over explain. The story usually goes, "This is
the game, get the bad guy, and save the day."
The player figures out the rest. You explore,
discover, and solve puzzles all without being
told what buttons to press.
With that in mind, there are many newer
games that have reverted to that way of
thinking. Games like Minecraft, while it did
have a tutorial, didn't hold your hand very
long. It made players figure out how to make
items and survive while using very simple and
blocky graphics. Other games like The Legend
of Zelda: Breath of the Wild start a player out
with practically nothing and send them out
into a vast world to endlessly discover what
they can do.
Here's the final reason. Retro games aren't
for everyone. Typically, they're harder to
beat, don't look as good, and on top of that,
not everyone has an old NES sitting around
to play one. Unfortunately, as the popularity
of retro games and consoles rise, so does
the price. Remember those Christmas lists I
mentioned earlier? Those four games came in
at about $115 total. On top of that, you still
have the console to purchase. The beauty
of this is that all of those factors create a
mystery for young gamers like you. Retro
games are old, expensive, and they're told
that they won't like them. Even adults would
have difficulty passing up on something like
that.
Retro for a new
generation
Since my NES died long ago, and my
SNES has seen better days, what did I do?
As a collector, I wanted to get both of the
consoles. There is something special about
putting an NES cartridge in, closing the lid
and hitting the power button. It's a launch
sequence that ends in fun, every time.
However, logic prevailed and we
wound up getting a Retron 5
instead. This system has game
emulators for Nintendo,
Super Nintendo,
Famicom, Super
Famicom, Genesis,
Mega Drive, Game
Boy, Game Boy
Color, and Game
Boy Advance
games. Also, the
Retron 5 allows
you to save
your progress, which you can't do on some of
the older consoles. It also has HDMI output
and original controller ports, so you can use
all of your old school controllers, although it
does come with one in the box.
My love for gaming has come full circle. I
now play as much as my kids will allow. I'm
making new memories that rival those of
my childhood. I can take the games out of
storage and share them with my kids. It's a
wonderful feeling to see them experiencing
something from when I was their age, and
reacting the same way.
The Family Computer or
"Famicom" for short, was
released in 1983 in Japan. It was
so successful that in 1986 it was
released to the rest of the world,
redesigned as the Nintendo
Entertainment System.
Off icialKidsMag.com • MARCH & APRIL 2018 • 37
"These games are
classics. They're the
original idea. That's
why they're cool."
- Connor H., age 12
