Nostalgia glasses. For gamers, they always color our memories, causing us to remember our childhood gaming experiences in ways that seem to inflate the significance and quality of the games we grew up with. I'm still figuring out whether it is possible for people to overcome their powerful feelings of nostalgia for games, many of which, for adult gamers especially, come from bygone eras that coincided with their introduction to gaming and their fond childhood memories.
Recently, I played through Galaga and Dig Dug for the first time. I also played the original Pac-Man again as part of the Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 + Arcade Game Series collection for the PS4. Ironically, I haven't played Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 yet; I simply enjoyed the time I spent playing the old arcade classics, wondering what it might have been like playing these games in the actual arcades back in the early 80's. Coincidentally, a current co-worker of mine mentioned that Galaga is one of her favorite games (the other being Super Mario Bros.). She recommended that I buy an arcade stick to simulate playing Galaga on the actual arcade machine, which, according to her, is essential to capturing the true experience of Galaga. And I believe her. I found all three of the Arcade Game Series games to be incredibly fun and addictive, though I'm still not very good at Pac-Man.
For most of my life, Atari games were, based on my old perception, outdated and mere precursors to the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of the NES, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis. I grew up with the 16-bit era: as a kid born in the late 80's, Atari and arcade games were, for the most part, before my time. However, my attitude toward Atari games has changed; with the Atari Flashback Classics collections, I managed to rediscover what playing games was like for gamers older than my generation. I'm impressed with what the programmers managed to create with the limited technology they had— simple graphics and gameplay mechanics served as foundations for high-quality gaming experiences. Furthermore, I recognize the legacy Atari games have left behind continues to impact games made today. Too much has already been said about the video game crash of of 1983, so for now I simply want to focus on the lasting impact of the -good- games that were released on the Atari and in arcades; the birth of an entire entertainment medium cannot go ignored, despite its near destruction due to poor quality control and business practices.
However, I did not grow up with the Atari 2600. Though I played some games at the arcades, only two stick out in my memories: Golden Axe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time. Super Mario World game was the first game I ever played when I was still in pre-school. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on the Gameboy was the first video game I ever completed when I was in elementary school. For the last twenty years, since Pokemon was first released in the U.S., I have continued to play all of the Pokemon games and complete the Pokedex for every generation. I myself was ten years old, a mere fifth grader when Pokemon was first introduced to the west. In fact, Ash Ketchum and I were both ten years old in 1998. Ash is still ten, but, unsurprisingly, I am not.
Due to my experiences (and perhaps my own inability to take off my nostalgia glasses), the Super Nintendo remains my favorite console due to its sheer library of games. For a long period of time, Final Fantasy games on the Playstation sucked up hours of my life as I became so utterly engrossed (to the point where it might have actually classify as an addiction) in the characters and story. Sure, when playing some of these games now, I can easily criticize the outdated graphics, simple and repetitive gameplay mechanics, lack of an auto-save function, or you name it. But these games were my true companions throughout my formative years, and the joy and entertainment they provided me will always resonate within the core of my very being.
I still play new releases, at least the ones I really like, but I also have an immense backlog of games that I need to finish before I die. My consoles of choice have always been branded Sony and Nintendo (though I am considering purchasing an Xbox One for its exclusives). For my next and final part of this series of reflections on gaming, I'm going to discuss some of my favorite video game series and some standout memories I have with specific games, with closing commentary on the current state of gaming and the quality of more recent releases.
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