Second Playthrough | Early 1995 - NES pickups

I got the NES WAY late so the order I started picking up games was odd.

I started picking up NES games in early 1995 (Jan/Feb/March) with my allowance. Luckily I could find them fairly easily for low prices (as the system had been out for 9 years by that time, and discontinued I believe).

1. Kid Icarus

I had played Kid Icarus on the Game Boy and even though that was a few years newer than the NES game, the limitations of the Game Boy itself (especially graphically) made this game feel quite similar - they even both had password save systems so I didn't feel any loss there. I'm not sure if it was my varying ability between consoles or if they had tonned down the Game Boy version, but this game was significantly harder for me than the Game Boy game.

2. Battletoads

I recently popped Battletoads in and replayed it, it wasn't easy but the different perspectives (like when the boss robot is shooting at you and you have to throw the stuff back at the camera) along with pretty good graphics for the time and fast fun gameplay - I can see why this was an awesome game and would make Nintendo want to acquire Rare. I did some reading and apparently Rare made Battletoads to compete (and play off of) the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the time (TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES, go play it now- awesome game!).

3. Zoda's Revenge: Star Tropics II

I recently went back to play Zoda's Revenge (Star Tropics II) for this blog post and was lost as hell (once I got past the intro chapter basically) and was having trouble just figuring out how to not die while exploring around. I eventually read online and figured a few things out and started to have some fun - didn't play it too much though as it didn't really catch me. I can see why they haven't made a sequel - I seem to remember the first being better though, maybe I have rose-colored glasses for it for some reason.

Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Icarus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battletoads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoda's_Revenge:_StarTropics_II

Second Playthrough | Christmas 1994 - NES Time!

This was under the tree for me on Christmas morning!

Unforunately I no longer have the box (for the console or games) this is a picture from Nintendoage.com

The NES was over 8 years old when I got it Christmas morning 1994. I'm not sure why my parents didn't get the redesigned NES (unless that had already been discontinued by the time) but I'm sure the NES's ~$50 price tag for that holiday season was the reason it was appealing to them as a gift for me. I of course had no idea, nor would I have cared that it was old - that just meant there were more games out for it!

1. Super Mario Bros. 3

The first up was Super Mario Bros. 3 - the game came packaged in with the console (it had 'Challenge Set Not For Resale' on the box, but the cart was the same as other SMB3 carts inside). This was an awesome experience for me. I had played both Mario Game Boy games (and Donkey Kong where you play as Mario) but this was on the TV and in color! I had a blast and can still remember distinctly where and how to get all three whistles! The Raccoon tail (Tanookie suit is I think its official name) is the second best Mario power-up in my opinion next to the Super Cape. I would later play the first and second mario games (and of course the later Mario games on many different consoles) and Super Mario World would eventually find its place as my favorite, but SMB3 is still a close second and holds a special place in my heart.

2. The Legend of Zelda

Zelda was another game I had recently played the Game Boy version of before moving back to the NES/TV and getting the grander - albeit older experience. Having played another Zelda I knew some of what was going on, but even then I was amazed at how little the game led you and just expected you to figure out. I have played many Zelda games since (Link to the Past is still my favorite) but I think its interesting that the first few that I played either didn't have the triforce (Link's Awakening) or it was in 8 pieces instead of 3 (kinda, 3 main pieces but 8 fragments) (Original), also no master sword in either game. This is the game that started probably the most epic gaming series of all time - if you somehow haven't played it I highly recommend it.

3. Kirby's Adventure

Kirby was a revelation for me on the NES, I didn't play it much initially (what with Mario and Zelda I had very little time) but when I finally got around to popping it in the NES I was quite excited. I very much enjoyed Kirby's Dreamland on the Game Boy, and while this followed a lot of the same gameplay mechanics (while improving on them) it was also in color and had saves! It also introduced Kirby's ability to swallow enemies (instead of only being able to spit them out) and in the process gaining some power or ability from the enemy. While it was overshadowed by my other games I had great fun playing Kirby's Adventure and it holds up better than a lot of NES games.

Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda_(video_game)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby's_Adventure

Second Playthrough | Fall 1994 - More Gameboy Goodness

The fall of 1994 saw me add several more awesome Game Boy games to my collection.

Last Time we talked about my Birthday in 1994 where I got several awesome Game Boy games, but more importantly I started to get a weekly allowance - and I immediately used it to aquire several more Game Boy games between my birthday (in August) and Christmas.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Super Mario, Metroid and Zelda - these were the pillars of Nintendo (pre-Pokemon, Mario Kart, Smash, etc.) and I have a fairly unique viewpoint having played the Game Boy versions of the games before the NES versions. Link's Awakening was an amazing game on the Game Boy, once again it had a save function (my first besides Donkey Kong for the Game Boy) and it was an expansive experience. I spent hours, days even, exploring the island, solving the puzzles in the dungeons and having tons of fun. Link's Awakening had been out for over a year (released in NA, August 1993) and was the 4th in the series, but the first for me.

2. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

If you loved Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES or Super Mario World on SNES, then Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is for you. It plays very similar to those console games and features many of the same improvements over the original Super Mario Bros (overworld, left or right movement, same 3 basic power ups: Super Mushroom, Fireflower, Starman). The game has a unique powerup, the Magic Carrot that turns Mario into Bunny Mario that allows multiple jumps and floating. This game introduced Wario as the main villain who took over 'Mario Land' while Mario was away taking on Bowser in the first Super Mario Land game. I loved this game, it saved as well (I was starting to get spoiled with saving games!) and it was great fun switching between Mario and Link's adventures that fall.

3. Metroid II: Return of Samus

The final game I got just a few weeks before Christmas in 1994 was Metroid II: Return of Samus. I played this game for nearly 3 weeks straight trying to make sure I beat it before Christmas (when I knew I would be getting more games!) it had a save function but I barely used it! (later I would play the original and wish for it). 

I have been asked repeatedly in the last few years by friends why I stick with Nintendo as a fan, and I will admit that at times their stances on things and their sluggish movement can be aggravating - but it's all about the games and the fall of 1994 was one of the first times (but certainly not the last) where I was blown away with great game after great game. Zelda, Mario and Metroid here on the Game Boy would blow me away again on both the NES and SNES (an each in their own ways on later systems). Combined with the literally dozens of other great series that Nintendo has, is it any wonder that I am a fan?

Second Playthrough | Birthday 1994 - Game Boy Starts gettin' good

The Game Boy eventually had one of the best libraries of any system ever, and in mid-1994 I started to really explore it.

I was highly anticipating my birthday in 1994, I was turning 5 and my mother had promised that it would be a big one. I was about to start school and my parents had told me that doing well in school was my responsibility, but that I would be rewarded - and I was with three new Game Boy games. More importantly (yes even than new games) was that I would start to receive a weekly allowance - contingent on doing all of my chores and doing well in school. Thus began my era of saving money to buy video games (an era that is currently still going on!)

1. Donkey Kong

I talked previously about the fact that we had Donkey Kong on the Atari 2600. That game was incredibly limited, had bad graphics and was just not nearly as fun as other games I had access to even then. However, it was a name my parents knew and the first game I got for my Birthday that year was Donkey Kong for the Game Boy.

This version of Donkey Kong had actually only came out a few months before my August 30th Birthday in 1994 and quickly became my favorite game for the system. It's first level plays very similar to the original Donkey Kong game but then so much more starts happening, there is an overworld with levels bound together by themes, enemies and sub-bosses, different puzzle types and features and great level design.

I put countless hours into Donkey Kong and loved the saving feature (first game I had with one). I don't know if I ever actually beat the game, I replayed it recently to about half-way and had great fun doing so. 

Of the Donkey Kong Games before the venerable Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong for the Game Boy is without a doubt the best in my opinion.

2. Dr. Mario

I am fairly certain my parents went to a store like Best Buy, asked one of the people there 'is there a game like Tetris' and that person pointed them to Dr. Mario - and I am grateful for it! Dr. Mario can be described as like tetris in that it is a puzzle game with pieces falling from the top that need to be arranged, but it is also different in that your goal is not simply to survive by clearing enough of the puzzle to keep making room for more pieces, but to also clear the bottle of viruses and advance to the next stage.

