Mario isn’t the only one celebrating a 25 year anniversary. This week, a quarter of a century ago, Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in limited parts of North America.
The NES was the console that really got me into gaming in a big way. Sure, I had previously played Commodores and the like, but I spent more time loading from floppy disks then actually playing games. The NES then burst onto the scene with its easy to play carts that loaded in a flash and taught a whole generation of kids that if something didn’t work, simply blow the dust off, give it a little tap and try again.
Nintendo of America officially discontinued the NES in 1995, yet it proved to be so popular that Nintendo of Japan kept producing new NES units until September 2003, and continued to repair old ones until October 31, 2007. During this period there were many classic games released. Some found fame, whilst others never made their mark, and now a couple of TSA writers remember their favourite NES gaming moments.
Dan Lee
Life Force Salamander
I remember it was a Christmas morning when I opened a well wrapped present, only to find it was a NES that lay beneath. Accompanying it was a copy of Konami’s ‘Life Force Salamander’ – a spin-off of side scrolling space shooter ‘Gradius’. At the time I remember thinking it was a complete revelation, with fast, slick gameplay, a fantastic power up system and levels that scrolled both horizontally AND vertically! I vividly remember the first boss too; a giant brain that could only be destroyed by firing at its eye. It turns out that in the hierarchy of life, laser beams beat giant brains; who knew?
Isolated Warrior
Ah good old Max Maverick, protagonist in this isometric shooting game. Despite being ordered to evacuate his home planet ‘Pan’ due to alien invasion, he decides to stay and kick ass (whilst possibly chewing gum). Collecting weapon upgrades was they key to success, and you could even control a couple of vehicles to help wipe out the alien menace. Looking back I’m not quite sure why I loved this game so much, but I did, and that’s why it’s here.
Solstice
Solstice stood out for me because it was the first game I played that simply let you get on with it without much handholding. Taking control of a wizard named ‘Shadax’, it was your job to search out the six pieces of the ‘Staff of Demnos’ – the only thing capable of defeating the evil wizard Morbius the Malevolent. This involved searching various puzzle filled rooms, where stealth was favourable over brawn. I loved this game as it didn’t force you down a set path and you could explore the rooms at will. The isometric view did cause a few missed jumps though as it was hard to make out the distance between certain objects.
Colossalblue
Double Dragon
This was a brawler. Side-scrolling and one player at a time (2-player mode was chances each, I think). Even the enemies only came two at a time and were always identical. I liked to think of them as little tag-teams as I punched and kicked their faces off and tried to avoid being sent home by my friend’s mum. It was like starring in my own ’80s action movie. I had the torn off denim jacket, the bad hair and the singular focus on punching dudes and saving my lady. It turned out that it was your brother who was the baddy too. That was another idea I could fully get behind.
Super Mario Bros.
I suppose there’s no title more obvious than this one. I still don’t think that the jumping mechanics of the early Mario games has ever been improved upon. It focused on doing one thing to further the game-play – jumping – and that was done perfectly. Super Mario Bros. just got platforming perfectly right. The powers, enemies, traps and two player mode were all like little revelations as I sat, cross-legged, in the middle of my mate’s living room floor. I still have entire days where my brain plays back the theme music and sound effects that first featured in this game. It was just a perfect platform game. It was also Mario before he ever met that stupid, long-tongued dinosaur so I can’t think of a single bad point!
Nofi
Excitebike
For me, this encapsulates everything that was utterly pure and brilliant about the NES. Simple splash screen, simple graphics and simple controls meant that the game had zero barriers to entry for anyone, and as a result competition was rife. Essentially you control a rider on a motorbike as he races his competitors across a series of increasingly tricky courses, but always from left to right on a pseudo 3D plain (you could go into and out of the screen to avoid puddles and hit ramps). Think Joe Danger mixed with Trials HD but without all the fluff, as stripped back to the bare basics Excitebike manages to remain timeless and still completely playable today.
The clever twist is that your turbo boost generates heat, so you can only use it sparingly, and it’s this technique that separates the men from the boys, knowing when to boost, which ramps to hit might seem like learning by rote but it soon becomes instinctive and once you start factoring in your bike’s position on takeoff and landing you’ve got a surprisingly deep system that’s only required if you really want to challenge the time and beat the game on its hardest levels.
The ultimate real why I still adore Excitebike, though, is the design mode. In 1984 this was practically unheard of, and although here in Europe you couldn’t save the tracks (you could in Japan) the game gave you plenty of ramps and obstacles to play wherever you wanted on your own tracks, and then you could race them in both time trial and against the NES – building insane jumps and watching the computer players trying to get over them was great fun. The only single problem was a lack of multiplayer on the game’s original release.
So readers, do you have any lasting memories of the NES? A favourite games perhaps? Or maybe even a funny story about breaking controllers because you couldn’t beat a level in Super Mario Bros. 2? (I NEVER did that…). Happy 25th, NES! You don’t look a day over 21!
