Tis the Christmas season (or Advent to be theologically accurate), and in the spirit of the season, the lovely blogger over at Later Levels has decided to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas a few days earlier with 12 gaming related questions for all of us good, little gaming elves out there. These are my responses.
👪 20 December 2017: You’re wrapping presents while listening to cheesy festive tunes, and start to reminisce about holidays past. What’s your favourite Christmas gaming memory?
I’ll never forget the Christmas I received my (at time) favorite game ever.
I’ve already talked about this in my 30 Day Video Game Challenge, but I was as obsessed with this game then as I am now with Final Fantasy VII, speaking of which, I received that for Christmas one year, too, the Eidos version for the PC. My brother got it for me, though I had no interest in it at the time, because I thought it was “too sci-fi.”
Talk about a life changing experience
SMB2 is my first favorite game, and I think I was so obsessed with it because one, you could play the princess (she wasn’t a kidnapping victim, whoohoo!), and two, it was different from the other Mario games. I know now it was supposed to be a game called Doki Doki Panic, and of course only fits into the Mario canon because it was “only a dream,” but I love how quirky and different it was. Like FFVII, I’ve never finished SMB2 myself, though of course I’ve seen the ending.
Even though Final Fantasy VII is my forever favorite game, I have more fond memories of the year I received Super Mario Bros. 2, because VII came to me at a much more tumultuous time when things were…different. SMB2 has the innocence of youth splashed over it with far more rainbows and far less ash.
What’s your favorite holiday gaming memory? Let’s hear about it in the comments!
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
Unexpectedly getting the SNES (which I had no idea even existed circa 1992) from my parents and heading upstairs to play the games. Pretty belting memory.
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Super Mario World FTW! That’s still one of the best Mario games out there. Not better than SMB3 of course, but it was an excellent follow up!
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One Christmas gaming memory I’ll never forget is the one in which I received Ocarina of Time. Even then, I knew what I was playing was special. Sometimes, I would just explore the world, not making any progress, just to see was behind any given corner.
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Games like that have the power to bring the magic you felt at first playing them right back. It’s why retro and/or older games are permanently solidified in our generation’s hearts!
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One of the better Xmas presents I got was the original FIFA on Megadrive. All my friends were football mad at the time so the game was the must have item of the year. My parents told me it had sold out and I only discovered they actually had bought it for me well after opening all my presents. They had put it inside a tin of chocolates that I unwrapped but didn’t bother to open.
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You have to love the parental fake out. It makes the surprise all the better! The only “sports” games I really like are racing I think because it’s fast paced? Wait tennis is good, too. I should try football, or, well, I’d call it soccer hehe. I have a bit of a bad feeling about Rocket League only because my husband plays it pretty frequently and yells a lot while doing so :p
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Out of the blue, got a NES from my grandpa (who never got me anything up until this point) when I was 7 or 8 years old.
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That is an amazing surprise o.O I struggle between saying the NES or the SNES was my favorite old school Nintendo system, because I just loved so many games on both of them. I’m absolutely ecstatic with what they’ve done with the Switch. They really bounced back from the Wii U’s failures (though I still want one lol).
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Excepting the Wii U, do you have (or have you had) all the other Nintendo consoles? I’ve had the NES, SNES and Wii… and I had the Switch for a short time and took it back (it was great, but we needed the money). Never had any of the handhelds. NES was my first, so its pretty hard to compare to my other gaming systems.
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I have! I had the NES, SNES, N64, Game Cube, the Wii, and now the Switch. I…think that’s all of them except the Wii U. Aw, I hear that with the Switch. It wasn’t NOT cheap. I hope you’ll be able to purchase it for good soon. I managed to obtain even more handhelds this year, a PS Vita sold to my really cheaply by my coworker, and the Nintendo 3DS from a friend that I’ve been getting my money’s worth out of with Etrian Odyssey. Really loving that game.
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That’s a lot of Nintendo! I had to look up Etrian Odyssey. Looks like fun! For some reason I can’t play RPG’s really anymore, but when I see new ones, I still feel the call. I also like ATLUS, the publisher. Enjoy!
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I’ve never played an Atlus game before! I’ll be looking for more of them now though.
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It amazing how our tastes in stuff changes over the years. I’m glad you got into FFVII. Just think how lost the internet would be without your incredible knowledge of the game!! 😱 I haven’t played SMB2 yet, but it’s on my never-ending backlog list.
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I figured out that nearly everything I’m super into/obsessed with held no interest for me in the beginning. It’s like when I first heard about them, I wasn’t *ready* for them yet :p
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I think mine would have to be Duck Hunt. All my cousins and I would gather around the TV and take turns playing (yelling) at it lol.
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Me and my older brother were so impressed with how accurate my dad’s aim was lol. That dog grrrrrr.
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What an awesome choice! I had known that SMB2 meant a lot to you, and it’s great that you had great Christmas memories with it! I also received my (actual) favorite game on Christmas: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Christmas 1998. It’s not only my favorite (and for good reason), but my very first Zelda, so it was my introduction to the series. Other great Christmas game memories have been Banjo-Tooie and my Super Nintendo (with Super Mario World and All-Stars)!
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I was slightly disappointed that what I thought would be Mario 4 wasn’t in the same work as 2! I had this idea that each game would go back and forth lol, but obviously the Big N had other plans and decided to use the “it was a dream” reason to never go back to Subcon, but yet they have the characters from there? Hm.
Ocarina is one of my top 5 Zelda games alone with Link to the Past, Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess! Actually…maybe just Top 4. I don’t know what the fifth would be :p
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I think the Christmas gaming memory that stands out the most for me was when I received Donkey Kong Country 2 for the SNES back in 1995. I actually remember my mom buying it at Toys R Us… she told me to go down another aisle while she “got something,” then she made me look away while we were standing at the register. HOWEVER, the cashier gave her a Donkey Kong Country 2 shirt, which I noticed you could only get if you purchased the game. I was way too observant for a 9 year old, lol! Anyway, when Christmas came, I was still really excited to receive the game, and I immediately started playing it and was blown away by the graphics and the music. To this day, it’s still one of my favorite games!
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I really need to play that! I’ve played the original DKC but never the second. Nintendo is so stellar with their sequels.
Part of me loves how oblivious I was when I was a kid lol. It made surprises so much better!
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DKC2 is the best! It’s more difficult but the worlds are so beautiful, though they are a bit gloomy… plus the soundtrack is amazing! I highly recommend it! Everything has a pirate theme too, which just makes it even more fun!
I know what you mean about being a kid! It was much easier to be surprised back then 😉
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Is it ported to any of the new systems or am I going old school to play it hehe. I could probably find a ROM or something like that if need be.
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It’s not on the Switch yet, but I know it in on the Virtual Console for both the Wii U and the 3DS. I have it downloaded on my 2DS XL and it plays like a dream on it!
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Oh cool! I have a 3DS. I just looked and it’s only $7.99, so I put it on my wishlist!
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Awesome! Let me know when you end up getting it and playing it! 🙂
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