Colour Blind (Pokemon)

Colour Blind
============

Endless stories seem to present themselves of hacked games and such. Some more believable than others, some leave you questioning who would go out of their way to edit their own version of a game, just to spook a few unfortunate victims who happen to come to possess one. I've never made an attempt to acquire one myself, however what I am about to tell you all is the story of how one game, managed to find it's way into my hands.

I had decided to purchase one of the original Blue/Red/Yellow cartridges to play purely for the Nostalgic side of pleasure, so I made my way to the city, and found myself at the closest game shop I could find, Toy World.

Toy World outlets aren't dedicated to selling gaming merchandise, but I did recall seeing them sell games in the past. After a good browse of the shop, I found nothing, leaving with nothing in hand but some minor information which I acquired from one of the Shop clerks, who informed me that I would have better luck finding older games at GameTraders.

So I made my way there, obvious patience in my stride, I was feeling confident that I would find what I so desired with every step. I arrived at GameTraders, a very small shop in comparison to Toy World, for that I found myself feeling grateful. I felt excitement kick in when I spotted a Pokémon cartridge case, only to find out it was a copy of Silver, with no other Pokémon related GameBoy Colour cartridges in sight. My search spanned over most of the day, being informed one way, only to be sent another.

Patience wore thin, til I decided to head home with no spoils of hard searching. I arrived home, disappointed after all the effort, so I gave in to online purchasing. I lucked out with finding a copy of Yellow being sold 3 blocks away from my home. I got hold of the owner, who was a girl who sounded no older than myself, 17-18. I practically ran out the door, hopped on my pushbike and made haste to the address.

When I arrived, I knocked on the door, to be answered by a relatively attractive girl,her only flaws seemed to be her unkept appearance. Bed hair, with clothes that crossed the borderline of being considered home-comfort to homeless rags, but it did not matter. I gave her the money, she gave me the game. Something felt eerie from how silent she was, vocally and physically. As I walked away after giving thanks, she mumbled out "You won't save him". I paused, confused at her implication, then left with another praise of thanks.

I arrived home, still curious as to what she meant by "You won't save him", it made me feel uneasy. But, nonetheless, I immediately started up Yellow on my trusty GameBoy Advance SP. That's when things got interesting. Normal titles appeared in their very nostalgic order, but the intro did not play. It went straight to the menu, which simply had the Games title, with no Pikachu in sight, only a boy with black hair, crouched with his arms extended, face hidden in shadow, facial features unable to be made out.

I instantly found disappointment. A hacked game, presumably one made to creep the victim out. But, I had gained no other copy of the game, I paid for this, and I was curious as to how this version was laid out. Hitting start, the basic title came up, except continue was the only available option of gameplay. Naturally, I hit continue. The game faded in to the lead characters bedroom, where the trainer was seated, staring amongst paintings and a map on the wall.

I decided to check out this playthrough's spoils of gameplay, so I brought up the start menu, and noticed the name. "Dain". A nice name, I admit, not a cliched name such as Red, or Yellow in this case. Moving on, I checked my trainer card, starting trainer cash, zero badges, everything seemed at norm, except for the portrait of the trainer.

As mentioned earlier on, a black hair boy, a very defined Japanese hairstyle, swept over to a side, all spiky and awesome, I found it to be in my favor. He was expressionless. No smile, a bare featured face, with dark eyes, and a stare that left you curious to his story. I found myself wanting to play through this hack, wanting to explore the unexplored, based in a childhood game.

I proceeded to check my Pokémon team, naturally finding a level 5 Pikachu, nicknamed "Ladie". I found that interesting, but she was a standard, level 5 Pikachu. After I was downstairs, I spotted my mother, who had a different hairstyle to the preset version, but seemed all the same, with dialogue etc. etc. I left the house, which was the house on the left, and Pallet town seemed to be normal. So I explored, my rivals house first, which was set-up as a normal NPC house, no rival sign out the front, but after speaking with the mother, it seemed Dain was a friend to the girl who lived here, named "Delia". I went upstairs, walked over and started a conversation with Delia. She seemed glad to see Dain, ranting on about how cute Ladie was.

She then prompted me a question, "Do you think I should get a Pokemon too? Become traveling partners, wouldn't it be fun?"

I chose yes, then shortly after her immediate ecstatic reaction, SNAP! The power turns off on the GameBoy. Frustration and confusion hit me at the same time, but I stubbornly turned the game back on. It jumped directly to the menu screen, with the title, and Dain standing with Delia, showing a small smile upon his face, which in turn made me smile. It seemed I lucked out on a hacked game with a luring progressive character storyline! I knew this game had me, I was hooked, I spent hours over the next few days traveling and collecting badges, all the while with Delia as company!

The storyline was laid out exactly the same as the default storyline, however fame of Dains battling efforts seemed to grow. Every NPC seemed to recognize him! I loved that Dain would occasionally speak, a rare feat in Pokémon games, almost a childhood dream in fact. He progressively got happier as I pushed him through the game, the occasional change of face on his trainer card, and his relationship with Delia seemed to grow more in depth after every gym. I made Ladie strong. She was by all rights my main,and was ahead the rest of my party, which only featured the obtainable free Charmander/Bulbasaur/Squirtle through the game.

I continued on, pushing through, until I arrived at Victory Road, where Delia asked to meet up later, as she wished to visit a friend in Viridian. I decided to see what would happen if I said no, so no I said. She seemed down at the reply, and asked if I wished to go with her. So I did, I wanted to get more in depth with Delia's storyline as well as Dain's. So we arrived at the house with basic NPC's, which made no special dialogue with me, so I left, and decided to give Viridian gym a look around, seeing as it was the final gym I had yet to conquer, and noticeably the one I had to forgot to challenge in my haste to the Elite Four.

That's when I was prompted by a caretaker of the Gym. "Do you wish to hold a strong position in Viridian? Possibly as Viridians Gym Leader? Viridian City lost it's previous Gym leader several years ago, he passed on, may he rest in peace. But nonetheless we require a new Gym Leader. You have grown renown Dain, word of your strength has reached nearly all of Kanto. It is only natural that the title of Viridian Gym Leader be given to someone of your attire?"

