Fortunately, I was eventually able to find a job that, mirabile dictu, was far better than my old one. Offering me not only a fancy title, but a very healthy salary and far more reasonable hours to boot, I had actually been able to find something better than what I had previously. Not all of us are so fortunate.
Still, every cloud has its silver lining. The silver lining here was that I now had a lot more free time to catch up on the vidya. EDD checks may not have come in on time and I wasn't sure how I'd make the rent. But at least I could play the shit out of Kid Dracula. It's no exaggeration to say that I beat more games the past year and a half than I had in the entire preceding decade. Below, in no particular order, are all the games I beat between July 2008 and January 2010--the fruits of my jobless despair [insert laugh track here]. I had never beaten any of the games below until the past 1 1/2 year.
- Bio Miracle Bokkute Upa (Famicom)
- Kid Dracula (Famicom)
- Kid Dracula (Game Boy)
- Metroid II: The Return of Samus (Game Boy)
- Gargoyle's Quest II (NES)
- Destiny of an Emperor (NES)
- Dragon Quest V (Super Famicom)
- Paladin's Quest (SNES)
- Lufia II: The Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES)
- Lagoon (SNES)
- New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Game Boy Advance)
- Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (DS)
- Mega Man (NES)
- Castlevania (NES)
- Castlevania III (NES)
- Parodius (Super Famicom)
- Neutopia (TG-16)
- Ganbare Goemon (Famicom)
- Earthbound Zero (NES)
- Earthbound (SNES)
- Mother 3 (Game Boy Advance)
- Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
- Kirby: Squeak Squad (DS)
- Rocket Knight Adventures (Genesis)
- Sword of Hope (Game Boy)
- Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES)
- 7th Saga (SNES)
- Super Mario Bros.2 (Famicom Disc [I had beaten the SMB All-Stars version years ago though.])
- Earthworm Jim (Genesis)
- The Legend of Zelda: Satellavision (Super Famicom)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Game Boy Advance)
- Wario World (Game Cube)
- Wario Land (Game Boy)
- Wario Land II (Game Boy Color)
- Wario Land III (Game Boy Color)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System)
- Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System)
- Widget (NES)
- Adventure Island III (NES)
- Valkyrie no Densetsu (PC Engine)
- Ghosts n' Goblins (NES)
- Bubble Bobble 2 (NES)
- Ai Senshi Nicol (Famicom)
- The Lone Ranger (NES)
- Radical Dreamers (Super Famicom)
- Seiken Densetsu 3 (Super Famicom)
- Secret of Evermore (SNES)
- Yume Penguin Monogatari (Famicom)
Some of these games are better than others. Ghosts n' Goblins and the Castlevanias were the result of the last three days before I got final word that I was hired. A nervous trainwreck over an unexpected bump on the road to employment, I sublimated my anxiety by beating these games. Well, now I'm employed and I can tell people I beat these sadistically difficult games. Not too shabby.