MEGARETROMAN

A 33 year veteran, MEGARETROMAN Paul Tesi has achieved numerous feats and records, including deathless runs of Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Warriors, Mega Man and Bucky O’Hare, among others. He also boasts several maxout 1M+ scores of the NES Tetris. Easily among the all time greats, MEGARETROMAN is this month’s induction to the UNKILLABLES™ Hall of Fame.

Where are you from?

Seattle, Washington

What was your first game experience?

My first gaming experience was Christmas of 1988, that was when I received my Nintendo Entertainment System. At that time, I didn’t know what a video game was.

What got you into playing?

When my parents setup my NES and put in Super Mario Bros for the first time for me to play the game, I was hooked almost immediately. I would eventually rent games at a local video store, which introduced me to favorites such as Mega Man and Castlevania.

When did you discover you might be above average as a player?

When I was 9-10 years old I was finishing nearly every game I rented from the video store was when I started getting a big head with video games. Games became easier the more I played them. I was that kid who read GamePro, Nintendo Power and Electronic Gaming Monthly, thus became a bevy of game knowledge at that age. Mega Man boss orders, stage select codes, at one point I figured out game genie codes for Battle of Olympus that weren’t in the code book. (Pre Internet days folks!)

What prompted you to continue to hone your skills?

When I set goals whether it’s to complete a game, or make a challenge out of it, my peers know that I can be extremely stubborn. Working on tactics, figuring them out and try to apply them to the point where it’s near guaranteed to work. I find videos on YouTube of No Death Runs, speedruns, & challenge runs and tell myself I should be able to do that.

Which kinds of games are your favorites, and why?

I have many favorites from Platformers, to SHMUPs, to Fighting games, to Puzzle games. Sometimes being able to show off that you can play what most casual gamers would consider hard, and making it look easy gives me such joy. In addition to that, it allows me to teach viewers how I approach situations that they may be having trouble with.

What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect of pushing for higher scores, unique feats or speeds?

Personally, I find them all rewarding. I was a score chaser before I got into speedrunning. When you set goals for yourself, scores, feats, or times, it’s satisfying when you achieve them. I have world record scores that are going to be some of the toughest scores to top. Speedruns that took me a lot of work, tons of resets, and anytime I can beat my times, I’m happy. Even
specific goals, my most recent achieved goal was to beat UN Squadron (SNES) with using only the F8E Crusader, the first jet you start with. That wasn’t easy by any means.

What is your favorite aspect of online entities or communities? What would you like to see more of? How should a community operate, in your opinion?

My favorite part of online communities is comradeship and fellowship. Building bonds with others with common goals. We like to see others achieve what they set out to do. Remain friendly to others, encourage players to do their best, help them out.

Why do you think it is that so few players are well known for their incredible feats on some rather well known games?

Mainly it’s because they’ve been established and received a ridiculous amount of publicity about these feats. Anyone breaks the WR time on Super Mario Bros, it makes headlines. I wish everyone who has broken a record in gaming would get some shine. Yes that’s a lot to keep up on, but it gets boring hearing about one game over and over again.

When and how do you think your player legacy will be solidified? What would you like to be known for?

A lot of people online know me as a Tetris guy, or the guy who was the first person to knock out Jonas Neubauer (R.I.P. My Friend) in round 1 of the Classic Tetris World Championships. But I would much rather be known for how I played various games. Not just Tetris, but Ninja Warriors, all the Nintendo competition games (1990 Nintendo World Championships, 1994 Powerfest, etc…) It really depends on the community I’m in.

Who, other than yourself, do you enjoy watching play, and what is your opinion of the up and coming generation of players?

I like to watch a variety of people. I’m a part of the #RGBHighScore crew and watching them play games is a hoot. Good laughs, good gaming, and great conversation. To the up and coming players, just have fun with your games. Work hard, play hard, be kind, don’t judge other’s play if they’re trying their best, help one another. This is not a competition of who’s got the bigger (censored).

Any upcoming feats in the works?

Currently I’m working on trying to finish every game in the SNES NTSC North American library. I’m roughly over 100 games completed right now. On top of that I’m continuing working on decreasing my speedrun time for Ninja Warriors (SNES).

Thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing more from you in the future!