Tuesday, February 14, 2012

It's been a looooong time (so here's some nostalgia)


Geez, the last time I posted anything it was....woaaah back in November. Damn, that's a loong time. Well to be honest, I sort of got overwhelmed towards the end of my semester and I just wanted my vacation to start so that I could try out different things for my reviews. As you can tell, I was unsuccessful. I sort of lost the spark I had when it came to my reviews. In other words, I had a lot on my mind. For one thing, I sort of freaked myself out with the realization that I'm 20 years old and in a few more months, I'll be 21 (I can totally buy booze, hooray). I felt like I was losing my sense of identity. I remember being a kid and playing games. Where did that go? I remember having a blast as a senior in high school and now I'm in my third year of college. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?. Yeah this is what was going on with me all winter break. However, because of that I discovered just how important memories are and how powerful nostalgia can be. See, no matter how old I get, no matter how scattered or lost I feel, there's one thing that will always calm me down. It's one of my greatest treasures...As a kid I loved this game. It pretty much defined my years before high school. The music, the messages, the characters, they all really impacted me growing up. It was chock full of humor combined with an epic story of a kid saving the world with the help of some truly loyal friends who fought with him through thick and thin.

My greatest treasure. My initials included
OK ok alright....I'm talking about Earthbound for the Super Nintendo. That game amazes me even to this day. It's the one familiar thing I can count on in from my childhood that hasn't changed. It has been and will probably always be my favorite game. Now that doesn't mean I don't like any other games. Quite the contrary, in fact I love me multiple games. Hell if you want, I can go in depth for like 4 hours talking about Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (or "Snack Eater" if you prefer....he does eat a lot in the game after all) and how it's about life and stuff like that. When I got my wisdom teeth removed and I was drugged up on Vicodin, I played Red Dead Redemption somehow and got me the American Standardbred horse....though to be honest I really have no recollection of doing that. My friend had to tell me that I did that because I kept sending weird texts about horses that didn't make ANY sense (it's especially weird when after you run out of Vicodin you turn on the game only to have a black horse run at you and you're like where the hell did this come from?!?!). But I digress, my point here is that although Earthbound is my all time favorite game, I have love for a LOT of games. For example the Mario, Zelda, and Kirby games hold a special place for me because they got me into games. My earliest memories consist of sitting on my mom's lap while she played (or rather TRIED to play) the first Zelda game. She also showed me how to play Mario. But Kirby...that was all mine. I played that game a lot more than the others. I don't really know why. OH WAIT I KNOW!!! It was because of the ball power. I thought it was the coolest thing. ANYWAY Nintendo has made such a huge impact on my life with pretty much anything they have made and continue to make and I'm sure that this is the case for the millions of people who buy their systems and games. For me, when I pop in a Zelda game and hear that all too familiar song of figuring out a puzzle or discovering a hidden chest, I feel my old self laughing and smiling at that. When I play a new Mario game and see Mario himself running and jumping, I feel the same way, as is the same with Kirby ('cept for Epic Yarn....well almost, since the last world is what saved it for me).

The point of this post isn't so much a review as it is a lesson. Don't let life sneak up on you. Don't let time speed on by. Don't walk away from all the things from childhood. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing. It keeps the kid inside of you alive and it helps put things in perspective. It allows one to smile in a truly imperfect and cruel world. I'm sure there's something from your childhood that you miss. Go find it. Take a trip down memory lane. It helps....especially if you're feeling lost and freaked out by the fact that you're suddenly so old.

Seriously I ask "What's my age again?" because surely, I'm not a normal 20 year old....I sound like an old man lol. Welp, I guess it's part of my charm. If you read this whole thing you have my thanks. Now go experience some nostalgia and have a great day/night/afternoon/etc etc and come on by for my next review...which will be.......I don't have a damn clue lol.
Remember when games looked like this?
Ahh Nintendo.....