Death of a novelty: SMB2 fans who cheat

(tags game, Super Mario Bros, nostalgia, cheat)

I mentioned I was playing Super Mario Bros. 2 Japanese on the GBA (Famicom Mini) to a co-worker, and he surprised me when he told me that he had a Famicom Disc System and he actually owned and played the original back in the day. He shocked me when he said he always played Luigi (exasperated: "He slides a lot"), never Mario, and that he couldn't get past World 8-3. Then during lunch, I showed him my GBA Micro with the cart plugged in and he proceeded to show me his finger technique, which was also shocking, because it was totally newbie. He used his thumb, not his pointing and middle fingers, for the A and B buttons!??! Can he even attempt a running jump?

But actually, before I whipped out the GBA Micro, he told me where to get endless 1ups. The term in Japanese is mugen zoushoku (無限増殖), I think but I'm not sure. Another older co-worker (actually, a boss) spotted us playing around and I think he said something like zoushokuchi wo sagashiteru no ka? (増殖地を探してるのか？ You looking for the 1up spot?). I was amazed again, but then again the other guy was in his teens when he had his Famicom Disk System. Except he didn't have SMB2, and he thought we were talking about SMB. Hah ha, step off, newbie.

So that tense feeling while playing SMB2 is gone now, because I have the vulgarity to rack up the lives using this cheat. The whole feeling of being not worth to play this game is replaced by the cheating guilt x 255+. It's the death of a novelty. It's like finding a cheat that gives you auto-bombs (if there was such a feature) in Ikaruga. It totally kills the atmosphere. I suppose my previous post about SMB2 will be the only time I will mention my true score.

Come to think of it, that first co-worker said he couldn't beat World 8-3 even with that endless 1up cheat. Oh boy, we're in dire straits.