List of my video game writings / My life as a video game player
Aug 09 '04 (Updated Sep 26 '05)
The Bottom Line A list of my writings on video games, and my life as a video game player.
1. LIST OF MY VIDEO GAME-RELATED WRITINGS
Book reviews
S.L. Kent's The Ultimate History of Video Games
Video game reviews
NES -- Battletoads, Dragon's Lair, Marble Madness, The Rocketeer, Swamp Thing.
Genesis -- Boogerman, Dynamite Headdy, Earthworm Jim, Garfield: Caught in the Act, Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings, Mickey Mania, The Pagemaster, Ristar, Wiz 'n' Liz.
SNES -- Soldiers of Fortune, WeaponLord.
Game Boy Advance -- Donkey Kong Country 2.
Video game articles
Coleco visions: recollections, observations and anecdotes about the Colecovision
The ten video games I played the most (1983-1997)
Philosophico-religious musings about video games
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2. MY LIFE AS A VIDEO GAME PLAYER
Preliminary remark: As I wrote this piece, I consulted many video game lists to get the year of release of specific games. They helped me to chart my own life, especially from 1993 to 1995: these three years often tended to blend together in my mind, but thanks to this research I now have a far more precise idea of this period.
1. The early years (1983-1987)
I was born in 1981, and I first played video games on the Colecovision that my father bought when I was one year old. The Colecovision games I played the most were Ladybug, Pepper II, Antartic Adventure, Time Pilot and Cabbage Patch Kids. I played a lot in 1984 and early 1985 because my parents were still together; from mid-1985 to late 1987, the Colecovision remained at my father's home and I only played when I was visiting him. I still have that system along with 21 of the 22 games we originally owned.
2. The NES days (1987-1992)
The most defining moment of my video game history came when I was offered a NES at six years old. My NES-playing days ranged from 1987 to 1992. I owned few games but rented very often (this pattern would be reversed from 1992 to 1995). In fact, I usually rented the same games over and over; in the course of five years, I thus missed many classic NES games. For instance, I played Super Mario Bros. 3 only a few times, and I was not very familiar with the Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden series. The NES games I played the most were Tecmo Super Bowl, Blades of Steel, Baseball Stars, R.C. Pro-Am and Super Mario Bros. Needless to say, I was mainly into sports games at that time.
3. Portable and 16-bit systems, The Big Mistake and the arcades (1992-1995)
The third period in my video game history is by far the busiest and is made up of four components:
a) Portable systems.
I bought a Game Boy in 1992 and a Game Gear in 1993. As for the Game Boy, I loved Super Mario Land 2, Battletoads in Ragnarok's World and Tecmo Bowl the most. Favorite Game Gear games included Sonic Chaos, Desert Speedtrap and Robocop vs Terminator (I also had Aladdin and Mortal Kombat).
b) 16-bit systems.
After reading about the Sega Genesis and NHL Hockey in the summer and fall of 1992, I got both at Christmas, along with the uneven RBI Baseball '93. For a long time, I was mainly into sports games, most of them made by Electronic Arts (NHLPA '93 and NHL '94, Tony Larussa Baseball, FIFA International Soccer, NBA Live '95) with the notable exception of World Series Baseball. But I also loved non-sports games such as Cool Spot, Mortal Kombat, Aladdin and Phantasy Star IV. In the summer of 1994, I remember buying Contra: Hard Corps a few days after I had rented it. The very last Genesis game I bought was The Adventures of Batman and Robin (June 30, 1995).
In early 1994, I bought a Super NES. No game came along with it, and strangely enough I can't remember the first game I bought for that system. It might have been The Jungle Book. I vividly remember many 1994 purchases for this console: The Lion King, Super Street Fighter II, Maximum Carnage, Mortal Kombat II, Ogre Battle, Earthworm Jim, Donkey Kong Country, The Adventures of Batman & Robin (found in a store that accepted deals and exchanges; I subsequently bought most of my games there and thus rarely paid the full price)... 1994 was undoubtedly the year of the Super NES for me. The last Super NES games I bought were a trio of 1995 fighting carts (Primal Rage, Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombat 3) plus Batman Forever and Chrono Trigger. I never played sports games on the Super NES, since their Genesis equivalents were generally superior.
c) The Big Mistake.
In 1994, I made an ill-fated choice and bought the pricy 3DO along with Demolition Man and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (which was close to unplayable with the cumbersome controllers). I soon regretted it. I rented some 3DO games and disliked them all but Gex.
d) Arcades.
I didn't play arcade games as much as most video game players, but 1993-1994 was an exception. I often played Super Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat II; I could truly witness both games' outstanding popularity.
4. Playstation and PC (1995-1997)
I bought a Playstation in late 1995, selling my 8-bit and 16-bit systems (plus the 3DO) to get it. I loved the system, but my interest in video games was in steady decline by then. I remember owning Tekken, Loaded, Rayman and Street Fighter Alpha; I also rented some other games. In the summer of 1996, I sold all the games and systems I still owned (except for my Colecovision) because of my renewed passion for music. Out of nostalgia perhaps, I tried PC games a few months later, and loved Civilization II, Warcraft II and Strife. Even though the first two of these were tremendous, they did not spark my waning interest in video games nearly enough. I thus stopped playing from early 1997 to 2000.
5. A comeback (2000-)
I bought a used NES system and a slew of carts back in 2000. As I have stated earlier, from 1987 to 1992 I played a lot, but I devoted my time to a few games only. I have thus recently experienced games that I was not really familiar with -- Battletoads, Kirby's Adventure, Solstice, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse and Gargoyles' Quest II are five good examples, in addition to such little-known gems as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Kick Master, among many others. I haven't played my NES at all in 2002 and 2003, but came back to my old gaming habits in the summer of 2004.
In early-September 2004, I bought a used Sega Genesis (the "square model") for 10$Can, and subsequently found many games for it. Some of them I already knew and loved (Earthworm Jim, the first three Sonic games), others I have discovered anew.
In late-November 2004, I acquired a used Super NES console with four games.
In April 2005, I finally bought my first post-1995 console: a Game Boy Advance SP (platinum model). It really is a nice machine. I expect to lead a somewhat nomadic life in the next few years, and I'll probably take my GBA with me wherever I go. In late May 2005, I bought a used GameCube.
As for my Colecovision, I rarely play its games anymore, and it is as if I preferred to let my memories speak for themselves...
System breakdown
Colecovision (1983-1987)
NES (1987-1992/2000-2001/2004-)
Genesis (1992-1995/2004-)
Game Boy (1992-1995)
Arcade (1993-1994)
Game Gear (1993-1995)
Super NES (1994-1995/2004-)
3DO (1994-1995)
Playstation (1995-1996)
PC (1996-1997)
GameCube (2005-)
Game Boy Advance SP (2005-)
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Reviews written: 61
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