NES 20th Anniversary
1UP's 20th Anniversary NES retrospective begins today with a sexy hub page and a lengthy NES overview by Jess.
It's sort of embarrassing to admit, but I remember my first encounter with the NES. Well, that in itself isn't so embarrassing. However, the fact that my first reaction was to roll my eyes at it is.
It was at a Federated electronics store in, I assume, early 1986. Federated was sort of like Best Buy or Circuit City, but before anyone had figured out the key to running a successful electronics chain was super-competitive prices. They had a demo kiosk with the NES set up -- and by kiosk, I mean an NES hooked to a TV on an open shelf, next to the VCRs. A salesman was enthusiastically showing off Kung-Fu to passersby. I watched for a few minutes, thinking, huh, that looks way better than the Atari did.
Then I walked to the next area, where another salesman was showing off a new computer called the Amiga. He ran a graphics demo and then played a little bit of a game, and frankly it made the NES look pitiful. Right then, I knew I had to have an Amiga.
But since my parents didn't really see the need to drop $1000 or more on a top-of-the-line computer, they instead picked up a remaindered Coleco Adam, and I pined for an NES for a few years until I finally saved up and bought one for myself. Just as well; can you imagine how much more elitist and insufferable I'd have been if I'd become an Amiga snob? I shudder to think.
Even though I couldn't afford an NES at launch (which is fine, since I didn't really want one), I didn't lack for Nintendo Entertainment. As it happened, my best friend at the time lived a few houses down from me, and we typically walked home from school together and hung out for a while. So when his mother bought him an NES, Super Mario Bros. became a part of my afternoon routine.
Of course, he owned quite a few other games as well. But Commando and Trojan and, later, Kid Icarus couldn't compare to the majesty of Super Mario. And he knew all the tricks -- he could run his extra lives up to the point where the game killed him in World 3-2, he could find his way through 8-4 without a pause, he could even do the "Minus World" glitch every time.
And since he lived with his NES, he could play at any time. On the other hand, the only time I was able to play Super Mario Bros. was when I was at his place. Needless to say, this gave him a small advantage over me, and two-player games tended to be somewhat lopsided. Typically, he'd play until he died somewhere around 5-1. Then I'd take up the controller and hope to make it past 1-4. Then he'd play a few more levels, after which I'd get about a fraction of his time in. By the time I'd made it to World 3, he'd be negotiating impossible jumps in 8-2.
It was like this most afternoons for months and months. And by the time I finally got myself an NES, right at the tail end of 1987, I was sick to death of the first few worlds of Super Mario Bros. I played the copy that came with my NES about three times, then rushed out to get something, anything that didn't involve flying turtles. (Luckily, my eye was caught by the shiny silver box of Metroid, saving me from a terrible game-hating life that might have resulted if I'd bought, say, Chubby Cherub instead.)
And to this day, I've never finished the original Super Mario Bros. I can get to 2-2 or so before the post-traumatic stress disorder kicks in and my hands start shaking too much to carry on.
In an uncanny burst of great timing, my Messiah NEX arrived today. Just in time to wrap up the NES 20th Anniversary week.
Such naughty see-through packaging.
What's in the box? A system, A/V cables, power cable, wired controller (it supports the Messiah wireless controllers, but those cost E-X-T-R-A), and an impressive NES cart-shaped instruction manual.
The manual includes a complete Digital Press NES rarity guide. So if you want games for your NEX, take the guide shopping and spit on EB Games when they charge $14 for a game worth $5.
Also of note is the fact that the D-Pad is, well, a D-Pad, not that questionable cycloid thing on last year's wireless controllers. The new Messiah pad is really comfortable in the hands and the D-Pad responds well... unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be entirely compatible with games. For instance, my English version of Final Fantasy IIIj doesn't seem to respond at all.
English version of FF3j, you say? But such a thing doesn't exist! True enough, but here it is. OH SNAP.
The hardware is nice -- lightweight and sturdy. Carts seem to seat a little too tightly for my liking, making it a little difficult to wrench them out sometimes. A Super NES-style eject button would be very welcome. Also of note is the Famicom cart slot on the top; I don't have any Fami carts at the moment, but I think I'll be rectifying that situation STAT.
Unfortunately, there's still no failsafe cure for a janky cart. THANKS FOR NOTHING KOHLER
Ahhhhh, that's better. Screw modern systems, this is all I need on my desert island.
Fun fact: You guys may have voted SMB3 as your favorite NES game ever, but I beg to differ. It's still pretty rad, though.
Overall: I'm likin' the NEX. I'm looking forward to seeing the Genesis and Super NES hardware patents expire so Messiah can make sleek 16-bit systems for us, too.
The NEStravaganza continues with Ray's Sublime Seven feature (which explores the important relationship Nintendo had with its third parties, back before it alienated them all) and Chris' Good Nintentions (which explores the fact that NES fans are generally psychotic). Enjoy! Or not.
Feedback from the NES thing seems to be pretty positive so far, which is good. NES nostalgia is a pretty thoroughly tapped-out field of cultural archaeology and I was concerned that everyone was sick of it already. But by and large, everyone is still all warm and fuzzy over the NES. No wonder Nintendo wants to tap into the past (both literally and conceptually) with the Revolution.
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