Video Games History: Commodore 64, Atari 2600, Nintendo (NES), Sega Genesis

               I remember a time when video games were seen as a pass time for children. My father use to let me use his Atari 2600 when I was around 5 years old (this was back around 1986). I was even lucky enough to play on my big brother's Commodore 64. I mean who can forget such gems from those systems such as Pitfall, Pac-Man, Pong, Popeye, Donkey Kong, Spiderman, and Dungeons and Dragons, among others.
               
                    Whenever I stayed at my father's apartment on the weekends, I would spend endless hours playing his Atari 2600 and also being frustrated playing Spiderman. Oh man, I probably played Spiderman for hours on end. To this day I still don't understand how I burnt so many hours playing Spiderman. Come to think of it, I probably kept pushing myself playing Spiderman just so I could kill the Green Goblin over and over again. Furthermore, it didn't help the fact that my brother got me to be a Marvel Comics fan from such a young age (that's a story for another day). I recently tried playing Spiderman again, but needless to say it hasn't aged well. Spiderman is a repetitive game, it's a pain to control and that is what makes the game hard. Perhaps what Atari knew though was that Spiderman was very popular, and the video game itself would sell on name alone (something we see with other big names). All in all, Spiderman at the very least accomplished what many video games at the time sought; to entertain (and sell) enough for people to escape reality just for a few.
               
                      Around the time I was about 6 years old, I used to look forward to some weekends when my father would take us bowling. Although I did like bowling, I was looking forward to getting on the Donkey Kong arcade. Not only did Donkey Kong look better than Spiderman, but it also was a video game with more strategy involved.  It is no surprise as to why such a video game of the caliber of Donkey Kong was so successful. It's funny thinking back on it but while my father and my older siblings would bowl, I was just interested in the Donkey Kong video game. To my delight one day I came home from my father's record store just to see my big brother playing Donkey Kong on his Commodore 64. Of all the video games he could have been playing, my brother chose to play the one video game I was obsessed with. Luckily it was in one of those days big brother was in a good mood, so I got to grab a joystick and jump on the Commodore 64 just to play Donkey Kong for hours. Perhaps it was Donkey Kong that truly introduced me to Mario, Nintendo's biggest mascot and perhaps the most known mascot in video game history. Anyways, I remember how basic a game Donkey Kong was, just run and climb to the top while avoiding barrels and drop Donkey Kong (a big ape) to the bottom while rescuing the princess. Sure you had the power up hammer to help you plow through barrels, but the gameplay in Donkey Kong was basic yet remained fun although the difficulty would increase. Donkey Kong is an endless video game and its replay value lies in setting a high score. As a matter of fact, there are still people today setting world records for high scores in Donkey Kong.

                It's nearly impossible for me to forget the joy I felt when I received my very own gaming system, the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). It was at the time there was a pricedrop at Woolworth (at Woodside, N.Y.). The NES was "only" $99.99. Dad finally budged and there was my birthday present bundled with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Man I must've played those same 2 games for nearly 6 months (unless I "borrowed" big brother's Commodore 64). Still I was happy enough and not so demanding. For my mother it was a win win situation. If she needed to punish me for bad behavior, she would just take away my gaming privelages. However, if I did chores and my homework, I would be rewarded with more game time. Furthermore it was a way to keep me home where she could watch me. Sigh, such fond memories of video games while growing up.

                    I remember there was a charm about Super Mario Bros. There was just something about running and jumping that kept that video game close to my heart. Furthermore, Super Mario Bros. was the only video game at the time (if memory serves right), where there was much fluidity in the gameplay.  Now what many people within the gaming industry have forgotten is how key gameplay is. Gameplay is the meat of your content, but this is a discussion for later. Super Mario Bros. was one of those games that was easy to get into, but took long to master. The joy I felt playing Super Mario Bros. was augmented when I first discovered the secret to jump from world 1 all the way to world 4, and then to world 8! What truly made Super Mario Bros. unique was the fact that your gameplay experience depended on skill. Some people could take days to beat Super Mario Bros. while others could take a few others. Because of the secrets within Super Mario Bros. I was able to beat it in about an hour. Of course, mastering such a video game to that point took some time. Nintendo got it right with a video game of the caliber of Super Mario Bros. where getting from point A to point B could be done in various ways, and although freedom is limited as in any 2D platformer, it still existed. Super Mario Bros. had a much larger impact in the video games industry than many would want to admit (including myself at times). Mario (the main character) went on to become Nintendo's mascot, and it is perhaps one of the most recognized names in video games history globally! This is perhaps the main reason just about any game made by Nintendo with the name Mario goes on to sell millions world wide.
              
