summer 98' i just got my very own, hand me down, psx. my step dad took me to blockbuster to rent a game and basically pleaded with me to rent resident evil 2.

guess what i rented instead.

the alternate reality version of me is probably way cooler and rich but at least i know im getting a big kiss on the lips from phil hartman, in heaven.

In 1996, I was six years old and lived in Florida. Wario Land had been released two years prior-- though I loved Super Mario Land 2 and replayed it regularly on my og/fat Game Boy.. I had no idea this game existed. On a particular weekend, I stayed over at my great grandmother's apartment.

I played MANY games in front of them while they sat in a rocking chair. She always encouraged me and my interest in games. Her favorite thing was seeing Crash Bandicoot die in a myriad of ways-- took pure pleasure in it. A very kind and cool person.

My family has always been deeply religious, unfortunately it came with a severe demonizing of secular media. This was bad for me, to say the least. Despite this, my great grandma would do things like rent Splatterhouse 2 for me. We even had lookout schemes where I would quickly switch to a "friendly" game when she saw another family member arrive to pick me up, or etc.

On this aforementioned weekend in 1996, my great grandmother took me to a Sunday service at a very old-fashioned, musty, southern baptist church. She handed me 5$ and instructed me to tithe it when the donation plate was passed around. I did. After the service, she told me "I'm very proud of you"-- and then took me to Toys "R" Us to pick out a NEW game that I could OWN (rare for me). She was the one that pointed out Wario Land. I vividly remember falling in love with the color scheming on the front cover. I was blown away with this game.

The moral of the story is that money is my god now, and I am now a slime ball rat fuck.

Just kidding. Everything that Wario in is so good. They are often a beautiful design and mechanical antithesis to Nintendo games. I loved my Great Grandmother very much, she never judged me or the things that I liked superficially. Unfortunately I do not still have that copy of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.. but her funeral service pamphlet has made its way into various video game collage designs that I've made for my creative outlets (bands, social media design, youtube, etc). Wario rules. Love you, Nanny.

https://imgur.com/UEz3Jbh

Similar to Max Payne, Jet Grind Radio, and Tony Hawk.. it is remarkable how much of a concept can stay true to the core roots-- despite port allocation being severely limited, due to the portable architecture & etc.

While the aforementioned titles certainly go through their own design changes and constraints, I often notice what transpires can be a uniquely different experience, especially mechanically.. for better or worse. However, I find that Ulala's Cosmic Attack is a bit of outlier in this category.

I REALLY adore Space Channel 5 and I've probably beaten it 15+ times. I first rented it for my Dreamcast when I was 10 years old and brought it to a sleepover. My friends hated it. My last play through was a year ago or so (PS2 Special Edition). My perspective here is purely impression, I just jumped into this one.

I have to say, I am utterly fascinated by how much this game is fundamentally the same experience to its original counterpart. It really comes down to the differences in presentation and sound quality, just downscaled and constrained. The Simon/Memory rhythm-timings felt the same to me.. albeit some weird differences where certain sections felt slightly more forgiving and then others slightly harder-- mainly, any consecutive/rapid press of a single input more than 2 times.

Obviously, the mechanical simplicity is what makes this uncanny experience possible.. still, it is very cool to have played this at least once as a fan. I may come back to it just to tinker and contrast it simultaneously against the original. Recommended for fans and fun weirdos. What I find so interesting is how much my "score" could increase relative to the original-- for me, it boils down to like +1.5 stars for the audio and then a +0.5 star for the graphical presentation (restorative-ly speaking). Otherwise, it really is the same game. Quite cool.

Imagine you've mastered Shattered Soldier (or some equivalent) and you can now 1cc it regularly. Confident, you decide to show it off at some kind of event-- but upon beginning, your dexterity is seriously f u n k y and anxious confusion starts to gnaw away, followed by embarrassment.

Then you wake up.

Initially learning Alien Soldier was like running in a dream for me. Although I managed to complete it, the skill ceiling still looks awfully high.. and I love that.

Using Mischief Makers as a personal, relative example-- I've been playing that game for like 25 years (on and off). It's an exciting prospect to imagine that I could keep getting something out of Alien Soldier for decades to come. This one feels like a forever game for me. It might be my favorite aesthetic on the Mega Drive.