SNES Game Review: Vegas Stakes

  Seemingly everything in the 90's was put onto the Super Nintendo.  From movies to games, seemingly any star sports player having a video game, to casinos.  Yep, casinos were also a thing.  Super Caesars Palace and Vegas Stakes were the main games to this.  I played both of them in a 48-hour span because they really are just pick up and play, easy to navigate and deal with.  The first of the two I will review is Vegas Stakes.  This game is a bit of a nostalgic feature for me, as I also had it for the Game Boy and enjoyed it for my child years playing. Will that affect my rating?  Or how do I see this game in an overall aspect?

Game Cover of Vegas Stakes. Credit: Lukie Games

Positives:

1. Simple, easy pick up and play- There is no strategy to this.  Literally, all you do is pick up, play, enter your name, go to one of the four (later five) casinos in the game.  It's much like hot and cold in real life casinos.  You win, you lose, you win big, you lose big.  If you get bored with one, you go to the next casino and keep winning money.

2. The music- I actually thought the music was quite upbeat.  If you like a sorta techno hip-hop mix then this is for you in a lot of ways.  I liked it.  If it's not your forte, that is alright as well.

3.  The feel of Vegas- I think the glitz and glamour of Vegas is decently represented here. The lights of Vegas, the casinos, and the wheel and deal spirit are all there when you play Vegas Stakes.

Negatives:

1. Slim array of games- Usually at a casino there are a vast array of games, whether roulette, poker, video slots, etc.  There is a limited amount of any of those in Vegas Stakes.  Essentially it is poker, blackjack, slots, roulette, and craps.  I think the idea was to provide the basics of gambling in Vegas, but I feel like they could have put more into the game.

2. You get bored real quick- Yeah, this was going to come up with any casino game.  Yeah it's just the same thing over and over again.  You go to one casino, play the games.  Then another, and another.  Hence why this game is quick to get to the end point of beating it.

3. The sideshows- I didn't really know what to put here but there are various scenarios during the game where someone comes up, asks you to do something or invest or whatever it may be.  If you say yes, it can be good or bad.  The problem is to me it overwhelms the game rather than being fluid.  They would have done far better without the many sideshow scenarios playing a role.

Neutral:

1. Nostalgia- This was a fun game for me as a kid, mainly because as a kid I never thought of having 100,000 dollars, let alone ten million.  To me that was always fun to play as.  I think that is part of why I always get this game regardless of how many times I played it on SNES or on Game Boy.

In Final: All in all, to me Vegas Stakes is a fairly ordinary game.  To me, Super Caesars Palace is better than Vegas Stakes when I played both of them essentially back-to-back.  The nostalgic factor though for me will never go away.  In all honesty, it is always a cheap buy so you wouldn't be wasting much with it.  It's a merely average game that is worth the price of payment.
Overall Rating: 5.8 out of 10
All-Time Rating: 350th out of 721.

The Indianapolis 500: Prestige, History, Bricks and Fast Cars

  The Indianapolis 500.  When you think of it, you probably think Brickyard, the Museum, pageantry, prestige, and the many names to come through this race.  Those names are probably Ganassi, Penske, Mears, Andretti, Castroneves, Montoya, Fittipaldi, and many, many more.  You probably think about 300,000 race fans all gathered around a 2.5 mile track and if you are a music fan, about the loudest ongoing concert from dawn to dinner.  Everything is amazing when it comes to the Indy 500.  What does going to the Indy 500 weekend feel like and what is it like?  Having now been to the 2016 Indy 500, the 2019 Indy 500 and the 2023 Indy 500, I can tell you this.  In this story, I'll tell you what to expect, what you should do, where to go, and the experience of going to the Brickyard again this past year.

Under Caution at Indy

  Saturday, Indianapolis.  The significance of this day is mainly for the autograph session and the Legends to come out and be with the fans.  My advice for the autograph session is get there at least 30 minutes earlier than when it starts.  Remember that there are a ton of fans in the infield and they can line up as well to get autographs assuming they have the ticket.  Then, walk at a very brisk pace to get in line.  They do have the concessions and the gift shop open then so if you wanted to buy food or apparel, you can do that as well.  I waited for Sunday, but if you wanted to do it Saturday you could.  They don't have any on track activity. I personally would recommend going to Anderson, IN for the Little 500, a sprint car race on a quarter mile that is a premier race for sprint cars.  Otherwise, you can see what may be in and around the Indianapolis area for events or just relax. Now, we go to Sunday at Indianapolis.

