At the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2001, millions of people were celebrating the new year: partying, drinking, kissing, and standing in a rain of confetti. But not me. I was playing Earthbound for the very first time. My first memory of 2002 was searching for Picky through the hills of Onett. I can say my New Year's Eve was well spent.

While Starmen.net encourages gamers to return to their Earthbound spirit, or to "get back in the game," I have only recently discovered the spirit of Earthbound. Why I never picked up the game when I saw it on the top shelf of Blockbuster's new releases all those years ago, I'll never know. But I have finally found the game...or has it found me? Something lies inside of Earthbound that I have a hard time explaining, but it has something to do with growing up.

The entire idea behind Earthbound, in which mere kids save the world from a certain other-worldly fate, still strikes me with a sense of nostalgia. This isn't to say that my friends and I fought space aliens when we were 13, but the whole 'fellowship of children banding together' is something we can all relate to. I got that feeling of being a kid again when playing Earthbound, and I didn't want it to end. Earthbound is now an escape for me, and as an 18 year old college student, an escape from my complicated life of responsibility is welcome. I don't care what anyone says, adulthood is an option. Earthbound taught me that.