no-stalgia

over the weekend i picked up a copy of Gradius for the PS2. I was pretty sure that it was this game with which I spent countless hours of post-Sunday School fun at my friend GH's house. I don't recall ever being any good at it, since those countless hours weren't countless or frequent enough for me to gain the requisite skills, but I do recall that I was very much addicted to the soundtrack, if not the gameplay.

Well, the PS2 version pretty accurately reproduces the gameplay, as far as I can remember, and I suck even more now than when I was 11. The soundtrack on the PS2 version -- whether it matches that of the original (snes?) version -- is not at all addictive, and in fact, not memorable.

I have trouble playing video games now, especially ones like Gradius where -- even on the easiest setting -- I die without getting far and lose all my gear. Each time I must choose to continue the game I feel like I ought to be doing something more productive, like reading or drinking Scotch (it turns out that a glass of whiskey does not improve my Gradius skills).

Anyhow, Gradius is a two player game, and I suppose this weekend I might be able to hook up with a gamer that would play it with me. We'll see.