This is the story of the most personal NES restoration I’ll ever be part of. The console in this video is not a thrift store find or an eBay rescue. It’s the exact NES I unboxed on Christmas morning 1988, the machine that started everything this site has ever been about.
It sat in storage since 2008. When I finally pulled it out, it was dying. The capacitors were done, the 72-pin connector was worn out, and it barely booted. I’d had consoles modded before, but this one needed more than a mod. It needed a resurrection. Enter Fenris Wolf Retro. The plan we landed on was a full recap, Tim Worthington’s brand new NESRGB V5, and the Nin10do Drawer from BlueShell3D. The V5 had just released, with better audio, an on-screen display, and palette selection. The Nin10do Drawer replaces the stock connector with a toploader-style slot, which means no more blinking light and no more blowing on cartridges. Between tornado warnings, a customs delay, and one all-nighter from Fenris, the build came together right at the wire.
Then came the moment of truth. The full before and after is in the video, but I’ll say this much here: my Zelda II save from 1989 was still on the cartridge. Thirty-seven years, and it survived the attic, the storage unit, and everything in between. Fenris called it a miracle. I’m not arguing.
After the reveal, we ran it through the games that made me: Double Dragon, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Castlevania, Contra, Mega Man, and Super Mario Bros. Playing them on the same console, on original hardware, output in RGB to a modern display, is something eight-year-old me could not have imagined.
Huge thanks to Fenris Wolf Retro for the build and the all-nighter. If you want the full story behind the hardware, we covered the NESRGB V5 and the Nin10do Drawer in depth on The Game Show with Alex from BlueShell3D and with Fenris himself. Those episodes are linked below.
Nin10do Drawer: The NES Blinking Light Fix That Actually Works w/ BlueShell3D – The Game Show S13E20
Fenris Wolf Retro Restored My Childhood NES (Here’s How) – The Game Show S13E21
