So I’ve been on a old-school gaming kick recently, I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it’s due to the glory of emulators I can play old games (that I legally own of course) that I really used to love as a kid.

I just finished playing the original Final Fantasy, which was one of my favourites, but now realize is a heaping pile of garbage. Honestly. Terrible game. I guess my standards have just risen or something, or I lost all of my tolerance for level grinding and jRPG’s. I’m glad I finally finished it, though, because I’d tried dozens of times as a kid and could never figure out where the hell to go. I was going to replay Breath of Fire 1 and 2, but after Final Fantasy I don’t think I could stomach them.

RPG’s aside, every once in a while I’ll pick up and play Legend of Kage, which I adored as a kid and is still as awesomely fun as it used to be. For the NES, and if you haven’t played it, it’s pretty fun. You’re a ninja and have to save the princess by going through four stages (forest, sewers, climbing a castle wall and then in a castle) and when you save her she just gets her dumb bum kidnapped again while running back through the forest with you, starting over. It’s a score-whore game, but it’s awesome because it feels like you’re cheating when you play, as you jump about 200x your own height. It is hard, though, and you die in one hit (or two if you’ve powered up).

I’ve been debating playing through Legend of Zelda 2, as that was one of my favourites when I was a kid and I could never beat the last palace, but have been told it’s balls-to-the-wall hard despite how I remember it. I was thinking about dogreat timesenting my playthrough video style if I ever do, just for ****s and giggles.

What are some old-school games you guys enjoy?