Games That Made Me: Episode 2 - Shadowgate
Hello Patrons! This is a stocking stuffer, as it were. Some content to tide you over until the new year when I come back with the next part of my Ultima series. Today, I'm taking a look back at an NES adventure game with some horror elements that really stuck with me over the years. In doing so, I remember what it means to find (and lose) friendship as an introvert, and how sometimes the best is yet to come.
I just so happened to be in the midst of upscaling some ancient VHS-C footage from my parent's basement, so I thought this would be a good chance to use it as well! All of the old taped footage here is from our family camcorder.
(P.S. Sorry for the dog barking in the background at some points. I only noticed while editing.)
Comments (16)
I was the "kid that moved away" in this type of scenario, but as an introvert, the US wasn't as nice. lol. Thanks for reminding me about shadowgate and an awesome childhood I had back then.
I play so much shadowgate for NES when I was a kid. I never beat it because I am just the worst at figuring out what to do in these types of games. I love them, but I am not good at them. The music and graphics were great at the time. I dumped so much time in to shadowgate. You would feel such a sense of accomplishment when you finally figured out how to get something done in it. It was great. Maniac Mansion was a blast too.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one whos childhood was shaped in part by this game. I played it at an old babysitter's house, and it both intrigued and scared me. Later in high school I borrowed a copy of it on the gameboy as well and was finally able to beat it. I never knew anyone else who had played it, so I couldnt share that feeling, but its awesome to see that across the continent I wasnt alone. I'm sure you've must've heard of it by now, but there is a sequel made only recently by the original devlopers on steam! I'm looking forward to trying it out. I hope you get the chance to as well!
Well done! I loved the NES ports of Shadowgate, Uninvited, and Deja Vu as a kid, and always appreciated the sense of dread and looming danger that they could create with static screens and basic chiptune music. Have you checked out the "official" sequel that was just released on Steam, Beyond Shadowgate (unrelated to the TG-16 one)? It's fantastic, and really expands on the lore and the world, while keeping the static backgrounds of the original intact. A lot of bang for your buck!
So THAT's where "Gaming in the Clinton Years" tune comes from
Great video, got me right in the feels! I had a buddy who used to come over and game in 6th grade. One day when I asked if he was coming over after school he flat out said “ nah I was only hanging out with you because you have a GameCube. I got one for my bday and your house stinks anyway.” My parents were smokers so he was right our place smelled like an ashtray.
"ooohh let's have a look at GBC Shadowgate!!" I say, 15 minutes before the water gushes violently out of my eyes (beautiful video ty 🙏)
I've actually been up in rural Manitoba a few times on a couple of duck hunting trips with my dad. As we made our way to Dauphin, I would look at the small farms we would pass by. Your distance from the nearest town... the ridiculously long bus rides... for someone from rural Arkansas and +1300 mil... er... +2000 kilometers away, it was like a Canada-America uncanny valley effect meltdown. I would imagine, though, that just getting to a game store was more difficult than in rural Arkansas. These videos on your childhood video game experiences are awesome. Keep it going! (By the way, one of those trips involved an attempt to drive through the 2019 Manitoba snowstorm... in an RV. Like dumbasses.)
Cheers to that. Feeling nostalgic just imagining getting trapped in a snowstorm during a road trip. As annoying as it is being so far from civilization, dealing with power outages, etc. I yearn to return to middle-of-nowhere living. It's in the blood.
Man that story about meeting and losing a friend really stings. Glad to see you coming out the other side all the stronger for it.
Ah yes, memories of introversion and misunderstanding flood my mind at this! Thanks for sharing a moment like that maj! Also don't take this the wrong way, but Black and White Youngjuular looks like an underappreciated side-character from an early 2000s MTV animated dark humour drama series
My first introduction to the Shadowgate series was Shadowgate: Trial of the Four Towers for the Nintendo 64. Evidently one of the least rated games, my young childhood self loved it and marveled every time I found out how to proceed past a puzzle.
I plan on doing a short Patreon review of that game sometime soon too! I've got all the footage recorded and script ready. When I have some downtime between videos I'm gonna put it together. It's a very atmospheric game.
oh wow i didn't realize it until i saw the actual gameplay but this was a game my parents had on their macintosh from the 80s when i was a kid, i absolutely could not get anywhere in it
I was more an Uninvited man than a Shadowgate man, but these were the kind of games I longed to be good at as a young'un.
😭