"Would you like to continue?"

Even though I really love video games, I don't think I've ever been particularly good at them.

As a kid, I grew up with an original Nintendo. I played a lot of classics, like all three of the Super Mario games (we owned 1 + 3 but I'd often rent 2 from this place in Middlesboro called Movie Warehouse), MC Kids, and the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but, looking back, I don't think I ever beat a single one of those games. I played them all the time but I never once saw the ending to any of them -- maybe that remained a thematic undercurrent throughout the rest of my life?

I had a job interview the other day and I clearly remember one thing I said: "I want a challenge."

So, after a few beers last night, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. I pulled out my Sega Saturn and dug out the original Panzer Dragoon from my grandparents' attic.

I tried a run through this morning but I only made it to Episode 4 before I ran out of Credits and couldn't continue. While playing, I've thought about how I'd often (in recent years) resort to Invincibility codes, infinite continues, or other such ways of lowering a game's difficulty. Personally, I've always told myself that I was more interested in the story -- thus, the game was just something I'd have to trudge through in order to pick up the plot; the means to an end.

I played through Panzer Dragoon Saga a few years ago but, aside from that, I've never played any other game in the series. I didn't even have a Saturn while I was growing up. Now that I think about it, I honestly didn't even know the Saturn existed -- I thought Sega went straight from the Genesis to the Dreamcast (maybe the 32x/CD had something to do with that). Between my friends and I, we just had Playstations and N64s. While I never heard of the Panzer Dragoon games on the Saturn until much later, my 13 year old self was captivated when I saw commercials on TV for Panzer Dragoon Orta on the Xbox. I didn't get my first Xbox until many, many years later, but the name and look of the game was something I remembered (I just knew it had to be a Japanese game).

During a break, I stopped and asked my friend Spencer for some tips. We met while I was working part-time at G2k Games in Norton during undergrad and we've talked about games ever since. He's really great at games -- I've always looked up to him when it comes to stuff like that. I've managed to beat mainly RPGs over the years (naturally with the help of GameFAQs of course) but those are very different from games like Street Fighter, Puyo Puyo, Mega Man, etc. He's so good when it comes to reflexes and memorization; those are skills that I'd love to sharpen. Typically, I'd get frustrated with a game near the end (Mega Man 8 was a game I first played when I was around 9 years old -- naturally, I made it to the boss rush then couldn't take anymore) but I think the key for me is practicing and putting time/effort into a game instead of trying to rush through it.

Miraculously, I just started it up again and I got a 98.7% on Episode 1! I only missed one enemy. It already felt a lot easier than the first time I played. After getting stuck on Episode 4, I finally beat the boss for that level just now! This is the feeling I love to associate with a video game -- I'm shaking and sweating pretty badly (and I don't think it's from the alcohol lol). The only other game I really get this with is Dark Souls or difficult boss battles in JRPGs.

And of course, I just died three times during Episode 5 and my streak has officially come to an end.