I've always been a fan of video games ever since I got my hands on a Super Nintendo controller. In fact, Super Mario World is a game that means a lot to me. It's a game that means a lot to my family.

You see, we weren't the wealthiest family back in the early 90s. They still aren't now, but back then my parents were practically broke. It was so bad that my aunt who lived with us at the time would hide pizza from my parents and I or any type of food that she'd buy. Although, that's probably more because she was a complete b**** than it was money issues.

The SNES was a big hit at our house. You'd here people screaming, "¡El caballito se está yendo! (The little horse is leaving!)" Obviously Yoshi wasn't a horse, but they didn't know or even cared to know. I tried so many times to correct them but they continued to either call him a donkey or a horse. It sounds silly, I know, but I still find it to be a bit cute.



The SNES is a console that holds a very special place in my heart. Who knows ow my dad was able to afford one. It eventually went off to Mexico where it entertained one of my cousins and his family, which I'm sad and happy it did. It brought joy to them. Even my aunt (not the one who hid food) played that game and had a blast. She most likely still remembers the game and it's characters. I'll have to ask her about it next time I see her (she now lives in the US).

The amount of love that I have for that game and that system can't be rivaled by any other console, but it wasn't because of the story or the characters. It was because of the fun. I could run Mario into a gang of Koopa Troopas and not care if he died or not. It wasn't until I grabbed a copy of Megaman Legends 2 on the original Playstation that I really saw what games could do in terms of character development.



Mega Man Legends 2, as some of you may know, is a 3D Mega Man game that has nothing to do with the original series or the X series. It didn't even have Dr. Light. It had Mega Man, his partner Roll and her grandfather Barell Caskett flying around the world searching ruins for Quantum Refractors (the world's main source of power) while fighting off guard robots named Reaverbots and pirates.

The game is actually pretty open at times, letting you explore buildings inside the towns you go to, and talk to the citizens. In the first mission you arrive in a winter town. Roll decides to go with you in search of a townsman. When I was playing through this mission I was just playing like I did with Mario World. I shot anything and everything that I saw and didn't care if I hit Roll. I even hit these innocent creatures that roamed the land with my buster shot.

I was basically a pretty big asshole through the my entire play through. At one point of the game I go into the ship they fly to get from place to place to save. I walked in and noticed Roll was missing. I talked to the robot monkey who you use to save the game and I'm not sure, I remember him telling me that Roll was in her room.



I was really unsure what was going on. I walked into her room and found her on her bed laying down crying. When I talked to her she told me that I had changed. She told me I had become cruel and mean. She said she missed the old Mega Man. I didn't know what to do at that moment. I was so confused and felt horrible. I was then prompted to answer her question of whether to basically say screw you or to tell her "sorry, I'll change."

I didn't choose any. I turned off my Playstation and walked away. I felt so bad for her. I began to think of all the things she had been saying about loosing her mother, her determination for finding out what happened, and how I was just being a dick through the entire game. I couldn't take it. I decided to erase my save and start all over again and be the good guy.

That was the first time a game actually made me feel something. Granted, I was young, but that memory hasn't escaped my mind. It had such a huge effect on me. It made me see games in a different light and while it wasn't truly the start of my scary obsession, it surely was a huge factor in creating my current love of games.