Retro games

One of the very best things about modding my PSP is the fact am now able to use it as a time machine and play the same games I played when I was in 8th grade. I started by installing the ScummVM emulator onto the PSP and sticking some LucasFilm games on their. Maniac Mansion is my favorite game of all time. And, I enjoy playing it (and the fun follow up Zak McCracken and the Alien Mindbenders.) It's really neat to play these pieces of my chilldhood on a tiny handheld screen. After getting that installed I looked around and saw that there is a Commodore 64 Emulator. Man. I had to get that. Most of my favorite games were puzzle games when I was a kid. But, I had a special place in my heart for the Epyx Games series. Summer Games, Winter Games and my very favorite California Games. Summer and Winter Games are obvious riffs on the Olympics. But, Caliofornia Games was a bunch of goofy California related games like Hackey Sack or skateboarding. It wasn't so much the actual games that you could play that made it interesting as it was the sense of humor and fun gameplay that the games had. For example, and I fully realize that this is a stupid example but I was (am) a stupid kid, while playing hackey sack (in front of the Golden Gate Bridge) if you kick the ball high in the air and hit the seagull you get extra points. I like that. Unfortunately, in order for the emulator to read the California Games data it must truly emulate disc drive reading, which takes forever. I can't understand why I don't have more patience when the games of my youth took hours to load. It's still fun to load up once in a while. There are a ton of other emulators, but none of them have the charm and hint of nostalgia that these two hold for me. California Games is fun once in a while, and the SCUMM games (Monkey Island series, Sam and Max, Zak McCracken) are fun on their own right no need for the additional pull of nostalgia.

If you, like me, feel a need to dive back into the past. You don't need an expensive handheld device to do it. You can do it on your regular computer. Go here if you would like to try out ScummVM and here for the Commodore 64 one. Fun for all ages!