Dale Jr, as a part of NBC, at Indy

   Sunday, 5:30 a.m.  Why do I say 5:30 am? Here's the ordeal with Indy, you HAVE to get there within an hour of gates opening at 6 a.m. or you are going to wait in traffic for at least two hours.  I learned that the hard way in 2016 and my friend learned that the even harder way in 2023. I wasn't going to make that same mistake.  Literally, if you get 5 miles from the track after 7 a.m., good luck to you getting in by 9 a.m. my friend.  I got there at about 6 a.m. in 2023 and I still had to wait a bit to go into the parking space, parking about 6:45 a.m.  At this point the sun had arose and I was well on my way to walking into the track. You may ask yourself upon entering the track, what is there to do?  Well you can shop for merchandise, which I did.  Or you can eat.  Yes, Breakfast at Indy is a thing.  Yes, you can get a lot of good breakfast food at Indy at 7 a.m.  You can do what I did: Tots and a Mountain Dew in 2023 (Breakfast of Champions everyone!) Yes, the Snake Pit concert seen is loud as can be at 7 a.m.  Yes people are partying at that time.  You can also check out the cars from a distance, check out everything and just have some time to relax.  If you want, you can take your seat and nap, or catch a tan if the sun is out, or shop.  That's what I did: In 2019 I got a Juncos hat, an RHR shirt and I think a couple other things. In 2023: A David Malukas Shirt, An Alexander Rossi Shirt and a ton of small diecast cars.  From there, it was eating, which I did.  I think the Chicken and fries are good, as are most of the breakfast selections.  The one thing I would highly recommend having though is a Verizon network phone.  I had AT&T and it was at best spotty for the track. They should STILL make this easier in 2024 (because they didn't fix it in 2023.)  One upgrade from Indy 2016 to 2019 and 2023?  The vendors could take cards!  Yes you don't need a wad of money to purchase stuff, as the vendors at the track took credit/debit cards this time.  That was a huge relief for me as I randomly forgot money.  What else is there to do after 8 a.m.?

The Borg-Warner Trophy

   Wait.. you may be asking yourself, that was only all before 8? For the most part yes!  Now what I did was just explore.  I went to more shops, walked the infield track where they hold the Indy Grand Prix race for IndyCar.  You can go into their museum at the track, but I went there back in the spring of 2019 and saw a lot of neat cars and stories of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  But that is a good way to spend an hour or so of the time prior to the race.  What I did though was just explore a lot of areas.  Near the Pagoda, they had a red carpet show where drivers and celebrities were.  We got to see Mario Andretti and Matt Damon in 2019 for that, but one of the cooler things I saw was seeing the Borg-Warner trophy that is awarded to the winner of the Indianapolis 500.  Seeing that after seeing a group performing with bagpipes was one of the cooler things I have done in my life.  That goes along with kissing the bricks, which I was fortunate to be able to do as well.  After that, really it was all about awaiting the race itself.

Me kissing the bricks at Indy

   The race itself is exhilarating.  Cars are going about 220mph, passing each other a lot.  The best way to describe it is an adventure to see these cars and these teams go through a 500 mile race that is perilously close to changing and altering all strategies and create a major event to the end of the day. 33 cars with a chance to win the sports biggest prize pushes drives to and over the limit. The agony of defeat can only be explained with what Scott Goodyear felt in 1992, Helio Castroneves in 2014, and Marcus Eriksson in 2023. However, the thrill of Victory can only be explained in that same length as Helio 4 different times, Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014, Tony Kanaan in 2013 or even Josef Newgarden in 2023.  After that, it was a long and arduous time of trying to get out of Indy.  That would be a negative, but with the track near residential housing, there isn't much the track or the city can do about it and they do the best they can to direct traffic out to the interstate anyway.  Just happens when 300,000 fans in one area tend to leave the track at one time.  As I drove home, I thought how amazing it was to be a part of history and have a chance to see a fantastic race.  This is why you should come to the Indianapolis 500.

