Two Much Fun...

Refusing to Get a Life

SMB2 (All-Stars Version)

Attempting another playthu of oldschool classic Super Mario Bros. 2.
(A feat I haven't accomplished since the 1990s)

SMB2 (NES)

Bouncing back and forth between the original SMB2 (1988) and the Super Mario All-Stars version (1993).

The original game offered just 2 lives to start.

SMB2 (All-Stars Version)

Of course the Super Mario All-Stars version is more forgiving to make it more fun.
Five lives to start the game with, plus the ability to select a new character if you die.
Each level can become a bit of a team effort as each character utilizes their strengths.













Had a decent run on the slot machine...
Those extra lives quickly depleted by a fortress maze full of "Sparks".

Still, managed to push further into this game than I have in decades.
Certainly don't remember the game being this challenging - Or maybe I was just a hell of a lot more patient.

SMB2 is a tad different than its' Mario brethren...
Gotta re-train a few compulsive Mario habits.

Can no longer squash enemies as if they were Goombas - Instead, it's best to throw vegetables at them (or throw baddies at each other).






Looking back at the game now, elements like climbing the side-by-side length of chains has a Donkey Kong Junior feel...















Other parts of Super Mario Bros. 2 may even feel like precursors to Donkey Kong Country...

Girl On Top!

Her Favorite Position...

Joanna Dark maintains her death grip on the top spot, absolutely dominating the Star Charts for the second month in a row.

Seems the Perfect Dark pages restored last winter are being put to good use. Players still continue to look up a game that's 25 years old (some of them possibly even younger than the game itself?).

That random sack of GoldenEye mail caused much amusement...
(As does the quest for Invincibility and desire for god-like powers)

STAR CHARTS " Joanna Gives The Boys a Good Thrashing! " Game System Released 1 Perfect Dark N64 2000 2 Super Mario Bros. 3 NES 1990 3 GoldenEye 007 N64 1997 4 Super Mario Bros. NES 1985 5 Donkey Kong Country 2 SNES 1995 Oldschool Super Mario also makes a comeback on the Charts, and he's just happy to be at the party. Ever-popular James Bond might be feeling a bit snubbed, hanging out at the bar and knocking back another Vodka Martini.

Dusting Off A Classic (The Clean Machine)

NES We Forget...

The good 'ol Nintendo Entertainment System was definitely in need of a good cleaning - Something I'd never actually done.

(Aside from the standard "blow into the cartridge" that Nintendo always warned us not to do)














Getting the NES to load a game was like playing roulette….


A persisting “blinking red light” with the screen flashing bright and dark…. More often than not, the games refused to load.

“I've got such a bad case of dust contamination, I can barely move!"

For this NES-cessary detailing job (that apparently also includes bad puns), opted to use a vacuum nozzle to suck out as much of the dust & debris (aka. carbon scoring) as possible (from both the system and the games).


Used a third party (non-Nintendo approved) system cleaning solution (basically rubbing alcohol).
(Forget exactly what percentage is recommended, but apparently stronger is better – and will evaporate quicker).
Actually found an old third party (SNES) cleaning kit within my collection.

A hobby buddy had given me an old SMB cart that he uses for cleaning. Said to soak a Q-Tip in alcohol (I started off by using it sparingly) and slosh it around both sides of the chip. Dust has settled on the contact points due to lack of use.

Insert the game a a bunch of times (unplugging the power first!) and let it dry completely.

Took a few repetitions of this treatment to really loosen and remove most of the debris, but at least I can reliably get it to boot up and load a game.



As for the games themselves, they can also be cleaned.
After a good wipedown with a solution-soaked Q-Tip, left the game cart out with the chip towards a fan for the afternoon. Probably being over cautious, but I don't want to risk electrical shock (nor ruin any of these classics!)



Allowing the machine to run more and more, even managed to keep it alive for an entire afternoon.
Slightest bump or knock to the shelf and it’s game over – The system will usually flicker and reset itself.


These games truly are collector’s items.
However, to enjoy a proper playthru of a game I normally opt to play an Emulator just for increased reliability.

“With all we've been through, sometimes I'm amazing we're in as good condition as we are”

All Systems Go!

