Here is a (long) story of my most vivid experience with the NES. It was both life changing and for the worse. This was written in 2am english so please excuse the possible poor grammar and spelling. I assure you, English is my first language.Enjoy.

As a kid, I didn't grow up with the NES like most of you who will read this. I grew up with the N64 and the SNES, what I like to call; the mean jungle green machine and the..errr...boxy thing with an eject button I didn't realize was there until many many years later. Two consoles in which I plugged countless hours playing all the classics such as Mariokart, Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64, Diddy Kong Racing, even a little known game called Plok on the SNES, a revolutionary experience that begged the question, "why can't detachable limbs be weapons?"

While I lived to play these consoles, I would always get a blast from the past when I would go to grandma's. Grandma had bought my uncle an NES years back, and when my uncle moved out, the NES stayed to use and abuse of my cousins and I. Unlike the SNES or N64, the NES had a special place in my heart. My first memory of video games was my uncle teaching me all the tricks and shortcuts on Super Mario. I learned fast, and quickly became the envy of all my cousins and siblings. I was in love with this grey gift from god, and felt I had the power (Nintendo power!) to beat any and all of those square plastic carts. But alas, there were only a few games to play (most of them being sports titles, gross!). This would not do, and so after much rude and relentless nagging, my grandmother took me out to buy more games. Mind you, this was the late 90's so not many stores sold NES games, and those that did usually sold them used, cart only.

It was at one of these department stores where I saw it among the many super mario's and baseball's; the game that stood out from the rest, the game that I would spend hours upon days attempting to beat, the game that almost single handedly turned me against the NES forever, the game will still put a sour taste in my mouth when mentioned..(drumroll)..Startropics!

I now give you a chance to end the story. You may stop here and assume I lived happily ever after playing a fantastic game and continued loving that little grey bundle of joy we call the NES. In fact I do hope you stop here, for what follows will almost be as painful for the reader as it was for the little boy who paid $4 for what was nothing less than a curse of constant frustration and blue balls (too much?) for the years to come...

As soon as I got back to grandma's I ripped that cart out of that little baggie, yanked that old Super Mario waste of space out of the console, jammed that new sucker in, and...after much blowing and jiggling... there it was. The music, the title screen, I loved it. It was a perfect combination of adventure and action, challenging but not cheap. No beginner's traps, no cheap deaths, just a good ol fashioned challenge. I played and played. In no time, there I was; the jungle, the water, the cave! I was in every terrain, defeating countless monsters on both the land and sea with nothing more than my trusty yo-yo. I was kicking ass and taking names. I was going to save Dr. Jones, or die tryi...wait...huh? A code?

Could this story so far be described as a heroic climb, what is to follow is the soul crushing fall.

I panicked. A code? I don't have a code, was I supposed to find a code? I searched the entire island, asked every person, interacted with every object, nothing. I decided to retrace my steps, again, and again, and again. No sign of any code. You see, I didn't have a manual, box, inserts, I had nothing except the cart. I was merely a 90s kid, not yet google instinctive as I would be today. I had no internet, no one who knew the game or how to beat, absolutely no one and nothing. Just me and the game.

"OK" I said, "I've merely met a very worthy adversary" (I was a very well spoken child).  I decided to restart the game, abandon all progress, and start anew. I once more battled through all snakes and sea monsters, this time carefully examining every possible nook and cranny, I searched high and low, made sure every I covered every pixel of every screen, surely the code would be in here somewhere...nothing.

Some say perseverance is a strong trait to hold. If there is one thing I learned from Startropics, it's that perseverance is nothing more than redundancy and frustration.

I said to myself once more, "I shall replay this game again, I shall kill everything there is to kill, I shall talk to every villager that talks, and than talk to every villager once more!" I was on full cylinders. Bedtime? Please, that was for the schmucks. I was a winner, I was the best, this little roadblock wasn't gonna get the best of me. I replayed that game for a third and final time, with the most concentration and focus I have yet to replicate in any school or job setting. With the help of dunkaroo's and 7up, I used everything I had to discover this code. Eyes glued to the screen, emitting absolutely no sound except for the tapping of buttons, I explored. Short and shallow breaths, not even a blink, I came closer and closer to that three digit obstacle, breathing faster and harder, squinting and gripping that controller like it was excalibur... still nothing. No code, stuck without even as to a clue to what the numbers might be. I was broken. Startropics took everything from me and gave me nothing.

Full of anger, frustration, and sleep deprivation, I shut everything off in one swift motion, no more Startropics, Super Mario, or NES. I went to bed, woke up the next morning, and went home without even taking a gander at that piece of dooty.

 I went back to my SNES and N64, and for years to come I would happily enjoy these systems, eventually moving on to the ps2 and psp. I never once looked at the NES when I went to grandma's. Why should I? It would only remind me of tears and testicular pain I wrongfully experienced.

It was a full 5 years before nostalgia set in, and I pulled that grey sucker back from the grave. No one had used it in awhile, and to be honest, I kind of forgotten why I had stopped playing. I pulled out super mario, reminisced, and dutifully pummeled that game.

