King of Kong came in the other night and I got a hankering for old school video games. The golden era of arcade games was before my time though I do have fond memories of our Colecovision when I was really little. I'm a child of the NES which was the greatest and most important video game console of all time. No console since the NES has enjoyed such utter dominance.
The problem of course is that many of these games I remember being so awesome aren't so awesome anymore. I popped in Castlevania and it just wasn't the same. It's also funny because I'm actually a better video game player now than when I was 10-11 years old. Some games have held up better, particularly Zelda, Metroid and the Mega Man games.
As for this itch, I decided to explore a video game blind spot for me -- the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis 16 bit era. These systems came out when I was in Junior High and by the time I was in the 8th grade, I was loosing interest in video games. I didn't play much at all while I was in high school. My interest was rekindled 10 years ago when I bought a PS2. I found video games to be stress release. The habit has wained the last few years with all my kids coming along, but I do get the occasionally get really into it a couple weeks at a time. Batman Arkham Asylum was the last time I really played a modern era game.
Anyway, I fired up the Wii for the first time in about 18 months. I had heard on several occasions that the SNES Metroid and Zelda games are some of the greatest games ever made. I downloaded Super Metroid on Chrismas Eve.
Holy mackerel, what a masterpiece by Nintendo and it holds up 18 years after being released. 2D were basically gone 5 years ago, but they have had somewhat of a revival the last few years with Nintendo and some independent game makers coming out with a few. I also think the proliferation of iPads and smart phones could revive it some more.
The problem of course is that many of these games I remember being so awesome aren't so awesome anymore. I popped in Castlevania and it just wasn't the same. It's also funny because I'm actually a better video game player now than when I was 10-11 years old. Some games have held up better, particularly Zelda, Metroid and the Mega Man games.
As for this itch, I decided to explore a video game blind spot for me -- the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis 16 bit era. These systems came out when I was in Junior High and by the time I was in the 8th grade, I was loosing interest in video games. I didn't play much at all while I was in high school. My interest was rekindled 10 years ago when I bought a PS2. I found video games to be stress release. The habit has wained the last few years with all my kids coming along, but I do get the occasionally get really into it a couple weeks at a time. Batman Arkham Asylum was the last time I really played a modern era game.
Anyway, I fired up the Wii for the first time in about 18 months. I had heard on several occasions that the SNES Metroid and Zelda games are some of the greatest games ever made. I downloaded Super Metroid on Chrismas Eve.
Holy mackerel, what a masterpiece by Nintendo and it holds up 18 years after being released. 2D were basically gone 5 years ago, but they have had somewhat of a revival the last few years with Nintendo and some independent game makers coming out with a few. I also think the proliferation of iPads and smart phones could revive it some more.
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