Number 6 [Most Memorable NES Games]

6.  Super Dodge Ball

Super friggin Dodge Ball.  Everything surrounding this game is pure happiness.  This is the only sports game on my list, so that says a lot.  Although calling this a sports game would be like calling a jackhammer a hand tool.

So, basically, you're trying to kill each other.  It's pure, simple, and easy to understand violence.  My brother and I loved it.  You're trying to annihilate your opponents in professional dodge ball matches to the death.  This was another game we'd play until our thumbs were sore.  Who needs to go outside when you can play games like this?

I'm sure it wasn't the on-screen violence's fault, but this game led to many a scrape between Joby and me. There's only so many pixelated power shots you can take before you lash out in real life.  It was all good on the co-op mode, but when we'd go versus- you'd best just back up!

It would start off slowly.  A little push here or there.  Then would come the I'm joking, but I'm not really joking, so you better stop doing that punches to the upper arm.  Next was full on smacks and kicks.  Before you know it, people are getting strangled by controller cords, whacked in the back of the head with Zapper guns, barrel-rolling around on the floor, and lamps may or may not be falling off of night stands.  By then our mom had already come in and threatened to take away the Nintendo.  That usually got our tails back between our legs.  Can't we all just get along?

"One more power shot, sucka!"

Come back tomorrow for my next game.  And be sure to check out all the posts in my Most Memorable NES Games list.

[Screenshots courtesy of GameFAQs]

Number 7 [Most Memorable NES Games]

7.  Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

Belmonts, whips, and Dracula?  Awww, yeah!

This game came at two distinct periods for me.  The first was the the regular, nine-year-old everything sucks unless it’s a Nintendo game phase.  I adored this game back then. The gameplay was so different.  The creepy atmosphere, haunting music, and RPG elements were just killer.  (Sorry, even I can't believe I just went for that pun.)

I’d haul my NES over to my Grandma Charlene’s house and play this on her monstrous console TV while the rest of the cousins yelled at each other for cheating on Go Fish.  I remember getting pretty far, but never completing it.  My brother and I would always seem to get stuck somewhere.  Again, no internet.  (See also Metroid.)  But it was still great.  It was like a horror video game.  Which is , like, so wicked cool when you’re nine.

In my sophomore year of high school I entered into my I’m so awesome I still rock my old NES from when I was nine even though I have a Playstation phase.  This game came back hard for an entire week.  I’m not even sure where I got it.  Places weren’t still renting NES games in late 90’s, and I know I didn’t buy it because I’d never sell it, and I know I don’t have it.  I know I don’t have it because I just checked.  Like, literally, just checked.


Anyway... My second time through Castlevania II was sweeter than the first.  I’d turn the volume down, crank Metallica’s Master of Puppets, and play for hours in the evenings after school.  Thanks to the NES Game Atlas, I finally put Drac to rest in the fall of ‘96.  There is a pant load of hate out there about this game, and I don’t know why.  It’ll always be one of the most memorable bridges into my two prominent times of Nintendo fervor.

Come back tomorrow for my next game.  And be sure to check out all the posts in my Most Memorable NES Games list.

[Screenshots courtesy of GameFAQs]

Number 8 [Most Memorable NES Games]

8.  Dragon Warrior

Although Dragon Warrior came in at number eight on my list, it holds a spot in my heart that no other game can touch.  This game began my passionate love affair with RPGs that continues to this day.

RPG stands for role-playing game, for those not in the know.  This genre focuses more on characters, story arcs, and an overall narrative, rather than quick reflexes and dexterity.  There is usually much more problem solving than button mashing.  Often these kinds of games will take weeks, if not months, of gameplay to complete.

The best thing about Dragon Warrior was that it was free.  I got this free with my subscription to Nintendo Power.  I think that was what sealed the deal for my mom when I begged her for a subscription.  $15 for 12 issues of a magazine PLUS a free game.  Free.  When you're a kid and somebody offers you something for free*, you take it.

I remember trekking the lonely sidewalk between my apartment and our little communal mail box unit.  There were so many disappointing strolls back.  Day after day I waited for my first issue of Nintendo Power and this game.  Then magically one day, there it was.  And man did that box art pull me in.

