My Video Game Library: Super Mario

    I debated about which game should come first in this series.  I decided to go with "Super Mario" since it was included with the NES, although I technically played another game first. 

    I already knew something about Super Mario Bros. before I actually played it. The game had pervaded enough into media that I wasn't completely in the dark. I still had a sharp learning curve. The controller was so square, and the buttons in a shape I wasn't used to. Getting used to jumping was a tough sell. Sure, I remember seeing a pre-Mario in Donkey Kong, and maybe even in Jr. , but this was something else. Mushrooms and other power ups were things I had to wrap my head around, and remember, I was nineteen or twenty when I started. I had gotten guidebooks and magazines to help me to figure out what to do and what secrets to look out for. Still, I wound up getting even more help to finally beat the game. 

    I can't remember if I got Super Mario 3 my following birthday or the next year after, but I got it in January. I do know that I skipped the second game, as I already had found out the it was not really "Super Mario," but a reskin of a totally different game with totally different gameplay. Still, 3 proved to be way beyond the original game. I was playing deep into the game on Sunday, just trying to get as far ahead as possible, playing a little later into the evening then I should have getting frustrated. I had a panic attack that kept me up much of the night, and it continued through the next day a college. I was shaky for most of the next week. I almost didn't play the following weekend, but I did work my way through. I was playing one of the last levels, when I just couldn't go any more forward. Turns out, I was missing a door in that level because my olden style television had the color contrast wrong. I just couldn't see it. Once I reset the coloration, I made it through and beat the game, by letting Bowser just jump through the floor. I always felt that ending was a little meh.

    Super Mario World came with the SNES. Again, this was a Christmas gift, one I found early and played with during winter break before it got wrapped. I missed a minor opportunity by doing so, but it wasn't too big of a deal. Anyway, this game I managed to get through on just guides alone, even though some of the new techniques were tricky for me.  I even managed to complete the secret areas to change to game to "Autumn World." That was when I stopped going back to the game. I hated the new backgrounds, and the cheesy updates to the bad guys were stupid. I could've tried to beat the game a second time, but it wasn't worth it anymore.

    As a part of a promotion with my SNES, I sent it a form to get the free updated cartridge for the first "Super Mario" games. This is when I finally played Super Mario 2.  Although it was very different from the other games, I think it enjoyed quite a bit, because it wasn't a 'real' Mario game. Some of the bad guys even got ported over, for some reason.The cartridge even included the real sequel to Mario that was never released in the US. It was called The Lost Levels to differentiate it from the already released 2. I tried some of the first few levels.  They were impossible. My playing style just wasn't up to the greater challenges of the game. I never finished the game.

    I didn't like the Game Cube, so I never got another "Super Mario" game. I didn't get any of the side games released for the SNES or GameBoy. They didn't appeal that much to me. Sure, I managed to play a bit of Super Mario 64 in store, but that was it. I mostly stayed away from Nintendo after that. I've seen many of the further sequels over the years, and while I admit some of them looked good, they just never hit the same way as the first games did. In particular, I say gaming video of the Switch Mario game, and I'm not sure I could play it correctly.  It just looked way too complicated for me.

    But part of me still thinks I might have wanted to try and play. 

My Video Game Library: Introduction

    I was born at the right time to be the start of the video game generation. Machines were entering the arcades, ready to dominate the market. Home consoles were just starting to be developed.  I was going to be a large part of that movement. Kind of. I only went to two arcades ever, and I barely played any video games at either one. At one, at the Southside Mall, I barely went in and left after barely trying to play one game that was malfunctioning. At the other, Showbiz Pizza in Lexington, I wound up playing more Skee-Ball than video games.  When I was a kid, I never had a game console, although relatives and a neighbor did. A cousin had a Coleco. Unfortunately, they had a basketball game that I didn't really get into, but they also had a pocket game that really intrigued me. There were others, but I can't remember them at the moment. My neighbor had an Atari. We weren't too close by then, so I barely got a chance with it. It had the "unofficial" version of Pac-Man, Pitfall, and the game with the tanks. Combat, maybe?  All I had was a handheld electronic game called "Merlin" that looked like an early red model of early cell phones.  There was also the sequel "Master Merlin" that was flatter and blue. I came back to those years after I had outgrown the target age range. Simple games, but entertaining. I also had a digital watch in seventh grade that had a basic shooter where a rocket had to fire at incoming aliens. The game reset after 200 or 300 points, so it wasn't that long-term playable. Once the battery died a few times, I gave the watch up.

