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Moments – Can The Eel Come Out And Play?
Mario 64 is universally acknowledged as a wonderful game. It brings back pleasant memories of the world’s greatest plumber and his transition into the third dimension. But amidst all that joy, it struck terror into my heart.
Mario burst onto the 64-bit scene in the summer of 1996 with some slick new moves. I was overjoyed when I received a shiny new gray 64 with the game included for my sixth birthday. I played the game carefree until I reached Jolly Horror Roger Bay. Water levels have always been my least favorite when it comes to adventure games, but little did I know terrible things were waiting in those murky waters: ghost pirate ships, evil treasure chest, and a pink bob-omb who would not open his cannon for me!
The freakiest part was whenever I went for a swim and was confronted with a giant pink head that was all teeth. I had no idea what it was, but I figured as long as it stayed in its hole we wouldn’t have any issues. Fast forward to the to second star of the level, “Can The Eel Come Out And Play?” The six-year-old version of me thought, “Hmm I’m not sure what an eel is, but I’m sure it’s a friendly fish I’ll just have to play some games with.” Ignorance is bliss.
I started my journey of truth to find this helpless “eel” in need of some playtime and eventually came to the conclusion my fishy friend must be by that monster in the hole. I mustered up some courage and went down there, the monster roared, and good googly moogly, it came out after me. I broke out into a cold sweat trying to swim away from it when I noticed it had a star on its tail. The cynical realization that this monstrosity was an eel was shocking – doubly shocking, actually, as poor Mario was electrocuted time and time again in my hopeless pursuit of the star.
After a couple of deaths, I summoned the willpower that turned me from a boy into a gaming man. I dove down there and looked the eel in the eye. Then I immediately swam away screaming, got stunned from being shocked, and somehow accidently touched the star to complete the objective. After that I decided to focus all my attention on Mario Kart because there are no eels on dry land.
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