I owe everything I am to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
I can still remember when I first laid my eyes on it. On a shelf full of the usual mid-1990s suspects - Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Revenge of Shinobi, so many sports games - Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday stood out. A distinctive red box with some garish and heroic art, it couldn't help but stand out. I'd later learn this was the NTSC version of the game (fortunately, it was region-free), but for now, that just made it look a bit exotic for an 11-year-old who mostly bought into the 'judge a game by its cover' conceit. At that moment, I was just delighted that I'd stumbled across this game at a rare time when I had £15 to spend. £15! It was a veritable fortune back then, and this proved to be the perfect investment.
I had an almost idyllic childhood: happy parents who loved each other and did everything to support me and make our lives exciting and enjoyable. We never had much money, but ultimately, that didn't really matter. While money gives you opportunity, it doesn't always give you happiness, and my youth was rich with that which you can't buy. What the lack of money did mean was that the rare occasions when I was given a decent sum of money, and sent into a game shop to buy something? Those were a really big deal.
I had to spend wisely. I knew this wouldn't happen again for a while. I glanced at Pelé briefly. Not the footballer, of course - that'd be an unusual encounter in South Wales - but the Megadrive game of the same name that I suspect was probably a bit dodgy. There'd be no value for money there. This purchase needed to last me a long time. I already had a FIFA game and I was almost as rubbish at that as I was at actual football - despite being so enthusiastic.
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