Ayyy y’all… didja miss me?! Welcome to December on DanjLovesThe90s, where I’ll be droppin’ it on a woman you mighta heard of named Lauryn Hill, the production skills of DJ Premier, and my favorite Christmas movie of all-time.
Speaking of Christmas, most of my favorite and particularly memorable Christmases were during the ’80s when I was a youngin. I changed interests every year it seemed, but one that I kept for quite a while was in video games. I was a lil’ late for the Atari craze of the early-’80s, but by the later half of the decade, I was right on time for a new system that had all the kids goin’ nutso- the Nintendo Entertainment System.
I was also in my G.I. Joe phase around the same time, but in late-’87, I got addicted to gaming. I didn’t get a Nintendo myself that Christmas, but my neighbor Tony (R.I.P.) did, and we spent hours on that shit. The first time I came over to play it, it was early in the morning, and by the time we stopped playing, it was dark outside. That whole day, he kept running back Audio Two‘s “Top Billin’” in his tape player while we ran through Super Mario Bros., Pro Wrestling, Excitebike, Duck Hunt, and Kung Fu. From that one day, I was set on havin’ one of my own, and I got one the following year.
Back then, Nintendo was everybody’s shit. Even though many of those games would probably bore the shit out of the PS3/Wii/XBOX generation, they were the world to us. Every other conversation was about which level we could get to on Mario or how hard it was to beat Mike Tyson on Punch Out!!. I’ve seen knock-down drag-out fights over borrowed games not being returned, or sometimes over arguments which stemmed from regular video game discussions. We took that Nintendo seriouslyyyy.
Parents knew how important it was to us too. When I’d get in trouble (and that was a lot), I could deal with anything except “no Nintendo”. I hated havin’ to unhook it and wrap up the controllers and shit… and it wasn’t like the punishment would even last that long, but it seemed like the longest couple days ever to go in my room and the Nintendo was gone. That was the trump card for a good few years when my generation got hooked on Nintendo. Before that, it was “I’m punished, I can’t go outside” or “I’m punished, I can’t have company”. Around ’88-’89 though? You could prob’ly go outside or have company… but you couldn’t play Nintendo, and THAT was the part that hurt.
Eventually, there came a time where it was eclipsed by 16-bit systems, namely Sega Genesis and Nintendo’s own upgrade the Super NES. But from ’88 to about ’92, I (and just about everybody my age) played that thing until the letters were rubbing off the controllers. From The Legend of Zelda to Double Dragon, Tecmo Bowl to Contra, my thumbs were alllll fukked up in the game thanks to the NES.
-D!
*daps to everybody that tried to shoot the dog in Duck Hunt* That snickering little bastard!
YES!
Metroid, my dude. I LOVED playing that game, and when I found out that Samus Aron was a girl, I just about lost it. I had a bigger crush on her than any girl at my school that year. Lol
I remember getting the nintendo for Christmas. I dont think I played with anything else that day but the Nintendo. Me and my best friend at the time would take turns playing and he would be mad cuz I was beating the brakes off his ass.
My mother, being a horror movie lover and raising me to do the same, brought me this game here.
I would played it with my friends at night. Scared to death. Screaming and all. LOL We some crazy kids. This had to be one of my favorites outside of anything Mario related.
Nintendo didnt stop us from going outside. You played Nintendo until you got bored and then you still went outside and had fun playing Hide and go get it. What? Oh come on. I know I wasnt the only one who played that game. LOL
Good memories!
My uncle and I used to play Nintendo every weekend, non-stop.
I remember playing the first Mario at a friends house a couple times, and I was hooked. (I also remember playing Donkey Kong and Frogger on Atari at my cousin’s house. Get into it.) And my cousin used to kick my ass silly with Blanka on Street Fighter.
By the time my mom got me my own at home (and I don’t know how she knew cause I don’t remember telling her), Nintendo had released Mario Bros. 3 and it came free with the console. Imagine me being mad cause it wasn’t the 1st Mario, the one I already knew how to play. But Mario 3 and his ability to fly quickly became my fave! I spent hours learning how to play that game, and this was before cheat codes, and magazines with helpful hints, tricks, and secrets about bonus levels. Or the power of Google at your fingertips to bring you written walkthroughs of the entire game, and Youtube videos showing you exactly what to do. Had to figure all that shit out on my own!
This gaming generation has better graphics definitely, but they also have it made with gameplay.
[...] Danj talks OLD SCHOOL Nintendo sh*t……Danj Loves the 90s [...]
Anybody remember the movie “The Wizard”, where that little autistic boy mastered all of those NES games, and then won that Super Mario Bros. 3 championship.
That shit had me too hyped LOL, that and the Captain N cartoon. Nintendo had it on lock.
Man…my homie, Isaac, entered a contest given by Nintendo Power, placed 3rd nationwide, and was in a scene in the movie.
Wow! Cool! 3rd in the nation.