I said yes. Good God I said yes, I had never felt excited as I did at that moment. I had always wondered what being a Gym Leader would be like in one of these games. Ignoring all remarks I've heard over the years that all you would do is stand aimlessly waiting for the odd trainer to challenge you. Then, without warning, SNAP! Off went the power once more. Seeming less surprised than the first time it had happened, I turned on the console, and was directed to the menu.

There stood Dain, in a completely new attire, a dark grey outfit, suited to the Gym of Ground of course, I liked the look of it. Dain was also surrounded by a new party. Rhydon, Graveller, Kangaskhan, a very fitting party. However Ladie remained there, by Dains leg. But she looked...sullen. Sad, perhaps sad to the change? By then it dawned on me that Delia was missing from the image. In fact Dain's expression showed a weak smile. Something must have happened between the two when I accepted the role as a Gym Leader, so I hastily clicked continue. It faded in to the Gym, Dain standing there in all his glory, however I had no control over him. Then I realized this was a cinematic. It faded in, and out of countless battles, seemingly depressing 8-bit music playing in the meanwhile. Eventually, it faded to a black screen altogether, and a "One year later" appeared on the screen.

Then, vision of the game faded in, to nothing more than Lavender Towns Pokémon Tower, where Dain stood in front of a tombstone, Delia standing behind him, a step to the right. "I am so sorry Dain... she must've been everything to you.."

It was then it hit me. "Her". I think I knew exactly who had died in the passing year. Subsequent to the change of life, it would only make sense. I was give control once more, and I hesitantly clicked on the tombstone. "Here lies Ladie. Kanto's little flash of yellow, loved by all, fathered by Dain. Rest in peace". I was so in depth in the game at that moment that it was the soaked screen that snapped me out of it. I was crying, crying so hard over the loss over the Pokémon I had trained from the start. It was my fault it had died, I made those stupid decisions to completely change Ladie's life by becoming a Gym Leader, knowing that Ladie wouldn't be fit for the Gym. Guilt-written, I turned off the game, hoping to find a possible way to alter the storyline.

I arrived at the menu once more. No Pokémon stood with me. No Delia to comfort the loneliness. Just Dain, standing there. In all his.. "Glory". Tears had begun to run dry by this point, looking upon Dain's face, only to find an even more ominous shadowed face than when I first began. I clicked Continue, to instantly be shown a cinematic between Dain and Delia. Delia was crying, Dain arguing. It seemed Delia decided to comfort Dain with her presence after Ladie died, as he had given up on everything.

Then she left. With nothing but "I thought I could save you". I couldn't believe it. The previous owner of this game's warning entered my head. She warned me. Even now I brushed it off. I had just ruined Dain's last chance of friendship, all of it, my fault. I gained control once more, and I decided to check my menu. No Pokémon. Then, the trainer card. There it was. The original crouched position Dain was in when I first started. I wanted to strangle the person who made this by now, searching for an excuse that all this wasn't my fault.

Dialogue broke me out of the menu, surprising to say the least.

Dain: Ladie... gone. Delia... I'm sorry..

SNAP!

Ominous silence crept into the fray of my room. I felt continued disappointment. I sullenly paused at restarting the game. Asking myself if it was worth it. I might as well, I don't think I could get any more depressed at my vain efforts of getting Dain back on track, so I turned it back on. Usual lack of intro, but this time it went straight to the save file. Dain was standing out the front of his house, speaking to Delia. I almost yelped in delight there and then. Things possibly might have gone back on track. But the dialogue that followed, proved that hope wrong.

Dain: Keep the house, Mum would've liked you to have it anyway.

Delia: .. and where will you go? Don't do this Dain, you'll be a father soon..

Dain: I'd make a bad father anyway, I've already lost one child. She was all I had.

A father? That I was not expecting. This story was so intriguing. The implied child was obviously Ladie. But I was moreso interested that Delia would be staying in Dain's house, and where would he be going? The cinematic came to a fade, leaving Dain departing from Pallet. Dain appeared in Viridian City, standing outside the Gym. He silently trodded off, at half pace. Dialogue kicked in.

Dain: ... I know Ladie can't come back. Nor will any Pokémon fill the gap she left. But that won't stop me from acquiring one..

This world is cruel, undeserving of such Pokemon.

A villainous plot. How predictable and cliched. I didn't complain though, I moved on, and continued on. I gained control over Dain, and did the usual check of his status. A ground type party. The original party I was given when I accepted the role as a Gym Leader. Interesting. I check the trainer card. Dain is wearing a striped suit. His facial features much more defined and mature, Dain looked an adult now. I exited the menu, and instantly lost control, as Dain started a long journey through Kanto.

He walked, through Pewter, to Celadon, through Saffron, until he arrives in Lavender. Of course, a final farewell to Ladie before he sets off to a new life. He entered the Pokémon Tower, made his way to Ladie's tombstone, and gave me control to interact with it.

Dain: Here lies Ladie. My little flash of Yellow. You were my love to Delia, my Ladie.

I will never find another you, but a Pikachu I will find. I have lost strength to travel Kanto again, so I will form an organization to purge Kanto for me. I came in here as Dain, but I will leave as another, to start anew. As in depth as I was at this point, it was obviously noticeable of the layout of "Delia" and "Ladie". Same letters, spelt out differently. It seemed Ladie was Dain's way of showing his compassion to Delia in physical form. His love and strength, dedicated to a single person through his beloved Pokémon. Dain began walking amongst the other tombstones. Curiously, I attempted to press A, which started a minor dialogue.

Dain: I must find a name appropriate to depart with...Then he stopped at one. A tombstone singled out from the rest. I clicked on it, nerves settling in from what was about to appear.

"Here lies Giovanni."

---

Pokemon Lost Silver

A CREEPY HACK OF POKEMON SILVER
(AKA "Lost Silver")
Author, date not available
===============================

You see, I am a simple college student living alone in an apartment. I was very enthusiastic about the release of HeartGold and SoulSilver in the states. I have purposely locked myself out of all media and the Internet aside for school purposes, which means no 4chan, no /v/, no Bulbapedia, etc.

