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"Was I a 9-year old gaming master?"

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This thread has been linked to the game 'Mario 64 DS'.
Tue 26/07/05 at 09:24
Regular
"In Soviet Russia..."
Posts: 3,934
As I'm short one DS at the moment, I've taken to borrowing my brother's and playing Mario 64 for hours on end. I remember playing this 7 years ago, when I was 9. Good times. Most of it's easier than it used to be, and I've been getting the 100 coin stars much earlier than I used to. The new stars were easy to collect, and the only difficulty near the beginning is unlocking the new characters. Not the boss fights, they suck (except Wario's), but the new hardcore platforming levels.

When I got to Hazy Maze Cave, the stars were easily obtained, but I got stuck on the coin collecting. It took a few days to conquer, but when I discovered the blue coins (5 coin value) in the poisonous maze, the rest were easy. By this point, I'd conquered the wall jump, something which I found really hard in the original.

Lethal Lava Land was easy, as in the original, while Shifting Sand Land posed a few problems. But it was all in good fun, and I conquered the quicksand sooner or later. Soon, I made it to the upper levels. Wet-Dry world was easy. Seriously, were there this many coins in the original? However, that's where I met a problem. Tall, Tall Mountain. Are there even 100 coins in this? Sheesh... There's not even any blue coins or anything, and I can't use that slide thing because you get stuck at the end in a small room with the star.

Anyway, I decided to put it aside for now, and set off to the later levels. Tiny-Huge Island? Easy. Tick Tock Clock? (Insert easy clock joke here). But Rainbow Ride brought back painful memories. I remember the shortcut at the start, but seriously... HOW THE HELL DID I DO THIS WHEN I WAS 9?!?!? It's not the new star that causes problems, but those magic carpet rides. This is why I love videogames. But seriously, I'm wondering how a 9 year old could negotiate those magic carpets, swinging platforms and the dreaded donut blocks.

I remember a long night, spent trying to get the 100 coins on this level. Then, the absolute greatness I felt when I fired myself onto the roof, and met Yoshi. At the age of 9, that was a feat I hadn't thought would have been possible. Now, I've completed all the worlds (including coin stars) except for the coin star on Tall, Tall Mountain, two mission stars on Rainbow Ride and the coin star on said hell. Then there's the red coins and secret stars in the character saving levels, that switch star in Bowser in the Fire Sea....

I love this game. Plus, I'm sure many of you do as well. Remember any childhood videogaming nightmares, which you wouldn't have thought were possible, when you look back?
Tue 26/07/05 at 09:24
Regular
"In Soviet Russia..."
Posts: 3,934
As I'm short one DS at the moment, I've taken to borrowing my brother's and playing Mario 64 for hours on end. I remember playing this 7 years ago, when I was 9. Good times. Most of it's easier than it used to be, and I've been getting the 100 coin stars much earlier than I used to. The new stars were easy to collect, and the only difficulty near the beginning is unlocking the new characters. Not the boss fights, they suck (except Wario's), but the new hardcore platforming levels.

When I got to Hazy Maze Cave, the stars were easily obtained, but I got stuck on the coin collecting. It took a few days to conquer, but when I discovered the blue coins (5 coin value) in the poisonous maze, the rest were easy. By this point, I'd conquered the wall jump, something which I found really hard in the original.

Lethal Lava Land was easy, as in the original, while Shifting Sand Land posed a few problems. But it was all in good fun, and I conquered the quicksand sooner or later. Soon, I made it to the upper levels. Wet-Dry world was easy. Seriously, were there this many coins in the original? However, that's where I met a problem. Tall, Tall Mountain. Are there even 100 coins in this? Sheesh... There's not even any blue coins or anything, and I can't use that slide thing because you get stuck at the end in a small room with the star.

Anyway, I decided to put it aside for now, and set off to the later levels. Tiny-Huge Island? Easy. Tick Tock Clock? (Insert easy clock joke here). But Rainbow Ride brought back painful memories. I remember the shortcut at the start, but seriously... HOW THE HELL DID I DO THIS WHEN I WAS 9?!?!? It's not the new star that causes problems, but those magic carpet rides. This is why I love videogames. But seriously, I'm wondering how a 9 year old could negotiate those magic carpets, swinging platforms and the dreaded donut blocks.

I remember a long night, spent trying to get the 100 coins on this level. Then, the absolute greatness I felt when I fired myself onto the roof, and met Yoshi. At the age of 9, that was a feat I hadn't thought would have been possible. Now, I've completed all the worlds (including coin stars) except for the coin star on Tall, Tall Mountain, two mission stars on Rainbow Ride and the coin star on said hell. Then there's the red coins and secret stars in the character saving levels, that switch star in Bowser in the Fire Sea....

