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November 06, 2005 / Sunday

8-Bit Muscle Memory

Yesterday, the Curdinator sent me a link to (1) a NES emulator and (2) a list of ROMs for what looks to be every Nintendo game ever created.

I couldn't resist. I downloaded my favorite childhood games: Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, and Rad Racer.

I played a little on the keyboard. I was frustrated that I couldn't really work the keyboard like I did the NES gamepad.

A quick search found just what I was looking for: a USB NES gamepad.

But shipping takes too long. I needed a controller for my newly rediscovered NES games, and I needed it NOW. One quick trip to Fry's later, and I had one of these newfangled super-multibutton controllers in hand.

Okay, it's not all that newfangled, but it's plenty complex for my 8-bit gamer self.

I hooked it up and started playing, but the controller just didn't feel right. Every time I wanted to make Mario jump, I made him spit a fireball instead. That certainly wasn't going to do.

I played around with remapping the buttons, and finally came up with something that felt like a slightly more ergonomic version of the old NES controller configuration. I gave it another go, and zipped Mario through world 1-1, finishing the level with Mario atop the flag pole. That's 5,000 points, baby!

How about that? Looks like my hands still remember how to play.

If you haven't realized it by now, a full suite of every 8-bit NES game ever created (okay, not quite, but close enough for me) plus a properly mapped controller means the rest of my life is about to be in big, big trouble.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a princess to rescue.

November 6, 2005 10:53 PM | Geek

Comments

Posted by: rat at November 7, 2005 03:20 PM

Posted by: Viv at November 7, 2005 03:23 PM

Posted by: url54 at November 7, 2005 09:38 PM