I of course didn't put as much time into Dr. Mario as I had Tetris (I had many other games to play!) but I did love it and it was a great time waster on car trips (or other times when my parents just needed me to be quiet!).

3. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

The final game my parents got me in 1994 was Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. Yet another Nintendo franchise that I began with the Gameboy version before playing the original on the NES (Super Mario and later Metroid and Zelda, and of course Donkey Kong as the 2600 version pales in comparison to the NES version).

Truthfully I don't recall much of this game. I remember liking it and comparing it to Kirby's Dreamland but being much more interested in Donkey Kong (and Metroid and Zelda I got later that year). I have since lost this game and couldn't play it for this blog post - I hope to pick it up again soon as I'm trying to add to my older NES, GB, SNES and Genesis collections so hopefully I can replay it soon.

Second Playthrough | Yardsale 1994 - Or 'Score! Awesome Atari Games'

Atari Games Everywhere!

When I was younger we used to go to yardsales a lot (every other weekend it seemed) and every once in a while I would stumble upon someone selling old video games - this was a great source of games for me when I was that young. It wasn't like it is today with ebay and the rest of the internet making people jack up their prices at yard sales/flea markets, you could really get some deals on games if you looked around. In early 1994 I came upon an Atari 2600 collection and was able to snag some really cool games, later I learned that several of these were highly rated games for the system, seems the guy who was having the yard sale had good taste.

1. Pitfall

When Activision split from Atari they took some of the best programmers Atari had with them, now more free with their creative choices (and receiving credit and royalties) these programmers made some awesome games - Pitfall (by David Crane) was one of these and widely considered one of Activision's best on the Atari 2600 (it also sold the best for them). I popped this into my Atari 2600 to replay for this post and was pleasantly surprised by how well it holds up, the graphics on the 2600 are hard for even a retro gamer like me to stomach but even with those Pitfall's gameplay shines through. The basic concept of the game is a side-scrolling (or at least side-to-side screen transitions) game where you jump over holes (or Pitfalls) along with several other obstacles (logs, snakes, etc.) as you navigate through a jungle to collect treasures. Having explored (just a little) into Atari 2600 programming, it is awesome to see how David Crane utilized some pretty cool techniques to get the multi-colored player sprite and the swinging vines. I very much enjoyed the game then and now!

2. River Raid

Another of Activision's best on the Atari 2600 was River Raid (by Carol Shaw). Besides the significance of being one of the first games made by a female game designer, River Raid was an awesome achievement in that it was a vertical scrolling shooter with much more non-random terrain than was thought possible with the 2600's memory limits. This was made possible by Shaw's use of a procedural generation algorithm that created the terrain based on an equation each time the program was ran (instead of storing the terrain). It also employs a rudimentary random number generator program for the enemies artificial intelligence making them fairly randomized and the experience more of a challenge. I am a sucker for SHMUPs (Shoot 'Em Ups) and this beign one of the earliest makes it quite significant, plus its still a decent game despite its age. Apparently there was a sequel (River Raid II) but I have never been able to get my hands on that.

3. Demon Attack

Activision wasn't the only third-party publisher on the Atari 2600 (eventually there were way too many), they were just the first. The second (both in chronology and likely in significance) was Imagic, who like Atari consisted of largely all former Atari programmers, and also were known for a high standard for their games and giving credit (and royalties) to their programmers. Imagic also had a distinctive cartridge and box designs that made it easy to spot their games.

Demon Attack was Imagic's best selling game and largely most significant. Supposedly loosly based on Galaxian, Demon Attack looked and played very similar to a game called Phoenix that was popular in the arcades at the time (and was eventually made into a 2600 game by Atari) which prompted Atari to sue Imagic (as they had the rights to a home console version of Phoenix), they settled out of court and Demon Attack became Imagic's best seller.

The game itself plays similar to Galaxian and Phoenix (I can see where both were inspirations) with waves of enemies who have different ways of attacking. It is a great game, especially for the time and the system and still a good time even today.