               It was around my 9th birthday when my sister gave me Super Mario Bros. 3! Although I liked Super Mario Bros. 2, it just didn't have the magic of a Mario game (yes in the U.S we got Doki doki panic with a Mario skin). Anyways, Super Mario Bros. 3 is probably my personal favorite Mario game of all time. To me this third installment in the Mario series (4th if you count the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2) offered the most innovation and gave a breath of fresh air to the Mario games. I loved that Super Mario Bros. 3 pretty much gave you choices on which paths to take to finish off each world. It felt as if an RPG (role playing game) element was added to a Mario main game. The usage of the racoon suit, the frog suit (made water levels actually fun!), the feather, the hammer brothers suit and the P-wing, just gave so much diversity to Super Mario Bros. 3 that it was such a charming video game in its own right. Furthermore, you were able to store those powerups for later use which was completely unheard of in a Mario game at the time. It's also important to note that a movie was spawned in anticipation for the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. That movie was "The Wizard", where this Mario game was featured as the final video game to be played in a tournament. I guess it was a dead giveaway for my sister when we saw this movie and I was so excited to see Super Mario Bros. 3 being released soon. Funny enough Roger Ebert criticized this movie harshly, and he seems to put down video games any chance he gets even stating that they cannot be considered art. Well the U.S. government recently classified video games as part of the art medium so TAKE THAT Roger Ebert, once again YOU ARE WRONG. Anyways, all in all Super Mario Bros. 3 truly started marking the beginning of my life as a hardcore gamer.

                We fast forward to about 1992, around the time I was living in Colombia. I remember mom went to visit me with a brand new Sega Genesis. Man the era of 16bit video games was like a dream. Such great video games on that monster, Kid Chameleon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, NFL video games featuring Joe Montana, etc. It was also such a good feeling being the first kid on the block having Mortal Kombat 2 lol.
             
                   Kid Chameleon is perhaps THE game that I have said rivals and perhaps beats Mario. That game alone has enough levels, different paths, several transformations that switch gameplay and just the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to platformers. There are many Nintendo fanboys who will argue with me on this yet have not played the game through, not played it at all, or simply have a huge bias and worship anything Nintendo. I've generally been of the "school of thinking" that if a system has a great game praised by a few, I should at least give it a shot and try to beat it (no, 1 hour in a platformer is not enough to judge). I would have to say Kid Chameleon is a pretty hard game despite all the abilities given throughout. The best thing about Kid Chameleon is that it truly keeps gameplay fresh thanks to the different masks one can use. I mean you can go from just jumping on top of enemies at one point, to becomming something out of a slasher film (Jason) and throwing axes, then all of a sudden you are a samurai, or a tank (similar to Blaster Master). Kid Chameleon is a video game that offers solid gameplay along with variety. This is one of those games where you are truly given choice and i don't mean just get in a pipe to jump to world 4, or use the whistle to get to world 8, I truly mean you can end up anywhere in the 100ish plus levels Kid Chameleon offers. To me, Kid Chameleon is one of those games that fell under the radar yet deserved sales at or above Mario games caliber. Of course I do believe Sega failed to market this gem properly like they did with the Joe Montana football games, but that is a discussion for another day.
                
                 Streets of Rage....that is all I have to say and instantly people of my time (I was born in 1981) will have fond memories. Streets of Rage is just one of those games that becomes an instant classic. I must admit I spent more time playing and replaying Streets of Rage than even Final Fight, just because I had more fun. Streets of Rage was colorful, it felt faster (probably just my perception) and had an amazing soundtrack at the time. Also, Streets of Rage is probably one of those rare beat-em-up games that had more than 1 ending. I didn't spend much time playing Streets of Rage 2 nor Streets of Rage 3 (don't know why), but I know I would still go back and replay Streets of Rage if I had that game with me again. On a related note, I use to love the sequence when you called for backup and that cop would use a rocket launcher (or bazooka, I forget).
                    Next time I will continue talking about more video game past, and hopefully I can get closer to the present. I just hope I am not alone in this nostalgic mindset at times.