Why it's on the list: It's a classic NES game that I always wanted to give a proper go - but I always bounced off it when running out of lives threw me back to the start.

How I played it: With nestopia on my laptop, with an Xbox One controller.

When I played it: November-December 2016

How far I got: Finished it! With a LOT of help from save states.

What I thought:

As I've mentioned previously, my way to enjoy old games tends to be using save states or some other wrapper inserted to make progress easier (or possible) - instead of being dumped back at the start when you run out of lives, just load up that last state. I did this in absolute spadeloads with Super Mario Bros, and as a result finished it way more quickly than I otherwise would have. But the game is so fun, I wanted to propel myself through without the utter frustration of being dumped back to the title screen after losing all my lives.

This kind of hackery allows me to enjoy the games in ways I probably wouldn't otherwise, so I really don't feel terribly guilty about it. Because Super Mario Bros is worth experiencing. It's still really fun, and, once you work out how to sand over the unforgiving part, it's easy to have a great time with it.

⇦ Ice Climber

The Checklist

Duck Hunt ⇨