I am a long time gamer girl and it all started some when I was just a little girl. My very first video game system I had was a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It didn’t have a fancy model number or cool edition title. It was just the plain old, gray, black, and red original Nintendo. I remember thinking that those 8-bit games on the clunky plastic cartridges had such good graphics (Wreck It Ralph mentality). How things have changed with the new Wii U games and Nintendo 3DS games!
Old School Gaming w/ Nintendo
Some of the games I fondly remember include Super Mario Bros. (1, 2, and 3), Adventure Island, Bubble Bobble, California Games, Lemmings, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Mega Man, and Tiny Toon Adventures. Of course, by the time the Nintendo Gameboy was released. I was totally on board. I spent so many hours looking at the monochrome screen while playing Tetris and Dr. Mario. No one does video game background music like they used to. Man, I’m feeling sooooooo old right now…
I did stray from the company as I got older. But, when I had a child of my own whom I wanted to share my video game love with, I of course return to my roots. We got a Wii when my daughter was about eight and later bought a Nintendo DS. As we downsized, the Wii has to go but we upgraded the DS to the DSi, and later to the 3DS XL.
Nintendo Ambassador & Wii U Games
When I heard about the Nintendo Ambassador program, I was in full covet mode. After all, this is a company that is tied to my childhood and that of my daughter! What could be a better fit for genuine excitement and relatable storytelling?! Fast forward a year and I am now officially a Nintendo Ambassador. To welcome my family into the program, we were sent a Wii U Deluxe Set that’s pre-installed with Mario Kart 8 and a couple of games. While the Wii U games we received weren’t really our cup of tea (one very slow-paced and the other is monotonous) we are absolutely loving Mario Kart 8!
Wii U Mario Kart 8 Review
My family and I have been fans of Mario Kart for years. The gameplay in Mario Kart is so seriously awesome that it has no equal. This version of the game does not disappoint. There are 24 different tracks with eight of them being brand spanking new (extra downloadable content but comes packaged with the system). As you win the Grand Prix courses, new ones are unlocked. When you have all of the tracks, you can continue to play them at faster speeds or even try them in mirror mode for a new challenge.
Customization options are unlocked as you play. These include vehicles, wheel types, and gliders. Each item has different speed, acceleration, weight, handling, and traction attributes which all affect the racing performance. Munchkin and I are forever changing our vehicles before each and every game and it drives Frans nuts! Some Amiibo figures unlock racing outfits but, as we don’t have any compatible figures yet, we haven’t been able to test that feature out yet.
The graphics look fantastic but retain the bright, cartoon-ish feel we expect and enjoy in a Mario game. I love the fact that you can play as your Mii character. It adds a whole extra level of fun when playing together as a family, especially when you see those playbacks of you knocking each other with turtle shells 😛 Gameplay is extremely fluid and we haven’t have one instance of freezing or crashing yet (and we have played quite a bit already).
Since only one player can use the included GamePad, we had to purchase two additional Wii Remotes. Frans chose the Mario one, Munchkin chose the Princess Peach one (even though it’s pink), and later on I might order the Yoshi one. We also picked up the wheel accessories but returned them after finding out that they didn’t make that much of a difference and that we played just as good (or bad in my case) without them.
Quenching the Nintendo Wii U & Nintendo 3DS Excitement
I’m so excited to see what this year will bring in working with Nintendo. So far, my family is loving the Wii U and Mario Kart 8. Having a teen, the scope of activities we can do together has changed drastically. At least with these games, we can actually spend time together and share some good laughs (with a bit of friendly competition). On my daughter and I just finished Mario & Luigi Paper Jam (which was awesome and provided some 35+ hours of fun) but
I have to restrain myself from buying up all the games and accessories though. There are so many Wii U games that I would love to try including Yoshi’s Woolly World, Splatoon, New Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Maker, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Pikmin 3, and the list goes on. As for Nintendo 3DS games, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer look so cute! Of course, I’ll need a New Nintendo 3DS XL to take advantage of the amiibo figures…
Okay, okay, I’ve better calm the geek nerves before I put my family in debt but, as you can tell, I’m kind of giddy about being a Nintendo Ambassador and hope you’ll join me in the Nintendo love 🙂
Do you have any Nintendo memories from back in the day?
I received this item as part of my participation as a Nintendo Ambassador. All opinions are my own.
