If there is one feature of blogs that I absolutely adore it's the ability to interact with your audience.  I find this ability to truly engage your audience much more appealing than your standard static news website.  That's probably why I find myself frequenting gaming blogs such as Joystiq, Kotaku and Destructoid so much. 

So I'm trying out a new poll feature today and I hope it works *crosses fingers*.  For my very first poll I'm curious to find out if anyone out there considers themselves a fan of retro gaming. Or more specifically, gamers who enjoy classic arcade games, PCs such as the C-64, Colecovision, or Amiga and early generation gaming consoles such as the Atari, NES or Genesis.

The reason I have retro on the brain today is because this weekend I was invited over to a friend's house for a 'retro marathon' gaming session where we fired-up a number of classic video game consoles such as the Master System, NES, Genesis, SNES, and N64.  It was great fun and the experience brought back nostalgic moments from my childhood where I spent countless hours in front of my computer screen (I played all my consoles off my Commodore 64 monitor).  

From time-to-time I must admit that I get these retro cravings to plunk down an old 8-bit and 16-bit game cartridge and re-live some classic moments in gaming.  Over the course of the evening we played such classics as Mario Kart, WWF Raw, Super Bomberman, Mega Man, Knights of the Round, Road Rash, Crusin' USA and the very clunky boxing game Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2.

Of course whenever you power up a cherished retro game that you haven't experienced in more than a decade you're taking a moderate risk.  Some games withstand the test of time, while others clearly feel dated and uninspired.  Of the above mentioned games the ones that seemed to stand out the most were the party games such as Mario Kart, Super Bomberman, and the games that still possess decent play control (compared to today's standards) such as Road Road and Knights of the Round. 

After playing several hours of 80's and 90's games you really do gain a better appreciation of the advances in game control and design.  Many games in the NES-era were made to be punishing (*cough* Ninja Gaiden & Contra) and that's where a lot of the replay value was derived.  The goal was to learn patterns, master the controls and in many respects play the perfect game in order to clear the game.  I remember playing games such Contra for NES and Gradius III for the SNES where the only way I could beat the game was to enter the omnipresent Konami Code to gain extra lives and power-ups.  [Note: Astute retro gamers will note that the Konami Code is the third option in the poll!]

Games sure have changed in the last 20 years.  Nowadays it's more about progression and gradual difficulty arcing vs. memorization and unforgiving difficulty.  While I could lament that contemporary games are simpler, and in some cases far too easy in comparison to retro games, but when I actually go back and replay first generation games I find myself a little frustrated and flustered.  Perhaps the softening of modern games isn't so bad after all. 

Still, I can't deny the appeal of retro games.  They are the building blocks upon which this industry was constructed.  If it weren't for these games I wouldn't have had such a fun-filled childhood.  I still remember the first time I saved Princess Peach...and found out she's in another castle.  *sigh*