A Walk Down Memory Lane with Nintendo

As a child, when it came to presents, my Christmas loot was ranked according to the number of Nintendo games acquired. If we received a game from my parents, we would claw open the box and play the new game until time to head to my grandparents. My grandmother has always been a great gift giver, and so on the way to my grandparents, Mark and I would sit in the back seat discussing what game we hoped Mamaw would give us. Then, amidst the chaos of present opening, I would catch a glimpse of Mark out of the corner of my eye. He would raise his eyebrows, and proudly display the latest sports game from EA Sports. A grin would come on each of our faces as we contemplated the number of hours we would put into the game in the coming weeks.

Thanks for walking with me down memory lane, as I remember the good ole days of anticipating the newest Nintendo games. I figured it would be in the holiday spirit to rank the greatest Nintendo Games of all time. Before you chuckle at my efforts, let me tell you my credentials. 1) My brother and I have been a Nintendo Loyalist since the beginning. We’ve never given into the Sega imitation, the X-Box craze, or the Sony Playstation. No, we are men of conviction and solidly support Nintendo with our time and money. From the original 8-bit system to the gamecube (hopefully the WII as well) we’ve had em all. Secondly as embarrassing as it might be to admit, my brother and I were subscribers to Nintendo Power from issue 1-100. I remember receiving a gift in the mail one day from Nintendo that said “thanks for being with us from day one.” Thirdly, not to brag, but Mark and I both were blessed with a natural ability to play video games. You know how there are just some people that no matter what the game, they catch on quickly…well that was Mark and Brian. You might call us naturals. Fourthly, our Nintendo playing was so intense, there is no doubt, it was the cause of most of our childhood fights. Of course the ultimate cause was my indwelling sin, but nothing like a “he’s on fire” in NBA JAM would light up my temper. Do I need to explain my accolades anymore?

The 10 greatest games of all time in descending order!

10) Street Fighter 2 Turbo Edition (Super Nintendo) – It might not be on everyone’s top 10, but let’s face it, Street Fighter 2 began the side-to-side fighting craze. Mortal Combat simply followed in Street Fighter’s wake. The turbo edition allowed one to up the tempo of the game and be the big bosses like M. Bison. Want proof it’s a top 10 game, go into public and scream “SHY UIKENI”…somebody will know you are imitating Ryu. In the Sorgenfrei house, there was nothing quite as intense as a Ken vs. Ryu showdown. I never actually knew if Street Fighter 1 existed, but Street Fighter 2 was revolutionary.

9) Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball (Super Nintendo) – By far the best baseball game ever made. Some might protest and scream “RBI Baseball.” The graphics and the gameplay were unmatched at the time. I believe it was the first game to give the player the ability to play a season with a team and the system would keep up with people’s batting averages etc. For some reason I remember Ron Gant being incredible in Ken Griffey Jr. baseball.

8) Super Mario 3 (NES) – It could be higher in ranking, but it rests at 8. Super Mario 3 had the first flying Mario, and was always on the receiving end of the greatest marketing ploy in video game history. Before the release of the game, “The Wizard” came out in theaters. “The Wizard” was a movie about some video game phenom who went to the Nintendo Championship and played Mario 3 for the first time. I always thought I could have given the Wizard a run for his money had we played Street Fighter 2, but he was impressive. Anyway, great game, especially considering the poor efforts of Mario 2.

7) NBA Live 95 (Super Nintendo) – The best basketball game ever made. You could form all-star teams, play seasons, and have great head to head play. It had a unique camera angle that helped out the game play. We had many, many fights over how ridiculous Dale Ellis was (always on Mark’s team).

6) Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) – With 8 play options instead of 4, it was unprecedented at the time. The zig zag run never failed to fool the computer, and the “real life” graphics after a touchdown were awesome. I can still hear the ‘hut hut hut hut hut” sound of the quarterback awaiting the snap. Christian Okoye anyone?

5) Mario Kart 64 (N64) – Probably the second greatest multi-player game of all time. It was one of the very few games that females would actually join in and play. Usually they sat around and watched us play, but Mario Kart looked harmless enough. Granted, they never fared very well, but it was a great game. There was nothing like having a big group playing Mario Kart where only the winner stays. Nothing got the adrenaline going like trying to cross the finish line before a red shell popped you.

Hold your breath, we will continue tomorrow with the 4 greatest Nintendo games of all time. Feel free to share some of your own walks down memory lane.