Nintendo’s first foray into the American living room.
There’s no getting around the truly groundbreaking event that was the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) within the United States market. In 2009, IGN named the NES ‘the single greatest video game console in history’. The system was released US-wide in 1985 with a limited pre-release in New York only in 1983. Within the United States, a generation had already fallen in love with Nintendo’s characters and games. Beloved sprites such as Mario and Yoshi had enchanted the youth of the day with the thousands of arcades across the country racing to get Nintendo machines. So it goes without saying that every bleary-eyed gamer kid of the 80’s was super stoked about getting one of these hotcakes in their living room. The previous console that held the title of king of the living room in America was the Atari 2600 with its 8 bit CPU, so it’s little wonder that the NES’s 16 bit CPU allowing kids of the 80’s to play arcade-level Nintendo titles at home blew their minds. Retailing initially at $179 USD ( $420 in today’s currency), the NES sold out America-wide within days of release. Proof of the console’s popularity that will perhaps go unrivaled for all time is the fact that more US households by the year 1990 had an NES than any other kind of computer put together (30% owned an NES vs 23% for all other personal computers combined). If you weren't fortunate enough to have an NES in your living room in the 80’s then there’s a good chance that one of your friends had one. Stories of gaming in the 80’s are not complete without tales of friends sitting together for hours trying to smash out levels on Super Mario. So what were the games that made the NES truly great?
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong was Nintendo’s biggest success in the US market when it originally released on arcade machines in 1981. Major arcades had lines going out the door for the new Nintendo arcade machine, with some even instigating max playtime limits in order to ensure everyone could get a turn on Nintendo’s much sought after new title. Nintendo knew that porting Donkey Kong over onto the NES could be one of the hinges for success of the console in the North American market. The game ported over to the NES system featured the same familiar monkey stealing a short Italian guy’s princess that was bizarrely such a success. Very little if nothing of the game’s design was changed from the original arcade game - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! But with the console’s success potentially hinging on the game’ success, Nintendo made sure that the game played seamlessly on the NES system, with the same ergonomic feel that arcade gamer’s had come to expect from Nintendo machines being apparent on the NES system. The game’s lighthearted fun and easy playability made it an instant success. Arguably America’s love affair with Donkey Kong faded in the second half of the decade, and the Donkey Kong on NES faded in popularity as it was replaced by more in depth titles. Although for Nintendo, it served its purpose and helped propel the console to success in North America, and Donkey Kong has since become an instantly recognizable pop culture icon.
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda, was the very first game in the much beloved Zelda series. The Legend of Zelda was the game that started it all when it came to the Zelda franchise. Developed in 1986 it was specifically developed for the Nintendo NES system. This marked the beginning of the era of producers making games specifically for living room consoles, which for its time was a big deal with most producers previously porting their arcade-developed games over to consoles. Zelda featured Nintendo’s familiar theme of rescuing princesses, this time as a young sprite named link, whom has since become an icon in his own right. The game features many quests all controlled from a top down perspective with 9 dungeons where you must first capture the ‘Triforce of Wisdom’ in order to finally rescue the princess named Zelda. The success of Legend of Zelda on the NES successfully built up the franchise allowing it to release ‘Zelda: A Link to the Past’ on Nintendo’s later console SNES, which is widely regarded by Zelda fans and critiques alike as one of the best Zelda games of all time.
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Brothers is without a doubt the most recognizable and iconic of all platform games ever to exist. The Mario franchise and branding is also the most recognizable of any video game ever. Super Mario Bros was the greatest selling game on the NES system, with over 40 million copies sold. Super Mario Bros was a huge release and is the 5th best selling video game of all time. Mario’s simplicity and ease of play with player’s merely needing to run and jump made it easy to pick up and play, yet at times frustratingly difficult and down right infuriating, it is this that made it dangerously addictive.
