What I Am Playing(Day 2) | NES

Now, I am playing with power.

I actually grew up with an NES in the 90's. The SNES was all the rage and so was the Genesis but my parents didn't have the money to get me one of those consoles or if they did, I never really asked for one. I wasn't what you would call a hardcore gamer. I was casual to the core. But when my Aunt got me an original NES, I really became infatuated with the console. I didn't have that many games. I only had a small bag full, but I played the heck out of all of them. I would have gotten more games and played those too if it wasn't for my cousin not following my directions and taking the game out of the slot while the system was on. He broke the system, my spirit and my will to buy another console let alone more games.

In honor of my late NES, I decided to head over to a friend's house who had a Retron-5 and play the games of my youth.

I started out with a true classic. Super Mario Bros. This was the game I played the most. I don't remember ever getting that far, but the controls were simple and easy to understand, the graphics were fun, the music was catchy and despite how difficult it was for me at that age, I just enjoyed the experience immensely. It never ceased to put a smile on my face. And it still does. I prefer to Super Mario All-Stars version on the SNES, but the NES version is still a fun one to play and if I ever do buy an NES of my own or one of those hard to come by NES Classics, this will be a worthy addition to my collection. And a cheap one too.

The next game I popped in there, Darkman is definitely not a classic. In fact, it is a pretty awful game. But I have nostalgia in my veins with it, so I had to play it again. I still remember going to some hole in the wall game store in Portland, OR with my dad and seeing it on display and having my dad buy it for me. I was ecstatic at first. I had no idea how bad the game would be, I was just happy and thrilled that there was a Darkman game and I got to play it. I was a big fan of Darkman as a kid(And I still am.) so for a brief moment, I was in video game heaven. Then I played the game. And after hours of frustrating gameplay, I too was crying like Peyton Westlake does at the game over screen. And I cried again with the most recent run through. But not tears. Instead, I cried out in anger and shouted epithets at the screen, while my friend cackled in the background.

The pain continued with another childhood torment, Dick Tracy. You see, I was and still am a huge movie buff. I loved movies. And all things movies. And I thought like a naive little kid who didn't know any better, that games based on movies would be great. The movies were good, so the games must be good too, right? I didn't know how wrong I was until at least half of my collection was full of putrid games based on movies. This was one of many. As a kid, I had no idea how this game even worked. I would drive around aimlessly in a car while getting shot at by turrets on top of rooftops and I would die repeatedly because I could never figure out how to shoot the turrets or do anything else in the game other than die. I only found out that I was supposed to get out of the car until years later when I saw AVGN review this turd. This game lives up to its title and it doesn't do dick for me, except piss me off. I played it for 30 minutes before I shut it off and threw the cart across the room.

Tired of playing piss poor movie games, I decided to break out a game that isn't based on a movie, but instead a fast food joint, Mc Kids. I used to play this one often when I was young, and just like Mario Bros., I usually didn't get that far into it, but the controls were nice, the graphics were comical and quirky, and the music was bright and cheerful. And when I started this one up again, it instantly made me forget the two piles of garbage I played earlier and I was finally able to just sit down and enjoy a game again. I also got farther with it than I ever did before, and even my friend had a fun time with it. We played it on into the night until it was time for me head home. To me, it's a gem on the console and one of the best games I have personally played that is just a giant advertisement for a fast food restaurant.

Overall, revisiting the NES was bittersweet. I was reminded of pain that I had forgotten about and hadn't felt in years, but also excitement and entertainment that I hadn't felt in a long long time. It was worth it and I would love to do it again sometime, with games I haven't played before. And hopefully, they don't suck.

Any day spent playing video games is a win.