Start-up screens are a fascinating thing, especially in the 8-bit days of the NES. It fascinates me because this is the first introduction into the game — this is back in the days of no internet and no Nintendo Power for almost three years from the time the NES launched in North America. When you purchased a game, there was absolutely no telling what you were getting yourself into. Unless you saw a game at the arcade or a friend told you about it, it was a crapshoot as to what the game was about. Sometimes you would end up with an underrated classic such as Clash at Demonhead and other times there would be something like The Silver Surfer. The start-up screen was supposed to get you hooked, it’s the developers first interaction with you as a consumer and while video games were still in their infancy, it’s interesting to see how they would try to grab your interest.
There is not one game that did it better than Mega Man 2. No one has matched it to this date and the only one who has come close is Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. So if you have three hours to kill, why not watch every single NES start up screen?
