It was a nice, sunny weekday in the spring of 2000 in the small, green, peaceful suburb of Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. I was eight at the time, doing nothing else but playing my sweet, sweet Nintendo 64. My family of five – myself, my mother, my father, my older sister, and my six-year-old white cat named China – were living with my grandfather in his apartment (being one of the many apartments in row on Neptune Avenue). I would always come home from elementary school, I was in third grade at the time, and be taken to the Burger King by Stillwell Avenue by my grandfather, and I would have French fries, whereas my parents would go off to Manhattan work. Of course, I would go to the McDonald’s on Neptune Avenue more, since it was right down the street (There was also the fact that I liked McDonald’s more than Burger King). My older sister went to the Lincoln High School, which was right by the apartment that we lived in.
But there were a few reasons why I loved being here in this comfortable apartment, and that was being in the living room, the largest room of the apartment. You see, the apartment my family and I lived in was split into eight rooms. We had the living room, the kitchen, the hallway (which I normally considered as part of the living room), two bathrooms, and three bedrooms (one belonging to my grandfather, one belonging to my parents, and the other belonging to my sister and I). It was the living room where I enjoyed the most pleasure of my youth playing my sweet Nintendo 64.
The Nintendo 64 system was the thing that I loved the most. It had all of the games that I came to know and love such as Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Pokemon Stadium, Mario Party, Yoshi’s Story, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Smash Brothers. Every day of my nine-year-old life I would play my wonderful Nintendo 64 usually by myself, but sometimes my sister or grandfather would join in.
“Klayton, what’s this guy’s name?” My grandfather asked me as he and I were picking the characters we were going to use in Mario Kart 64.
I pointed at Luigi, the Italian plumber in green, and replied, “That’s Luigi, grandpa. He’s Mario’s younger brother.” I then picked Toad, a small mushroom boy. “I’m gonna be Toad.”
“All right, and I’ll use Luigi,” My grandpa stated as he picked Luigi, and I pressed the A button on my controller and the map screen came up. I picked the Flower Cup, and we started to play the fine racing game that is Mario Kart 64.
It was a little while later that I managed to win, with my grandpa getting fifth place. I eagerly anticipated the next racecourse, which was the snowy track Frappe Snowland. As we raced around the snowy road, I got angry as I watched Toad fall into the icy, cold, blue water.
“Hey, not fair!” I shouted angrily, shaking my controller, “Wario tossed the banana right in front of me!”
My grandpa shrugged, and he attacked Donkey Kong with Luigi, firing a green shell. My face showed disappointment as I got fourth place due to falling into the water.
“It’s all right, Klay,” My grandpa told me as he patted me on the back, “You’ll get another chance.”
I sighed and looked at my grandpa, smiling. As it turned out, I fared better than my grandfather and the computer-controlled racers, getting into first while my grandfather got third place.
My grandpa placed the controller down and looked at me. “Hey, would you like your sister to play with you?”
More eager than ever, I nodded excitedly. A few minutes later, after practicing some of the racecourses myself, my older sister came into the room, picked up the controller my grandfather used, and started to play with me. She used Princess Peach Toadstool, the only girl in Mario Kart 64.
“Let’s try the Special cup,” I said to my sister, grinning as I picked it.
My sister rolled her eyes, laughing. “We’re going to fail this one, Klay. You know how much the computer cheats.”
I laughed as well, though telling my sister, “It’s not the computer’s fault, Keia. Wario always cheats.”
As we started the game in the jungle-themed racecourse, named Donkey Kong Jungle Parkway (though it’s commonly referred to as D.K. Jungle Parkway), my sister and I were having some trouble come the second lap. My sister, controlling Peach, had to fend off Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi, while I, controlling Toad, who was up farther ahead, had to take care of Wario, Donkey Kong, and Bowser. By a surprising amount of luck, my sister managed to come close behind me, and she got second place while I got first place.
I cheered. Though it took a few tries to beat Yoshi Valley (mainly because everyone was replaced by a question mark on the position boxes), I managed to get third place while my sister took first place. We gave each other a high five, though it would only get harder once Banshee Boardwalk came into view.
“Argh, stupid bats!” My sister shouted as she watched Peach being batted by bats, while I exited the destructed house with Toad.
As I turned on the sharp curve of the wooden boardwalk, Wario appeared next to me and rammed me into the water. I screamed angrily, and coasting through and item box and turning to the right, I got a red Koopa shell and fired it at Wario. I heard Wario scream as he bounced in his yellow kart, and laughed at him as I zoomed past him and entered into the destructed house. After coasting through the buildings one more time, I managed to get first place, while my sister took fourth.
My sister shook her head, sighing. “Oh boy, here comes Rainbow Road.” He looked at me. “Arte you ready, Klay? Because this is gonna be stupid.”
I nodded, smiling. “You bet! With Toad, I can beat anyone!” I turned around to face the TV screen, and smiled as the final race of the Special cup, Rainbow Road, started.
After winning the race, and going to the ceremonies, I excitedly cheered and clapped. My sister congratulated me, and we both watched the credits as we laid our controllers down. And being together with my family members around my favorite game system… that was what I liked the best about my sweet, Nintendo 64.