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17 Things I Miss Most About Nintendo

June 9th, 2010 - Uncategorized - 44 Comments »

My first encounter with Nintendo was Christmas of 1986. My life hasn’t been the same since. Here are the things I miss most about that beautiful two-button, 8-bit experience.

1. Thinking I was the only one who knew the Contra cheat code

2. Having to blow on the cartridge for it to work (and thinking there was actually a technique to it)

3. Cheating 100% of the time I used the Power Pad (either sprinting with my fists or jumping off and back on for the long jump)

4. Holding my Duck Hunt gun against my TV screen for maximum accuracy

5. Wondering how the Duck Hunt gun worked

6. The Legend of Zelda music (as well as the sound of Link’s sword thrust)

7. The day my dad got us the original Super Mario Bros. (our Nintendo came with Duck Hunt, Gyromite, and Football)

8. Beating Super Mario Bros. for the first time as a college senior

9. Seeing Fred Savage play Super Mario 3 for the first time in The Wizard

10. Never letting go of the B button in at least 75% of the games I played

11. Hoops

12. The first time I encountered Level 10 in Tetris (and the six seconds it lasted)

13. The three-year span I thought Baseball Stars was the greatest game ever created

14. The utter magic of the Game Genie (and the instant popularity that resulted from owning it)

15. Wanting the Power Glove (yet not wanting to actually play games by using my left hand to press buttons located on my right wrist)

16. The day I could play TMNT The Arcade Game sitting in my living room instead of standing up in a Pizza Hut lobby.

17. Scoffing at the neighborhood kid who had Sega (Alex Kidd? Come on.)

I know you’ve got some Nintendo memories of your own. What do you miss most?
___

Post sponsored by Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney, Robert N. Susko

  • http://www.nateloucks.com Nate

    Bo Jackson goes to the left, then to the right, then back to the left, then back to the right… TOUCHDOWN RAIDERS!

    I loved Tecmo Super Bowl.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/kevinmahan Kevin P. Mahan

    18. Playing Bible Adventures and rounding up all kinds of quirky animals in Noah's Ark. (Enjoy the description here if you've never seen it, and the monkeys were heinous! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Adventures)

  • http://www.adaupdates.blogspot.com Scott

    http://www.virtualnes.com/index.html

    For fear of ruining your productiveness for the remainder of the day, or maybe the week, but most likely the next couple of months. I thought I’d share this website.

  • http://www.theepicmovement.com Chris

    1) Arguing with mom about how it improves hand/eye coordination and thus a great substitute for actual physical activity. This accompanied just about every extended playing period.

    2)Metroid
    3Megaman

  • http://www.logankstewart.blogspot.com logankstewart

    #10, holding down the B button, is dead on. You just don't realize how much you miss that kind of use.
    ————-

    #18. Taking all the warps in any of the Super Mario Bros. to get to the last world quicker.

    #19. Accusing the dumb game of cheating and proceeding to smash your controller on the ground over and over again.

    #20. Playing the Legend of Zelda for hours only to have the game not save your file!

    #21. Battletoads.

    #22. Acting like you still enjoy playing your 24 year old Nintendo. O Nostalgia!

  • http://www.jimmycalhoun.com Jimmy

    me and my best friend beat every two player game known to man.

    i miss the old Pro Wrestling Game Starman was the best.

    spending long Saturday afternoons playing Super Mario 3.

    ahh good times

  • http://themindofmalloy.com Gerald

    Playing John Elway's Quaterback and using that one play where you outrun everyone else on the field. Classic!

  • http://childrenatgrace.blogspot.com Joey

    Super Tecmo Bowl tournament in college with a bunch of friends. I won it all, with Kansas City Chiefs and using the Run & Shoot. Yes, I beat Bo Jackson & the Raiders twice in the regular season and again in the playoffs.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/dustyken dustyken

    Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start.

    Ah, those were the days. I had the NES Advantage (Joystick controller) and the Power Glove. The Power Glove actually sucked unless you had games that were good for it. Playing Super Mario with the Power Glove was an exercise in futility.

    When I would play Zelda II, The Adventures of Link, I learned a trick that would allow me to get a lot of points without actually working for them. Whenever you are running around the swamp area of the map and those "shadow guys" come out to pull you into a fight sequence, you could get right at the edge of the screen before you leave and clean up on points. In those areas, birds would swoop down and try to take you out. All you had to do was stand at the very edge and keep swinging your sword. Each bird was 2 points. Well, as I stated, I had the NES Advantage, which had a "Turbo" button. So, all you had to do was hold down the "A" button with turbo turned on and Link would just keep swinging his sword. So, I would get everything set up, get Link in the corner of the screen, hold down the "A" button with a book or a piece of tape, and then go do something else for a few hours. You know, like go to school. When I would come back, it would be at the screen where I could level up my health or magic.

    Video games teach kids how to multi-task, solve problems, have better hand-eye coordination, and think outside the box. Basketball teaches you how to put a ball in a hoop.

    You tell me which one better prepares you for the real world.

