NES

"Where would Nintendo be without the NES? No, where would WE be without the NES?"

The golden years of gaming, dating back as far as possibly the late 1970's to early 1980's. The NES has truly accomplished a lot for the gaming world, and has made the biggest change for video gaming as we know today. It is a system very well known worldwide for its incredibly huge game library, its series of the more successful games, and for being the king of 8-bit systems on the market for its entire life from 1985 to 1991. It had a lifespan of just less than nine years - one of the longest lasting consoles in the world, and still very popular and well respected as a system that put Nintendo on the map.

The NES was originally made as the Nintendo Famicom System, released in Japan only, in 1983. It did sell well until there was a glitching problem discovered in the system that cost Nintendo a lot of money, and the only way they could ever hope of restoring it would be to redesign their console. They fixed the glitch but totally remade their console; this was the outcome. The year is now 1985. Nintendo decide to release their system to America, so was it worth it? By only the knowledge of all old school and Nintendo gamers, the answer is a blatant, obvious YES.

Like the true meaning of games was meant to be, lots of the NES's games that were released for it are based on gameplay and enjoyability, and not like the next-gen systems, which are tending to base their games a lot over things like graphics and sound. Since when did graphics actually matter? The NES truly concentrates on what is expected for gaming satisfaction, and their means of graphical display were not so bad, they made a good combination that made the NES such a successful hit.

So what happened when the NES was out? Well, with every type of console that is released, the other companies release their own console to try to battle it and win in the ratings. Well, Atari were no match, and Sega's Master System came nowhere near close to beating the NES. Why was this? Well, read on and I'll tell you why.

Let's start with the hardware. Nintendo have used a zero-front loading chip in the system so that games have no loading times, and the microchip processors give smooth and clear running games while you play. This is great for all gamers who like to play it short and sweet, and instead of having to wait for so long for games to load up they will play straight away, one of the best things the NES can do. The hardware chip was not as versatile as the Master System's, so could not display as good speed, but it is still overall very good.

The NES could also store data from games if you ever wanted to return to play at a later time - like the Zelda games and Final Fantasy. Not many games had saving options, though, and there were quite a few tough or long games in which you were unable to save, such as Castlevania, and Super Mario Bros. 3, both of which would have been better off with saving options. Sometimes the NES could not save data properly and could damage it; this was another flaw that could have been worked on to improve.

Nintendo used cartridges for their system. This was not as good for storing graphical display data due to their size, but was a good choice for non-loading and is less easy to damage than CDs. The cartridges are used by inserting them into the lid of the system, pushing them down until it clicked and them knocking the system on. Due to the system's age and no longer being able to be found in mint condition the game sometimes needs to get a few tries to work, which is rather horrid in my opinion.

Moving on, to the system's controller. The NES controller is about 5 inches by about 2 inches, and rectangular in shape. It is not the most comfortable of things to hold as its sharp edges poke into the fingers and you must keep a firm grip on the controller at all times. However, thanks to the earlier Game and Watch system by Nintendo, the Directional Pad has been used on the controller instead of a joystick for easier feel on the left thumb, and the placing of the buttons is just about good enough to reach them with your thumbs with ease.

The system's graphics looked rather blocky, but improved very heavily as the system aged, and this is a very good thing for the NES. The earlier games released in the first couple of years, like Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda, had very blocky and basic graphics. By 1988 or 1989 or so, character models of just about any game begun to take better shape and had better curves and body lines. By 1993 and 1994 when the very last games were out, NES graphics were starting to look like early SNES graphics, take Mario is Missing for example. The system had a limited colour span but shading could be worked out in many of the games, and the variety of colours is good and keeps things recognisable.

The sound of the system is overall average. A lot of the sounds are quite toned down and 'bleep'-y, although most were actually quite catchy and nice to listen to, if you were not bothered about it getting too repetitive and the sounds driving you a bit mad. The sound could have been improved, but overall it is quite decent.

The game library was one of the best things the NES had on offer. Many different types were made, and the early games of the systems had their own categories. The 'Action' series included games like Super Mario Bros., while the 'Sports' series offered a good range of fun sports games such as Baseball and Soccer. Even some old arcade games made appearances, like Popeye, Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., in the fabled 'Arcade' series. There are around 400 games in the NES library, a wide selection. Some of the best games to make it onto the system include none other than Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 and 3, The Legend of Zelda series, Final Fantasy, Castlevania and Tecmo's sports. Many games are hard to get used to, but are overall all very fun to play and you could enjoy them for hours at a time.

The system originally cost a bundle of money, but now you could probably buy the system second-hand from anywhere like a car-boot sale, a second-hand goods store, eBay or whatever, and a game included for something like £10 or $20. Due to the system's age and that it is no more being produced, it is very rare and tough to find, but if ever by chance you happen to see a system, you ought to buy it. This is a main downfall of the NES's marketing on being such a rare and classic item. Many games can still be found around in Funcoland and places, so you can still build up a decent game collection for not much money nowadays.

All in all, the NES is one of the best systems ever made. Some of the greatest games have made their earliest appearances on this system, and it is what made Nintendo such a big hit on the map. Although rare, it is cheap and some of these games are very fun to play, whether you like challenge, fun, old school, arcade, this system has it all in terms of 8-bit resource. An excellent system overall.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/03