My Gaming History: Kris Pt2

So last time round we looked at my poor memory of the Spectrum, the valiant machine that kicked off this whole gaming hobby. To be honest, whilst I hold the Spectrum in deep regard now, putting it on a pedestal only just below my beloved Master System, I don’t think it really held my attention much at the time. I was probably only 5 or 6 and whilst the Spectrum was pretty cool it was tucked away in my bedroom and all the cool stuff was in the lounge. I mean the lounge had Sky TV with Cartoon Network and there was even Lego and Brio. How could the Spectrum stand up to that?

The Master System was an entirely different matter though. I don’t actually remember how the console came into the joint custody of my brother and I, possibly it was passed down from my cousins who were huge gamers (and a few years later would give me my first taste of GTA). I certainly remember them having the Mega Drive for most of my childhood, so it may well have been given to us when they moved up to the mind blowing world of 16-bit gaming.

Originally I only had the built in titles of Sonic the Hedgehog and Alex Kidd in Miracle World to occupy me, but those were more than enough. Hell, even with the huge variety of games on offer right now I would still be content if you sat me down with that old Master System and left me with just Sonic and Alex Kidd. Sure, they may not be as flashy or deep as modern games but for me personally they will shine out as the best that gaming has to offer for the rest of time. I know that’s a hugely rose-tinted view of the titles, but I don’t really care all that much. Other games simply can’t compete with titles that are burned into my brain like that.

All I really want to say about Alex Kidd is a brief note about the second level in the game. If you haven’t played it, the first level is a pretty simple platformer where you jump downwards towards the water at the bottom. Once you get to the water you swim along and dodge fish, which is actually surprisingly tricky on a Master System controller. But once you grab the hamburger that signifies the end of the level you move onto a world which is basically a single flat plain similar to earlier games like Mario.

What makes it special for me is the shop at the start of the level. It’s just a small hut with three items for sale, and even now I couldn’t tell you what two of them did. I mean I bought them a few times, but they seemed pretty useless and they were no bike. That’s right, option three was a bike which let you rip through the level at double quick time. The downside was you went so quick it was easy to hit a lurking enemy frog or scorpion, or to crash into one of the floating bollards that looked oddly like M&Ms.

I do love Alex Kidd in Miracle World, and it does make more of an attempt at a plot than Sonic does. The problem is… well it’s just not Sonic. I adore Sonic. I could quite happily sit and write a dissertation on why Sonic is so amazingly good, I could churn out article after article until the end of time and never get bored of the subject matter (although I fear you might). For me personally, Sonic will live above all others for the rest of time, and I can’t even beat it by myself.

Even though plenty of people have told me that the 8-bit version of Sonic isn’t actually that challenging, I really can’t beat it without my dad. The game was a huge bonding moment for us, and whilst I can actually get through most of the levels by myself I just can’t do the jungle zone. If someone else gets me to the boss it’s doable (just), but the precision jumps that are required to get passed some of the waterfalls are simply impossible to me, no matter at what age I attempt them. They defeated me yet again just a fortnight ago.

The bonding moment that Sonic gave me with my dad may be the reason I love it so much, it may have completely skewed my view of what some people consider merely average. To anyone who thinks that; I couldn’t care less. Does it really matter why I love the game? I just love it to bits, and I’ll happily sit and put a few hours into it any time. I played it when I was a child, I play it now and I’ll still be playing it when I’m 80. And whenever my dad dies, something I hope isn’t coming any time soon, I’ll probably play it for days on end. I’ll never get past the jungle though. I doubt you’ll read this, but I love you dad.