4. Dragonfire

Apparently this yardsale owner was a big fan of Imagic as this is #2 of 4 Imagic games they had. Dragonfire was an awesome game for the time, where you had to make your way across a drawbridge into a castle (while being attacked by a dragon's fireballs), once inside the castle it switches to a top-down view where you have to collect the treasures while dodging more fireballs. If you can collect all the treasures in the throne room you advance to the next level (next castle) where everything is sped up, this process continues until you take enough hits to deplete your 7 lives.

Not only was the game fun and the two different play-rooms cool, Dragonfire was also an example of Imagic's philosophy of utilizing the power of different gaming systems. As opposed to Activision, which had a policy of making all of their games play the same no matter what system they were ported to, Imagic made games in a way where they tried to utilize the full potential of a system. Dragonfire on the Colecovision for instance looks at least twice as good as on the Atari 2600 and is much smoother to play.

5. Atlantis

Atlantis is a variation on the Space Defense games (space invaders, missile command, etc.) that were popular at the time and plays very similar to Taito's Colony7. The basic premise is that you are trying to defend Atlantis (a collection of 7 bases at the bottom of the screen) from flying enemies that drop bombs. 3 of the installations have weapons that can fire at the enemy (two on the sides fire diagonally at a 45 degree angle and the center base fires straight up). The goal is to destroy the enemies before they can destroy all of your bases, if you destroy enough enemies you bases will slowly recover. The game is a high-score game only (in that eventually the waves will increase to a point where you loose) but upon a loss a small ship will raise from the rubble and fly away, forshadowing the sequel to Atlantis - Cosmic Ark.

I have only played the Atari 2600 version, but Atlantis is another example of Imagic making games suited for different systems - the Intellivision version of the game apparently has two gun turrets instead of 3, but they are movable and there is also a friendly flying unit that you can deploy to fight off enemies one-on-one. 

6. Cosmic Ark

Cosmic Ark is the nominal sequel to Atlantis. In the game you pilot a space ship (the Cosmic Ark) which you have to defend while it passes through an asteroid field (similar in playstyle to the arcade game Space Zap). The Cosmic Ark is inhabited by survivors from the city of Atlantis. Once through the asteroid field you make your way to a planet and the goal of this second gameply type is to pilot a lander craft to collect specimen from the planet (presumably to refuel/restock, etc.) while the planet's defenses attempt to gun you down (in kidn of a reversal of the roles in Atlantis). Once you had collected enough specimines you would return to space travel and have to defend the ship from asteroids again. An insteresting part of the game is the starfield background which was apparently an exploit of a hardware bug with the Atari 2600. Earlier systems you can't turn this off, but with later systems the 'TV Type' switch affects this bug and can turn the starfield on and off.

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Where to play them now

Activision absorbed Imagic in the mid 80's, most of these games are available for the XBox360's game room but your best bet is to either download an emulator and the roms or to purchase the carts themselves and play them on an Atari 2600 - they are relatively cheap and easy to find even now.

Second Playthrough | Christmas 1993: Gaming on the Go!

I never got to see the box (I wish I had!) but this was the set my parents bought 'the family'.

I don't recall when they actually purchased it (heck, it may have been around when it was first released in NA in 1989) but in 1993 for Christmas I got the 'family' gameboy as my own along with the modest game collection they had along with two new games! I was ecstatic, I played the family Game Boy more than anyone and couldn't wait for it to be all 'mine'.

1. Tetris

First up was of course Tetris, it came with the system when my parents originally bought it and it got the most use out of the system (until I got a hold of it of course, don't get me wrong I played Tetris a bunch but eventually Mario, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Pokemon, etc. would get more play time). I broke this out just yesterday (as part of planning to write this down) and the sites and sounds were like a tidal wave of nostalgia. I know I'm not nearly as good as I was back in the day but I played for a little while to try to see how long I could survive (only took a few minutes :) )

If somehow you've never played Tetris (or one of the many sequels) you are missing a simply great puzzle game - go play it now!

