you’ve seen him before. My wife hypothesized that maybe the Academy didn’t want to do a tribute to someone who died of an overdose, but of course Heath Ledger was in there front and center and he OD’d after Renfro. Just my random observations.
In more exciting news, my internet pal Caro has indulged me with my first topic request. I must shower her with good vibrations and well wishes. (I’m willing that perfect new job opportunity to you right now!) Truthfully, I have never spoken to Caro other than through forum posts or the occasional site-driven email. Even though she is on my meager list of XBL and Wii friends, I have never played a game with her. When you get right down to it, I know her in name and blog posts only. Yet I find her to be a compassionate internet friend who is always there with friendly words for a person whom she doesn’t really know either. Our love for videogames along with our slightly above average intelligence and ability to type a coherent paragraph (most of the time) is pretty much our only real link. Still, I find Ms. Caro to be a kindred gaming spirit I’m happy to have as an ally!
In my previous post, I solicited for blog topics particularly in the old-school vein. She came back at me with this:
Before we get into it, I wanted to mention that I watched the Academy Awards last night. Truthfully I could care less, but my wife enjoys watching the celebs and likes to be in the know. The one part of the show I do look forward to is the “In Memoriam” piece where they show all of the people who died the previous year. There were only a few surprises for me in there, but there was an absolute glaring omission: Brad Renfro. C’mon Academy! He died barely a month ago! Don’t act like you didn’t know. It’s not like he wasn’t a high profile actor as well. The Client, Sleepers, Apt Pupil, Deuces Wild; you’ve seen him before. My wife hypothesized that maybe the Academy didn’t want to do a tribute to someone who died of an overdose, but of course Heath Ledger was in there front and center and he OD’d after Renfro. Just my random observations.
In more exciting news, my internet pal Caro has indulged me with my first topic request. I must shower her with good vibrations and well wishes. (I’m willing that perfect new job opportunity to you right now!) Truthfully, I have never spoken to Caro other than through forum posts or the occasional site-driven email. Even though she is on my meager list of XBL and Wii friends, I have never played a game with her. When you get right down to it, I know her in name and blog posts only. Yet I find her to be a compassionate internet friend who is always there with friendly words for a person whom she doesn’t really know either. Our love for videogames along with our slightly above average intelligence and ability to type a coherent paragraph (most of the time) is pretty much our only real link. Still, I find Ms. Caro to be a kindred gaming spirit I’m happy to have as an ally!
In my previous post, I solicited for blog topics particularly in the old-school vein. She came back at me with this:
Have any games on there (Wii Virtual Console) really surprised you, either in how well or not well they lived up to your memories of them, or, in the case of games you hadn't played before, how good they are?-Caro
So here we go:
I’ve only had my Wii for about two months and so far I’ve only downloaded the requisite Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros 3. But I can still talk old-school all day long. When I read this question, one game immediately came to mind: Mega Man 2. (Yes, I know MM2 isn't available on the VC yet...but it's just a matter of time.)
As you get older, it’s funny what moments 
(and in this case gaming moments) remained burned in your memory while all the rest fade away. I distinctly remember the evening I beat MM2 for the first time. I was spending the night at a friend’s house. We had rented some movies and games, Mega Man 2 obviously being one of them. Around midnight, he put in some movie I wasn’t really interested in. So I went over and fired up MM2. Long story short, after many tries, I finally beat Dr. Wily & his alien form using the bubble weapon (which I completely guessed as the “correct” weapon on the first try!). Maybe it’s because it was 2:00 in the morning. Maybe that star-scape screen hypnotized me. I don’t know why, but the memory of beating that game stands out in my mind as important. In my lifetime, I’ve beaten hundreds of games, but the list of game beatings that are really etched in my memory are in the single digits. (In case you cared, they are: Super Mario Bros. 2, Mega Man 2, Gunstar Heroes, Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid).