I love this game. Plus, I'm sure many of you do as well. Remember any childhood videogaming nightmares, which you wouldn't have thought were possible, when you look back?
Tue 26/07/05 at 11:12
Regular
"Divine Davine"
Posts: 799
I know exactly what you mean! I mean, I finished Turok 2 when I was younger (around 9, yeah) and that is like the hardest game ever!

I did also finish Mario 64, and to be honest I had no problems with the DS version, however there were minor control issues that wroked horribly in Rainbow Road (yes, the carpet bit, you seem to have no balance at all). Also, if you are having trouble in Tall Tall Mountain, collect as many coins as you can until you reach the top, and then (whilst using Mario) fly around the mountain - there are plenty coins to collect there. And if those aren't enough, just go on the slide, but be extremely careful!

Edit - Oh my God, I'm a regular!
Tue 26/07/05 at 11:20
Regular
"Divine Davine"
Posts: 799
Oh yeah, to also complete the switch star on Bowser in the Fire Sea, just play as Luigi, hit the switch, then do a backwards flip across the few platforms opposite you - that should help :p

The thing is though, although you obtain the achievement of collecting all the stars, nothing really happens at the end. On the original, Yoshi is on the roof and congratulates you. But in the DS version, there is only a bunny for Luigi and two special boxes instead. How rubbish!

Oh and if I have spoiled this for you then, erm, well it's not that good anyway.
Tue 26/07/05 at 11:23
Regular
Posts: 14,437
Oh my God, you're a....oh.

Well done :)

Good post too, Rai. I seem to have lost my 'inhuman skill' from my younger days. Maybe it's just patience I'm losing with callenges though. Back in the day, I'd have all the time in the world to play and master games (aside from schooltime, mind). Now, I have so much more to do with my life than just play games, so I tend to not want to sit with a specific game for ages, doing the same level over and over again, trying to own it.

Take Ninja Gaiden for example - excellent game from what I could play, but I damn sure wasn't going to spend countless nights doing the same sections over and over again trying to progress to an even harder section.

I reckon, if I had the time, I could still pull off amazing feats like those I could do 5, 10, 15 years ago. I just don't have the time, or patience, to commit to it anymore.
Tue 26/07/05 at 11:40
Regular
"Divine Davine"
Posts: 799
lol, cheers Bullett ;)

Yeah, I gotta agree with Bullett there, although I do still play games, I really don't have tthe time or patience to sit there and fully commit myself to it anymore. I still can with a decent RPG, but with a game like Ninja Gaiden - not anymore. However I did get up to Chapter 12 on it ;)

I remember back to my very youthful days - countless days on playing the Mega Drive and Nes, constantly beating the same games over and over again. Streets Of Rage? I mean, I beat that game like 100 times (I'm probably not joking, if not more) and I just had the patience to incessantly play it. Will I now? Hell, no.

I have too many things to do instead of playing games, now. It's a shame, but yeah.
Tue 26/07/05 at 11:47
Regular
Posts: 14,437
Ah, Streets of Rage, good, good times were had with that series :D
Tue 26/07/05 at 11:57
Regular
"Divine Davine"
Posts: 799
Yup, one of my all time favourite games. Nothing beats the pleasure of kicking the s**t out of so many random enemies, and finally beating Dr X on Mania mode - so hard, but so rewarding.

And the music makes me feel so nostalgic. It actually wants to make me cry, and I'm not kidding.
Tue 26/07/05 at 12:02
Regular
Posts: 2,769
Children are easier to manipulate than adults when it comes to games, thus they are submersed further into the game than an adult and probably would perform better.
I was watching Child of our time and this little 5 year old kiddy, normal kiddy, was absolutely kicky a** on Halo. And i remember a similar thing with myself.
I do not know how the hell i beat games like Secret of Mana, Link to the Past etc when my usual reading was Kipper the dog.
I used to absolutley wipe the floor with games such as Sonic and Mario (2d) but now as i go back and play via emulators this is'nt often the case.

I always used to think, wow i'm good at games now, imagine when i'm older, i never imagined I would decline.
Tue 26/07/05 at 12:20
Regular
"bit of a brain"
Posts: 18,933
I remember that Halo kid. Man he was good. It's because the younger you are, the faster you learn. As we get older we find it harder to adapt and learn new skills, so whereas a 9 year old kid might only take 20 minutes to become a demon on Soul Calibur, it would take people over 18 quite a bit longer than that.

For me, though, I've got much better at games as time's gone on. I remember getting horribly stuck on Link to the Past on the SNES, in a room with flying tiles. I didn't have a clue what to do for god knows how many months. I got to th dark world and I just found it impossible, I don't know why. But now that I have all these years of experience behind me I can just figure stuff like that out pretty quick.
Tue 26/07/05 at 13:58
Regular
Posts: 11,038
I don't know.

I remember laying Super Metroid when I was 8 and it taking aaaaages to complete.

ow I'm 17 and can complete it in about 3-4 hours without trying very hard.

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