It has sure been a while, hasn’t it? I haven’t written anything on here since April and haven’t done an update since last year, so it has definitely been some time. I had to take a break from games writing in general for a spell to tackle semester two of university and honestly, I missed it. So, I wanted to take a moment to update you all on all the changes that have occurred since our last update (there’s a lot).
Video games have a large amount of elements that could be highlighted for the Easter period. There’s cute little bunnies and chickens almost everywhere, several games involving chocolate in some way, and altogether too many games about Jesus. But what I wanted to look at today was the eggs in video games because not only are there more than you would think, but they appear in so many guises and genres.
So, here we go, my top eggs in video games!
I’d like to begin by thanking everyone for coming to celebrate Mario’s life. Mario was the most joyfully buoyant person I’ve ever known and I know many of you would agree. He had an incredible legacy, thirty-five years of it, and it’s with great sadness I stand here today following his untimely death at the hands of Nintendo yesterday.
The first Resident Evil game turns 25 today, and the series remains one of my favourites to this day, even if it’s holding onto that with a single, decaying finger at this point. I remember playing the first game back in 1997 when I was the ripe old age of 11 (yes, I’m old, hush) as a rebellious response to my stepdad saying that it was too scary for me (also yes, I’ve always been an ass).
From the laughable, live-action FMV cutscene to the first zombie rearing it’s ugly, rotten head up from happily munching on your associate, I was in love with the game within the first few minutes. This isn’t to say that my stepdad wasn’t right, Resident Evil did scare the shit out of me, but it is an experience I wouldn’t have changed and I have stayed with the series ever since.
But what was it about this game that got its teeth into me (pun intended)?
Another MAR10 Day and another new piece from me about everyone’s favourite plumber, and no I don’t mean that weird bloke Keith your mother keeps hiring. Mario’s 35th arguably lacklustre celebrations are coming to a close, but I couldn’t let this day pass without marking it in some way. Last year I spoke about the platforming perfection that is Super Mario World, but it would be nothing without the game that put really put the ”Super” in Mario – Super Mario Bros. 3.
Last night we were privileged to witness Sony’s interpretation of the “Future of Gaming”. Whether or not this is actually the case, it can’t be denied that this is an unbelievably pretentious title of a video. We saw the console in all its half sexy / half router glory, but the games will make or break any console reveal and Sony definitely didn’t skimp in that department.
In fact, there were a lot of games ranging across different franchises and genres, some deeper looks at previous reveals, and some brand new showings to sweeten the deal. All of this coming together to create something that was very difficult to whittle down. But I did, because if there’s one thing I love, it’s torturing myself to create utterly arbitrary lists for no reason.
Let me tell you a story, one which takes us back to the halcyon days of March 2005, an bygone era when we we still allowed to leave our houses. Something that I’ve entirely forgotten how to do in 2020. Having purposely requested a Gamecube for the previous Christmas, I eagerly awaited the release of Resident Evil 4. In fact, I even called my not-so-local Game store on the release day to see that they put aside a copy for me.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I’ve been a fan of the series for a long time and followed it through the highs and lows, and I have been very impressed by the last two years and the subsequent remakes that have arrived of my favourite game of all time Resident Evil 2 and it’s successor 3: Nemesis. But, no matter how great I might think it is (and I REALLY do), I don’t think we need the rumoured Resident Evil 4 remake slated for 2021.
This whole lockdown thing is incredibly fun isn’t it? There’s only so much that can be done within four walls, and needless to say that I’m doing a lot of gaming in the interim. Although, this means that I’ve been continuing the noble pursuit of entirely ignoring my backlog in lieu of buying new games. What the lockdown has done though is mess with most of the plans from my previous update, so I thought a second update was in order.
Imagine that you narrowly survived a living nightmare that was orchestrated to kill not only you but your entire specialised military unit. Then imagine that almost all of your friends that escaped that ordeal have already skipped town to take the fight to the bastards responsible. But, you elected to stay because the city has a particular donut shop you’re a fan or, or whatever equally stupid reason. Oh, and you’re a dumbass.
If you imagined that all correctly, you should now find yourself squarely in a pair of fashionable boots, with a skirt, vest and cute little jumper tied at the waist. Lucky you. This far less functionally-dressed Jill Valentine is the heroine of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis for Playstation, released in 1999, and a game that has seen a recent remake in the style of last year’s popular “The undead chomp on Claire and Leon” simulator – Resident Evil 2.
Before I start here, just a quick warning of potential spoilers for a game that is more than 20 years old. Some of the plot threads might not have been altered with the remake so go and play that nonsense then come back. Okay? Okay.
Mario is a video game icon. From bothering an ape almost 40 years ago as the imaginatively named “Jumpman” to travelling around to stop what would have likely been a beautiful wedding, the portly plumber has been an integral part of our lives for a long time. It’s undoubtable that he has range also, appearing across almost every game genre from adventure to sports.
Being a child of the 80s, I grew up with Mario, beginning with the phenomenal Super Mario Bros. on dad’s NES. I didn’t appreciate truly how well it was designed when I was young, but I played the first three main games practically to death. But that’s not what I wanted to focus on here, I wanted to talk about when the series transcended beyond mere games for me –
Super Mario World.
Reu The Gamer 