[General Discussion] Warm Fuzzy Gaming Memories

Similarly, I always looked forward to playing the X-Men and Simpsons beat-em ups every time I went on vacation. Not quite the same on an emulator...You have to be there.

For about 4 years, I would spend every weekend night at the local arcade with a bunch of friends playing Marvel vs Capcom 1, and then 2. They had shit for a selection (outside of Hydro Thunder), so it was about 10 of us, all scrunched up and playing or watching the screen. Then new ownership bought the place and immediately shut it down. About a year later, I actually spoke to the owner and flipped him the bird to his face in the middle of the store he opened in place of the arcade...Very satisfying to call someone like that an asshole to their face.

For home games, it was always about the rentals (especially SNES). Friday night meant a trip to the video store, an hour of seeing what was available (to my dad's chagrin) and 2 days (and nights!) of playing said games afterwards. I know I rented Megaman 7, Simcity, Kendo Rage, Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Lufia 2 and Chrono Trigger multiple times and ones like Darius Twin, Plok and Sporting News Baseball (a surprisingly fun game) I remembered long after trying them out. For the longest time (until prices came down), I probably owned a total of 6 SNES games. In fact, I remember digging for coins to cough up the money to buy FF3 new, since I had to have it after playing most of the dark world scenarios (I managed to score Chrono Trigger for $20 at a blockbuster liquidation sale, thankfully...FF3 tapped me out)

And I actually remember the first time playing an NES...My parents were in talks with a couple about buying a piano, while their kids had an NES hooked up. I had been used to joysticks (arcade and Atari), so I distinctly remember dying at the first goomba because of the pad. Then I remember being in total awe of seeing one of the kids there make it to *gasp* level 1-3! That level is still something of a miniature holy grail because of that. I don't think we ever used the damn piano, but I definitely remember the NES part. I also remember Metroid was the first NES cartridge I bought and I actually didn't like it, since I couldn't figure out where to go. That's changed....

Jam it back in, in the dark.