Looking back at nostalgic fears

While reading the Monthly Musing, I started having thoughts of some very prominent (gaming) fears in my mind. Most of them have now been overcome and now games are more streamlined (or easy) with infinite lives, multitude of checkpoints littered around levels, and many other things that simplify gameplay. I decided that since this is my first Monthly Musing, I should look back at the Genesis of my gaming life...

1998, gas was less than two dollars, Y2K was breathing down our necks, and the president was getting his dick wet. I remember this year well for it was when I contracted eye cancer from sitting in my room all day playing Genesis on a TV that I found in the crawl space that had knobs on it. Game saves were just starting to develop, but few games offered them. If you were lucky, you had a series of letters and numbers, with which you could make a blueprint to some wicked awesome legos.



8:20pm - I sit in my room grinding my fingers against the controller, jump over the enemy, shoot this one, missed the platform... death. Vectorman just didn't seem to want to finish this level. Dad was making his rounds, but I'm not finished with this level yet. Panic sets in, will I be able to beat this game before the dreaded... bedtime?

8:32pm - Dead, another mistake, this time something simple due to my frenzied pace. I'm running out of extra men and the grip around Vectormans balls squeeze a bit harder. I have this part of the level memorized. I shouldn't have died there! Stupid-head cheated me out of a life. Hope my sister didn't hear that potty talk.

8:39pm - "But dad, I have twenty minutes before bedtime! I have plenty of time to brush my teeth in a minute." I can feel the noose around my neck and I'm losing balance on the stool that holds my life. Dodge, shoot, dodge. Grab the power-up and bulldoze through the line of enemies... NOOOO! A swift blow from the rear, my father holding the power cord to my Genesis in his hand and walking upstairs.

"Brush your teeth, its time for bed."

The buzzer has sounded and just like that I must continue my adventure again from the beginning. All the brushing in the world can't get the taste of defeat (and carrots) out of my mouth.