When Super Mario Bros. 2 came out I was all of nine years old. As much as I loved the game I never saw it through to the end, settling for watching the vicarious victory of my childhood best friend, Kyle. Now, at thirty-three years of age, I decided to dust it off and finally beat it. This was long overdue to say the least, and I feel a palpable sense of satisfaction wash over me now that I stand victorious after all these years. I've vanquished Bowser many, many times over on many different Mario games, but never have I stood victorious over Wart. I reckon that bastard was never dethroned from my Super Mario 2 cart because of how much trouble the sinking desert sands of 6-1 gave me. Now, the sands and the rest of Subcon are mastered, and I can look back at my nine year old self and say, "We did it. We finally did it."
I almost beat the game earlier in the day playing it all the way through without using warps, but a (platonic) girlfriend of mine showed up earlier than expected to go out for dinner, so I turned it off on 7 mutherf*cking 2 with sixteen extra lives waiting in reserve (I was killing the cherries on the slots, boy!!). I'm not kidding. When she dropped me off home tonight, I warped my way back where I left off and finished it.