25 years ago New Coke hit the supermarket shelves, Back To The Future hit the theaters and Nintendo created Super Mario’s first game, Super Mario Bros. in Japan. Today he is the most commonly known video game character next to Pac-man. To celebrate Super Mario’s 25th anniversary, Nintendo created this special logo for the occasion. Later this year, Japan will be re-releasing Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii which chances are will have this logo on the case of the game. Hopefully the re-release will hit the states as well.

Back in late 1987 Bandai released Stadium Events, a game part of the Family Fun Fitness series. Early the next year Nintendo bought the right to the series and re-released it as the the Power Pad. The two Family Fun Fitness-branded games that had already been released, as well as Bandai’s version of the running pad accessory, were pulled from shelves and destroyed due to Nintendo’s new Power Pad brand. In that time period there are believed to have been only 2000 copies of Stadium Events created and out of those only 200 sold to the public. Stadium Events is possibly the rarest game for the system that turned around the home console video game industry in the late 80’s which has been booming ever since.

Recently an Ebay auction popped up featuring a serious video game collectors dream, a sealed copy of Stadium Events. A copy of the game with the box included can go for over $10,000 but a factory sealed copy which was thought to not exist just sold for $41,300 in an Ebay auction.

Here are the words of the seller:

This was bought over 20 years ago so my memories are fuzzy (we have over 175 games – which, btw will be going up for auction in the coming months - all with boxes! – some unopened).  What I remember is that we bought it thinking that we could play it by itself and then realized that we needed the pad (?).  Somewhere in there it was recalled so the pads weren’t available when we went to purchase it.  We never got around to returning the game…lucky us!

More @ ebay & Wikipedia.

“My nesP is basically a noname china brand portable media player, with the advantage of being able to play nes roms, and a nes controller hacked to the controls. First off the buttons on the original media player just sucked, they were so small and tight that my fingers could not easily push them. So I got the idea of modding a nes controller to it, that’s when I remembered about the above mentioned mod, and thought maybe I can cram this inside of a cartridge case with the controller. Well it worked perfect, it was like it was made to fit, I didn’t use any hot glue or anything other than some double sided tape to hold the battery in place. It’s a really tight fit though. It’s got 4gb built in memory, with a sd card slot in the inside so you could expand the memory if needed, and not only does it play nes games, but it also plays gameboy and gameboy color roms as well. 2.8” TFT LCD, built-in rechargeable lithium battery, Video player, MP3 player, FM radio, Picture viewer, Audio recorder, it’s got a camera and video camera (but I disabled them to fit in the case), built in speaker, and the best part… TV-OUT !!! so you can play on the big screen! The unit has 2 additional buttons on the front, ones power, and the other is used to navigate the main menu, basically it’s a ‘back’ button. And there is a small hole drilled in the back with a reset button behind it. The unit has 3 plug ins on the right side, AC power (to charge the battery) Mini USB (to put files on the thing) and the TV-OUT plug. I also spent some time and redid the images used for the main menu and the game selection screen.

Now last thing, this unit cost me a lot to finish, due to going through 3 game cases, 2 controllers, and 2 of the media player systems I used, so to recoup my loses, this thing is for sale. So if you’re interested drop me a PM. Thanks for looking.”

This was never an option from Nintendo during the NES days but it would have been a nice one.

Link.

What do ceramic tile and classic NES game pixels have in common? Colombian artists Andres Barragan and Miss Vynilos have tiled a bathroom shower to resemble the Nintendo game Donkey Kong Jr. Each tile was put on the wall one at a time, tile by tile, based on a blown-up screenshot of the Nintendo game’s pixels.

More @ Technobob

This one looks interesting. I’ve never heard of Spelunker, a NES game that came out by Irem in 1987 but a remake is in the works which looks like a cross between Super Mario Bros. and Elevator Action. In Spelunker, the player must make their way through a cave to get to a treasure while avoiding hazards, traps and enemies. Apparently the arcade and NES version were extremely difficult but I think the remake will be easier as most are. The PSN downloadable game is set in hi-def graphics and is set to be released in Japan with no news yet on a U.S. release.

