They say age is but a number, but I do believe that our age can come to define us in many respects.
For instance, age can be an important point of common ground. An indication of shared experiences. A garden for bonding.
This reservoir of a common language, both figurative and literal, which arises from those shared experiences represents an easier connection point. It facilitates communication and understanding.
Whether I yell out “Norm!” in a bar or start humming the theme song to “Mission Impossible,” my actions can elicit an emotional response in the people around me. That emotion triggers a willingness or eagerness to connect. And off we go.
Those things that we have watched, heard, read, and experienced differ from generation to generation. And while me aping “Star Wars” for my immediate family is going to yield positive results, the communication will inevitably be lost for folks who have yet to see it. And that – whether they’ve experienced a thing – is determined, at least in part, by age.
Super Mario Bros., the definitive pack-in title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, stands tall as an incredibly important title historically. We’ll get into some of the reasons for that shortly, but it is enough to know at the outset that this game helped define an entire industry, saved a company from near-death while vaulting it to the head of that video gaming industry, and launched a mascot into the sort of fame generally reserved for the likes of Mickey Mouse.
A lot of people know this.
I mean, when I wear a Zelda shirt in public, I get the occasional question: “What is Zelda?”
Maybe this is a meme I am unaware of, but mostly I take it at face value: people who don’t game very often don’t know what Zelda is.
Yet people who don’t game still know who Mario is. And that often cuts across generational divides. Most people can grasp the significance:
- Mario and by extension Nintendo are super important/popular in video games.
- This was Mario’s first big starring adventure.
That second point is of course muddier than it needs to be, as Mario had previously appeared in a number of other titles, but the modifier of “first big starring” hopefully adds some clarity. This game was a gigantic hit, and the game was about him, Mario.
And people can accept this thing, because they’re at least vaguely aware of the other games that have come along since.
Super Mario Bros. 1.
One.
It was the first.
Okay, I can understand that.
Even a non-gamer in their teens can probably accept these basic truths and connect with an aging gamer in his 50s and carry on a brief conversation about the topic, just through general historical pop culture knowledge and logic.
Where the age gap enters the discussion is when the “other” pack-in game for the Nintendo Entertainment System is brought up.
“What about Duck Hunt?”
And this is why I “cheated” by listing both games here. Yes, they’re technically both included in a single cart. They’re both included as pack-in games for the NES. And each game is provided its own optimal control device in the form of a standard d-pad for Mario and the light-gun zapper for Duck Hunt. But let’s acknowledge: these are two separate games.
So why list them both?
It’s really pretty simple.
I don’t think either game is as good on its own. And I further don’t think that I can ever truly think of one without thinking of the other.
For a certain number of people who lived through that time period in the 1980s, these two games are unfailingly joined at the hip.
And for those people, who lived the experience in real time, that is as it should be.
Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Continue reading Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 35)Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt at a glance:
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer / Shooter
Released: 1985 / 1984
Platform: NES
GameSpot community rated 9.1 out of 10
