Happy 25th to the NES!

[BreakABone]

Today marks the official release of the NES in the States, 25 years ago, granted it wouldn't go on full sale until 1986, but this is when it was first rolled out onto our shores.

So let's hear your fondest memory of the console that changed everything. From the tips and tricks to get the blasted thing to work to your favorite games.

http://static.technorati.com/10/08/29/17209/nes.jpg

[Typhoid]

Me and my brother always played RBI Baseball when I was younger, and Ice Hockey.

I still have a ton of games from way back then that I have fond memories of; Gunsmoke, Mega Man, Marble Madness, Sk8 or Die, Yoshi (Which is essentially Tetris-like, where you can do multiplayer and screw the opponent by succeeding faster). There are a lot more, I just don't remember the names of them.

As far as the tricks to get games to work when they aren't working, I think everyone did the same two things - at least 1 of them. Everyone blew the cartridge. That was just a given. Standard practice if you owned an NES. But if that didn't work, I'd put the game in a fraction too shallow, so when I'd push it down into the system, it would crunch on the cartridge slot (on the system) itself - and somehow that would make the game work.

[Blix]

I remember when I got so good at the first Contra that I beat it without the 30 lives trick. :) And trying to figure out where to go next in Zelda with minimal understanding of the English language made finding things so much more rewarding than it was for everyone else.

[Jason1]

We used to play Blades of Steel a lot. And SMB 3.

I also really enjoyed that Mcdonalds kids game...not sure what exactly what it was called, but it was actually a decent platformer if I remember correctly.

Oh yes, and how could I forget Ducktales...a TRUE classic in every sense of the word.

[The Germanator]

We still have 173 (yes I counted) NES games at our studio, so obviously I still love our 25 year old friend (he's as old as me!

Favorite recent memory was of my friend beating Yo! Noid, which I always thought was both horrible and unbeatable, but he did it. Other memories are probably too many to mention and still ongoing.

[Storm Eagle]

So you want me to share my testimony? Well here goes.

Now the first console I've ever played was an Atari, and I don't remember the number it had. My cousins had it, and I'd play it when I'd spend weekends at their house. I must have been about 4 or 5. While I may have had fun playing it, the first console I've ever really had a desire to have of my own, was the NES. My other cousins got one for Christmas in 1988, and I'd play it with them when I'd spend weekends at their house, and sometimes they'd bring it over to my house when they'd spend weekends there. The game I had the best memories of was Super Mario Bros. I'd watch my cousin play it, and I'd always hope I'd see him finish it whenever he did play. I even got to play this a lot when visiting relatives in Wisconsin in the summer of 1989, along with Galaga and I think Pac-Man.

Later that year, my mother decided to take me to the store after picking me up from the after-school center since I had finished all my homework that day, and she got me an NES Action Set. So not only did I have an NES of my own, but two games to start out with as well. I was very happy to finally be able to play Super Mario Bros. pretty much whenever I could. Of course I was late to the game (no pun intended) since a lot of other kids I knew already had an NES for the longest, and of course had an extensive library. My own library would grow in time, but the next game I got was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and that was for Christmas of that year. I still hadn't finished SMB, so I still continued to work on that. It eventually finished it, and it was the first video game I've ever finished in my life. Even more fitting was how my mother took me to the movies later that day, and I asked to see The Wizard.

The next game I got that had an impact on my years of gaming was Super Mario Bros. 3, which I got in the summer of 1990. I always had fun playing that game, and I remember just what a big deal that game was. I was fascinated by the battles against Bowsers's kids, and all those new forms Mario could take. Things started to get really huge when I started school again in the fall of that year. Ever since I lent it out to this one classmate, I was feeling generous enough to lend it out right after getting it back from someone else. I even had fun playing it when over at a friend's house.

TMNT II: The Arcade Game is also memorable for me, since I remember how I used to see it being played in the arcades, and I was glad once I finally got a copy of my own, to play in my own house, even though the graphics weren't as good. Before I got my own though, I remember a code that Nintendo Power published in an issue that would bring your number of lives from the standard 3 to 9. The code turned out to not work, but that was because they printed it wrong. Thankfully they printed the right code in the issue after that. Then they publish a stage select code in another issue, and then finally published a code that gave you the options to do both.

