Real Talk By: Ms. Throwback (Heather Kiley)

Over the course of gaming history, items have played a central role in a players enjoyment and involvement in completing a title.  There are the obvious reasons for needing items such as: obtaining health, power, speed, or using items to solve a puzzle.  Every once in a while, we come across an item that takes us beyond just the everyday norm, an item that can be so memorable it literally becomes a part of why we play the series.  These defining items aren’t forthright in our minds but they deserve as much praise as the main hero for giving us even more to love about the experience.  In this article we break the surface on some of these awesome items.

 Kuribo’s Shoe – Super Mario Bros. 3

Kuribo’s shoe, sometimes known as Goomba’s shoe later in the series, is a green colored wind-up shoe that Mario sits inside. It is one of the rarest items in any Mario game but can be one of the most useful items when used correctly. While in the shoe Mario can stomp on any enemy including peaty piranha plants and the mini snapping plants lining entire floors of some of the SMB3 levels. The only other item cool enough to achieve this wouldn’t come until the end of the year 1991 when we were introduced to the most epic item of all, Yoshi, a character with permanent Goomba Shoes.

Pain Killers / Herbs – Max Payne / Resident Evil Series

One of the most important features in any game is regaining health. The Mario series has the most recognizable health rejuvenation in the history of video gaming, the red mushroom. Other games have their own unique twist on the concept however. Max Payne brought us pain killers, allowing the player to carry 8 pain killers at a time and going full on overdose with 600 mg of health in every bottle. Resident Evil allowed us to find red, green, or blue herbs, some of them not working by themselves but when mixed with each other in the right doses created a super powerful potion to revive health.

Empty Bottle – Zelda Series

The empty bottle in of itself isn’t anything spectacular, but without it, the adventures of Link throughout the Zelda universe would be all but impossible.  Other essentials to the game like water, potions, poe spirits, chu jelly, milk, bugs, fish, and of course fairies are all impossible to carry without the aid of an empty bottle. empty bottles with fairies in them are especially useful once Link loses all his heart pieces and dies.  The fairy automatically comes out of the bottle bringing link back to life and filling most of the lost heart pieces allowing Link to beat extremely challenging bosses.

 Cardboard Box – Metal Gear Solid Series

The appreciation for the cardboard box in the metal gear series goes beyond just being useful.  It is an iconic symbol of the series and is one of the most fun things to come across in-game.  The box can be used to hide from enemies when nothing else is available and snake can carry it on his head tippy toeing across the landscape.  In an otherwise serious and intense game the importance of the cardboard box has not been lost by Konami the creators of Metal Gear. The fact that they have involved the box in every Metal Gear game to date shows the humor and dedication they keep to their fan base.

 Baseball Bat – Super Smash Bros. Series

The baseball bat can be a hit or miss item that falls from the skies during a battle in SSB.  Sometimes players will end up dying in an effort just to grab this item, only to find that it’s a fake baseball bat and not a home run hitter.  In the end of ends it may be worth the risk, because getting a real baseball bat means that one swing into your opponent sends them instantly flying off the screen.  Rarely can this item be overtaken by a player about to be hit and seeing this item in the wake of battle can change the outcome of a fight.

Toxic Waste Canisters – Rampage World Tour

V.E.R.N. otherwise known as Violent Enraged Radioactive Nemesis, and otherwise known as that giant purple bat guy you can unlock was the result of picking up toxic waste canisters in Rampage World Tour.  These canisters could be picked up in the scum lab facility and would release V.E.R.N.  The benefit of playing this character is vast.  Not only did he come with a 500 point bonus but he recovers health and is immune to radiation.  Not bad considering the item recovery.

What Are Your Favorite Items?

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