The cheat code above gives me so much nostalgia! I remember lining up to those coin-operated arcade machines when I was a kid, bringing with me my coins, and so excited to play CONTRA. It was better to play with a partner because you'd have more chances of winning. It would also take a lot of coins and a lot of time for you to be able to beat the game because it was so hard!
That's where the cheat code came in handy. It gave you 30 extra lives! Still, it wasn't enough that you knew the cheat code. Your hands needed to be nimble enough to correctly press the keys in the right order. If done wrong, the game would start and you'd have the normal number of lives. Bummer!
Screenshot of emulated CONTRABefore I continue with my entry to this community contest, I would like to recognize @castleberry for inspiring me to join. His entry was really enjoyable to read and it surfaced a lot of childhood memories. You can check out his post here: Hive Gaming Community - MY Best Video Game Memories.
I will be recalling some of the memories I had on my favorite video games as a kid and growing up. To relive the memories, I have decided to play them again! The older games are playable on emulators. I have chosen to group my memories based on the consoles and game systems that they belong to. Playing these games again really took me far down memory lane.
NES AND SNES
The games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super NES (SNES) are closely linked to my earliest childhood memories. I can just imagine how carefree I was and how my worries were probably just running outside or asking for a few coins to play in the arcade or coming over to someone's house who had a console.
As a child, I was drawn to role-playing games. There was something about going on adventures with your party and fighting monsters and learning magic that appealed to me. One of my all-time favorite games is Final Fantasy. I remember watching my older brother playing the game and wished so bad that I could have a go at it.
I decided to play Final Fantasy III again. I chose Final Fantasy III because I think it's the most iconic Final Fantasy on SNES although I was only able to play it as a kid on Game Boy. As I played it again, I am reminded how different it was from the other two FF games I have grown to just watch my brother play. It wasn't set in the medieval period and magic and technology were intertwined. The game is quite slow which makes it more satisfying. I remember staying up so late at night playing this game. But it didn't matter because as kids, we don't really think that we're going to be tired the next day.
Screenshot of emulated Final Fantasy IIIOne of the games in NES that I really like is Crystalis. It's another RPG but it's not turn-based like Final Fantasy. I thought the graphics were really good when I played it as a kid. The game reminds me of the feeling of being proud because I finally had a game that I played for the first time before my brothers. My older brother continued playing Final Fantasy games and I remember my younger brother obsessing about Earthbound (Mother in Japan).
As I played it again, I think I know why I preferred it than the older Final Fantasy games. Because it was dynamic and fast. Turn-based games were kind of slow for me. I also realized that the game is quite similar to the Legend of Zelda. I remember geeking about getting the different swords in Crystalis. I was so happy when I got the Crystalis sword!
Screenshot of emulated CrystalisGAME BOY AND GAMEBOY ADVANCE
These consoles remind of one game and that's POKEMON! I remember Pokemon Red and Blue where the sprites were black and white but they were so alive to me. Just with Final Fantasy, it was my older brother who started playing it and I would just stand or sit beside him watching him play. It was so exciting to see new pokemon and gym battles.
One of my favorite games is Pokemon Emerald on Game Boy Advance. I was in my teens when I played it and I remember talking about it during recess with my high school classmates. It was one of the few reasons I looked forward to coming to school because there were people I could talk to about the game. I was quite a shy kid growing up and the things that interest me were one of reasons that got me talking. Pokemon Emerald is probably the pokemon game that I have replayed for the most number of times. Playing it again feels so familiar that I still memorize the opening scenes. I remember May (female friend character) like she's an old friend. I know it's weird. This was one of the games that developed my planning skills. During each replay, I would plan on how different I'd play it.
Screenshot of emulated Pokemon EmeraldNINTENDO DS AND PC GAMES
As I grew older, my brother stopped playing console games and I was left to continue playing Final Fantasy and Pokemon. I started to have my own social life late in high school but I would always find myself coming back to playing my favorite games. A lot of my classmates were already playing World of Warcraft and my brothers moved on to playing StarCraft and Half-Life.
Meanwhile, I discovered the precious game that is Dragon Quest Monsters (DQM). I played DQM and all the other versions because I couldn't get enough of it. It was like pokemon but messier and I liked it. I was in love with the synthesis feature of the game where you merge two monsters and get a different monster afterward. I decided to replay DQM Joker 3 because I had already started replaying it months ago. The slimes remind me of metal slimes that were loaded with experience and were so difficult to capture. This was a game I also spent sleepless nights and scoured the internet for walkthroughs and guides.
Screenshot of emulated DQM: Joker 3The last on this list is Diablo, or specifically, Diablo 2. The game reminds me of the time I spent hours in our neighbor's internet cafe. We didn't have our own computer back then and my brothers would go to an internet cafe to play PC games. As usual, I would just watch the whole time. I learned so much just by observing my brothers and his friends. I learned how computers work even before we were at school because I spent the majority of my day watching people play and work on computers.
I don't have Diablo 2 anymore on my computer but it's perhaps my most replayed game after Pokemon. Diablo really tested my planning skills and patience with all the Horadric cube recipes and rune words that I needed to take note of. I played all different characters in different difficulties. I'm currently playing Diablo 3 but it's just so different from Diablo 2. Diablo 2 was dark, scary, difficult, and exciting. I hope Diablo 4 brings some of those back.
Gameplay of Diablo 3That's it for my reminiscing of the past through the video games that I've played and obsessed over. I really enjoyed doing this contest and I am so happy to be able to play some of my favorite games again.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. See you on the next one!
Congratulations @glecerioberto! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board And compare to others on the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
I am really happy that you were inspired to participate! I think that's what the whole contest was about. I could definitely relate to watching most of the time... but patiently learning and observing in the process. I used to love Final Fantasy as well. I will have to see which one it was on Super Nintendo i liked the most. I think it was 4 or 5. But, when me and my buddy got PS1 it was the first thing i bought... part 7. Whoa! Thanks for sharing your memories brother. I appreciated them. I was picturing myself in the internet cafe watching from the side too. hahaha
Shared this to Twitter!
#posh
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your post has been curated and was included in the featured posts in Hive PH Curation post #42.
Please continue to create distinctive and informative write-ups and don't forget to include #hiveph on your tags.
Kindly subscribe also to the Hive PH community where you can co-exist with fellow Filipino authors and discover more of your passion in writing.
Chat and interact with our fellow Filipinos in our discord channel.
You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more community and blockchain updates.
Thank you for the curation and the support for Filipinos in Hive!
At first I thought that this challenge was for the gamer pros only until I read your entry GB! It seemed like you had fun when you made the post, that's why I went ahead and made an entry myself. I read the mechanics and gamer noobs like me could join in! I think the objective of the challenge was achieved because I see a lot of people joining and engaging! Thank you for mentioning coin arcade games! Really brought back a lot of memories :)
Ah yes, the nostalgia Gameboy and PSP brings! I never really had one as a child but I grew up installing emulated versions on my PC or borrowing my friends' devices when they are not using it. Pokemon was such a hit back then and even until now, I could still familiarize their names and types