Mario Bautista
As a kid, I distinctly remember setting timers and arguing with my siblings about who got to play on Mom’s computer next — and for how long. I spent countless hours playing so many games, and countless more looking over my sister’s shoulder to watch her complete the levels I struggled with (and vice versa, as PC games were truly my forte). I got a text from that same sister yesterday, asking me if I could remember the horse-themed game we played as little girls that felt like magic through the screen. Without a single hesitation, I answered: Bellasara. That digital world had us scouring the checkout section of every grocery store we went to trying to acquire newer, rarer horses to keep in our digital stables. After some reminiscing, I felt inclined to see if I could log into my old account just for fun. To my dismay, the site was gone — at least in any kind of capacity resembling the magic I witnessed in 2009. I dove down the rabbit hole to check the statuses on my other fixations from childhood — Poptropica, Zoo and Jurassic Tycoon, The Fairies of Pixie Hollow, Webkinz, its Shining Stars copycat, etc. Unsurprisingly, nothing was the same. Some projects — like The Fairies of Pixie Hollow — were so beloved that I discovered entire digital restoration projects for them. What game from your childhood would you choose to be restored like that?