1: 10-Yard Fight is a 1983 American football arcade game that was developed and published in Japan by Irem and published in the United States by Taito. The Nintendo Entertainment System version was developed and published in Japan by Irem and published in North America and Europe by Nintendo in 1985.

2: Baseball is a simple baseball video game made by Nintendo in 1983 for the Nintendo Family Computer, making it one of the first games released for the Famicom. It was later one of the NES’s 18 launch titles when it was released in 1985 in the United States. As in real baseball, the object of the game is to score the most runs. Up to two players are supported. Each player can select from one of six teams.

3: Clu Clu Land is an arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System game released in 1985 and was later released in North America on the Wii Virtual Console on September 1, 2008. The game was called Vs. Clu Clu Land in video arcades. The game has been re-released for the Nintendo GameCube in the game Animal Crossing.

4: Donkey Kong Jr. Math is a Nintendo video game where the player must solve math problems in order to win. It was released in 1983 for the Famicom and then outside Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System two years later. The game was released in the United States before the NES ports of Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong.

5: Duck Hunt is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan. The ducks appear one or two at a time, and the player is given three shots to shoot them down.

6: Excitebike is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 for a price of 5000 yen. It is the first game of the Excite series, succeeded by its sequel Excitebike 64 and the spiritual successor Excite Truck.

7: Golf is a sports-simulation video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released in Japan in 1984 for the NES/Famicom. The golfer is a mustached man who resembles Mario.

8: Gyromite is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with the Robotic Operating Buddy. Gyromite is one of two games in Nintendo’s Robot Series.

9: Hogan’s Alley is a 1984 arcade game by Nintendo. It was one of the first games to use a light gun as an input device. The game flashes “cardboard cut-outs” of innocent civilians and thugs in front of the player and the player must react quickly to “take down” the bad guys and spare the innocents.

10: Ice Climber is a vertical platformer developed and published by Nintendo for the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. The video game features Popo and Nana, collectively known as the Ice Climbers, venture up 32 ice-covered mountains to recover stolen vegetables from a giant condor.

11: Kung-Fu is a 1984 arcade game developed by the Japanese company Irem Corporation. It was manufactured under license in the United States by Data East. It was released in Japan as Spartan X and credited “Paragon Films Ltd., Towa Promotion”, who made the movie starring Jackie Chan, called Spartan X (Wheels on Meals) upon which it was based. The game contains elements of Bruce Lee’s Game of Death.

12: Mach Rider is a futuristic driving video game created by Nintendo. It was first released on October 18, 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. A month later, on November 21, the title was released in Japan. On March 15, 1987 it was released in Europe and Australia.

13: Pinball is a 1984 arcade game created by Nintendo. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System later that year. In 1985 it reached North America. The Nintendo Entertainment System version added an alternating two-player mode

14: Stack-Up (a.k.a. Robot Block) is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with the Robotic Operating Buddy. Stack-Up is one of two games in Nintendo’s Robot Series, the other being Gyromite.

15: Tennis is a video game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1984. The concept of the game is very basic in that the player controls one person faced against an opponent CPU player. This game uses the same scoring system as “real-life” tennis. The game also features a doubles (2-player) option. The opponent CPU player can be set at 5 difficulties.

16: Wild Gunman is a light gun game created by Nintendo for use with the Zapper peripheral was released in 1985. The Famicom version was also available packaged with a plastic, western-style revolver accessory that could be used instead of the Zapper. Perhaps due to the public outcry at the time over realistic-looking toy guns, which resulted in a 1988 US Federal Law banning unmarked toy weapons, this accessory was never released in the US or European markets.

17: Wrecking Crew is a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System where the player controls Mario and attempts to destroy all of a certain set of objects on each of 100 levels. Each level takes place on a playfield divided into an invisible grid, each space of which can contain one object. Objects include destructible walls, pillars and ladders, indestructible barrels and ladders, bombs that destroy all connected destructible objects, and various enemies that Mario must avoid.

