The Nostalgia Thread (aka...I remember that!)

[te72]

No problem. Fun fact: GGA has the only known *working* Primal Rage 2 prototype available to play.

I was just talking to my brother tonight about Tekken 7. We played a lot of Tekken 2 and 3 for PSX back in the day and had a blast with it. I've been itching to play another Tekken, as I haven't played one since then.

Oddly enough, that was something that popped up while looking into GGA, was the Primal Rage 2 that they have. Supposedly one of only two boards known to exist... I absolutely loved the original, I mean what is cooler than dinosaurs in a fighting game to an 11 year old in 1994? I'll give you a hint... nothing.

And Tekken 7? I played countless hours of the first 3 and Tag, but something about 4 rubbed me the wrong way. Played 5 for a bit about 2005, 2006, somewhere in there, and even with a nice Hori stick that I picked up bundled with the game on ebay, I got my rear handed to me. I was rusty, to say the least. What once was second nature became embarrassingly difficult. Anyone else have that issue with an old fighting game? Or was Tekken 5 just difficult?

got back into the series with Trilogy (N64 at the time, though i now own both versions). having all the characters from the outset was all i cared about. just purchased MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero off eBay. i remember LOVING the idea of it when it came out, but was pretty underwhelmed by the actual game. a friend had it, i never owned it, so i thought it was time to re-evaluate.

i have literally not played a MK game newer than Trilogy. the move to 3d turned me off and the constant influx of new characters makes it damn near impossible to jump back in.

Strange, you picked up Mythologies more recently? I'm with you on loving the idea, it could have made for an excellent brawler, had it been made by someone else. As is, platforming brawler MK move set... not really a good combo. How do you feel it held up?

Also, pick up MK9, the one that came out in 2011 for the PS3/X360. It's a solid recommendation if you love the original games.

on the candy tip:

not really that old, maybe 10 years ago, but i've really had a hankering for these lately:

i only remember the 7-up version of this, but maybe others remember the rest:

Aren't those Oompas just what we used to call Runts back in the day? They look awfully similar, which is to say tasty.

Can't say I've ever seen the bubble gum soda flavored things though. Were they good? I'm a bit confused as to the logistics of such a candy though, soda, encased in bubble gum??? Madness I tell you!

[Kombatologist]

MK2 was my first *REAL* exposure to the series. i had heard of Mortal Kombat, but no place near me had the arcade machines, and none of my friends had it.

it seemed like MK2 was EVERYWHERE though, and i instantly fell in love. Scorpion and Johnny Cage were always my favorites.

MK3 was a let down for me because of the roster. both of my favorite characters, along with Reptile, were nowhere to be found. never played Ultimate MK3.

got back into the series with Trilogy (N64 at the time, though i now own both versions). having all the characters from the outset was all i cared about. just purchased MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero off eBay. i remember LOVING the idea of it when it came out, but was pretty underwhelmed by the actual game. a friend had it, i never owned it, so i thought it was time to re-evaluate.

i have literally not played a MK game newer than Trilogy. the move to 3d turned me off and the constant influx of new characters makes it damn near impossible to jump back in.

Funny you mention not seeing MK1 anywhere. It was nearly the same for me. I think I only ever saw it at two places -- the first being at my mom's work as mentioned above, and the other being at a camping resort years later. The one at my mom's work was a dedicated cabinet, but the other was not.

I first saw MK3 at a mall while visiting some cousins in San Jose about an hour and a half away. I remember being a little disappointed by the new graphics, but I was excited to finally see it. While it didn't suck me in quite like MK1 and II did, I ended up playing a lot of it in the arcade and on consoles. UMK3 was a much needed upgrade. It pretty much made up for all of MK3's shortcomings in the gameplay department. I never did like the way the finishing moves looked, but it was the first time I appreciated a MK game for its actual gameplay. And it was the best in the series until until MK9/MKX.

I'm one of the few people who actually liked Sub-Zero: Mythologies. The control took a bit of getting used to -- having to press a button to turn around and all -- and the acting was cringe-worthy, but I had a good time with it. It also introduced Quan Chi to the series. The outtakes video you get after defeating Shinnok's second form is pretty hilarious as well.

te72 is absolutely right. You should definitely play MK9. As miketheratguy already stated, it was a love letter to fans of the classic MK games. I think you will be pleased with the story mode. It's about 7 hours of excellence. The gameplay is also 2.5D, so none of that sidestep crap. If you use Steam at all, I have a spare code for Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition if you want it. Message me if so.

Back to candy:

Haha, sorry E-Day. Too much MK for your tastes?

Oddly enough, that was something that popped up while looking into GGA, was the Primal Rage 2 that they have. Supposedly one of only two boards known to exist... I absolutely loved the original, I mean what is cooler than dinosaurs in a fighting game to an 11 year old in 1994? I'll give you a hint... nothing.

