Glutbusters

Yep, ever since I was shipped to Japan for a convention as a 10-year-old, and spent a week communicating with my host-brother Kei in the universal language of Nintendo, I have yearned to again play Super Mario Bros 3. I missed the Nintendo boat in Australia; we had a Sega Master System, then a Sega Megadrive, and only got on the bandwagon late in the piece with a Nintendo 64.

The only thing that surprised me about the whole process was how easy it was to find it. After abandoning the girls trying on dresses or talking about their feelings or whatever the hell they do, I browsed for a while and there it was. $45, with Mario 3. I talked him down to $30 then casually strolled away to give the impression that I couldn't care less whether I bought it or not - I figured I could squeeze him for another free game maybe. But on my return, that guy wasn't there, my bargaining came to nought, and I paid full price. Shafted.

But that bitter taste evaporated when I got it home, cleaned it (with a cotton bud and metho, dur) and cranked it up. It was everything I remembered, and more. Remember? You have to pick up the first turtle shell and throw it at the box if you want the leaf to give you the tail. (This was a clever bit of design - you couldn't pick up the shells in Mario 2, so they set you to figure out that you could right at the start of the game.) And what do you know, I was 10 again.

Sure, I could approach this now-antiquated system with a smug sense of "irony", a nostalgic remembrance of my youth that's so popular these days, but that would be disingenuous. Because it is sensationally fun. And Super Mario Bros 3 is a brilliant game - it's so simple that anyone can have a go, but it has so much built into it that it can entertain someone (eg me) for hours. So I wasn't surprised when online reviews consistently described it as "the pinnacle of 8-bit achievement". Because it is seriously rad.

And, if that isn't enough, it was the feature game at Video Armageddon, the video game competition that brought 1989's The Wizard (a barely-veiled Nintendo commercial featuring TV's Fred Savage - click the link for an awesome review with pics) to its dazzling conclusion. (Oh, and it ripped its plot straight from Rain Man).

So, I'm on eBay after Bubble Bobble, Double Dragon and Mega Man 1, 2 or 3. Any other suggestions of Nintendo gold? I will invite you round to play it. And if anyone knows where the second warp flute is in Mario 3, I'd be very appreciative of the tip.