I am a child of the 80′s. When it comes to video games, I have seen the progression starting with NES and moving forward to now. While graphics may have become more realistic and mind blowing, and controls may have become more sophisticated and user interactive, nothing compares to the fun I had playing NES (and maybe a handful of Genesis/SNES) games. There are three major things I remember about NES games:
1) Anyone who had a Nintendo Entertainment System (the original) can remember frustratingly blowing on game cartridges hoping they could insert them into the system in just the right way for the game to play. It is impossible to appreciate how easy discs are unless you fought with old school cartridge systems before.
2) You will remember the insane frustration of not enough save points and games that were impossibly hard. Seriously, I know there are a lot of hard games that have come out over time, but I can’t think of any that gave me more trouble than Ninja Gaiden (the whole series is hard). I honestly don’t know anyone who played Ninja Gaiden enough times to beat it without cheat codes. 5 out of 10 of the hardest games of all time are found on the NES: Contra, Link 2, Ghost and Ghouls, CastleVania, Battletoads, and Ninja Gaiden. There is no question that the NES was the most challenging gaming system of all time; maybe that is why it was the most memorable and fun…
3) Finally, you will remember the excitement of the classics. Games like Mario, Zelda, Metriod, Contra (you lie if you say you don’t remember the 30 life code), Castlevania, and dozens of others. I remember playing all those games for hours on end trying to beat them. They seem so simple now, but when they came out they were the coolest games ever. I think we’re all spoiled with so many games available now that it is hard to get excited about new games.
I decided to bring you on this trip down memory lane for one major reason: vNES. This will not increase your productivity in life, but it will let you play 90% of the NES games that you’ve been dying to play for free! If you find yourself having a hard time beating them, you might consider downloading emulator with the ability to save the game at any point.
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Ian Says:
September 21st, 2009 at 4:02 PM
I am 80s baby as well, used to play NES all day long! Miss Super Mario Bros! :)
Zeesu Says:
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:06 AM
me too 80s kid.I remember mario contra spartman .love those games.
Gabe Says:
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Oh, how I miss those NES days. Every time I play an old game though, I realize that it’s always worse than I recall!
Nicholas Z. Cardot Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Ha ha. I remember blowing on them…a lot. That was key to getting them to work. Or at least that’s what we all thought. Who knows if it really was or not.
I suppose if you were a little older then you’d be writing an article here about the top three things you remember about Atari. But that is only slightly before my time also so it’s fine with me that you didn’t. LOL.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
.-= Nicholas Z. Cardot´s last blog ..Fight Writer’s Block: Creativity on Command =-.
ZXT Says:
September 29th, 2009 at 8:04 PM
Hey I know these games. I even play Family Computer. My 5 yr old son would love this but he’s used to Assasin’s Creed, Ghost Recon and the likes so he might get bored after while.
.-= ZXT´s last blog ..Manila became Water World =-.
Blake Waddill Reply:
September 29th, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Yeah, I don’t think younger gamers will appreciate how much fun the older games were. There is just something about the classics if you’ve played them before that makes them amazing.
5 Flash Maze Challenges to Strain Your Brain || Props Blog dot Com Says:
October 5th, 2009 at 2:00 PM
[...] I believe that the world’s hardest games are actually found on the NES, this game certainly has made me rethink that. The object is [...]
Crack Up Going Through The Let’s Play Archives || Props Blog dot Com Says:
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:34 PM
[...] It has been a couple of weeks since I published my article about vNES giving all of us who remember the days a nostalgic kick in the junk. For those of you who missed it, NES had 5 of 10 of the most difficult games of all time. [...]