It was christmas 1980, or 1990-something and you just got the biggest and last box under the tree....or maybe it's the last day of Hanukah? Ramadaan? Anyway, if you were a child growing up in the 80's and early 90's, this scene is probably all to familiar to you, you opened the box and there it was, in all it's glory, some Nintendo set, not like you could really remember or care now, but it was a huge box, and then you opened it, and there it was, in it's gray and red glory, with 2 gamepads, a zapper lightgun, a bunch of TV hookup stuff that you're not sure what it does (unless you're me, the crazy 8 year old who climbs around behind the TV and traces all the wires...I was a *nerd* - sigh), anyway, you pull out the cartridge....and you usually got one of three on these golden-age sets (1988-1992) - Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, this one - Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet, or Super Mario Bros 3. This page deals with the multicart that came with the "Power Set". Want to see it, it's the picture on the left of this page below the cartridge.

The Power Set came with an extra piece - the POWER MAT, to go along with 2 gamespads, and a zapper. It seemed to be a set that was more popular around 1988 or 1990, I can't remember which, I think 1990, as the artwork for Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt had moved to a hand-drawn cartoon rather than the old "Black Label" style in-game graphics (albeit slightly altered) look of the SMB Duck-Hunt release.

Anyway, Jonathan's house was next door to my Sister's so the train of pre-teen debauchery involving Nintendo and proto-Urban Exploration meant my journey would usually start there, and usually end with me playing DOS games on my sister's 386 or Tandy 1000 SX. He had this cart, usually plugged into a little 13" Magnavox on a Mario themed TV cabinet, and usually played Super Mario Bros. on it. I think we only played World Class Track Meet twice. And every time it'd degenerate into us pounding the mat with our fists because running on it was both a trip hazard, and I think both of us were already tall and big enough to probably destroy that thing if we were any harder on it. If I tried running on it, already looking sixteen by 11 years old, I looked like I was slipping on invisible banana peels!