Flashback 04 - Mario

So I know I haven't written a Flashback piece in quite a while, but this past weekend I had time for a little nostalgia that I thought I'd share with you. I've been pretty sick with a lousy head cold for about a week now. Basically its put me right on the line of being able to go to work. Honestly if I knew that staying home for a day in bed would really help me get better I'd do it, but seeing as I've really been at pretty much the same level of sickness for days and days now I don't want to take the wrong day off. Its annoying, and pretty frustrating really. I'm too sick to handle going out for any extended period of time, or drinking, or going to the gym; but I'm not sick enough to stay home from work in bed, and sleep it off.

So this weekend I put myself on some heavy meds and tried to just chill out at home and get better. What that entailed mostly was sitting around and playing Super Mario World on the Wii's Virtual Console. Man, that is a fun fun game. How come all the best Mario games are 2D? These old games are just completely great. They have so much gameplay in them its just sad to compare them to some of the elaborate, yet less fun, games of today. While I really love Mario World it's not my favorite game in the series. Nope, that right is saved for one that I used to sit around in my basement playing for hours and hours on end with my buddy Bernard: Super Mario Bros 3. I know that there's got to be at least one or two of you out there who've had experiences like mine. Just hanging out with friends chilling, and doing some good gaming. For some people it was Zelda, or Street Fighter II, but for me, my greatest hardcore game will always be Super Mario Bros 3.

I played the first Super Mario Bros a little bit, but when that was really popular I didn't have a NES so I only played at friends houses. My parents never let me have a system and I only got a console when I stole it from my first girlfriend. Even then it was old though, i think the N64 was just about to come out when I finally scored an NES. Still I loved it. Sure, lots of old games are total crap, and many were way too hard requiring more memorization than actual skill. But some, like the Mario series still really hold their own to this day. And another chance to play these great old games is the real reason I bought a Wii. On Friday I also picked up the brand new Medal of Honor: Vanguard, and I honestly only played like half a level before I decided that I'd rather be playing Mario World. Just shows the power of those old games. Thank you Nintendo.

Anyhow, I know that wasn't much of a memory to share, but it makes me happy so live with it. I think I'll also try to do these Flashback pieces more regularly, only I won't let myself get so hung up on whether I have a fully formed story for you or not. I'd rather just be able to write what I enjoy. And maybe this will spark a memory or two of your own. Ok, that's all, TTYL.

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