I have fond memories of playing through Super Metroid for the first time. The SNES was at my dad’s house and my parents were separated so I only got to play every other weekend. A friend on my school bus was also playing and usually further along than me (he had his system at home) and he’d drop hints about locations of secret power ups and where to go next when I was stumped. The game world felt huge and full of adventure to me.
On those weeks away from the SNES I’d read through Nintendo Power and draw my own level maps for imaginary games inspired by the ones they’d publish for games like Wolfenstein 3D.
Same! Though I was very into Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I don’t always look back in fondness at my edgy Hot Topic years 😅