Back In The Day Show

Don’t bother calling yourself a serious gamer unless you know most of these quotes. That’s Syd Lexia’s charge, more or less, and he’s right. Any self-respecting gamer should be familiar with this kind of video game minutia. To quote Lexia, “we determine whether or not another human being is worthy of our attentions by testing them with pop culture quotes and references.” So true, and we do this constantly–most of the time without even thinking about it. The very theme of our podcast was born from this idea. So check out the list of quotes and see how many you know. You’ll either enjoy the trip down memory lane or learn some new, totally useless information. Either way, his list is humorously written with complimentary screenshots. And be sure to check out his Website as he’s also a fan of 80s and early 90s pop culture.

50 NES Quotes Every Gamer Should Know

The list of quotes is pretty awesome (my favorite is 13), but I do have a few additional NES quotes of my own that I’d like to share:

Quote: “HELP!”
What it’s from: Jackal
Context: Several structures can be blown open allowing the POWs within to escape. You can pick them up or drive away.
Comments: Back in the day, Konami took the traditional shooter and added a vehicle element. So you essentially got Contra with jeeps, and it turned out to be a pretty decent game called Jackal. In the game, there are several destructible buildings that house POWs. After blowing open a building, you’d see the POWs cry, “HELP!” and run towards you to be rescued. All you had to do was drive over to them, and you’d get a point bonus and sometimes a special weapon. Of course being the devious miscreant that I am, I would often drive just close enough to them to laugh in their faces, then leave them behind to rot. It was probably the funnest and funniest part of the game. Unfortunately, friendly fire is turned off in the game, so you can’t shoot them. And you can’t run over them like the other foot soldiers. Try to flatten the POWs with your jeep, and you’ll only end up rescuing them. Sometimes I would pick up a handful, then drive into the heat of battle and intentionally get blown up just to see the POWs scatter as they try to get away. The story in the game was supposedly based on a rescue mission, but I guess I didn’t see it that way.

Quote: “Raphael got caught. Who fights next?”
What it’s from: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Context: Whichever ninja turtle you’re playing as (Raphael for example) is captured when your life meter is reduced to zero.
Comments: What the heck is this all about? In this game, you could be shot, stabbed, blown to pieces, ripped to shreds, and even flattened, such as in the screenshot above. But no matter how many ways you “died,” you’d only end up being captured. I’m not advocating turtlecide; I’m just pointing out an inconstancy that diminishes the sense of danger and urgency in the game. Yeah, I know, it’s probably asking too much from a video game. But even if you do survive, why the heck are the ninja turtles trying to take on the entire Foot Clan one by one? They always fight as a team; that’s what makes them such formidable adversaries. Instead, you have to pick a turtle and give it your best shot on your own. The fact that you could rescue your fallen comrades was pretty cool, though.

Quote: “UP! UP!”
What it’s from: Top Gun
Context: The last task in completing a mission is the landing sequence. As you approach the aircraft carrier, you are given instructions on how to crash land.
Comments: Top Gun was not a stellar game by any means. I mean, if you look at all the piece-of-crap NES games based on movies, it definitely wasn’t the worst. That honor goes to Total Recall. Heh, I guess that’s not saying much, but still, Top Gun had its moments. The best part of the game was probably the 2-player verses mode, but the bane of the single player mode was having to land after each mission. As you approached the aircraft carrier, you would receive instructions on how to land. “UP! UP! DOWN! DOWN! LEFT! RIGHT! What the… dang, that Konami Code is everywhere. Anyway, the instructions were vague at best. I had a friend who ignored the instructions, stating that they were bogus anyway. So he just went on instincts, and I swear, he could land the plane every friggin’ time. Not me, though. I’d invariably crash and burn just like in the screenshot above. All because of those stupid instructions, but hey, I’m sure that’s exactly how the Navy trains its top aviators.