It’s hard to believe that the Family Computer, the Japanese predecessor to the Nintendo Entertainment System, is thirty years old. What’s even harder to believe is that in only two years it will be the 30th anniversary of the NES we all know and love here in the states. I still remember the Christmas I got mine from Santa. I unwrapped the package and beheld the NES box in all it’s glory. However I was terrified to find that it was empty. I’m pretty sure I was crying and throwing a tantrum, searching this empty box for the console. Turns out Santa had tried to be a nice guy by setting up the NES over night, so it was all plugged in and ready to go. The NES was my first console and it served me yell for several years, until I upgraded to a Sega Genesis.
Anywho, to celebrate this thirty year milestone Nintendo is offering seven classic NES and SNES games for a mere thirty cents, plus tax (here in Charlotte it came out to a total of thirty-two cents.) One of these games will be available each month on the Nintendo E-Shop, and after thirty days the current deal becomes unavailable and the next one starts up. Here’s a list of the games that will only cost you a quarter, a nickle and a couple of pennies:
- Balloon Fight
- F-Zero
- Punch Out! Featuring Mr. Dream
- Kirby’s Adventure
- Super Metroid
- Yoshi
- Donkey Kong
Balloon Fight is available as of now, and I went ahead and dropped a few measly cents to snag it. I don’t remember playing Balloon Fight growing up but I quickly realized why many consider it a classic. It’s a simple game with simple controls, yet challenging as heck. I played five games and never made it past the third stage. I’m sure I’ll be playing more of it, and it’s definitely worth the price of admission.
I’m a lot more familiar with the other NES games, having either owned them myself or played them at a friend’s house. I’m particularly looking forward to Punch Out, Kirby and Yoshi, and those were games I loved growing up. I never had an SNES so I never played F-Zero or Super Metroid, but I’m looking forward to checking them out. It’s a shame two of my personal favorite classics, Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. 3, are not included in this list. I just might pick them up once they launch on the Virtual Console later on.
Offering this collection of games for such a low price is a pretty sweet fan service. I’ll gladly pay for all seven of them, and I wish they had even more. I’m curious to see what Nintendo offers in 2015 to celebrate the NES’s 30th.
Its not the NES predecessor it is the NES:
Famicom was the name of the japanese NES as Super Famicom was the Japanese name for Super NIntendo Entertainment System (SNES)
I guess the way I see it, I had an NES, which was released in North America in 1985. The Famicon was released in Japan in 1983 and looks totally different from the U.S. console release.