Share your Nintendo NES memories!

I know I finished TMNT, Castlevania I, II, and III, and Ninja Gaiden I, II, and III, but I can't swear I didn't cheat to do it. I don't remember playing the others on that list.

 

It was the fall of 1987 and I had just graduated high school in June. My friend and I worked together at a retail store in the mall... he was still a senior. I would go over his house right after he got home from school and we would sit in his rec-room, play "Super Mario Brothers", watch "Remote Control" (Mtv game show) and eat Doritos for hours on end before we had to go to work. We must of done that 3 or 4 times a week for 6 months... Good Times!

 

I picked up a NES when I was in college. I remember thinking the graphics were amazing though I didn't have that many games due to the cost of the cartridges. I worked in a toy store when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game came out and set aside a copy because they were selling out as fast as they came in, but I never really liked the game. The Sega Genesis showed up around that time and I dropped the NES for that Genesis.

It was pretty easy to find games in thrift stores around 1999-2001, and I amassed a huge collection of NES, Genesis, Turbografix, and 2600 consoles and games. My absolute favorite is the original Genesis console and front-loading Sega CD, something I could never have afforded back when it was new. Unfortunately, everything is stashed away in storage though I do have fairly complete sets of ROMs and emulators for the major systems from that era.

 

Ninja Gaiden was impossible to beat unless you put in hours and hours to master its patterns. I ended up hating that game due to it.

 

I think I did beat NG1 eventually, but NG2? Yeah, that one ain't happening... even with Game Genie cheats.

 

James & Mike over at Cinemassacre just posted a video of them attempting to beat Contra without the code... pretty funny...
http://cinemassacre.com/2014/02/03/contra-nes-james-mike-mondays/

 

When I first got the NES, it was with Duck Hunt and Super Mario. Honestly, I wasn't super excited or anything, in my household we always had a game console and before this we had a Coleco and an Atari. I got into Super Mario and played it for months, later on I got into Castlevania and Ghouls and Ghosts which to me was even more addicting. Thinking back, these games are part of the reason why I now like RPG games.

When Sega came out I had to have that too. It took awhile to convince my parents to get it but when I got it I played Sonic for days. Initially I had always thought Sega to be better with the graphics and gameplay. I can't remember all of the games I had but some of them were really addicting.

 

Top 10 Frustrating Video Game Levels:


I can somewhat understand the Turbo Tunnel from Battletoads being on there, because it does take some concentration and practice to get through... (although I can still beat it pretty easily).... but the Waterfall from Contra, and the Dam from TMNT?? Really? I can finish those with one hand tied behind my back.

 

I'm not familiar with that entire top 10, but I totally agree with Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man. I also remember TMNT being difficult enough that I gave up on it.

 

I haven't seen my old friend Brian in about 5 years, but if I were to talk to him today, all I'd have to say is "Mario, Game over" in a bad Italian accent, and he'll remember the night I'm talking about.

During my Senior year of high school (89-90), my friend and I pulled an all nighter. We stayed up playing Super Mario and polishing off about 2/3 of a gallon of his Dad's whisky. Every time one of our games would end, we'd say to each other "Luigi, game over!" (or Mario, depending on who it was).
Before the night was over, we refilled that whisky bottle with water and put it back.
The next weekend, we did the same thing.

The best part was that his Dad discovered his very watered down whisky, and blamed the older brother!

 

My wife and I played Balloon Fight this afternoon! Great game...similar to Joust. We often play Wheel of Fortune, Clu Clu Land, 3-D World Runner, Chubby Cherub and Ice Climber. I tried to play Goonies 2 a few weeks ago...forgot how hard it was!

 

I blame NES for my bad grades in school.

 

Me too. I even skipped some classes (I lived 800 meters from my High School) and played truant to play games.

 

The Nostalgia Critic does a pretty funny review of The Wizard:

 

I got Ninja Gaiden after months of layaway... Beat it rather quickly and was really disappointed because it was a rather pricey purchase at the time...

 

Yet another list proclaiming Contra as the all-time hardest game to beat.....
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2007/03/20/top-10-tuesday-toughest-games-to-beat-2

Coincidentally, I was having a conversation with a co-worker recently about old-school video games, and they happened to mention Contra and its apparently notorious difficulty. I'm starting to think I'm the only person on the planet who thought the game was too easy!

 

This certainly bought back memories. Remember it well and loved playing it endlessly when time permitted. The games I had and remember well were:
*Contra
*Castlevania-Several versions like 1,2 & 3
*Donkey Kong
*Mario Brothers
*Ninja Gaiden-Had one & two
*Legend of Zelda-This game caused me to lose sleep trying to figure S**t out! Frustrating and probably the hardest game IMO I ever played.
*Tecmo Bowl-Playing with the Nigerian Nightmare or Bo Jackson, you were assured of a win. They made them where you needed the whole team to tackle them!
*Blades Of Steel-Probably the greatest sports games ever MADE! I loved playing this and miss it immensely!

