Tag Archives: NES

The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (Nintendo Entertainment System)

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

Developer(s) – Radical Entertainment

Publisher(s) – THQ

Rating – N/A

Released first on the NES and Game Boy in 1992, and then remarkable re-release on the Super NES the following year. And then on the Mega Drive the year after that. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was one of many mediocre licensed games released on the system, along with Nightmare on Elm Street and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? But out of these three games, the worst has to be Rock and Bullwinkle for a good number of reasons.

Graphics – 5/10

The first of which is the visuals. Though a number of more advanced graphics rendering techniques were incorporated during development, such as black outlines for characters and sprites, the overall conceptual design is nothing short of woeful. There have been many games to have come and gone that have made good use of cartoon-like visuals (most cel-shaded games spring to mind). But the scenery and style of this game make it seem that it was literally drawn by a four-year-old.

Gameplay – 2/10

A traditional 2D platformer, the game basically involves having to get from point A to point B, and not much of anything else. There is a small basis in combat, with being able to use grenades and some specialist attacks. And some basis in variety being able to switch from two characters at will. But that’s not to say that any of it is enjoyable. The game can be rushed without difficulty, making combat unnecessary.

Controls – 4/10

Even after almost a decade since the release of the original Super Mario Bros, there were development companies that still couldn’t get the fundamentals of the genre right. Rocky and Bullwinkle is one of the most prominent examples of which. Not only are the stair climbing controls terrible inaccurate, but so is the hit detection, making combat unnecessarily hard and nigh on unbearable to cope with. There were other games in the genre that suffered from issues like this, but this game took it to a whole new level.

Lifespan – 0.5/10

For first time players, it will take about an hour to play through this game. But for veteran players (although there aren’t many of them since not a lot of people in the right mind should actually play this game for any extended amount of time), the game can take inside seven minutes to finish. It is a painfully short amount of time for a video game to last. But with a game of such undeniably bad quality, there isn’t much call for it to last any longer than that.

Storyline – 2/10

As in the cartoon, the story involves Rocky and Bullwinkle resolving to find and defeat their arch-nemesis, Fearless Leader. Personally, I was never a fan of the cartoon. And so making a video game from the source material was never going to work for me. Certainly not as well as the likes of Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers. It’s a terrible license, which has somehow warranted the development of a terrible game. And by proxy, a terrible film. By some distance, the worst thing Robert De Niro has ever done with his career.

Originality – 0/10

There is no originality since everything had already been done before. And there’s absolutely nothing present in it to be able to differentiate it from other prominent names in the genre at the time, such as Castlevania and Mega Man. In fact, a lot of the many stables of the genre, such as bosses, are not present, which only makes matter worse.

Furiious

In summation, Rocky and Bullwinkle is one of the worse video games I’ve ever played. Even if players may have played every single platform game, and still hunger for more of the same, I can’t recommend it at all.

Score

13.5/60

2/10 (Terrible)

Tetris 2 (Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System & Super Nintendo)

Tetris 2

Developer(s) – Nintendo R&D1, TOSE & Nintendo

Publisher(s) – Nintendo

PEGI – 3

First published and brought to consoles in 1993 by Nintendo following the immense success of the 1989 classic designed by Dr. Alexei Pajitnov, Tetris 2 was met with an equal amount of acclaim by critics, with Electronic Gaming Monthly going on record to say that any fans of the first game will surely be satisfied with the sequel as well. Personally, I have a much more dim view of the second game than many others. Which may seem like semantics when first thought about. Since it’s easy to assume that the second would simply play out more or less identically to the first. But it doesn’t, and there are some key reasons why I think much less of this than the original game.

Graphics – 6/10

Whilst judging the game on its visuals, it highly depends on which port is being played. The Game Boy version consists of very little in terms of presentation. And has a much less catchy soundtrack than its predecessor. Though games like this are not primarily played for their graphics, the original game did have a few different pieces of scenery. Reminiscent of the country that it came from. But there’s nothing like that in the second. The NES version of course has color to it. Since the Game Boy is a monochromatic system. But there is, unfortunately, the same lack of additional conceptual design.

Gameplay – 6/10

Nintendo decided to not only port the game to their consoles but re-invent it as well. In my opinion. Resulting in a very underwhelming final product. The objective of the second game is to eliminate blocks pre-emptively fixed on the game board. By matching them up with blocks of the same color or pattern using the falling tetromino shapes. I found it simply to be dull and unsatisfying compared to the first game, which was designed by a man who understood the very concept of addiction. Having studied it for a long time.

Controls – 6/10

Because the tetromino shapes are structured much differently to those of the first game, yet with the game itself functioning on largely the same control scheme, to me, it doesn’t work anywhere near as well as in the first game. It simply highlights how overly hard the developers tried to fix something that wasn’t broken and complicated something that did not need to be complicated at all.

