Nintendo Okie

The Palate Cleanser is most often used in the food industry when discussing the tasting of foods. It’s used between meals to remove any lingering after taste from a previous course in your meal. Lots of people, in the gaming world, talk about having one or two games that they keep in their library as palate cleansers after they’ve spent a long time powering through a game. They can be anything from Pac-man to Madden. “Do you have a particular game that you go back to in order to cleanse your proverbial palate, and what makes that game so relaxing?”

Shelby Says: I don’t really use a specific game as a palate cleanser. Instead I try to play a wide range of games so I don’t get burnt out on one genre. If I feel I have been playing too many FPSs, I will find a platformer to play, etc. Sometimes I will even buy a game I am not particularly interested in if it’s a genre I haven’t played in a while. Honestly though, I never get the feeling I need a palate cleanser simply because I change things up on a regular basis. With that said, there are several games I play about once a year and they are all NES games; Metroid, Kirby’s Adventure, Contra, Chip ‘N Dale’s Rescue Rangers and Super Dodge Ball. My love for these games stems from my first days of playing games when I was five. I guess you could call those palate cleansers if you want but I play them because I really like them. They are all solid games with great controls and fantastic music.

Gaz Says: Well as a general rule I don’t play a game twice. The only game I’ve finished twice is Ocarina of Time and that was only because the game got re-released.

Tony Says: That’s actually a pretty easy one for me, Super Mario Bros. for the NES. I’ve played that game so many times now that I can almost play it in my sleep. It’s one of those games that I don’t have to think about when I’m playing. My muscles just seem to go through the motions. It’s easy to hop in and play through the entire game in just a few minutes, shut things down for the night and start over again.

I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t play the game at least once. It’s not only a palate cleanser for me. Now with the addition of the game to my 3DS library it’s become a “got five minutes and need something to do” game as well.

I’ve owned the game on so many systems and played through it so many times that I’ve lost count, but it still has so much charm, and nostalgia that it never gets old. Nothing about it makes me dread playing the game. It’s just pure, simple fun and I think that’s what makes it such an appealing game to me. It was the first game I played when I got my NES back in 1990 and it is the only game that’s stayed in my library non-stop since I first started playing video games. In fact, I think I want to go play a little bit right now.

So now you’ve heard what we like to relax with, or not.  Why don’t you let us know the games you play when you need a bit of a reset in your gaming habit?