18: Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed by Nintendo in late 1985 and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System, a sequel to the 1983 game, Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., Italian plumber Mario must save Princess Peach (Princess Toadstool in the US version) of the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil Bowser, king of the Koopas. In order to save Princess Peach, the Mario Bros. must conquer the eight worlds that comprise the Mushroom Kingdom.

NES games always hold a place in my heart and the Mega Man series is a great set of games which feature increasing difficult levels and addictive gameplay. Between 1987 and 1993, the first six Mega Man games were released on the NES with two more sequels following in the next couple of years on other consoles. Then the series seemed to fade away into video game heaven.

A few months ago Capcom shocked their fans and announced Mega Man 9. It’s designed to emulate the style of Mega Man 2, going back to the roots of the original Mega Man games during the NES days. It will be released as a downloadable game for the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3 and should be released later this month.

Official Japanese Site

Justin at DeviantArt has posted some really neat 3D renderings of classic 2D NES games. The above screenshot is my favorite but there are also some great renderings of Excitebike and Legend of Zelda.

more @: nes–still-the-best

History:

Way before the NES, Nintendo released a game similar to Duck Hunt in 1976 that involved a projector with a built-in game and a shooting gun. Duck Hunt was released in the arcades in 1984. Then after the NES was released, Nintendo released Duck Hunt on it. Both Duck Hunt and the Light Gun used in the game were developed by Research & Development 1. It was originally released along with Super Mario Bros. as a double pack-in title released with the NES Action Set in the U.S., and it came out on October 18, 1985 in North America.

Gameplay:

In Duck Hunt, the player uses the Light Gun (AKA Zapper) to shoot ducks or clay pigeons as they fly on the screen. There are three game modes: one duck, two duck and clay pigeon shooting. In the duck modes, the player shoots down ducks that fly on the screen. The player gets three shots at shooting the duck before the duck takes off and flies away. In addition, the player has a limited amount of time before the duck(s) will fly away. If you shoot a duck or two, the dog will hold them up to show you. If no ducks are hit then a dog will pop out of the bushes and laugh at you. The clay pigeon game is similar but instead of ducks flying around the screen, clay pigeons are shot and fly off into the distance. The clay game is more difficult in Duck Hunt because the targets are smaller.

Review:

Duck Hunt was one of the first home console video games to use a gun. Although the graphics are nothing special here, the use of the gun makes it one of the better games on the NES. The interactivity between the gun and the TV make the game very unique for its time. Other light gun games came out for the NES but Duck Hunt has always been one of the best light gun games. The game can be a bit repetitive with the levels basically repeating over, only at a faster speed. The music in the game is very catchy.

Overview:

Kirby’s Adventure is a platformer game which involves Kirby, a little pink circular shaped character who swallows his enemies and gets their powers. Developed by HAL Laboratory, Kirby’s Adventure is the only NES Kirby game and it was released in North America on May 1, 1993.

 Gameplay:

The game consists of Kirby trying to get through a series of seven worlds, each with four to six levels, while walking, jumping, flying and destroying enemies along the way. Kirby has six points of health on his health meter and the enemies will take a health meter away when they come in contact or fire weapons at Kirby. There are also mini-bosses placed throughout the levels. What makes Kirby unique from other characters is his ability to gain his enemies powers. When Kirby inhales and swallows his enemies, he gains a power that they had. Powers range from giving Kirby a sword to making him electrified.

Review:

Kirby’s games are usually very fun platformers often hiding in the shadows of the greatness of the Mario Bros. games. By the time kirby’s Adventure was released in 1993, the NES was towards the end of its lifespan and programmers were able to squeeze out every bit of power that the NES had. This includes beautiful, colorful, detailed graphics and 3D visuals in some areas. Sound in the game consist of some very catchy blips and bloops.

