Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest

OK, so recently I did a play through of one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Donkey Kong Country 2. Even though this games ranks in my top five games from the nineties, I had never gotten past the first couple worlds. I made it a mission of mine to beat this game. I didn't care about the one hundred percent completion, I just wanted to say that I finished the game. This was easier said, than done.

I struggled on a few levels, but no more than ten to fifteen tries and I would get the level scheme down and fly through the level with my eyes closed. The real challenge was the last boss, K. Rool. (Yeah, I know it's a ridiculously bad pun.)

I spent six hours trying to beat this last boss. Let me repeat, SIX HOURS trying to destroy this crocodile pirate. The first time I attempted it I only played for an hour until I got so frustrated that I rage quit. A few days later I decided to spend my Friday night playing holding my sleeping daughter in my arms and playing Donkey Kong.

I started playing at around nine and kept on playing until after midnight... all with hardly any progress. I had made it past the first phase of the battle but I would ALWAYS screw up the second phase.

After four hours of work I had finally seen the third and last phase of the battle. It was glorious, I was within reach! I could finally tell my eight year old self that we had completed the game! Well, as I was basking in awe of my achievement I sat there blankly as the cannon ball flew right into my monkey's face.

It was now after midnight, but I was determined to beat this damn boss once and for all! I started it up again and blew past the first two phases without a hiccup. Hah! They were nothing! I was now at the dreaded third phase. I just had to get three more hits in and this bastard was mine.

Well, another hour passed and all I had to show for it was failure. Given, I had learned memorized everything that could possibly happen in the third stage, but the final completion eluded me.

I decided to try it one more time before bed, as it was now after one am. I loaded it up and breezed past the first two phases. I was now at the final phase and I could feel my heart pounding harder. (Seriously, my heart was pounding!) I got the first hit in, than the second, and than the third! It was over, I had won!!

WAIT, what's this? The freaking gator launches one last cannon ball before he dies? and I didn't jump?!!?! The last ditch cannonball hit my poor monkey and knocked her to the ground only to see the alligator fall to the ground as well. Words cannot describe how angry I was. I had done it, the gator was dead... but so was I. I decided that enough was enough and headed up to bed. I figured that if I slept on it and tried it again in the morning I could do it.

Lo and behold, I started it up Saturday morning the FIRST time and I kicked that gator's ass. He didn't know what hit him!!  I would like to say that it was a perfect battle and that everything was timed just right, but it wasn't. Not at all, I feel like it was dumb luck that I actually won. But, who cares... I did it, and that is all that matters. I felt accomplished. I wasn't able to get past the second boss as a kid and now fifteen years later I beat the game!

So, as you watch this video on my dual with the K. Rool keep in mind that this took six hours of work to produce this video.

Thanks for reading

-AJ

Elder Scrolls - Morrowind

I've always been a big fan of the Elder Scrolls games. The very first game I played by Bethesda was The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. At the time I was an avid reader of  the PC Gamer magazine. After reading some first looks and reviews of Morrowind I knew I had to have it for my X-Box. See below pictures for a 'Morrowind' first look from PC Gamer.

Click here for Morrowind First Look! (IMGUR)

At the time I was fourteen years old, but I had saved up enough money from babysitting to buy it. Yes, I baby sat. I'm going a bit off-topic here but the kid I baby sat was really into sports and playing outdoors. Well, when I was babysitting I put a stop to that! I brought over all the best computer games and introduced him to the world of gaming. Why go outside when you can game? Why explore nature when you can explore it from your desk?

I had given my mother the money and told her when the game would be released. She said that she would pick it up on her lunch break. Lo and behold release day comes and the store my mother goes to is sold out. I was distraught! I had been anxiously awaiting my mother's return from work only to be sorely dissapointed. 

After a week of waiting I finally get a hold of Morrowind. Words could not describe how excited I was. I popped it into my X-Box and started her up. The thing I will always remember about Morrowind is the intro music... nothing else like it. It was so distinct. (Music Video below.)

Once you start the game you find that you are on a the bottom level of a boat and there is a curious looking fellow staring at you asking for your name. This curious fellow was named Jiub... and I have never trusted him. Don't ask me why, but he seems like a shady fellow.

