The Vooks team shares their favourite NES games and memories!
We all have our gaming memories here and there, but for many of us, our first gaming memories started here with the NES, or 8-bit era. We’ve written up our personal favourite moments and games from the era, so let’s get stuck in!
The NES is home to more classics than you can count on several hands, and there are plenty that I have played a bunch of and love to bits. There is one game that I always keep coming back to though. One game that captivated me literally at first sight and brought me nothing but joy ever since. That game is Kirby’s Adventure.
I rented the game when I was about 8 years old from memory, and it left an impression of me. I distinctly remember having to keep a journal as a writing exercise for school and writing about it, alongside an illustration of the boss room with the suplex beetle. I don’t think I have seen a teacher more puzzled than when I tried explaining what the heck I was talking about with sucking up bugs and stealing their wrestling moves.
Kirby was the first game I’d encountered with save files too. For a kid used to losing all my progress when mum told me my half hour of video game time was over, this was a revelation. To make sure my save file didn’t get overwritten between rentals I chose the third save slot, and eventually finished the game over a couple weekly rentals.
I still go back to Kirby’s Adventure on occasion. The music is wonderfully complex and the game looks incredible. The layered music and colourful visuals are marvellous, especially considering the machine generating them. It’s even nicer looking in the somewhat recent 3D Classics version too, which is probably the best way to give it a try these days.
My favourite NES game and memory go hand in hand. The game is Super Mario Bros. 3 and as far as I’m concerned is still the best Mario side-scroller AND one of the greatest games ever. I played this game a hell of a lot growing up and my brothers and I basically got it down to muscle memory. Well, that’s what I like to think. Realistically it was just playing it over and over to remember all the secrets in the game.
Eight worlds of pure awesomeness, SMB3 added a bunch of new power-ups, enemies and mechanics to improve over Super Mario Bros. and return to form from Super Mario Bros. 2. The game was pretty lengthy, but still gave you the option to finish it going from world one straight to world eight.
My favourite NES memory is when my brothers and I would sit on the pink fold out foam sofa and play SMB3 from start to finish. As the game was only two players and there were two of us, we would play a two player game and once we finished a stage would had the controller we had to the person who wasn’t holding one. This meant we all got to play and no one was stuck with Luigi.
Super Mario Bros. 3 really is one of my all time favourite games. So much so I made a video a while back for my blog explaining why there is nothing better than it. Feel free to watch it and tell us why you agree or disagree. This isn’t a test so there are no wrong answers!
What’s this I hear you ask? Out of all of great games on the NES, Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Kirby, Contra, Castlevania and everything else – why this.
Ultimate Air Combat was one of the three games I got with my NES, and when you only have three you play a lot of each one of them. Published by Activision in 1992, the game was released really late in the system’s life as well. The game is a flight simulator and as you can imagine, on the NES that’s impressive but also at the same time restrictive.
You play as a unnamed fighter pilot the best there is, a top gun if you like. The White House has called upon you to take down the evil military dictator Don Gwano. He’s using oil exports to fund his own private army and Uncle Sam isn’t happy. There’s 37 different missions in the game, the planes to pilot – include the F14 Tomcat, F18 Super Hornet, Harrier and once you lose one that it. Game Over. You essentially have three lives throughout the entire game, each of the planes. The planes too can have a different load out as well, do you go for more weapons or more fuel – because run out of fuel and it’s game over as well.
Each mission is in two parts, the first part is a dog fight above the ocean from within the cockpit. While it is game is more arcade-y than sim you have to be careful not only not to get shot down, but release chaff, avoid stalling and avoid crashing into the ocean. The graphics are fairly simple and with both the sky and water blue it can get a little confusing. Once you defeat three enemies its onto the ground assault in an isometric view – it’s very similar to what Desert Strike would be. Each mission has a different objective, but they all boil down to just blowing up something. The games music too on point and it’s one of the few NES games to have voice samples in it – although your pilot yelling out YEAH every time you take something down does get annoying.
I’m afraid to go back to this one, because I know it’s probably terrible. But when you’re 6 you don’t really care. Ultimate Air Combat provided me with many hours of fun, but I honestly don’t think I can remember finishing it. It’s insanely hard in the later levels and with only three planes, no saves and no battery backup you have to be really patient with it. I, of course, love other NES games, but this one… is one that stood out from the crowd. Plus everyone else here is going to pick Mario or Metroid right?
My favourite NES memory is a very personal one, with this particular memory being the moment where I became a lifelong gamer. And it all began when my mum and I finished Zelda II on the NES. when I was 5 years old.
Our family wasn’t really rich or even well off when I was growing up, with things like electronics and games being a luxury. So it would have been well after the SNES came out when we got the NES Top Loader (I’ve since read these things are rare, so I wish I still had it…), with just a handful of games. We had Zelda II, the 3 Super Mario Bros., and Kirby. And while I just said my fondest NES memory is with Zelda II, my favourite game out of all of these was Kirby’s Adventure.
Kirby is, was, and probably always will be the best first platforming game a kid could start with. Forgiving, lots of different power-ups, and the most accessible art style all make a very, quite simply put, fun game.
While I grew up and moved on from Kirby, only to revisit it in recent years, finishing Kirby’s Adventure as a kid was my proudest achievement. At least, until I moved onto the SNES after the N64 came out…
So there you have it! Do you have some favourite memories you want to share? Post in the comment section below!
Another new addiction?