As I was busy with the school year and being a poorfag at the time, I wasn’t able to buy SoulSilver on the launch date. After my school year ended, I ordered SoulSilver on Amazon. However, it would take a week for it to arrive. I decided that during that time I would replay my Crystal version on my Game Boy Color. However, I realized that long ago, my mother threw it away because I told her the save went dead, and I was very upset about it then. She also threw away my Silver version, so all I have left is my Game Boy Color. As such, I set out to GameStop and bought a used Silver version, as it was the only Pokemon game left that they had for the Game Boy Color. It was ten dollars – fairly cheap for GameStop.

I went home and started it up for a nostalgia trip, however that’s where things began getting bizarre, and most likely the reason why you’re reading this. The Game Freak logo started up at normal, but then it froze there. I thought the cart had an error or something so I turned it off and back on. The same thing happened. I tried pressing the A and Start buttons over and over – all of the buttons, really. Eventually, the logo vanished and there was a black screen for about five seconds. Suddenly, rather than going to the usual menu screen, I was already in the game with a previous save file; it was odd, considering that I expected all these carts to have been wiped clean by the poor battery. Either way, I wasn’t complaining, as I would have chosen the “Continue” option anyway, just to see what the previous guy did.

First, I checked his trainer information. His name was “…” – he didn’t have much originality. I checked his profile and apparently he had 999:99 hours put into the game, with all sixteen badges, 999999 Pokedollars, and all 251 Pokemon logged in the Pokedex. Seeing as he also had Mew and Celebi logged, I assumed he either used a Game Genie or was a really hardcore Pokemon player. I checked his Pokemon to see what sort of badass team he had, and to my surprise I saw five Unowns and a sixth Pokemon named HURRY. I’m thinking that this must be some cruel joke played by the person who last played the game, but I decided to check the profiles of these Pokemon anyway. As expected, they were different letters of Unown, and all of them were level five. I was a bit shaky with my Unown alphabet at the time, but I identified the word spelled out to be “LEAVE.” As for the sixth Pokemon, it turned out to be a Cyndaquil. It looked normal, but it was level five with only one HP left and only two attacks: leer and flash. I don’t know why they named him “HURRY,” but at the time, I simply disregarded it. The most eerie thing about it was that, despite my volume being at max, none of the Pokemon had sounded their cries. There was only silence. Having enough of the team, I closed it. I was parked at what appears to be a room inside Bellsprout Tower, however, there were no NPCs around. Even more eerie was that the ‘pillar’ in the middle didn’t move at all, and appeared to be leaning on its side. There was no music at all, and it seemed like there was no exit or ladder.

I walked around for a few minutes but couldn’t find a way out. This was certainly not a room I had seen in Bellsprout Tower before. I tried checking my items for an Escape Rope, but the bag was completely empty. There weren’t any wild Pokemon, either. I finally managed to find a ladder, which turned out to be behind the ‘pillar.’ The screen turned black, and the music finally started. I had a sudden chill when I recognized the melody to be the theme you hear when you listened to the radio at the Ruins of Alph where you catch Unown. I immediately realized I wasn’t in a loading transition, but rather I was in a dark room and would need to use Flash. Before I took care of that, though, I immediately checked my Pokegear to change the radio to something more pleasant, but there was no Radio card – the Pokegear was even lacking Phone and Time cards. There was only a map card, in which Gold (“…” from earlier, and I will refer to him as Gold from now on) was walking in a sea of black.

I recalled that Cyndaquil had flash, so I turned off my Pokegear and made the Pokemon use the attack. I didn’t see any message saying “HURRY used Flash!” or anything of the sort. The room simply became lit just like that, though I soon regretted it. The room was a chilling blood red with a linear gray path heading south. The ladder I used to get into the room was not there at all. I had no choice but to head south. The screen got darker every twenty steps I made, until I finally made it to the end. There was a sign there that said, “TURN BACK NOW.” Suddenly, the option to select yes or no was there, despite no question being asked. I chose YES, as I didn’t know what it was asking, and the screen went black as the ‘ladder climbed’ sound played. The Unown Radio music stopped, and in a few seconds was replaced by the not-so-creepy Poke Flute radio music.

I was in another dark room, but I held my breath and used flash again. Suddenly, it said “HURRY has fainted!” It was odd, since I recall that there were no status conditions on him and I clearly wasn’t in a battle. I checked my Pokemon quickly, and he was no longer in the party. In fact, none of my Pokemon were there. Instead, they were all replaced with level ten Unown. I did the same thing as before and spelled out the Unown. The message spelled “HEDIED.” Either way, after that creepy change the room was lit to reveal myself in a very small room that seemed only four squares big. The walls of that room were gray bricks, as if I was inside something that was hollowed out. Outside that room appears to be a bunch of graves similar to the ones in Pokemon Red and Blue. I walked around that small room and pressed A but nothing happened.

By then, I had already concluded that it was a hacked game some sadistic fuck sold to GameStop, but my curiosity kept me going. I checked the trainer profile of “…” again only to find that the sprite of Gold was missing his arms. He also seemed to appear less smug – more sad and empty in a way that I don’t know how to describe. For some reason, it also said he had 24 badges, which is clearly impossible. After a few minutes of aimless wandering, Gold suddenly did the Escape Rope animation, but instead of flying up, he spun downwards slowly, as if sinking.
After that screen, the music stopped. After finally landing, the overworld sprite of Gold was colored differently. Instead of the usual red color he dons, he appeared completely white, including his skin. It was as if he came straight from the old Game Boy games and was placed into a colored background from a Game Boy Color game. I checked his profile, and he was as white as his overworld sprite, but he lost his legs and had what appeared to be bloody tears coming from his eyes. It also said he had 32 badges, which started to disturb me because this change of number seemed to represent something important.

I also checked my Pokemon, which at that time contained five Unowns and a level 100 Celebi without a nickname. The Unown at that time were level fifteen and spelled out “DYING.” I checked the Celebi’s profile, and it turned out to be shiny. Half of the sprite wasn’t there – there was only one leg, one arm, and one eye. It only had one attack, too: “Perish Song.” The area I was in itself was the Sprout Tower with the immobile pillar as before, except everything was red. I walked north for what felt like forever before encountering generic NPC characters. They were all lined up to the side facing the pillar in the middle of the room. Nothing happened when I tried to speak with them, and they were white like Gold. I paid them no mind afterward and kept going north until the pillar appeared to be chopped off. A transparent looking Red was in that spot, and I walked up to him. Without even pressing A, I was suddenly engaged in a battle.

