After chasing the princess through what seems like hundreds of castles you finally find her and as the hulking turtle monstrosity tumbles into the inferno you take her into your 8-bit arms and embrace her. Such are the great moments where we realize that yes, we just did it. For this GTKYG we asked our esteemed writers what was a moment where they flung their arms into the air like Hiro Nakamura and wailed like Chun-Li: YATTA!
Jesse Baguchinsky Staff Writer
When I think of my greatest achievement in gaming I think back to my sophomore year of college when fellow Elder-Geek staff writer Trevor bought Phantasy Star Online for the Gamecube so we could play co-op. When we started we realized it was a grind-fest, so we kept replaying the first stage to level our guys up. After a while we became bored and decided to play the second stage just for fun, even though we were still grossly under leveled.
As we made our way through the stage we realized it was considerably harder than level one, but eventually we made our way to the teleporter that brings you to the boss room. We go through it and find ourselves floating down a river on a raft being followed by a giant snake dragon of sorts. Since neither of us had very good long range weapons, we had to whittle down its health with our pistols. The fight dragged on for around 45 minutes and we began to wonder if we were even doing damage to it. Finally, after quite a few close calls, we killed the monster, put down our controllers and breathed a sigh of relief. Needless to say we didn’t go right into stage three after that.
Over an hour and a ton of mono, di and trimates later, Trevor and Jesse fell De Rol Le, the sewer beast most epic. Don't flush your pets kids.
Kristie Barber Staff Writer
My greatest achievement as a geek was when I played the ENTIRE Legend of Zelda series in preparation for the release of Twilight Princess. I had never played any of them and my now fiance told me I HAD to. So starting in the summer months, I played through every game back-to-back. Then we did a straight run through of Twilight Princess. It. Was. AWESOME! And that was my birth as a hands down, full blooded, dedicated geek.
Props to Kristie. This is the fate of most people who try the "Zelda Challenge."
Oliver Surpless Staff Writer
Getting All Rainbow V’s on Viewtiful Joe on PS2 with Dante. This challenge involves a mastery of the game, requiring speed, perfect reflexes if you get hit, and knowing just how to defeat enemies in order to score the most points. All of these areas are necessary to get V’s (perfect) in each section of the game. Now just do for the entire game and you’ve beaten the challenge.
It was in this that I first learnt the value of video walkthroughs. For part of the challenge, I just read FAQ’s (wasted a lot of paper as well!) and it was tough to duplicate. Watching a run through, it was made much clearer on just what the character has to do to achieve the score.
So much fun and yet we'll never see him again...please see above picture for emotional reference.
Trevor Faulkner Staff Writer
Finger sweating, stylus breaking under the force of a thousand musical notes pulsing through my fingertips. Am I ready? 3-2-1-GO! Such was the constant assault attacking my DS for days on end from the rhythm game Elite Beat Agents. For over six months I pushed myself to the limit in a vigorous tap-happy extravaganza. Bowie, Jamiroquai and the Villiage People-I scoffed at your petty attempts to thwarts my agents selfless acts of choreographed heroism.
It wasn’t until I reached the final difficulty and took in the Elite Beat Divas that things got messy. Weeks of frantic screen tapping ensued and I swear sometimes I still hear Jumpin’ Jack Flash in my head when I close my eyes. But I did it, I beat every single song on every single difficulty and the Chief gave me the biggest thumbs up I’ve ever seen. Agents are go, Chief…agents are go.
And there you have it Geeks, just a few of the crowning moments for us here at the E-G. So how ’bout you let us know what gaming moments made you shout victory toward the gates of Valhalla?
Let’s see. I think for me it had to be when I was still in elementary school. One Saturday morning I got up at 6 or so, walked out to the family room, turned on the good old CRT TV and the NES, put in Duck Hunt and got to level 22. At a certain level in Duck Hunt, you get to a point where you can’t lose more than one duck or else it is game over, and that is what happened to me.
Another thing had to be from when I was 6-9 or so, and I would write down codes for games on everything from 8.5in x 11in sheets of paper, to sticky notes, to old McDonald’s Happy Meal bags (Ok, I need to finish that article soon; seeing as how this sentence is close to a sentence in that article). The codes consisted primarily of Bubble Bobble codes as I despise level 57. I hate it cause, you either have to have insane bubble bouncing ninja skills, or dumb luck. I have figured out a pattern for the level recently, but it is still hard. However the Arcade version doesn’t have this level, just the NES version. Also Bubble Bobble Plus doesn’t have the level as it is basically a port of the Arcade game, but with 3D models for Bub, Bob, and all the Baddies.
I am sure there is something else but this post is long enough. Gaming wise that is what made me a Video Gaming geek; Anime and other stuff is a whole different story.
I don’t think it’s wrong to say that, to this day, whenever I happen upon a worn out notecard with a NES Mega Man dot grid on it I shed one nostalgia tear. I bet someone could write a whole article on video game password screens…PATENT PENDING!
That would be interesting to see if someone could accomplish that. Man that is hundreds of code screens!
My article is more towards the nostalgia of cheat codes, and as of late the resurgence of codes in some games (I guess my procrastination actually paid off). I think I will leave out cameos since that is not really unlocking anything or continuing a game.
The only 2 times I can think of are when I got 4 bars on every song in Amplitude (I hate you David Bowie and Slipknot!) and when I completed the Endless Setlist 2 on Expert Guitar in RB… WITHOUT FAILING OR PAUSING! That is 84 straight songs, and took over 4 hours to complete. When I was finished, I had to shut my eyes for a while since all of the walls seemed like they were moving upward. At least the 7 trophies made it worth while (including my 3rd Platinum!)
I still have yet to do that on Rock Band. I know I can finish every song on expert, but that has to be rough.
Super props to Trevor and Oliver… those challenges are ridiculous!
I thought Trevor was going to break his touch screen because he was tapping so damn fast for that song. hahaha
We can at least confirm that DSlite screens are made of indestructible Nintendium.
I beat PJM for PSP in two days. Somehow I had time. Now I’m attempting to take on Zelda, but it is provoking strange angry outbursts that have never surfaced before…
Which Zelda? Cause that makes all the difference in determining how hard said game is.
I started Link’s Awakening recently when I dug that and Oracle Season/Ages out of an old box. For some reason I’m feeling that pull to sacrifice my life to the triforce gods.
I haven’t played Seasons/Ages, Or the two DS titles.
The once Zelda title I am having a little trouble with is MM, and that is just because I am getting a little lost, and I don’t like having to retrace my steps all the time (that is just because I am getting a bit lost and not beating the next dungeon and going on to the next one). However, I like MM, just it is a little frustrating, oh and Tingle is seriously a little scary in MM.
That is definitely the best and worst part about the game.