And Tekken 7? I played countless hours of the first 3 and Tag, but something about 4 rubbed me the wrong way. Played 5 for a bit about 2005, 2006, somewhere in there, and even with a nice Hori stick that I picked up bundled with the game on ebay, I got my rear handed to me. I was rusty, to say the least. What once was second nature became embarrassingly difficult. Anyone else have that issue with an old fighting game? Or was Tekken 5 just difficult?

Primal Rage was awesome. I would love to play that PR2 prototype, but the best chance of that ever happening is if it were playable in MAME. Unfortunately, it's not. :(

And yep, Tekken 7. It was released in Japanese arcades last year. It's supposedly coming to PS4 at some point, but there's no set release date.

[miketheratguy]

I'm going to combine the discussion of morbid video games and candy into a post about morbid candy.

Side note: bubble gum with a liquid 7Up center sounds absolutely nauseating.

[dawnofhero]

Got drinks on the mind, ha.

[twiztor]

Strange, you picked up Mythologies more recently? I'm with you on loving the idea, it could have made for an excellent brawler, had it been made by someone else. As is, platforming brawler MK move set... not really a good combo. How do you feel it held up?

Also, pick up MK9, the one that came out in 2011 for the PS3/X360. It's a solid recommendation if you love the original games.

Aren't those Oompas just what we used to call Runts back in the day? They look awfully similar, which is to say tasty.

Can't say I've ever seen the bubble gum soda flavored things though. Were they good? I'm a bit confused as to the logistics of such a candy though, soda, encased in bubble gum??? Madness I tell you!

haven't played Mythologies yet, i had ordered it off eBay literally the day before i was reading all the MK posts.

Runts are still around. they're smaller and a hard candy. the Oompas had a shell but were a chewy candy.

yeah, the 7up gum had a juicy 7up center so you got a squirt of it when you bit into it. i remember loving them, but what the hell did i know, i was 7.

I'm one of the few people who actually liked Sub-Zero: Mythologies. The control took a bit of getting used to -- having to press a button to turn around and all -- and the acting was cringe-worthy, but I had a good time with it. It also introduced Quan Chi to the series. The outtakes video you get after defeating Shinnok's second form is pretty hilarious as well.

te72 is absolutely right. You should definitely play MK9. As miketheratguy already stated, it was a love letter to fans of the classic MK games. I think you will be pleased with the story mode. It's about 7 hours of excellence. The gameplay is also 2.5D, so none of that sidestep crap. If you use Steam at all, I have a spare code for Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition if you want it. Message me if so.

re: MK9. pretty sure i've got no system that will play it. the only consoles i've got that aren't retro are PS2 and a Wii-U.

looking forward to getting and playing Mythologies tho, will definitely chime in once it shows up at the door.

I'm going to combine the discussion of morbid video games and candy into a post about morbid candy.

Side note: bubble gum with a liquid 7Up center sounds absolutely nauseating.

whoa! i forgot all about the Mr. Bones candies. used to LOVE those things.

[te72]

I'm one of the few people who actually liked Sub-Zero: Mythologies. The control took a bit of getting used to -- having to press a button to turn around and all -- and the acting was cringe-worthy, but I had a good time with it. It also introduced Quan Chi to the series. The outtakes video you get after defeating Shinnok's second form is pretty hilarious as well.

te72 is absolutely right. You should definitely play MK9. As miketheratguy already stated, it was a love letter to fans of the classic MK games. I think you will be pleased with the story mode. It's about 7 hours of excellence.

Primal Rage was awesome. I would love to play that PR2 prototype, but the best chance of that ever happening is if it were playable in MAME. Unfortunately, it's not. :(

Is that outtake video as funny as the hidden video in the PS2 launch title classic, Summoner? I cast magic missile!

Full disclosure, I played the demo of MK9, bought the Komplete version... and have yet to even open it. Sometime between 2011 and 2015, I've been incredibly busy with "grown up" stuff. But I will get around to it, perhaps after finishing the last of the Monkey Island games.

As for Primal Rage 2, that would be a great way for Atari to rake in some quick cash, polish it up and sell it digitally for $5. Well worth my quarters...

haven't played Mythologies yet, i had ordered it off eBay literally the day before i was reading all the MK posts.

re: MK9. pretty sure i've got no system that will play it. the only consoles i've got that aren't retro are PS2 and a Wii-U.

looking forward to getting and playing Mythologies tho, will definitely chime in once it shows up at the door.

You know, I'm actually pretty interested to know what you think, from a current perspective. I didn't much care for it myself, but it was at the height of Mortal Kombat mania, and it just didn't sit well with me. Perhaps time will have done the game some favors.

As for the newer MK games, they might be available on Wii U, but I wouldn't know. PS3 is as new as I've gotten so far.