The music started again; it sounded like the Unown Radio music, but played backwards. Gold’s battle back sprite matched his front one – the one with the bloody eyes, white skin, and lack of arms – while Red’s was the same as before in Gold/Silver/Crystal with the exception of it being transparent. The text simply said “ wants to battle!” It was as if he had no name. Both of us only had one Pokemon each, which was odd considering that I had six before. My Shiny Celebi came out, with the half-a-sprite for its back sprite as well. The ‘shiny’ noise and animation was different, and the sounds it made sounded like multiple screech attacks used consecutively. Red sent out a seemingly normal male Pikachu, except it was level 255 and the sprite seemed sad with teary eyes. Rather than the usual “FIGHT/ITEM/PKMN/RUN” menu, I was only given the option to use attacks. Because Celebi only had one, I chose it. Naturally, since Pikachu was level 255, he went first.

“PIKACHU used CURSE!” It lowered his speed and increased his other stats. I’m not even sure if it’s possible for a Pikachu to learn that move.
“CELEBI used PERISH SONG!” In three turns, both Pokemon would be KO’d, but it wasn’t like I had a choice.

At this point, it didn’t go back to the fight menu. The battle simply continued without me. Also, I noticed that there were no animations at all for some reason.

“PIKACHU used FLAIL!” It didn’t do much damage despite his level, and it didn’t boost his health since it was maxed.
“CELEBI used PERISH SONG!” Nothing happened, as it was already used.
“PIKACHU used FRUSTRATION!” This did a ton of damage and knocked Celebi down to less than ten HP.
“CELEBI used PAIN SPLIT!” This surprised me, as Celebi didn’t have that attack in the first place. Celebi and Pikachu ended up with about 150 HP.
“PIKACHU used MEAN LOOK!” It did absolutely nothing.

As expected, due to the effects of Perish Song, Celebi fainted. In the text, though, it said “CELEBI has died!” and instead of the ordinary fainted animation, the Celebi sprite vanished. For some reason, the Pikachu was still up even with Perish Song and it didn’t count as my loss. Pikachu then used one more different attack beyond the four-attack limit.

“PIKACHU used DESTINY BOND!”

Afterwards, it said “PIKACHU has died!” with a slow fade-out animation. Apparently, I was the winner, as the transparent Red sprite showed up and said “……………”
At that point, I freaked out. The transparent Red sprite was suddenly beheaded, leaving nothing but his transparent body. The battle then ended at that point and faded out along with the music.
I was back in the overworld, with another change to the Gold sprite: he was just as transparent as Red was. I quickly checked Gold’s profile, and it showed the only thing that remained of him was his head, with transparent skin. The head was Zoomed in a bit, showing a black void in his eyes. It also stated he had 40 badges. I then backed out and checked my Pokemon. They were all level twenty Shiny Unown, which then spelled out “NOMORE.”

I was at what I now know is next to the end. There was no music playing, but for some reason I still felt like something was there that could be heard. I was back in Gold’s room in New Bark Town. I thought maybe I was able to play the game properly, but whom was I kidding? I knew some sadistic fuck must have done something. I ‘walked’ around the room to interact with things, as I was afraid to go down the stairs to see what was waiting down there. Note that I said ‘walked,’ but while the background was moving, Gold wasn’t moving his transparent limbs at all while doing so. He was floating just like those ghosts you see in Diamond/Pearl.

As expected, the radio, computer, and TV didn’t work, so I had no choice but to go down the stairs. I ended up in the lower level room of Gold’s house. Everything appeared to be normal, but his mother wasn’t home. After failing to interact with anything in that room, I decided to go outside. To my surprise, the door leading outside didn’t work, and instead I walked straight through it into a void. I continued moving south to see what the fuck was going on. Gold’s house vanished as I headed south into the black. It was creepy, as when I entered the void, the outline on Gold’s sprite turned white to contrast with the pitch black. Eventually, I reached a white area and Gold’s sprite outline turned black again. I continued south without thinking of stopping at all.

After a long trek south, I finally encountered something. It was Gold’s regular sprite. I talked to it, and he said “Goodbye forever ….” (notably with a space in between the forever and ….), and vanished. As that happened, it said “??? Used NIGHTMARE!” At that point, I didn’t deny that to be possible. Gold did another Escape Rope animation after that.

I’m now back in that small hollowed-out room surrounded by graves…. Or, at least I say I was back there, as there was no sprite any longer. I tried to walk around but nothing happened – there wasn’t even a wall bumping noise. I checked my trainer profile, and there was no sprite left. It said I had 0 badges, and all the pictures of the Gym Leaders were replaced with skulls. I checked my Pokemon, which were all level 25 Unown. As expected, it spelled out a phrase that I dared to read: “IMDEAD.”

As soon as I went back to the overworld, the room I was supposedly in was then covered with the same blocks as the walls. I figured out what exactly that room was when a text box popped up that said “R.I.P. …” That room was a big grave, surrounded by other graves. Gold had already been dead. He died presumably a few years after he defeated Red. He was a young trainer, who, despite his efforts in collecting so many badges and attempts at becoming a Pokemon Master, was unable to avoid the inevitable fate of death. His efforts were eventually forgotten by the next generation.

I was unable to escape from that text no matter what I pressed. I tried to reset the game, but the same thing happened again and again until I decided to give up on that horrible nightmare. After that experience, I will never look at the ‘gimmick’ Unown the same way again. They say that only the first generation has its folk tales and legends, but the second generation has shown me how unpleasant the truth can be. I eventually got my copy of SoulSilver and enjoyed it immensely, but I still can’t unthink what that rigged game showed me.

Pokemon Black (bootleg)

POKEMON BLACK
=============

I’m what you could call a collector of bootleg Pokémon games. You know, like Pokémon Diamond & Jade, Chaos Black, etc. It’s amazing the frequency with which you can find them at pawnshops, Goodwill, flea markets, and such.

They’re generally fun; even if they are unplayable (which they often are); the mistranslations and poor quality make them unintentionally humorous.

I’ve been able to find most of the ones that I’ve played online, but there’s one that I haven’t seen any mention of. I bought it at a flea market about five years ago.

Here’s a picture of the cartridge, in case anyone recognizes it. Unfortunately, when I moved two years ago, I lost the game, so I can’t provide you with screen shots. Sorry.