    It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I would really start in video games, beyond a few demos in stores that I would mess around with.  A freshman had brought in their new GameBoy that I got a chance with. Tetris. It captured me in a way I couldn't describe. That summer, I tried to get my mother to allow me to help buy a GB at a department store at the Huntington Mall, but she turned me down flat. I wouldn't get an actual console until that Christmas, after I had started college. Maybe my second year; my timelines are a little mixed up. Anyway, I finally got a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I would play that a lot over the holidays. For my birthday, a month later, I got my third game, Super Mario Brothers 3. I played that most of the day a week later, somehow leading to one of my first major panic attacks that night when I realized how alone I was. (I had no one else other than play with, as my mom could never get the hang of most games I liked.)

    While I a got a Super Nintendo (SNES) around a year later, it wouldn't be until another panic attack in the mid-90s that a would try and reinvent myself as a gamer. That's when I switched over to the PlayStation (PS1), mostly. I still had a GameBoy from Pokemon phase, but I was willing to accept the future of gaming. While I usually wouldn't play into the night, I was playing most days for hours. It helped that I was unemployed at the time. My gaming slowed down to the weekends when I opened my store in 2000. Still, I was enjoying myself quite nicely, especially after I upgraded to a PS2.

    Then came the 2003 flood. 

    I lost a lot of games, but I managed to save most of my consoles. Still, I wasn't able to play anything for a while as I got through the disaster. Things took another bad turn when I had to start going in to work on Saturdays as well in 2005. This would limit my gaming to just one day a week for an hour or two, and portable gaming at work on my GameBoy Advance (GBA). I ultimately had to stop gaming. I just lost interest, and I didn't have the money to keep upgrading systems. I also had a hard time finding games I still liked. 

    I didn't really play much in the 2010s, until I got my first computer. While my gaming options were limited on a MacBook, unless I wanted to pay a lot of money and devote a lot of memory. Still, I started to slowly get back into limited gaming. Very limited. Finally getting an iPhone helped on the end as well. While I don't even come close to gaming as much as I did back in the 90s, I feel that I still have an active time doing so.

    For the next few weeks, I will be posting twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, about some of the games/series that I have played over the years. I will occasionally write a third post about some related gaming topics (Mondays). Come back Saturday, as I start going through my library.

Why So Series?

    Next week, I will be starting my new series.  I started doing these in 2024 each spring. The first one I did was "My Comic Book Journey." It grew out of an exercise I did whenever I didn't need to concentrate too much doing other things, such as driving or trying to fall asleep. In it, I went over every place where I had gotten a comic book, or at least had the chance to get one. I could have gone over some of my favorite titles or characters, but that would have been problematic, as every title I have collected over the decades has been cancelled and restarted at least once. With each new volume, the numbering changes.  This would have made describing them difficult. One series I like has gone through at least seven iterations, not counting spin-off series. However, I still am collecting the current iterations of the first two superhero comics I ever got, as well as the most recent volumes of various Disney titles. I am planning on including a update post for this series in early May.

    My series for 2025 was "My Culinary Odyssey." That time, I documented every place I ever ate out at, as well as a few spots where I stopped, but I didn't eat there myself. I actually mentioned my favorite and usual orders from many of these places, as well as including special hacks for better enjoyment. I ever included a few recipe clones as well. I am thinking of having the update for this series in June, but don't expect too much new material. 

