Smiles and Tears (or; a Preteen Love Fest!)
Late 1995: Chaz scooted aside on his badly weathered seat as his friend Justin boarded the bus. Russ, Chaz's cousin who sat across the aisle, leaned in anticipating Justin's arrival. Their friend Marvin also joined in, propping his head up on the back of Chaz's seat.
"Whadda ya' got for us today?" Chaz asked as Justin slung his bag from his shoulder to the filthy floor of the bus.
"Ghost story," Justin said before pausing for a moment, "well, more like zombies..."
Chaz and his friends shared an excited look before returning their attention to Justin. This was their routine for the otherwise boring bus rides home from elementary school. The four shared stories, almost all of which originated in one form or another from a video game.
It was the heyday of the Super Nintendo which ushered in a golden era of now-classic RPGs. The group had been through the horribly unoriginal Mario stories, the terribly bland Street Fighter tales, and even a few choice butcherings of Zelda.
Pretty soon, the well was running dry. The last few bus rides home had been quite uninspired. Chaz felt different about this day, however. It was Justin's turn to weave a tale, and Chaz had noticed that when Justin boarded the bus, there was a strange glow of excitement in his eyes. This story was going to be different...
How very right he was.
Almost half an hour later, Chaz arrived at his house short of breath. He had run all the way from the bus stop to the back of the street where he lived, something he had rarely done. "Mom!...Let's go!...Slick Sam's!..." he somehow managed while tossing his schoolbag recklessly across the living room.
Chaz needed to go to Slick Sam's. Chaz needed to rent that game in that big, colorful box. Chaz needed to play EarthBound.
Fast forward. It's 1996, March twenty-third to be exact. Several excruciatingly long months after that bus ride home, it was Chaz' birthday. He knew exactly what his parents had gotten him. So did Russ, Marvin, and Justin. They all waited in eager anticipation until Chaz's parents gave their consent to rudely leave the party and jam EarthBound into the SNES.
And so it began. A love fest that would continue for Chaz until this very day. His friends enjoyed it as well, but only for so long. Chaz recalled competing with Justin to finish the game. (He also recalled failing miserably as his file erased twice due to overheating...) He remembered he and his cousin Russ sneaking away from Easter dinner to launch a few bottle rockets at the Department Store Spook. He also recalled Russ laughing at how sentimental Chaz got while trying to tape record the game's ending theme "Smiles and Tears." And she also remembered Marvin...never reaching Frank, but still enjoying the humor and the crazy backgrounds.
Surely, no one could not love such a masterpiece of a game, much less hate it. Enter Barry, Chaz's older brother. "This game sucks!" He bellowed. "I got a bat, why can't I swing it?"
"You need to press 'Bash.'" Chaz instructed, slightly insulted.
"No, I need to stop playing this crappy game," Barry said as he dropped the controller, leaving his brother puzzled.
"Crappy...game?" Those words, together, couldn't possibly correspond to EarthBound!
But alas, everyone is entitled to their opinion (no matter how wrong it is, BARRY!) Chaz continued his love affair with EarthBound nonetheless. He shared with all who showed interest, but none picked it up quite like he did. Still, he thought, the times he had shared with his friends and his EarthBound had been truly magical.
Now, he shared his love for the game with all of his friends at Starmen.net, the perfect place for the perfect game.
*Names were changed for reputation's sake. I doubt "Justin," "Russ," "Marvin," and (especially) "Barry" want people to know how obsessed with games they are. "Chaz," on the other hand (i.e., me/Chas/Ninten1) have come to terms with it.
Late 1995: Chaz scooted aside on his badly weathered seat as his friend Justin boarded the bus. Russ, Chaz's cousin who sat across the aisle, leaned in anticipating Justin's arrival. Their friend Marvin also joined in, propping his head up on the back of Chaz's seat.
"Whadda ya' got for us today?" Chaz asked as Justin slung his bag from his shoulder to the filthy floor of the bus.
"Ghost story," Justin said before pausing for a moment, "well, more like zombies..."
Chaz and his friends shared an excited look before returning their attention to Justin. This was their routine for the otherwise boring bus rides home from elementary school. The four shared stories, almost all of which originated in one form or another from a video game.
It was the heyday of the Super Nintendo which ushered in a golden era of now-classic RPGs. The group had been through the horribly unoriginal Mario stories, the terribly bland Street Fighter tales, and even a few choice butcherings of Zelda.
Pretty soon, the well was running dry. The last few bus rides home had been quite uninspired. Chaz felt different about this day, however. It was Justin's turn to weave a tale, and Chaz had noticed that when Justin boarded the bus, there was a strange glow of excitement in his eyes. This story was going to be different...
How very right he was.
Almost half an hour later, Chaz arrived at his house short of breath. He had run all the way from the bus stop to the back of the street where he lived, something he had rarely done. "Mom!...Let's go!...Slick Sam's!..." he somehow managed while tossing his schoolbag recklessly across the living room.
Chaz needed to go to Slick Sam's. Chaz needed to rent that game in that big, colorful box. Chaz needed to play EarthBound.
Fast forward. It's 1996, March twenty-third to be exact. Several excruciatingly long months after that bus ride home, it was Chaz' birthday. He knew exactly what his parents had gotten him. So did Russ, Marvin, and Justin. They all waited in eager anticipation until Chaz's parents gave their consent to rudely leave the party and jam EarthBound into the SNES.
And so it began. A love fest that would continue for Chaz until this very day. His friends enjoyed it as well, but only for so long. Chaz recalled competing with Justin to finish the game. (He also recalled failing miserably as his file erased twice due to overheating...) He remembered he and his cousin Russ sneaking away from Easter dinner to launch a few bottle rockets at the Department Store Spook. He also recalled Russ laughing at how sentimental Chaz got while trying to tape record the game's ending theme "Smiles and Tears." And she also remembered Marvin...never reaching Frank, but still enjoying the humor and the crazy backgrounds.
Surely, no one could not love such a masterpiece of a game, much less hate it. Enter Barry, Chaz's older brother. "This game sucks!" He bellowed. "I got a bat, why can't I swing it?"
"You need to press 'Bash.'" Chaz instructed, slightly insulted.
"No, I need to stop playing this crappy game," Barry said as he dropped the controller, leaving his brother puzzled.
"Crappy...game?" Those words, together, couldn't possibly correspond to EarthBound!
But alas, everyone is entitled to their opinion (no matter how wrong it is, BARRY!) Chaz continued his love affair with EarthBound nonetheless. He shared with all who showed interest, but none picked it up quite like he did. Still, he thought, the times he had shared with his friends and his EarthBound had been truly magical.
Now, he shared his love for the game with all of his friends at Starmen.net, the perfect place for the perfect game.
*Names were changed for reputation's sake. I doubt "Justin," "Russ," "Marvin," and (especially) "Barry" want people to know how obsessed with games they are. "Chaz," on the other hand (i.e., me/Chas/Ninten1) have come to terms with it.