    • http://www.EvanForester.com Evan

      Thank you for having Bucky the Katt as your avatar image. Thank you.

  • http://bryanallain.com bryan a

    the night before my parents bought us a nintendo my dad asked my brother Josh, "Are you guys going to read your bible as much as you play video games?"the night before my parents bought us a nintendo my dad asked my brother Josh, "Are you guys going to read your bible as much as you play video games?"

    There was a slight pause, and i was afraid my bro was going to ruin our chances at video game bliss. Before I could stop myself I said, "Just say yes so he'll get it for us."

    I was immediately sent to my room for the night…but thankfully Josh salvaged things and the next day we came home with a NES and Commando.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/joshlafayette Josh LaFayette

    I miss the game, "Exodus." This was a side-scroller where you played as Moses trying to set the Israelites free— your only weapon was to shoot out W's which stood for "wisdom." The joys of a first-world Christian upbringing…

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/joerob577 joerob577

    I just miss the days when Nintendo got the credit it deserves in the gaming industry… "Hardcore Gamers" are so obsessed with high-def and pixels and first-person shooters nowadays. Nobody seems to remember that almost every cool advance in the gaming industry (both failed and successful advances) came from Nintendo.

    The Duck Hunt Gun, the Power Glove, portable gaming (Game Boy), Nintendo VR (does anybody even remember the virtual reality console!?), game mini-discs (Game Cube), motion-controlled gaming (Wii)… I'm sure that I'm missing several, but those were just the ones that came off the top of my head. PS3 and XBox 360 are great and everything, but let's give credit where credit is due – neither of them would have a market without Nintendo in the first place.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/mrimperial mrimperial

    RBI Baseball. There, I said it.

  • Dresch

    To this day, there are times when I can’t get the RBI Baseball song out of my head. I kept my own stats on notebook paper!

    I’m surprised I haven’t seen any mention of Mike Tysons Punch Out!?! Who didn’t spend hours on that one. Defeating Mike Tyson is, to this day, one of my Top 5 athletic achievements of all time.

    • Lauren

      TKO! Man it was scary when you finally got through all the thugs and saw Tyson there batting at you. I get chills just thinking about it.

  • Kunte Kente

    Yeah, I used the Contra code every time I played it. And you could press "Select" before pressing start to do 2 players with 30 lives.

    I never jumped on the Metroid bandwagon, nor the Final Fantasy games.

    All my fav's have been mentioned, but I can't believe nobody has said Excitebike or RC Pro Am yet.

  • Jill D

    I was a Nintendo Game Counselor for a small licensee (HAL America) our one claim to fame was Adventures of Lolo. It was very fun to answer the phone and give people hints. We didn't have scripts or rules it was all up to me and I used to make kids (and grandmothers) try to get through a level for at least an hour before they could call back and ask for a hint. The internet put those rules to rest for sure! The music to that game was so addictive. I can still hear it 20 years later.

  • Brian D

    One word – Metroid. I spent a good deal of my childhood on Metroid. Took me months of playing to beat the Mother Brain. Then discovering Samus without the armor, oh and who can forget the hidden world on Ridley's level. No game has been made since then, that has captured my attention and inspired me like that game did.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/kaikunane ThatGuyKC

    #16 all the way!

    There IS a technique to the cartridge blow.

  • http://tymn.wordpress.com Tymn

    Good stuff – I think number 13 is my favorite. Bsseball Stars was incredible! That’s the first game I ever remember being able climb the wall to rob homeruns in.

    I really liked the RBI Baseball games too. RBI 3 was another favorite. There was also a pretty sweet game called Baseball Simulator 1000. You could play in a stadium in outer space and the players had special tricks and powers.

    I mainly played the sports games, but I still remember the first game I ever beat. Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers. Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t admit that. I also remember that the first time I ever beat Super Mario was before church one Sunday. I praised God more that Sunday than I ever had before.

  • http://robshep.com Rob

    I loved how if you had a man open and running down the field in Tecmo Bowl you could run your Quarterback all the way back to your end zone and then throw the ball. It was a touchdown every time!

    My favorite game though was Die Hard. That game was little known, but intense.

  • kendra

    i wanted to be Princess Zelda SO bad. she was so much awesomer than lame Princess Peach Toadstool.

  • http://www.SEOAssistant.org Aarn Farmer

    Nintendo had a 900 number you could call and ask any question about any game you wanted. The first time my dad came home and asked why there was a 40 dollar charge to Nintendo on the phone bill, I knew I was in trouble!

  • nate

    i loved playing Mike Tyson's punch out- before i knew he was a rapist.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/rickgebauer rickgebauer

    Are you kidding me? No mention of Mike Tyson's Punchout?!

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/colejennette colejennette

    Making my own dirt bike course and thinking it was the ultimate in creative gaming freedom.

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  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/dustinuga dustinuga

    I remember when our neighbors first got their NES I would dream (yes, dream) about ways to simply make it through the first level of Mario Bros without dyring (and coming out w/ fireballs).

