[above image courtesy of thenerdstash.com]

Finish Him! Flawless Victory! Babality! If you recognize all three of these phrases, you probably grew up in the nineties like I did. As with many, Mortal Kombat was a big part of my childhood, but to understand this, I’ll need to dial back to the beginnings of my infatuation with video games.

Me and my first chick, circa 1990

My relationship with gaming began in the early nineties. My parents were never big on weekly allowances or giving in to the materialistic wants that my brother and I shared. In fact, they would usually require us to complete a bunch of chores in order to unlock a few bucks and a trip to the toys aisle at the local Target. However, the one exception to this protocol came whenever my dad returned from an overseas work trip. He would almost always bring back a couple of items for my brother and me. Sometimes it would be a keychain with a metal frog that chirps. Other times a garment that I would never wear publicly and instead became PJs.