Virtually Overlooked has taken over Wii Fanboy! All this week, members of the staff will be outlining their personal picks for future Virtual Console releases.
It was 1994 when Ahmad poignantly rapped, "Back in the days, when I was young; I'm not a kid anymore, but some days, I sit and wish I was a kid again." If scientists could only harness the wasted enthusiasm of our nostalgia, our cities would never want for electricity.
Remember the peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunches? Or the summer swims with the sun on your back, tanning your skin golden brown? The days you could set your heart on a girl you hardly knew at any moment, whether it be a winsome classmate or the clear-skinned brunette from Noxzema's hokey commercials? The nights when TGIF meant new episodes of Full House and Family Matters, and not after-work casual dining?
Each weekly batch of Virtual Console releases is a reminder of my idle youth. Some games I recognize only from magazine previews I read with eager eyes over a decade ago, and others are familiar friends -- titles I've been meaning to catch up with to recount years past. The whole gang hasn't quite made it to the reunion yet, but that doesn't mean we can't trade old stories about them in the meantime. "Sometimes, I still sit and reminisce ..."
It was 1994 when Ahmad poignantly rapped, "Back in the days, when I was young; I'm not a kid anymore, but some days, I sit and wish I was a kid again." If scientists could only harness the wasted enthusiasm of our nostalgia, our cities would never want for electricity.
Remember the peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunches? Or the summer swims with the sun on your back, tanning your skin golden brown? The days you could set your heart on a girl you hardly knew at any moment, whether it be a winsome classmate or the clear-skinned brunette from Noxzema's hokey commercials? The nights when TGIF meant new episodes of Full House and Family Matters, and not after-work casual dining?
Each weekly batch of Virtual Console releases is a reminder of my idle youth. Some games I recognize only from magazine previews I read with eager eyes over a decade ago, and others are familiar friends -- titles I've been meaning to catch up with to recount years past. The whole gang hasn't quite made it to the reunion yet, but that doesn't mean we can't trade old stories about them in the meantime. "Sometimes, I still sit and reminisce ..."
Rescue: The Embassy Mission - NES
My Cobra-Commander-helmeted SWAT team never questioned the tactical abilities of their nine-year-old captain, and they paid for that loyalty with their lives. Seasoned officers in peak physical condition fell to their deaths after mistimed rappelling maneuvers, recruits who scored top marks at the academy for their aim and reflexes suddenly found themselves outgunned by two-bit terrorists, and the blood of good men stained the streets due to lack of proper support -- all under my watch. It was a fantastic game, through and through.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Game Boy
It wasn't until twelve years later, when I found a cartridge of the game abandoned on the sidewalk outside of a Chinese restaurant, that I was able to see what waited beyond Koholint Island's sixth dungeon. Every green-and-gray-pixel moment was perfect, validating my grade-school memories of it as a portable masterpiece. I swear though, if I ever see Billy Behrman on the street, I am going to sock that dude in the face, for really reals.
Mutant League Football - Sega Genesis
So you can imagine the joy that surged through me when I spotted Mutant League Football's arrival on Blockbuster's gray shelves. Angels sang "hallelujah" as I carried my rental out of the store. Younger boys cleared my path and saluted, recognizing the game in my grip. And later that night, my mom seized the cartridge away after having watched me smash the referee in a manner that broke apart his limbs and internal organs like a jigsaw puzzle hit by a shotgun blast.
SkiFree - PC
Saturn Bomberman - Sega Saturn
I had a full ride to any university of my choice, but my luck finally caught up with me in my junior year when a freak knee injury knocked me out of the limelight. The recruiters quickly stopped calling, and soon after, so did my supposed "friends." I don't regret any of it at all, though. They were some of the best times of my life, those Saturn Bomberman years.
Pipe Dream:
Puzzle Bobble Online - PC
I had stolen my first kiss from the woman I'd eventually marry the week I discovered PBO. She fell asleep that night with her head on my chest, hours before I closed my own eyes. I could see everything in my life finally coming together in bubble form. Cannons were angled, balls were shot and bounced down bends into tucked-away corners, and a burst of of confetti rained down with the cleared rows as Bub and Bob hopped up and down in victory.