[miketheratguy]

I'm one of the few people who actually liked Sub-Zero: Mythologies. The control took a bit of getting used to -- having to press a button to turn around and all -- and the acting was cringe-worthy, but I had a good time with it. It also introduced Quan Chi to the series. The outtakes video you get after defeating Shinnok's second form is pretty hilarious as well.

te72 is absolutely right. You should definitely play MK9. As miketheratguy already stated, it was a love letter to fans of the classic MK games. I think you will be pleased with the story mode. It's about 7 hours of excellence. The gameplay is also 2.5D, so none of that sidestep crap.

I liked the concept of MK Mythologies a lot, especially since Sub Zero was my favorite MK character. Pressing a button to change the direction that you're facing wasn't too bad, but the rest of the game controlled poorly in my opinion. Pressing up to jump is incredibly awkward in a side-scrolling game (especially one that requires a boatload of precise platform landings) and when you pair that with really sloppily designed, super cheap and nigh-unavoidable death trap level design, you have a recipe for extreme frustration. I didn't hate the game, and I feel that it's got a certain unique charm, but to me the gameplay itself was just too crappy to really have a lot of fun with. AVGN recently put out a review of the game that was, in my opinion, completely spot-on.

I forgot about the story mode of MK9, that really is worth mentioning. I was surprised by it, not only by how long it was but also by how well-made it was. It really invents a whole new and interesting mythology for the first three games in the series, dropping you into loads of fun fights populated by surprisingly good acting. Couple that with an addicting unlockable system and a crazy long challenge mode and you have a really solid Mortal Kombat package. It looks and plays great too!

whoa! i forgot all about the Mr. Bones candies. used to LOVE those things.

Ah, I was hoping that someone would remember those. I don't know what was better: the fact that you had a little candy skeleton that you could piece together or the fact that you were left with a neat little plastic coffin to put MUSCLE men in or something.

[baphoon]

This cartoon always brings back memories of being a kid.

This one reminds me of junior high

These completely remind me of my high school years

[miketheratguy]

This one reminds me of junior high...

I like the style of that post. The whole childhood / junior high / high school thing was neat, I'm going to have to do one of those myself in this thread. Also nice to see yet another old-school rasslin' fan here.

- Unless you've looked into this and discovered the same thing already yourself, the Captain N cartoon does NOT hold up. ....icus.

[Kombatologist]

Is that outtake video as funny as the hidden video in the PS2 launch title classic, Summoner? I cast magic missile!

Full disclosure, I played the demo of MK9, bought the Komplete version... and have yet to even open it. Sometime between 2011 and 2015, I've been incredibly busy with "grown up" stuff. But I will get around to it, perhaps after finishing the last of the Monkey Island games.

As for Primal Rage 2, that would be a great way for Atari to rake in some quick cash, polish it up and sell it digitally for $5. Well worth my quarters...

I don't think I've played Summoner. I'll have to check it out on YouTube.

Primal Rage definitely needs to make a comeback. It wasn't the greatest fighting game, but it was a good time nonetheless. I bought a factory sealed DOS version back in the early 2000s for like $10 before the retro gaming craze inflated prices. I've always wanted to get it for Saturn, too, but not for the ridiculous prices people are asking for it.

I liked the concept of MK Mythologies a lot, especially since Sub Zero was my favorite MK character. Pressing a button to change the direction that you're facing wasn't too bad, but the rest of the game controlled poorly in my opinion. Pressing up to jump is incredibly awkward in a side-scrolling game (especially one that requires a boatload of precise platform landings) and when you pair that with really sloppily designed, super cheap and nigh-unavoidable death trap level design, you have a recipe for extreme frustration. I didn't hate the game, and I feel that it's got a certain unique charm, but to me the gameplay itself was just too crappy to really have a lot of fun with. AVGN recently put out a review of the game that was, in my opinion, completely spot-on.

I forgot about the story mode of MK9, that really is worth mentioning. I was surprised by it, not only by how long it was but also by how well-made it was. It really invents a whole new and interesting mythology for the first three games in the series, dropping you into loads of fun fights populated by surprisingly good acting. Couple that with an addicting unlockable system and a crazy long challenge mode and you have a really solid Mortal Kombat package. It looks and plays great too!

Mythologies definitely wasn't perfect. I got frustrated with it on numerous occasions. I've always been the kind of gamer that enjoys a challenge, though. That, coupled with the fact that it was based in the MK universe, is what kept me engrossed. I saw that AVGN video. It was hilarious, and spot-on like you said. Those environmental death traps were no joke.

[miketheratguy]

Is that outtake video as funny as the hidden video in the PS2 launch title classic, Summoner? I cast magic missile!

How did I miss this? That was one of the best Easter eggs in video game history. Summoner was already a good game to begin with, that ode to complete dorkiness was just the icing on the cake.

