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| MAMMA MIA!!! How time flies. |
If it were up to gamers, today would be a national holiday where everyone would have outdoor bar-b-q's and get paid vacation time. 25 Years ago today, a little rectangular, gray piece of gaming hardware would arrive on store shelves here in the United States, forever changing the way people would play video games. The NES turned 25 today, and what better way to honor the beloved system than to write a non-lyrical poem, in honor of the system that sucked so many hours of social activity away from kids. Enjoy.
Oh Nintendo, I tear at your age.
You are responsible for joy, wonder, and rage.
For many moons, you kept us company at night,
With games like Mario, Zelda, and Excitebike.
Your simplicity is legendary, yet your difficulty is notorious,
We all remember how Ninja Gaiden's eagles were nefarious.
Yet, as I reminisce of your challenges,
Victory was as great as painting canvasses.
A directional pad with two buttons,
Your controls make us better than Rush'n Attack's Russians.
Plumbers, brawlers, and legendary Elves,
Each character would embrace our shelves.
There was no limit to your power,
like when Mario would pick up a flower.
You paved the way for future games,
just like when we had to search another castle for our dames.
Jumping, punching, and sometimes shooting,
Your music was always, quite so soothing.
Mega Man, Mario, and Maybe Metroid,
Each character was always enjoyed.
You taught us that not everything is on difficult mode,
Why, because of you, there's the Konami Code.
UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B,A,B,A
Never again, would our Contra soldiers need to fray.
So we thank you Nintendo, thank you for the memories,
because without them, well, we'd still be playing Jeopardy.
So that was my lame honorary poem for the NES. There are plenty of fond memories to be had with what this system did for many gamers today. I know that without the NES, I would never have been as passionate about gaming as I am today. Sure some people say it's a waste of time, but I could probably say the same thing about collecting coins, and not the virtual kind. For many of us gamers, we can associate a fond memory with plenty of the games of last generation. So I thought I'd point out my own personal Top 25 NES games, which may or may not include a brief gaming memory of my own. Remember, this is my own personal list, not what I consider the best games of all time. So internet trolls who may see this complaining that 'Kung Fu' isn't on the list can go suck it. I never had Kung Fu as a kid. Enjoy:
#25 Double Dragon II: The Revenge
It was kind of a funny story about this game. We never owned the first Double Dragon, but we had the second one. Anyway, my fondest memory of this game was the fact that you could play with 2-Players, and beat up your friend and get rewarded with an extra life. Subliminal messages anyone? Besides that, this game blew my mind with the fact that you could now kick backwards, which just slightly nudged the difficulty meter down a bit. Still, this game was no walk in the park. If you could complete this game on the hardest difficulty mode, you would be rewarded with fighting some space boss who could vanish at will and knock your ass out in two successive punches. Lame.
#24 Metal Gear
"My brain have started to melt." I never personally owned the game...my cousin did. I remember watching him play this game non-stop and I couldn't quite comprehend what was happening in front of me. When he would be chased by rottweilers, I used to think they were large pieces of doodie chasing him. It wasn't until years later I would get my hands on this game, probably around 14, when I would come to appreciate how ahead of its time it was. Stealth mechanics in a Nintendo game? Never!
#23 Double Dragon
Again, I never owned the game, cousin did, but when I played it, I enjoyed the simplicity of punching and kicking. There's just something satisfying about playing a beat em up game as a kid. I would actually feel like I was doing something that matters by whacking a large dude named 'Abobo' in the gut with my boots.
#22 Gauntlet
Ok so I have to admit, I knew there was a warrior, wizard, and an elf, but for years I never knew what the hell a Valkyrie was. She honestly looked like another man, and I think this was the first time I realized I was slightly sexist, because despite thinking she was a man, I still never used her.
#21 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I
Two things stand out when I remember this game. First, that underwater stage was impossible to get through without losing at least one of your turtles. So naturally, I used Rafael, the worst in the game, to die first so I could save up my best turtle, Donatello. That bow was relentless. And second, why was it that once I made it inside the technodrome I always had to shut the game off? Not because I had to leave, but because it was THE most insane difficulty in an NES game to date.