2. Golf

Next out of the games we had for the Game Boy was Golf (later games in the series were called Mario Golf, and its obviously Mario you're playing as, but it's just called Golf). This game too had a very distinctive sound when you hit the ball (the crescendo then fall of the music follows the ball, it's great).

3. Jeopardy!

The final game out of the original 3 was Jeopardy! I didn't play this very much if at all when I was younger. I like to catch a Jeopardy episode every now and again today but I was a little young to know the questions (or care really).

4. Super Mario Land

The first game I got new was Super Mario Land. I played this game through from start to finish (you have to, no save function) more times than I can count. I had played Super Mario Bros. 3 some on a friend's NES previous to this but ironically I had never played the original Super Mario Bros. when I first played.

A few cool things that set this game apart were the airplane/sub levels, where you piloted either an airplane (kinda looked like a blimp maybe) in the air or a submarine under the water (the levels played similarly) and could shoot enemies. Also in the normal levels the Fireball powerup allowed you to collect coins (something that doesn't occur on the contemporary NES titles of the time) which allowed some cool secret areas that you needed the Fire Flower to fully exploit.

Super Mario Land was likely the first full length game that I 'beat' all the way through. I loved the game, however  it is a bit short.

5. Kirby's Dream Land

The second game I got new that Christmas was Kirby's Dream Land. This game actually got more playtime than Mario, I loved the platforming with the ability to fly (kinda, 'Kirby' floating/flying) and eating enemies and spitting them back out. I had a lot of fun with this game. I recently pulled it back out and played through the first couple levels to much enjoyment.

Interestingly, this was the first game in the Kirby series and he was yet to be stylized as Pink nor did he have the ability to copy enemies (he could eat and spit them, but no copying). These series trademarks would come in Kirby's Adventure for the NES.


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Where to play them now:

You're best bet if you're looking to recreate the old Gameboy experience is to purchase the games off of Amazon or any number of retro gaming site (unlike other consoles of the time period like the NES, the original Game Boy games are pretty cheap). It can take some time to find a nice looking/working original gameboy (although not too expensive when you find one - much easier to get a Gameboy Color if you're in a hurry and it will play all the original's games). But the feel of a real gameboy and games is very hard to recreate.

There are also of course emulators, however without a physical copy the legality of these (Nintendo and many of the other companies still maintain copyrights on all of their IPs from the era, technically the Roms used in emulators are only usually legal if they are a back-up to a physical copy you own. Many people now emulate old Gameboy games on their PSP's and/or Smartphones - I won't explore this here as I don't support that but it is an option if you are okay with that.

Also many of these games are available on the 3DS Virtual Console, this allows you to be legal, and fairly well recreate the handheld experience - additionally the creators of the games (or at least IP holders) get some of the money from the purchase so more games can be made.

Second Playthrough | Birthday 1993: Entering the world of Video Games

Only about a decade and a half late!

As a young child (living in the house I now am back in, renting from my father - we lived her originally until I was 9) my father had an Atari 2600 that he kept in the attic. He would bring it down on the occasional weekend day and let my sister and I take turns playing with on the family TV. This was my first taste of video games and I was hooked immediately. 

In August 1993 I turned 4 years old and my present from my parents was that Atari to have as my own (only like 16 years after the system came out, I was a retro gamer from the beginning!).

1. Missile Command

Initially I had 6 games for the Atari. The game I played the most was Missile Command, I would spend hours shooting missiles out of the sky. I was blissfully ignorant of the fact that the Atari 2600 version was woefully inadequate versus the arcade version - heck I didn't even realize until later that I was playing a game about trying to stave off nuclear annihilation! I simply loved shooting down those missles, and it was a game I could play on my own long after my parents and my sister grew bored and left to do other things.

Going back now, Missile Command is actually kind of hard to play - mainly because like most Atari games they expect you to have read the manual and to figure stuff out on your own so it was difficult to know where to begin. Once you figure out how to use the switches and numbers at the top of the screen to choose your game 'mode' and get into the action though it is pretty simple: the missiles fall from the sky and you move your target indicator around the screen with the joystick and fire with the button. If your missile explosion catches the falling missile it will be destroyed, otherwise you miss. If the missiles find their way to the ground they can destroy your cities (or your main base with enough hits) eventually ending the game.

