Addicted
1986. I had my first taste of the addiction. One hit and it changed my life. I was only in seventh grade at the time, but I could not get enough of it. I could not wait to get home so I could get some more. Insatiable appetite for it. It was The Legend of Zelda for NES. I always liked video games. Starting off with the Atari system, then moving on up to the NES. I started off with Super Mario, like most of us. Mario was the 'gateway' game for me. I liked the challenge and idea that I had to solve puzzles as well as be immersed in an action game. Well along comes the Zelda game in its shiny gold cartridge, and I was hooked. There were no hint guides back then. You had to solve the riddles on your own, Figure out by trial and error how to beat the boss, or access the needed item. No game since has compared to the sheer enjoyment I received from playing and beating Zelda. Dark Cloud and Kingdom Hearts come close, but I hold Zelda in higher regard. It did not have flashy graphics, a cool soundtrack, or ultra-violence. It just had solid gameplay. Hours of fun, puzzles, action. If you are a gamer, what was the game that got you hooked? If you are not a gamer, what game could you pick up today and still enjoy it?
Have you ever told a lie for so long that even you aren't sure of the truth? Like when in actuality you got a 720 on your SAT's, but over the years you have told it to be a 1220,920,1050? In your mind you even try to reason it out that is is or may be the truth. Or that first girl you ever kissed was Sally, when you know darn well it was Pam, but Sally was much better looking, so Pam gets omitted from your memory...and you try to reason it out in your mind by saying ' Well Pam wasn't a REAL kiss because it was less than three seconds and I had one eye open and my fingers crossed' . I sure have some that I am not going to be silly enough to put in print for posterity. I just was looking for some of you to let me know I am not alone. Well I had been telling everyone I got into bars when I was 7, but I had a fake ID since I was 6. This is untrue. The first beer I ever had was October 30, 1989. It was a case of Busch me and my three friends scrapped together 10 bucks for and had one of the older guys score for us. I remember the exact day because it was mischief night. My three friends and I kind of had a custom we would do each mischief night since we were like 12 or 13 til too old that I don't want to mention. We would don our Halloween costumes a day early and start knocking at doors with our bags and a 'Trick or Treat!'. The looks on people's faces were priceless. With the Busch beers I guzzled down in 1989, it was a whole lot easier putting on my Jason Voorhees costume complete with army coat and goalie mask, and knocking on people's doors one day early...to beat the rush.
posted by Houseopayn @ 8:05 PM
6 Comments:
Chris, awesome post! I have to comment on Nintendo! I loved Mario Bros! I know I beat that game a couple times and I can vividly remember spending hours upon hours playing it. I also had Legend of Zelda, but I can't remember if I ever beat that one or not. I know I didn't spend quite as much time on it as Mario, but I do remember Zelda being an addiction of mine. I also remember playing the flying games 1942 & 1943...I think my dad got me hooked on those. There were so many other ones that I just can remember right now! Even though the graphics on those games can't compare to the ones we have today, I think they'll always be some of the coolest games ever made.
i loved super mario brothers 3...but the one game i could play for hours on end and never get tired of was tecmo super bowl...loved it
Videogame memories............
1) Playing Intellivision Baseball at my neighbor's house in Alaska. (When he wasn't home, I think I played by myself, with 2 controllers.)
But Intellivision Baseball had the WORST design flaw of alltime : Runs COUNTED on the 3rd out....if the runner crossed the plate fast enough. (Actually, this isn't a bad idea. It's the only way the Phillies and Mariners can score sometimes.)
2) My MOM discovering "Frogger" on the Atari2600 on Christmas morning, circa 1983. She sat there for HOURS, in front of the 19" Sampo TV, enjoying that not-annoying-at-all theme music. (I know you can hear it now.)
3) Mario Brothers........Gettting 100 free lives by jumping on the turtle shell and having it bounce back and forth. Used to drive my college buds crazy.
4) RoboTron, on my roommate's Apple-IE (Joystick and Keyboard). Best game, ever. No strateegery. Just shoot anywhere.....just like my golf game.
i ahve another to add...football for Commodore 64...loved it...only one kid on the block had Commodore 64, so all the kids on the block used to pick a team and we'd have tournaments...was always tons of fun
Tecmo Super Bowl might be my favorite game of all time for any system. Without that game, I don't think football video games would've ever become what they are today.
I got Mike Tyson's Punch-Out as a present for getting straight A's at the end of third grade, and I spent many days during the summer of 1989 beating up on the likes of Von Kaiser, King Hippo, and Bald Bull.
Another rather obscure game was Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball for Nintendo. It was actually my sister's, but she kind of outgrew video games, so I ended up playing that. The players on the game were outrageous, but there was a lot of strategy involved as well.
For Sega Genesis, I always enjoyed the RBI Baseball games. They were cool on NES, but Genesis took them to another level with classic teams and (somewhat) realistic stadiums, which was considered cutting edge in 1993. I did play Tecmo Super Bowl a lot, too, but the NES version was much better in my opinion.
I actually think Computer Baseball is right there with Tecmo Super Bowl for my favorite game. It had rosters from several World Series teams (including the '80 Phillies and Royals!) plus you could create teams. You were the manager and typed in the strategy. A lot of my friends found it boring, but I loved it. I wonder if my Commodore 64 still works.
people from our country also likes that SUper mario..
we also love that... cartoon of them.. which features two live man on intro of every epsiode.. jejeje
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