Introduction

By Nick von Esmarch

Two-tone gray with red and black accents: this seemingly simple color scheme is immediately recognizable to nearly any gamer, even now—even to those of us who were born years after the Nintendo Entertainment System launched. But why? Why, after decades of technological leaps and bounds, does this iconic video game console still hold such a cherished spot in our collective memory? Put simply: the NES changed everything.

Trust us; those of us who were there remember what gaming was like before the NES. After the industry crash of 1983, video games were thought to have been a fad. Not by those of us who played games, of course; but the companies that published them, the retailers that sold them, and the media outlets that covered them all seemed convinced that the heyday of video games had come and gone. The thought might be laughable now, but those of us who were there know how close it came to being true.

It wasn’t just the most popular console of its time; the NES managed to revitalize and reshape an entire industry. For that reason alone, the NES deserves to be celebrated decades later. It helped define a generation of gamers, and its influence can still be felt to this day. If you need an example, just take a look at the NES Game Pad: a Directional Pad on the left with buttons on the right. It changed the way we interacted with games, and it established what most gamers have come to expect from a controller. At one time, every console that hit the market did so with its own unique (and often bizarre) controller. Offerings incorporated joysticks, dials, and keypads in various combinations and configurations. Mastering a new controller took nearly as much time as mastering a new game, and playing on an unfamiliar console was always a disadvantage during a round of competitive gaming. But the NES Game Pad changed all of that. Its influence can be seen in virtually every controller that’s hit the market in the last 30 years. Thanks to the Game Pad, players instinctively know how to pick up and play nearly any game on any console.

For many of us, it now takes only a few minutes to feel comfortable with a new game. And that wasn’t always the case.

Of course, the popularity of the NES wasn’t just about color schemes and controllers. Our love for this system is built on its library of now-classic games. From the day it launched, the NES offered something for everyone. And as its library grew, so did its popularity.

The NES offered plenty of games for fast-twitch players; there were scores of options for players who could turn a single quarter into an entire day in the arcade. But there were also plenty of titles for the rest of us, too. In many cases, conquering a game was more about knowledge than reflexes. Some games could be mastered by anyone with a mind to do so—anyone willing to learn where the available power-ups were located, the order in which they should be collected, and the best times to use them. A missed jump didn’t seem quite so disastrous if you knew where those extra lives were hidden. A room filled with hostiles didn’t seem so overwhelming if you knew the weaknesses of each enemy. A stray shot didn’t matter so terribly when you knew that extra ammunition was stashed just around the corner. Those of us who weren’t blessed with remarkable skill could rely instead on preparation and persistence. We were still free to chase the bragging rights that came with high scores and endurance runs, but the NES also offered games that were deeper than we’d come to expect.

This diversity helped give the hobby a much broader appeal, and it allowed the NES to grow a fan-base unlike anything the industry had ever enjoyed in the past.

Gamers might now be preoccupied with frame rates, load times, and console exclusives, but that wasn’t always the case. Back then, it seemed that our collective focus was squarely on the games, and all of the biggest games were on the NES. The same notebooks we used in class also contained our hand-drawn maps of Brinstar and Norfair. Graph paper squares were filled-in with colored pencil to create pixel-by-pixel reproductions of Goombas, Nettlers, and Octoroks. Secret passages and hidden rooms were discussed over sack lunches. After school, players exchanged hard-earned passkeys to help each other complete particularly challenging games. Before long, it seemed as though everyone had an NES at home, and everyone had at least one game they knew inside and out.

Those of us who grew up with the NES now count ourselves as the first generation of life-long gamers. Many of us have sons and daughters of our own, and we’re eager to share with them the games we remember from our own childhoods. And why not? These titles aren’t just touchstones in gaming history—they’re every bit as entertaining as we remember. A few minutes with an old favorite is enough to make any NES fan remember exactly why they started gaming all of those years ago.