About

The Retro Boy: Classic (and Modern) Gaming!

The year was the 1980s. Okay, that was a decade, but you get the point. 8-bit was the thing, and arcade games were finally coming home to consumers on consoles they could use with their home TVs. And thus, and entire generation of gamers was born, ones who’s early childhoods are filled with fond memories of colorful sprites, classic heroes, compelling villains, and some of the best music you can muster with only 8 sounds to chose from. We fondly refer to this era as the RETRO ERA of gaming, and it paved the way for every single Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo gamer that currently exists.

Though graphics have come further than ever, sound is at a cinematic level, and budgets exceed millions of dollars in the gaming arena, the age of retro gaming refuses to die. Like vinyl music collections, classic games have been a major source of pride for any collector. Whether it be from an old-school gamer who wants to relive the glory days, or a young teen who wasn’t even alive to see many of these releases, there is a common draw to the early days of gaming. Because, before all the glitz and glamor, gaming was at it’s core a unique experience that allowed people of all ages to live interactive and timeless adventures that they would go on to remember for years to come. It wasn’t just movies or literature that captured audiences hungry for new narratives: gamers were now part of the fold as well.

And that, my friends, is the point of this website. To keep that grand tradition of classic gaming alive. To relive the glory days, through streams and pictures, through clips and reviews, and through essays exploring what was so awesome about gaming to begin with. That’s why I want to make this a major home for gamers, old and a-new, who want to relive every moment of gaming that changed their lives.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce myself… THE Retro Boy Sleeve T!

Meet Sleeve T!

My name is Sleeve T, and I’ve been a gamer since the age of 5. My folks didn’t want to spoil me TOO much with gaming gear at an early age, so they instead bought me a second hand Atari 2600 from the local Salvation Army. I had played the original NES console with friends at summer camp in the 80s, but this was the first time I got to own my own console. Most of the games I played were from that same Salvation Army, and barely any of them made sense to me. Still, it was exciting to be able to play any game at all, especially at home.

Than, one Christmas, they decided to spoil me with my first modern gaming console: the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES.) That console changed my life, as I grew my collection gradually throughout the years. I would come to lvoe platform games like Super Mario World and Konami games like Buster Busts Loose. I would also love racers like Mario Cart and F-Zero, and even a few weird titles like “Mario is Missing,” Nintendo’s bizarre attempt to make Mario educational. But what really, truly captured me as a kid were JRPGs. It all started with Chrono Trigger, which is widely accepted as one of the greatest titles of all time. There were so many that stapled themselves into my childhood nostalgia banks: Final Fantasy III, Mario RPG, Breath of Fire, and so many more. I realized very quickly that storylines in gaming held a power unlike any other medium: you could put yourself in the driver’s seat of cineplex-style adventures, where ordinarily you’re at the mercy of the director’s vision. Now, you made the choices. You lived these tales. And for a kid like me, one with an overactive imagination and limitless energy, this is where all my daydreams resided.

Gaming eventually modernized, as the release of the Playstation, CDROM, and other technology made the integration of high-end CGI easy for most companies. Final Fantasy 7 became a much more cinematic experience than previous titles, and games for PC and Mac OS were now featuring complex voice acting and dialogue to go with the impressive graphics. This transitional era of retro to modern gaming is still highly regarded as one of gaming’s golden eras however, especially with several competitive 3D systems on the market like Sega Dreamcast and the Microsoft Xbox. Though some consoles fell off, like the ill-fated Sega Saturn or the unusual Atari Jaguar, it was a time of innovation and competition among major tech companies and some very impressive gaming titles emerged from this.

I mention these two periods because they are the ones that had the greatest impact on my retro-loving heart. From 1985 to 2005 gaming saw an incredible amount of innovation, modernization, experimentation, and style. Some of the best on-screen adventures I’ve lived out have been from the games innovated in this 30-year period, and for that we must thank the industry of the day for realizing the medium for what it is: a chance to give everyone the driver’s seat in movie-style adventuring. Or, you know, just geek out on the leveling up and armor and stuff.

Collecting games from this era was my greatest joy. The pride of my collection was palpable, rivaled only by my music collection. In my teenage years I had every retro game under the sun, and most of the consoles too. Life was good for this retro boy, and those days were some of the happiest of my life.

The Great Ter-Mom-ination

Then, one horrible Christmas, I come home to visit my family. I had already moved out by then, mind you, but I thought my memorabilia and collectables would still be safe. All those big box PC games that I loved, all the PS1 black discs, and all those lovely little cartridges would be waiting for me right alongside my Samsung GX TV. That holiday was supposed to be a great reliving of my youth. Sadly, it did not work out that way.

My mother, of whom I love very dearly, thought the games were taking up space. And, whats more, kids grow out of playing video games. There was no reason a grown adult would keep these things. They’re like comic books, after all, meant to be passed on when the reader grows out of them. So, without asking me, she sold my entire collection of games, consoles, and TVs. I came home to an empty closet, dust residing where my most prized collection of games once rested.

It was a much more profound realization than I ever thought possible, knowing exactly how much something means to you the minute it disappears. I had taken these games for granted, I thought. I hadn’t relived these adventures the amount of times I wanted. There was more to them then just one play through and moving on with your adult life. These things, though just things, were irreplaceable pieces to my heart.

Gaming wasn’t just some thing for kids, I knew. Gaming was a way of life. These titles held as much, if not more, to me than her entire collection of novels. If I was supposed to grow out of video games, why wasn’t she supposed to grow out of romance novels? Should I have just protested her action by selling all of those, espousing the same logic when she got upset?

Instead of sinking to that level, I made a new vow: to re-gain my collection of games. This adventure has taken me through game shops across the USA in the hopes of locating every title that meant something to me as a kid. And really, that’s what this page is about. It’s about sharing that experience of re-collecting and replaying this very important piece of my youth. Because it’s not just my youth, it’s so many other people’s as well.

Retro Gaming is a Way of Life (So Join The Lifestyle!)

If the story above hits home at all, let me tell you… you’ve found the right place. The passion for gaming out there is palpable, everyone has extremely fond memories of these titles. This is my tribute to that, to each one of you who loved games and gaming. Every bit of content that you see from me is that of passion for this subject, with the hopes that you’ll be able to live the glory days in no time at all.

The site is simply divided by the categories of posts I make. If you’re looking for a game review, click review! Or video, or blog, etc. It’s pretty straight-forward! And it’s all from the bottom of my retro-loving heart! So dig in, don’t be shy!

Thanks again, please bookmark if you like what you’re reading, and I’ll see you all through the year. Because I, THE Retro Boy, will be dropping nostalgia bombs regularly! Stay tuned!

–Sleeve T (The Retro Boy)