    For this year's series, I decided to write something less geographically based. Instead of the experience, I will going for the actual products. My series for 2026 is called "My Video Game Library." I will be going over many of my video and computer games memories. Note, I won't be including every single game this time. I just can't.  First, I don't remember every subtitle for every sequel. For most of my gaming life, I would try to get the sequel for a game I really liked, as long as I had the right console. While remembering number is fairly simple, not every game went that route. All of these subtitles were hard to recollect.  Sure, I could search online, but that still might not get every single title right. Second, I lost many of my games in the same 2003 flood that took out the majority of my comic book and RPG collections.  With so many games with similar play, it is going to be hard to find the each one, especially for titles I didn't play that much, and that was almost thirty years ago. Or more. Finally, I am actually embarrassed about some of the games I got. I am talking along the lines of "That was stupid and bad," instead of the "That was niche, but cool in a way." There will be intentional omissions. 

    I am planning on doubling up my regular posts to Wednesdays and Saturdays to get everything done faster. As another means to speed things up, I will be grouping sequels with the original game, or the first one in the series I played. I will occasionally be adding a third post per week on Mondays as "Sidequests" to the main series. These will be on related topics to the actual games and will make the series feel more like the previous two. These occasional posts will feature some of the geographical information that were a hallmark of my first two series. 

    Next week will be the introduction. I'm still planning where and when the following posts will fall. After I cover the games, I will have an overview and maybe an addenda and/or an errata post. The series should be ending in mid-to-late May, including the break to update "My Comic Book Journey." Time to move onto the next stage.

Pop Quiz, and You've Already Failed

    I don't know how, but I started getting new food news on my social media feeds. Now, while I don't hate that, I do get tired waiting months for products that sometimes never show up at any local stores. Sure, I would occasionally spot them on trips, but what good is it when I only get to try something for that just one time. This becomes doubly troublesome if I choose not to get something, only to wonder if I made the wrong decision. What a new product does show up, and it something I am very interested in, I do tend to grab whenever I can, so I can have the experience as quickly as possible before it is all grabbed up. Or discontinued. 

    For some reason, the bulk of these news items seem to focus on beverages. In the next few months, a "dirty" version of Mountain Dew will arrive. Citrus mixed with cream soda doesn't sound like it will mesh well. Strangely enough, both Mug and A & W will come out with root beer float flavors, again with an added cream soda/vanilla taste. Even 7Up will have a new limited flavor version for summer involving mandarin orange.  That one I will skip. In part because it will be an exclusive flavor for a store that isn't local. However, two new sodas are already out, and both have flavors that I absolutely adore.

    First, there is Cherry Float Coke. Years ago, Coke had a cherry-vanilla version, but it was discontinued. There still are cherry and vanilla flavors available, but just not together. Now, while I don't like Coke, I love the combination of cherry and vanilla, so I went I tried it. I had the original version I few times, but I can't remember how I felt about it. This new version? Nothing. Maybe a little hint of cherry on the first sip, and some vanilla in the aftertaste, but it was basically a milder Coke. Nothing disgusting, if you don't hate Coke like me, but not enough of a flavor to call it "Cherry Float" either. Some reviews suggest drinking it at different temperatures to increase the flavor, but I don't know. I am planning on having a second bottle just in case though.

    Later on that same day, I found a display featuring Pepsi's new prebiotic sodas. These apparently only come in cans. While there are two flavors, Original and Cherry Vanilla, I only tried the second. Pepsi originally had a cherry vanilla flavor years ago, which I would get sometimes, but it was discontinued, along with the vanilla flavor soon after. There still is a Wild Cherry Pepsi, but it is a little too sweet for me. Pepsi also debuted a Wild Cherry and Cream last year. I described it as tasting like how an air freshener or potpourri would smell. Somehow, this was popular enough to become a permanent flavor. I tired two bottles, but that was more than enough for me, although I might be forced to try it again. However, this is about the new flavor, which I just tired, even though I don't need the minuscule amount of extra fiber in my diet. The first sip made me gag. There was an overwhelming medicinal cherry flavor. It was so strong that it even overwhelmed the regular Pepsi taste. I couldn't even get a trace of vanilla anywhere. I drank the rest of it, hoping it would get better. It really didn't . Definitely don't think I'll be trying this one again.

