4 Video Games From Which A Justin Tiemeyer Can Be Constructed

(In chronological order)

1. Super Mario 64 (N64)

 

There were a lot of games that came before Mario 64. There was Galaga, 1942, Super Mario 1-3, Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games (especially Turtles in Time)... But those were games I played with other people, which means that it basically meant someone like my brother Micah or my Uncle Paul playing and me either watching or dying creatively when I did play. Super Mario 64 changed things. I had my own save game file and I meticulously played through every level until I had done everything you could do in the game. Super Mario 64 made me realize that I am a hundred-percenter when it comes to games. It was the first game that ever felt like it was mine.

 2. Cruis'n USA (N64)

While you were playing Mario Kart 64 and Golden Eye, I was playing Cruis'n USA and Star Fox 64. I beat every race and earned every model of car in every color. My brother and I would play Cruis'n USA all the time, one of us racing ahead of everyone else and the other crashing into any car that approached the leader. The destruction would get to hilarious that I would feel sick to my stomach at the end of the day. It opened and closed the book on racing games. As for Star Fox 64, I loved that game, but I never really was good enough to do everything on it.

3. Final Fantasy VII (Playstation)

 

Final Fantasy VII was an amazing journey that began with watching my best friend Jared's older brother Paul playing. I didn't own the system and I didn't own the game, but that changed after what I saw. Not only did I do everything you could possibly do in the game, but I personally verified every single theory as to how you could resurrect Aeris. None of them work, by the way. You have no idea how many 3/5 Soldiers I had to collect and how many levels I advanced before finding that out.

 4. Borderlands (PC)

Final Fantasy VII was the last game I ever got so completely engulfed in. I would invite friends over after class was over in high school just to show them my Knights of the Round summon. That's why Borderlands is such an amazing game. It's been somewhere between a decade and a decade and a half since a game has captured my imagination in this way. The difference between this game and the prior three is that Borderlands is social. It allows me to re-connect with my good friends Adam, Stephan, and Derek, who all live in different cities across the nation, and it's also a game that I can play with my lovely girlfriend who is now a whole country away from me. I've nearly completed every steam achievement, but that certainly won't be the end. I still need to get every skill point, max out my weapon stats, go back and assure that I've gotten every Backpack SDU, get the best possible weapons and specs, and do all of the in-game challenges. Once I'll complete that I'll just move on to the next DLC, or perhaps perform a speed run of the game with my good buddies. I've had hours upon hours of fun with this game and I expect that I'm not anywhere near quitting it.