Dear Chlorine

Dear Chlorine,

Just so you know, I am writing this when you are 1.5 years old (555 days to be exact). By the time you’re able to read this, you’ll have probably known that I like playing video games and I like playing them with friends, brothers, your mother, and most probably even you. I like sharing gaming experiences, and I actually enjoy playing games while someone is watching (ask Mommy how many times I forced her to watch me play). A lot of times these experiences get posted to Facebook, or Twitter, or Google+. By the time you’re reading this, though, Social Networking might have become obsolete (who knows?). And besides, they’re too cluttered with other posts such as check-ins, vacation photos, and many more.

So I decided to compile these gaming experiences into one blog, so that one day I get to share them with you, and so that as I play these games right now while you’re still a baby, I can play them as if I’m already showing them to a grown-up you.

In fact, I’ve taken the liberty to give you a temporary gaming nickname – Chlorine. Feel free to change it when you’re old enough.

Love,
Daddy


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Super Meat Boy Gameplay (Boss #1)

Dear Chlorine,

For this inaugural post, I decided to go back to the basics, and to what I would like to consider both my favorite and my forte – Platform games.

I grew up at the time when the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES, or the equivalent “Family Computer” as it was known here in the Philippines) was at its peak. Arguably the NES’s most popular game, Super Mario Brothers, was a Platform game.

A Platform game is a type of video game where the player – that’s you – controls a character and jumps from platform to platform to reach a destination. In the case of Mario, you control either Mario or his brother Luigi in a wild adventure to rescue a kidnapped princess.

The idea is very simple, yet Platform games, in my opinion, are the type of games that demand the best reflexes and skill.

At the height of my Super Mario Brothers gaming addiction, I was able to finish it without dying in about 10 minutes (I can’t remember the exact time, so maybe one day I’ll try to play this game again just to show you how it’s done).

Fast forward to 2013 (actually 2010, but I only played the game almost 3 years after its release). Super Meat Boy is an Indie platformer. It has references to many popular games, and it even includes characters from other Indie games (like Bit Runner or Might Jill Off). As you can see from its title, was heavily inspired by the Mario games (or at least I think it is).

You know what, I was really impressed with this game. Super Meat Boy is good because:

  1. It is VERY challenging. In Mario, my heart would stop every time I jump to a platform and only Mario’s tiptoe reaches the destination and I avoid dying by a hairline. In this game, that happens A LOT.
  2. It is straight to the point. No lengthy cinematics, no loading screens. No tips. When you die it goes back to the start and you’re free to move again.
  3. It is very fast paced and therefore exciting.
  4. Once you complete a level, it shows you a replay of ALL your attempts together in one go. It’s fun and you can even save your favorite ones.
  5. It is VERY challenging. Yes, this deserves a second entry.
  6. And maybe a third. It is VERY challenging.

Check out the first boss fight in this video (this is me playing):

Super Meat Boy Gameplay and First Boss

I’ve learned one thing from making the video above – I don’t do well under pressure. I finished this boss stage in less than five tries when I first played it, but now that I’m doing it while recording I failed miserably, many, many times.

You, on the other hand, should learn the simple yet invaluable life lesson:

Try and try until you succeed.

That’s it! From one generation to the next, I hope, like me, you grow up to appreciate and enjoy these kinds of games, and who knows, maybe one day you can finish Super Meat Boy without dying. >_<

Oh, and always remember that platform games are played with a game controller, not a keyboard. Super Meat Boy says it better, “[a] Gamepad isn’t required, but so is bathing. Think about it.”

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