I'm going to save you some time by fast forwarding my second experience with Startropics. It was much of the same feeling of awesomeness, followed by sweat, tears, and that oh so familiar pain in "the peaches."

I went back home with similar feelings, but this time I had a little friend named Google. I searched it up. I was finally going to put an end to all this struggle. No it didn't feel right, but it felt necessary. Cheats, tricks, ah, here we go, walkthrough. Went through each step, carefully looking for any mention of a code. "Hmmm..." I said, "It seems I did everything here, and more, I wonder what I di....a note? The game was supposed to come with a note?"

Fuck me.

Wow that does suck. I remember a few games over the years that required something that came in the box to continue, not including those pissant evil idiots who put copy protection images/words in old PC game manuals as if it would stop one single pirate, nah...just the consumer who lost the manual. I swear I had a game like you did, can't remember what or which system but I know I hit a similar thing and just walked away and gave away or sold the evil thing. Hey it was pre-internet and if my NP mag (or if it was PC, BBS info areas) didn't have it then that was that.

Or the box itself... Screw you Hideo Kojima! Just TELL me Meryl's codec number dammit!

Edit: 900th!

I knew the story by reading the headline:-) I can understand your frustration totally!
Startropic is such a awesome game. I remember how excited I was when I came to the place with the code it was unique to do something in real life that was needed for a video game. Imo this special gimmick with the letter brought a very special atmosphere into play and was a big part why this game is so good.

I guess I was lucky. I had borrowed the game from a friend down the street. He had given me all the manuals and note with the game. It was a very good game.

Damn, that was a disaster waiting to happen, why the hell they did the note thing

I can totally relate. My first experience with StarTropics was horrible, namely because of the controls. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many cheap deaths I suffered on account of the dodgy play control. I eventually got so fed up that I got rid of the game and swore I'd never play it again.

Now less than a year later, I find myself wanting to give it another try. It's like one of those bizarre games that you know you hate, yet it somehow keeps you coming back for more.

youre a good writer man. opening paragraph was a killer hook.

ST is dope. And the letter was a unique twist. I remember seeing the small print on it saying "please do not put this letter in your mouth". Which was a little odd, until I figured it out.

1 question though: when you don't enter the code, doesn't it prompt you to put water on "the letter from your uncle"?

I had some rough time with a zelda cart that would erase my saves as a kid. Very finiky cart. If you bumped it it would reset and you'd lose everything. I remember getting soooo pissd.

thanks man, i appreciate that. to be honest, i cant remember what exactly it said, but i do remember something about a letter. either way, there would be no way i, or any unsuspecting victim, could figure out there was an actual physical letter from the game. even if i had the box/manual/inserts/letter, i dont think i still wouldn't be able to figure it out. it goes against every gamers instinct to look in the real world for a clue to the video game world. i've yet to play it now that i know the code, but it seems to be a love/hate type of game.

As I said, I played the game at release with all the manuals and the letter. When I got to that point in the game, I immediately figured out what I had to do with the letter. I seem to remember it being a little too obvious, as mentioned earlier in this thread.

I was careful not to get the letter too wet because I didn't want to ruin it.

I remember borrowing that game from my neighbor. No code either. However, we went and bought the "How to Win at Nintendo Games 4" book and never worried about the code again.

I had the letter originally, and used it, but later on after I had thrown my box away, and forgotten the number, I just called Nintendo's 900 number.

Wow, I'm glad I got this game new, then.

It's one of my favorites. The play control is super tight, the story and setting are fun and different, and the level design is memorable. I really wish they hadn't screwed up the sequel.

I love Startopics. I mean, I had the instruction manual, but I love it.

Well if I ever decide to dust it off and actually play it I'd be upset about no manual, but I found a few months back into last year an NES Atlas for $3 and this game is one of the 8~ featured in it.

Lmao! What a sad, but funny story. I have Startropics, but have yet to play it.

Good thing I found a CIB with the manual and the letter. Have yet to play this game, but it looks cool!

Because of your determination, I was almost expecting you to end up trying to input every possible number until you got the right code only to find out later that all that time was wasted because you didn't have the letter. It would take forever, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

If it makes you feel better, I had the letter as a kid and the game still frustrated the hell out of me (mostly because I couldnt beat one of the bosses because I was doing it wrong). I went back and beat the game as an adult, but man did it piss me off back then.

now that you mention it, i think i did try a few combos but it was just for the hell of it. it was a good game apart from that, it was challenging in a good way. once i have the dollars to restart up my nes collection, startropics is going to be one of the first games i buy. maybe it will provide some closure if i beat it now...

Good read. You should be writing more stuff.

Amazing game, I am also glad that I got it new as a kid. Getting to that point in the game and putting the letter under the water in the basement sink in my childhood home is a very fond memory of mine. I also remember my surprise when the twist at the end of the game happened, and taking a photo of the ending screen when I finally passed it. Now that I think about it, I probably have stronger memories of this game than any other NES game from my childhood.

thanks man, good to hear