Back in the late 80's I learned a very important lesson that has haunted me to this day. You know when you really really like a song and listen to it constantly. Then you get tired of it and try avoiding it. Years later when you hear it again it gets stuck in your head, tormenting you none stop, for hours or days...

When I was gaming on my NES back in the day, after I had finished beating up on Zelda for awhile I picked up Contra. And it was awesome. I would play it for hours on end, forgetting to eat, forgetting to do my chores, forgetting to do my homework... I just didn't care about anything but this game. Now this really wasn't all that different from any of the other awesome games that I played.


What was different was that I had an obsession over this game for a much longer period of time then normal. Maybe it was because I didn't have anything else to play, or the money to buy a new game. Maybe it was because I sucked at it, and it took me forever to beat the damn thing. Maybe it was because I found out THE CODE later which reignited my passion for it. Whatever the reason... I played the shit out of Contra. I played the game so damn much that I am shocked that I didn't figure out THE CODE myself. I remember getting headaches because of it, and then playing some more.

Then I put it away. I didn't want to see it anymore. I didn't touch my NES for a little while after that. Ever since, I never allowed myself to get that obsessed with another game like I did Contra. And thank god, because I can't stand Contra to this day. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick to my stomach. Which makes me really sad, because I would love to play Contra 4 on my DS, but I can't. It just feels way too close to the original for me to look at it.



So just a word of advice... know when to put the controller down, and put something else in the system.

Do you have a game like this? If so please share. Hope I am not alone in my over obsession.