Worlds:

1. Vegetable Valley
2. Ice Cream Island
3. Butter Building
4. Grape Garden
5. Yogurt Yard
6. Orange Ocean
7. Rainbow Resort
8. Fountain Of Dreams

Overview/Story:

Metroid is one of those games that over time never stops being entertaining. The player controls a space bounty hunter named Samus Aran in the year 20X5 C.C. as she is on a mission to stop the Space Pirates leader “Mother Brain. The Space Pirates have destroyed all lifeforms on planet SR388 and Samus must stop the Metroids from destroying Planet Zebes. Samus is ranked the best space hunter for the job and is after a big bonus from the Galactic Federation. It is the Federation’s job to make sure that the universe remains peaceful. Although the graphics are about average for a game of its time, the music and gameplay really shine.

Gameplay:

While trying to stop the Mother Brain, Samus must travel through a huge maze of caverns while collecting power-ups and special abilities. There are many enemies along the way that will want to stop Samus from destroying them. There are bosses like Kraid and Ridley that Samus will need to pass in order to destroy all Metroids. There are also hazards along the way that Samus can avoid by finding special power-ups.

Samus starts with just a weak canon shot but by the time the game is completed she has many weapons, bombs, suits and other ways of destroying the enemies. Some areas of the game won’t be accessible until other areas are passed or features are gained. In the end, Samus finds out that she must escape the planet before it self-destructs in a certain amount of time.

The game was released in Japan on the Famicon Disc Drive. Originally the North American Metroid was to have a battery backup system similar to Legend of Zelda’s but after poor sales in Japan, Nintendo decided to use the password system. The password system gives the player a password when Samus gets killed. The player then writes down the password and types it in when they restart the game so they don’t have to start from the very beginning. It was one of the first games to feature such a system. The game designer Gunpei Yokoi also designed Kid Icarus, which is very similar in design and presentation.

Passwords

Just a few days ago I found an amazing looking Super Mario Bros. themed wedding cake and now I find this. See the artist here chose a much simpler way to characterize a Nintendo theme without losing the impact. The partially hidden chord in the back might even be made of Tootsie Roll. I need to get married.

Overview/History:

Super Mario Bros. 2 has always been the game that’s been a little different then the others in the series. Sure it has Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess but something always seemed different. The reason is that Super Mario Bros. 2 is a remake of the Japanese Famicom game “Yume K?j?: Doki Doki Panic”. Nintendo did release a true sequel to Super Mario Bros. in Japan but because it was very similar to the original and difficult, Nintendo decided to rebrand Doki Doki Panic as a Mario game in North America. It was released in October 1988, three years after the original Super Mario Bros. was released.

Gameplay:

Unlike any other Mario games, the player gets to choose which character he wants to play as. They get to choose between Mario, a well balance character, Luigi, a high jumper, Princess, a long jumper and Toad, who is very fast. In addition, the player may want to choose their character, keeping the level design in mind as different characters do better in different levels. The characters must regain the land from the evil Wart. Another thing unique to this Mario game are the enemies and weapons. The characters can pick up vegetables out of the ground and chuck them at the enemies. Also, jumping on characters doesn’t work in Super Mario Bros. 2.

Characters start out with two heart units. When they lose one they shrink down smaller as in the original Super Mario Bros. Additional hearts can be gained and found throughout the level. Potions can be pulled out of the ground. When a potion is found and the character throws it, a door appears. Inside the door lies a dark world where the character can uproot vegetables that turn into coins. The coins are exchanged for a chance at the bonus slot challenge after the level is complete. There is no time limit in the game. The levels that the characters travel through aren’t like other Mario games. Instead of castles and pipes to travel through there are more vases and palm trees. The game has an Egyptian feel to it.

The Story:

One evening, Mario had a strange dream. He dreamt of a long, long stairway leading up to a door. As soon as the door opened, he was confronted with a world he had never seen before, spreading out as far as his eyes could see. When he strained his ears to listen, he heard a faint voice saying “Welcome to Sub-Con, the land of dreams. We have been cursed by Wart and we are completely under his evil spell. We have been awaiting your arrival. Please defeat Wart and return Subcon to its natural state. The curse Wart has put on you in the real world will not have any effect upon you here. Remember, Wart hates vegetables. Please help us!”

