Pajama Sam
It was a cold winter's night. I sat at my desk, where a warm lamp light pooled over my array of notes, pencils, and books. Finals began tomorrow, and I was toiling away at the various formulas and proofs that would inhabit the math exam, except I wasn't and I was actually just mindlessly browsing YouTube. Somewhere along the way, and I don't quite understand how, I stumbled upon a walkthrough of a little game called Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head To Your Feet.
I was shocked. I had played this game when I was probably about four years old on an old brick-like computer. This game was my childhood-- I remember going to the public library (who's been to one of those recently??) with my parents to actually physically check out this game and putting the disc into the computer in my brother's room.
The game begins with Sam, a blue, spiky-headed, pajama-clad child, who is eating boxes of cookies to collect box tops. He is reminded by his mother that it is almost dinner time when all of the cookies jump out of the box and mischievously bounce off. Sam decides that it is his job to stop the cookies from causing a destructive ruckus, so he dons his cape, dubs himself "Pajama Sam", and runs after the cookies.
He follows them into the pantry and into a trail of light, and finds himself at a party where a bunch of junk foods are boogying away on the dance floor. Sam parties along with everyone until he remembers he needs to get back home for dinner. He thanks all of the food for hosting the party and explains to them that "It's almost dinner time, and [he doesn't] want to spoil it"...Yikes! The music stops and the foods turn to him, horrified and offended. They derogatorily call him a "healthy boy", surround him, and throw him in jail.
In the cell, he meets a piece of broccoli named Florette. They work together to escape their prison (I won't spoil how), and Florette leads Sam to "The Food Pyramid", an actual pyramid that is the headquarters of the six food groups. There, Sam meets a carrot, who explains to Sam that he has organized a peace conference with one delegate from each of the six food groups, the vegetable delegate being Florette. However, four of the other delegates are missing (the junk food delegate, Luke Wigglebig, is already present). If the four delegates are not found, the general of the presumed food military, General Beetfoot (a beet), will declare war on the junk foods, who have taken over the mysterious land Sam has found himself in. It's your task to locate the other delegates and stop all hell from breaking loose!
After rewatching this exciting exposition, there was no way I could not watch the rest of the walkthrough. It's strange seeing something you just vaguely remember bits and pieces of from your childhood. The music, the graphics, the voices-- all of it brought back these sort of half memories that had been buried away long ago. Some parts I very strongly remembered, like the pickle with sunglasses and a bucket hat on a hammock, or the tire swing made out of a doughnut. But it's weird, because it's like I had forgotten that I had remembered these things, and when I did remember them, it was more like I was remembering a dream rather than something that had actually happened.
In short, rediscovering childhood treasures is a very surreal experience.
Here's the link if you want to go check out the walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRBs9Ld7YbY (highly recommended)
I was shocked. I had played this game when I was probably about four years old on an old brick-like computer. This game was my childhood-- I remember going to the public library (who's been to one of those recently??) with my parents to actually physically check out this game and putting the disc into the computer in my brother's room.
The game begins with Sam, a blue, spiky-headed, pajama-clad child, who is eating boxes of cookies to collect box tops. He is reminded by his mother that it is almost dinner time when all of the cookies jump out of the box and mischievously bounce off. Sam decides that it is his job to stop the cookies from causing a destructive ruckus, so he dons his cape, dubs himself "Pajama Sam", and runs after the cookies.
He follows them into the pantry and into a trail of light, and finds himself at a party where a bunch of junk foods are boogying away on the dance floor. Sam parties along with everyone until he remembers he needs to get back home for dinner. He thanks all of the food for hosting the party and explains to them that "It's almost dinner time, and [he doesn't] want to spoil it"...Yikes! The music stops and the foods turn to him, horrified and offended. They derogatorily call him a "healthy boy", surround him, and throw him in jail.
In the cell, he meets a piece of broccoli named Florette. They work together to escape their prison (I won't spoil how), and Florette leads Sam to "The Food Pyramid", an actual pyramid that is the headquarters of the six food groups. There, Sam meets a carrot, who explains to Sam that he has organized a peace conference with one delegate from each of the six food groups, the vegetable delegate being Florette. However, four of the other delegates are missing (the junk food delegate, Luke Wigglebig, is already present). If the four delegates are not found, the general of the presumed food military, General Beetfoot (a beet), will declare war on the junk foods, who have taken over the mysterious land Sam has found himself in. It's your task to locate the other delegates and stop all hell from breaking loose!
After rewatching this exciting exposition, there was no way I could not watch the rest of the walkthrough. It's strange seeing something you just vaguely remember bits and pieces of from your childhood. The music, the graphics, the voices-- all of it brought back these sort of half memories that had been buried away long ago. Some parts I very strongly remembered, like the pickle with sunglasses and a bucket hat on a hammock, or the tire swing made out of a doughnut. But it's weird, because it's like I had forgotten that I had remembered these things, and when I did remember them, it was more like I was remembering a dream rather than something that had actually happened.
In short, rediscovering childhood treasures is a very surreal experience.
Here's the link if you want to go check out the walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRBs9Ld7YbY (highly recommended)
This is a well written post that i relate to in a way. I have never played "Pajama Sam" although may look into it now. But I played a ton of small educational online games as a child the easiest to remember being "Fun Brain". This is a website held a lot of small arcade like games appropriate for children. They had this one arcade mode where you have to beat a certain game in order to move on to the next game. The only problem is after a while there comes to a level that says "To be Continued..." and to this day they have no continued the story. I'm straying from my topic but yea i enjoy going back to old games that once brought joy into my life an remembering the "good ol' days"
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I’ve never heard of Pajama Sam, but you did such a fantastic job of describing the game in a clear and entertaining way. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of my childhood memories… it’s my absolute favorite movie because every time I see it, I’m reminded of lying down on the carpet in my living room as a little girl watching it. Like you said, there are bits and pieces that I can kind of remember reacting to then, and watching it again and having those memories come back is a special experience.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your description of pajama sam, but more importantly I relate to what you say at the end of the post: "But it's weird, because it's like I had forgotten that I had remembered these things, and when I did remember them, it was more like I was remembering a dream rather than something that had actually happened." For some reason, I sometimes feel the same way, where I remember something that feels like a dream but was reality. This post gave me something to think about. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post because it was so detailed and humorous. I also remember going to the library and actually playing games on one of those huge computers. I think you picked a really great and relatable topic!
ReplyDeleteI think this is totally relatable because everyone has the moments of distraction while studying for a test or completing a big assignment. I think that finder older games or things you used to do is actually the best because not only can you play it again, you are reminded of your experiences so long ago and it creates an atmosphere of fun and nostalgia. In middle school I went to the library one day after school and discovered the same type of basic flash game by chance that I had played when I was younger. I had a great time playing it and just like you remembered every bit and detail from when I had played it the first time.
ReplyDelete