By Jake Rushing
A Sprinkle of Nostalgia
During my years as a young child, the only way that I indulge in portable gaming is with my Game Boy, so you better believe that I played Pokemon Red, Tetris, and Super Mario Land 2 to name a few. When I went on long car rides, I brought my big clunky Game Boy to enjoy Kirby’s Pinball Land, Game & Watch Gallery, or other Game Boy games that I had at the time. It was enjoyable learning to play these games without the help of the internet, and the satisfaction that I got from beating/getting the best ending for Kirby’s Dreamland 2 was indescribable. It was one of the best feelings that I’ve had as a child. Yet, as a kid, I never got Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 to play. I don’t remember if it’s because I’ve never heard of it, or if it’s because I got turned off at the idea of playing as the villain from Super Mario Land 2 (that’s my younger mindset mind you). Fast forward to my late 20’s when I first heard about the praise that this game. I’ve kept my eye out for the game until I found a copy of the game at a flea market months ago, which I decided to pick it up. Because why not have another Super Mario Land game in my game collection right?
Months after obtaining this game, I’ve started a new job. What does my new job have anything to do with the article you ask? Well with a new job, comes a new commute. As it turns out, riding the train to work is one of the best options for commuting. Normally I don’t talk to people on my commute, so instead, I decide to carry whatever portable game I feel like playing. At the time I’ve started writing this article, I was carrying my Game Boy Color with Wario Land loaded into this bad boy.
Little did I know, when I started my new job, that I would be thrown right into crunch time, working somewhere between 55-65 hours a week for about 6 weeks, with nights that I would arrive home at 11:30, with even on one occasion where I came home at 2am. I had nothing against my new job. It’s just that with a lot of hours working, you don’t have much time to enjoy yourself, let alone spend time at the house you live at. This can certainly get people down, and has gotten me down at times.
And yet I got my Game Boy Color to thank for keeping me going. During my commute, I would play Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, without a care about the fact that I’m among other adults, going to my full-time job and that I am almost 30 years old. When I play through Wario Land, I feel like the 10 year-old self that I used to be, playing Game Boy games on my commute. But it wasn’t just playing a Game Boy game that gave me the nostalgia feels.
Since this is the first time I am playing this game, I feel like going through the game as much as I can without resorting to help from GameFAQs or other help to help me advance further. The experience of finding things out in a Game Boy game that I haven’t played before gave me the warmest and joyful feelings I’ve had in a long time. It reminded me of the times that I used to do the same thing when I was younger, which is the reason why the experience of playing an older game and discovering things for myself felt so surreal. All of the time that I put into finding out some secrets with Wario Land on my own helped me get through my otherwise chaotic life.
If you ever go through a rough patch in your life, whatever it may be massive temporary crunchtime, or a terrible breakup, or anything that gets you down in the dumps, there is nothing wrong with going back to your nostalgic memories. It may not help you get back on your feet, but a little sprinkle of nostalgia will help shine some light into your dark patch of your life, and ease your pain a little bit to help you get through your hard times.