Louisville's Bats Have A Slugging Great Stadium

  I said after my City of Louisville post, I would put the Louisville Bats stadium up for the next post.  The stadium is Louisville Slugger Field.  As I said in the prior, Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse is attached to the stadium.  So exiting a door and going to the stadium was easy.  If you don't through through the Brewery, there's just a ton of parking nearby the stadium and near the Lakefront park so it's easy to go to.  Outside the stadium, there is a cool statue of Paul Hornung, Green Bay's Golden Boy of the Lombardi era.  Upon entering the stadium, you are greeted with a 360 degree concourse and either a lot of sun or shade in the ballpark.  Fortunately for me, I was greeted in my seat with the sun.  However, besides the heat and the sun, there is a lot to like about the park.
  First off, there are a ton of options for food, drinks, merchandise and to see in the stadium.  The food and drinks are affordable, and personally I would recommend the lemonade for this particular ball park.  The merchandise in the team store is abundant and it's mainly affordable.  In there, on a hot day you can cool off in the air conditioning while seeing the Reds play.  Louisville is a heavy Reds city, being a Triple-A affiliate of the Reds and the town is full of Reds fans.  The drinks of soda, water, beer are all affordable as well, though obviously don't drink and drive everyone!
  The stadium itself has a lot to offer and is a premier Triple-A park in the world of Minor League Baseball. For kids, there are some games down the left field line to play, there is some open area in right field also to play for kids.  For adults to get out of the sun, there are some good areas to get out of the sun with some shaded patios or by going through the concourse with the shade.  The ballpark does well for this as well.  Louisville Slugger Field is a very wide ballpark as well, and it is good with the fact that a lot of people attend this ballpark.  There is ample space to move about and do just about anything you'd like.  The only major downsides I feel to the stadium is the fact they don't have an ATM inside the ballpark itself.  This can be troublesome if you don't get your ticket acknowledged by a staff member.  This nearly happened to me before the guy let me back in.  The other downside is at least on this night, the staff was under stocked on items.  This happened at least at two vendors and it left some fans displeased through the course of the night.  The concourses around the ballpark before going in are pretty neat as they feature players of yesteryear playing in Louisville as part of the organizations that have played in Louisville.
  All in all, I would give Louisville Slugger Park a decent grade though.  I don't think it reaches the height of Indianapolis, but it is better than Principal Park in Des Moines (as the only Triple-A parks I have seen a game in.)  There are some knocks to it, but overall I believe they do a very solid job all around to see a game and buy merchandise from.  I would definitely recommend this ballpark to Minor League Baseball goers.

Louisville: A Riverfront City

I had debated what I should have started my Memorial Day vacation time with.  I was thinking at one point to just cover the Indy 500.  Another thought well I should have covered the Schaumburg game I went to.  Another had me thinking I should do something of just the whole trip.  However I didn't feel that was the best way to go about it, because it would be far, far too long.  So I am starting the Memorial Day weekend posting with my trip to Louisville.  Note, I am not including the Bats game here, as I have a separate post for that.  And don't worry, I have a lot more game reviews coming in the following weeks.
  The start of my trip to Louisville actually started at Indy, as I got to get autographs prior to the Indy 500 as part of Legends Day.  Meeting Sebastien Bourdais, Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi was really neat.  Upon getting to Louisville though, it is really cool the bridges you cross and go over.  All of them connect you with some part of the city so it is very easily accessible.  The skyline is pretty neat as you cross the border from Indiana to Kentucky.
  The first place I went to was the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.  I didn't realize it was pretty cheap to park in the city of Louisville, but it was good to know that it was only 5-7 dollars most everywhere.  After parking, I went to the factory to see the bat making process.  I am and still am impressed by how many people are involved in the process and all the tools used to make the major league bats for players.  It really is quite the task every day for them but it is also used with a sustainable effort towards the environment in mind.  There are a lot of different things to see as part of the bat making process and the factory and museum itself is quite amazing.  They also have a pretty significant gift shop for those who want souvenirs from the facility. 

Me with Jackie Robinson

  Following a really good lunch at Just Another Sandwich Shop, which yes is the name of the restaurant (seriously, get the Stacker sandwich.  It's a triple cheese grilled cheese sandwich and get some Cherrywine soda) I then went to the Muhammad Ali Center.  This place was probably the one exhibit I wanted to see in Louisville more than anything else.  As everyone today knows, Ali was more than a boxer.  He was a civil rights leader in a time of tumultuous relations in America with the civil rights campaign.  He also was The Greatest in terms of sport and boxing that could even be accomplished.  The one moment my generation may look at is the 1996 Summer Olympics.  He was the person who lit the torch, and the center had this moment.  To this day I can remember Bob Costas saying, "Look who gets it next!" and Dick Enberg saying, "The Greatest!" followed by his ever enthusiastic "OH MY!" that followed as Ali very shortly after lit the torch to open the Atlanta Olympic Games.  To me seeing everything there was a complete sight to behold to see what Ali battled not just in the ring but in the every day society of the 60's and 70's in America.  They have different art exhibits as well so you get to see some really cool artwork, and they have some nice artwork outside the building as well.                         

