Reasons to prefer a genre

I need to work on my twitch reflexes. And my spatial awareness. These are the things that playing a few missions of Star Fox 64 have shown me.

Much like the SNES original (a game I beat for the first time only a few years ago), I always struggled with Star Fox 64. Yet, I also really love space combat simulation games like it. As a kid I must have clocked in at least a hundred hours on a Terminal Velocity demo, I played Star Wars X-Wing every chance I got, and I loved Descent. Before I discovered the RPG, the space (or even just aerial) combat simulator was, without question my favourite genre. Not that I was ever any good at it. It was just that I, like every young boy, liked blowing up big robotic things that had evil intentions.

I still do, as last night's blast from the past made pretty clear. At the same time, though, space shooters never really struck me as capable of the emotional impact a good RPG can have.

Ultimately, as someone who already loved writing fiction, the RPG's greater potential for more gripping stories than your standard space combat simulator (at least in the 90s) is what lead to my now insatiable drive to try as many RPGs as I can. Plus, working with a series of menus proved easier than movements in a three dimensional plane and holding steady while aiming.