The game started with the familiar Nidorino and Gengar intro of Red and Blue version. However, the “press start” screen had been altered. Red was there, but the Pokémon did not cycle through. It also said “Black Version” under the Pokémon logo.

Upon selecting “New Game”, the game started the Professor Oak speech, and it quickly became evident that the game was essentially Pokémon Red Version.

After selecting your starter, if you looked at your Pokémon, you had in addition to Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle another Pokémon — “GHOST”.

The Pokémon was level 1. It had the sprite of the Ghosts that are encountered in Lavender Tower before obtaining the Silph Scope. It had one attack — “Curse”. I know that there is a real move named curse, but the attack did not exist in Generation 1, so it appears it was hacked in.

Defending Pokémon were unable to attack Ghost — it would only say they were too scared to move. When the move “Curse” was used in battle, the screen would cut to black. The cry of the defending Pokémon would be heard, but it was distorted, played at a much lower pitch than normal. The battle screen would then reappear, and the defending Pokémon would be gone. If used in a battle against a trainer, when the Pokéballs representing their Pokemon would appear in the corner, they would have one fewer Pokéball.

The implication was that the Pokémon died.

What’s even stranger is that after defeating a trainer and seeing “Red received $200 for winning!”, the battle commands would appear again. If you selected “Run”, the battle would end as it normally does. You could also select Curse. If you did, upon returning to the overworld, the trainer’s sprite would be gone. After leaving and reentering the area, the spot where the trainer had been would be replaced with a tombstone like the ones at Lavender Tower.

The move “Curse” was not usable in all instances. It would fail against Ghost Pokémon. It would also fail if it was used against trainers that you would have to face again, such as your Rival or Giovanni. It was usable in your final battle against them, however.

I figured this was the gimmick of the game, allowing you to use the previously unable to be captured Ghosts. And because Curse made the game so easy, I essentially used it throughout the whole adventure.

The game changed quite a bit after defeating the Elite Four. After viewing the Hall of Fame, which consisted of Ghost and a couple of very under leveled Pokémon, the screen cut to black. A box appeared with the words “Many years later…” It then cut to Lavender Tower. An old man was standing, looking at tombstones. You then realized this man was your character.

The man moved at only half of your normal walking speed. You no longer had any Pokémon with you, not even Ghost, who up to this point had been impossible to remove from your party through depositing in the PC. The over-world was entirely empty — there were no people at all. There were still the tombstones of the trainers that you used Curse on, however.

You could go pretty much anywhere in the over-world at this point, though your movement was limited by the fact that you had no Pokémon to use HMs. And regardless of where you went, the music of Lavender Town continued on an infinite loop. After wandering for a while, I found that if you go through Diglett’s Cave, one of the cuttable bushes that normally blocks the path on the other side is no longer there, allowing you to advance and return to Pallet Town.

Upon entering your house and going to the exact tile where you start the game, the screen would cut to black.

Then a sprite of a Caterpie appeared. It was the replaced by a Weedle, and then a Pidgey. I soon realized, as the Pokémon progressed from Rattata to Blastoise, that these were all of the Pokémon that I had used Curse on.

After the end of my Rival’s team, a Youngster appeared, and then a Bug Catcher. These were the trainers I had Cursed.

Throughout the sequence, the Lavender Town music was playing, but it was slowly decreasing in pitch. By the time your Rival appeared on screen, it was little more than a demonic rumble.

Another cut to black. A few moments later, the battle screen suddenly appeared — your trainer sprite was now that of an old man, the same one as the one who teaches you how to catch Pokémon in Viridian City.

Ghost appeared on the other side, along with the words “GHOST wants to fight!”.

You couldn’t use items, and you had no Pokémon. If you tried to run, you couldn’t escape. The only option was “FIGHT”.

Using fight would immediately cause you to use Struggle, which didn’t affect Ghost but did chip off a bit of your own HP. When it was Ghost’s turn to attack, it would simply say “…” Eventually, when your HP reached a critical point, Ghost would finally use Curse.

The screen cut to black a final time.

Regardless of the buttons you pressed, you were permanently stuck in this black screen. At this point, the only thing you could do was turn the Game Boy off. When you played again, “NEW GAME” was the only option — the game had erased the file.

I played through this hacked game many, many times, and every time the game ended with this sequence. Several times I didn’t use Ghost at all, though he was impossible to remove from the party. In these cases, it did not show any Pokémon or trainers and simply cut to the climactic “battle with Ghost.

I’m not sure what the motives were behind the creator of this hack. It wasn’t widely distributed, so it was presumably not for monetary gain. It was very well done for a bootleg.

It seems he was trying to convey a message; though it seems I am the sole receiver of this message. I’m not entirely sure what it was — the inevitability of death? The pointlessness of it? Perhaps he was simply trying to morbidly inject death and darkness into a children's game. Regardless, this children’s game has made me think, and it has made me cry.

Strange Super Mario 64 Cartridge

STRANGE SUPER MARIO 64 CARTRIDGE
(AKA "Haunted Mario 64")
================================

I always liked Super Mario 64 when I was a kid. I remember playing it at my aunt’s house all the time. Well, one day, a pop-up appeared out of nowhere as I was watching gameplay footage on Youtube. I was a little startled, and was about to close the window, until I realized that it was showing a mint condition copy of Super Mario 64 for sale. There was a picture and everything. I usually don’t trust these things, but the feeling of nostalgia overpowered me, and I wanted to buy it.

The whole business was peculiar, seeing as how the owner of the game wanted the buyer to send an envelope containing ten dollars to an address listed on the site, instead of using something like PayPal. What made things even more strange was that when I tried to gain access to the website (I wrote down the URL) after encountering…problems with the game, the page was nowhere to be found.

A few days after the ten dollars was mailed, I got a package containing the new copy of the game. The first thing I noticed when I opened the small box was that the ‘official sticker’ with Mario flying in the air was apparently peeled off or something. In its place was a piece of duct tape with ‘Mario’ crudely written on it in permanent marker. I felt a little ripped-off, but as long as the game worked I didn’t care.