    This is a shame, because I love a good mix of cherry and vanilla. Dr Pepper's version of this was one of my favorite sodas of all time. The Dr Pepper website suggests that the drink is still available out there, somewhere, but I haven't seen it in a store in over a decade. This is my go-to drink at the few Freestyle machines around locally, but I rarely get to go them. Even stranger, I was having a hard time even finding my regular Cherry Dr Pepper in stores for a while, although it was back in time for my birthday last month. However, it tastes different now. Other fans think it is due to the removal of the artificial red dye, even though it never gave a flavor to the drink. Maybe it is the lack of redness that is making fans think that, but I don't know. And in case you are wondering. Yes, I sometimes mix a can of Cherry and a can of Cream Soda Dr Pepper together to try and recreate the taste of the original drink, but I never seem to get the ratios right.

Enigmatic Song Title Puzzles 2026: One Letter Off

    It's time for the final song title puzzle for the start of the year.  This time around the puzzle is "One Letter Off." For the first set of puzzles, I will change one letter in a song titles into another. I then will describe what the song title would be about, as well as giving the original artist. You then have to guess both the new title as well as the original.  For example, if the clue was 'A ride share driver is upset that their latest customer had a very bad case of flatulence, and now they can't get the smell out of their vehicle (Luke Combs).'  The answer would be "Fart Car"/"Fast Car." See if you can get the rest of these. Answers at the bottom.

1. Here's the big love song from the new Superman musical. Mercy Graves sings about the love she has being the henchwoman for Superman's main nemesis, who she prefers when he's being bad. (Kendrick Lamar and SZA)
2. Help! High school juniors are freaking out because of college entrance exams, especially after one made a major change just before the latest round began. (ROSE & Bruno Mars)
3. Applejack has opened Equestria's newest hotspot, based on the mohawk, safety pin, and torn clothes aesthetic. See where Pegasi, unicorns, and even the occasional alicorn come to rock out. (Chappell Roan)
4. The great philosopher convention has started. The main debate will be about the foundations of reality, and if there even is a reality to be shared. (Gracie Abrams)
5. The greatest mage in the land has been robbed. Every grimoire from their library has been stolen. These magical books must be found before used for evil purposes, even if the mage no longer has his resources. (The Weeknd & Playboy Carti)
6. A golf primer about how to hit the ball when it is on the green. This is particularly troublesome when the hole is a long way from the ball and one must use the right club. (Leon Thomas)
7. Scientists have discovered a new plant that uses air currents instead of animals to transfer pollen from the stamen to the pistil. (Billie Eilish)
8. A tribute to the great Argentinian soccer player known mostly by his last name and not his first, Lionel. The focus is on his time with Inter Miami. (Lola Young)
9. This woman has become so needy for romance, that she can't stop begging her boyfriend to please her. While the spirit is strong, the flesh can't keep up. So, she looks elsewhere to meet her needs. (Ravyn Lenae)
10. Her home is targeted by a rodent infestation. While the exterminator is willing to help, the woman wants to use humane traps involving adhesives over other forms. (Jessie Murph)
11. A city has instituted a new system to ensure that fountain drink dispensers are serving the correct carbonated beverages. These inspectors have to taste from each machine to make sure that there are no mistakes. (Saja Boys)
12. The people of Copenhagen really try to make each tourist know the pleasures of their country. There's a lot beyond Hamlet and "The Little Mermaid." (HUNTR/X)
13. A newlywed couple are having a hard time dividing chores. No one wants to clean up the dishes after they are washed, or who should take the wet clothes out of the washing machine to finish up. (The Weeknd)
14. The villains of Gotham City have been recently plagued with nightmares. While they sleep, images of small flying mammals terrify them. (Teddy Swims)
15. Come to this special waterway, where everyone along the banks are cheerful and kind. Even the animals and plants seem to want to help you. (Doechii)

    For this part of the puzzle, instead of changing a letter, I will be adding a letter for the first part (+) and deleting a letter (-) for the second part. The rest of the clue remains the same. Answers at the bottom.

