In this article, Joshua describes, via interviews with GPHS students, video games that have been most forgotten.
Many video games that are made and developed with great intention are expected to be remembered; however, that is not always the case with plenty of nostalgia-filled pieces of art. Skylanders, The Lego Movie Videogame, N+, and plenty of others are fondly remembered but forgotten unless somehow mentioned in conversation one fine day in class while joking around.
Image from: Amazon.com
Skylanders was a game series that many played when they were younger. If you did not actually like playing the game, then you may have still been infatuated by the art style and character design. Jordan Barnett, a GPHS junior and willing participant in the interviewing process stated that the game was a big part of his childhood, playing until he was about eight with his cousins on their PlayStation. He said Skylanders would have an overall good rating in his opinion for all of the good memories and times. Similar to Jordan, an anonymous interviewee stated that she would rate her experience a 5/5 stars, for she liked the gameplay, graphics, and the overall concept of using a real-life figure for gameplay. She recalls a “core memory” of her and her siblings arguing over which characters they would choose in the game. Another memory she recalls fondly is her and her father going to the store and buying new skylanders to play in-game.
N+ is a platform video game where you play as a fictional ninja, jumping around an arena, trying to get to the finish line whilst avoiding traps and sharp objects. It is a continuation of the series started by Adobe Flash with no specific or residual story to follow. Regardless of the lack of a storyline, N+ follows through with being entertaining and enjoyable to play, having the ability to keep a young or old mind at ease and amused for hours. Reviews include statements like this one, from M7T31, a gamer on Steam: “N+ was my childhood, man. I seriously loved that game. Instant 10/10. The PERFECT platformer game.” Sustaining a peak player base of 511 players in 2016, N+ is not the most famous or known game; however, for most of those who have played, it still holds a special place in their hearts.
Image from: Xbox.com
The Lego Movie was a film and franchise that rose to popularity throughout the course of its release; however, along with its major success came a video game that some would say is fairly entertaining, or that is at least the case for Jaxon Arnette, who shared his appeal and overall thoughts on the game as a whole. As stated by the lovely interviewee, “I was fond of the grind trying to fully complete the game and maxing everything out.” Fondly remembered in the eyes of Arnette, he thinks of the game as comforting to look back on, with a nice and satisfying sound design, along with a nice helping of characters to choose from. Arnette recalls begging his older brother to play with him when he was younger because he loved playing all of the Lego video games with him. Overall, Jaxon said that he enjoyed this game and would rate it an instant 10/10. He loved playing it for some time. This game settles its place as a forgotten masterpiece like many other games out there, which are sadly forgotten in the wave of the movie's rising popularity.
Image from: Steampowered.com
Many games get forgotten in the swoop of movies or other popular media. Some of these sadly forgotten games have years of time dedicated to them, like the works of Red Dead Redemption II, which the publishers decided to just ignore in the grand scheme of moneymaking since GTA IV is one of the most popular games developed by rockstar studios. However, that is a tale for another time. The lovely games we have talked about today are beauties, oldies but goodies, forgotten masterpieces, and lost landmarks in the gaming community. However forgotten, (or even misbegotten) these games are, they can almost always be looked back upon fondly.
Interview with Jaxon Arnette
Interview with Jordan Barnette
Anonymous interview