The phoenix of video gaming
Written: Aug 29 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The herald of the Silver Age of gaming, huge selection of games, still plundered for remakes today
Cons: Censorship issues, often had flickering and slow down
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| 32_Footsteps's Full Review: Nintendo NES |
To fans of video games in general, 1984 was a very dark time. Anyone familiar with video games knows that as the market crash, when more games for systems (mostly the Atari 2600) existed than systems themselves, and the market fell out from under them. In short, it was the end of the golden age of video gaming.
However, 1984 did have one bright spot: late in that year, it was when the first of the silver age systems came out: the Nintendo Entertainment System. Even now, the system has many avid adherents that still play the classic system. What made this system so powerful that the word "Nintendo" became synonymous with "video games?" (Let's face it, by 1987, nobody played video games. We all played Nintendo.)
Well, in terms of processing, it's obviously not that powerful. Often, the system would be at the end of its rope to present the games that were made for it. In terms of action games in particular, you had the most dreaded common occurance: slowdown and flickering. Now, back then, it was seldom anyone complained: you often took advantage of the slowdown to make the timing of the game easier, and the flickering usually didn't prevent you from seeing exactly what was going on. All the same, with such common technological problems, evident in even the "bigger-than-the-Beatles" Super Mario Bros. 3, it's almost a wonder initially why this system was the most popular.
Of course, for its day, the system's sound quality was top-notch. Nintendo's first system delivered rather rich music along with sound effects, and many of the tunes the system did deliver, while hardly a mote in the eye of modern systems, became instant classics. Indeed, many of the tunes on these games have been cleaned up and preserved to the modern day. The Mario theme, the Zelda theme (which, by the way, I played so much that my mom runs in terror whenever she hears it), Tetris' update of the Nutcraker Suite, and the Fanfare used in the Final Fantasy games all first appeared in the early NES games.
The control was slow by today's standards but still very responsive. The controller used 8 primary buttons: four directional buttons and four "action" buttons. The layout of the controls are simple, and even about half of the games made today on the more advanced systems (Game Boy Color obviously doesn't count here) could still use a controller with as many buttons as there are on a NES controller. While the controls could have been more crisp, the system was generally responsive to the controllers.
Of course, the true measure of a system's greatness is in the games. Atari purists and others from the golden age may complain that the 2600 was clearly the system with the best games in history, I have to say that the running is a close call between the NES and it's successor, the Super NES. The classic 8-bit Nintendo was the start of some of the true titans of video gaming. On this system, you can play the original Super Mario Bros., the Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, Bomberman, Final Fantasy, Gradius, Metroid, and Metal Gear. You can also play games that never got the full attention that they deserved, like Ninja Gaiden, Milon's Secret Castle, Vice: Project Doom, and River City Ransom.
In addition, for anyone playing games during it's heyday, this system is packed with memories, from crushing your best friend in a round of Dr. Mario to when you finally got past that main boss that you had been struggling against. For many of us hovering around the age of 20 or so, give or take a couple of years, this was our first truly great video game system, and the one which we remember for that first game we beat. Yes, it's anecdote time, so anyone who thinks I'm a nostalgic windbag can feel free to skip the next two paragraphs.
I fondly remember many games, but two stick prominently in my mind. The first is Metroid. That game, with hrozontal and vertical scrolling, in a claustrophobic maze that all made you think of the movie "Aliens," was the first game that truly got to me. Fearing the life-sucking aliens from SR-388, dodging around dark corridors, I truly got into that game. It also stands as the very first video game that I ever beat. It was a hard-fought victory, and I couldn't have been prouder to finally beat that game. Indeed, you always remember your first.
The second game I remember fondly was Super Mario Bros. 2. It turned everything I knew on its head - for starters, the Princess was helping you, not sitting helpless in some castle. About time she was active. Not only that, but the game play differed so wildly from anything else that I played that I became hooked instantly. In less than a month, I beat that game, and then I knew that maybe, I could get somewhere in life playing video games. My parents laughed at me for this until almost a year ago, when I first found Epinions. Thank you, Super Mario Bros. 2. Thanks to you, I had just a glimpse of what I could be.
At any rate, many people have fond memories of what games they beat on this system. Some people can still remember their first stand-off with the rock monster of the first Mega Man game. Some people still fondly recall when they surpassed 200 lines on Tetris. Some people can even tell you the last names of the helper characters from Castlevania III. To show you what kind of guy I am, I remember all of those.
The system was so great because it has such a large library of games. The system shows the route to success for any console system, followed by every successful system from the Atari 2600 to the Sony PlayStation: you need to get as many game developers on board as you can. The 8-bit Nintendo was perhaps the king of this: scores of developers, more than I can even remember, took a shot at developing for the system. Of course, this had a side effect: while there are great games for the system, there are some veritable stinkers. I mean games like Mystery Quest and Street Fighter 2040. Games that could be considered a declaration of war against the general public.
Another serious issue which did bring down some games was that during this time, Nintendo were fierce and strict censors, a reputation that haunts them to this day. For example, in Maniac Mansion, a hamster is supposed to be microwaved for an alien's consumption at one point. However, after a small initial release, Nintendo discovered this and demanded a change. Of course, a "dead hamster" version of the game is rather valuable now. Other common problems were that no blood can be shown (taking from the Ninja Gaiden games), no religious symbols could be shown (Castlevania and Final Fantasy both hurt there), or any remotely objectionable language (more games than I could count, but the previously mentioned examples work too).
Even with all of these restrictions, the original NES remains an enjoyable play, even today. I'm in college, and I still made sure to bring my NES with me when I went, along with my N64 and the PlayStation that I bought here. People even give me NES games for gifts, bought at used game stores or at flea markets. While I do enjoy the modern systems, nothing will ever replace for me a day where a friend and I can just sit back and try to rescue Cyndi from Slick.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
32_Footsteps
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Member: Rick Healey
Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 234
Trusted by: 278 members
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Back from E3 - tiring, but worth it.
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