#20 Ninja Gaiden
Speaking of difficult, Ninja Gaiden was one of those games that I would always come back to regardless of my constant failure rate. This was the one of the first times I knew how persistent I was at games. I never liked quitting, but there was something about dying to a boss, and then having to re-do the entire level from the beginning, while attempting to save up your health mind you, that I would shut the game off in frustration.
#19 Super Mario Bros. 2
So I knew what Mario Bros. and Mario Bros. 3 was, but I never once considered this game to be a part of the Super Mari Bros. canon. It was so radically different from both games that not once did I pick up on it. I do admit that I always picked Princess Peach. Not because I wasn't sexist, but because her levitating jump was just too good to pass up.
#18 Kirby's Adventure
I got into Kirby a lot later in life, but even as a 13 year-old kid, I loved the fluffiness of the game. Clouds, Fat Ducks named King Dedede, and of course, the fatness cream puff himself Kirby. I couldn't help but be grateful that I didn't play this as a child because it would've warped my mind into thinking I needed to be a fat kid. I mean think about it, you were forced to constantly eat other enemies to "absorb" their powers. This may have been the birthplace for cannibalism for all I know. For the record, I was chubby, not fat.
#17 Metroid
Justin Bailey. That was the name that would ultimately wash my frustrations away with relief. Sure Samus was a chick, but she was a chick I respected. She shot missiles, fought aliens, did flips, and dropped bombs (not the kind we drop everyday in the bathroom if you catch my drift). Metroid made an impression on me because it ultimately created a genre of games where you could progressively explore larger environments as you upgrade your character. Plus the game logged in at 4+ hours, which was unheard of back in the day.
#16 Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
Same as Mario 2, this was one of those games that I didn't really associate with its predecessor because of how radically different it was. Zelda two gave us a side-scrolling Link who could go into towns and purchase things like spells and life/magic. Still, this was one of those games that I never got to beat as a kid because of its raging difficulty. I ultimately had to root for my older brother because he was the only one who could make it all the way to the final boss....Dark Link.
#15 Pro Wrestling
I can't remember who got us this game, but for some reason I always played Pro Wrestling at my grandmother's house. There was no reason, I was just always in the mood to play the game there. Maybe there was some subconscious thing where I wanted to wrestle my grandmother. I dunno. I also loved the class of fighters to choose from, as well as their unique finishing moves. I'm looking at you Fighter Huyabusa and your back brain kick. I would personally choose Star Man, who I always thought was an intergalactic space fighter because he had pink skin and a large blue star on his face.
#14 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
I remember playing this game heavily towards the back end of my NES' life cycle. What made TMNT 3 great was that each Turtle had a special play style. Of course, I always picked Donatello, but finally this was an NES game that was difficult, but not impossible. Plus I remember playing the game with my school friends and specifically asking myself why games don't include multiplayer all the time.
#13 Blaster Master
Talk about a trip down memory lane. This had to have been one our oldest games in our NES library. What I remember most about Blaster Master was that it was never smart to leave your tank. I used to think of it as 2 games in one because you play half of the game in your tank, and then the other half on foot through these insanely difficult dungeon like rooms. And with a name like Blaster Master, it just screamed 80's, which everyone loved.
#12 Bionic Commando
Another game I got into when I was older, Bionic Commando was a great action game that I considered to be Mario with Guns. I got into this game when I was 14 and my brother went to college. He bought Bionic Commando and every time I visited his dorm, I would sit my butt down on his futon and play the hell out of it. It's almost law of dorm rooms to own a futon by the way. The platforming was sensational, and the shooting was gratifying. Not only that, there were loads of upgrades to get along the way. I tend to love a game where your character gets progressively stronger.
#11 RBI Baseball
Countless nights of match-ups against my older brother. RBI Baseball was one of those games where I learned the sport of baseball because of it. I became a baseball nut for a while because of this game, and I remember asking myself "how come the Marlins aren't in this game?"
#10 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade
I may have more fond memories of the arcade rather than the NES game, but still, the memories are there. I think what made this game so fantastic was the first level. Right off the bat your fighting the Foot Clan in a burning building which had steel balls falling from the stairwells. It was insane. I also enjoyed each of the boss fights. There's just something addicting about a good arcade style game that you can play with your friends in the comfort of your home.
