Jan 12, 12:22 pm
Yesterday I fell into something of a retro slump. Convinced that all the gaming gems of my childhood would crack and shatter under a quick polish of modern gaming standards, I felt my fond memories were nothing but flights of foolishness. After all, when was the last time you picked up a game from your youth, played it and thought “You know what? This is just as good as I remembered it!”
Let’s face it; most old games are pretty crap by today’s standards. Repetitive, unforgiving, with ludicrous difficulty setting and irritating controls… Anyway, enough about Two Worlds (wait, that’s not old, is it?). What I mean is, sure, games were fun back then – because we didn’t know better. But now we do.
However, when I heard that Harvest Moon on the SNES was the latest title to hit the Wii’s Virtual Console, I couldn’t help but give it another go for old time’s sake.
For one, Harvest Moon on the SNES is bloody hard to get hold of these days. I originally played it around a friend’s house, and though it was Harvest Moon: Back to Nature on the Playstation that really got me hooked on the series, it was the SNES version that first ignited my interest in a little farming and flirting fun. The Harvest Moon series is undoubtedly one of the most charming around. It’s pure, gentle, unashamed escapism, playing the role of a young farm boy (or girl, sometimes) learning to work a farm, raise livestock and make friends with the local townsfolk. It’s a big dollop of farming goodness, topped up with a dating sim, and finished a cheeky splash of The Sims. Sounds horrible? Then you have NO SOUL.
And at a mere 800 wii points, Harvest Moon SNES is an absolute bargain – the original demands scary money on Ebay.
So beat those winter blues and fill up your system with a dose of good ol’ fashioned nostalgia.
Happy memories guaranteed.
