My latest video game adventure!

Who picks Bowser's Castle from Mario Kart 64, anyway? My brother, apparently. I can't help but sigh. Not my favorite Mario Kart course ever, by any means. I take a deep breath and grip the Wii Wheel tightly, waiting for the inevitable: bumping into the corners of walls, falling off narrow bridges into lava pits...all this combined with insanely fast-paced action complete with red shells, banana peels, and lightning. Yep, just another typical race in Mario Kart Wii.

I rev up my vehicle (the Shooting Star) in time with the countdown. 3...2...1...and we're off! Without a speedy start, I end up in 9th place within seconds. Ah, well...I've got three laps in which to catch up. Besides, the worse you do, the more "pity items" you receive. I'm fortunate enough to snag a Bullet Bill right near the start: I find myself being rocketed right up to first place in no time at all.

The rest of the race turns into a kind of juggling act for the three leaders: myself (as Rosalina), my brother (Baby Luigi), and a computer-controlled Daisy.

It's the second lap. Baby Luigi slips up and runs into a side wall. I snatch the opportunity to move up to 1st place. He returns the favor when I fly off the next jump at an odd angle. Daisy bumps past me. After a turbulent second lap, I regain 1st place. The final lap proceeds so smoothly, I'm sure I've won. The final stretch is before me...

Then I hear it. The sound of something whistling over the heads of nearly every other competitor. It's coming. I can't stop it. The dreaded spiny shell. Its target is clear: me. I'm on my feet now, bouncing up and down, jaw clenched. I'm not going to make it. No way. Inches away from the finish line, I know the time has come. It's right behind me...now it's right above me...it slams down at precisely the same moment as the winning whistle shrieks. The two apocalyptic events aren't separated by even a fraction of a second. I'm the winner!

Super Metroid and Expectations

On a scale of great influences in my early life, the Super Nintendo is second only to the Nintendo 64. Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, X-Men: Apocalypse, Street Fighter 2, Donkey Kong Country 2...all considered, is it really surprising that my love of Nintendo has lasted so long?

One game that never made it into the family Super Nintendo library was Super Metroid. What a great game, right? I had some serious expectations prior to playing this. Apparently it's one of the best games in the entire Metroid series. Possibly due to all of this praise, Super Metroid fell short for me. The same happened with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Here's what really mystifies me though (and keep focused, this could get messy): A Link to the Past didn't keep my attention very long for obvious reasons. I mean, I grew up on Ocarina of Time, so I'm partial to 3D Zeldas. As for the Metroid series, I began with the NES original. Super Metroid blew that game out of the water, right...? RIGHT?! Then why do I seem to like the original Metroid better than Super Metroid? I may never learn the answer.

I'm happy to say that I at least found a boss battle to enjoy on Super Metroid, which is more than I can say for Metroid. Also, the atmosphere of Super Metroid is genuinely awesome, thanks to eerie sound effects/music and creepy enemies. Given a choice between Metroid and Super Metroid, however, I would rather play Metroid. Call a doctor if you feel you must.

So I guess this is what Teddy Roosevelt's dog looked like...

My little hometown here only has a couple of thousand people in it, and I'd have to travel several hours just to have a chance for a StreetPass encounter. So the most exciting "notifications" I've gotten on the 3DS have been SpotPass ones. SpotPass is just the method by which special content comes in from a wireless internet connection. This morning, this cute little guy came into my Nintendogs+cats game with his owner: Teddy Roosevelt. His name is Pete, and he and my puppy, Molly, had a great time at the park! This is a pretty neat way to compensate for the lack of StreetPass opportunity some of us suffer from.

Pokemon-Just for Little Kids?

I'm debating whether I should start this post by saying that I like Pokemon, or by saying that Pokemon is highly misunderstood. I guess I just started with both. I like Pokemon games. Specifically, I enjoy the mainstream Pokemon games released on Nintendo handhelds. Pokemon is highly misunderstood (where I live anyway). You have no idea how many skeptical looks I've gotten by revealing my liking for Pokemon. The question I want to ask skeptics is: Have you ever played a Pokemon game all the way through?

A complex battle system that forces the player to consider types, moves, stats, abilities, effectiveness, items, dual-types, and experience points, all at the same time...does this seem like something that could appeal to a 7-year-old intellectually? Players ages 7 and up can effectively enjoy a Pokemon game. Creating the perfect team of six Pokemon alone involves an incredible amount of strategy. Add to that other activities like contests, catching 'em all, and growing berries, and the replay value of any contemporary Pokemon game skyrockets above even the deepest action-adventure game.

"I'm Playing Nintendo!"

I had a rather interesting experience several years ago. Well, it was interesting because I made it interesting.

Anyway, it was the simplest thing you could imagine. I was just hangin' out with my sister down in the basement, watching her play Madden on her PlayStation 2. For me, this was one of those "I'm-so-bored-I-don't-know-what-else-to-do" moments in life. Why else would I sit and watch someone else play Madden? I don't even play Madden myself! I hate football!

So my sister got a call on her cell phone.

"Hello?........no, I'm just playing Nintendo."

Playing Nintendo?! You're not playing Nintendo! You're playing PlayStation! And that's when it hit me! Nintendo must be so widely-played and -known that it often replaces the term "video games". Video games are Nintendo. Nintendo is video games. They're interchangeable.

I've pondered this a lot since. It has actually been long enough to where Xbox and PlayStation are just as much a presence in the video game industry as Nintendo is. But those who are outside of hardcore video game culture recognize video games as Nintendo. Everyone knows who Mario is. And the majority of humanity has played Mario or at least seen it being played. What big franchise does Sony have? Or Microsoft? Whatever the answers, I do not believe they are even close to the same league as Super Mario Bros. Nintendo is the people's choice!