Fanboy Philosophy; The meaning of Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels

This old nerd, is worried how many people are completing video games.  Rarely do people get truly stuck in a game anymore.  For younger players learning that you can lose is an important element to developing.  Victory should not be guaranteed, but earned.  The earliest  example of this in the US is Super Mario Bros. 2, or Doki Doki Panic.  For those who do not know what Americans played as Super Mario Bros 2 was originally released as Doki Doki Panic in Japan.  The cast of Mario was simply inserted into the game.  The key reason for this is that the sequel to Super Mario Bros, was considered too difficult for American audiences.

“And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”  Thomas Wayne asks a young Bruce.  We cannot triumph without failure.  Think back all you older fanboys and fangirls, to that game you played endlessly in elementary school and never beat.  Remember how cool it was anytime you made in further?  You didn’t expect to beat every game, so when you did it was that much more special.  As frustrating as it is to be stuck on a game, because of this it meant so much more when you beat a game.  A difficult well contracted game is more fun than one you can just cruise through.  Ghosts N’ Ghouls and Super Ghosts N’ Ghouls are incredibly fun, but damn are they difficult games.  Every inch you gain in those games feels like an incredible victory.  I’d like to think there was a hidden value in those hours I spent as a youth batting through side scrollers, and perhaps it was learning to not expect victory.  The longer you go without falling, the harder it will be to pick yourself up.  Toady people say they have finished, completed or played through a game.  No one seems to beat games anymore.

M.R. Gott is a small press author the nerd horror Hybrid Rising Dead, for a free sample click here.