So I went to the flea market on a Sunday morning looking for some
stuff for cheap. The one I go to has basically everything. Food
stands, produce, old toys, artifacts, and lastly but mostly, video
games from Atari to Wii.
Then I came across this one stand. Across the tables spread out were
older gaming systems. I remember seeing an Atari 5200(?) and maybe an
SNES. And under a table was a taped up box containing an NES. It had
two controllers, a Zapper, Super Mario/Duck Hunt, and several
instruction booklets for $20.
I read all those posts about you praising the NES so I decided “Why
not,” and bought it. After the NES, two other games, and an old
Transformer (Armada Optimus Prime, to be exact), I hurried home and
promptly hooked it up to my TV (Which was the first time in a long
while I have used it). After having fun with these games for about a
week now, here is what I think of them:
Super Mario Bros
Not much new to say about Super Mario Bros. Everyone and their
goldfish has played this game. I played it on the SNES, the GBC, the
GBA, the computer, the 576447126-in-1 Game Master King Happy Happy Joy
Joy. Yet playing it with the NES controller on the NES itself felt so
genuine. No emulator or port can replicate this.
When I play this game, it surprises me how simple, yet complex it is.
There are 2 different speeds to move. Mario has actual momentum.
Whenever he stops, he doesn’t instantly stop still. By crouching after
running Mario uses this momentum to slide. Enemies can be fought in
several different ways. There are also many ways to jump from crouch
jump to short hop to hook jump. We all know of this by now, but when
you begin to wrap your head around the fact that this was all in an
8-bit game in 1985 that was played with 2 buttons and a d-pad, it’s
mind boggling.
Sometheing else I noticed is how many levels were in the game. Mario
has a total of 32 levels. Many other NES games either didn’t have
anywhere near those levels or had a bunch of single screen levels.
Screen for screen, Mario games had a lot of content.
For some reason, whenever I’m on level 8-3, there is some dramatic
end-game feel going on. Maybe it’s the fortress scenery in the
background, but nothing else says “This is it,” like that level. The
last level on the other hand is kinda disappointing in comparison.
I managed to beat it twice in a row without using any warp zones.
Duck Hunt
A nice little game. Aiming and shooting with the zapper feels
incredibly awesome, even though it’s being used on pixelated water
fowl. I’m surprised at how they made this kind of tech work back then
without strapping awkward sensors to your TV.
The Legend of Zelda
Now THIS is a great game. The way this game worked I find very
interesting. There were a heap of differences from the newer games and
even a Link to the Past and many of them were actually satisfying.
For one, travelling nearly anywhere on the overworld was a
possibility. In LttP, you could go explore a fair amount, but you were
mostly limited to where you were supposed to go at first. In LoZ you
can go anywhere you want and enter any dungeon you could find.
Dungeons were another thing. Any key you found anywhere could work on
any lock in any dungeon. There were even shops selling extra keys if
you needed one! When replaying the other Zeldas, I noticed how they
usually make you use up all the keys by forcing you to unlock almost
each section of the dungeon. They also did this in a mostly linear
order where the keys were metered out. Yet, this Zelda lets you choose
which door you want to unlock and which ones you didn’t. In fact, by
bombing the right walls walls, you could reach the final boss and the
items by unlocking half of the doors. The leftover keys could then be
used for other dungeons. Very neat.
Also, the maze-like nature of the dungeons was intruiging. I
understand what you mean by the maps and compasses now being useless.
In this game, not having either can easily get you lost in the later
dungeons. Storming through Ganon’s stronghold not knowing what is
ahead of you or where to go is an exhilarating gaming experience.
Ruppees I consider to actually be valuable in this game. I remember
finding a chest in LttP containing 300 Ruppees. And this was long
after I maxed out my wallet at 999 ruppees. Sure there were things
like potions and pricey shields to buy, but even then I could just hit
up a couple of chests and cover those costs. Ocarina of Time had
wallet sizes which limited how many you could hold which handles the
problem better. Still, you rarely needed to buy anything expensive.
Nearly everything felt expensive in LoZ, from the potions to the
shield to the ring. And they were all practically needed, too.
