After dancing in the snow of the parking lot while holding our very own Taylor Swift concert, my friends and I stumbled back into my apartment and settled down with a couple of s’mores and a few glasses of hot chocolate. In the lulls of the evening, we dispersed across the room, tucking away to finish our last homework assignments. My friend, who graduated a semester early, passed the time with my light pink 3DS. As I showcased my assortment of games, a wave of nostalgia hit us both.
“I haven’t touched a Nintendo since elementary school!” he exclaimed. With a trip down memory lane, I couldn’t help but reminisce over a set of 2005 – 2006 timeless games that seemed to have defined not just my own childhood but that of my entire generation.
- Animal Crossing
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In the throes of quarantine, the release of the latest Animal Crossing: New Horizons provided refuge and calm amongst chaos. During the first week of quarantine, I called my sister to learn that she had spent over 99 hours terraforming her island. I couldn’t blame her. There’s something relaxing about hearing the waves crash into the shore and oddly satisfying catching all the bugs in a virtual world.
- Nintendogs
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When I was a child, I pleaded to my parents, begging for a pet dog. Exasperated, my mother caved, handing me Nintendogs.
“There’s your dog,” she said.
I have spent perhaps over a decade still screaming into the mic in a fruitless attempt to train my dog to sit. This game showed me that I could never train a dog—whether it be virtual or not. I guess it was convincing enough evidence that I was never suitable for a pet, and since then, I haven’t asked for any. I guess my mom knew what she was doing when she introduced me to the game.
- New Super Mario Bros.
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Even if you’ve never owned a Nintendo console, you’ve played a Super Mario Bro game. It’s a classic! Sure, it’s fun to complete all the levels on all the worlds, but the real joy is battling friends to collect stars. At five years old, I tried my best to jump over the gaps, avoiding a straight fall towards death. I had yet to develop adequate hand-eye-coordination or enough wit to rival my older sister. I cried as she timed her jumps perfectly with mine, pushing me down the abyss of no return. Now, I chuckle in pure glee as I execute that exact same move on my little cousins. I’ve spent over a decade returning to this timeless game, but at least I’ll be passing on dirty family tricks to make my sister proud.