At the same time this was heard, a bolt of lightning flashed before Mario’s eyes. Stunned, Mario lost his footing and tumbled upside down. He awoke with a start to find himself sitting up in his bed. To clear his head, Mario talked to Luigi, Toad and the Princess about the strange dream he had. They decide to go to a nearby mountain for a picnic. After arriving at the picnic area and looking at the scenery, they see a small cave nearby. When they enter this cave, to their great surprise, there’s a stairway leading up, up and up. It is exactly like the one Mario saw in his dream. They all walk together up the stairs and at the top, find a door just like the one in Mario’s dream. When Mario and his friends, in fear, open the door, to their surprise, the world that he saw in his dream spreads out before them!

In the end, Mario and his friends trounce Wart and open a secret room containing one of Sub-Con’s characteristic vases. After pulling a stubborn cork from the mouth of the vase, eight red fairies spring out. The four heroes are lauded for defeating Wart, whose beaten body is passed over the crowd and tossed aside. Immediately after, the screen shows Mario snoring, indicating that the entire adventure had been a dream.

Overview

The 1987 classic NES boxing game: Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! is one of those amazing games that doesn’t lose its touch over time. As graphics get better, controls get more accurate and monitor resolution gets higher, this game still stands out as one of the best games made for one of the best systems.

Because the NES wasn’t as powerful as the arcade hardware the game has to be redesigned with simpler graphics. Instead of making Little Mac semi-transparent so you could see through him, Nintendo decided to make Little Mac small so the opponent could be seen over him. This also led to the story with Little Mac being so small and amazing for his size. Mario makes an appearance in the game as the referee.

Story:

This is story of an underdog. Little Mac has to work his way up the professional boxing circuits. Along the way his trainer helps him out with pumped up adrenalin rushing montages and tricks to beating a series of fictional boxers. The final fight then takes place with real-life boxer, and then-World Heavyweight Champion, Mike Tyson.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in this game is a lot of fun and so great to play. As you can see in the table below, there are many moves Mac can make despite the limited number of buttons on the NES controller.

The fighting screen is split up into two sections. The top 1/4 has all the info you’ll need to know. You’ll see more details about that below. The bottom 3/4 has the fighting action. This game requires good reflexes in reaction to the computer-controlled boxers’ punches. As you advance through the game, the boxers give very little indication of their upcoming moves. The trick to winning the game is to learn the opponents’ boxers’ strategies. Once you learn these, their moves will become predictable and easy to conquer.

Opponents:

Minor Circuit

• Glass Joe (Paris, France) – The easiest boxer in the game.
• Von Kaiser (Berlin, Germany) – A former boxing instructor.
• Piston Honda (Tokyo, Japan) – Japan’s national boxing hero.

Major Circuit

• Don Flamenco (Madrid, Spain) – A vain Spaniard.
• King Hippo (Hippo Island) – The largest of the WVBA contenders.
• Great Tiger (Bombay, India) – A great magician.
• Bald Bull (Istanbul, Turkey) – Known for the Bull Charge.

World Circuit

• Piston Honda – Former Minor Circuit champion.
• Soda Popinski (Moscow, U.S.S.R.) – Professional Boxer and soda lover.
• Bald Bull – Former Major Circuit champion.
• Don Flamenco – Champion of Spain.
• Mr. Sandman (Philadelphia, PA) – Former World Champion.
• Super Macho Man (Hollywood, CA) – WVBA World Champion.

The Dream Fight

• Mike Tyson (Catskill, NY)/ Mr. Dream – Heavyweight Champion.

Cheats:

Training Tips

In-between fights when Doc is talking to Little Mac, press select rapidly to get tips from Doc and heal Mac a little before the next round begins.

Passwords

Enter the following passwords on the password screen

• 075 541 6113: Busy Signal 1
• 206 882 2040: Busy Signal 2
• 005 373 5423: Don Flamenco
• 005 737 5432: Major Circuit
• 005 737 5423: Major Circuit
• 007 373 5963: Mike Tyson
• 032 730 8442: Piston Honda
• 940 861 8538: Super Macho Man
• 777 807 3454: World Circuit