Perfect Game



I shouldn’t have bought this perfect game.



I love videogames, let’s just get that out there. I have been playing them since I was a kid, whether it was our old SNES and Genesis or the pink Gameboy Color I woke up to on my sixth birthday. I am a gaming girl and have always been proud of my puzzle-platforming, RPG love, and while my family told me to hide my love of videogames, saying that 'girls shouldn't like these things, you should like shopping and makeup', now that I'm in college, I have become proud of my love and am less afraid to share that with others.



Now, I’m not some oldies fanatic. The new games have their own awesomeness (most of the time *cough*Sonic 06*cough*). I have played through Sonic Unleashed and actually enjoyed the Night levels, much to my brother’s chagrin, and I adore Super Mario Galaxy. Still working on Skyward Sword though, just can't take the Wii to college. My sisters, much to my mother's delight, did outgrow their video-game tendancies. My little brother was always advancing, getting the latest systems. I enjoy the Wii, yes, and I do have my own 3DS – a Christmas present from my mother and father, something I did NOT expect as my mother wants me to be a girly girl. We’re preordering the new Pokemon game together.



Still, I was the only one in my house to play the old systems. Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, 3….Bubsy….Sonic the Hedgehog 2….Super Mario World….Sonic and Knuckles….I appreciated and still loved all of them as much as I did my new Harvest Moon and Pokemon. I was the only one to play them, though, so my parents told me I could take the systems to college with me. My first goal after getting this permission was to get some new games, ones I hadn’t had the chance to try as a kid along with all my favorite classics.



i shouldN’t have bought this perfect game.



I found a copy of Super Mario RPG at a comic convention for 40 dollars, right in my budget. It was a wonderful copy in great condition and I played through the game until I had to go back to college, excitedly waiting for two things – my birthday and the day I could bring the systems to school with me. My birthday meant money, and money meant I could buy old games for my Genesis and SNES AND preorder Pokemon X.



My birthday came, and with it gifts. Most people give money now…which meant I could get the games I wanted and maybe invest in a good old Nintendo 64. I had wanted one for a while now. Excited, I made plans to get to a store I’d heard sold good N64s, and meanwhile went on Amazon to see if I could find anything. Being a college kid with no car left me very limited in where I could visit. My Amazon account let me buy whatever I pleased. Excited, I began to browse.



“Hey, roomie, look! A copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 3!”



<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">I had never gotten to play this game. I wanted to for a while, but sadly, we could never find a copy of it, so I was limited to playing Sonic and Knuckles over and over again. Finally, if I bought this game, I could play the whole story through! I was so excited, I happily clicked through the options – I'm pretty Amazon savvy and have bought multiple games from Amazon, I have never had a problem with it. One was cheap, Good conditions, labeled as simply not having a box or instruction manual. I didn’t need that manual, I’d played Sonic and Knuckles so much I had it memorized. It should all be fine! Happy to have found this steal, I clicked Purchase.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shouldn’t havE bought this perfect game.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">It came a week later, as expected; I get poor reception for purchases so it surprised me to get it so quickly. I carefully brought it up to our room, having rescued both my SNES and my Genesis from home. The cartridge was all I got, but it had been advertised as such so I wasn’t worried – it had a sticker on it, but it was the right label and just a good deal all together.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">I wanted to play, but first – school work. She had a test in the morning after all, and I had a paper due in a few days. It was a calm evening of studying and laughing between us – both of us had had really bad roommate situations before I moved into her room, and health reasons made it so moving into this dorm was needed for me. She’d also played some of these old games, but never Sonic 3 and Knuckles; she was excited to try it out later, but needed to study for her test.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">We talked about the just-finishing finals week and the upcoming term, until she headed off for bed. As she went to bed, I promised to keep the game down low. I settled, snapped open my Vanilla Coke, and turned on the game.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shouldn’t have bought this perfect gamE.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">The graphics were a bit distorted, but I figured that this was simply because it was an old game and my TV was a few years old, an odd shape for the game to run. It took me a few tries for the game to run, and then I was greeted with that familiar “SAY-GUH!” chime. It warmed me. I was ready to play!

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">Sonic and Tails raced onto the screen, and I happily sang along to the song of the first level. It's wonderful, to get to play this new game. It was perfect, beautifully made and a wonderful game, there was no one level I hated. A perfect game! I hadn't seen one of these in ages....I played half the night, getting all the way to Hydrocity, then went to bed. Gotta be a good student.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shoulDn’t have bought this perfect game.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">My roommate tried it the next day. She loved it just as much – it was so fun! We happily explored the new levels, playing my favorite Special Stages -ever-, and just tried to enjoy the game; it was so amazing, we kept going back to it instead of Super Mario RPG, instead of Pokemon Stadium, and even my White 2 started falling to the wayside.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">My friends didn't get it. They said I spent too much time on it. I just didn't get them. How could they not like this game? It's wonderful! My roommate and I just brushed off their confusion and enjoyed it – more for us! We could play and debug, explore the levels and collect the Emeralds – then the Super Emeralds. Oh, to see Super Tails for the very first time! Tails is my favorite character, there's a plush of him on my bed, along with Cream and hopefully someday a Shadow doll. To see him as Super? Oh, I -worked- for it!

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shouldn’t have bougHt this perfect game.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">I can't tell you how happy it makes me that I've got this game. My roommate and I used to be stressed out all the time about school and class and our bad relationships with our families, but now we just let that stress melt away and play Sonic 3 and Knuckles, leaping and flying and climbing around the areas and collecting Chaos Emeralds. There's no reason to worry anymore, not when we have such a perfect game to play!

I love to goof around as Tails and try to get all the Super Emeralds. I love Super Tails! Why doesn't Sega utilize this form again, or the Hyper forms for Knuckles and Sonic? They're so original and fun! I love Super Sonic, why can't we have Super Amy or Super Cream, or Super Tails again even – he's always helping Sonic out, why not

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">I can't believe I never played this before! I wonder who else didn't get the chance to experience this....

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shouldn’t have bought this perfect gamE.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">Why did I buy this game, take it from another person who can experience this? Why didn't I let another child try it? I was appalled but I love it so! My friends don't get it, don't understand why we love it, but they just need to play it to see how wonderful it is! I don't stress out anymore, I don't cry over school and grades, it's amazing! My roommate loves it too, we can't stop playing some nights, taking turns on each night.

<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">I found an adorable wallpaper for my computer and posted it so Tails could greet me every time I worked on homework, golden Flickies all around him. I began looking up stories and codes for the game, enjoying it in real time as much as games. My roommate and I would even look up YouTube videos of people adding lyrics to Hydrocity and then other Sonic levels from other games.

It's such a good game! Everyone should get the chance to play it.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shouLdn’t have bought this perfect game.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">Maybe I can tell the world.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">Maybe I can share it with you. I can show you where to buy it, what to do. Heck, even a ROM will do, though I don't endorse pirating. You -have- to try it.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">Give it a try. Play Sonic 3. Get the Hyper Emeralds in the only game in which they exist. See Super Tails, Hyper Knuckles, Hyper Sonic. My roommate can't help but stare at the shining Sonic, his rainbow sheen....my golden Super Tails can just stand and let the Flickies protect him. No more Tails abuse for him! And the Hyper Sonic and Knuckles are just amazing and totally worth it, you won't want to play any other games. Why would you want to do anything else but help them achieve perfection in this perfect game?

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">Please, give it a try. I can't recommend this game enough.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0in">i shouldn’t have bought this Perfect game.