Fired Up About a Classic…

Thought I'd had four Nintendo systems over the years - It's actually been FIVE:
NES, SNES, N64, GCN and Wii.

So which one was more fun?
Really feel the N64 hit the sweet spot.

But for me, the old Nintendo Entertainment System is where it all began.

Although I can play any of my classic favorites on an Emluator, there's something rewarding in owning and maintaining the old NES.

Despite much frustration, actually enjoyed "restoring" my old NES to working condition.
(Somehow I feel that if I don't get it working every five years or so, it may never run again)



It’s fun to tinker with the old console and get it operational.
Normally takes a bit of fiddling (and cursing) to get her running halfway decent.

A few hints of life, couple musical notes of a game, and then a crash / freeze.
Finally, the glitchy pixels came through...



Fuzzy at first, with the game graphics all glitched up.


The longer you keep the game on, it almost seems to "burn off" some of the fuzz or dust. The graphics get less buggy and eventually the screen returns to the way it should.



Messing with the old system is literally something I found myself doing on a rainy day.
The trill of getting it working (yet again!) seemed to give a spark of excitement when it finally booted up.



Got it to run exactly FOUR times that afternoon.

First game I got to load was Super Mario Bros 2. The console wasn't doing much at first, so I was basically swapping things out and SMB2 was just the game that I grabbed.


After it froze a few times, decided to try Mario 3. Also loaded with fuzzy graphics and a few freeze-ups / crashes, but had it humming along for the better part of an hour.

When a game has been working and suddenly freezes, I find it best to gently hit the reset button instead of power.


Just taking the old NES for a spin around the block for nostalgia’s sake.
Like an old car, it’s not reliable enough for a road trip… But it's still fun to take it for a joyride.

Can't Rush Perfection...

Mario is Missing!

Little Miss Dark manages to usurp Super Mario!
How can this be?

Possibly because of an unplanned side-project, the Perfect Dark N64 Blog which quietly debuted last year.
perfectdarkn64.blogspot.com

Much of the content is not to be taken seriously - But many of the cheat codes, unlockables, secrets and walkthru pages have been restored.

STAR CHARTS " Because The Best   Video Games Came Out Last Century! " Game System Released 1 Perfect Dark N64 2000 2 Super Mario Bros. 3 NES 1990 3 GoldenEye 007 N64 1997 4 Donkey Kong Country 2 SNES 1995 5 Super Mario All-Stars SNES 1993 Despite the enduring popularity of Super Mario Bros 3, the NES classic gets bumped down one spot as Agent 007 hides in the basement shadows.

Re-Blogged Post...

Quick test of the "Blog This!" feature to share a post from another blog...

Just because I think the post is interesting, and have absolutely no additional information on this random 007 tidbit from Casino Royale... (Have also a fan of the guy's blog for a number of years)

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Sportscards From The Dollar Store: "That's Italian for Adrienne Barbeau":

AKA Urbano Barberini - MST3Ked movie autograph! He was Cabot from episode #519 Outlaw. It's the movie where they spend the... Read More [external link]

-buckstorecards

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Can't see myself using the "Blog This!" feature very often...
I liked it better when you needed to know HTML to use the web.

The fact that everything is automated with convoluted formatting - Not to mention the fact that there's not so much as a basic image to entice you to follow the link...

(I sound like old time folks who grew up driving a Model T, wishing people with automatic transmission would quit cruising all over the road with their faces buried in Smartphones)

Took twenty minutes to re-format this so it actually flows properly.
Should have just coded it from scratch, but I digress...

On An All Time High...

The Juggling Act

Managed to put together more than fifty journal entries during the past spring & winter, effectively doubling the number of posts on this blog.

Definitely didn't expect to crank out that many pages (considerably more, considering the unplanned unveilings of the GoldenEye & Perfect Dark blogs).

Wasn't exactly sure when I'd put down the controller this time round...

After finishing Super Mario Bros 3, and completing 18 of 20 GoldenEye missions on 00 Agent (stuck on Jungle, Aztec)
it feels the time is about right. Also surprised myself by making it halfway through Perfect Dark.

Finding myself too busy with other things.
Some fine specimens out there, in the realm of Bass fishing and bikini babes (and not necessarily in that order).

Last summer, enough sand accumulated on the carpets to play beach volleyball in the hallway...