For some college students, video games are the much-needed escape from reality. In games, no one works a 40-hour week or has to cram for a chemistry exam.
I started playing video games later than most. I began playing Wii in high school, almost ten years after my friends. I missed out on years of playing classics like Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 and Sonic the Hedgehog, but I quickly made up for lost time. I am an avid fan of games such as Mario Kart Wii and Star Wars Battle Front, but my true passion lies in the games of the ’90s.
The first game I invested large amounts of time in was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Genesis.
The objective was simple: get to the end of the stage. Sonic then led to Mortal Kombat. These first two games left
out the handy combo blockers; meaning getting backed into a corner was almost certain death.
Twenty years ago, video game graphics could not hold a candle to modern games. The characters and stages were so pixilated it is laugh-out-loud hilarious. It is
even more fun to play old systems on a large high definition TV because the pixels are sometimes the size of a penny.
My twelve-bit Sega boldly claims to have high-definition graphics. It is about as high definition as my graphing calculator. After playing a Sega Genesis, an Xbox looks like a portal into the fourth dimension.
Old games can be surprisingly hard even by today’s high standards. Many do not include the ever-so-helpful save points, so if your character dies on the final level, you have to start over at Level One.
I have noticed that old arcade games are especially difficult. It makes sense because the more you die, the more money you spend.
For a real challenge, try to beat the original Mario Bros. The first few stages are relatively playable—except for someone like me who jumps off the stage—but one mistimed move and it is game over and back to square one.
It is easy to assume that puzzles and cheats would be relatively easy because these games were marketed for kids. Not the case. Programmers are just now going through the code of old games and discovering secret levels and strange characters. On the game 007 GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64, there is a hidden playable island. Even the puzzles on the Legend of Zelda are no cakewalk.
Next time you and your friends log on to Xbox Live for a quick round of Call of Duty, remember that old, dusty system sitting in the corner. It may not look great, but chances are it will give you just as much of a challenge.
