When I was younger I would spend days on end playing video games. When I was 7 got my first Nintendo, it was 1987. I played the hell out of it, I fell in love with Zelda. Years later Super Nintendo came out. I was older and had more patience; again I fell in love with the SNES Zelda game. I like the character development and the epic story. In 1994,
Final Fantasy III was release in the United States. I ate the game up instantly. The game play was turn based fighting, meaning that I tell my characters what to do, attack, use magic, use an item, or defend. The enemy would do the same. We would trade attacks until the fight was over. Characters gained experience from the conflicts and grew over time. The story was epic, something out of a legend. The company that produced the game, Square, knew how to build a great RPG (role playing game).

Fast forward 12 years. I havent seriously played video games in about 7 years. Sure I have dabbled, but what geek doesnt play a game here and there. I know that I am behind the times, but I only have an XBOX (not-360). I decided that I wanted to play a good role playing game, turned based preferably like the final fantasy games. The FF series is only available on play station though. I looked and looked and couldnt find a good game to play, every one i tired just sucked. Frustrated and out of luck, I turned to my good friend the Super Nintendo.

With the magic of computers its possible to turn you computer into a Nintendo, or a Super Nintendo by using an "emulator" and a "ROM", which is a back up of the game. Most SNES games are smaller then a single mp3, and most NES games are smaller then an average Microsoft word document! Sure emulators and ROMS are technically illegal, but there is no other way to play most of these games anymore.

I have a windows media center computer in my living room, so I downloaded my favorite SNES emulator, ZNES, and loaded up a game that I remember loving, but I never beat, Super Mario RPG.

Super Mario RPG was released in 1996, and was an effort from Square (makers of final fantasy) and Nintendo (makers of the Super Mario). The result was a game that felt like Final Fantasy, but had the charm and good feeling of Super Mario World.

The game is 10 years old, but is so fun that it doesnt matter that the graphics are pixilated and the music is MIDI based. Super Mario RPG is proof that you dont need a cd quality sound track, full motion video, forced feed back controls, and 16 button controllers to produce a great game that holds up through time. I think that game developers and companyss have gotten to mixed up in the power of the platforms they are working on, they forget about the roping in the players imagination and selling them on the story while making them want to play to find out what happens next, instead of just throwing eye candy at them at every turn.

I have great hopes for Nintendos next platform the "wii", I hope that they bring back the love and magic that make video games like Final Fantasy and Super Mario RPG feel good to play even if they are relics from a simpler time of gaming.

If you want more information on emulators and roms, leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you.

What older games did you think still hold their own today? Please leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think.