game knb?

je and i spent the entire sunday afternoon and early evening playing games. video games. no, 80's and early 90's video games.

do you remember waiting for your turn, while your playmate flattens his thumbs on the then up-down-left-right-A-B buttoned controllers, playing games like:

• Contra
• Galaga
• Bomber Man
• Goonies
• Load Runner
• Balloon Fight
• Road Fighter
• Legend of Sage
• Spelunker
• Tetris

those were the days when the controllers are simpler, with less buttons to hit and less combinations to remember. like the up-down-up-down-left-right-left-right-a-b-start combi (or something like that) to gain 30 lives in Contra. today, it's just too complicated for me. =P

as a kid, i'm a big fan of atari/nintendo/nes games. i used to believe that banging the cartridge after blowing on it will make it work if it wouldn't start the menu. i know most of the hidden "treasures", like where to kick to get some bonus, how to kill the enemy, how to get extra ammunitions or fuel or lives. i remember trying to beat my own score before getting to the next stages. needless to say, i felt like i was a pro back then. i breeze through stages and courses, and some games, i even manage to finish just to see the credits. =P

je and i struggled really hard to get to stage 2 of Load Runner. and of BomberMan. and of Road Fighter. and of Contra. and of Spelunker. we were so amazed at our little selves back then. how could a single-digit-aged kid get to the next stage that easily? were we over-analyzing the game? our knuckle joints, are they that rusty to hit the buttons in time?

anyways, we had a great, fun time laughing at our mistakes during the games. it feels great to reconnect with your childhood again. we were shouting, jumping, leaning left and right, cursing and saying "last na 'to" everytime we hit game over. hayyy... who wants to grow up? =)