A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed.
Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine a game where certain tools are more detrimental than beneficial, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.
Not All Lemons Can Be Turned Into Lemonade
More than likely, most if not all of you reading this haven’t even heard of the “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” video game, let alone played this NES game loosely based on the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” novel. The game, originally made and released in Japan, made it to western shores in 1988. And similar to many other games ported from the east to the west, the American version got changed to…. Well, it’s unknown why certain changes like taking out particular levels and abilities were made as it didn’t make things easier.
As you play the game and are attacked by people for no apparent reason, Jekyll’s “Anger Meter” fills up and causes Jekyll to transform into Mr. Hyde where he’ll die if he doesn’t kill a certain amount of enemies (something that proves tougher than one would expect considering Hyde’s freakish strength). So how do you progress through the game and hope to complete this “adventure” as Jekyll? Whip out Jekyll’s cane and beat away.
And by “beat away”, expect to beat nothing but air and bees. It’s practically impossible to hit anything other than bees that show up once in a while and do little to no damage. No, you can’t take down the gravedigger slinging “deadly” dirt at Jekyll with pinpoint precession, random bombers, birds that drop dog-sized feces from the sky, and a fat lady who can’t sing, yet her notes hurt the cane-carrying character.
Unlike the other games featuring weapon-based attacks, the cane isn’t optional or something the player can ditch for a better item – it’s the only weapon in the game for Jekyll (the character the game wants you to play as considering the penalty & time limit associated with Hyde). The cane is the only offensive measure the player has against hordes of homicidal townspeople and the only thing it can kill are inch-long bees. While it’s commendable to use what one has and attempt to make lemonade out of lemons, there are times when those lemons are too rotten to be helpful in a pinch or, more importantly, during a do or die situation.
Have you learned any major life lessons from (not) playing “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.