Since I already had SMB 1 and 3, I thought it was about time I got myself Super Mario Bros. 2. So I got that for my 12th birthday. I remembered when my cousin showed it to me long before I got my own NES. It just happened to stand out to me from the other two SMB games. It looked cool how you could play as even the Princess, and also pick up enemies and hurl them at other enemies.

Some relatives got me the first Legend of Zelda game for my 12th birthday. I had Zelda II, so I thought I should own the first Zelda game that started it all. Ever since then, I've been getting all Zelda games. Ganon has to be the most menacing villain of all time in my opinion. You should see him in his original form as Ganondorf Dragmire in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. They even gave the dude THEME MUSIC. If that wouldn't send chills down your spine, then I don't know what will.

I've played Little Nemo the Dream Master when I was borrowing it from a friend at school. I got up to the very last boss but never defeated him. So I decided I'd want that game in my collection. I did get that game in 1992, and when I got an SNES for Christmas later that year, I thought I was done with the NES. So I decided to give it up in 1996. I ended up taking it back a year later, since even though I was enjoying the SNES, nostalgia kicked in and I just had to get it back. It's a good thing I did. Two years later, I saw StarTropics and Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II, at TRU, each for $4. Even after years of evolving video game technology (I had an N64 by then), I just couldn't resist buying those two NES games so cheap, and brand new at that.

The magic of the NES still didn't end there for me. In 2002, I got a PS2 and GameCube, and I revisited Zelda I and II through a Legend of Zelda disc I got for the GameCube for free, since I had renewed my Nintendo Power subscription. Then in 2004, I was treated to more 8-bit goodness through Mega Man Anniversary Collection. I had already played Mega Man 2 in 1992 since a relative from my church was cool enough to lend it to me until I finished it (which I did in about a week's time). Thanks to MMAC though, I was able to experience all the other 8-bit Mega Man games that came out for the NES that I had missed out on.

Thanks to the Wii, I'm able to experience even more classic NES games. The first game I went for was Kirby's Adventures in 2007, which I had always been curious about since I got Kirby's Dream Land for Game Boy in 1993. I've also revisited Blaster Master last year, and I first played and finished that in 1992 since one of my cousins had a copy.

I played Duck Tales back in the day, and since it doesn't seem like one of the games that will make it to the Virtual Console any time soon, I just decided to get a copy of it on eBay earlier this year.

Nintendo may get a lot of flak these days, but I can't hate on them. It's because of the NES that we're still playing video games to this day, and it's seriously my favorite gaming console of all time.

[Angrist]

I can't believe you remember all that. I guess it made a real impression.

I remember we borrowed a NES from my dad's store and we had several Mario games with it, but I don't remember if we ever beat those games.
Sometimes I'd go over to a 'friend' (we didn't like eachother, but we were in the same class and lived close by) who also had a NES, he taught me about the magical flutes in SMB3.
My brother's 4 years younger than me and at that time a bit too young to play these games. So he would ask me to play his levels for him. Only I never really wanted to, so I tried to finish the levels as fast as possible (speed runs before I knew about them). Of course I would die almost every time, this got my brother really angry and upset.

Later we got a SNES of our own and Super Mario All Stars with it. I'm sure my brother and I beat all the Marios then. Once in a few years my brother and I beat 1 or more Marios during the christmas break. Good retro fun. And these games haven't become any easier!

[Storm Eagle]

I can't believe you remember all that. I guess it made a real impression.



It really did. The only other system that has had as much or close to an impact on me as the NES did, was the SNES. That might be my other all-time favorite console as well, and it was the highlight of my high school years. I also have an N64, PS2, GameCube, and a Wii. Even though I enjoyed the systems, the memories don't really compare to that of the NES. The games back then were all about fun, and even with the Sega Master System being active (albeit for a short time, here in the states anyway) and the Genesis being active, and the Turbo Grafx 16 being active, the NES still held out just fine, and there wasn't really that much emphasis on annoying console wars.

Here's a story. Last December, I was driving around with one of my cousins, and we got to talking about video games. He talked about the days of the NES and how we used to think its games were the coolest ever. He apparently doesn't think so anymore, but I told him that they still are. He doesn't think he can play them anymore, since he thinks he'd be thrown off by the simplistic look, after being spoiled by the high-end looks of X-Box 360 games. I find that saddening, especially since HE'S the cousin who got me into the NES craze. He was even surprised when I told him that people still play the NES to this day, since it takes them back to a time where video games were, as I already said earlier, were much simpler and more about fun, and probably the lack of console wars.

