After my first encounter with Super Mario Bros, there is a videogame gap. I went from that formative gaming memory to the next gaming memory being “having a lot of Nintendo games.” Were they bought for me? Were they someone else’s? Who owned the Nintendo? It’s a mystery, lost to the ages¹.

From this time period, I remember the following:

Top Gun: the Second Mission – Until literally right now, I had not realized that we had the Top Gun sequel and not the original. When looking for a video of the gameplay, I was like “Where is the tree level? There was definitely a tree level.” Anyway, this game was my father’s favorite, primarily because Top Gun was (and probably still is) his favorite movie. It was fun enough for the time period, but none of us ever got past the tree level, so we just played the opening mission a bunch of times.

Super Mario Bros 3 – I ended up playing a lot of SMB3 in this time period, easily 5x as much as any other NES game. I only skimmed a bit of the playthrough video I linked, but I was immediately reminded how much additional depth (and difficulty!) was added to the overall formula over the original. I also very much liked how you had a limited ability to choose the next level you played, rather than being forced into the next one immediately. Also, proper boss fights were memorable.

Zelda II: The Adventures of Link – My first Zelda game… and what a nightmare for young kids to play. Did anyone legitimately beat this without a guide? Much like with Top Gun, I started this game a bunch of times but never really got very far. Or maybe I did, but later? My strongest memories were the fact that the cartridge itself was golden, leaving the main road was scary, and I never got past Mirror Link.

Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse – Funny story with this one. It was around Christmas time, and I remember my parents asking me what game Santa should buy. They had also told me that Santa knows when you have been naughty or nice… even when no one is looking. I was getting older, and this struck me as suspicious. Why would they need to know what Santa should bring me, if the old man had around-the-clock surveillance? So, I hemmed and hawed with my parents all through December, while voicing aloud the game I wanted while alone in my room. The result was Castlevania 3.

It was not the game I had wanted. And so I learned two important lessons that day.

Blaster Master – When I think about my overall favorite game from the NES era, it would be Blaster Master. This is another one of those “start a hundred times, never finish” games, but it is also one that somehow feels way more advanced than its peers. It has side-scrolling action platforming with a tank car that jumps (!!), features progressive movement unlocks that allow you to find more secrets as you backtrack, and has an entirely separate 3/4 perspective dungeon aspect when you leave the vehicle?! Also, while Duck Tales gets a lot of praise for its soundtrack, Blaster Master is on the same tier, IMO.

1 _{My mother was not in the position to be buying games at the time, so I assume my father bought them. At the same time, it would have been very uncharacteristic for him to do so, especially as evident later in the 16-bit era (foreshadowing!). So, it is possible that they belonged to someone one of them were dating, or maybe someone staying with us, who eventually let me have possession of them later on.}