The Star Wars Cantina theme song  pipes up from my phone. Luckily, we’re not in the middle of a class. I don’t want to lose points for being a hypocrite in front of my kids. One of the rules in class is that “electronic devices are muted and put in their bags.” It would be embarrassing if I get caught with a loud phone.

I pick up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, this is the past calling. Remember me?”

Well, I’ll be.

I hadn’t. It’s hard to forget the past when your desktop currently looks like this:

But since the past is calling, I figured I might as well entertain it. I mean, why not? Ready Player One is coming out this week, and that’s pretty much pure 80’s nostalgia-porn. Why not address my love of things that have gone before?

Over the next couple of months, this Queen will be reviewing certain entertainment from the past. Some of them might be obscure, others might be almost obsessive, while some few may even be educational. But all will be done for the express purpose of giving us all the chance to look back on some old gems.

To begin with, we’ll start with a genre that has all but dictated the movies I’ve seen in theaters this year. Two of the four films I’ve seen, Tomb Raider (review to be coming separately of this announcement and of the Queen’s Nostalgia Reviews) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, have been about gaming. The latter does so directly, while the former is an updated live-action version of a game. Add to that the fact that the novel Ready Player One is about a kid who plays games on a stellar virtual reality internet world of multiple worlds, so I may as well start there – with games.

This weekend, hold on to your socks as the Queen doffs his rose-colored glasses for a look back on a game that has swallowed more of his time than the last 5 minutes of a boring class could possibly feel like. The first ever Queen’s Nostalgia Review will bring you a look at one game that has been drinking up a whole lot of my recent days.

This Sunday, I will bring you Heroes of Might and Magic V. Click the link here to prepare you for the epic review of the PC game to end all games.

The Queen has spoken.

PS

I couldn’t decide whether or not to spoil the game I’ll be reviewing for Sunday. Special thanks to everyone on Facebook who helped me come to the decision to directly announce the name of the game. You are great!

Anyone want to take a stab at which versions of the various toys are on my desk? First to correctly name all will get a signed copy of my latest novel, Escape from the Spotlight. 

Featured image courtesy of Family Guy.