I mean just look at him. Who the hell is that ripped? Especially if he is surviving off of  prisoner rations. Also, he is completely hairless and as my father always said never trust the hairless.

Anywho, the guards eventually release you from your captivity with Jiub. They instruct you to go to the top floor of the boat and to work your way to the census office. One of the awe inspiring parts of playing this game was getting to the top floor of the boat and just looking at the sky. I had seen nothing else like it, it almost looked life like!

That entire summer I did nothing, and I mean nothing, but play Morrowind. I was too young to drive, or have a real job so I spent my days playing Morrowind. Given, that my brother and I would have to share the X-Box but when I was not playing I was looking up strategy guides or tips and tricks on the game.

My brother would always stay up throughout the night playing. I knew this, so I would get up at five to six am the next morning right when he was going to sleep. That would give me a solid eight to ten hours of gaming time.

I have so many great memories from this game and half the time I played I wasn't even completing  quests or story lines. I just spent the time exploring the gigantic world and looking for treasures or tougher enemies. Morrowind is one of those games that you will start playing and in a blink of an eye ten hours have passed. It is truly a master piece.

I'll add some more stories from Morrowind at a later date.

Thanks for reading!

-AJ

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magicka Obscura

This is by far one of the best, if not the best, single player role playing games in existence. I have never found another game quite like it. I picked it up on a whim when I was fourteen years old and perusing the Wal-Mart video game section. The cover art on the box is what drew me in, see for yourself:

Once I got it installed and got it fired up I was a little overwhelmed. The character creation offers so many options from beauty, charisma, willpower, trap disarmament, gambling, necromancy, and so on. See below.

I had no idea where to start so I made a half-ogre with knowledge in melee. I started the game and went through the typical intro movies. After a few minutes I was finally ready to play! Well, come to find out Half-Ogres have very low intelligence... and the Arcanum NPCs will treat you differently because your character is imbecile. I was not aware of this, but it made for a hilarious first character. There is a video below showing NPC's reactions to a retarded character.

So, I played for a while as the dumb character... but I ended up getting a little bored with it so I decided to make a new character that could solve simple arithmetic. This time I decided on a gnome wizard. I saw there was an ability to summon creatures to fight for you so I maxed that out as much as I could. I figured summoning two ogres to protect me would work out pretty well.

This build worked out quite well. Whenever anything would attack me I would summon two ogres and then run and hide while they took care of business. I did my first play through of this game as that character.

After I beat the game I promptly went back and created a whole new character with all different possibilities. Don't want a gnome summoner? How about a Dwarf gunsmith who specializes in making high tech armor? Or, how about a hafling with a deadly bow and arrow?

If you haven't played Arcanum before I reccomend geting it now! It can be bought on Gog.com, or on E-Bay. If you were a fan of the original Fallout games, Baldur's Gate, or IceWind Dale you will love Arcanum.

Also... you can have sex with a sheep!

Thanks for reading!

-AJ

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest

I recently finished a play through of the Super Nintendo game Donkey Kong Country 2. If I could sum up my childhood gaming in one game this would be it. I spent so many hours playing the same ten levels over and over again.

The neighbor kids and I would all come to my house and we would take turns trying to beat the first few levels. Yes, I know, we sucked. None the less I have so many great memories from this game in particular. I was the oldest kid in our group and they all looked to me to beat the 'tough' levels.

The below video is one of the most frustrating and enjoyable levels from Donkey Kong Country 2. (It also has the best music in the game.) David Wise is a genius!

Z versus A - Classic Gaming

Hey all!

Z versus A classic gaming will feature posts on all of the older games I played in years past. I would play these games as a kid and always get so frustrated that I would just give up and move on to the next game. I've made it a goal of mine to play through all of these games and to beat the final boss. I am not doing 100% play-through as I still don't have that much patience!

Feel free to visit my YouTube channel as well, as all new videos will be posted to the Z versus A channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNj39KE9CsEUrrb_SDtCrRQ/featured

Thanks for reading

-AJ