{"id":3241,"date":"2014-09-14T18:37:51","date_gmt":"2014-09-14T18:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=3241"},"modified":"2014-09-14T18:37:51","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T18:37:51","slug":"its-the-smell-if-there-is-such-a-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=3241","title":{"rendered":"It’s the smell… if there is such a thing."},"content":{"rendered":"

Every gamer has a list of \u201chidden gem\u201d games they played growing up.\u00a0 For me, titles like Felix the Cat<\/em>, M.C. Kids<\/em>, Totally Rad<\/em>, and Power Blade<\/em> were the third-party games I\u2019d show my \u201cSega friends\u201d to prove the NES had what it took to compete with the Genesis\u2019 ever expanding lineup.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough, these were all games that not even my \u201cNintendo friends\u201d had heard of.<\/p>\n

After getting my Super NES, I was really looking forward to playing not only the mega hits like the Zelda<\/em> and Contra<\/em> sequels, but also those sleeper hits that would validate me wanting the console so badly.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, I didn\u2019t have to wait long before I played one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"1991<\/a>

1991 – Data East<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe and Mac<\/em> was the first game we rented after buying the Super NES.\u00a0 In fact, Mom rented it the same day she bought me my brand new console soon after I started the second half of Grade 3.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know all that much about the game, mostly because I hadn\u2019t really paid attention to Nintendo Power<\/em>\u2019s Pak Watch section in the months leading up to the console\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

Owning a new console seemed like a bit of a pipe dream during those days.\u00a0 I had wanted a Sega Genesis, a TurboGrafx-16 and whatever else was on the market, but I always got the impression that my parents had better things to spend money on.<\/p>\n

For my part, I could understand that.<\/p>\n

When the Super NES was announced, I knew I\u2019d probably have to ask for it for years before actually getting one.\u00a0 Whenever I\u2019d flip through the pages of EGM<\/em> or NP<\/em> and see the great-looking new games coming from Nintendo, I\u2019d try to avoid getting too hyped up.\u00a0 It\u2019d be a long time before I\u2019d ever get to experience these for myself, so I\u2019d often just look at screenshots without reading articles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Someday,<\/a>

Someday, fellas\u2026 someday.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

To my great surprise, my mom bought me the spiffy new 16 bit console not long at all after it first came out.\u00a0 The pack-in game of Super Mario World<\/em> was obviously incredible, but Mom\u2019s seemingly random choice to rent Joe and Mac <\/em>was also a fantastic way for me to ring in the new era.<\/p>\n

I loved that it was a simple arcade beat \u2018em up where cave dudes beat up on sasquatches and other cavemen.\u00a0 The bosses were huge prehistoric creatures, and my fascination with dinosaurs at the time didn\u2019t hurt things.\u00a0 I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I played the heck out of it that night.<\/p>\n

The next day, my parents had plans for supper with family friends of ours, so I brought my Super NES and hooked it up to the TV in their basement.\u00a0 I had plans on staying down there most of the day, mostly because they\u2019d be busy cooking that evening\u2019s meal\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cabbage<\/a>

Cabbage rolls!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t smell all that appetizing, but I felt adventurous enough to go upstairs at one point to see what a cabbage roll looked like.\u00a0 I was a pretty finicky eater, but if the smell alone was enough to churn my stomach, maybe if I saw them being made I wouldn\u2019t be so grossed out.<\/p>\n

Now, when cabbage rolls are cooked, they get this greenish-beige and translucent look to them.\u00a0 The sight of a cooked leaf of cabbage sitting in a sea of marinara sauce was a bit off-putting.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care that it was filled with meat and seasoning\u2026 it looked kinda gross.<\/p>\n

Eating leaves raw in a salad was one thing; eating them cooked sounded like a soggy mess, and I wanted nothing of it.\u00a0 I headed back downstairs to play more Joe and Mac<\/em>, and didn\u2019t surface for a few hours at least.\u00a0 I remember getting to the final level, which if I remember correctly takes place in the inside of a dinosaur\u2019s digestive system.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we had to leave before I had a chance to beat the game.<\/p>\n

Whenever we went to their house afterwards, I could still smell the cabbage rolls.\u00a0 It was probably all in my head of course, but I could swear the smell had permeated the walls, carpet, and even the futon I was playing on.<\/p>\n

These days, my wife is an amazing cook, and she\u2019s opened my mind up to enjoy many things I didn\u2019t eat as a kid \u2013 namely certain kinds of seafood \u2013 so I was more than willing to give cabbage rolls another shot when she had a craving for them a year or so ago.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, they\u2019re pretty damn good!\u00a0 The crunchiness of the cabbage, and the way the spices and the rice and the ground meats work with the tomato sauce, and beef broth\u2026 it\u2019s one of my favourite meals now!<\/p>\n

Not long after she made them, I purchased both Joe and Mac<\/em> for Super NES and Data East Arcade Classics <\/em>for Wii, which has the Arcade version on it.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Caveman Ninja<\/em> and feels a tad different, but it\u2019s more or less the same.<\/p>\n

Two big games purchased, all because of a smell that brought me right back to that day of playing brand new games in the Shannahans\u2019 basement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n