For those who don't know me too closely... I have a hard time remembering dates. Important dates at that. You know... birthdays and such.
Sometimes I even have to count out my own age. Which is a little bit of a problem when you are asked how old are you. (I actually learned to avoid such questions... like when someone asks me how old my sis is, I just say she's 5 year younger than me. 5, you see, is easy to remember.)
I also managed to have a slight lapse of memory today. We had a little job offer for when the whole country has to vote and mom told me to ask my sis if she was interested in it. My first reaction to this was:
"But aren't you supposed to be 18 for that?"
Thankfully I realized at that moment that what I said was one of the most stupidest things in my life. We managed to laugh the whole thing off, but now I'M slightly mortified.
I actually think that if mom wouldn't be around I wouldn't even remember when Christmas is (But thanks to Facebook now I know when to offer congratulations). I guess I'M not the only person with these problems. If I ever manage to move out of this house on my own (probably not going to happen too soon) I'll have to remember to check the event list with at least a week in advance so I can buy some gifts and whatnot.
Anyways, guys... I thought today I shall bring back memories of my childhood again (and have a little fun before I continue writing my stupid essay).
So... without any further ado, here are the computer games I used to play as a child (please don't judge me :D).
First off, there were a couple of side-scrolling games I just loved. One that comes to mind was called Hocus Pocus (And for some reason I now can see that the game has a lot of similarities to Harry Potter. Which is really weird. But seeing how many common things were in it (like the lightning bolt, the sentient trees, the evil, robed, red-eyed wizard, the old, weird and good wizard with the long white beard who gives you advice), I just wonder if maybe Rowling might have seen the game before), which was published in 1994 by Apogee (Who else remembers Apogee?).
All right, on to the next one!
Another side-scrolling game I used to love is Commander Keen. It had a whole bunch of cool things for a young child to play trough - you could kill some stupid little creatures like slugs and all kinds of jumping rocks. You could also use some of the NPC-s to help you reach otherwise unreachable places (like if you timed it right you could jump on a ball, which in turn, when it jumped on its own, it propelled you higher).
All right, another (and last for today) side-scrolling game I remember loving was Jazz Jackrabbit. It also came out in 1994 (I guess, a good year for me in computer games) and I finished the whole game at least 5 times. Now this one didn't have so many hidden places like Commander Keen did, but the fact that I could play with a cheeky little rabbit (or in the second part of the game choose its insane friend) with his special powers made up for it. Back in those times it was a game that also looked awesome. It also had funny cut-scenes in it, so that made the whole thing even more worth it (the weirdest thing is that I think I actually knew what it was saying even back then... I guess I learned a little bit of English by that time)
Now it's time for FPS games! (For those noobs out there, it's first-person shooter)
Yes, my parents did allow me to play these. They usually told me to turn the sounds down in them, but I played those games anyways. I guess they did make me jump a couple of times, when some monster jumped on me out of nowhere (probably why I don't play these kinds of games - or don't like PK- nowadays).
The first -of course- is Doom.
I actually used to compete in it with dad. I played the game so many times, I could go trough it with my eyes closed. I knew every nook and cranny, every secret door and switch. And I knew where the next mob will show up. I remember that I didn't even have music going on in the background of the game - just the sound of those monsters screaming whenever my bullet went trough their body. I also loved to see the 100% at every single level's ending (If, for some reason I didn't find every secret I went back as many times I needed just to see I did the level perfectly).
All right, the second FPS game I used to love was Heretic. (And before someone asks me why didn't I say anything about Wolfenstein... I played that game a lot too, but for some reason it wasn't my favorite thing. Even though games about killing Nazis are popular... khm... The Saboteur... khm).
Heretic was a game that was really challenging for me. It was a game that had me scared to death half the time, but I kept going anyways for some reason. Probably to see what new cool stuff they had in it. I absolutely loved the weapons in it, and even the monsters were pretty nice. Now, as I watched the game-play again after all these years, I realize that I missed a lot of interesting things in it as a child - things, like how you are actually using magic and how the monsters seem to be from popular myths and legends. Strange how things work... I guess I was being raised to be a wizard fan all my childhood.
All right! On to the third FPS! Duke Nukem 3D.
This game actually had an older side-scrolling version to it I also used to play and love (and didn't include in this list, just to spite you). But this 3D version of it was probably heaven back then. And not for just an adult either. I'm actually pretty sure that I didn't get half the jokes in it, but some of them stuck with me anyways. For a kid of that age seeing all kinds of strippers and hearing some douchebag swearing non-stop was quite an experience. I also remember that whenever I ran across a bathroom in-game I always flushed. It seemed the funniest thing in the world back then. Ah, kids....
Onwards to another type of game I used to play, point and click games, that is.
The first of this kind that pops to mind is Day of the Tentacle. Even back then it was one of the most hilarious games ever, and back in those times I think it was also the one and only game of this kind that I could actually finish all on my own. At least 3 times. And one of the games I actually downloaded an emulator for about a year ago, just so I could run through it again. Because the story was interesting, the characters were absolutely insane, and I actually learned something from it. Yes, it has a bunch of references to history, so if you don't know some basic stuff you probably wouldn't find it as earth-shatteringly good as I did.
The second (and third?) game of this kind I loved was Simon the Sorcerer (OMG, not another wizard!). I actually know that there are a whole bunch of new episode to this game - and sadly I didn't have the time or mood to play them, but the first two parts I actually enjoyed. It was also a hilarious game, with wacky characters to it and a couple of good puzzling places. It had a bunch of funny references to other games, shows and -of course- stories and fairy tales. I think all you guys would love the game. It was one of those games you played for a good adventure story. (The only thing I didn't like about this game was that they made you watch the whole credits before you could start playing. Well, I guess at least they had Simon performing magic tricks meanwhile for your entertainment)
I would've added The monkey Island to this list too, but I have to admit I never actually finished the game - it was too complicated for my little mind to keep in mind what I have to do, and I got stuck half-way in the game. Of course, without a guide back then, to be able to know what I have to do next I got bored of it fairly shortly and lived the whole thing to die.
And another game category I used to dribble in was strategy. You know, the old Warcraft, Age of Empires and the like. I have to admit, I liked those games to an extent, but since strategy and me is like the cow and ballet I didn't manage to take the games too far. Or, if I did, I only managed to defeat the enemy with the cowardly codes - which is nice, because I learned them so well, I still remember most of them. (Cheesy stick Jimmies anyone?)
So, forgive me for not posting all of these right now. I actually didn't want to overcrowd this post - I still have a couple of more games I used to like very much for some odd reason.
First off... TIM aka The Incredible Machine.
Oh man, we used to adore this game. I remember that even my cousin came over once or twice just so we could play this game. It gave us a bunch of fun hours, trying to figure out how everything should go together. We even put our heads together to make our own machines, because the game had a freeform option to it too. I wonder how many cats we pissed off during this :)
Now... who else remembers this next one, called Supaplex?
This game was both amazing and annoying at the same time. We never actually managed to play it from the start to the end - it required not only really fast hands, but also really fast thinking too. It was kinda annoying to be thwarted time and time and time again, just when you were about to win.
So, I guess this will be it for today. I have a whole other bunch of games I used to play when I was just a little kid, but I'll tell you guys more about them at another time perhaps.
