The Early Years of Gaming- My Fondest Moments as a Young Gamer (pt.2)

xXBChaceXx

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In the fall of 1995, my Dad brought home an amazing game that has ever since been very dear to me and to him as well. We still talk about it, and reminisce about how much fun we had playing it together. A game so amazing, that I still have a working copy of it to this day- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, my absolute favorite Mario game on the SNES, a game that sold over 4,000,000 copies due to its overwhelmingly positive reviews.

            Being the sequel to its predecessor, Yoshi’s Island was an entirely new experience for me. Instead of playing as the dynamic duo, Mario and Luigi, I instead, to my surprise, found them as helpless infants, taken from the delivery stork by the evil Magikoopa, Kamek. Luigi fell into her clutches, however, Baby Mario fell from the sky, just out of the witches grasp, and wound up deep within the haven of the Yoshi. A lone green Yoshi took Baby Mario into his care, and carried him across the many worlds that made up the vastness of Yoshi’s Island. This was only the opening cut scene. I knew from that moment, I was in for another great adventure.

The first level of any Mario game always pulled me in. The bright colors, smiling faces of the sun flowers, and an almost chalk-like aesthetic, with deep, well drawn lines; it felt like a dream world, a simple, yet, beautiful art style. The music, as with other Mario games, was up-beat, with a uniqueness that made it stand out from others in the series. I can still hear the tunes in my head; I even catch myself humming them every so often.

            I loved playing as a Yoshi, absolutely loved it. I couldn’t have been happier. Jumping, hovering, tossing spotted Yoshi eggs, the gameplay was so very different from other Mario games. There was always a sense of urgency, as any time I came in contact with an enemy, Baby Mario was flung from my Yoshi’s back, and let out ear-shattering cries until I retrieved him. The time counter started from 10, and steadily made its way to 0. Each and every time I lost him, my heart skipped a beat, I had to keep him safe, or otherwise, Kamek’s minions swoop down and take him. It always seemed that the difficulty of the enemies suddenly would increase the second I lost Baby Mario, which in itself, was entirely frustrating.

            Chucking Yoshi eggs, on the other hand, was probably the most satisfying part of the game. The crosshair would move up and down, back and forth, as Yoshi primed the egg, ready to fire at the unsuspecting Shy Guy or Piranha Plant. Initially, I found this mechanic a bit difficult to comprehend, however, as my Dad and I progressed through the game, it came with ease, as hitting even the most distant targets was fun and exciting.

My Dad and I played through the entirety of Yoshi’s Island together, taking turns whenever one of us lost a life. Back and forth the controller would go, as we made our progress through each of the varying worlds. With about eight levels per world, and a handful of challenging boss encounters, we had a tough journey ahead of us. But, we didn’t give up. We never gave up. We were determined to make it to the end, to save Luigi.

The final boss encounter, Baby Bowser, I had no idea what to expect at first. He wasn’t the fully fledged King Koopa yet, so, he couldn’t be that hard to defeat. Once I saw Kamek fly above him, showering him with her magic dust, I knew that my Dad and I were in for trouble.

 Baby Bowser grew to a massive size, shattering the castle foundations, leaving us upon unstable ground. Bowser was in the distance, his outline shining under the pale moonlight, terrifying, as he came for us at fast speeds. Yoshi eggs were our only weapon, and we flung them as he opened his mouth, knocking him back a great distance. Each time we landed a successful hit, the faster he came for us. It was intense. After a long, hard-fought battle, and several re-tries, we won. The stork returned Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to their guardians, and our adventure, and our quest, was completed.

Yoshi and Baby Mario’s adventure was a long one, but my Dad and I, after many play sessions, happily watched the credits role, anxious with anticipation for the next great adventure to be had.