Last but not least, the enemies were vicious. Nearly all Zeldas have
their fair share of strong foes, but this one take the cake. If you
try to walk behind a Darknut to slash him, he might turn around at the
last second and stab you. If you are dueling against Wizzrobes, they
might warp across the room and suckerpunch you with a shockwave. If
you cut off Gleeok’s head, it will fly around in an unpredictable
pattern. Even with precision timing, planning ahead is hard and fast
reflexes are vital.
I gotta be honest. Some of the secrets in this game are crazy hard to
figure out. I have gotten stuck in the game a bunch of times and may
have kinda sorta maybe looked up a few hints here and there on the
internet. But I decided to get most of my info from Nintendo Power
scans. It was a lot funner than just reading walls of text from
walkthroughs in GameFaqs (and made me feel less guilty).
All in all, this is a fun challenge. I have played LttP before, but
even with it’s superior polish, it doesn’t deliver the same rush as
this Zelda does. I hope Zelda 2 won’t be too hard to find used.
Final Fantasy
This game was a nice surprise. I’m not a big FF fan, but I got it
because you talked about it so much. Never was I a big RPG fan because
of how overwhelimg the stats and mechanics of RPGS can feel sometimes,
but this wasn’t intimidating at all.
At first, I forgot about going into the town to get weapons (because I
didn’t knew how). I ended up being frustrated from fighting all the
Imps with my bare hands. Pretty embarrassing. I got the hang of it
quickly though and before I knew it, I beat Garland. Then I ventured
out into the rest of the world and the title screen started to play.
It’s interesting how the title screen will only show when you complete
the first part of the game.
Choosing and naming my own characters was neat. I wasn’t entirely sure
which characters to pick, so I went with a Fighter(FINN), Red
Mage(ROCK), Black Mage(ROLL), and Theif(KOTK). So far the Fighter and
Red Mage are pretty awesome, while the Thief is kinda useless.
It’s surprising how big the world is. After getting the boat and
setting sail, I was like “woah,” and when I opened the map I was like
“WOAH,”. When I see a part of the world with something interesting
that I can’t reach, my imagination fires up like crazy. What is that?
How do I get there? What secrets lie within? What danger lurks inside?
Good times.
So far I just beat the Lich. I was planning to send this email once I
beat this entire game, but I don’t know how long it will take and I
don’t feel like cheating again. It may be rough around the edges, but
at least it doesn’t make me go “WTF” like the newer Final Fantasies. I
may have to pick up a few of the other older ones.
Also, the NES came with some instruction booklets for the system and
some random games. They’re interesting reads, really. Especially the
SMB manual.
Did you know:
Smashing a brick as Big Mario gives 50 points.
There are invisible checkpoints halfway in most levels.
The holes in water levels are supposed to be whirlpools and even pull
you into the center.
Cheep Cheep the fish is a girl.
Red Koopa are rather timid and turn on corners out of fear.
Princess Toadstool is not shown in the booklet. In her description, a
question mark is shown where her picture would normally be.
They actually use the words “kill” and “die”. In the NSMB manual,
dying is refered to as “losing a life” or being “defeated” which is
weird given how Bowser melts brutally in the lava.
What a fantastic email. The emailer doesn’t say what game consoles he had before. Apparently, they were post-NES.
And you’re absolutely right that playing games on the original hardware is the true way to experience them. I wish there were more arcades were around so everyone could experience them in the way they were meant to be.
When you talk about the problems like ‘hard to find areas’ in Zelda that you had to look up, I consider that an issue with 1986 as opposed to the game itself. The game is also in 8-bit graphics but that is an issue of 1986, not of the game itself.
Did you try starting the Second Quest in Zelda? There are two Zelda games on Legend of Zelda meaning two different overworlds and two different set of dungeons. Second Quest is much harder. It just boggles the mind how much content is on the game.
Did you have any trouble with the octorocks? Aonuma could not defeat the octorocks. He gave up. I am pleased to see that you could handle the octorocks. (This line is said in the most sarcastic tone possible. Even five year old kids could handle the octorocks fine.)
