Gaming Like It's 1999

Ah... the 20th Century. I was 7, my sisters weren't at school, I was in awe of anyone that could get past Level 1 of Crash Bandicoot...
Even though it's midway through exam season, I have had some time to myself absorbing what I would call one of best hobbies of the 21st Centry: video gaming. I decided to play something I haven't played in a while, and Crash Bandicoot 3 was the first disc I came across. It was the first Crash platformer (first Crash game was Crash Team Racing) I ever had on my Playstation (Xmas 2000-ish), and after 5 or so years of me playing other games, I came back to it to see if I could get any farther than what I probably called the 'stuck point', around 85% completion. It is amazing how much continual repetition helps on a level you can't get past (escpecially relic trials, gah!). Sure, you're going to get OML Syndrome, but it is so much more satisfying when you know that when you do manage to dash through the level perfectly, you wont need to do it again! (Unless of course you're one of those people that needs to do it super perfectly). So after a month or so, what I called a really hard stage back in '04, seemed a real breeze now that i've come back to it. All that experience playing other platformers really paid off, and now i'm up to 97%.
Similar highlight: I have recently been lended the original Crash Bandicoot (1996) from my friend Kyle in chemistry, and my comment would be that it is much harder than its sequels. To save the game, you can't just walk up to a special screen, you actually need to complete a special stage without dying to save. Then you need to find a different one. Or you could earn a gem, but that's easier said than done. Try completing a level by breaking open all the boxes and without losing a life. Or losing your marbles.
I must say, though, that the Crash series has chaged a lot over the past years. Focus has shifted from running through short linear levels that take a few minutes to complete to open-world environments where gameplay is based on attacking monsters (and the like).
So this post is more like a review, but hey, i've got exams this week and I had nothing else interesting happen recently (except for prizegiving, but that's a later post, wait a week or something).

What I'm watching: Time travel? With evidence? Wow.