One of the joys that kids and adults have enjoyed for decades now is that of video games. Thanks to the installation of an emulator, I rekindled the old good memories I have from video games I enjoyed as a young kid.Much like my experiences with computers, my first experiences with video games was grossly outdated by the time I started. My first gaming console was a SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System.) The SNES was released in 1991 here in the US, but survived long enough to see many popular titles made for it – similar to the later P(lay)S(tation) 2.
My parents had a library of various games they purchased new for their SNES. I had my few that I enjoyed out of the bunch.

My absolute favorite was Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. Many people’s first impressions of this game is “childish” and “simplistic.” For five-year old me, maybe that’s what made it so great. However, nothing about it was simplistic – it was a fairly difficult game for many people. I played the game (on the SNES) almost every day, and enjoyed it up until I beat Bowser in the end. Along the way, the game was both challenging but fun – and I was the first person in my family to beat Bowser.
The second favorite was the predecessor to Yoshi’s Island – Super Mario World. While I felt this game was much more difficult than Yoshi’s Island, my mother was more of a master at this game. I didn’t like this game as much, but I still played it a lot (especially after I beat Bowser in Yoshi’s Island.)
My third favorite would be difficult to decide, as those were the two “go-to” game titles we had in our library for me. We had this racing game – Nigel Mansell’s World Championship Racing – that I enjoyed playing from time to time. We also had “Paperboy.”

Sadly, and for some strange reason, there was one game that I was terrified of as a young kid. Apparently, 5-year old me didn’t understand the concept of masks and airplane pilots/co-pilots. My dad’s favorite game was Turn and Burn: No Fly Zone, which featured a F-14 fighter jet that you flew in combat. The pilot/co-pilot in that game absolutely terrified me, and I had “nightmares” of it. Every time I recall that game I just laugh at how something so benign could give me nightmares.
In addition to those games, we also had Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, Killer Instinct, Pacman, Vortex, and several others. (No, we did not have any Legend of Zelda or Pokemon games.)
We “replaced” the SNES with a Wii in the Christmas of 2008 (or 2009, I can’t remember) and I can recall playing MarioKart Wii a lot. Sadly, both consoles (and games) were lost in the house fire of 2010.
Thankfully, I’ve got to relive those past memories. While software emulators are nowhere as nice as the real hardware, it still brings back memories all the same. Plus, the software emulators have some nice features that I didn’t have with the SNES – such as not having to blow out the cartridges before inserting them into the SNES, being able to “save” a game, and being able to take screenshots! I recently installed a SNES emulator on the MacBook Air and haven’t stopped playing these classic games!