Nice read, thanks for sharing! The NES will always be the epicenter of my lifelong love for gaming. I will always remember receiving Megaman 2 for my bday. We had other games, but as the youngest of three boys, it was the first game that was truly mine. And I will never forget the weird ass cover art it had lol.
NES Mega Man 2 is one of the few NES games that was actually made easier for the American release, in that you could play the game recklessly and still win. The original (more difficult) difficulty was made into an optional "hard" mode, which forced players to play more defensively.
This is really the tip of the iceberg. I remember my math grades suffered because I'd play Final Fantasy instead of doing my homework. That game was groundbreaking.
But most of all, I miss how kids would just randomly get together to "play Nintendo" and bring whatever cartridges they had. It was like a party, and there was always that one kid who had all of the games.
It still boggles my mind that Super Mario movie is a thing that exists. Cinema peaked with that, and it's been all downhill since then.
Final Fantasy 1 was so fun! I didn't have it as a kid, but I bought it on the Wii virtual shop back when that was a thing.
It was rough to get through because I didn't know what I was doing (had a bad party comp, I think), but I somehow managed to beat it. Still one of my favorite gaming experiences.
Oddly enough, I replayed it years later by buying it on the Wii shop after someone gave me their used Wii. That was the only game I ever played all the way through on Wii before giving it to someone else lol
Dad wouldn’t buy me an NES when I was a kid. My next door neighbor had one and we played Top Gun and legacy of the wizard. Got an NES 20 years ago and still have it though my game collection is pretty small. Also have an old crt to play it on. Still bust out SMB3 every once in awhile for the nostalgia.