Back? Again? So soon? Yeah, figured I should write these while the fire is burning to do so, and I have the time. A three-day weekend from work is an extremely rare occurrence, and since I'm taking a break from writing Last Tail at the moment as I prep another story to go into production, I'd take the few days I get to write some non-fiction for a change as I continue the journey to document my life.
This is Playing With Power!
Picking up exactly where I left off last time. It's Christmas Eve, 1994. I've received the Link's Awakening Gameboy bundle from my grandmother, eternally tying that specific game to Christmas for a lifetime. Not a December goes by that I don't find myself reminiscing at some point, so I always try to make it a point to either replay Link's Awakening or a game inspired by it during that period, should nothing else be currently occupying my game time at that point.
Link's Awakening, to this day, still remains one of the most surreal entries in the mainline series. A dream world populated by not just the usual (or what would become the usual) Zelda fare but also Mario characters(including two who were pretty much just Mario and Luigi starring as in-universe Zelda characters!) Even though I received a Super Gameboy that same Christmas, the Gameboy unit itself was used quite a bit. I remember jumping from TV to the handheld device (much like we do nowadays with the Switch) to play beneath the light in the rocking chair in the living room. I had made it all the way to Catfish Maw shortly after Christmas but gave up shortly after that when I couldn't figure out how to navigate Eagle's Tower.
I wouldn't beat the game until several years later, over the summer of 2000, when the internet had become prolific enough to provide tips, and my brain had developed enough to better comprehend the puzzles presented to me.
Though I don't exactly remember the specifics, I'd ended up with some spending cash that Christmas as well, to which my family and I took a trip to the mall in Hickory and the Sears that had been connected to it. They had a post-Christmas sale where if you bought two Gameboy games, you got a third free. Since I had a brand new Gameboy at home and the Super Gameboy from my parents, I took advantage of the deal and walked away with three new games.
Mega Man V, Tetris, and Metroid II: Samus Returns.
I don't know why I chose Tetris, but Mega Man V and Metroid were easy enough to understand. I knew of Metroid because of Super Metroid, though Metroid 2 would forever remain the one game I never beat in the series. For Christmas, I also received Mega Man X, my first legit Mega Man game, which started its own huge thing that will largely be reserved for another time.
Many will argue that Mega Man 2(NES) is the best Classic series game, but I will counter that argument with Mega Man V. This game, despite its shortcomings as a zoomed-in handheld game, had seen all of the elements of the series refined to the T, with plenty of neat little gimmicky power-ups that were fun to play around with. Featuring a set of planetary-themed Robot Masters, or Stardroids as they're called, along with an absolutely solid OST, this game packs an incredible punch.
Mega Man V, like Metroid II, was one of those 'Super Gameboy Enhanced' games that came with their own custom pallets and border frame when played via the device, which was how I primarily played this one.
It'd take me a year to finish it after one late-night session following Mega Man X2.
I'll be straight up here: This game scared me. From the weird, atmospheric "music", the ability to just go anywhere if you're stupid enough, and encountering Metroids in various stages of life along the way if one wasn't careful. With no map to guide you, I got lost VERY often here. To the point that it had put me off ever actually finishing, which still remains the one Metroid game that has gone unbeaten to this day.
There were two remakes of said game, both of which I missed the boat on. I might grab the PC remake, play it on my Steam Deck, and experience the game that way. That or wait for a potential HD remaster of the 3DS remake for the Switch/Switch 2.
Ain't really got much to say on this one. It's Tetris. I got it free, played it for a bit, and then lost track of it. Surprisingly, the (crushed) box is still sitting around here somewhere.
As mentioned previously, for Christmas '94, I also received the Super Gameboy for my SNES and two other SNES games. I distinctly remember the ads on TV at the time while watching Garfield & Friends on Nickelodeon, pointing to the TV and telling my mother (who was getting my sister and brother ready to go grocery shopping) that I wanted one for Christmas. Sure enough, there it was on Christmas morning.
To say that I got my use out of the thing would be an understatement. Living long after my actual Gameboy failed me, the Super Gameboy kept ticking straight up through 2000 when I played the Pokemon Red Version on it to demonstrate my "mad Pokemon skillz".
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