I got out my Nintendo 64 and put the cartridge in. The screen turned on with the familiar Mario face that you could stretch and twist aimlessly. I remembered laughing all the time at the results as a kid and decided to mess around for old times’ sake. I moved the cursor over to Mario’s ear and pulled it to Elven proportions. I was going to do the same to the other ear, when the TV suddenly produced loud static. Mario’s whole head started deforming and twisting in ways I didn’t even know were possible for the model. Random sound effects from the game started playing along with the static. As all this was occurring, I could hear a faint voice whispering in Japanese. The voice was stammering and whimpering.

I immediately shut off the game and tried again. I didn’t bother with the Mario head this time. I just selected a new file and started playing.

When I selected the file, the game skipped the opening monologue with Peach and the courtyard outside. Mario was just placed right inside the castle. Creepier still, Bowser didn’t say anything either. I tried to ignore it and played it anyway. However, I also noticed there was no music. There was only dead silence. There weren’t even any Toads around to talk to. The only door I could enter was the one that led to Bob-omb Battlefield. The other doors wouldn’t respond to my button commands.

The portrait to Bob-omb Battlefield wasn’t the usual picture. It was a stark white canvas. I was still trying to convince myself that these were just minor glitches, and that they wouldn’t affect the gameplay at all. Once I entered the portrait, the image suddenly changed from a blank canvas to the Lethal Lava Land painting. You know, that slightly unsettling image of the flame with the evil smile? That’s when I started getting really suspicious.
The mission menu came up, and yet another weird detail was present. Instead of it being “Big Bob-omb on the Summit,” the mission was called “TURN BACK.” I have no idea what drove me to press A, but I did.

The level seemed fairly normal. Everything was how I remembered it. I thought I could finally enjoy my favorite childhood game, but then I saw him…Luigi. I was absolutely shocked. He was never in this game. His model wasn’t even a Mario palette swap. It looked like he had a completely original model. Luigi just stood there until I tried to approach him. He started running at unexpected speeds. I followed suite and went through the level. Strange things happened as I pursued him. Each time I would pick up a coin, the enemies and music would get slower and the scenery would look darker in color and more morbid. It kept gradually getting worse until I collected a fifth coin. That’s when the music just stopped. The enemies lay down on the ground like they were dead. I was seriously freaked out, but I kept chasing Luigi.

I went up the hill, and no cannonballs rolled down trying to knock me over. I really wasn’t surprised at this point. Luigi was always just out of my sight as I ran. Once I reached the summit, I saw yet another object out of place: a small cottage, and it was all that was seen on top of the hill. Luigi was nowhere to be found. The cottage was certainly odd looking for a Mario game. It was old, plain, and broken down. Regardless of my fears at that moment, I had Mario enter the cottage.

As soon as the door closed, a disturbing picture of a hanged Luigi immediately popped up along with a very frightening scare chord. It sounded like a violin screech accompanied by a loud piano banging. Mario fell to his knees and sobbed for roughly five minutes before the screen irised out.
I returned to the castle. Mario just slumped out of the painting. The image switched from the Lethal Lava Land portrait to the image of Luigi hanging himself. The room was different this time. It was now a small hallway. Toads with blank expressions and white robes lined the sides of the hallway. There was another painting at the opposite end that completely and utterly scared me. It was a picture of my family. It wasn’t a photo from the time Super Mario 64 was released; it was a very, very recent photo. I remember posing for it the weekend before. I reached for the on/off switch on the N64. There was no way I was going to play any longer, however, when I flipped the switch, the game was still on. I flipped it back and forth, to no avail. I tried unplugging the entire system, but the game never left the screen. I was still able to control Mario, too. I couldn’t just leave it on forever, so I kept playing. I went to the photo of my family and jumped in. Only one mission was available. It was called, “Run, Don’t Walk.” I selected the mission. Let’s-a-go!

The level started in a flooded hallway with platforms floating on the water. Mario landed on one of these, and the camera turned to show what was behind. A silent black void was slowly approaching Mario. It didn’t look like anything, not even like finished graphics. It was just a giant, blocky, black blob. I started jumping from platform to platform. With no goal in sight, I kept running; the darkness slowly but surely kept gaining speed. This kept going on for what felt like hours, and I began to doubt there would ever be an end. Mario was going in circles. Finally, the black blob/void/thing caught up with Mario and enveloped him in darkness. He didn’t scream or resist at all. It simply consumed him.

Mario fell out of the painting and back into the castle. I lost one of my three lives. The room was different now, too. Some of the Toads were gone, and the painting looked different. My family and I were in the same positions, but our bodies were partially decomposed. It looked too real to be photoshopped. It looked more like someone took our dead bodies and posed them.
Regardless, I jumped into the painting again. There was still only one mission available. It was called, “I’m right here.” I selected the mission and prepared for the worst. Mario landed in a small dark room. There was no visible way out. The room was empty except for a piano in the corner. I knew what that meant. I was stuck in there with the Mad Piano. I approached it and it started chasing me as always. There was no way to damage it, so I had no choice but to let Mario take damage.

When he lost all of his health, the usual death animation didn’t happen. Mario was simply mauled by the piano. He fell as his blood and guts spilled onto the floor, and the camera panned to a top-down view of his corpse. A distorted version of the merry-go-round music from Big Boo’s Haunt played as the screen slowly transitioned from the in-game shot to a photo-realistic sketch of Mario’s dead body in the same view. It was very unsettling. I was crying softly as I gazed upon the image. I lost another life.
The photo of my family was shown again. We were even more rotten than before. The view zoomed into the painting, as if I was warping again, but I was greeted with a shot of Peach’s Castle from the outside. It was crumbling in ruin. The fields were on fire. The sky was pitch black. Bowser’s laugh played on a loop in the background as children mockingly chanted, “You couldn’t save her!” This went on for a long time until a close-up of Peach’s face accompanied by an extremely loud screech interrupted the loop without notice. Peach’s mouth was wide open as if she were screaming and her eyes were empty, black holes.

Mario fell out of the painting again. All of the Toads were gone, and my family and I looked positively repulsive. Maggots were wriggling around in holes in our flesh. Guts were spilling out of our bodies. My dad’s eyeball was hanging loose from its socket. It was too much to bear, but something still urged me to trudge on. I jumped into the painting, only one life remaining.
This time, there was no name for the mission, only a blank space where the title would be. I selected the mission and Mario landed on a very small island in the middle of the ocean. There was a solitary sign that read, “DIVE.” I did just as it said and entered the water.