The original Final Fantasy is incredible with how much content is in the game. The Old School RPG games have this unique talent where they can make you think the planes of the Earth are nearing infinite. It seems something that is lost in the modern RPGs. I hear Xenoblade manages to imitate it, but I wouldn’t know because NOA decided not to publish the game in my region.
Final Fantasy is also amazing in its replayability. You want to eventually try the game again with a different character set-up. Back in this time period, an ‘expert gamer’ was someone who played Final Fantasy with four white mages. But today, an ‘expert gamer’ is defined as anyone who finished the original Final Fantasy (which I find absurd. But apparently games today are such weak sauce that the original Final Fantasy is seen as ‘extremely hard’).
There are too many NES games to recommend. By choosing Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy, you are already picking good ones. I still play those games regularly. Although I am getting tired of playing the same Zelda games over these past twenty five years. I wish Nintendo would make a new Zelda game.
Mega Man 2 and 3 are incredible for the NES. Mega Man was so popular it had six games on the NES. Two and three are the best. Three’s controls on the original hardware feels so damn good and precise.
Of course, Super Mario Brothers 2 and 3. Super Mario Brothers 3 is pure heaven on the original NES hardware. The controls are amazing.
Ducktales, by Capcom, is really good. Don’t let the kiddie-ness of the title fool you. It is a little easy.
Life Force, by Konami, is probably the best shmup on the NES. It is two player co-op. However, Zanac is a really interesting shmup game because of the artificial intelligence:
The distinguishing aspect of Zanac’s gameplay is its unique enemy artificial intelligence, called the “Automatic Level of Difficulty Control” or ALC.[3] The ALC measures the System’s aggressiveness and the game’s difficulty depending on the actions of the player, such as attack pattern and skill level.[8] The ALC increases for experts but decreases for inexperienced players.[3] For instance, shooting the main cannon frequently, collecting power-ups, and failing to destroy bosses within the specified time limit increases the ALC, resulting in a greater number of tougher enemies appearing on screen. However, actions such as losing lives, starting a new level, or destroying reconnaissance planes reduces the ALC, resulting in fewer on-screen enemies.
This is a type of experimentation you find on an 8-bit system but is unheard of on more powerful systems. It saddens me as to why it disappeared.
But perhaps the best shmup is Guardian Legend which is somewhat similar to Legend of Zelda with an ‘overworld’. The catch is that the dungeons are where you turn into a spaceship and kill stuff. But be warned, such a game wasn’t for the mass audience like Mario and Zelda were.
There are Zelda I and II clones like Crystalis and Battle of Olympus.
There is Castlevania III you might want to check out.
There is Contra and Super C.
There is Metroid (which truly is for the expert player. That game is tough).
Star Tropics is a forgotten version of “Zelda for the West” made by Nintendo. The game sold well enough to have a sequel.
Ninja Gaiden I and II will be challenging and interesting.
Double Dragon II is pretty good.
Marble Madness is extremely fun on the NES. Fantastic music.
Blaster Master will rock your world. Blaster Master is like a platformer overworld with ‘dungeons’ where your guy gets out of the vehicle and fights top down.
There are too many to list. But starting with Mario, Zelda, and Final Fantasy, you’re on the right track.
Since you are from post-NES, let me stress that there is a wide range of NES controllers available, some were from Nintendo like the NES Advantage or the NES Max. It is fun to replay games with different controllers. It’s a damn shame Nintendo consoles are just tied to one controller design these days. It really removes diversity of the game experience.
You might want to pick up an Atari 7800 if you can find it (or any Atari). If you can get it very cheap at a flea market, why not? See if you can find Yar’s Revenge, Beszerk, River Raid, or Pitfall 2. Perhaps even paddles and Warlords/Break-Out/PONG. It’s amazing how fun the games are with controllers originally designed for it. Even Maze Craze is fun and that game came out in 1979.
Anyway, for the price you paid, I hope you are enjoying your NES. If you ever have a desire to play Aonuma Zelda (I don’t know why you would, but let’s just say you did), you should play Adventures of Lolo. It is nothing but rooms and rooms of puzzles.
I hope to hear more from you, emailer, with your adventures on the NES.
