Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Appreciation

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was quite frankly more than a home console, it was a profound part of many people's lives. With over 60 million units sold, undoubtedly - either yourself or one of your friends owned one. Featuring thousands of 8-bit game cartridges, the console was the host of countless legendary hits including the Super Mario Brothers series, Donkey Kong, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Kid Icarus, Metroid, and many other series that would go on in infamy.

Released on October 18, 1985, the NES emerged as a savior in a dying home console market dominated by rival Atari. Boasting a superior Ricoh 8-bit processor and an openness to third-party developers, it became the most successful gaming system of its time. Shortly after in 1984, the Nintendo "Famicom" System was released in Japan, which subsequently became the best selling console in that country, after a rusty start plagued with game freeze-ups and motherboard glitches.

With the NES, there was something for everyone: Action, Arcade, RPGs, Strategy, Simulation, and even the lesser popular Educational series games (you know you hated those - Donkey Kong Jr. Math, anyone?). Beyond your typical platformer classics like Lode Runner, Contra and Super Mario, there were many hybrid genres such as "Action RPGs," including Faxanadu, Crystalis, and the Legend of Zelda series. Or, if you just preferred the traditional RPG - you had sparse selections of the Ultima series, the well done original Final Fantasy game, and the pixel-tastic Dragon Warrior series. Point-and-click games such as Shadowgate (which had by far some of the best music ever), brought to light a new form of action and problem solving.

There was no shortage of sports titles - you had the insanely fun Double Dribble basketball game - or the street punk version known as Arch Rivals, Track And Field (ever shoot down a UFO with the javelin?), and the onslaught of great baseball titles like R.B.I. Baseball, Baseball Stars, Baseball Simulator 1000, and the aptly-named "Baseball."

For some unknown reason, the 80s was a time for ninjas and skateboarding, so you had titles such as Skate or Die, T&C Surf Design, Ninja Gaiden, Kid Niki, 720-degrees, and Double Dragon.

These were the days before memory cards and backups - all you had to save your progress, in some rare cases, were alpha-numeric codes or the somewhat reliable save game batteries included within some cartridges, such as Zelda. Controllers were simple - a cross and two buttons, who really needed more than that, anyway? There was also the NES Advantage joystick board, and the Max controller - with its "Turbo" feature. Numerous NES controller ripoffs could also be seen in the video game section of your local store, which had "slow motion" options built into the controller (which did nothing more than slow down the frame rate - if that helped at all...). Besides, if you needed an extra advantage, there was the Game Genie code input device.

A multitude of peripherals were released, such as the failed project known as R.O.B. - the Robotic Operating Buddy, the ever-popular Zapper light gun which came in your choice of Nintendo gray or popsicle orange, and the dreadfully pointless (but cool looking) Power Glove.

Countless hours were spent playing Nintendo games by Gen-X'ers (or, simply blowing on the cartridges to get the damn things to work). True fans know that no system will ever compare to the NES: for the sheer replay value, fun factor and nostalgic sense that is the catalyst for great gaming tales to this very day.

In the Summer of 1988, the full-color Nintendo Power magazine was released - following the short run of the "Nintendo Fun Club News" magazine. Responsible for hours of time wasted in school by Nintendo fans, the magazine reviewed everything new and upcoming in the world of the NES, with previews, articles, game hints and tons of screenshots. The late 80s and early 90s issues featured the magazine's mascot cartoon characters "Howard" and "Nester," as well as many cartoon renditions of popular NES characters.

One of the coolest peripherals for the NES was the Game Genie. This device plugged into a NES game, which could then be inserted directly into the NES unit itself. Gamers were then greeted with a password screen, where they could input a certain code for that game from the included booklet - or simply put in something random. As a result, the Game Genie created a variety of effects - from cheating (stopping time, giving unlimited lives, all weapons, or anything similar) to just flat out making things weird (substituting enemies or graphics with other objects, changing the music, or exaggerating gravity or speed).