Nintendo: The Early Years Trivia Quiz

Answer: A playing card company

Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a trading card company. It was not until the 1970s that it ventured into the video game business.

Answer: Color TV Game

The Color TV Game was Nintendo's only major home console before the Nintendo Entertainment System (as it was called in North America), or the NES. It was released in 1979.

Answer: "Donkey Kong"

"Donkey Kong" featured the first appearance of Mario, though he was simply called Jumpman, and of course, of the title character, Donkey Kong. "Donkey Kong 3" and "Mario Bros." were both other Nintendo arcade games, the former featuring an exterminator named Stanley versus the title character, and the latter featuring one of the Mario Bros. trapped in a labyrinth where he was put against Spiny Shells and other such enemies. "Super Mario Bros." was an early game for Nintendo's extremely popular home console, the NES.

Answer: Famicom

The NES was indeed known in Japan as the Famicom, an abbreviation for the Family Computer. The Super Famicom was its (Japan's) name for the SNES, the Famicom/NES's successor.

Answer: 1985

The NES was released in 1983 in Japan (as the Famicom), and later in North America in 1985. It was several years later, however, before it was released into Europe.

Answer: "Super Mario Bros. 3"

"Super Mario Bros. 3" sold over 18 million copies, and while it was packaged with one version of the North American Challenge Set of the NES, it wasn't packaged with any other systems. "Super Mario Bros." sold over 40 million copies, but it was packaged with almost every NES in North America. "Tetris" and "The Legend of Zelda" were both very popular NES games, but they didn't come close to the 18 million copies "Super Mario Bros. 3" sold.

Answer: Game Boy

The Game & Watch was released in the late 1970s, around the same time as the Color TV Game. It was portable, but each Game & Watch was only one game, so it would not be considered a system. The Game Boy came out in 1989 to be Nintendo's first portable device considered a game system.

The Virtual Boy until 1995, and I think we all know the Nintendo DS didn't make its debut until around 2005.

Answer: "Wario's Woods"

"Wario's Woods" was a "Tetris" remake released in 1994 featuring Mario characters in the background. "Final Fantasy" and "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link" were much earlier NES games, and though "Donkey Kong Country" was released at about the same time, it was made for the SNES, not the NES.

Answer: Kirby

Though there were several early Kirby games for the SNES, the very first Kirby game, "Kirby's Dream Land" was released for the Game Boy. The "Star Fox" and "F-Zero" franchises both started on the SNES with self-titled releases ("Star Fox" and "F-Zero" respectively), and "Mario Kart's" first game was "Super Mario Kart".

Answer: "Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars"

"Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars" was a unique Mario game, featuring the robot Smithy, and not Bowser, as the primary antagonist. This was also one of the only Mario games to feature a cameo of Link, the protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series, who can be seen sleeping in the hotel. "Super Mario World" and "Super Mario World II: Yoshi's Island" were both earlier releases for the SNES, and "Mario Party" was not released until 1999 for the Nintendo 64.