And then, amidst the Prince-formerly-known-as-Prince whole hullabaloo, there rose a singular, world-dominating phenomenon that saved millions of angst-ridden teenage souls from eternal, after-school damnation -- the ubiquitous sensation known as:

NINTENDO.

(Look, we're not that old, some people played Atari, okay?) Join Notes On The Road for a zany look back at the classic NES games that started it all:

The Legend of Zelda

Heroic music, wise sage, wooden sword, triforce fragments, bombs, lionheaded keys, orange-armored shielded soldiers, time-freezing clock, bows and arrows, floating orbs with freakish smiles; blue bats annoying but easy to kill, shiny rubies, flickering health hearts, hovering fairies; finding labyrinths, white sword, magic sword, blue ring, red ring, blue candle, red candle, burning bush, Death Mountain, Gannon, Zelda, Second Quest.

Super Mario Brothers 1 & 3

Mario and Luigi, green leaves, raccoon tail, demolishing bricks, holding down "B"; flying, P-Wing, stomping on Goombas, secret passageways, giant drain pipes, holographic stars, 1UP shrooms and squeaky sound effects; 3 stars 3 levels in a row - 5 free lives, trumpet fanfare, fireworks; Toad & treasureboxes, castles & dungeons, leaping over lava, magic flutes, warp zones, coin banks in the clouds, Hammer Brothers, addictive MIDI tunes, Fire Flowers, Frog Suit, Koopa Troopas, Bowser, Princess Toadstool.

Super Mario Brothers 2

Total cop out, not worth mentioning. Vegetables for weapons? Lame.

Tetris

Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, music speeding into a frenzy, screen packed with blocks - no way out - hurry, get it together! - clearing four rows at a time, level 29, incredible speed, blood-boiling excitement, jostled nerves, scoring the big points, getting to that next level, always losing at the same point; frustrated, give up. Wait 5 minutes. Try again. Addictive. Obsessive. Lost in the music, enveloped in The Zone.

Rad Racer

Classic racing, red Ferrari 328 Twin Turbo, 4 courses, exhilarating, gaining speed; palm trees whiz by, cheesy music blares, skidding off-road, losing control, flipping over - precious time lost; starting from scratch, flooring it through checkpoints, braking hard around bends; dusk descends, nighttime driving, road deserted - boring; dawn slips in, diving for the finish line, reckless abandon; corny paper 3D glasses.