If there’s one thing most of us here on Destructoid have in common, its that we’ve all grown up playing video games. That means most of remember running home when we were eight years old on a Friday afternoon, our heads brimming with the promise of an entire night of gaming. A night where we could stay up on our own as long as we wanted (or until we passed out at midnight) while noshing on that stash of candy we got at lunch from the other kids. A night where we could have our best buds over while trying to outrace each other in Maio Kart. A night of true escape from school, bullies, homework, chores, the world. Saturdays were often spent taking care of business, and Sundays were only spent dreading the next morning, but Fridays-- Fridays were a day lost in time.


It didn’t matter whether you were playing an Atari, a Nintendo, or even a Playstation, we all knew this wonderful feeling. It transcends all generations, really. I personally have memories of staying up and trying to beat Sonic 2 or playing through the entirety of the first disc of Final Fantasy IX every friday-- with a steaming hot Domino’s pizza downstairs on the kitchen counter, of course. But of course, I eventually grew up. I soon started spending Fridays hanging out on the town with my friends, and games became less of a treat and more of a regular thing. I need not wait until Friday to binge on games. Hell, even when I do, its usually on a Saturday. So what happened? I dunno, I think that really, there was no need for an escape anymore. School was not was a used to be, and I didn’t really find myself needing a way to “get away from it all,” I just needed rest, really.




But last year, something very strange happened one Friday night. I escaped one last time. On the way home from school and stopped by my local Goodwill and found a cache of SNES games, most notably Turtles in Time and Donkey Kong Country. I bought them right away, and took them home, ready to rip into some old school cartridge based fun. And I did. I just sat down and played through a few worlds of DKC, reminded of the nights when I used to do this all the time-- sit down and play a 2D platformer that was too long to beat in a single sitting. Good time, eh? And in due time, I started to get hungry. With no instant meals in the house, I was also feeling a little too lazy to just fix something to eat, so I did what any lazy gamer does-- I ordered a large $5 pepperoni pizza from the Domino’s down the street. I grabbed a plate, an ice glass of Coke, and set the pizza up on my desk. So there I was, playing Ninja Turtles on my SNES in my room, with the door closed, the sound cranked up, a hot plate of pizza to my left, and a chilled glass of soda to my left. I escaped.

I hadn’t felt this way in a long time, and it was amazing. Time lost all meaning-- three hours felt a lot more like twelve and to me, the outside world stopped existing. If anyone were to try and contact me, I would’ve just ignored them. My responsibilities were gone, my stress relieved, and it was all just about me and the game. Oh, what a night.