One game that has undoubtedly had a huge influence on me and my tastes is SNES cult classic EarthBound. The old school RPG from Hal Laboratories and APE is, to this day, unlike anything else in games. I could go on all day long about the freaky stuff in that game from bubble monkeys to battling pukes, but instead, I'll talk about how the game makes sense. Despite everything being a mish mash of seemingly disconnected strangeness, every different curve ball the game throws at you just makes sense to a child's imagination. "Okay," the child thinks, "My best friends are a telepath, a genius inventor, and a karate man. Makes sense. There are friendly aliens who have a functioning society, but no arms. I like their buildings in the shapes of their faces. Of course the local gang leader has a giant robot tank. Duh!" Unlike the super realistic modern combat games that are the only thing kids can see when they walk into a game store anymore, this kind of madcap strangeness nurtures a child's imagination like nothing else.
(I'm not saying those soldier games are desensitizing kids to violence or anything, but I do want to go on the record that I think they've left an entire generation of kids thinking that head shots are the end all to humor and entertainment)
On the surface, all this stuff is pretty harmless and funny, so there's nothing to scare parents away from letting their kids enjoy this game, but the harmless facade belies a very serious story about innocence and goodness triumphing over pure evil when everything is on the line. Give this game to a kid who can read and he will enjoy this story and will be better and more mature for it.
Growing up I had tastes that most other kids didn't. I just liked anything that was weird. I attributed this to early encounters with EarthBound. Anytime I want to think of the most inspiring story of my youth, I recall four children who never hesitate to give up everything to travel to the future and face the heart of true evil, just because it is the right thing to do. EarthBound is the kind of story that defines you in the very best way.
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