I don't think I've played Summoner. I'll have to check it out on YouTube.

Primal Rage definitely needs to make a comeback. It wasn't the greatest fighting game, but it was a good time nonetheless. I bought a factory sealed DOS version back in the early 2000s for like $10 before the retro gaming craze inflated prices. I've always wanted to get it for Saturn, too, but not for the ridiculous prices people are asking for it.

Mythologies definitely wasn't perfect. I got frustrated with it on numerous occasions. I've always been the kind of gamer that enjoys a challenge, though. That, coupled with the fact that it was based in the MK universe, is what kept me engrossed. I saw that AVGN video. It was hilarious, and spot-on like you said. Those environmental death traps were no joke.

Primal Rage was a good time, even if the fatality controls were kind of awkward (I could never really get behind the idea of holding two buttons that sit diagonally from each other and then moving the joystick back and forth. It seemed weird). It was worth it to watch an ape pee on a dinosaur to death though.

I thought that MK Mythology was decent and had potential, it was just the combination of sloppy controls and super-precise platforming (and trap avoiding) that killed it for me. Probably still better than Special Forces though, which I luckily managed to avoid.

[twiztor]

I like the style of that post. The whole childhood / junior high / high school thing was neat, I'm going to have to do one of those myself in this thread. Also nice to see yet another old-school rasslin' fan here.

- Unless you've looked into this and discovered the same thing already yourself, the Captain N cartoon does NOT hold up. ....icus.

i still love the Captain N cartoon. i've been watching it as recently as this week.

i wish Nintendo would release Amiibos of Captain N and Simon Belmont so i could complete my collection.

another old school wrestling fan checking in. if it's any time between 1985 (first WrestleMania) and 2001 (death of WCW & ECW), i probably love it. stopped following the current stuff about 2005. still have a bunch of friends into it, so i am able to keep tabs on what's happening.

[miketheratguy]

i still love the Captain N cartoon. i've been watching it as recently as this week.

i wish Nintendo would release Amiibos of Captain N and Simon Belmont so i could complete my collection.

another old school wrestling fan checking in. if it's any time between 1985 (first WrestleMania) and 2001 (death of WCW & ECW), i probably love it. stopped following the current stuff about 2005. still have a bunch of friends into it, so i am able to keep tabs on what's happening.

I used to LOVE Captain N as a kid. When I try to watch it now though, ugh. I'd forgotten the fact that Mega Man sounds like a sixty year-old man and prefixes everything with the word "mega", Kid Icarus sounds like a runty dweeb who says "-icus" after everything, and Simon Belmont was needlessly changed into an overtanned narcissist with a magic utility pack and aviation goggles.The baddies were pretty decent and the princess was still crazy hot, I'll give them that.

Ah, I'm surprised to find myself amidst a field of fellow grappling fans. I'm right there with you, pretty much all of the golden age (80s and early 90s) and Monday Night Wars (late 90s) are where my interest is focused. I do like the first few years of the 00s, at least where WWE is concerned, but I started becoming really indifferent to the product by the mid 2000s and by Wrestlemania 25 became so disgusted with how terrible it all was that I literally just quit watching and never went back. I've seen a few combined hours of a couple recent Wrestlemanias and part of the episode of Raw where Bret came back and that's it. Probably six total hours over the last six years. Like you I used to get updates from friends who watched, but then I continued to grow so irritated by what I heard that I began simply looking at results on Wikipedia every month or so. Now it's down to the rare quick glance of news on Bleacher Report and I can hardly even work up the enthusiasm to do that anymore.

I grew up a hardcore WWF mark in the late 80s. I watched the Megapowers split live at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. I was astonished when Mr. Fuji turned on Demolition and joined the Powers of Pain. I went crazy with excitement when Ted Dibiase unveiled The Undertaker. I miss the straightforward backstage promos, silly wrestler debut videos, and the days when "Survivor Series" meant something and there weren't 72 pay-per-views a year. Idunno man. Everything had become too different, too terrible by the end of the 00s. Too many guest hosts, twenty minute in-ring soliloquies, magical comedy leprechauns, and "diva" battle royals (won by overtly cross-dressing males to ensure that our time is wasted AND our intelligence insulted) for my tastes. Forget the crap, forget the Domino's shilling, social media ratings and braindead go-nowhere booking and give me Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes or Curt Hennig vs. Bret Hart any day.

