Superman 64 was a great game when I was a kid.

You guys are probably thinking, "What?! But Ehsan, that game is horrible!"

I know. I know. Now let me get to the point.

Well 2 years ago I saw a copy of Superman 64 I had back when I was a kid. I started to play it and I couldn't get past the second level because I thought it was horrible, that wasn't that way when I was 7. As you all know Superman 64 was the worst excuse for a video game ever created, for horrible graphics, camera, and gameplay. I did not judge the game by any of those aspects. My only judging techniques were "fun", or "not fun". One thing I was always armed with when I was a kid was imagination. I didn't play the game just by going from level to level. I blended in other things like pretending I was a dolphin by swimming in and out of the water and other things I found fun (easy mode doesn't require you to go through rings in an amount of time). You see when I played a game I didn't say the things after a game like the story was lacking, bad graphics, or bad presentation. It was because as I grew up I began to develop more thoughts in gaming. It's kind of like this:

Toddler-8: Enjoys playing game because they think it's fun, no sense of critique (for the most part)

8-11: Begins to focus on different aspects in gaming and starts new types of game such as puzzle, action, or RPG. (Pokemon, Guitar Hero, exc.) Also developing a sense of critique noting details about games.

11-13: Now begins playing games focusing harder aspects in gaming such as playing Zelda, Medal of Honor, Final Fantasy, or Metroid, and others. Sense of critique grows higher.

14-Adult: Now starts to play mature games like Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, and also focuses on making achievements like beating Through The Fire And Flames on Expert level.

When I was a kid I started playing games like Star Wars Episode One: Racer, Power Ranger, and Mario Kart 64. When I was 10 I started to play harder games that require me to use my brain like Paper Mario for the Nintendo Gamecube. When I was 12 I started to play generally harder games than Metroid Prime and focused on harder games. Last year I bought Resident Evil 4 for the Wii (calling the original the scary game, along with Mortal Kombat, when I was a kid) I found a taste for game like those and Halo, and also starting to like strategy games like Command and Conquer. I also appreciated the Zelda series (The reason I ddn't own Ocarina as a kid was because I was only 5 when it came out and I got an N64 when I was 6), and find the different aspects of gaming and not get drawn to the crappy games just cause they have Spiderman (also Superman) slapped on the cover.

Now as I look back seeing I was a Gaming Padawan that eventually became a good player (I'm not hardcore, I play like less than 30 minutes a day). Gaming has it's steps to when you start at easy and generally progress to harder and better games. So that's the reason I still haven't blew up, set on fire, or torture my copy of Superman 64. Because it put a smile on my face to remember the old memories of my gaming.