Hey geeks!  It is I back again to do some blog cloggin'.  Actually, my sister used to be in clogging.  What a weird form of dance that is.  Anyway!  Have you seen The Dark Knight Rises yet?  Of course you have, right?  Good stuff and a great end to Chris Nolan's Trilogy.  How long do you think it will be before we see another Bat-movie hit the big screen?  Or will it be a small screen version?  I guess we'll wait and see!

So anyway.  The other day I was going through some stuff and I found my ORIGINAL NES system.  Remember those?

Ahhh, those were the days.  That system was released back in 1985!  That's right, way before you were born most likely.  Me?  I was 7.  Unfortunately, I never owned one until I bought it myself off eBay.  But I did play it as a kid.  I mean, who didn't?  It introduced us to the Mario Bros. and really brought home gaming systems to the masses.  But for me, whenever my younger brother and I wanted to play it, we'd call up our sister's friend and borrow hers.  So I thought I'd give you the rundown of some of those games that kept us entertained for hours and gave us a Nintendo thumb like you wouldn't believe!  For me, these were my favorites...

Faxanadu!

This was an early RPG released in 1989.  You played an unnamed wanderer that is returning home to Eolis to find it abandoned and under attack by Dwarves!  After receiving some coin and a long drawn out tale from the Elven king about their water drying up, you're on your way to find out why.  You fight your way through the World Tree on your way to stop the Evil One.  This game, for me at least, was addicting and very frustrating.  But I had to keep going!  I had to find the wing boots!  I had to find that new sword!  I had to learn the next mantra from the overly-effeminate guru!  Those mantra's were your save point.  They were freakishly long and if you didn't write it down, you'd have to start all over again.  Ahhh, the anger and violence those NES consoles took...

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

With Mario as your referee, Doc in your corner spouting off how you should subscribe to Nintendo Power, and a parade of goofy and memorable giant opponents, you as Little Mac fought your way through 10 fighters to gain three belts and face off against Mike "One Punch and You Lose" Tyson.  Your opponents each had their own unique fighting styles that could easily be learned and almost as easily be defeated.  That is, until you got to Tyson.  By then you were so excited and nervous, you'd dodge to soon and the next thing you knew, you were on the mat.  From Glass Joe, King Hippo and Bald Bull to Don Flamenco, Soda Popinski and Super Macho Man, this game was full of blatant stereotypes, 8 bit musical genius, and a classic underdog story.  007-373-5963!

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Ahh, that golden cartridge.  Still held as one of the greatest games Nintendo ever produced.  To this day, Nintendo is still putting out Zelda titles.  But for me, this is the one that sent it to it's legendary status.  With a world that seemed endless and a story that was so engrossing, you had to keep playing, The Legend of Zelda took you into the land of Hyrule and sent you on a quest to restore six crystals to six different palaces. Ultimately ending with Link facing his shadowy doppelganger and receiving the Triforce of Courage to awaken the sleeping Zelda.  This was a game, that if your brother somehow erased your save file, no court in the country would find you guilty for the type of beating that you had to administer.

I could go on.  But there were so many games that I wasted so many hours on, we'd be here for days.  But here's just a quick list of a few more:

Captain Skyhawk

Excitebike

Ghostbusters

Rampage

Skate or Die!

Tetris

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Super Mario Bros 1-3

If you can get your hands on this console, I recommend it.  Even with my PS3 or X-Box, I still find myself going back to this system for games and memories that were just...fun.  Once again, thanks for indulging me through my inane ramblings and have a great one!

-Drewood