[twiztor]

yep, agreed on all accounts. i still watch the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania every year (actually i'll miss the Rumble for the first time this year) and every year i was getting upset at the terrible booking decisions they were making, pushing the wrong guys, etc. that i really felt personally insulted every year. now that i'm a few years divorced from paying attention to it, it is just a source of amusement at how bad they do EVERYTHING. i find WrestleMania WAY more enjoyable with a few stiff drinks and no vested interest than i had in years. the Rumble is still fun, just to see who will come out next. the winner is usually eye-rollingly obvious, but it's the journey that matters, not the destination.

the last wrestling thing that REALLY got me interested was in 2005? 2006? when they had the first ECW One Night Stand tribute PPV. easily the best show they'd put on in years. i think they tried to bring ECW back as a "brand" the following year and it was all sorts of terrible.

for the last couple years, i've actually gone back and am watching the attitude era in real time. every monday night, i watch the corresponding episode of both Nitro and Raw. i catch Thunder and the weekend shows when i can, and the PPVs at the time they happened. i started with the first Nitro (september 1995) and am now up to January 1999. it's a hell of a thing, reliving memories, discovering new favorites, and just having a new outlook on angles and talent.

re: Captain N.

yeah, i have NO idea how they messed up all the video characters on that show. Kid Icarus adding "icus" at the end of all those words doesn't even make sense, but it makes me laugh so it doesn't bother me. always liked Mega Man's voice tho, so as far as i'm concerned that's how he should sound. i've got no defense of Belmont.

[te72]

Early childhood:

Later childhood:

Middle school:

High school:

[baphoon]

I like the style of that post. The whole childhood / junior high / high school thing was neat, I'm going to have to do one of those myself in this thread. Also nice to see yet another old-school rasslin' fan here.

- Unless you've looked into this and discovered the same thing already yourself, the Captain N cartoon does NOT hold up. ....icus.

Yes old school wrestling was the best. All the rivalries and wrestlers swapping from WWF to WCW. I have recently been playing some of the newer games WWE2K15 & 16 they just don't feel the same as the old N64 games man I loved those games. In HS my two best friends and I would always get together on Monday nights my mom would order us pizza and we would watch Monday Night Nitro afterwords we would play WCW NWO World Tour for hours and all end up exhausted at school the next day. We would then repeat the process on Thursdays for WCW Thursday Night Thunder on TBS. On weekends we would play Mario Kart and Mario Party. Ah the memories great times makes me miss them life was so much easier then. And yes Kid Icarus was bad but I have to laugh more and Mega Man and his awful voice what were they thinking? MEGA HI!!!

[baphoon]

Early childhood:

Later childhood:

Middle school:

High school:

Great picks! I loved Suikoden the theme music to the intro video I used to let it just play in a loop. Still to this day gives me chills.

[baphoon]

I don't think I've played Summoner. I'll have to check it out on YouTube.

Primal Rage definitely needs to make a comeback. It wasn't the greatest fighting game, but it was a good time nonetheless. I bought a factory sealed DOS version back in the early 2000s for like $10 before the retro gaming craze inflated prices. I've always wanted to get it for Saturn, too, but not for the ridiculous prices people are asking for it.

Mythologies definitely wasn't perfect. I got frustrated with it on numerous occasions. I've always been the kind of gamer that enjoys a challenge, though. That, coupled with the fact that it was based in the MK universe, is what kept me engrossed. I saw that AVGN video. It was hilarious, and spot-on like you said. Those environmental death traps were no joke.

Primal Rage 2 actually exists there is a arcade here in Illinois I have yet to visit its about 4 hours away from me. I need to play a trip soon to check it out. Here is an article about it if you want to take a look http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/23/5834750/primal-rage-2-arcade-video

I believe you can get it also in MAME however I don't think it plays very well from what I remember.

[Phillyman]

Remember this classic?

[miketheratguy]

yep, agreed on all accounts. i still watch the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania every year (actually i'll miss the Rumble for the first time this year) and every year i was getting upset at the terrible booking decisions they were making, pushing the wrong guys, etc. that i really felt personally insulted every year. now that i'm a few years divorced from paying attention to it, it is just a source of amusement at how bad they do EVERYTHING. i find WrestleMania WAY more enjoyable with a few stiff drinks and no vested interest than i had in years. the Rumble is still fun, just to see who will come out next. the winner is usually eye-rollingly obvious, but it's the journey that matters, not the destination.

the last wrestling thing that REALLY got me interested was in 2005? 2006? when they had the first ECW One Night Stand tribute PPV. easily the best show they'd put on in years. i think they tried to bring ECW back as a "brand" the following year and it was all sorts of terrible.

for the last couple years, i've actually gone back and am watching the attitude era in real time. every monday night, i watch the corresponding episode of both Nitro and Raw. i catch Thunder and the weekend shows when i can, and the PPVs at the time they happened. i started with the first Nitro (september 1995) and am now up to January 1999. it's a hell of a thing, reliving memories, discovering new favorites, and just having a new outlook on angles and talent.

re: Captain N.

yeah, i have NO idea how they messed up all the video characters on that show. Kid Icarus adding "icus" at the end of all those words doesn't even make sense, but it makes me laugh so it doesn't bother me. always liked Mega Man's voice tho, so as far as i'm concerned that's how he should sound. i've got no defense of Belmont.

