25 years ago: Young reviewer of toys recommends Nintendo games

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 11, 1988:

Holiday shoppers received some assistance today from a front-page article featuring 11-year-old Galen Turner, who provided some helpful comments on toys and games for sale this year. The nation’s No. 1 toy this season, the Nintendo video game system, was one of Galen’s favorites. “My very favorite Nintendo game is Super Mario Brothers II. They are like cartoon characters,” Galen explained. “Mario is the official hero of Nintendo. He’s in most of their games.” Called by his mother a “natural pacifist,” Galen preferred non-violent games such as Donkey Kong, Burger Time, Stack-up, Balloon Fight, and the aforementioned Mario games. He also mentioned Atari and Sega, Nintendo’s competitors in the video-game market. “Atari has a lot of games. They have more games than Nintendo has or ever will have because they have been around so long,” Galen said. Continuing with his review, Galen gave guarded approval to the latest board-game craze, “Pictionary,” saying, “It’s fun. But I don’t know if it teaches you anything.”