The ocean was dark and empty. There were no fish, and I wasn’t able to see anything besides Mario. I swam downwards, and even though I kept going for quite some time, Mario never ran out of breath. I counted roughly ten minutes of swimming before I decided to go back up. Just as I turned Mario around, it came. A huge Unagi the Eel came out of nowhere and swallowed Mario whole. It went by so fast I wasn’t even sure what I saw. The Game Over screen didn’t appear. All that happened was a fade-out.

The photo of my family and I was shown again. We were skeletons at that point. Once again, it looked very real. I couldn’t move the camera, either. It stayed focused on the picture. I shut it off and turned it on again. I chose my file, but it went back to the skeleton photo of my family. I tried this about three more times before giving up. I desperately wanted to stop, but some force kept me from walking away. With nothing else to do, I decided to select the only other saved file. The camera once again focused on the skeleton picture, but this time they were in a different position…almost as if they were a different family.

Tails Doll (Sonic R)

TAILS DOLL
==========

Sonic the Hedgehog is my favorite Video Game character of all time. Fast and cool, who wouldn`t love him? Well, there was still something odd about one of his past games. Sonic R. Sonic R is a racing game featuring the cast of Sonic along with two new characters:

Metal Knuckles is a neat character introduced. Obviously, the metal Doppelganger of Knuckles the Echidna.

Tails Doll is, well... just creepy. He`s an orange doll with some white like Tails, has stitches, lifeless black eyes, and a blood-red gem attached to a piece of wire.

What`s creepy is that someone unknown began an internet fad of curses that will cause you to see this dreaded demon and will get you murdered. Apparently, if you tag Super Sonic with the Doll, he`ll turn around and come out of your TV to kill you. Another curse says that if you play the songs "Can You Feel the Sunshine?" or "Livin` in the City" in a locked bathroom with the lights turned off, you`ll see a red light. In another few accidents, some people have said that their Tails Doll character is missing from the character screen.

I wished to see if this would be true. It sounded really fake, but I had to try it out. I searched for a copy of the game on Ebay with a SEGA Saturn to go with it, and I found one from a seller named "BuyMahStuffplz". The price was $35.67 counting the GST, so that`s not so bad. When I got it, I invited my friend over and we each had an airsoft gun by eachother. But as soon as I booted up the game, there were a few graphic glitches here and there, and as soon as I picked the first race, I was playing as Egg-Robo, in some sort of hellish world. It wasn`t a race, but it was like an adventure field. After walking around a bit, there was a weird cutscene. We saw Egg-Robo`s front, but then a knife was stabbed through him. He then actually began to bleed with guts spilling out, which made my friend and I stare at the screen in a real jaw-drop fashion. Then the screen turned very black only to see a pair of red-glowing eyes and a red-glowing gem.

The Saturn immediately began to smoke and pretty much crashed. My friend and I were panacked and we checked the box that the game came in. We saw a note that read this:

"I have set the Saturn to do an emergancy crash in case you do anything reckless in the game: like tagging four characters."

We went back to the TV, but it showed a picture of the Tails Doll on the screen, and it said, "Thank You for playing with me!" The TV then turned off by itself.

I don`t know what to say about this rouh game copy, but as far as I`m concerned, it`s now in a better home... burning in my fireplace.

Zelda 64 Beta

ZELDA 64 BETA
=============

When I was a child, one of my favorite games was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Anyone who’s played it can probably figure out why, even if they don’t particularly find it their favorite. Naturally, as a very popular game, it spawned a lot of rumors and legends; especially back in the day when communication through the Internet wasn’t as common. Most of these legends are false, but sometimes a surprisingly amount of truth can be found in them.

A while ago I had read an article about early versions of Zelda 64 (as it was called in development), and apparently these early versions were incredibly different than the released version. It was modeled after the original The Legend of Zelda rather than A Link to the Past, and as such was a lot freer roaming and adventurous than the one we got. At the time, it sounded awesome, and I even found myself wondering why they had abandoned the project.

I concluded that it was probably due to the technical requirements of such a feat. Still, one thing that especially stuck with me were the pictures. Some were nondescript – nothing special – but one showed a large expansive desert environment. There was just a palm tree and a small oasis near a much more primitive looking Link, as well as some enemies. Past that, however, was just sand stretching to the horizon. The thoughts of what might lay beyond that desert seemed to stick the image to my mind.

Skip several years. The article was only a vague recollection – nothing important. I was hanging out at the local game shop with one of my friends. He’s telling me about his day, and tells me how some guy came to sell his missing son’s old video games. He showed me them and they were all normal games. There were a few Wii games, a few Gamecube games, and a lot of Nintendo 64 games. The only one that really caught my eye was a red cartridge with no label except for a piece of tape with the word “ZELDA??” written over it in marker. Naturally, this got me curious. My friend didn’t share my curiosity and didn’t think he could sell the game, so he let me take it home for free and indulge myself. Naturally, I did.

The moment the game started, I realized it wasn’t the Zelda I was used to. The title screen was nothing but a nondescript “The Legend of Zelda.” There were no subtitles, no fancy font, no music; it was just those words in black-bordered lettering. The background wasn’t from Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask, either. It was an overhead view of what could only be called ancient ruins. They looked very sinister and grotesque – similar to something from Majora’s Mask, only without any hint of the mystical atmosphere that accompanied any Zelda game. They were simply unnerving. Still, this didn’t stop my curiosity. It only kept me going.

As soon as I pressed start, the game began. It skipped over any file screens and dumped a blocky looking Link into an empty black environment. And when I say black, I mean BLACK. There was nothing separating ground and sky. There was only blackness. The only thing that let me notice that the game even worked was a temple in the distance, similar to the one in the opening. Moving still seemed to work fine, suggesting that something probably glitched with the textures of the ground and sky. Still, it seemed strange that nothing happened to any other textures. Entering the temple was my only choice, so I took it.

One thing worth mentioning is that the game started with no music, only deathly silence, however, the closer you came to the temple the more music was available to hear. It wasn’t actually music, though. It sounded like moaning, similar to the ReDeads in Ocarina of Time, but tinnier and badly recorded. Every once in a while some sobs could be heard, but they were quickly stifled.

