[Sometimes completing a game goes beyond beating the final boss, putting it back in the case, and moving on the to next project. Read along as kevlarmonkey guides us through the 24-year-long story of his experience with Secret of Mana, and how moving on from the game meant moving on from an old memory. - Wes]
A few days ago I finally finished something I started 24 years ago: I hooked up an old CRT, got out my SNES, and fired up a long-dormant save file on my Secret of Mana cartridge. Once I remembered (relearned) how to play, I finished the game, end credits and all, in under 45 minutes. It honestly took almost as long to find the game and set everything up as it did to finish it.
The save file was as close to final boss' door as you could get. It's kind of funny (I think) imagining the Dark Litch sitting around anxiously awaiting my entrance, and his subsequent beat down. My character (I named him Zero because I was a teenager, and edgy) was almost completely maxed out, as were his companions Jubei and Hanzo. (I had seen Ninja Scroll not long before, and was really interested in Japan, because as already indicated I was a teenager, and had been conditioned for over a decade to think ninjas were cool. Yes, I knew at the time Jubei was a boy's name, but like I said I was a teenager, and I thought it was cool.) They had max life, full supplies, the best weapons, and were trained in all magic with full meters. If anything, my party was over prepared. The question that I’m sure you are asking yourself is, "Why didn’t he finish this 23 years ago?" It's a question I don’t think I fully realized the answer to until I saw the end credits finish rolling.
via destructoid http://ift.tt/2f0Czoh