New Nintendo Product Sensory Overload

The other night, I felt the need to beef up my GBA SP collection, soooo I made a trip out to Best Buy, with a couple of left over Christmas gift cards. I was slightly annoyed that they didn't have a bigger selection of Gameboy Advance games, and that most of them were stupid, yet I did find a couple of gems! The last games that I bought new for my second lil' best friend (first lil' best friend being my I-Pod) were last summer, the NES Collection Dr. Mario and Legend of Zelda, which are both wonderful on the SP! Anyways, this time I picked up Super Mario Bros. 3 and Mario Tennis Power Tour, both of which inspired me to do this blog.

Alright. I eagerly drive home with new Nintendo products in the yellow Best Buy bag, its freezing outside I feel like it is 1988. I finally make it back to my apartment, and begin to open my boxes. Nintendo products in 2006 are nearly the same as they were 20 years ago. The same shrink wrapped, colorful boxes. The same cute, tiny instruction books and the same amount of excess cardboard inside. These games are the packaged the same as NES games that I opened new, Christmas 1987. I look over the instruction book, which has this soft, Sanrio plasticy smell, I love that. The cartridge itself is the same. Yes, everything is printed and made in Japan. I flip the switch and my Flame Red SP glows to life.. the first cart I try is Mario Tennis, given that I was a HUGE fan of the Gameboy Color version, years ago... a great summer, floating in the pool game that mixed RPG with action.

This new Advance version is similar, and I love it.. it's cartoony RPG and crazy fun. Ever want to play Princess Peach or Toad versus Donkey Kong or Luigi in tennis? Ha! I can, and it's ridiculous. The RPG adventure looks amazing and really fun... no doubt inspired by the GBC Mario Tennis of a few years ago, which was outstanding.. it was like Final Fantasy in a Tennis Academy! LOL. I love Nintendo!

After a lil' while, I have to put this down and try Super Mario Bros. 3! I loved this game on the NES, and am pleased that it is one of the few NES games that I own that I do not have to "blow into," to get it to work. It fires right up on my near 20 year old system, and plays flawlessly. It's been a long time since I donned the Raccoon Mario or Tanooki suit, sooooo I just had to have this.

What a surprise! It has been totally updated, to give it a Super NES look! It's beautiful! Yes, I am a purist, but I can't get over how amazing this new version looks... and yes, it has the same superfun gameplay. Nintendo, again.. rules. It's so beyond the NES version in graphics and sounds.. it has digitized Mario and Luigi! It looks very much like the beautiful SNES Super Mario World, that came with that system, and is still one of the best games ever made. Again, the colorful instruction book, on glossy, high quality paper, printed in Japan. The soft, plasticy smells. The game enclosed in a tiny, soft plastic bag, inside the box. This is all so cute, I cannot stand it. Oh, and before you go and think I'm turning into a video game wimp, I'll easily wipe the floor with you in PS2 SOCOM III.

The music, the graphics, the gameplay, everything is perfect. I love that after 28 years of playing video games, things like this still make me smile. The simple pleasure of opening a new Nintendo product is so delightful, I can't stand it. Everything is so perfectly put together. Super Mario 3 easily frustrates the hell out of me, and makes me laugh at the same time.. those dogs popping out of manholes to throw bones at you in the second world are insane, not to mention how Toad jumps up and down while explaining how the King has been "Transformed!" It's all so silly. Nintendo's sense of humor never lets me down... from King Hippo in Punch-Out to bridge-building monkeys in the first GameBoy Zelda to this. I love it. Few game companies, if any have made games such as this, for 20+ years, that can infuriate as well as entertain. The first time I saw Donkey Kong upside down with stars around his head and missing teeth after falling in the ancient Donkey Kong arcade game, 25 years ago, I knew that something was good. I couldn't imagine that I'd still be laughing, at age 33 over such things, however. Back to Mario Tennis, for an instant.. the opening conversations beween my character, "Clay" and my female partner, "Ace" are hilarious. I am collapsed in bed, too tired to move, while she yells at me and puts my things away. I toss and turn in my underwear, and she calls me names, telling me to get up for breakfast, in the most ridiculous cartoony fashion. Sigh. I just can't belive the conceptual continuity that Nintendo has, they are truly a special company, with incredibly talented programmers and game developers, not to mention having some of the funniest people in the world on their development teams.

Oh well, it's getting late, and I'm beat. Lucky for me, my GBA SP needs recharged, otherwise, I'd be up for the rest of the night, laughing and playing until I either throw the thing or start calling people at 4am, telling them about how wonderful it all is.