2. Combat

Combat was a close runner up, especially the Tank game against my sister - although my dad preferred the Jets (he rarely played, but when he did I happily played that game mode). Combat is arguably a better game than Missile Command (even at that age I could tell) and I even enjoyed it more, but it was a two player game and as I mentioned, my father (my mom never played) and sister would eventually get bored and go do other things and Combat was no longer an option - when I had someone to play with though this was awesome!

I've tried to get Combat out recently and play but unfortunately it is much harder to find people to play with now. I have one friend at work into retro games enough to have gotten to play with twice (a few other friends are gamers but to them Retro means N64/PS1 or maybe SNES or NES but they can't stomach older unfortunately). Everyone I talk to about Atari games speaks highly of Combat though and I do enjoy it when I get a chance to play - I also have one of the Atari Flashback consoles and it has Combat 2 on it (I don't think that ever actually came out on the 2600, was only planned).

3. Donkey Kong

I don't remember playing Donkey Kong much on the Atari 2600, I remember we had it and it was the main reason we eventually got it for the Game Boy (and later for other systems) but maybe even then I realized how crappy it was (on the Atari at least). More recently with internet research I have come to learn that the Atari 2600 port was basically intentionally made bad by Coleco as they wanted people to get the version on the Colecovision (which just happened to be their console - talk about conflict of interests).

I pulled out Donkey Kong recently and tried to play it and basically couldn't - the controls are crap, the graphics are horrible even for the Atari (hard to tell what's going on) and having played the Colecovision version (which wasn't that much more powerful than the 2600 really) I can see how they basically put no effort into this game.

4. Video Olympics

The only game I ever really played in Video Olympics was of course Pong, I didn't get to play this much as 1) Combat was better and if I had another player we usually played that and 2) One of our paddle controllers didn't work really well so one player was always at a disadvantage.

5. Circus Atari

I never knew (until later) that Circus Atari was based on the gameplay of Breakout and to be truthful I didn't play Circus Atari much.

6. Bowling

I don't recall playing Bowling much back then, I've plugged it up recently and was not very impressed so I doubt I was then either. It seems to be a faithful representation of the real game of bowling - but the fun in bowling is being with friends, drinking and having a good time - a pixelized representation of it with very little skill involved (or at least it seems to just be luck, didn't try that hard truthfully) wasn't the most fun. They can't all be winners!

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Where to play them now:

There are several options for playing Atari 2600 games now, the best is to get an actual Atari 2600 (or 7800 or heck a Colecovision with the adapter will play the 2600's games too) and an older TV and go to town! 

Alternatively you can download emulators and play on the computer, but the controls are just not the same (unless you mod or get a modded Atari controller that can plug in USB).

There is also the Microsoft Game Room service on the 360. I can't say I've used it but there are quite a few good (and not so good) Atari 2600 games on there.

Second Playthrough | Introduction

About a month ago I turned 25. I got to think about all of the video game experiences I have had during that 25 years (among other things, but that's for another blog).

It was really before my time, but I have many fond memories

My first gaming experiences came on my father's old (even then) Atari 2600 that he would bring down from the Attic on the occasional weekend and allow myself and my sister to play - Missile Command and Donkey Kong I remember well along with a few others. The family also got an original Gameboy sometime in the early 90's (I believe for Tetris) and I remember playing Donkey Kong, Kirby's Dreamland, Super Mario Land and of course hours and hours of Tetris. Later in 1997 (I believe) my parents got us a Super Nintendo for Christmas (it was pretty old by then, but we were young and that just meant the games were cheaper!). I had a blast with Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, Zelda A Link to the Past, Mortal Kombat, and so many others. A friend down the street had a Sega Genesis and I loved playing Street Fighter and Sonic with him, but he was always envious of my Super Nintendo. Another neighbor (a little older than us) had an old NES and I snuck games of the Original Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. 3.

Funny how I thought this looked amazing back then, the gameplay still holds up though.

