I had a lot of fun too, and I'm glad I met, and exceeded, my personal goal of beating at least 25 games. It was great to play a lot of games I hadn't played in a very long time. I am glad it's over now, though, because I really need to get back to my pennant race in Extra Innings and back to updating my site.

Anyway, here are some things I learned:

1. There are several games that did not make my Top 100 that I like more than Axelay (which did make my Top 100). Moral: The Top 100 needs to be updated.

2. I can practically beat Shadowgate with my eyes closed, but I still had to think my way through both Uninvited and Maniac Mansion. Uninvited's solution just never sticks with me as well as Shadowgate's does. Maniac Mansion is much more abstract than either of those games, and it's tougher because you're not only solving puzzles, but planning things, because you sometimes have to use more than one kid for a task, and sometimes you have to "multitask". You also have to race against time in some situations, or try to stay out of sight of the Edisons, which makes the game as exciting as an action game at times.

3. After beating Mega Man 2, 3, and 4, it's now kind of hard for me to say which is my favorite. They all have a few high points, and it would've been nice if the best features of all three had been incorporated into one game. I do think Mega Man 4 is underrated, as I usually see NES fans saying it's the worst of the NES games. But I don't really think it's all that much different from 2 or 3. And, if anything, it has less slowdown and graphic glitching than Mega Man 3.

4. Heroes of the Lance is a bad game, but I don't think for the same reasons that most people think - which is to say that most people seem to think it's unplayable or way too hard. I find it's much too short and easy. In fact, it gives all new meaning to "too short and easy".

5. I think this was the first time I ever beat Rygar without having the life meter powered up all the way to full. (I was missing two pieces.) I also discovered something else I'm not sure I was aware of. When you enter the underworld caverns, if you just keep going straight, you end up outside in the area with the sunset...I don't think I realized you could just go straight there. I always went down at the first junction and worked my way through the caves below, then back up again. I'm positive I remember a wiseman who tells you something like, "Keep going to see the sunset", or something like that, but you don't encounter him if you just go straight. In a way, I'm glad I didn't realize that before, because I remember the first time I played this game, and I got to that wiseman, I didn't know what he was talking about, but when I actually saw the sunset, I was like, "Whoah!"

6. I had a weird experience when playing Mega Man 2. The Dragon Droid (1st boss of Dr. Wily's Castle) and I beat each other at the same exact time. Mega Man made the explosion sound, and the four explosion "bits" came out of him, but froze when the Dragon was done flashing and exploding. Then the game did the level-clear fanfare, and I moved onto the next stage like normal. I don't know if I lost a life or not, because I don't know how many I had before that happened.

7. When I beat Ninja Gaiden, I didn't do it in one life, but I did beat Jaquio on my first try, without a special weapon. And I also beat the final boss on my first try, too. I guess I'm getting better at that.


I Crawl and 1000
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MIDI of the Moment - Castlevania 2 - Bloody Tears
"I hear mariachi static on my radio
And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I'm there with you in Ensenada
And I'm here in Echo Park" - Warren Zevon