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Why I Love Earthbound

EarthBound turned 20 a few days ago, June 5th. Twenty years. You can play games for decades, all of your old favourites hit their twentieth, their thritieth, and so on. But there are the few that have had a lasting personal impact on you. And while time is intangible, it makes you stop and think when there’s a more personal connection.

EarthBound, and by extension the MOTHER series, seems to be on the tip of everyone’s tongues these days. It’s a game that’s been brought into the spotlight more than once by an impassioned community. It’s a game that everyone, their dog, and their septic tank says inspired their crowdfunding project. It’s become a grail for retro collectors. It’s become a lot of things to a lot of people. But why do I love EarthBound?

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Snoopy’s Magic Show – Of Balls and Beagles

Licensed games. The very concept makes some people immediately turn their noses and lock out any potential for enjoying a game. It’s true that games based on movies or cartoons or other properties are often a cash in lacking the spirit and polish of original or established games. But that’s not always the case. There are many of these titles that are fondly remembered or generally well received. Others still were simply a good game that was reskinned to resemble a property. I’m not really aware of its history, but that’s the feeling I get from Snoopy’s Magic Show. The relationship to Peanuts is superficial, and it’s not really a magic show… But it IS good.

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The Secrets Held In A Dinosaurs Tub (With Playmat & Accessories, Even)

Man, Dinosaurs are awesome. They are all like “ROAR!!!” and badass, stomping around and not taking any crap from anyone. Heh, but Dinosaurs have a strong place in my heart. From Definitely Dinosaurs, Dino Riders, Jurassic Park, and so on and so forth. As a kid I was inundated with Dinosaurs and hey – I wasn’t complaining.

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Don’t Forget the Power – Remembering Nintendo Power

Over the last few days I’ve been searching like crazy through newsstands and magazine racks. I covered every feasible source in town, trying to find an avenue to get the prize I sought – the very last issue of Nintendo Power. This was the first new Nintendo Power I would have sought out in ten years, and the first time I’ve rummaged through magazine racks in just as long! But all of the places I could have found this publication before were barren now – how many magazines have actually disappeared within this span? I finally managed to score a copy, having extended my search beyond the realm of convenience and into the territory of a driven hunt.

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Shadow of the Colossus – Embracing the Journey

Admittedly, I am a fairly retrogressive dork when it comes to entertainment media. I’ve gone plenty of years without picking up a current home console and I wasn’t particularly arsed to change the situation. But times change, and I found myself really wanting a Playstation 3 for a myriad of reasons. The straw that would have broken the proverbial back if I hadn’t picked one up now would have certainly been The Last Guardian’s eventual (hopeful) release. It’s fitting then that that this would be the disc to first enter my new console…

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Coming Home to Hyrule – Returning to the Legend of Zelda

One faced the return to those nascent, primordial steps. Everything that was familiar was once again new and exciting. The original chill of adventure again shook bones. Enter nomadic trance in the dangerous lands of Hyrule once more. Take up the quest and renew the virtues of adventure.

Recently, I picked up both The Legend of Zelda and the Adventure of Link for the Famicom Disk System. Strangely, playing these games in this format made me feel more nostalgic than anytime I had played the NES versions on any of the myriad of platforms they are available on. This sort of article is kind of unusual for this site, because “nostalgic for Zelda” is a pretty typical subject. But this is a series that I have a very strong love/hate history with. Sometimes a guy just has to talk about the Legend of Zelda.

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