Lol there IS no defense for Simon Belmont. Interesting take on Mega Man's voice though. I guess there's really no reason to think that he wouldn't have that particular voice.

The Rumble used to be my favorite PPV. I loved the unpredictability and the excitement of seeing who came out next, like you said. But three things have slowly been integrated into the Rumble to make it an irritating shadow of its former self (at least for me). First, as you pointed out, the winners are always eye-rollingly obvious now. Second (and this ties into that first point), you can pretty much always count on the big returning superstar to win. Ever since the Rumble veered away from the relatively unpredictable "anyone can win" scenario and changed from an exhibition into a story-oriented stepping stone to Wrestlemania, the whole thing has felt like more like just another choreographed, pre-planned pay-per-view meant to further an overall story. Remember when people like Hacksaw Jim Duggan could win, and Hogan got two wins in a row for no particular reason (one of which was when he was already champion)? I miss those days.

The last thing that bugs the hell out of me about the Rumble is the gimmicky way that they play fast and loose with their own internal logic. It used to be that elimination meant hitting the floor. Then it was changed to both feet hitting the floor, which was exploited for Rumble '95 when Shawn Michaels pulled off his one-footed comeback and last-second win. In 97 Steve Austin was thrown out but "the refs didn't see it" so he was allowed to jump back in and win. In 98 or 99 Steve Austin and Vince Mcmahon literally jumped out through the ropes (or rolled under them, one of the two) and ran around the arena for half an hour before eventually hopping back into the ring. Hell, I think Mcmahon even kicked back for a while to do commentary. Now we've got guys hiding under the ring and waiting to enter until the match is almost over, other guys jumping outside the ring but landing on something other than the floor and jumping back in (or landing on their hands and simply walking themselves back in). This stuff might be kind of neat for a short-term pop but to me it feels like it's ruined the Rumble over the long-term. These little bends of the rules set a precedent - I mean, what's to stop someone from wheeling out a lawnchair with him when he comes to ringside, landing on it when he gets thrown out, and then just chilling there with his hands behind his head as he sits and watches the rest of the match unfold until the last opponent remains? After all, his feet never touched the floor. Or, taking the 98 / 99 route, why not just enter the ring, immediately roll under the ropes, head back to the dressing room, and read the newspaper until there's just the final guy in the ring to fight? Again, I feel that it's lazy and shortsighted to bend their own internal logic like this. They may think that it makes the event more exciting, and I guess to some it does, but for me I'm just sitting here shaking my head and thinking "what was wrong with 'over the top rope, every man for himself'"?

Bah. To wrap up my thoughts I'll just say this: I don't drink myself, but even I can see how the current product would be more enjoyable to watch while sipping on a cold one and laughing at how ridiculous it is.

I don't even know where to begin with regards to your going back and watching every Nitro in order every week. That's some admirable dedication, and I imagine that it must be an awesome time. At least it will be until you get to around 2000 or so.

Middle school:

Suikoden was the SHIT! I never finished the game but I loved what I played of it. To this day I'm still looking for any other game that replicates the "recruit tons of guys to fulfill specific purposes in your ever-expanding headquarters" gimmick. I loved that angle but have never seen another title that offers that kind of goal.

Yes old school wrestling was the best. All the rivalries and wrestlers swapping from WWF to WCW. I have recently been playing some of the newer games WWE2K15 & 16 they just don't feel the same as the old N64 games man I loved those games. In HS my two best friends and I would always get together on Monday nights my mom would order us pizza and we would watch Monday Night Nitro afterwords we would play WCW NWO World Tour for hours and all end up exhausted at school the next day. We would then repeat the process on Thursdays for WCW Thursday Night Thunder on TBS. On weekends we would play Mario Kart and Mario Party. Ah the memories great times makes me miss them life was so much easier then. And yes Kid Icarus was bad but I have to laugh more and Mega Man and his awful voice what were they thinking? MEGA HI!!!

I'm pretty sure that one of the main reasons why I was invited to playtest WWE 2K14 was because I was such a vocal fan of old-school wrestling on the THQ forums. They knew that the game would be right up my alley. Needless to say I and the rest of the playtest group was not invited back for any of the subsequent games, and from what I've seen of them I don't think that I'm missing much. I'm with you, I think that nothing can really beat the older wrestling titles (though I DID in fact love 2K14, the last wrestling game that I've truly and deeply enjoyed). I never played the N64 titles during their heyday because I only had a Playstation at the time, though this meant that I WAS able to get into games like Warzone (with its insanely exciting create-a-wrestler feature) and WCW Nitro. I hear that No Mercy was one of the best wrestling games ever but I wasn't able to play it when it was new and now have a hard time getting into its clunky graphics and interface. I regret that I missed out on that one.

