You Are Saved: Saving in Games

Posted byerichagmannPosted inTop TenTags:, , , , , , ,

Happy Easter! And, speaking of being saved… here are ten instances of unique ways to save in video games!

10. Animaniacs
(SNES, 1994)

animaniacs password characters snes
Zany to the max indeed!

Despite there existing hundreds of games that already had the ability to save a game directly to a cartridge, the 1994 Animaniacs game for the Super Nintendo opted to use the archaic method of passwords in order to retain your progress. Not only was this a horrendous decision in itself, but the developers chose to use a series of character portraits instead of the typical long strand of letters and numbers that we had generally seen in the past. I’m thankful that I was a big fan of the show so I could easily jot down the character names, but I can’t imagine what others might have had to write in order to remember this style of password.

“Top row: Goofy mouse, blonde lady, red hat, rabbit mime. Middle row: blonde lady, cop, angry mouse, bald guy. Bottom row: red hat, cop, goofy mouse, blonde lady.

9. The Legend of Zelda
(NES, 1986)

zelda save reset button
Zelda isn’t the only person who needs saving.

Why, 8 years before Animaniacs, you *could* save your game right to the cartridge in the original Legend of Zelda, one of the first games to use a battery backup save system. In order to do so, though, you either had to die, or you had to get your little brother or sister to hold up + A on the second control pad while you were on the inventory screen. Does this count as a two-player game? Also, make sure you hold the reset button as you turn the power off! I bet you didn’t, you naughty child!!!

8. Earthbound
(SNES, 1994)

earthbound phone dad saving
If you’d like to fax me, press the star key.

In Earthbound, saving your game is just a phone call away. What better way to remember what you’ve been doing than by having a conversation with your supportive father who’s always at work and constantly sending you money because you beat up animals? Ness is just lucky that the telephone company has a few lines set up in the heart of a secret underground world inhabited by dinosaurs.

7. Donkey Kong Country 2:
Diddy’s Kong Quest
(SNES, 1995)

dkc 2 donkey kong country ditty kong kollege college
Tuition is out of control.

If you want to keep your progress in Donkey Kong Country 2, it’s included in your tuition to the Kong Kollege! To lure you in, Wrinkly Kong will offer your first save for free, but each time after that will cost a hefty two banana coins. Aren’t books already expensive enough? We need a revamp of the education system.

6. Crash Bandicoot
(Playstation, 1996)

crash bandicoot save point
Walt sent me.

Crash Bandicoot was one of the first games to come out for the original Playstation when people weren’t yet used to the fact that you’d need to purchase an additional memory card for your system to save most of your games. So, if you didn’t yet own one, the game gave you the option to show a traditional password that you could write down in your handy dandy notebook.

The opportunity to save, however, was a total pain in the ooda-booga. Save screens would appear after completing a short mini-game stage that could only be accessed after picking up a set of three collectible character icons. If you died during this mini-stage, though, you’d miss out on your chance to save and would have to go find another set of collectibles before you could try again!

5. Dragon Warrior
(NES, 1986)

dragon warrior quest king imperial scrolls
But thou must!

Releasing the same year as The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior had a similar battery backup save system. To do this, you better hope that your character hasn’t wandered too far from home. The only way to save is by walking back to the very first castle where the game began and then speaking to the king who will record your “deeds” in the “Imperial Scrolls of Honor.” Does the castle have an Imperial Bath of Relaxation to rest my now weary feet?

4. Nier: Automata
(Various, 2017)

nier automata access point
NieR. FaR. WhereveR you ArE.

I can’t speak personally to this game, having never played it, but I’ve been told that something *very* interesting happens regarding your save data when you reach the end of the game. Apparently, part of the story urges you to DELETE YOUR SAVE FILE completely when you finish the game. And, there’s a seemingly very good story reason for why you would want to do this. I have *no idea* what this entails, but I’m intrigued enough that I’d love to give this game a go someday to find out for myself. I’ve been warned, because I guess save points are very far apart from each other, too.