Ali's medals

  After the museums, I then looked around to where my next place to go was and I found myself going to Riverfront Park, which is a couple blocks from the Louisville Slugger Stadium.  To say this park is pretty is honestly underrating the park itself. It's absolutely gorgeous, with the Ohio River as the backdrop and the state of Indiana right past the bridges in plain sight.  It's a wonderful area to use the scooters or a bike or just walk.  You'll really enjoy being out and about this park.
  After that, and before the game, I went to the Against the Grain Bar and Grill for dinner.  They actually also make their own style of brews, so don't ask for a Michelob, Miller or Bud for any reason because it won't be sold.  This is better than those domestic beers anyway (from what the public said, not myself per se as I didn't drink there.)  The cool thing is they put things in those glasses that look like a barrel.  Also, absolutely get the turkey here.  I thought it would be a turkey sandwich that is actually good turkey instead of the store bought nonsense.  However, this is actual turkey slices and it is smoked and absolutely terrific.  It's probably the closest thing to home turkey I could get.  So I was very impressed.  I was also impressed with the staff having a good service and being able to accommodate so much.
  Next is my review of the Louisville Bats and Louisville Slugger Stadium.  I am absolutely impressed though with the entire city of Louisville and happy to hopefully go back sometime soon.

SNES Game Review: The Lion King

Like Goof Troop (reviewed earlier and link at the bottom), The Lion King was another Disney video game.  This was mainly made through Virgin Entertainment.  Yes, that company that Richard Branson owns was part of the video game craze known as the 1990's.  The Lion King was a highly successful movie that has gone through sequels and now the live-action version movie that is probably going to garner like 482 quadrillion dollars in the opening week.  The Lion King game was also highly successful, having sold across all platforms about 4.5 million copies (Sega, SNES, Windows, etc.)  The Lion King the movie was also highly acclaimed.  The video game, at least the SNES version that I can review, is one that gets quite a lot of acclaim as well.  How do I rank it?  Let's see below.

Positives:
1. Graphics: The graphics to this game are very well done.  The Virgin people and staff did a very good job with Disney and Westwood to make a very well done graphical game.  You can't put any one of the ten levels in a bad setting and it is terrifically well done.

2. The ability to grab lives: There is a massive reason I say that.  See below.

3. Simba's progression: No, it's not like the movie.  But the cool part of the game is seeing Simba go from cub to lion to overcoming his past like the movie is really cool.  They did well to incorporate parts of the movie to make it a good feature for the game.

4. Music: Yep, you knew this would be on here.  Literally, YouTube the music.  It is fantastic for this game.  (Yes it helps when Disney literally was part of this and gave the game the music from the movie, but just roll with it.)

5. The Ending: Personally, I get a great sense of pride at the end of the movie.  If you know the ending of the movie, in a lot of the same the way Simba does the ending of the movie is the ending to the game.  Connect the dots to it yourself, but the level is exceptional and worthy of a high ranking with how you win the game overall.

Personally, before I go to the negatives (oh yes, there are those too) my favorite level of this game had to be Can't Wait to be King.  The music is terrific.  Once you figure out what you are doing for that in terms of jumping, you'll be fine.  Plus it is one of the best levels to gain lives for later on.

Negatives:

1. Difficulty: Alright, it sounds like I am complaining here.  And yes, I am aware of that.  BUT FOR GOD SAKE THIS GAME'S DIFFICULTY IS STUPID.  I get why The 7th Saga was hard as heck, but for gosh sake how on Earth was The Lion King this freaking difficult?  Everyone might say "David, your skill at these are lackluster" and I would say "Okay absolutely fair" but GOOD LORD THIS GAME.  You will die repeatedly, again, and again, and again.  A lot of gamers rate this in the top 10 of hardest games, and I tend to agree.

2. Too finite on controls: Yes I understand being perfect on controls.  No I do not understand on how bats can hurt Simba when I hit them already previously.  I also don't know how Simba can't grab onto an animal's tail when he is directly over it.  I also don't know how he can hit panthers despite not reaching them.  Anyway, you have to be way too perfect with the sprite lineup to do some things.  That would be a personal negative to me.

