Today is the first day of MAGfest. I'm not there this year, as with the impending return of Screwattack Gaming Convention, it'll be a lot more convenient to make a road trip to Dallas in June than it would be to head up to DC right now. But I can still celebrate in a video game related fashion!
Last month my brother came over and we did something that we used to do a lot in our youth: play Super Mario World. We were a little rusty, but we also remembered more than we expected to.
I'll be putting our play through into four parts, one for each day of MAGfest. For those of you not used to Let's Plays, this is probably going to be a much longer video than you're used to. So sit back, relax, and get nostalgic with us.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI think I played this exactly once. =P I was pretty bad at the original Super Mario Brothers, anyway (and all video games in general), so there was no need to advance to Super Mario World. But it's fun watching "over your shoulders," anyway. =)
Would you believe that whenever you two made Mario or Luigi jump to a new platform or over a turtle, I'd feel my heart skip a beat? LOL!!! But it's true! I must have a million near-misses in my game playing history--and each one was a new trauma.
And yes, back in the day, I tried every pipe, too. =P I think I smashed every brick with my head as well. LOL!
For me, the most notable difference between this game and the ones I played the heck out is the option to save your progress. A friend of mine likes to joke that the reason we Children of the 80s don't have ADHD is that if we wanted to finish a video game, we had to do it in one sitting. No "sissy" saving and trying again on a good day. =P Was this the first game that changed that forever?
To this day, I still can't beat the original. I think it takes a pretty dedicated player to be able to master that one. These later games are much easier, and I dare say this one is the easiest of the bunch. That's largely why we decided to play it, because we figured we'd have the best chance of beating it in a couple hours.
DeleteI know what you mean. I love watching other people play video games for a similar reason. I'm always rooting for them every step of the way! :)
I want to say that the first game that allowed you to save your progress was the original Legend of Zelda. There were also the RPGs like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, but I think they came slightly later. But you're right in that the majority of NES games only used passwords to allow you to continue, rather than saving. But I think it's also true that games were just plain harder back then, and more about memorizing the levels over time so that you had to keep playing them over and over to really get any good.
+JMJ+
DeleteSomething I did a lot that I didn't notice you guys doing was trying to make Mario or Luigi jump all the way by physically guiding the controller or even doing the movement with my own body. I know my friends had similar "tactics" and we still laugh over those.
And come to think of it, I had a Legend of Zelda game on my Gameboy. (I really wouldn't know if it was the original, though!) I ended up memorising the map and I still couldn't figure out how to get to the next level. There were these bottomless pits in my way and I had no idea how to get over them!
That's an interesting observation about games being harder back when they were also "simpler" in terms of graphics and/or storytelling. As I said, I stopped gaming very early, so I'm no good for making comparisons, but I'd be interested to know what someone who cut his teeth on a PlayStation or a Wii would think of these older NES games, if he gave them a fair chance.
I remember doing the physical movement thing a LOT in my younger days too. I guess I've grown out of it now? :)
DeleteI'd guess that you had Link's Awakening, which was a little later in the series, I want to say about the 4th one they put out. I borrowed Jak's copy of that one at one point and I remember it being pretty tough, so I understand how you could get stuck in it.