Well we are starting a new feature here at SomewhatNerdy called “Nerd Talk with the SomewhatNerdy Crew.” Were each of the Nerds here at SWN answer questions from you, the fans, about Nerd culture. We will answer a question every other Tuesday and if you would like to send the Nerds a question you can email us at Snarfkris@somewhatnerdy.com with yours. This week the question before us is “What is your favorite classic gaming system/game?”
Snarfkris
Well mine is going to come way out of left field with a strange title that I guess most people most likely never heard of or played … Felix the Cat for the NES. I know it wasn’t my first game but it was the one that has stuck in my head since 1992 when the game came out. Simple side-scrolling two button fun with 9 worlds and a boss at the end of each level … just how games should be. I played many, many hours, days, weeks … finding every secret area and beating the game over and over again over the course of most of my youth. In Felix there was flying, boat, and land levels where you used everything from tanks to hot-air balloons to a F-in dolphin. This choice comes more from my heart with the game I can almost pin point the moment I became a gamer for life. Just check out the awesome gameplay video below and if you got a extra copy of Felix laying around and want to get rid of it feel free to email me at Snarfkris@somewhatnerdy.com ;)
Derf
Sure I could say my favorite old school console was the Nintendo, but I have to say my most found memories are going to the arcades in Baton Rouge and playing Donkey Kong. I mean what other system can say its is more Old School than an arcade machine? I’m not talking about Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, I’m talking about when Pac-Man, Frogger, and Donkey Kong ruled the arcades. I don’t know what it is, but Donkey Kong has always been my favorite old school game. Is it the Barrel throwing? Is it the fact the Donkey Kong was a bad ass character? I cannot put my finger on it but Donkey Kong was the shit back in the day, at least to me.
Sure graphics today are realistic enough to fool most people, but where is the fun in that? They just don’t make games like they used to. Sure Minecraft takes you back in the day of pixel goodness, but its not the same. I just remember all the good times I had planning Donkey Kong. Who knew that something so simple would spark one of the most popular franchises there is? When you played Kong you were just some guy named Mario, I never knew he would be “super”. Anyway, that is my take on the best Old School system and game. Now if you excuse me, I need to find a copy of Donkey Kong and get my game on.
Raz
What’s my favorite old school system? That’s easy, for me it’s the Sega Dreamcast. I was actually a Super Nintendo kid who spent more hours than I should’ve playing ‘Super Mario’ and the like. Then in ’99 when the Sega Dreamcast was released it seemed like a console from the future, it was way ahead of other consoles at the time like the ‘Nintendo 64’ and ‘Playstation’.
I saved up money for months on end to purchase games and some of the many accessories it had. I loved the tamagotchi style memory cards that even had little games of their own on them but my favourite was the fishing rod used for ‘Sega Bass Fishing’. Also don’t forget that the ‘Dreamcast’ was the first games console to try to make internet gaming available on a wide scale, a big leap for the industry at the time.
I spent many days sat in my room playing on my Dreamcast and I don’t regret one second of it. Unfortunately Dreamcast was severely damaged by piracy problems, a problem other consoles of the time had, the effect was very critical financially and just two years later in 2001 it was discontinued. The console did have it’s problems such as a very awkward controller and could crash on you quite often, despite these flaws I absolutely loved it. Looking back at it you can see it’s influence on future consoles, such as the Xbox. Sadly my Dreamcast collection was destroyed whilst moving house and I never replaced it but I still get an urge to play it every now and then, maybe I’ll look on eBay one day.
The Dreamcast had MANY great games such as ‘Kiss: Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child’, ‘Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare’, ‘Star Wars: Demolition’, ‘Worms Armageddon’, ‘Crazy Taxi’, ‘ WWF Attitude’, ‘Sega Bass Fishing’, ‘D2’, ‘Sonic Adventure’, ‘ECW Hardcore Revolution’, ‘Spider-Man’, ‘Evil Dead: Hail To the King’, ‘ South Park Rally’, ‘Heavy Metal: Geomatrix’, ‘Dino Crisis’, ‘Capcom VS SNK’, ‘Demolition Racer: No Exit’, ‘Resident Evil Code: Veronica’, ‘The House Of The Dead 2’, ‘Looney Tunes: Space Race’, ‘MDK2’, ‘Nightmare Creatures II’, ‘The Ring: Terror’s Realm’, ‘Marvel VS Capcom’, ‘Soulcalibur’, ‘Mortal Kombat Gold’, ‘Spawn: In The Demon’s Hand’, ‘Virtua Cop 2’, ‘Super Street Fighter II Turbo’, ‘Wacky Races’ and more.
But my all time favourite was ‘Shenmue’ and it’s sequel ‘Shenmue II’. I spent MANY, MANY hours playing those games and even pulled old school all nighters completing them. ‘Shenmue’ largely consists of an open world adventure segments with real-time 3D battles. It was actually the most expensive video game at the time, with a production cost of $47 million. There were plans for a third entry but it seems to be stuck in development hell leaving the story at an unresolved cliffhanger and many fans like me disappointed.
Hurc
Ok so the question is what is your favorite old school system and game…well thats an easy one. My favorite system kinda revolves around my favorite game and that would defiantly be Castlevania Symphony of the Night. I say that the system revolves around it because the game was originally released by Konami in 1997 for the original Playstation and I was addicted from that day on. Shortly after the Dreamcast was released in 1999 one of my friends modded his and just so happens he had a Symphony of the Night ISO and the addiction was reborn. Due to this game I was a Playstation man through and through. Well that is until I wanted to buy a Playstation 2 while I was deployed in Afghanistan, to help pass the time, but the local PX was out of them and all they had were Xbox and didn’t know when they would be getting more. I bought an Xbox that day and haven’t looked back ever since. In 2007 my love for Symphony of the Night was reborn again when Konami teamed up with Microsoft to port Symphony into the Xbox Live Arcade and I still to this day find enjoyment in vanquishing the undead in Dracula’s Castle.
Check out the original commercial below, how awesome.
Servbot5000
Before it was called ‘gaming’, we called it,”Playing Nintendo.” When asked what the greatest old school system and game combination is, I instantly recall my introduction to, and immersion into, Nintendo’s NES Bundle(including Super Mario Bros./Duckhunt). This combo is solely responsible for the growth of Nintendo’s undeniable presence in the gaming industry, even producing its most prominent ‘big gun’ franchise star, Mario; however, my choice of greatest game goes to DUCK HUNT. When I received the console, after hooking it up, it was like magic the way my freakin’ LIGHT GUN was smoking these ducks… until… 
The ducks were just too fast.
Of course, this system has many other notable games, propelling an All-Star group of characters decades into the future to be constant draws to whatever Nintendo’s most current system may be (see any Smash Bros.)