That was 1990. Flash forward to 2004 when I picked up Mega Man Anniversary Collection . In my continued attempts to relive my youth, I started in on MM2 right away. I was cruising until I hit Dr. Wily’s Base. After many, many tries I managed to get to the part just before you fight Wily himself where you must fight all of the robot bosses again. To this day, I simply cannot beat this part. I know the correct weapons to use and whatnot, but I cannot make it though all of the bosses on a single guy. I’m not terribly upset about it, but I often wonder why I can’t do it. I was able to beat the game without a real struggle when I was in the sixth grade almost 20 years ago. And it is my observation that the majority of classic games become easier as you get older and your thought processes improve even if reflexes slightly deteriorate. What does this say about me? I often wonder if there is some deep, hidden meaning to this. No other game I’ve gone back and replayed has ever given me this kind of trouble. Usually I find that I am either markedly improved at it or I’m simply the same. But almost never do I find that I am worse. Especially after warming up…I guess maybe I just want there to be a greater meaning behind it. It probably really means nothing. But still, there’s this nagging part of me that deems this as significant. I don’t know why. Perhaps I’ll find out in the year 20XX.
Oops....looking back, that doesn’t really answer the question so I’ll answer it by saying: Super Metroid – Wow! I played this for the first time about 3 years ago and couldn’t believe it. It’s an amazing game that came out of nowhere for me. Amazing graphics, sound & fluid control. I had heard the hype, but I’m not too susceptible to that kind of talk. The map system in SM is flawless. I would have been way less impressed by Castlevania: SotN back in the day if I had played Super Metroid first. It’s a total rip-off! Both are tops in my book though, and thankfully you can now virtually own both! SotN is on XBLA and Super Metroid is on VC. Download both and enjoy!
Thanks again for the topic Caro…and to everyone reading this: keep the suggestions coming.
(and in this case gaming moments) remained burned in your memory while all the rest fade away. I distinctly remember the evening I beat MM2 for the first time. I was spending the night at a friend’s house. We had rented some movies and games, Mega Man 2 obviously being one of them. Around midnight, he put in some movie I wasn’t really interested in. So I went over and fired up MM2. Long story short, after many tries, I finally beat Dr. Wily & his alien form using the bubble weapon (which I completely guessed as the “correct” weapon on the first try!). Maybe it’s because it was 2:00 in the morning. Maybe that star-scape screen hypnotized me. I don’t know why, but the memory of beating that game stands out in my mind as important. In my lifetime, I’ve beaten hundreds of games, but the list of game beatings that are really etched in my memory are in the single digits. (In case you cared, they are: Super Mario Bros. 2, Mega Man 2, Gunstar Heroes, Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid).That was 1990. Flash forward to 2004 when I picked up Mega Man Anniversary Collection . In my continued attempts to relive my youth, I started in on MM2 right away. I was cruising until I hit Dr. Wily’s Base. After many, many tries I managed to get to the part just before you fight Wily himself where you must fight all of the robot bosses again. To this day, I simply cannot beat this part. I know the correct weapons to use and whatnot, but I cannot make it though all of the bosses on a single guy. I’m not terribly upset about it, but I often wonder why I can’t do it. I was able to beat the game without a real struggle when I was in the sixth grade almost 20 years ago. And it is my observation that the majority of classic games become easier as you get older and your thought processes improve even if reflexes slightly deteriorate. What does this say about me? I often wonder if there is some deep, hidden meaning to this. No other game I’ve gone back and replayed has ever given me this kind of trouble. Usually I find that I am either markedly improved at it or I’m simply the same. But almost never do I find that I am worse. Especially after warming up…I guess maybe I just want there to be a greater meaning behind it. It probably really means nothing. But still, there’s this nagging part of me that deems this as significant. I don’t know why. Perhaps I’ll find out in the year 20XX.
Oops....looking back, that doesn’t really answer the question so I’ll answer it by saying: Super Metroid – Wow! I played this for the first time about 3 years ago and couldn’t believe it. It’s an amazing game that came out of nowhere for me. Amazing graphics, sound & fluid control. I had heard the hype, but I’m not too susceptible to that kind of talk. The map system in SM is flawless. I would have been way less impressed by Castlevania: SotN back in the day if I had played Super Metroid first. It’s a total rip-off! Both are tops in my book though, and thankfully you can now virtually own both! SotN is on XBLA and Super Metroid is on VC. Download both and enjoy!
Thanks again for the topic Caro…and to everyone reading this: keep the suggestions coming.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the kind words, Emiroo. Right back atcha!
Mega Man 2, wow that takes me back. What an amazing game. I still frequently hear the theme for Flash Man's stage playing in my head, and the game's ending is really quite beautiful. I never picked up the Mega Man collection so I haven't played it in quite a long time at this point. When it finally does hit the VC, I'll see how I fare with the game's boss rush section.
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