My love letter to Wonderland (10 years on this forum)

Discuss the games (no level solutions or off-topic, please).

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garirry
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My love letter to Wonderland (10 years on this forum)

Post by garirry » Wed Apr 03, 2019 3:44 am

Not exactly sure if this is better in off-topic, but it is about Wonderland, so...

I'm late by about two weeks, but March 21, 2019 marks the tenth year anniversary since I joined this forum. Ten years?! That is both so little and so much time. I'll admit the latter half probably went by a whole lot faster than the first (for, em, complicated reasons), but that is nonetheless impressive. When I joined, I was a hyperactive little kid who couldn't even English. Five years later I was kinda disinterested in the series but a couple months after that I returned to the series as an angsty teenager. And five more years later, I guess I'm back to being a kid to some extent. Though in truth, I've been playing Wonderland for way before I joined the forum, maybe since anywhere between 2005 and 07.

Wonderland is the type of series that no matter how much I replay, and no matter how many years has it been since I first played it, I always want to come back to it. I never get tired or bored of those games, and they always help me feel better if I'm not feeling well. About a year ago I was extremely ill for about a week. So I replayed the WA trilogy, which helped me more than playing any other game. Any time I felt unwell, playing a Wonderland game was a way to get a bit better.

I think it's especially the Adventures series that hold the most meaning to me. As the name suggests, it provides a sense of adventure and exploration that almost no other video game achieves (the only other I can think of is Pokémon). There's something so magical about their hub worlds, and the distinct worlds that encompass it. Not to mention the music. But it's not just the presentation that makes these games so great, it's the gameplay elements that tie in so well with the world they're in, as well as the graphical representation of various aspects (eg. colours of the rainbows), which adds flair and flavour. It's kinda hard to explain, but there's something just so special about playing these games. And it isn't limited to just the official games, the massive amount of community-designed adventures, hubs, and "hub-adventures" are almost always exciting and interesting, and oddly enough, I feel the same way even when their quality is poor.

Of course, the classic series have their own unique charm, which is very different from WA. In their case, what make them so enjoyable to replay as well is the simplistic nature that creates a sort of nostalgic feeling for the type of game that came out during that time period, if you know what I mean. They're so simple, small, and relatively short that I just can't help but enjoy playing these forever and ever. So much, in fact, that I began speedrunning them. Krabby Quest, in particular, is probably my favourite due to the fact that the qualities I mentioned earlier apply particularly strongly for it, even if the game itself, is objectively, inferior to the traditional Wonderland titles. Also worth mentioning, every time I play a game, I come across a few levels that I immediately want to just give up on. But I don't, and often, I even enjoy them, and it never discourages me from replaying the game some time later.

I'm honestly so glad that I got the opportunity to grow up with and discover the Wonderland games. It's hard to say what I would be like without them, but it's still worth remembering that during a good portion of my early childhood, I often had Wonderland to rely on, especially back when I didn't own many video games. Today, even though I now have the resources to play literally any game I want, I still frequently decide to replay an almost two decade-old low-budget game, instead of whatever's the newest and greatest, because that's how important Wonderland is to me. I'm honestly kinda craving a new Wonderland game, the sheer potential of this wonderful and colourful series is so significant that it would be a shame to have it all forever stay on what we have. But whatever the future is, whatever happens to Wonderland, MS, video gaming, computing, etc., I'm going to keep playing and loving Wonderland from the bottom of my heart, and hopefully, for the rest of my life. My genuine thanks go to MS and Patrick for developing these amazing games, and to the community of level developers who always have something unique to create, and who, to this day, keep this series alive.
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OondiLalaLoopy
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Re: My love letter to Wonderland (10 years on this forum)

Post by OondiLalaLoopy » Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:00 am

I do not have much to say but it is good someone is still playing the games and is active on the forum...I wish I could have time to make levels or play the full series on my I own(ctrl+f9 abuser here).I really hope you and others keep going on this forum and maybe I will join soon with even more content made with the editors!!!

Have a good ten years aniversary and I think...even with few people we can still stick and maybe improve this community!!!
I live a Wonderland adventure every day!
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