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Blast from the Past !!! – A Look At MindJolt Games

Once in a while there’s the chance that you’ll come across something that evokes vivid memories of the halcyon days of your youth. Perhaps it’s an unopened copy of the original vinyl of your favorite album, or a syndicated rerun of a favorite TV show, or a picture of the old gang in all their glory. Whatever it may be it evokes a sense of nostalgia,and reawakens memories that you had thought long forgotten about a time when things were new and you reveled in the unfolding of a strange new world.

For me that happened the day that I finally went to an application called Mindjolt Games. I have to admit that I bypassed this site, mostly because the new and glorious overshadowed it’s contents.What can I say? Like most people I sometimes get caught up in the rush and thunder of the new and shiny, and sometimes the latest flavor of the week appeals to me as much as it does to anyone else. Shame on me,I know.

So, what about Mindjolt? What is it that brought me back to it, and why did the light suddenly shine so brightly on it?

If you’re under 50, and over 30 you might remember the days when you would grab your allowance and head down to the latest innovation in commercial enterprise to change it all into quarters and then spend hours in that dimly lit hole-in-the-wall known as your neighborhood arcade. Those were exciting days indeed, it seemed that the entire world was giving way to the future as the bang, thud, and clang of pinball machines and other mechanical amusement devices was beginning to give way to the electronic buzz, ping, and whir of the newest fad to hit the streets; the electronic arcade game. We were captivated by the colors and mechanics of the objects on the screens in front of us, and we were more than happy to keep plugging quarters into the coin slot.

That is precisely the feeling and memory that Mindjolt evoked.It isn’t a game, it’s a collection of games, many similar to those early offerings in those dim noisy dens that we spent all too much time frequenting in our youth, others reminiscent of the early web based games that many of the younger crowd played in the early days of the internet. The primary difference is that these are Flash based, but the games themselves are eerily reminiscent of those that were to be found in the rear of those early establishments and on the early gaming sites.

Simplistic says it all. There are few complicated rules in these games, the rendering is moderately better than what was available30 years ago (and admittedly much better in some cases), the sound -well – you can turn it off. You can find almost everything here, from simple (yeah, right) stacking games, card games, ball popping, driving,flying, mind benders, to some just plain silly games, just to list a few. Follow some of the off site links to find the kind of games that FB© doesn’t exactly approve of, but bring your Spanish to English dictionary if you expect to be able to do any reading. Oddly enough,although the games are presented in English, the linked sites are primarily in Spanish. WTF? or rather ¿Que? Well, Flash game developers often don’t have a lot of cash to lay out for server rights, and some of the best deals are to be found on foreign soil, so who can blame them?

There are a lot of these little games, chances are you can find one that will keep you occupied for that short period between actions on some of the bigger, glitzier apps that FB© is becoming famous for, or even make you miss the end of the cool down period of whatever game you’re currently addicted to. Some of them even parallel a few of the side games presented in some of those monster apps, are in fact suspiciously similar, and would probably make good practice to help you achieve success in them.

Mindjolt is not focused on the new and innovative, in fact it appears that the site is more about dressing up some old concepts in anew suit of clothes and putting them on a new set of wheels. I have to say that I regret by-passing it originally, i might have avoided hours of senseless boredom had i taken the time to have a look and a bit of a play.

The site is enjoyed by millions, testament to the truth that sometimes what appeals most to people is the simple yet challenging formats that were the genesis of the video gaming industry. No matter what changes they may have gone through appearance wise, a lot of these games are the old tried and true formats that grabbed, thrilled, and irritated us in our misspent youth.

If you loved that period in gaming history you’ll find something here to tickle your fancy and your memory, even if it only vaguely looks like that old favorite, and at the same time irritate that pubescent critic that keeps telling you to buy a PS3 and get with the rest of the world.