Entering the temple made everything seem more like a Zelda game, but something strange caught my eye. Rather than the textures being worse than those in Ocarina of Time, they were better. There was more detail in everything, but it was all dingy and rotten looking. Extra polygons only served to make things look more grotesque. The random blood spatters didn’t help anything either. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the entire “dungeon” could hardly be called Zelda-like. Puzzles usually only consisted of pulling a lever or pressing a switch.

In fact, there weren’t even any sliding blocks. There were no enemies either, but the blood spatters on the floor and walls soon served to be warnings of traps. Some became inescapable, and sent you back to the darkness again. Others are escapable, but were extremely creepy and depressing. The dungeon was riddled with low-polygon remains of old adventurers, and sometimes they even had items on them.

The items could be picked up, but the game only auto-equipped the first three items picked up since there was no accessible inventory screen. After several gruesome deaths and retries, I find my way to a door marked with a scratched-on eye, similar to the ones on the Lens of Truth and various other objects. Entering this door reveals a boss battle.

The music, by this point, had changed, and I only realized it by the last room. The moaning had never looped once, but seemed to change according to the mood. A discordant violin melody began to play, but the rest of the sound remained nothing but moans, sobs, yells, and strange scratching. It was never enough to rise past the level of background noise, but it still remained unnerving, almost as if it wasn’t music at all but monsters that were wandering somewhere in the temple.

When I said entering the door revealed a boss battle, I was not entirely honest. It could only be called a boss battle by the most generous standards. It featured an empty room with the same textures on the walls as the rest of the temple. The only out of place aspect was a giant face on the other side of the room, colored as gray as the walls surrounding it. Its skin seemed stretched over its head and lined with the wall, so it looked as if the wall was growing a face. Moss seemed to be growing over its closed eyes and cracks were apparent everywhere on it. The door back was locked, so the only thing to do was approach it.

I did so, carefully, making sure nothing was waiting for a surprise attack. I went up to the point where I was nearly in contact with the face. Nothing. It was still there, with its sunken eyes and cracked lips. I attacked it with my sword. The sword went through and made an incredibly vulgar flesh ripping sound, but nothing happened. It remained there. I attacked some more, and then more, and still more, until eventually the music stopped.

Soon, the cacophony of violin music became even louder and the moans started up even stronger, then something else happened. In one movement, the face’s eyes open, staring at me with its dry, soulless gaze, and then... Nothing. The music was still louder, but I continued to attack the face with no reaction until it had enough. It ripped to shreds and fell away in fire – the typical Zelda fashion – and revealed a door. The music had stopped. There were no more moans or screams – nothing at all. I went through the door.

What a fool I was. That was only the tutorial.

The screen turned white, followed by a moment of extremely loud static. I jumped, but it was over almost instantly. An endless desert replaced the white screen – the one from that image. I was in shock. By that point, I was creeped out enough to turn the game off. That respite didn’t last long. I had nightmares of the game – normal nightmares with nothing weird about them. What frightened me most was something I skimmed over while I played and only realized afterward: the game changed each time I started over. When I tried to take the same path through the labyrinth, I always ended up lost and confused. By the time I finished I was relying only on instinct.

I kept going the next day, stopping only to eat and to go to the bathroom. When I turned it on, I was still at the desert, despite the lack of a file screen. This time it was night. I walked. Sometimes I would walk for twenty minutes only to find a half-sunken obelisk, or the ruins of what looked like some village hut. Other tiems there would be a skull or a few bones, but nothing more noticeable than that. Other times, I would see great expanses of oasis and tropical forests.

I found my first enemies here. They were similar to Tektites, but with larger bodies that mostly contained their large eye. They had thin, long legs and would still attack by leaping, though when they hit you they would pin you to the ground and attack. Soon, the sun rose and I continued walking. Sometimes I would find small tombs. These were almost always similar in style to the first dungeon, only without the moaning and with no bosses.

What I did find was information. Runes scribbled onto the walls that could be read. The description would always be vague, with phrases like “…and knowledge shall guide…way to heavens…” Sometimes they would be followed by other comments, but most writing seemed glitched and unintelligible. It seemed to be a history, though. The maps I’d sometimes find confirmed it. I simply explored, and after a while I learned to let instinct guide my way. Soon I found the next dungeon, a large pyramid rising out of the desert…upside down… Over it, straight to the sky, was another large upside down temple. It stretched so far I couldn’t see the top, but I couldn’t keep going. I needed sleep again.

The next day came and I entered the dungeon. It was like all the small tombs I would find, only a bit more perilous. There were more bottomless pits, chasms, spike traps, and monsters this time. Long arms would grab you from out of the wall like Wall Masters; these simply threw you into traps and killed you, though. They were probably what used to be Redeads and Skeletons. At the end of this dungeon, I found a large spiral staircase. I followed it up and up until I reached what seemed to be the top. It took two hours of climbing, but the time seemed to fly by. The top was merely a platform with a large ornate arrow pointing off an edge. Since there was nowhere else to go, I jumped. The screen again flashed white, and I was in a new area.

This went on for the next few weeks. There were many places to visit, and at times I could find the borders of where one locale met another. I started to name the locations I had been to, but although I started knowing all the places intimately, there never seemed to be an end for new locations. Sometimes I would go through one door and come out on the other side of the world. Places didn’t behave by constant rules of space, but it became easier to find my way regardless. Each time I revisited a place it was rearranged in a different, more navigable setup. From every corner, though, I could see the tower in the distance. I quickly realized that I had not reached the top, only fallen into one of the many traps. In fact, I still have not reached the top.

In the few times I went about the real world, I could feel the game was different. It changed itself. It seemed to react to me. I was sure that a game like this should not have been able to be created, but then, they WERE going for a free-roaming experience more similar to the original Zelda. What if they succeeded? What if they created a world one could always roam? They really did create that world. I had learned of the many gods in that land: the three goddesses who had created such a perverted physical world and the god He Who Sees, who decided to cleanse it. I still did not know my own role, but I felt that if I simply followed my instincts, I could find my goal.

This is why I’m writing this now. My instincts still tell me where to go, but not here. It’s not in the game. I have to leave, and I will… But before I go, I feel that I have to leave this message for someone to find. I should warn you. It may be a game, but it knows you are playing.