Developer Diary #2: A New World

So... Where to start?

I'm a big video game junkie. It's started when I was 9, the day my cousin bought a NES with Super Mario Bros 2 and Trojan. It was just  a revolution for me. I didn't care much for Mario but Trojan was the real deal: a Mad Max adventure with swords and punks. I was amazed.

I think it defined my view on video games (and maybe my flaws). Trojan was not really good and the gameplay was clunky compared to SMB2. But the setting, the story and the characters were the best for me. And it was a real adventure. I guess it stuck: cool story, lovable characters, exciting adventure and fun and simple gameplay.

I was dreaming every nights about the NES and then the shock came: my parents brought me a Sega Master System for Christmas! I was so disappointed at first. For me, it was a sub-par console, the real thing was the NES!!! The sadness lasted 3 seconds, disappeared... and I was hooked: Alex Kidd in Miracle and Shinobi World, Wonder Boy 2 and 3, Y's, Golden Axe Warriors, Sonic... I was lucky that one of my friend's uncle was owning a Video Game store so he would lend me for free many games through the years. These were really cool times and I discovered many SMS games thanks to him.

Then, I don't know how it happened but my sister and I decided one day to buy a Super Nintendo. We withdrew all our money from our bank accounts (to my mother's dismay!) and brought the beast with Super Mario World. A new era of fantastic gaming and adventure began! The first game that really blew my mind was Super Castlevania IV. This game is a masterpiece. Everything is perfect except perhaps that it's a bit too easy. The Super Nintendo is also the console that made me discover a new side of gaming: import games. I didn't know anything about that, video games that would never be sold in my country! How? Why? There were so many masterpiece that never came in Europe! At that time, I really couldn't understand why...

Thankfully my local game store had many great japanese games. But there was one BIG obstacle to their enjoyment: the language. Actually, I tended to find games too easy and this turned out to be a way to rump up the difficulty (well, that's how I saw it at the time). It was actually a good thing as I now can read and understand a bit of japanese.

Well, the Super Nintendo era was like an orgy of enjoyment. I was really into RPGs and the SNES was the place to be in terms of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Shin Megami Tensei. Then came the Playstation Era...

Buma