I know I had more games and I'm sorry now that I eventually sold my system and the games with it. But when you were struggling with money after graduating college, food became a priority for a while lol.

 

That's another one, like Contra, that I always found to be quite easy. I beat it countless times as a kid, and when I dug out my old NES a couple years ago, I popped in Legend of Zelda to see if I could still finish it... and I flew through the entire game in about 2 hours!

 

I had no problem with finishing the others I mentioned. Zelda though was more of a puzzle and I hate puzzles lol

 

I'm still an avid gamer, and the NES is still my favorite system. Some of it is purely nostalgia, although there were some fantastic games on there! A few of my faves:
Kid Icarus, Zelda, Zelda II (which was damn hard), Kung Fu, Metroid, Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Mike Tyson's PO, Golgo 13, Super Mario II, the first 2 Mega Man's. I broke many a controller also, and ruined the coffee table in the living room by throwing a controller on it, putting a huge scrape across the surface. Good times, for real.

There is a band called The Mini Bosses, and they're a rock band that does covers of video game music. It's rad!

 

Nintendo arrived at the precise right time for me. First grade. Got the NES as a reward for a good report card one marking period. Mario Bros/Duck hunt early memories like most. I have a vivid memory of my brother missing shooting the ducks (he was 3 at the time) and when the dog laughed at him he gave him the middle finger which made my parents practically fall off the couch from laughter. Lol
Other memories, I can remember my parents playing Mario and Zelda long after I had gone to bed. They liked it as much as I did! Although they would never admit it to me. Haha.

Amassed a decent collection as a kid. My system eventually wore out, but I've kept all of my original games, and added to a bit over the years; retro gaming being a bonafide business now. 2 years ago I bought a universal NES console on Amazon, I forget the brand name. It was around $25.00. Came with two controllers and everything. Plays all my old games perfect.

Zelda is still incredibly difficult!

And up up down down left right left right was a must if you wanted to have any fun playing it!!!

 

I'd used/played NES at friend's houses but I didn't have one of my own till they were already on their way out. I was working at K-Mart when the Super Nintendo system was released in the early 90s and the original NES became yesterday's news overnight, therefore I was able to buy one super cheap with my employee discount.

I remember taking it home and hooking it up to the TV in my bedroom, and I was having a grand old time playing Super Mario 3 (which came with the console) when my Dad, curious about the strange new beeping noises emanating from my room, stuck his head in and watched for a moment or two with a puzzled expression on his face, as if he had no idea what he was looking at. Maybe he thought this was some bizarre new cable-TV channel or cartoon show he'd never seen before. Finally he asked "What is this?" and I said "Nintendo." After a brief pause he asked, "Sooo.... how are you getting that on your TV?" and I said "Because I went out and bought a Nintendo." He replied "Oh," in a voice that signaled that he still didn't really "get" it, but he finally moved on and left me to my Super Mario. Haha.

 

Figuring out how to skip levels in SUPER MARIO BROS and avoiding the dragon at the ends of the early stages as much as possible (either: jumping down certain pipes or over the brick wall lair at the end of a level!).

 

I remember playing the game Wizards & Warriors with my neighbor.When we were killed we would sing our own words along to the the music 'The Sound Of Death!"

 

I was a kid and an early teenager when NES arrived to Spain and even 'though I had one and have fond memories of the 3 Mario Bros. games (I specially liked Super Mario Bros. 3) the console of my generation was the Super Nintendo. I bought it on release day in Spain, June 21st if I recall right. God, how many hours I spent playing with it. I don't know in the US and other territories but in Spain the SNES came with Super Mario World free. I bought with the console F-Zero and Super Gouls 'n Ghosts. I don't know how to say (in English, not my mother languaje) how much I enjoyed those games. I bought SNES regularly but never enjoyed them as much as those 3 first games, maybe Super Probotechtor (was it called Contra Wars in the US?) can be compared to those 3 first games I got. I'm very very happy that Nintendois releasing a Super Nintendo Classic/Mini or whatever is called. I already placed my preorder on Mediamarkt Spain (the company is German) and they are very serious people, if I preordered it paying 10 € in advance, they won't cancell my preorder because they run out of them. And I was one of the first to preorder it in Mediamarkt so I can confidently say one of them will be mine for sure. I don't want to go through the same s#¡t to get a Nintendo Classic Mini.