I’ll See You at Final Fantasy Eight

Final Fantasy VIII has a somewhat turbulent history with me. It wasn’t a game I particularly cared for, and I cemented that opinion for years after playing it. But a recent trend of my gaming has been to revisit games where my initial impressions fell short and ascertain whether or not my opinion has changed.

I’d done this for a number of titles, some I warmed to and others I liked a lot less. But I still held Final Fantasy VIII in a negative light with very little interest to play it. What changed my mind was when I realized my introduction to the game was really, really underwhelming and unfair.

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Jurassic Park: Genesaurus Does?

Often in the 16-bit generation licensed games wouldn’t just be versions across multiple consoles, but completely different games. Where the SNES Jurassic Park was by Ocean, the Genesis game was Blue Sky/SEGA. It brings the argument of ‘which is better’ beyond simply performance issues to a comparison of content as well. For instance, the Genesis game’s biggest selling point was that you could play as a Velociraptor – which was pretty exciting for the time – which was not an option on the SNES Jurassic Park.

As it turned out, I played way more of the Genesis game than I did the SNES game growing up. A friend owned a Genesis and this game got a lot of play. We never finished it to my recollection, I don’t think we gave it enough time to pass the midgame. But I had memories of it being pretty alright. When I eventually picked up my own Genesis and Jurassic Park years and years later, I felt the game was sort of a mess. But after beating the SNES game, I went on to clear this one too. My tune has changed once again.

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Welcome to Jurassic Pak Watch

I don’t have to explain to anyone what a phenomenon Jurassic Park was when it was released. And as a kid crazy about dinosaurs? It was a perfect storm. I saw Jurassic Park twice at the cinema, the Triple Cinema  when it was still standing, and then again at the Drive-In. I bought Jurassic Park comics, dinosaur figures, got Jurassic Park meals at McDonalds because they were giving special plastic cups with dinosaur profiles on them. It only stands to reason that I would play the games.

Even though I was a Nintendo kid, I have much more history with the Genesis Jurassic Park which I played a whole bunch at a friend’s house. However, I rented the SNES game and I was pretty excited about it. I remember thinking it looked great in Nintendo Power, I enjoyed overhead games, and hell – it was Jurassic Park. The thing is, at the time it seemed imperceptable.

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Spelunky Minis – Little Figures, Big Heart

I’ve wanted these little guys for a long time now. But I hadn’t played the game when I first saw them. Spelunky is one of those games where everyone (and their dog, cat, and kitchen sink) told me I should play it. And when I did, I was instantly smitten. So when these figures were restocked – and with a new series to boot – I had to jump on them.

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