3. Xenogears
(Playstation, 1998)

xenogears memory cubes
What’s this? What’s this? There’s data everywhere!

It has been ages since I’ve played (or watched a Let’s Play) of Xenogears, but I remember there being a mind-blowing segment of the game that questions the act of saving altogether. As pictured above, your main characters reach a room where “memory cubes” have been collected by some higher agency, implying that you’ve been watched this entire time through your save data. I desperately want a remaster of this game so I can re-experience this amazing story (that I never was able to finish even after reaching the final dungeon).

2. Resident Evil 2
(Playstation, 1998)

resident evil 2 typewriter
The greatest thing you’ll ever learn…

In a game where resource management is essential, not even your save files are guaranteed. And, you better be damn sure that you want to save your game in Resident Evil 2 because the option to do so relies on your ability to collect ink ribbons that can be used with typewriters found throughout the journey. If you run out of ink ribbons, you might be playing for awhile! What makes this mechanic even less believable is the thought of Leon or Claire sitting down to type out their thoughts in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Honorable Mentions:

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
(N64, 2000)

owl statue majoras mask
Finally, an owl that won’t talk your ear off.

Horizon Zero Dawn
(Various, 2017)

horizon zero dawn fire
Submitted for the approval of the midnight society, I call this story… The Tale of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost.

1. Mega Man Legends
(Playstation, 1997)

data mega man legends
Ninety-nine monkeys jumpin’ on the bed.

Mega Man Legends branches off from the traditional Mega Man formula by putting you in a fully 3D world set in the far distant future. To talk completely about the game’s save system would be a major spoiler, but I’ll just say that it was one of most incredible twists that I had ever experienced. Anyway, all you need to know is there’s a monkey, his name is Data, and he saves your game. Now, please go beg Capcom for a Mega Man Legends collection so you can find out for yourself!

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Published by erichagmann

Arranger / Pianist / Vocalist / Educator / Gamer

29 thoughts on “You Are Saved: Saving in Games”

  1. Fun and surprising read this morning! A great idea, comparing so many saves, and reminding us that many things that seem so easy now, weren’t always so easy! This is a deep philosophical post, especially highlighting questions around the act of saving at all!!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you for taking time to read! This post had been sitting in my draft for two years, and I finally was motivated to make it happen for Easter this year. I’m so glad you enjoyed it – and it was fun for me to think back to all these games.

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      3. A enjoyed this, but doesn’t have a WordPress account to press the LIKE button, so you’ll have to imagine an extra star. 🙂

        It was fun to listen to him talk about a weird sort of psychedelic trip in Earthbound in particular, which reminded me the feeling of the Heffalump and Woozle side quest in Winnie the Pooh’s Blustery Day story.

        A game he was invested in a while, Undertale, is based on Earthbound as well. Oh, and talked a bunch about the Neir: Automota (sp?) thing. Super interesting.

        Fun conversations this morning. Thank you!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Amazing! I know exactly what he’s talking about in reference to Earthbound. Lots of weird stuff in that game but it’s perfection – and very Heffalumps and Woolley.

        I played a lot of Undertale as well and loved the nods to Earthbound in its art style. Does he recommend NieR? It has been on sale a few times but I’ve passed it up because I know it’s a long one. Gl

        So glad I could spark some conversation!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. He hasn’t played NeiR, just knows a fair bit about it, like you do. So he has heard it’s worthwhile but can’t say first-hand. Maybe time for a long adventure!

        Like

      6. WELL! So, synchronicity today. Middle child walks out of their room this morning talking about a friend who went to a NeiR concert last night!

        I go, “Huh?”

        Then I learn middle child has played all the NeiR games and considers them “more like art pieces than games.” They throw a few of the deep questions involved at me, knowing I will never play the game, and honestly, it all sounds like a wow.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I love this list!! I think Earthbound is still my favourite, but I will always love the sound of using a save sphere in FFX.

    Always a delight to see you releasing new content. You’re so great!