#9 Kid Icarus
One of my favorites games for the system. And what made this game even cooler was the soundtrack. You can't think of Kid Icarus without humming the idyllic natured music of the game. The game was also one of those vibrantly colored games that just made you smile. I guess that's what happens when you play as an angel...you're just happy.
#8 Mega Man 2
Speaking of great soundtracks, Mega Man 2 had one of the coolest soundtracks to any NES game. The bosses for each stage are lame by today's standards, but they felt so varied and cool for back then. Air Man was the cloud stage, Wood Man was the forest stage, Bubble Man was the water stage. It was perfect.
#7 Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
Sure there were two other games before it, but Castlevania 3 had the best of both worlds. It was a polished action game that allowed you to play as different characters when given the chance, and it also contained some slight RPG elements in the way you traverse the game's stages. The game also allowed you to play as characters other than Trevor Belmont, which was a mind blowing concept to me as a child. For some reason, I would pick up Grant the Pirate. One, pirates are cool, second, he could get you across the levels faster because of his wall crawling ability. Double Cool.
#6 Contra
People remember Contra for it's difficulty, but I always found it to be kind of easy believe it or not, even without the Konami code. The key to winning, never lose the spread gun. And if you're playing with 2-players, leave the guy with the spread gun behind you. It was flawless. Oh and another thing, I used to think that the big, brawny dude on the left looked like one of my older brothers. It was eerily similar.
#5 Super Mario Bros.
Talk about a nasty cherry pop. Super Mario Bros. was for me like it was with everyone else...my first official game. I played Mario after getting my face bashed in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. My cousin let me play Mario thinking it was an easier way to get me into video games...and it worked. I played and played until my parents yelled at me, and I would eventually make my way back into the boxing ring for revenge. And for the lucky few who had the privilege of owning the Nintendo Zapper, Duck Hunt was tacked onto this game adding to the already limitless fun level.
#4 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
The comeback kid indeed. My first memory with Punch-Out came when I was at my cousins house. I snuck into his room to play the game, and I got my ass beat down by Glass Joe, the first opponent. He had a record of 1-99, and since that day my cousin and brothers have haunted me, telling me that his 1 win was against me. It's true, I sucked, but then I played Mario, came back to Punch-Out, beat Glass Joe, and then got beat down by the next guy, the German dude. At least I got to have my revenge against that ginger bastard. Besides that little memory, to this day I've only been able to beat Mike Tyson once in my life, and I won with 3 seconds left in the final round. Mike Tyson was the ultimate villain in a video game. He could knock you down in one hit, and he would flash a blinding white gaze before he struck, making it even more of an intimidating fight. Still, it was a crowning moment when I beat Kid Dynamite, as I'm sure for anyone else who went toe-to-toe with him.
#3 Legend of Zelda
Hours wasted, all to fight a large bull wizard named Ganon, which would then force you play a completely different second quest afterward. Zelda was one of those games that you needed a friend to refer to in order to beat. Fortunately that friend was both my brother and my cousin, who had each referred to the legendary 'Nintendo Power' magazine for guidance in beating this game. Zelda was great because of its open world gameplay, and the items, oh Lord were the items beautiful. If any video game developers are reading this...which I doubt...more games need a boomerang as a weapon!
#2 Tecmo Super Bowl
This game is notorious in our family. Tecmo Super Bowl was the game that solidified me as a football fanatic. I learned the rules of the game playing this, and I also learned some of the legendary athletes who graced the field. Bo Jackson is king in the Lopez household. There are way too many memories I have with this game, but by far the fondest was around Christmas time when my cousin would sleep over our house so my brother and I could play an entire season of Tecmo Super Bowl with him. Sometimes we would share a team, sometimes we would have different ones. The best thing about the game was that the play clock was so fast, allowing you to finish a season, including the super bowl, in about 3 hours. The official NFL licensing, the stat tracking, all these things made Tecmo Super Bowl the ultimate trendsetter for sports game, which I will safely call the best sports game that will ever exist.
#1 Super Mario Bros. 3
The most hyped/sold/awesome video game of all time. If you haven't played Super Mario Bros. 3, then you will have to console the bottom of my foot for counseling. I don't have a specific memory for Mario, because I played it more times than I can remember. It is everything you could want in a video game, and is accessible to all who play it. Plus, who doesn't want to play as a flying raccoon or an agile frog?
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