FLUFFYB1TCH
NES was my second console after the atari so this brings back some great memories! Excite bike was awesome, i loved making huge jump then lots of little jumps. I’m pretty sure I was about 6 years old so this was a pretty big deal at the time
minerwilly
Never new a single person that owned one , the only one I ever saw was the one on display in Woolworths . The Spectrum and Commodore 64 where the leaders by a million miles , I knew one or two rich kids who had this thing called a master systems in the later years but they where rich kids , we used to chuckle at the price of a cartridge !
From my memory I’d say the Atari 2600 was in far far more UK homes in the eighties than those grey lunchboxes .
Tuffcub
Same here – everyone had Speccys and C64’s, First console we got was a Megadrive.
minerwilly
And me , it was the first console to take the UK by storm and came just at the right time as the 8 bits where finally fading (with many having moved onto Amigas and Atari ST’s ) .
The Megadrive was amazing , i picked up a SNES several years into the Megadrives life and it wasnt a patch on the Megadrive except for one game Mariokart . Sometimes i wonder just where does the Nintendo love come from , the DS is a great little machine and they have done some great handhelds but the meat and bones home consoles have always had a better alternative . NES – Spectrum, Commodore , Snes – Megadrive, Amiga , Atari ST , SNES – Megadrive , N64 – PS1 , Gamecube – PS2 , Wii – PS3 , 360 .
cc_star
NES took the US by storm and the Master System took Europe by storm selling 12m units
I had the original rubber keyed 48k model & 128k which I think was the +2 and somehow my dad managed to buy a Master System as well, looking back at how expensive stuff was then I don’t know how he did it for me
SpikeyMikey23
my sister had a mastersystem with sonic 2 built in, im hyst looking at pictures now, she had a mastersystem 2, the mastersystem 1 looks awful, i remember the boxes for the games looking like shite! like the square grid paper you used to get in maths class
Dan Lee
I’m actually odd enough to have bought a ‘pocket famicom’ a couple if years ago, which is essentially a NES but packaged into a hand held console – it’s ace :oD
bap10
That looks class Dan. How much did you pay for it. And what game’s have you got for it. Just thinking of more NES games that rocked Duck tales and Chippendale Rescue Rangers.
Dan Lee
Can’t remember how much, can’t have been more than £30. I’ve got Top Gun, TMHT, Marble Madness. Chip’n’dale was awesome :op and TailSpin
MrBlack
what about the 2 french fannies game, duck hunt i still like the styling of the nes gun, who remembers the super scope for the snes soo ugly. Also 20 years ago my mate had a toshiba that you could sit and enter code in (parrot fashion from manual) which would take hours for a simple top down racer etc but invariably we’d make mistakes and it’d be unplayable.
MrBlack
what about the Tomytronic Thundering Turbo 3D handhelds they were awesome at the time too, my first ever brand new non hand me down computer was a donkey kong hand held. I got it for xmas and wouldnt let it out of my site so much so that i put it on the cistern of the loo while i had a pee and yes it fell in, yes it was broke, and yes it was still xmas day i only had it for about 3 hours?! ” gutting
SpikeyMikey23
….i had a barcode battler? does that count lol
3shirts
My NES was my first home console and it is the reason I am hooked on gaming. Super Mario Bros is the first game I can remember completing and that Saturday morning is one of my fondest gaming memories.
Mario 3 was (and still is) my favourite game of all time, it’s just perfection.
I agree with Nofi, though, Excitebike was epic, trying to master a wheelie without tipping over and those sharp triangle ramps of which you always built loads in create mode! Great days.
This article reminds me of this funny picture too: http://speakertv.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/nes360.jpg
Dan Lee
I effin well LOVE this pic
Blayney
I think my family were the only ones to have a NES. I had one, my cousin had one, even my grand dad had one! I was only 3 playing my first one (1992). I got one not long after. Many hours spent playing…
Super Mario Bros! Super Mario World etc.
Double Dragon!
Duck Hunt!
Bart vs The World!
Super Spike Beach Volleyball!
Bugs Bunny’s Birthday Blowout!
Krusty’s Funhouse!
and more I can’t think of! :D
My mum chucked it out recently, I haven’t forgiven her.
Blayney
Dan Lee just reminded me I had Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and Chip n Dale too!
Foxhound_Solid
Had a nes and a master system. Monster in my pocket was epic on the nes. Little tap and blow the dust off, that was technical support at it’s highest level. Great memories :-)
R1MJAW
I still own a NES with 2 pads, all in perfect working order. I only have 5 games though … Super Mario Bros 1 and 3, New Zealand Story, Super Star Wars and a gold Zelda 2.
SpikeyMikey23
God I loved this console. My second ever console after the atari 2600. some classics i remember having – bart and the space mutants, ren & stimpy, chip & dale (remember now that i would have been around 5-8 yrs old) hook, home alone 2, a boy and his blob, the goonies, bad dudes, TMNT, carmen sandiego, tiny toons, bugs bunny, darkwing duck. My fav though is a cave man game (its not caveman games) Im desperatly searching the internet to find its name. Side scrolling, you had a big club, and got to kick giant dinosaur ass! if you can remember before I go insane, please let me know what its called! something & mac? arrch i dunno!
SpikeyMikey23
AHA! i remember, Joe & Mac, caveman ninja. best game ever (thats what i used to say)