Overall rating and rank:

First, yes at times you will notice a game I rate like a 8.2 or 7.4 or whatever may be lower than a 8.0 or something.  One reason for that: Genres.  EX: Tecmo Super Bowl III may be rated an 8.2 (which I think I put) will be far lower than a platformer or RPG likely rated a 7.7 because of the genre aspect.  Plus unless you are 3 NHL games and one MLB game, you likely weren't worth a high top 100 merit in the world of the SNES.  ANYWAY, to my rating of The Lion King.  To me, I would actually rate it an 8.3.  The music, graphics, the progression, and most levels all warrant high mention.  The perfection of the controls though listed above and the ungodly and unreasonable difficulty is just something that knocks it down for a supposed kid's game (Your kid will break controllers.)
For the ranking, The Lion King's difficulty will make a lot of people despise this game.  This is a game though that overcomes that.  It also makes it a top 50 game with everything else incorporated.  To me, it's the back end of the top 50 of SNES games with it being ranked 48th.

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SNES Game Review: The 7th Saga

  Ah yes, the year is 1993.  I was going on all of four-years-old, the Packers were relevant again and the Badgers were.. somehow going to a Rose Bowl.  Yes all that was going on as The 7th Saga was released for the Super Nintendo.  Much like the Packers road back to relevance and the Badgers surprising literally everyone to the Rose Bowl, this game is... well difficult isn't a good enough word.  To say this game is difficult is putting it very, very loosely.  How does it rank though?  Well let's unveil that as we go through everything below.

Positives:

1. Non-Linear Plot: Typically this is a negative because the developers don't know what they are doing with the plot.  However, there are some games that bust this method.  For instance, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, and Chrono Trigger (to some extent) all do well with this.  The 7th Saga also does well with a non-linear plot.  The game is about exploration and finding seven runes, but you don't really know until very late into the game why you need the runes and what the purpose of them are.

2. Different characters: You have the choice of seven characters as well, with all different skill sets, weaponry and armor and magic ability.  You can only team up with one character later on in the game and you have the ability to switch party members through different sequences of the game.  It's pretty neat how you can use these characters to your own ability to get the most you can out of your own starting character.

3. Music: Yep, this game rocked at music.  Noted is that Squaresoft didn't make this game.  That would belong to Enix.  Yes, the same company that early in the 2000's merged with Squaresoft produced games as well as a separate entity.  They did very well with the recording of music and deserve a lot of praise.

4. Graphics: Enix also gets credit for the graphics which pushed the SNES a lot but they did very well with the graphics and the different abilities of them in the world, dungeons and in battle.  This does well overall for a game that is this challenging.

Negatives:

1. Difficulty: I hate getting on the difficulty too much but holy cow is this game a grindfest.  You will want to spend multiple times in the day going on a break from this game.  Note: You will die, and die, and yes die again in this game.  It is what it is, as the game is really, really difficult.  If you find yourself grinding like crazy and getting fed up with this, that's the norm for this game.  You just have to have the perseverance to overcome it.

2. That ending. Really?: Yep, that's correct.  The ending.. le ouch.  It's not that the ending boss is difficult, once you know what you are doing, it's literally the ending itself.  It gives you a feeling of you did everything.. for that?

3. What was Enix's purpose for this game?: This one I found myself asking a lot.  What was the actual purpose for this game?  Was it to provide the public with a cult following, which it did?  Was it to provide gamers with a challenge, which it also did?  Was it to provide the necessary tools to completely tick off gamers who died more than four times, which obviously it did?  I can see why the following to this day.  The difficulty as well, as well as the challenge but I wonder what the opening cause of the game and why the purpose for the game existed.

Rating and ranking: IN conclusion, I feel that The 7th Saga is a quite well made game, but has a lot of flaws.  Notably the difficulty is a flaw, but also, the random battles are a flaw as well in terms of amount generated.  This game is an absolute grindfest and if you want a difficult battle to play, this is your game.  It takes a LONG time to complete this game.  But if you have enough patience, you will win and and will do well. My rating is 7.5 out of 10 for this game.  My ranking all-time is conflicting.  There were times I thought this could be a top 100 game.  There are times I would only put it in the Top 200.  Overall, I would rank it like 105th.  I'll drop in a good YouTube sensation, SNESDrunk, who did a couple of videos on this game, and how it deserves a second chance.  I think that's why I put it so near the top 100.  You will need to grind this game out but it is a good overall game.  But if you give up right away, I would give the game a second chance, grind some levels, and you'll be more successful. 