I had never played a game like this.  There was so much to read and explore.  It also had a real story.  I'll be danged if it wasn't a pretty good story, too.  At least for ten-year-old Justin.  I was all about maxing out your stats and finding every single item- even back then.  It came with this incredible fold-out map that I would sneak out of my backpack during silent reading time in my fifth grade classroom.

Months sounds right.  I'm not sure how many, but it was at least four or five to finally finish this game.  We'd get really into it and play it nonstop for days.  Then we'd drift a way for a bit.

I remember a huge sense of accomplishment after destroying the Dragon Lord.  This was an epic game that captured my imagination in a way that other games had not.  The best part was that this was only a gateway game into even harder RPGs to come.

*Okay, okay.  I looked it up.  You had to send in an extra $3 to cover shipping for the game.  Jeez.

Come back tomorrow for my next game.  And be sure to check out all the posts in my Most Memorable NES Games list.

[Screenshots courtesy of GameFAQs]

Number 9 [Most Memorable NES Games]

9.  Contra

This game is a little fuzzier.  I'm not exactly sure where Contra began for me.  It just always was.  I can't remember a distinct time frame in my sweaty NES days when I wasn't playing Contra.

My brother and I played this one until we had blisters on our thumbs.  And the yelling.  So much yelling.  We'd play it at friends' houses, we'd play it at our dad's farm, we'd play it on the Play-Choice 10 arcade at Big Cheese Pizza, and, for our house, we'd rent it.  Boy, did we rent this game.  I'm sure we could have easily paid for it based on our rental frequency.  No other good games at Hometown Video?  Just get Contra.  Again.

I remember arguing about the cover art.  Specifically, Joby and I would argue over which guy we were in the game.  The characters were named Mad Dog and Scorpion.  Scorpion?  Yeah, right.  We both wanted to be Mad Dog.  And on the title screen, one of them had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.  Of course that had to be Mad Dog.  Très cool.

This was one of the first video games I remember beating, courtesy of the legendary Konami Code.  The first time we got all the way to the end and destroyed Red Falcon was out at my dad's farm.  I remember sitting on his dingy living room carpet, eyes fixed on that console TV, and just pounding the B button.  He didn't really seem to care much, but Joby and I were high-fiving like only two kids in the late eighties could.

Come back tomorrow for my next game.  And be sure to check out all the posts in my Most Memorable NES Games list.

[Screenshots courtesy of GameFAQs]

Number 10 [Most Memorable NES Games]

My posting streak had to end.  I posted four days in a row.  In over three years of blogging, I've never gotten close to that.  Life...  Anyway, here's the next installment:
10.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  II: The Arcade Game

December 25, 1990.  South Park Apartments, Colby, Kansas.  My trembling 10-year-old fingers gripped what I knew to be a Nintendo game hiding under that festive wrapping paper.  But which one?  I was still shocked we were even getting games this year.  

My brother had already opened his- Little Nemo: The Dream Master.  Hmm.  We had never heard of that one.  That delightful game would go on to be one of my brother's all-time favorites, although nobody ever seems to have heard of it.  

I remembered being burned a year earlier with Back to the Future.  Shudder.  With closed eyes, I tore into that gift with all the grace and precision of an ice skating elephant.  This game was the beauty I held in my chubby hands.  

My friend, Laramie, would have sleep-overs at his apartment with my brother and me.  His mom, Cleo, was a saint.  She would let us stay up so late, being rowdy, and allow us to cook all concoctions of ramen noodles in her kitchen as we played this.  The discovery of a secret code for 10 lives let us eventually defeat Krang and Shredder.  It took us months, but victory rarely tasted sweeter.

I don't really remember wanting this game.  I was kind of over my Ninja Turtle infatuation.  That was so 1989.  But man, was I glad I got this!  What an excellent game.

I still have my copy from that Christmas.  Complete with my red JUSTIN sticker on it.  Every time I see it, I can't help but remember those crazy sleep overs and the simple joy that playing a game with friends could bring.

Come back tomorrow for my next game.  And be sure to check out all the posts in my Most Memorable NES Games list.

[Screenshots courtesy of GameFAQs]