The Nintendo Entertainment System turned 30 this month, and along with it was Duck Hunt. Both released in the North American market on October 18, 1985, and though Duck Hunt never had the sequels of other games of its time period, it clearly has had a lasting impact on gaming culture.

Duck Hunt is actually based on a game that dates to 1976, called Beam Gun: Duck HuntDonkey Kong, Kid Icarus, and Metroid, among many others. The game uses the NES Zapper as its primary controller and the object is simply to shoot as many targets during the round as possible. Rounds get progressively harder as the targets move faster and more erratically, making it more difficult to avoid a game over.

Though the game was simple and repetitive, it became a staple of the early Nintendo catalog thanks to the fact that it was packed in with consoles (along with the original Super Mario Bros.). The game was praised widely for its catchy music, which was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka; he was also the composer for popular Nintendo titles like Super Mario Land, Dr. Mario, and EarthBound.

But easily the most memorable aspect of Duck Hunt was the dog. The nameless animal first looks as though he’s going to assist the player by scaring the ducks out of the grass for the player to then shoot, but he became infamous for the fact that he points and laughs at the player when they fail to shoot any ducks. He’s been labeled as one of the most obnoxious game characters ever and is considered by many to be the game’s unofficial antagonist. In fact, the Duck Hunt Dog became so popular amongst longtime Nintendo fans that the company included him as a playable character in the latest Super Smash Bros. games for the Wii U and 3DS systems. Though there hasn’t been another game in the Duck Hunt series in decades, the lasting popularity of the original has certainly been notable.