It was 1985, and I was too busy with sports to notice that the home console gaming world was about to revive with the debut of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I was 16.
Sometime in the early 90s, when I was hanging out with an old friend from the neighborhood, I got back into console gaming and picked up a NES at an Electronics Boutique or flea market. I played a lot of the popular titles and discovered the excellent port of Wizardry. I also played other RPGs, Zelda, Ultima, Might and Magic, and found I enjoyed Dragon Warrior the best.
I've had many different versions of the original VHS-looking console since then. The top-loading New Style NES from '93 is my favorite, but I sold it recently, as it's worth something. I use a Retron console for NES now.
TV Time! Short history of the NES.
I actually didn't get a NES right away. I was happy enough playing Pengo on my 5200. Even when my friend got a NES, I enjoyed playing Super Mario Bros. at his house, but it wasn't enough to get me to want to buy one. I actually first played Super Mario Bros. in an arcade anyway. But as soon as Zelda came out, I got one after seeing it at my friend's house. I was impressed you could save the game and come back to it later. So from then on out, I pretty much only played the NES, only to dabble in PC gaming peridoically to play point and click adventures and later on, Lemmings.
For some reason, my friend and I were always trying to get into everything. We had PCs, Genesis and NES in '93, and we were curious about previous systems like the Sega Master System. We'd always get stuff a few years after it came out when they were on sale or part of flea market finds.
I've been thinking about the 8 bit and 16 bit eras a lot lately. Getting a NES on Xmas was definitely a defining moment of my life, like a lot of lucky kids my age back then.
The NES seems to be the first system to really be an obsession with kids. With me in 1980, it wasn't just about Atari, but all the other systems to. It was mostly about the arcades, now I think of it. Maybe it was the better graphics and longer game play that NES games offered that led to the NES being so beloved.
I didn't have a NES. A friend down the street did. His parents got tired of me hanging around all the time, I think. Zelda and Zelda II were the most amazing games I'd ever played, and I still love both of them. Dragon (Quest) Warrior and Faxanadu were my first exposure to Japanese RPGs, and the NES version of Ultima III: Exodus was my first Western RPG (along with Alternate Reality on Atari 8-bits), albeit done with a Japanese graphical and musical facelift.
I tried Ultima III on NES once and couldn't get into it. I should give it another shot.
Ah, the NES. All those hours playing Super C and Mario 3 and so many others!
I just got Mario 3 again because I love map screen and the way you move from level to level. I still get stuck in it all the time though. Platformers! You are the bane of my gaming life. Ha ha.
NES! NES! NES!
It changed everything.