No, I'm not talking about a woman's rack at the age of 50, I'm talking about 8 Bit NES games. So many of those games seemed like masterpieces when we first played them, but how kind has Father Time been to them now that 20 to 30 years has passed since they came out? I don't think many people will argue that the majority of them have aged as gracefully as your average pornstar's meat curtains. Still there are some gems out there. The Super Mario games really seem to have stood the test of time, as well as the Legend of Zelda and a few other high profile games. But what about the others? What about those games that didn't get a dozen sequels over the years and have faded away from our immediate recollection?
So I've decided to go panning for gold this summer, and have chosen 100 NES games. I will play them until either I've finished them, I'm not longer having fun, or I've decided that the particular game sucks donkey ass and will not be getting any better no matter how much time I put into it.
Basically I've got a lot of time on my hands this summer and not enough to fill it with.
Then you'd be realy confused by the 2000 Wacky Racers game released for the Dreamcast. It was actually fairly decent. I always make a point to call the IP "Wacky Racists". In a way the simplified characters are the perfect cast for a kart racer typep game, then you have a big audio resource you acn pull from (the TV show) to bring the game alive.
It was in heavt re-run rotation here in the 80's.
No videos, then?
I'm still going to try, but my week has been insanely busy. And tomorrow I have some friends opening a comic book shop and it's going to be an all day event (it will be the third biggest in the country). Hopefully I'll figure it out a good way to record myself on Sunday. I have all the in-game footage I need, but I can't do a real good job of recording myself.
I saw that not long ago, and that's sort of what encouraged me to try this one. I can only assume Hannah-Barbera occasionally dusts off the idea of bringing the series back from time to time and always stop just short, but not before they get some licensing deals done.
#8. Ninja Kid: Quick Verdict - Nope.
Boy, we sure did love ninjas in the 80's didn't we? Ninja Gaiden, Kid Niki Radical Ninja, TMNT, Shadow of the Ninja.... and even if you didn't play as a ninja in the game you probably were killing ninjas. Fun fact: 90% of all NES games had a ninja in it. Anyway, towards the bottom of the ninja game ladder of fame was Ninja Kid. In it you play as a kid who is a ninja, and you run around throwing ninja stars at things (occasionally other ninjas).
Despite being generic as hell, Ninja Kid wasn't a bad game by NES standards. The graphics are decent and the controls are a little loose and the character moves pretty quickly, but he's not completely unwieldly to control. Boss fights aren't horrible either. Unfortunately the game is really hard to navigate which is remarkable since each level is so short. The levels are wrap around, and you just try to kill everything until a door opens up, and then you climb a tower to end the level. I think... it's not real self explanitory, and since it's not much fun it's tough to be interested enough to look up any other details. So, it was an average game 30 years ago, and now it's just boring junk. Doesn't hold up.
View on YouTube
#9. Batman: Quick verdict - Still good
I wonder what it is about Batman that translates so well into video games. Whether he's starring in his own game, or playing a supporting role in a fighting game he generally comes out pretty well. Sure he's had his share of stinkers, but Batman has appeared in over 50 games. I'm talking out of my ass here, but outside of the Nintendo universe, I doubt there's a character who has appeared in more games. Whatever the reason, he's been in a lot of quality games, and the original Batman title for the NES was probably the first to get really high level acclaim.
Is it still good today though? Yes, it really is. The game is hard. Really hard. But for the most part, I wouldn't consider it to be unfairly hard (though there's a few boss battles that are pretty insane). Just about everything the game throws at you can be overcome with a couple attempts. The soundtrack is really well done, and the graphics are good too. The character sprites are a little small, but they are still pretty detailed. The action is good too. There are multiple attack weapons that allow you to do more than just walk up to and enemy and punch. And remarkably, the game nailed the wall-jump, a feature that so many other games of the time couldn't do. So, this is one to go back and play again folks. Enjoy.
#10. 8-Eyes: Quick Verdict - Ughhhh hell no
I still don't get what the thinking was behind this game. It seems like someone wanted to make Castlevania, but without a whip. And a lot harder. Basically in this game you travel to different castles (not just one) and fight with a sword (that has no range). To make up for your weapon's lack of range, you have a falcon. The falcon can be controlled by a second player, and supposed that makes the game quite a bit easier. However, when you have to control both with as a single player, it's insanely difficult. And the game really does look like Castlevania. I have to believe the developers bought the code off of Konami, because each level looks like it came directly out of Castlevania and the only different between Simon Belmont and 8-Eyes' main character is the damned bird.
Without playing it two-player I can't give a definitive answer whether or not it holds up, but on a single-player level I can absolutely say no. The whole thing just feels like a bad knock-off Castlevania clone (since I'm pretty sure that's what they were going for). The developers tried to do some different things to their credit to make it feel a little more robust than Castlevania, but none of it worked. They tried puzzles with the bird, but he even controls worse than the main character, as well as a variety of special items to expand the combat, but just accessing them is difficult, let alone effectively using them. The game is not fun. It's hard, difficult to control, and really has no reason to exist. Bad then, even worse now.
ORIN AND CUTRUS! I PLAYED THAT! IT SUCKED!
Steel I think you're the only other person on earth who did. I've tried to explain this game to people for years and no on knows what I'm talking about.