The Wonder of 8-Bit

I can't believe it. I'm still owning it.

Well it's not the actual picture of my Nintendo Entertainment System, NES for short; mine is buried under cupboards and thick dusts. But really, there's still one in my house.

NES is a video game console released in the third generation, or the 8-bit era. In its era, this console is every children's dream as great video games were released to be played in the console. And not only in its era, it left a great legacy until now, and some video games in NES console are considered to be the best video games the whole time.

I'm not an '80s guy, but my pops is. Well for brief, he owned it in his younger age, and he kept it to be inherited to my brother and then to me, of course. At the age of four, I wasted my time to sit on the floor and stare on the TV, following the pixels' movement.

And don't think I've forgotten the video games I used to play everyday; they were the greatest. And thus follows:

1. Super Mario Bros.

Who doesn't know this game? It was one of the earliest platforming game, and to date the best. And asking who can forget the theme song is a stupid question.

And to be frank, I wasn't able to complete even a level of it. But talking for a four-years old, I don't know if it was likely or unlikely. It was difficult. Actually still a bit, now. Foremost if you're getting here:

Ah. Sweet. A masterpiece. And it wasn't hold only one of the best games with a very pleasant gameplay, also it was the game with the BEST theme song. Ever.

The Super Mario Song MP3 Download

Masterpiece. 'Nuff said.


2. Pac-Man


And also, who doesn't know this but cavemen? The lil' yellow beads-eating guy that were chased by four 'spooky' ghosts.

With another memorable music; chiptune and electronic musics in the video game which perfectly fits the style of '80s, this video game probably was the golden age of video games.


Also, there's a memorable quote regarding the video game in a rather humorous tone.


"Did you know that the original name for Pac-Man was Puck-Man? You'd think it was because he looks like a hockey puck but it actually comes from the Japanese phrase 'Paku-Paku,' which means to flap one's mouth open and closed. They changed it because they thought Puck-Man would be too easy to vandalize, you know, like people could just scratch off the P and turn it into an F or whatever."

-- Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Hilarious. And somewhat epic. Interestingly, pretty much things regarding this game sounds epic. Even for such an unrelated humorous quote.

3. Tetris

I did play this too when I was younger from my current young age. And with all frankness, this game is one of the MOST annoying game I've ever played in the console.

Your goal in playing this game is...pretty much nothing but to keep the blocks dropping and to keep them for reaching the top end. Fun? Well, it's not a 'no', though I hardly able to not reaching the end. Useless? Yes. I mean, you will also be annoyed if your older brother who is an expert in playing the game asked you to join the Multiplayer game and watching you beaten in every level. Again and again. If such situation did occur not, probably I won't be that bitter toward this game.

It's better than Spica though.

4. Mega Man

Before he became a popular icon among kids and Japanese comic books, Mega Man in the game's cover was actually a more human looking man, wore a blue Astronaut-suit like, and wielded a gun instead having a gun as his hand.

Somehow in the game, he acquired the 'Super-Deformed' form he became popular with, and I never really knew what exactly happened to his hand and the gun that magically merged with it.

The game play was simple: blast your way in each level to get to the boss, and of course in order to reach the final boss. For a simple good vs. evil story which we hardly can concern of and standard side scrolling action-platforming game, somehow this game was pretty interesting. Or can be said, challenging, since the game was difficult even if you're talking about beating one level. But with all its simplicity, this game and foremost the Mega Man himself managed to achieve a position as a gaming icon and also a popular name in the world. Branching to other media and spawning numbers of sequels and spin-off video games were of course also inevitable.

Fingers crossed my NES system is still working. I'm planning to play with it once more.