Evolution of the Game...

...at least according to Nilla :).

I am not an avid video game player. I never have been. I'm not saying I don't ever play video games. And, honestly, I don't even know what the difference is between video games and computer games, or even if there is one. So, since I haven't done a memory lane post in eons... I figured I would do this one :).

My older brother is 9 years my senior. This means that he was into video games long before I was old enough to even know what they were. And that also means we had a really cool (but now-antiquated) game system in our home called an Atari. By the way, I'm convinced to this day that that is the awesomest game system ever! I don't care if the graphics weren't realistic. I don't care if it wasn't interactive with you or other people across the globe. The Atari was cool. And it had really fun games. We had several games, loaded on those ginormous 5 1/4-inch black floppy disks (the ones that really were floppy :)). One that we always played (and it was 2-player, so I usually played with Ben or Brad) was Joust. In case you think it sounds familiar, but can't really picture it, this is what it looked like:

Now, I have played that one more recently. It was also an arcade game, and I guess, somehow, it was finagled to be able to be downloaded and played on a computer. So back in the days when Heath and I were dating, we played this game on his computer. It was still as fun at 21 as it was when I was like 8.

The one I remember the best (and one of my all-time favorite games) is one I have never seen since. And that is Jumpman. I don't even know what it was about this game that I loved so much. It just required a little white stickman to run and climb ladders to collect all these "blobs" and not get shot by the bullet that you would be clued into (but you never knew where it was coming across the screen) by a shot sound. Anyway, I've had this picture of Jumpman saved in my email since I left Tuscaloosa. So, it's about time that I use it :).

This is a game I wouldn't mind playing again.

But of course, time passed. Technology advanced. New game systems came out. We got a Nintendo one year. We played the usual games, like Super Mario Bros. I remember, if the game didn't want to load, we'd pull it out and blow into the bottom of it to blow off the dust and hope it would work :). My favorite Nintendo game was Super Mario Brothers 3. I don't think we ever owned that one, but my friend Cathleen did. I just liked that Mario could fly.

And we can't forget Battletoads!!! At least I think it was Nintendo! Either way, that was one of the rockin'est games EVER! Or maybe what was so great about it was the memories I have of singing "I Am Woman" while beating the everliving snot out of Brad's character with my big toad boot or my big toad fist in the game. Or maybe it was the memory of smacking Brad's toad around with the sword in the Wookie Hole. Either way... This game holds fond memories for me :). And the music in it was pretty cool too.

Plus, answer me this: how can anyone not love a game where the 3 main characters are named after skin blemishes: Rash, Zitz, and Pimple. Hahaha... Classic.

Then next step for video game evolution, at least for me :), was the Sega Genesis. Largely, this was Brad's game system. However, we were all allowed to play it. The two games I got into most were Sonic the Hedgehog:And the other was Toejam and Earl:

Now hopefully, by now, you have seen a pretty common trend in all these games. They are all 2-D. Of course, perhaps at this time in Nilla History (circa 1994), they didn't have video games that were all 3-D and stuff. But trust me, as you will learn in a few short minutes, 3-D video games and I do not get along... But back to Sonic and Toejam and Earl. I think I beat Sonic. I don't know how long it took me. Long enough. But I did enjoy that game. Toejam and Earl was just hilarious. I think we would purposely make them eat bad food just to see their reactions. I don't even remember it all at this point. I remember they would arrive on each new level in an elevator. A la Bill and Ted. Only in alien form ;). Yes, another great game from my past, Toejam and Earl.

After this point, I wasn't all that in to video games. I don't even remember at which point my family upgraded to a newer system. I think we owned a Playstation at some point. Yeah. Something that you could play Echo the Dolphin. That was Christina's game. I never got into that game or that game system, really. In fact, I didn't really do much with video or computer games until I started dating Heath. But at that point, we pretty much made up for lost time. While we dated, we played several games. Clanbomber (which was way fun -- I was always the penguin). Tron (also fun -- but I usually lost). But the two that we played almost religiously were Worms Armageddon:

And Toy Commander:

Now, Worms was, and maybe still is, one of my all-time favorite games. I'm not even sure why. I mean, you get four little worms on your team, and through strategy, you have to try to take out the other player's four worms. And you only get a turn with one worm at a time. And after you finished your turn with one worm, then it's the other player's turn with one of their worms. Okay, so it might sound silly. But it was an addicting game. Which can also be said of Toy Commander. Now, I'm pretty sure that was for the Sega Dreamcast, but I could be wrong. All I know is it was fun. It was the one 3-D game that I thought was fun. But perhaps that was because I was always the tank, who really only moved in 2-D... I tried being an airplane once. Let's just say it didn't go well. I pretty much crashed the whole time. It's a wonder I can function in the real world (which, by some strange twist of fate, happens to be 3-dimensional ;)). Anyway, as you see in the picture above, it shows the tank. The coolest "toy" you could possibly be in this game. It was also well-armored (as tanks generally go), so it was a pretty hearty little fella.

After married life began, the video gaming continued to an extent. Especially in the very beginning when we lived in Ashford. We had a ritual... We had to play Super Smash Brothers every night practically before bed. And if Heath didn't win, we had to keep playing until he did. There was no sleeping until he won. It was just too funny. And, really, in his defense, I did win a lot, but it wasn't "fair" as most men see it. Because I would just randomly push buttons for my character (and I always chose Kirby while he always chose Pikachu) and I would inevitably win. Meanwhile he'd spend time learning the buttons to push to officially do the special moves of the character and still lose. My Kirby brick could really do some damage! That really aggravates men, apparently. It used to irritate Brad to no end when I used to just push buttons like crazy and then beat him. So, here is a shot of Super Smash Brothers, and, as luck would have it, you can see both Kirby and Pikachu in this one!

The other two games we got into were Tiberian Sun, which was another strategy game where you would build up your army and then go attack the other person; and BZ Flag. Now, I believe both of these were games that could be played on the internet with people in far away lands. But with Tiberian Sun, anytime I played, we just played the two of us. We didn't get online to do it. However, with BZ Flag, it was a different story. The two of us would join a room, and so would Julie's husband Jon. And we'd all play from our respective computers. And that one was addicting. And I have to say... You know how there are phrases that will remain in your head forever, just from one little thing? Well, this game started one that I will forever have... If you care to, click on this link and listen to this song by Peter Gabriel. Anyway, there was an ability during the game where you could turn into (or get the power) to be a steamroller and then you could flatten the other tanks if you got close enough to them to roll over them. So, anytime Heath would get that ability, he would sing "I wanna be... Your STEAMROLLER!" And that stays in my head and so everytime I hear certain phrases or this song, I always hear that in my head! Funny how that works. Anyway, here's a shot of that:

And, actually, I think BZ Flag was also 3-D. But again, I was a tank. So it wasn't like flying an airplane. I only went straight in a 2-D sort of way :).

So these days I'm back to not really playing video games. Every once in a while, I might pull up Zuma. Which is also an addicting game. But other than that, not so much. But it was fun to remember all these games! Funny what you forget until you start remembering :). This was a great walk down memory lane. I should do it more often :).