1. A man is facing a horrible first date. The woman is cooking for him, but the meal is terrible. But he is grinning with every bite. (Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars) +
2. Move over Ninja Turtles, as there are new cold-blooded superheroes in town. And they are salamanders. (Shaboozy) +
3. You know that parents say they love all of their offspring equally. However, there is always as favorite that they care for a little more than the others. (Sabrina Carpenter) +
4. While most people take their Corona beers with a slice of citrus, he does not. In fact, he prefers none of his drinks with a fruit garnish. (Zach Top) +
5. Another guy at the bar keeps getting the same drink, even though he doesn't order it. The same one each time, a sweet Hungarian wine. (Jelly Roll) +
6. An actor is hired to portray a woman for a special exhibit. However, he refuses to be that woman for any other role, but he always reacts kindly when asked to do so. (Benson Boone) -
7. Former allies return to being enemies, after being at peace for a long time. (Sombr) -
8. Oh no! The Geiger counters are going off, and the Klaxons are sounding. If we don't leave this nuclear reactor soon, we will be exposed to a fatal dosage! (Joe Wetzel and Jessie Murph) -
9. People are starting to dream about building a large boat. There hasn't been any rain along the stream for a while, but clouds are building. (Lil Tecca) -
10. A man can't stop talking about his bathroom habits. When his briefs hit the floor and he squats down, he couldn't be happier. (SZA) -

ANSWERS

1. "Luthor"/"Luther"
2. "ACT."/"APT."
3. "Punk Pony Club"/"Pink Pony Club"
4. "What's So True"/"That's So True"
5. "Tomeless"/"Timeless"
6. "Putt"/"Mutt"
7. "Windflower"/"Wildflower"
8. "Messi"/"Messy"
9. "Love Me Now"/"Love Me Not"
10. "Glue Strips"/"Blue Strips"
11. "Soda Cop"/"Soda Pop"
12. "How It's Dane"/"How It's Done"
13. "Dry for Me"/"Cry for Me"
14. "Bat Dreams"/"Bad Dreams"
15. "Genial Is a River"/Denial Is a River"

PART TWO

1. "Dine with a Smile"/"Die with a Smile"
2. "Good Newts"/"Good News"
3. "Mainchild"/"Manchild"
4. "I Never Lime"/"I Never Lie"
5. "I Am Not Tokay"/"I Am Not Okay"
6. "Sorry I'm Her for Someone Else"/"Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else"
7. "Back to Fiends"/"Back to Friends"
8. "High Rad"/"High Road"
9. "Ark Thoughts"/"Dark Thoughts"
10. "BM"/"BMF"

Intriguing Song Title Puzzles 2026: Emojis

    It's the second week of puzzles!  This time around, the puzzles are based on emojis. I've replaced the words in the following titles with emojis, skipping some of the smaller words that can't really be represented.  For example, if I had a United States flag followed by a baked good, your answer would be "American Pie," a number one song from 1972 by Don McLean. (I would show you the example, but emojis don't really mix well with words.) Note that some of the emojis are representing multiple things and that some might need to be combined to get the full meaning. As an added challenge, I didn't include the artists in the clues, but I did include them in the answers which can be found at the bottom of the screen.

1. ☠️ + 😃
2. [🐓🦢🪿] 🪶
3. 🩷 🐎 ♣️
4. 📺 ⏼
5. ⏰❌
6. 👅
7. ㉚ ⁄ ㉚
8. 🇫🇮 📱
9. 🥇
10. ❤️ 👤 ❌
11. 🧔🏻‍♂️👶🏻
12. 👚👕 👖 👗 🚫
13. 🛏️ 🧑🏼‍🔬
14. ⚽️ 🏀 🏈 ⚾️ 🚗
15. 🌈 🔴 🟠 🟡 🟢 🔵 ? 🟣
16. 🧙🏽💬
17. 🔥 🟦
18. 🥤 🍾
19. 👿 💭 💭
20. 🔄 🚪
21. 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬🚬
22. 🫀👩🏼
23. 🏠 🔁
24. 👿 💭 💭
25. 🚫 💈

