The Lincoln Log

The living room is clear and everything is in position. You switch on the game system and the unmistakable music from Super Mario Bros. is now blasting from your television set. With the rectangular controller in hand, you set forth on your mission to hop on goombas, devour mushrooms, and save Princess Toadstool. Sound familiar?

How about the game that revolutionized every single basketball game created after it, NBA Jam on Super Nintendo? The 2 on 2 arcade style game left many of us craving for more every time the clock ran out and the three words that every gamer feared to hear: He’s on fire!

More of an intellect than a pure gamer? One word: Tetris. Never have shapes ever affected lives so much. The music slyly starts off slow to give the gamer confidence and preparation for the next move but as the lines start disappearing, the music picks up and before you know it you’ve reached the top-in a bad way.

While most of us have been in this situation before, we have all moved to bigger, faster, and supposedly better things. Games have gotten more realistic and have become graphically enhanced. Also, the games are now just flat out more appealing to buyers, mostly teenagers. I mean, who doesn’t want to be in a “San Andreas” gang or racing down the strip in Vegas? Along with the changes, game systems are now part video game unit, part DVD player, and part stove. Ok, scratch that last part but due to technological advances, current game consoles such as the PS2 and XBOX are not only entertaining but economical as well.

These throwback video games bring me back to a time when games were simple, and life was simple. Every time the system was turned on, happiness soon caught up. There was never a concept in the game that couldn’t be figured out within moments and the satisfaction of completing the level is what kept us coming back time and time again.

Video games were part of the daily routine because we didn’t have piles of homework and other high school-related priorities. The biggest decision we had to make back then was white or chocolate milk. But, as life went on and issues became more complicated, so did the games. The one thing we could count on to be simple and give us joy just turned on us and presented itself as another challenge. Suddenly, level 32 was just as important as tomorrow’s math test, and beating Dr. Robotnik (from the Sonic the Hedgedog series) was all you thought about at school.

Games not only remind me of happy times, but they were in a league of their own. The original Nintendo controller didn’t need to have every single finger on it but its shape and size made holding it a breeze. The games were simple enough to pick up right off the bat as well as challenging enough to keep you playing for hours. Again, the classic example is Tetris. It’s just making lines with shapes! It’s just that easy! But as the music plays quicker and the one mistake leads to another, you’re thinking differently because you’re down but you aren’t out.

In today’s video games, a tough mission can stall and eventually stop a gamer from playing that game. Sports video games are the same as well. NBA Jam didn’t require your two-man team to run set plays. As long as the turbo was on and you were shooting from your Hot Spot, then things were fine. But in today’s games, if you forget to play zone defense against the other team, you would lose in a heartbeat. Video games aren’t supposed to be easy or hard but they are expected to be entertaining and to make you happier after you played it. Playing a level for 4 hours and getting nowhere just leads to frustration and eventual avoidance of the game.

Next time you feel like you want a good time, go to your closet and dig up that old game system. The graphics might not be great and game play isn’t what you’re used to, but the joy that comes with game is definitely immeasurable. It’s on like Donkey Kong, baby!