    Three months later, and scrubbing my parents linoleum floor with ammonia countless times to earn money, my bro and I saved up enough money for our own console. I lost many a brain cell, but it was so worth it.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Kevin_Keigley Kevin Keigley

    This one was gold Stantoniouston.
    I miss the National Anthem on Double Dribble as the intro plays and shows a throng of last minute fans booking it into the stadium to watch you stink the place up with 3 point shots from the opposite end of the court.

  • http://andnowforthevows.com Thigpen

    Man, I loved this post. I'm surprised no one mentioned Ninja Gaiden…one of my favorites.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/tylerstanton Tyler Stanton

      Ninja Gaiden! Oh my goodness. I'd totally forgotten about that.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Matt_TCoNP Matt_TCoNP

    My brother and I spent the Nintendo years playing at the neighbors. When we finally saved our own money for one, we were unaware of the Super Nintendo until the store clerk told us about it. We were skeptical that it would meet our needs. Super Mario World was amazing. I remember accidentally deleting my save data in the fifth world. My brother, mom and me held an all night Mario event to recover the lost progress. Sweet. Super Metroid was the scariest game I ever rented. Then I bought it, and it was amazing. We rented Link to the Past and all three of us hated it – didn't understand what we were supposed to do. It took until Zelda 64 to get into that, and I was still skeptical and intimidated by the game until I got into it. But I've still never played Link to the Past.

  • Nate H

    Duck Hunt was somehow related to the brighness of the TV…My brother & I figured out that you could (walk over to the TV and turn the knob to) increase the brightness of the TV and then we could never miss – just point the gun in the direction of the TV…It was then a contest to figure out the the awesomeness trick shot possible – at least three mirrors, through the legs, and from the next room.

  • Schlegs

    Up, down, up, down, left right a, b, a, b…Got you 30 lives, correct?

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  • therealmiller

    What do you mean "miss most"? I still have an original NES with Duck Hunt, Mario 1, 2 & 3, Dr. Mario & Tetris, though I still need to get TMNT. I guess that's what I miss most then. Exodus was awesome too! Oh NES, how I love thee!

  • Pylgrim

    I passed Super Mario Bross thrice. Or almost. After each iteration, the difficulty level of the enemies raised (the goombas turned to shelled guys then to spikies, for example) At the end of 8.3, right before Bowser's castle there's a couple of Hammer bross that at third level of difficulty were so quick that there was simply no way toevade the rain of hammers.

  • http://www.partofthejourney.wordpress.com Josh

    Bases Loaded.

    When I was in 6th grade I created a spreadsheet (before excel) and I kept stats of all of my players. I was NY. I would keep track of hits, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, K, W, ERA.

    I still remember my lineup: Perez, Finich, Ames, Star, Dupris, Eagle, Beck, (catcher), (pitcher).

  • Mark

    I am 27 years old and I will never own a gaming system above a Super Nintendo. There are enough games on the NES and SNES to keep me happy for the rest of my life. Yes, new systems have better graphics, but I don't care. I doubt any of you complained about the NES graphics during the late 80's and early 90's because you had nothing to compare to the NES and SNES.

  • Mark

    My favorites:

    1.Mario 1,2 and 3
    2. Metroid
    3.RBI Baseball
    4.Friday The 13th
    5.Bubble Bobble
    6.Burger Time
    7.Tecmo Super Bowl
    8.Bases Loaded
    9.Battle Toads
    10.Excite Bike
    11.Kung Fu
    12.Robo Cop
    13.Double Dragon
    14.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    15.Legend Of Zelda
    16.Link
    17.Paperboy
    18.Milon's Secret Castle
    19.Mega Man
    20.Skate Or Die
    21.Wizards And Warriors
    22.Rampage
    23.Donkey Kong
    24.Donkey Kong JR.
    25.Tennis
    26.Ice Hockey
    27.Ducktales
    28.Chip And Dale's Rescue Rangers
    29.Guerrilla War
    30.Adventure Island
    31.Mike Tyson's Punchout
    32.RC Pro-Am

    There are many more, but I will stop here.

    Just remember to play 80's and early 90's music while you are playing your NES or SNES. I recommend Paula Abdul, Tpau, Arrested Development, Dr. Dre and Snoop, Amy Grant, SWV, Shanice, Anita Baker, Traveling Wilburys, Blind Melon, Hootie And The Blowfish, Billy Joel and Elton John.

    It's the best escape from this modern insanity.

  • http://www.Economist.com Jannie Salazak

    Fisher Rainforest Jumperoo is a fantastic, top doll. We’ve got the software for the fuesen with about ninety days. He or she is just about give consideration to several months at this time anf the husband basically Takes pleasure in the item. I do way too. It’s always multi-colored & eye catching bright grays plus green vegetables primarily.

  • Kyle

    Is Baseball stars still not the greatest game?

    Also… You had a sega. CALL OUT.

    Everything else is truer than true, though. Well done.

    • Tyler Stanton

      No, I had a sega genesis. Garrett had the original sega. I scoffed at him.