Lanny’s Meaningless Rants #3

By: Lanny Cox
Lanny Cox Lanny’s Rants Volume 3: Final Fantasy and Renewal of Faith

I, like most of you out there, am not only an NES fan, but also a general gamer. I have a modestly sized NES collection (90 or so games) and also collect other systems. I have had the pleasure of owning a PS2, and not long ago picked up a Gamecube. And I admit, lately, the NES has taken a back seat in my gaming hobbies. However, recently, I finally picked up Final Fantasy. I had been putting it off, instead promising myself I’d pick up a complete copy on eBay. I knew the cost would be high (I’ve rarely seen one go for less than 100 bucks complete), so i kept putting it off. So, weeks ago, an offer popped up that I couldn’t refuse. In a 3-for-3 deal, i ending up trading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 for Final Fantasy. The game was loose, but i was tired of delaying buying the game so i got it anyways. So, on a rainy Sunday, only days ago when i wrote this, i plugged the cart into my oft-maligned toaster and grabbed a comfy chair.

I played for nearly 10 hours. Yes, nearly 10 hours. Around 2:00 in the afternoon till nearly 12 at night. The seemingly monotonous quest of gaining experience and dungeon crawling turned me into a believer overnight. Now, before you go dismissing this, I owned Final Fantasy when i was younger, around 5 years old. I was reasonably good at the game, I think I got to Kraken before I sold my NES to save up funds for another, 16-bit system. But my second go-around with Final Fantasy was a big moment in gaming for me. Like the first time I played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, or my first experience with a computer, or even shall I say it, the first time I put hands on the square controller back in 1988 at my cousin’s house. It truly taught me about gameplay. So what’s changed after this so called “reaffirmation of faith” only days ago? It’s taught me true appreciation for the 8-bit box. It taught me that it’s not about rarity, it’s not about hunting down pirates or Famicom disks, it’s about gameplay. Unadulterated fun. Never before have I had such a sense of accomplishment after tackling a game for such a long time. It truly brought me back to my early days with the system. Days of having dinner brought into my room next to the couch while I was playing Crystalis. Having friends over bragging about their respective accomplishment. I was truly enlightened to a feeling that had been lost ever since I sold my NES over 10 years ago. I like to call it “gaming goodness”.

To conclude, consider this experience scientific proof, that even on the dullest, most unimaginative day, gaming nirvana IS there. It CAN be reached. Don’t bother yourself with manuals and boxes, rarity, and whatever. Don’t spend all your time lurking on the boards, in the chatrooms, whatever. Don’t talk about playing the games, just sit down and PLAY the damn games. That’s what it’s all about. Thank you.