Wrigley Field: A Throwback in a Modern Society

  Wrigley Field, the words prelude to the history of one ball park both up and down.  The names of Dawson, Maddux, Sosa, among others are there.  However, so were moments of sadness.  Those include 2003 with Steve Bartman (hopefully 2016 has made it easier on the poor guy) and pretty much the duration of the 90's.  Included in that is the 108 year curse that was finally lifted in 2016 by Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and others.  However, amidst the ups and downs of all the Cubs history, I got to see Wrigley Field up close on April 8, their home opener against Pittsburgh.  On the day, they won 10-0, but the ballpark and the residing area were more than just that.  Below is what I think of the park from top to bottom.
  Upon getting to Chicago to Wrigley, let's say the best way to get there is public transport by either bus or train.  It's quick and efficient to get there that way. You'll be there within an hour and a half and it is a TON better than just trying to drive there.  Also there legit is no parking around the stadium that I saw.  I could be wrong with the idea of parking garages, but I found it massively much more easy to get the CTA pass for the day (10 dollars, so you pay nearly as much in tolls from WI to IL as you do for a full day pass on trains and buses) and use the train to see the city then the Cubs.
  Wrigley itself is.. well old.  It was completed in 1914, so it's 105 years standing and going.  This is the part where it leads to the downsides of the ball park.  It's age is significant because it started as a small ballpark, then made a lot, lot bigger in a small space.  The seating capacity is north of 42,000 and it shows with the cramped style.  If you are a bigger built person like myself, then I would highly recommend going on a day that you can walk around and sit more freely than just in a squished way.  It's also got very long concessions and bathroom lines due to the lack of numerous amenities.  Same for the merchandise shop.  It's crowded because of Wrigley's compact ways.  Also, if you don't like obstructions or visual blocks, then you wouldn't be too fond of the obstructions around the park in areas.  As for the concessions itself, some are pricey and some are moderately on level with other major league parks.  Most notable feature is probably their Chicago Dog and the deep dish pizza.  I've had deep dish pizza in Chicago so I won't go into the long story but the Chicago Dog is a cased hot dog with loads of different condiments and items.  If you like to stuff your face with different foods, I'd look at this and pay the higher price for the Chicago cuisine.  Personally, I wouldn't pay 11 dollars for the dog, or the alcohol that is attributed to this park, but if you want to, go to it!  However, there's another aspect of Wrigley that you may enjoy.
  The historical aspect of Wrigley makes it worthwhile in a lot of ways.  The city ballpark, the apartments across the street with seating, the ivy walls, the scoreboards.  All of it is worthwhile.  The downsides with this antique (I honest to God mean that in a good way to Wrigley, it's like an old Gibson guitar that is refurbished and done correctly) ball park are noted, but the good sides are immense as well.  The cuisine in the park, the Chicago selective food is a major plus for me.  Also, the vast amount of stuff in the gift shop.  Yes I got a Cubs hat which was much to the chagrin of the Brewers fans I follow (if you hadn't noticed, I buy hats from every new place I go) who thought I was crazy or a Cubs fan.  Also, outside the stadium is really awesome.  They have different shops, bars and such that make it really a nice stadium district around Wrigley.  Plus they are continuously trying to improve Wrigley Field and that is something that deserves a lot to be commended.
  The atmosphere is electric at Wrigley.  Fans are very much into the game.  I commend the Cubs fans on this a lot.  As a guy who frequents Miller Park, I always chide on the fans for not being in the game and not really energetic.  This has been that way since 2008.  I just don't feel the same energy now as then.  However, Cubs fans are always into the game even when the scoreline is 10-0.  They do talk and different things, but they are ultra focused on the game.  They are energetic from the first inning on and I absolutely love that sort of energetic atmosphere at a ball park.  Other fans would do well to emulate Cubs fans on being able to get as energetic as them.
  In final, I think Wrigley Field is a must visit for a bucket list item.  The only major league park now of the surrounding states I have not been to is Comerica Park (bordering states of Wisconsin) but in terms of where I would put Wrigley Field in terms of best ball parks I have visited that are current (STL, Milwaukee, Cincy, both Chicago's, Minnesota) I would put this probably 5th of them.  I like Busch Stadium more and you cannot beat Cincy or Minnesota's stadiums as they are top notch in every facet.  I think Miller Park is slightly above Wrigley, but the main reason is available amenities now, restrooms and so forth.  If this were pre-2018 Miller Park, then Wrigley is ahead of them.  As far as history though, Wrigley is number one on this list.  You get the history from the start and it stays with you.  That's my thoughts on Wrigley, what are your thoughts and memories?