My Gaming and LP Story

When I was born in 2003, video games had already evolved quite a bit, with PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube being the newest consoles on the market and Sega consoles already having disappeared. But my family was a bit behind: we only owned a Super Nintendo. And then, around 2005-2006, Super Mario World sparked little Invi's interest for the very first time. This two-year-old boy was allowed to grab the SNES controller, and over the years, I learned to game with not just SMW, but other classics like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which to this day is still my all-time favorite game.

But soon, something new caught my attention: my sister's green Game Boy Color. After having admired the Super Nintendo for a while, and a Sega Genesis too at a childhood friend's house, that little box certainly appealed to me. So, around 2008, I started playing on her GBC - Pokémon Red/Blue, The Smurfs, BurgerTime and Mickey Mouse were some defining games here. At my friend's place, games like Disney's Aladdin, The Lion King and Road Rash II had captivated me. However, after a while, when my sister moved out years later, that old Game Boy was long gone. Much later I got one again though, along with a classic gray Game Boy.

We were never really doing well financially, and so we never could afford many consoles, despite me wanting so, so many. After getting a Wii in 2010, along with many great games (especially Mario Kart Wii, the one game I've spent the most time with in my life), I eventually found out about the power of emulators. When I got a computer in 2010, I jumped onto them and finally got to play Sega Genesis at home, as well as some Super Nintendo games I didn't have physically, like Super Mario All-Stars, Yoshi's Island, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and many others.

The first time I played Nintendo 64 games was in 2011. Long days of gaming followed, filled with Super Mario 64, Mario Party and Mario Kart 64. In late 2013, after touching on Pokémon a little bit in my early childhood, I finally succumbed to the hype after watching videos about it on YouTube. I replayed Pokémon Red and Blue and finally understood what it was all about, and then in 2014 I continued with Pokémon Yellow, and the N64 spinoffs Stadium and Snap -- all the while discovering more N64 classics like Banjo-Kazooie or Donkey Kong 64. In 2015 I tried a different Pokémon generation than the first one for the first time, with Pokémon Gold and Silver, but my hype had already kinda vanished, and I ignored Crystal. I spent most of my time with Banjo-Tooie in that year.

The more I played, the more I wanted to evolve with it - so, still unable to afford much, I started emulating more recent consoles. But before we get to that, in 2016 I discovered the GBA and had wonderful experiences with Super Mario Advance, Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Wario Land 4. Around the same time I found an old PlayStation 1 my sister left behind when she moved out years before. The games bored me though. Friends lent me games, all of which initially seemed dull... except for one. Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus. In that moment I fell in love with the Oddworld series and also got Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, the first installment.

In 2017, a lot happened. For one, the Nintendo Switch released this year, and on my 14th birthday, I actually got one with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Lego City Undercover - but for our story, this is irrelevant - my channel's all about the nostalgia after all! Also in that year, I discovered the GameCube dialogue, after getting a new PC the year before which was actually able to handle GameCube games! Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikmin, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Super Mario Sunshine or Resident Evil, there was plenty o' stuff for this console.

In 2018, games like Star Fox Adventures, Metroid Prime, Sonic Adventure DX and F-Zero GX captivated me. Also in that year, I finally found some interest in the Xbox. Some classic Xbox games I played in that year that I have a fond memory of was Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, as well as Burnout 3: Takedown.

In 2019, Pikmin 2 and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes thrilled me, in 2020 I discovered another one of my favorite games, Resident Evil 4, and I also played the fourth Oddworld title, Stranger's Wrath for the first time. Then, in 2020, I unlocked a core memory of my childhood when I played on a friend's DS, and got one for myself. Super Mario 64 DS, WarioWare: Touched!, Advance Wars: Dual Strike and Sonic Rush are just a few great games here.

In 2020, thanks to the pandemic, I began spending more and more time with gaming, however in that year I spent most of my time, surprisingly, with Minecraft, especially the HiveMC server, which sadly no longer exists. In this year I also got a used Xbox 360 from one of my sister's friends, and I quickly became enthusiastic about the old FIFA games. I also tried out some PS2 games, but they didn't excite me, and to this day I haven't bothered with newer PlayStation consoles. Around this time, I also rediscovered my love for the Wii! But then something unexpected happened...

My apprenticeships took up a lot of my time (and mental health), and then there were girlfriends which captivated me even more than consoles. Between butterflies in my stomach, the stress of studying and exams, heartbreak and sweating bullets, I pretty much neglected all games for a long time. This didn't change until I quit my apprenticeship in late 2024 due to reasons I'd rather not go into (a bit too heavy for a fun topic!). After this, I started having a lot more free time to start the healing process.

As a result, in the last few years I had bought and played some great games, including Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Kameo: Elements of Power and New Super Mario Bros. (DS and Wii), but I never really had the time for them. But suddenly, I was standing in front of my consoles and my emulators, wondering what I had been missing all these years.

I wanted to finish the games I'd started playing, but I did it systematically: one game at a time. I would always pick a game, old or new, and play it through. I started with Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, and after Pokémon Diamond and the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, I had a thought... why not show my gameplay? I already once did Let's Plays in German from 2014 to 2021, however those were VERY sporadic and very poorly made. But at that point, I had gained motivation for it again, and wanted to do it for a longer time, and consistently. And so, on June 12th, 2025, I started this current Let's Play run. And since then, I've been active every single day.

In my LPs, I originally wanted to mainly showcase collecting sprees in Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Tooie, but the possibilities swept me away. I spontaneously did A Link to the Past, and since a blind 100% LP of Super Mario Galaxy 2 seemed like the right fit, I did it too.

I can now replay all these wonderful games that have entertained me for years, with humor and enjoyment, with commentary and feedback. Since doing these LPs, wonderful games like Metroid: Other M, Sonic Colors and Donkey Kong Country Returns have crept into my life and I'm fully immersed into that retro video game life again! And whatever may come in this year, and the next, and hopefully many more years to come: you'll be there. :D