    ANSWERS

1. "Die with a Smile" Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
2. "Birds of a Feather" Billie Eilish
3. "Pink Pony Club" Chappell Roan
4. "TV Off" Kendrick Lamar
5. "Timeless"  The Weeknd & Playboy Carti
6. "Taste" Sabrina Carpenter
7. "30 for 30" SZA w Kendrick Lamar
8. "Nokia" Drake
9. "Golden" HUNTR/X
10. "Love Me Not" Ravyn Lenae
11. "Manchild" Sabrina Carpenter
12. "Undressed" Sombr
13. "Bed Chem" Sabrina Carpenter
14. "Sports Car" Tate McRae
15. "Indigo" Sam Barber f Avery Anna
16. "Abracadabra" Lady Gaga
17. "Burning Blue" Mariah the Scientist
18. "Soda Pop" Saja Boys
19. "Bad Dreams" Teddy Swims
20. "Revolving Door" Tate McRae
21. "20 Cigarettes" Morgan Wallen
22. "Heart of a Woman" Summer Walker
23. "House Again" Hudson Westbrook
24. "Dark Thoughts" Lil Tecca
25. "No Pole" Don Tolliver

Perplexing Song Title Puzzles 2026: In Other Words

    Welcome to the first of three puzzles based on various song titles of 2025. Yeah, it says 2026 in the title, but that is the year I'm making these puzzles, so there. This first puzzle is "In Other Words." I will take a song title and replace each word with different ones that mean about the same. You try to guess the original song title. As an added clue, I will give the name of the artist at the end of each title. For example, if I give you "Your Physique Is Reminiscent of Rural Unpaved Driving Surfaces" (Sam Hunt), your answer would be "Body Like a Back Road." Not much of a compliment when it is said like that. I should point out that there were a lot of repeat songs in 2025. For instance, seven of the top ten songs of made the top 100 of 2026. Four of those in the top ten. Two in the top five. I've tried not to duplicate any songs from last year in these puzzles, but I may have repeated a few. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the answers.

1. "Expire While Expressing Happiness Via the Mouth" (Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars)
2. "R&B Singer Vandross" (Kendrick Lamar and SZA)
3. "Avians Possessing Similar Singular Plumage" (Billie Eilish)
4. "Very Plain" (Alex Warren)
5. "Pastel Red Miniature Equine Performance Venue" (Chappell Roan)
6. "Desire No Particular Individual" (Morgan Wallen)
7. "Certain Fact Can Be Seen as Actual" (Gracie Abrams)
8. "Without Temporal Dimension" (The Weeknd and Playboy Carti)
9. "Sensual Experience from the Tongue" (Sabrina Carpenter)
10. "Canine of Uncertain Breeding" (Leon Thomas)
11. "Smartphone of Finnish Extraction" (Drake)
12. "Possessing Qualities Similar to Element 79" (HUNTR/X: Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rae Ami)
13. "Nondescript Condition This One Desires" (Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae)
14. "Fairly Untidy" (Lola Young)
15. "Desiring This One in the Negative" (Ravyn Lenae)
16. "Nautical Traveller Musical Piece" (Gigi Perez)
17. "Excuse Me, But You Are Not the Being at This Location Being Sought For"  (Benson Boone)
18. "Feeling of Nervousness" (Doechii)
19. "State of Being without Wearing Clothing" (Sombr)
20. "Those People's Object of Esteem" (Soja Boys)
21. "Elevated Means of Access" (Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph)
22. "State of Flammability of Cerulean Quality" (Mariah the Scientist)
23. "White Flowers with Yellow Centers" (Justin Bieber)
24. "Will Occur upon This Entity" (Russell Dickerson)
25. "Undesirable Reveries" (Teddy Swims)

ANSWERS

1. "Die with a Smile"
2. "Luther"
3. "Birds of a Feather"
4. "Ordinary"
5. "Pink Pony Club"
6. "Love Somebody"
7. "That's So True"
8. "Timeless"
9. "Taste"
10. "Mutt"
11. "Nokia"
12. "Golden"
13. "What I Want"
14. "Messy"
15. "Love Me Not"
16. "Sailor Song"
17. "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else"
18. "Anxiety"
19. "Undressed"
20. "Your Idol"
21. "High Road"
22. "Burning Blue"
23. "Daisies"
24. "Happen to Me"
25. "Bad Dreams"