A Memory I’ll Never Forget on my NES

In 1988, my love for video games and hockey were united with the release of Ice Hockey on the NES. I played, I practiced, and I was really good at it. Like unhealthy good…

At the time, I subscribed to Nintendo Power Magazine, which featured new releases, cheat codes, and stories about many Nintendo games. One section was dedicated to high scores and showed user submitted photos of their achievements.

Back then, you actually had to take a picture of your TV, get it developed, and physically mail it in. Old school.

Nintendo Power Magazine was elite.

In one issue, there was a high score for Ice Hockey. The high score was 51-1. That may seem high, but I knew I could beat it, and I set it out on my quest.

My strategy was simple: select Canada as my team, win the faceoff at center ice, drop it back to the defense, then quickly pass it up to the “skinny” player who would use his speed to get to the opposing goalie quickly and deke him out.

The strategy worked. I quickly ran up the score. By mid-way of the second period, I had already broken the record in Nintendo Power. I pushed on.

In the third period and still with 10 minutes remaining, I was winning 99-0. I got my parent’s 35mm automatic camera ready. I knew was going to break into the hundreds and more than double the record! With nervous anticipation, I scored the 100th goal of the game.

And then it happened.

To my shock and horror, the score read 0-0.

Not an actual screenshot from the game. But look, Canada is about to score!

Apparently, there were only two digits to display the score for a team, so it rolled over from 99 back to 00.

My crowning achievement was lost, and at 9 years old, I had my first rage quit.

To this day, I wish I had snapped a picture of the screen sooner in the process.

Now, without proof, all I can do is hope that people believe me when I tell them my high score.

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