Topic: The Nintendo Life 25 Years of NES Play-athon

This week at Nintendo Life we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System. And what better way to celebrate than by playings tons of NES games all week?

So blow the dust out of those cartridges and get a-playin'! And discuss the good times here.

I personally kicked things off with resolving myself to beat Super Mario Bros. And I did! Is it just me or is 8-3 like, the most unfair level ever made? There's no consistency to those blasted hammer bros.
Now I'm moving on to Zelda. Does the magic wand you get in dungeon 6 (or maybe it's seven, i've lost track) do anything special?

@Kid_A: the secret is to run. just run-run-run through World 8. you'll be surprised what you can get past if you just run instead of stopping to think about it. :3

That goes for World 4, too. Makes things sooooo much easier.

@Mickeymac: actually, if you run through the entire game it's way easier than if you don't

Do NES VC console games count? I'll try to play some Super Mario Bros. this week (if I have time at all) and maybe a few others (like SMB3).

if you ain't got an NES, play what you do have, SMF96 :3

What about the swimming levels?

IT SHOOTS MAGIC KILLNESS.

But you have to find the book first.

EDIT: Oh, also, I'm replaying Ufouria. Because I played it straight through for the first time recently and loved it. I'll admit it loses a little appeal the second time through, but it's still a great, cute experience with excellent music.

@josh: swim as fast as you can, obviously :3

I think I'll replay Kirby's Adventure and finish Uforia this week. And maybe try to sneak in some SMB3 on the side too.

@theblackdragon
That's what I did. The problem is those stupid hammer bros aren't in a consistent place. I just had to keep running through the level hoping they wouldn't jump when I jumped, or that they would be on a different level than I was. Silliness.

@ChickenBrutus
I was hoping it would have some sort of super-special awesome use, like the whistle. The only things that stupid wand can't seem to kill are those Wizzerobe guys, which is a shame because they have absolutely no problem killing me.

I was thinking about giving Zelda II another shot at some point. If I used a walkthrough would it be worth it or is it so frustratingly difficult that it's not even fun? I got to the second dungeon last time I played and it made me want to slap an orphan it was so frustrating.

Do not doubt the awesomeness that is Zelda II. Give it another shot. Once you really get into the play-style and control tricks (like the jump-and-slash style of attack) and such, it rules. If you use a walkthrough that points out all the extra heart containers and all, it shouldn't be too rough. Challenging, but not too rough.

Of course, i've played through it dozens of times (including a recent replay on the GBA-cart version), so it's almost like sleepwalking for me. =)

I actually have been playing a bunch of NES games recently (via VC, after i added them to my Backloggery and have an insane amount of Incomplete games now -- even though i've finished most of them in their original cart forms back in the day). In the past month or two, i've gone through Kid Icarus, Metroid, Zelda II, SMB, and RIver City Ransom. My current NES game being played is SMB2 (US), but i think i'll throw some others on to the "Now Playing" list this weekend. Hmmm, what to play, what to play ...

I started playing Zelda II again today. It's pretty fun, I must say, but some of the enemies are pretty cheap. I love the RPG elements, though, and really wish they would come back in future Zelda games.

I'm gonna boot up SMA

I don't have an NES, Can I use my Genesis.......

GET OUT

Yeah, I only have a Genesis also, I guess I'll be playing Sonic 1 & 2...

_{really though I'll just play some sequels to NES games on my SNES}

Here's the secret to Zelda II.

• When you level-up, it's awesome.
• You can level up by one of two ways. The first involves point accumulation, and while I don't remember exactly how it works, it gets exponentially harder as the game goes on.
• The other way to level up is by defeating the boss in a dungeon.
• There are two purposes to a dungeon - finding a tool, like the candle, and defeating the boss. But you only need that tool to continue! You can just leave after that.

SO: Do this for as many dungeons as you can, and then, when it's near impossible to level-up, revisit some old dungeons and get some easy upgrades!

I think I'll start up SMB again and utilize all of the new glitches I've found. I could also :B: Crystalis and Castlevania 3. I'm assuming that this "play-athon" is near it's end, though. Neh?

Played a whole bunch of SMB3 today, but since it was on the NES and not VC, all that gameplay is basically gone (but it was quite enjoyable, so no problem ). Also played some Super C the other day (can't ever get past area 4). I should probably go play through Mega Man 1-6 again, since I love doing that.