Even after playing video games that mostly look like what they do today, at least I can still go back to NES video games and play them just fine. In fact, I played Super Mario Bros. a few weekends ago in honor of its 25th anniversary, and managed to get through the whole game without warping, and also did it without losing a single solitary life.

Subscribing to Nintendo Power also added to the fun of owning an NES back in the day. During the 16-bit era however, I got ragged on a few times for being seen with an issue of NP. One person commented that I'm probably the only one who still gets them. Another person goes "do you now how OLD that is?". Though one person had just simply said I should get GamePro since it's better. The magic of NP seems to have dwindled for some, but when I saw that a future issue would be commemorating the 25th anniversary of the NES, I knew there was a reason why I'm still subscribing (since January 1990).

The Genesis and Turbo Grafx 16 were already out around the time I got my NES. I remember how this guy in my school told me that Nintendo was going out of style, and that I should have gotten TG16. As you can see, I'm happy with my choice. Ironically enough though, he might have changed his tune since he got the chance to play my copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 a year later. By that time, he was out of our school, but his sister was still there. So she was the first person I lent the game out to.

Part of me wishes I had gotten into the craze a bit earlier than I had. I've seen commercials for NES games and other products long before I got into it in early 1989, but they didn't really stand out to me as much as the ones for action figures such as Transformers and G.I. Joe did. Kids from the school I was going to at the time never even talked about the NES anyway. I had started a new school in the fall of 1987 when I was going into the third grade, and that's when the NES was more active in discussions. Much more active once I started fourth grade though. Though if I did get an NES much earlier than I did, I'd probably have more games for it than I do now, and the nostalgia factor would have been even greater for me. Though at least I got mine at a time when I was around people who actually were talking about it.

[TheSlyMoogle]

I don't know about you guys, but I remember having the 3 n 1 cart with mario, duck hunt, and track meet or whatever. I remember trying my hardest to beat my brother on that fucking power pad. Which probably didn't function that well anyway.

Also I remember him trolling me with the 2P duckhunt thing, where the duck could be moved by the 2P controller.

Sigh...

Just reminds me how my brother used to be cool.

Also Blix:

The original Zelda gave you basically no clue as of what to do at all except for slight story in the manual. There were no directions and barely any clues as to what to do except a few key story things.

[Storm Eagle]

I don't know about you guys, but I remember having the 3 n 1 cart with Mario, Duck hunt, and Track Meet or whatever. I remember trying my hardest to beat my brother on that fucking power pad. Which probably didn't function that well anyway.

Also I remember him trolling me with the 2P Duck Hunt thing, where the duck could be moved by the 2P controller.

Sigh...

Just reminds me how my brother used to be cool.

Also Blix:

The original Zelda gave you basically no clue as of what to do at all except for slight story in the manual. There were no directions and barely any clues as to what to do except a few key story things.

So you had the Power Set. The one that came with the Power Pad, and the three-in-one cartridge, and the third game was World Class Track Meet.

Since you mentioned Zelda, I thought I'd mention seeing an episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. yesterday, and there was a reference made to that game. It also reminded me of how great things were back then.

Good times.

[Teuthida]

I never had an NES but...

My best friend from kindergarden did and I would frequently go over his house after school only to watch him and some other kids play SMB3 and TMNT. Oh how I wanted to try it. Controlling characters on a TV screen? It was-- it was magical. But for some reason or other I never got to play. I just sat on his couch and watched with amazement.

I had another friend who lived across the street from me. Her mom ran a daycare operation so I'd go over there every so often and play with all the kids. Being a daycare there were a plethora of toys. But the crown jewel was an NES, complete with an entire drawer of oh so many games. I fondly remember Friday the 13th and Duck Hunt being played. And yet...and yet I never even touched it.

Again and again I'd go over friends' homes inhabited by that grey box and never even lay a finger on the controller. Why? What was this apprehension about playing the NES? Surely one of my friend's offered me a go. Why did I always refuse?

The year was 1992. The NES was $40. My mother who was firmly against video games finally gave in and offered to get me one for my birthday. After giving it careful thought, I went with a Game Boy. Booyah.

So the first time I actually physically played an NES was a couple years ago while working at a daycare center. Was ok I guess.