Much of my knowledge of video games stems from earlier generations that are now considered to be “retro”.  Specifically, this includes most of Nintendo's early systems as well as the Playstation One, Genesis, Arcade, and, to a lesser extent, Sega Saturn.  Therefore, in order to better educate you, the MyTwoCopper readers, on my gaming views, I've decided to entitle my editorial column Back In My Day.  Each week, I will post an short editorial on a particular retro game that I have memories of, whether those memories are traumatizing or joyful.  So, without further ado, off to the first game: Harvest Moon for the SNES.

Harvest Moon is a farming simulation with a very Japanese bent.  Over the course of two years in game, you grow and sell vegetables, marry one of the local girls, have kids, and expand your house all while trying to save the family farm.  And thats pretty much it.

To this day, I cannot tell you why I enjoy Harvest Moon so much.  Maybe it speaks to some sort of repressed agricultural tendency I didn't know I had before picking it up, or maybe its just because its so damn nice looking on the SNES, but that game still has its teeth firmly lodged in me.  I originally rented this game so many years ago because I thought it would be good for a laugh over the weekend, but the addiction that it spawned was no laughing matter.  That weekend, Harvest Moon made it into the very small pantheon of games that have kept me up past 3 AM.  This addiction has even spawned a term I regularly use: “Harvest Moon factor”, a term used when a game appears to be utterly pointless on the surface, but is oddly addictive due to elusive forces that cannot quite be qualified.

Strangely though, only the SNES version of Harvest Moon really hooked me.  None of the literally dozens of games released in this series since then has caught my interest like the original game.  This is probably because, as the series has gone on, the developer has insisted on cramming more and more features into the box.  I don't want more features though.  I would be perfectly happy if they just updated the graphics, removed the two year time limit, and maybe gave me a few more things to grow on my farm.

I still go back probably every few months and play Harvest Moon, and its a game I don't think I'll ever be totally over.

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