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  4. Ah save systems. As a kid, I always tried to guess the Gameboy game passwords since they were short and it was a fun activity during long carrides. 😀

    Just reading through this article brought back some amazing memories.

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    1. Haha, what Gameboy games were you guessing passwords on? I can’t remember having many that had passwords – save for Gargoyle’s Quest which had a pretty long one if I recall.

      Thank you for reading (and following!)

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Well, let’s just say those games with 4 – 5 character long passwords. Things like the Avatar games, Tarzan, Hugo, Barbie Secret Agent and such come to mind.

        And hey, following a fellow game/game music blogger is a nobrainer 😀

        Liked by 1 person

  5. I kinda miss the old save systems. I mean saving anytime is great and extremely convenient in a lot of situations, but I rather liked how they affected how you played. Take Majora’s Mask for example. Everyone complains about having to warp back and how the owl saves were temporary, but that was kind of the point. You can loop as many times as you want with no penalty, so you’re supposed to learn to optimize your runs and use them to accomplish specific things rather than try to cram the whole game into one. The game, unfortunately, doesn’t do a very good job of communicating this, which is why the system has the bad rap that it does.

    The funny thing is, everyone praises the 3DS remake’s system, but it doesn’t really change anything. You still only have 3 days and still have to loop regularly. The only difference is that you get to keep your deku sticks and don’t have to deposit your rupees.

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    1. There’s certainly a novelty to those old save systems. I think if a game truly wants to have a retro feel nowadays, passwords need to make a comeback! There’s something so personal about having to write down what you’re seeing in a game – and that type of interaction carries over into games like Myst or Zelda where it’s helpful to take notes.

      I’ve actually only played the 3DS remaster of Majora’s Mask and had a great time with it. I didn’t realize all of the changes until after finishing the game when I watched a comparison video. Seems like the N64 version is superior in most ways, but my gameplay wasn’t hindered using the 3DS. I’m glad I got to experience it the way that I did. It was for me to see the Owl Statues appear in Link Between Worlds, too!

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  6. I will 100% vouch for Nier Automata. I haven’t yet fully finished it, but the original NieR has a similar mechanic regarding game file deletion, and it is a very emotional beat to the story (also, in NieR, you can no longer use the name you used for the save file should you start a new game).

    As for saving, I like the rebirth chambers in Axiom Verge that seem to imply that you are actually dying and continuing as a copy of yourself (though I don’t know if this is actually in the story of the game). Excellent post and list.

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    1. 100% vouch, eh? Well it’s on sale right now so I’m strongly considering it. It’s a whopping 10 gigs to download though and I only have 27 gigs left between my system and sd card memory. How the heck did that happen? I think I may go for it though.

      Axiom Verge is brilliant and the rebirth chambers are a very cool concept. Im not sure I even considered the theory you mentioned. Did you play the sequel? I haven’t yet.

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      1. My son got me a 500-ish GB sd card for Christmas as he knew I was having the same memory issues on the Switch. It’s insane how quickly memory space goes. But yes, Nier is well worth it.

        I haven’t yet played the sequel, though I do own it. I actually haven’s finished the first, which is weird given how much I love Metroid and Castlevania, and Axiom Verge clearly took some inspiration from both series. Maybe it’s one I’ll finally finish now that I’m running through some shorter games.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I thought I had a big SD card but I guess it’s not enough. I suppose I have to get used to the fact that I’ll just delete some of my played games – something very foreign to me since I’m used to having physical copies!

        Definitely finish Axiom Verge – very cool end game!

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Nice. I died multiple times on the first boss. 😅

    If you like the soundtrack (which is great, Become as Gods is a personal favorite), you should check out the original. Probably my favorite video game soundtrack.

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    1. Haha, I’ve heard that the first boss can be an issue and knowing that, I played it very safe so I didn’t have to do that beginning section over again.

      I’m 8 hours in now and can’t wait to play every night. I’ll also definitely check out that original soundtrack. Thanks for pushing me to play this one!

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