My sister's best friend's house was one that I spent a lot of time at during those years as well (they would hang out and as it happens a lot with siblings close in age I had to tag along) they would do what girls that age do and I would sit down in the family room and play on their N64! They had Mario Kart 64 and GoldenEye 007 (at least those are the two I remember most!). They also had an NES and SNES with a few cool games, but those were old hat by the later 90s. One Christmas (I think 1998) we got Game Boy Colors (my sister and I) along with Pokemon Red and Blue! I've been playing Pokemon games ever since, although Silver (once it came out) quickly became my favorite and remains so to this day (the remake was amazing, and a lot of the newer stuff is cool, but I still love Silver above all)

This is still basically my favorite game of all time (at least tied with the top 3)

In 2000 I saved all summer and bought a PS1 (yeah, the same year the PS2 came out). Final Fantasy VIII was my first Final Fantasy (not VII like most although I did eventually play it) but my true love was Final Fantasy Tactics! That time also coincided with my Yu-Gi-Oh! obsession and Forbidden Memories was an awesome game that I loved. The next year I got a GBA for a belated Christmas (my parents had to delay my christmas a few months for getting in trouble in school) but when it did come it came with DBZ: The Legacy of Goku and I eventually got several DBZ, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon and other awesome games for it.

As I 'grew up' and went to High School I stopped playing console and handheld games as much, although Realtime and Turn-Based strategy games on PC, like Starcraft, Age of Empires, Civilization, etc. kept me occupied during these times. I also played A LOT of Mechwarrior IV and its expansions (I had played Mechwarrior 2 in the early/mid 90's and I am a major BattleTech fan to this day, I own nearly all of the sourcebooks.... but that's a whole other story).

Did I fall for the hype? You bet I did, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

2006 saw my reintroduction to console gaming when I heard about Nintendo's Revolution (as it was called pre-launch) and camped out at the local Wal-Mart midnight on November 19th 2006 to get myself a Wii. I played Wii Sports and then Zelda: Twilight Princess for something like 100 hours over the next two weeks. I was so excited to renter the video game world and had the entire Gamecube library to explore (and I did, Melee, Battalion Wars, Star Fox: Assault and the Rougue Squadron games were some of my favorites). Games like Fire Emblen: Radiant Dawn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Super Mario Galaxy/2, Mario Kart Wii, DBZ Tenkaichi Budokai 2/3, Brawl and Xenoblade had me enthralled while I also had a blast with the Wii line of games (Sports, Resort, Fit, Play, etc.) and both Guitar Hero and Rock Band which I loved.

The Wii also resparked my interests enough to buy a DS Lite in 2007 (special edition with Phantom Hourglass) and played several Pokemon games, a bunch of RPGs and had a blast! Around this time I also got an iPhone and started playing all of the amazing games on there (and a lot of the stinkers as well, like any popular gaming system it has quite a few) later I got android phones as well.

Then in 2012 I was resparked again with the WiiU (and I got a 3DSXL) and fell in love with console gaming once again. The Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (both), Super Mario 3D World (& Land), Mario Kart (7 & 8), Pokemon X & Y, Fire Emblem Awakening and so many more. I'm still pretty deep into that love right now, although I've also started playing more retro games and I still play a lot of mobile games. I even picked up a PS3 in 2013 to play some of the games I'd missed.

I've gotten excited about games all over again with some of the titles that are coming out. I'm thinking about picking up a PS4 (although I'll likely wait until NEXT holiday season due simply to money - I'm trying to get debt free and own the home I live in, gotta make good financial choices - it's also why I'm resisting the urge to buy an iPhone 6+) but what I have decided to do is to go and play all of my old games.

My plan is to play all the old games I used to love, in the order that I got them (or as close as memory will serve) and I also plan to sprinkle in a few games, systems and experiences I wish I had gotten at the time.

I'm also blogging a timeline of great and/or important video games here: http://ataritozelda.blogspot.com/

but this is not that, this is my own personal 'Second Playthrough' timeline where I will play through all my memories once again and hopefully spark some new ones and a greater appreciation for all that I've had.