It sounds like you had a really cool wrestling tradition, getting pizza and watching the shows then playing the games. I wish I'd done something similar back then. That reminds me of how I used to be treated to McDonalds and a NES game rental every Friday after school when I was a kid. Memories like those are the best.

[baphoon]

Lol there IS no defense for Simon Belmont.Interesting take on Mega Man's voice though. I guess there's really no reason to think that he wouldn't have that particular voice.

The Rumble used to be my favorite PPV. I loved the unpredictability and the excitement of seeing who came out next, like you said. But three things have slowly been integrated into the Rumble to make it an irritating shadow of its former self (at least for me). First, as you pointed out, the winners are always eye-rollingly obvious now. Second (and this ties into that first point), you can pretty much always count on the big returning superstar to win. Ever since the Rumble veered away from the relatively unpredictable "anyone can win" scenario and changed from an exhibition into a story-oriented stepping stone to Wrestlemania, the whole thing has felt like more like just another choreographed, pre-planned pay-per-view meant to further an overall story. Remember when people like Hacksaw Jim Duggan could win, and Hogan got two wins in a row for no particular reason? I miss those days.

The last thing that bugs the hell out of me about the Rumble is the gimmicky way that they play fast and loose with their own internal logic. It used to be that elimination meant hitting the floor. Then it was changed to both feet hitting the floor, which was exploited for Rumble '95 when Shawn Michaels pulled off his last-second win. In 97 Steve Austin was thrown out but "the refs didn't see it" so he was allowed to jump back in and win. In 98 or 99 they had Steve Austin and Vince Mcmahon literally rolled out underneath the bottom ropes and ran around the arena for half an hour before eventually hopping back into the ring. Hell, I think Mcmahon even kicked back for a while to do commentary. Now we've got guys hiding under the ring and waiting to enter until the match is almost over, other guys jumping outside the ring but landing on something other than the floor and jumping back in (or landing on their hands and simply walking themselves back in). I mean, this stuff might be kind of neat for a short-term pop but to me it feels like it's ruined the Rumble over the long-term. These little bends of the rules set a precedent - I mean, what's to stop someone from wheeling a lawn chair to ringside, landing on it when he gets thrown out, and just chilling there with a cold drink as he sits and watches the rest of the match unfold until the last opponent remains? After all, his feet never touched the floor. Or, taking the 98 / 99 route, why not just enter, immediately roll under the ropes, head back to the dressing room, and not bother coming back out to ringside until there's just the final guy in the ring to fight? Again, I feel that it's lazy and shortsighted to bend their own internal logic like this. They may think that it makes the event more exciting, and I guess to some it does, but for me I'm just sitting here shaking my head and thinking "what was wrong with 'over the top rope, every man for himself'"?

Bah. To wrap up my thoughts I'll just say this: I don't drink myself, but even I can see how the current product would be more enjoyable to watch while sipping on a cold one and laughing at how ridiculous it is.

I don't even know where to begin with regards to your going back and watching every Nitro in order every week. That's some admirable dedication, and I imagine that it must be an awesome time. At least it will be until you get to around 2000 or so.

Suikoden was the SHIT! I never finished the game but I loved what I played of it. To this day I'm still looking for any other game that replicates the "recruit tons of guys to fulfill specific purposes in your ever-expanding headquarters" gimmick. I loved that angle but have never seen another title that offers that kind of goal.

I'm pretty sure that one of the main reasons why I was invited to playtest WWE 2K14 was because I was such a vocal fan of old-school wrestling on the THQ forums. They knew that the game would be right up my alley. Needless to say I and the rest of the playtest group was not invited back for any of the subsequent games, and from what I've seen of them I don't think that I'm missing much. I'm with you, I think that nothing can really beat the older wrestling titles (though I DID in fact love 2K14, the last wrestling game that I've truly and deeply enjoyed). I never played the N64 titles during their heyday because I only had a Playstation at the time, though this meant that I WAS able to get into games like Warzone (with its insanely exciting create-a-wrestler feature) and WCW Nitro. I hear that No Mercy was one of the best wrestling games ever but I wasn't able to play it when it was new and now have a hard time getting into its clunky graphics and interface. I regret that I missed out on that one.

It sounds like you had a really cool wrestling tradition, getting pizza and watching the shows then playing the games. I wish I'd done something similar back then. That reminds me of how I used to be treated to McDonalds and a NES game rental every Friday after school when I was a kid. Memories like those are the best.

Your childhood sounds much like mine. When I was younger I would say 8 years old I would come home from school on Friday to a 10.00 bill and a trip to either McDonalds or Hardees (Carl Jr's). The 10.00 would rent 2 NES games from Friday to Sunday. Many times I would have beaten a game by Saturday and the guy at the local video store then called Movie Time Video would let me swap it for something else till Sunday. After awhile he quit doing that because he claims he was loosing to much money on me lol. Once my sister got a job at 16 I quit renting games because every Friday I would come home and hit power on the NES and it would already have a brand new game loaded up for me to play. I was a bit spoiled as a kid by my sister she continued this tradition well into the SNES beginning years also.

