Memories are like gases, they try to
occupy all the empty spaces they find, esp. in your head. Until
yesterday, my head was filled with lots of stuff; work, house-hunting,
committments, deadlines, etc. So much occupied that you can compare it
to Eden Garden on the eve of India-Pakistan World Cup Final (pun
intended) !!But
yesterday, I got some time to relax. (Some time to release the gas
you''d say!) Stayed at home on a Saturday and planned my long-overdue
trip to home. My hometown is in Rourkela (Orissa) although I spent
eight golden childhood years of mine in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh). One of
my nappy-buddies (actually we were a little older than that) Pratyush,
is back from US for a month and I hope to meet him when I go back home.
Whenever I think of that golden time it reminds me of all the fun we
(me, Pratyush, Chinu and a whole bunch of friends) used to have when we
were kids.Summer vacation meant non-stop masti
which included comics, cycling, cricket and most-importantly Video
Games. It was the early 90s and Quake or Need For Speed inventors were
probably still graduating. It was the time of sweet old Cartridge Games
played on Samurai Consoles (even Nintendos were luxury at those days).
I can bet I have played almost all the games of that era. Just to name
a special few, Super Mario Bros., Contra, The Jungle Book, Islander,
Spartan, Double Dragon and a xillion others.But
I lost my virginity (of playing video-games) to the ultimate game
called Super Mario Bros. The player takes the role of Mario, or in the
case of a second player, Mario''s brother Luigi. The objective is to
race through the Mushroom Kingdom, evade or eliminate Bowser''s forces,
and save Princess Peach. The Mario Brothers'' primary attack is simply
jumping on top of ("Stomping") their enemies, which kills the mushroom
traitors and sends the turtle soldiers into their shells. Mario and
Luigi can then kick these shells into other enemies, which will
conveniently dispatch them; but conversely, kicked shells can bounce
back off walls or other vertical obstructions and hit them. Some
enemies can be killed only by shell impact; stomping them will hurt the
Mario Bros. Jumping on enough enemies in succession or kicking a shell
into enough enemies in succession (combos) results in double points
earned with each enemy killed, eventually (after eight successive
times) earning Mario or Luigi a 1-up - an extra life - another chance
to pass the level. Mario and Luigi can also obtain 1-ups through
finding 1-up mushrooms or even by collecting 100 coins.If you know this sequence "Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A", you know what game I''m talking about. Yeah, its Contra!! The most deadly and enchanting games of all times. The trick (Konami Code)
I mentioned above helps you get 30 lives for you and your partner
(there''s a different trick for Super Contra though). The Contra series
essentially defined the run and gun computer and video game genre. The
games, which are a combination of platform and shoot ''em up, consist of
a player-controlled human protagonist who employs rapid-fire rifles to
destroy enemies. While there is more emphasis put on shooting than
jumping, the player must be able to use jump to gain the right angle to
destroy certain enemies and avoid getting shot. Avoidance is essential,
as it only takes one hit to kill the player.The
majority of the games in the series are presented strictly in a
side-view perspective, with some of the levels scrolling vertically;
however, different titles have experimented with different replication
of the same basic gameplay. Super Contra, however, had overhead levels,
similar to titles like Commando; the player could not jump in this
perspective but could strafe instead. The Contra series has a
reputation for being exceptionally fast-paced and difficult. It is
thought to take an extremely skilled player to progress through the
game using only the throntinues provided.The other games I thoroughly enjoyed playing were The Jungle Book (extremely adventurous), Spartan (Kung-fu action), Double Dragon (adventure and action), Super Mario Bros. 3 (love it) and many others.Sometimes
I just wish that I could fly back to those old times where I used to
have so much of fun! But as they say ''Time Spent on Video Games is not
wasted'' (I hope my mom is not listening !!). So until next time... :-)