This is the story of my favorite video game and I how I earned it.

Addition to Retro Gaming Collection

One aspect of my childhood I am truly grateful for is growing up in the age of home video gaming consoles. As an education media specialist I can reflect back on the time I spent playing these games as an investment. I am old enough to remember playing Punch-Out, Mario-Bros and Kirby's Dreamland on the NES but my favorite console was the SEGA Genesis. And my favorite game was X-Men 2 Clone Wars.

Apart from the excitement of being able to play as my favorite Saturday morning cartoon characters and battle evil, the story of how I earned the game was just as memorable to me. Being the typical middle class, white male child I was raised to be I participated in my local youth baseball league on a team coached by my Dad. I was never particularly good at the sport or that I've ever really understood it. Maybe it was the polyester uniforms or being told to swing a club at a small, moving target despite having poor vision but all my friends played and only minimal participation was required.

When it came to batting I had a really solid strategy. Avoid getting hit and try to get walked as much as possible. Seeing as how I was a pretty short kid this meant I had a really narrow strike zone, so all in all it was statistically pretty successful. However, my Dad being the coach and an avid lover of the game was always trying to find ways to motivate me to participate more. One day during a clutch moment in the latter innings of a game, he approached me when I was next up to bat. He told me that if I hit the ball and managed to make it to first, that he would get me the X-Men game I had been coveting. So, needless to say it was on.

I remember stepping up to the plate and watching the ump sweep the home plate clean. The world began to move in slow motion as I took my batting stance and made eye contact with the pitcher. But, before I could take a deep breath the first pitch was over the plate and the ump called strike. The pitcher prepared for his second wind up and this time I swung. I made contact and the ump called foul. Two strikes. It was crunch time and I needed to make it on base if I wanted that game. Feet firmly planted, I readied my swing and was determined to give it everything I had. I don't remember swinging, I only remember the clang of the aluminum bat and the roar of the onlooking crowd and then running, or should I say counting the steps until I was using adamantium claws to dig through Sentinels. The first baseman got down low and opened his mit in anticipation of an oncoming throw. The situation was now dire and I began to run faster than i thought possible. In the corner of my eye I saw a missile quickly racing me to my destination. I felt the padded base under my cleats and heard the clap of a leather glove and heard the ump cry out safe! Victory. It didn't matter that the next up struck out and ended the game. In my eyes I had hit a home run.

And true to his word, later that day my father took me to KayBee games to claim my prize. That game was so cool. You could play as Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops and even Magneto. It was also a really great co-op game that my Dad and I frequently played together. I still to this day have at least the first four levels memorized and from time to time will dig it out to play.