Vania Mania

God Bless Lindsey A. Kaeo. In 1988 his house was host to one of the most monumental gaming sessions in modern history.
Castlevania II hadn’t even come out yet in Atlanta. This was back when games were first released your town might not get all the new titles. You’d go into the mall all pumped up about buying Excitebike II and the dude would be like “No, that wasn’t released in Atlanta.” “What do you mean ‘wasn’t released in Atlanta.’? ...buster."
I think Lindsey’s step-brother Daniel got an advance copy of Castlevania II in New York. Daniel, a non-gamer, of course did not realize that Castlevania II was one of the most eagerly anticipated sequels of all time. But that’s not what I told him when I convinced him to let me borrow Castlevania II if I let him borrow Deadly Towers.
Not too long after I borrowed Castlevania II Lindsey had his annual Sleep-over party. Other than celebrating Lindsey’s birthday the best way we knew how, I don’t remember much about that party, but I do remember this…

At about 7:00 pm, the Dream Team (Jason T., Scott B., Victor H., Ben M.) along with myself started playing Castlevania II. We each took two or three hour shifts playing non-stop for about eleven hours and finally beat the game shortly after 6:00 am. As young pupas little did we know that we were slowly undergoing transformation into seasoned gamers and that this all-night gaming experience was the start of something extraordinary. Playing video games, especially really good ones, was brought to a higher level.

I won’t use this opportunity to clown any specific individuals but some of us did fall asleep and didn’t make it all the way until the end to watch the closing credits. The ending was always the smoothest part of the game and Castlevania II was no exception. Some games though just did not have solid endings (Super Off-Road).
As our parents came and picked us up from Lindsey’s house a few hours later and we parted our ways I remember giving a nod to the other members of the Dream Team, as if to say “That was awesome guys, I can’t believe we stayed up all night and finally beat Castlevania II.”
I'll always miss and remember Lindsey for a thousand better reasons than this one, but it was a good time and a fun birthday party.