Fun & Games Archives - John Dalesandro

LEGO® Harry Potter™ Advent Calendar 2020 (Set 75981)

A day-by-day gallery of the LEGO® Harry Potter™ Advent Calendar 2020 (Set 75981). We had so much fun building the 2019 Harry Potter advent calendar last year that it started a new hobby for me. We had not built many LEGO sets prior to last year, but our enjoyment of all things Harry Potter combined with an eventful 2020, led to a sharp increase in LEGO Harry Potter purchases. It also gives me an excuse to dust off my macro lens.

LEGO® Harry Potter™ Advent Calendar 2020 (Set 75981) - Hogwarts Castle — Day 1 – Harry Potter

Dialogue from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda series has always been a favorite of mine. The original game eluded me until it was released as a retro game on the Wii’s Virtual Console. I played a rental copy from the local video store in the dark ages, but I was never able to get a copy of my own and the two day rental was not enough time to complete it. Thankfully, Santa brought me the gold cartridge of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in 1988 and I was hooked. Since then, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time have become two of my favorite games of all time. While I love the stories, the puzzles, the dungeons, and the timeline that sort of makes sense if you don’t think too hard – it’s the dialogue between Link and the non-playable characters or the surrounding environment that really sets it apart from other favorites. I think the dialogue in earlier games was unintentionally humorous because of translations or poor writing, but the later games must know they’re funny.

I’m still very early into Breath of the Wild so I’m sure I’ll encounter more funny dialogue during the journey, but here are a few captures so far. Breath of the Wild is continuing the tradition and it’s an amazing game.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Journal of Various Worries — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Journal of Various Worries

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Shouldn't You Be Dead? — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Shouldn’t You Be Dead?

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - SHA-DING — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – SHA-DING

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Rumored Birthday — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Rumored Birthday

Dysentery and Other Unfinished Business

I look back fondly on PC games from the 1980s. While the graphics haven’t aged well when compared to modern day games, these games piqued my interest in computers and programming which set a path for adulthood. Many hours were spent exploring mysterious castles and vast kingdoms. Imagination expanded the games beyond the basic 16 colors available at the time.

Now that The Internet Archive has released hundreds of old MS-DOS games (I suppose they’re considered “retro” now), I’m reminded of how difficult these games were to finish. Time faded the memories of swapping disks and choosing display types (CGA, EGA, or VGA). The frustration of finding the correct verb to act on that pixelated thingamajig had been forgotten.

I spent weeks trying to catch Carmen Sandiego. The 1986 Fodor’s USA Travel Guide was worn out. There was no Google to look up answers to seemingly impossible clues. I never caught her. I broke bones and died of dysentery trying to get to Oregon. I never made it to Willamette Valley. Time has passed, but a lot of unfinished business remains. Thank you to the Internet Archive and the creators of DOSBox for giving me another opportunity to survive the journey, to catch the super criminal, and to relive childhood memories.

Highlights

Completing Oregon Trail was somehow easier today than it was in 6th grade. Perhaps I realize now that resting is more important than hunting squirrels during the long journey.

The elusive Carmen Sandiego awaits. My Fodor’s Travel Guide is long gone, but I foresee success with my new Super Sleuth tools (Google).

I finished the NES version of Shadowgate, but I will try the PC version. The creepy storyline and music instantly gave me goosebumps.

These games and others may be found at The Internet Archive – Collection of MS-DOS Games.