One of My Favorite Games Ever May Grace XBLA

If the ESRB is to be believed, Sega will be pimping more of its classic collection onto XBLA and PSN. One of those titles is Phantasy Star II. I just had a geek-gasm.

I was one of those lucky kids who had both a both a SNES and a Sega Genesis (the benefits of being the child of divorced parents I guess). I read Nintendo Power so I'm sure I knew what releases were coming out for the SNES but as far as the Genesis, looking back at my collection of games I must have chosen games purely on their boxart. And that doesn't really explain why I picked up Phantasy Star II. A JRPG? I wasn't really into anime or manga at the time but I guess I had played a couple of the Final Fantasy games even though I was partial to the Zelda series. Boy was I glad I did though. I still have the original game (with the well worn map and strategy guide) as well as a the GBA version that includes the first three games in the series.

I played the crap out of that game. I'm sure I played through the game numerous times, which is no simple task as it was easily a 40 hour quest. This was the first title the I became emotionally attached to as there is a major game changing moment about two-thirds of the way through the story. Also, it was epic, spanning two planets and countless dungeons. I have warm memories of spending whole weekends grinding my party in order to level up and learn the only spell that could help you defeat the final boss.

This can't come soon enough. Plus, there will be achievements.

Esrb: Sega Regurgitating More Genesis Games On XBLA, PSN

Am I not the gamer I once was?

I absolutely love Live Arcade. The idea that not only fresh, new experiences can be brought directly to me over the series of tubes, but classic ones as well, just warms my heart. I have, however, noticed that there is something quite wrong when playing these classics games: I suck!

I have been stumped by games that twenty years ago, I was a master. At least that's how I remember the games. Games such as, most recently, Rush'n Attack, Double Dragon, Paper Boy, and Root Beer Tapper on Live have be so much more difficult than I remember. Even NES classics like Super Mario Bros., Metal Gear, Elevator Action, and Ice Climber challenge me to even get past the first level in some cases.

These games are so much more simple than the games I feel that I have mastered on the 360 or the Wii, or even the GameCube or PS2. There is usually on two directions to move, horizontally or vertically, and a jump button and an attack button. Why then do I struggle with these games?

I initially chalked it up to age. These games are the epitome of the platformer genre and twitch game play. They rely more on reflex and rote memorization than most of today's free roaming games. I definitely struggle with multiplayer FPS's so I believed that this was the reason I was sucking at games that I once played with ease. Or did I? It then occurred to me that I own many more games today than I did as a kid. Now, I usually only play through a game once, unless I'm going for some achievements, and then I'm done. Not so in the past. I must have played some games until I practically wore out the controllers and cartridge connections. Playing these games over and over drilled them in to my head. There is also the ability to save practically anywhere you want in games today. If not, there is most likely some sort of autosave system in place to keep your place for you. We have it so easy now. Remember when you had to write down a password to continue where you left off? Otherwise, you had to start from the beginning. Again.

As I wrote this though, one other thought came to my head. What if is the AI, or rather a lack thereof, that make these classic games so difficult? Instead of increasingly complex and human-like development from the AI we see today, the AI is almost zombie-like in its effort to get to your character. They usually come from all sides, unyielding to anything in their way, even their own doom. Programmers are always attempting to create more realistic enemy by making them more cautious and intelligent. That's great and all, but what if? What if a game with today's capabilities hurtled endless waves of intelligent but suicidal enemies at you? Scary.