I grew up playing video games that used extra lives. The old “Mario” games had them and the old “Donkey Kong Country” series, too, and it was just a feature that you had to deal with. As you played through such a game, level by level, it was always on your mind how many lives you had left. And as you played, your main purpose being to complete the level, it was always a bit of a secondary objective to collect more of these extra lives. I remember how very satisfying it was every time I collected enough bananas in “DKC” to acquire yet another balloon in the upper corner of the screen. Each life meant extra chances. It meant security. One more time you could slipup and still be all right. They were a good thing and one item I sought after most.
But, sometimes, extra lives were a hassle. I remember every time I started playing a new file of “Donkey Kong Country 2”, I would just rack up tons of extra lives during my first hour of gameplay. I collected so many darn extra lives, I was effectively unstoppable. I could die as many times as I pleased, and it mattered not. I’d go from world to world, and when no save point was yet available, it didn’t matter, because I had those extra lives. And then, I’d stop playing for the day, and when I returned, the lives were always reset to a much smaller number, my hard work collecting lives the previous day all for naught. Continue reading Why Games Should Do Away With Extra Lives