[miketheratguy]

Your childhood sounds much like mine. When I was younger I would say 8 years old I would come home from school on Friday to a 10.00 bill and a trip to either McDonalds or Hardees (Carl Jr's). The 10.00 would rent 2 NES games from Friday to Sunday. Many times I would have beaten a game by Saturday and the guy at the local video store then called Movie Time Video would let me swap it for something else till Sunday. After awhile he quit doing that because he claims he was loosing to much money on me lol. Once my sister got a job at 16 I quit renting games because every Friday I would come home and hit power on the NES and it would already have a brand new game loaded up for me to play. I was a bit spoiled as a kid by my sister she continued this tradition well into the SNES beginning years also.

That's awesome, it sounds almost exactly like how things were for me. I'd say that I was around 10 or 11 when my parents began the tradition of simply picking me up from school, driving me to rent a game from a place called The Sweat Shop (so named because their primary intended source of income was selling sweatshirts that you could decorate with puffy paint. So 80s!) and then swinging me through McDonalds for my beloved french fries. Every weekend was magical, except for the ones when I happened to choose a game that sucked. But for every Kid Kool or The Simpsons there was Startropics or Final Fantasy. And I'll never forget the holidays of 1990 when I went out of my way (and out of my mind) to get on the waiting list to rent Mega Man 3 and Maniac Mansion, two of my all-time top favorite video games of all time.

Your sister sounds pretty cool. I have an older sister but let's just say that my relationship with her was never as tight as it sounds like yours was.

[baphoon]

That's awesome, it sounds almost exactly like how things were for me. I'd say that I was around 10 or 11 when my parents began the tradition of simply picking me up from school, driving me to rent a game from a place called The Sweat Shop (so named because their primary intended source of income was selling sweatshirts that you could decorate with puffy paint. So 80s!) and then swinging me through McDonalds for my beloved french fries. Every weekend was magical, except for the ones when I happened to choose a game that sucked. But for every Kid Kool or The Simpsons there was Startropics or Final Fantasy. And I'll never forget the holidays of 1990 when I went out of my way (and out of my mind) to get on the waiting list to rent Mega Man 3 and Maniac Mansion, two of my all-time top favorite video games of all time.

Your sister sounds pretty cool. I have an older sister but let's just say that my relationship with her was never as tight as it sounds like yours was.

Mega Man my all time top favorite game series (hence my profile pic). I remember the Friday I booted up to Mega Man 3 I almost exploded I remember the first level I played Snake Man! You and I could have been best friends as kids lol.

[miketheratguy]

Mega Man my all time top favorite game series (hence my profile pic). I remember the Friday I booted up to Mega Man 3 I almost exploded I remember the first level I played Snake Man! You and I could have been best friends as kids lol.

Lol yeah we probably would have been. I had already loved Mega Man 2 (like most kids my age) so I was looking forward with great excitement to Mega Man 3. But The Sweat Shop allowed a waiting list of reservations, so even though I'd anticipated getting the game a few days after it released it turned out that a lot more people had reserved it ahead of time and I had to wait like two weeks before I finally got to play it. When I did though, oh man. The memories. Snake Man's stage is definitely a standout (though my personal favorite is Gemini Man's) and the graphics and soundtrack blew me away. It took me many years to come to the difficult conclusion that the third game is my favorite in the series, though I think that deep down I always sort of knew.

[baphoon]

Lol yeah we probably would have been. I had already loved Mega Man 2 (like most kids my age) so I was looking forward with great excitement to Mega Man 3. But The Sweat Shop allowed a waiting list of reservations, so even though I'd anticipated getting the game a few days after it released it turned out that a lot more people had reserved it ahead of time and I had to wait like two weeks before I finally got to play it. When I did though, oh man. The memories. Snake Man's stage is definitely a standout (though my personal favorite is Gemini Man's) and the graphics and soundtrack blew me away. It took me many years to come to the difficult conclusion that the third game is my favorite in the series, though I think that deep down I always sort of knew.

I remember being on waiting lists at our local Family Video and Pony Express Videos for games. Mega Man 3 was definitely a step above for graphics and sound. My favorite in the series had to be Mega Man 2 I have played through that game probably 200 times and still continue to play it. I still find the first Mega Man to be the most difficult of the series. Did you ever play Mega Man the Wily Wars? It was only available on cart in Japan or through Sega's online service for Genesis called the Sega Channel. It in my opinion was a terrible remake of Mega Man 1-3. The timing was completely off it felt like playing the game in slow motion mostly due to the time between blaster shots being way to slow. The graphics were nice but I just could not get over the timing it was a serious game breaker for me.