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Super Mario Brothers. It was, I think, the first video game I remember staying up really late while playing.

Even though I knew shortcuts to skip levels, warp zones, I was determined to play through every one of its 8 levels.

We (my brothers and I) had received that, as part of the deluxe Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as a Christmas present, nearly 28 years ago. Before receiving this version, I’d only ever played this game for short periods of time at video game arcades, which I didn’t spend a lot of time in, before receiving the home version. Our parents were definitely more focused on our academic endeavors.

I was more excited to play this game than any other game I’d ever played up to this point, and I’d played a lot since our family also had an Atari 2600 system, with a healthy library. The NES really cemented my own lifelong love of video games.

I knew, even then, that this is something I’d be able to enjoy for a very long time, and even back then, I could not even consider that there would be a time I would not enjoy playing games. I still can’t imagine it.

There are, however, some games with the brothers Mario I have yet to experience. That’s mostly due to a few games being on my plate, as well as the hefty time investment it takes to finish current incarnations. Heck, I still have yet to complete Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii.

Mario Brothers games are also not the only franchise of games I lament being “behind” on. A franchise with another princess, whose name starts with Z, also challenge me to play, and I’m sad, being woefully behind. I would need a 3DS system to work on catching up there. Someday…someday…

Images: Wikipedia