Monday Update: 4/28/14

I turned 19 this week, for what that's worth.

MechAssault (XBOX): First Appearance

Remember this game? I do. I only had a chance to play it on one of the old "EXHIBITION" demo discs for the XBOX back in 2003. I had only been able to play about two missions from the game, but I never could beat either of them and never knew exactly what was going on. I enjoyed the hell out of it, more than anything else on any of those discs. (For the record, I had two of them, the March 2003 and July 2003 discs.) (Actually, I'm having a bit of a nostalgia trip looking at the list of what was on those. MX Superfly had this short 2:00 minute run mode, and I'd just try to do a double backflip for the whole time. All-Star Baseball 2004 had a home-run derby between modern players and legends. I would just accelerate on MotoGP 2 and crash into things.)

Anyway, MechAssault was one of the first games on XBOX Live (which I desperately desired despite the fact that I was only eight years old and my dad wouldn't let me have an account), and I never owned it until 2011. I played through about half of it then, until I had to stop myself from playing video games due to slipping grades. That XBOX died, then the next XBOX died, then we got to April 2014 and I've started playing MechAssault again. MechAssault is strange, being a part of the MechWarrior franchise, but being developed for the XBOX controller on a series that was already well known for mouse-keyboard controls. I imagine that this was an issue for some of the series' fans, but I didn't go online and look that sort of thing up at that time. But hey, it works on the controller, and it's actually genuinely enjoyable. I'd love to play the multiplayer sometime, though.

Pro Wrestling (NES): First Appearance

I don't really know why, just felt like it.

Ten-Yard Fight (NES): First Appearance

Dear god, this is the SLOWEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER. Why is it enjoyable, though? I can't put my finger on it, but I actually had a very good time with it.

Maniac Mansion (NES): Second Appearance, Last Appearance on 4/14/2014

I need a guide or something. Typically I'm not this dumb, but I'm so used to games that only use one protagonist, and the way that you switch characters throughout the game is really refreshing but still difficult to get used to.

NBA Live 2003 (GCN): First Appearance (I think)

TWO FUN GAMES OF NBA LIVE 2003

FIRST: Michael Jordan versus the Memphis Grizzlies. "Michael Jordan" is a game I invented at camp 2013, originally in NBA Courtside 2002 for the Gamecube. You pick Michael Jordan, and score every point with him. Nobody else puts up a shot. Nobody. Even if he fouls out. If he fouls out, you freeze after half court and wait for the game to end. Here's how it went:

SECOND: Shorts versus Talls 2003. The shortest players (Celtics) versus the tallest players (Hawks). It worked as you may expect. The shorts only had one really good player in Damon Stoudamire. The talls had two in Dikembe Mutombo and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. I might do a deeper look at this particular game in a little bit, actually.

Others That Don't Warrant Mention®

NBA 2K14 (X360): Sixth Appearance, Sixth Straight Appearance: Played nearly one game, but got bored. 2K's reign may end this week

RollerCoaster Tycoon (PC): Second Appearance, Last Appearance on 4/14/2014: It takes some time to get going sometimes, especially on Dynamite Dunes, so I didn't play too much.

Monday Update: 4/14/14

Well we're back, still sorry about last week, but it would have been literally one game because two weeks ago was unpredictably busy. Look out this week for the return of Old Sports Games, however.
Anyway,
RollerCoaster Tycoon (PC): First Appearance
I constantly forget about what RCT used to mean to me. It was always sort of a forbidden fruit when I was growing up, my friends had the original and RCT2 on their PCs, but I didn't know how to play games on a PC at that point, so I had to purchase it for the XBOX. Oddly enough, I was able to get into it easily despite the fact that it used the XBOX's controller rather than the traditional keyboard-and-mouse. I actually tried going back to the XBOX port a couple of years ago after playing the PC version and I couldn't figure it out at all. But that's a weird thing about playing games as a child: You can adapt to something weird much more easily.

I wrote that above paragraph so I wouldn't just gush about the game. I'm capable of doing that.

Maniac Mansion (NES): First Appearance
Everyone always told me to play the LucasArts games of old, and last year I played through The Secret of Monkey Island (Special Edition). That's one great aspect of the modern remaking trend, as I wouldn't have likely been able to try Monkey Island properly without the Special Edition remake. I know some purists didn't like the voice acting, but for a newcomer like myself, I was happy to have characters with voices, a great idea for 2009.

Anyway I bought Maniac Mansion for the NES is what I'm trying to get at. It's a good start, but I'm gonna need a while to get into it. The fact that I don't have regular access to my NES doesn't help

NBA 2K14 (XBOX 360): Fourth Appearance, Fourth Straight Appearance
I have very little to say other than the fact that I have finally figured out what to do to be successful in MyCareer. Gotta take shots and play good defense, also let other people shoot. I'm surprised by how well I'm doing in the season considering we're .500 even though Dirk and I think Devin Harris are out with injuries. Basketball.

F-Zero GX (GCN): First Appearance
Though I only played through one Cup, this is still an absolute masterpiece when it comes to racing games, especially on the Gamecube.