Originality – 6/10

Although I can commend Nintendo to a certain extent for trying something new with an overwhelmingly popular gameplay formula, something which by default would have been extremely difficult to even begin to undertake, let alone top, it turned out to be the wrong decision. And it made for a game that fell well short of the quality of its predecessor in my opinion. The idea was passable when it was implemented in Dr. Mario since it was much more simplistic having the player use two colors at a time. But if Gunpei Yokoi was involved in any way, shape, or form with the second Tetris game, it wouldn’t stand out as being among his best works the way I see it.

Niiutral

To summarize, Tetris 2 is just about playable, but nowhere near as fun or as addictive as what the concept had been before that. Or what it would be following it. The formula would be vastly improved with the release of Tetris Plus. But the direct sequel to the biggest one-hit wonder in gaming history certainly failed to live up to the set standards in my opinion.

Score

24/40

6/10 (Average)

Sword Master (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Sword Master

Developer(s) – Athena

Publisher(s) – Athena & Activision

Designer(s) – Hironobu Tamai & R. Nakashima

PEGI – 3

Released late into the shelf life of both the NES and the Famicom back in 1990, with the overseas released not happening until 1992, Sword Master was the sequel to Athena’s previous NES game Castle of Dragon and is today considered an extremely weak effort on their part, and thus has fallen into considerable obscurity compared to may other NES games. And I must say, after having examined this title and having come across a plethora of flaws, it’s very much deserved of its status.

Graphics – 2/10

Aside from bearing a striking resemblance to the original Castlevania, in terms of things like overworld map layout, color scheme. And character and enemy design, it also happens to be one of the most unpolished games I’ve ever played. A fair few NES games suffered from graphic glitches. But this game took it to new heights, with graphical errors appearing whenever a player attacks or is defeated. Just like in Castlevania, enemies are also engulfed in flames whenever they are defeated. This makes me question how much of this game can actually be attributed to its respective developers.

Gameplay – 4.5/10

The game is also extremely similar to the original Castlevania in many more ways than one; including the gameplay. The objective, as in many other video games at the time, is simply to get from point A to point B. Fighting any or all enemies that stand in the way. And with the added challenge of a few boss fights thrown in for good measure. But the main reason why I believe this game should lose many marks is it’s extremely bland even compared to the many different games that followed these tropes. Though this happened, games like Castlevania, Mega Man, and Super Mario Bros had things going for them that no other game at the time did. Such as heightened challenge, a heightened sense of non-linearity, or greater gameplay variety. Unfortunately, this game has none of these things associated with it.

Controls – 10/10

The one positive thing I can point out about this game, however, is that, unlike Castlevania, the controls don’t feel quite as stiff. And therefore, there is much less of a sense of unnecessary complication with the controls scheme. The movement speed may be more or less the same as the original Castlevania. But that doesn’t really too much to hinder what little gameplay there is.

Lifespan – 6/10

Though by today’s standards, 20 minutes will seem laughable to most gamers, it was about the average lifespan of a game for the time; indeed. Even Super Mario Bros would take around that much time to complete given the right amount of experience. That being said, it’s hard to imagine that the developers wouldn’t have been able to add even a few more levels to make this game last a little bit longer. I guess they didn’t share Nintendo’s reservations about leaving empty space on a cartridge whilst developing their games.

Storyline – 3/10

The story is also practically non-existent, most likely confined to the game’s manual. A regular occurrence at this time, when the emphasis on story in video games was a rarity. It involves a knight called Sword Master out to slay the evil duo of a demon and a wizard. Which he apparently summoned. So not only is it very half-hearted. But it’s also very typical of the kind of story most video games would utilize. Only in this game, there isn’t a princess seemingly being taken from one castle to the next.

Originality – 0/10

As well as this game being very boring, it’s also very unimaginative too. Although console gaming was still in a primitive form and had yet to evolve into the highly standardized industry it is today, far better games than this had already been developed before on the NES or Famicom, and as I’ve thoroughly outlined, this title failed to deliver the same kind of classic gaming experience synonymous with other NES games.

Angrii

To summarize, Sword Master is a classic example of developers creating a game haphazardly, and failing in almost every aspect imaginable. Activision has since gone on to publish much greater games than this, but things started out primitively upon their breakaway from Atari, and this game is a prominent example of this.

Score

25.5/60

4/10 (Poor)

Robodemons (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Robodemons

Developer(s) – Color Dreams

Publisher(s) – Color Dreams

Artist – Dan Burke

Rating – N/A

Yet another 2D side scroller, albeit a more traditional one, Robodemons was developed by Color Dreams, who would later come to be known as Wisdom Tree. Selling video games from Christian bookstores. The company themselves have given two separate accounts of this history. One story is that they re-branded for the sake of spreading the word of the bible. And the other was that they did it as a joke. But I think anyone who has had the misfortune of playing their games will realize that neither is correct. And that they simply did it to keep their business alive. After Nintendo forcefully halted the sale of unlicensed games in shops. Which couldn’t afford to not carry Nintendo games at the time. Not only is this game living proof of this. But it’s also extremely bad.

Graphics – 6/10

As the best aspect of the game, the visuals are fairly diverse, containing satanic imagery, as well as being a very early example of an overly violent video game. The level of the flesh, in particular, contains rivers of blood, and platforms made out of brains. And heart ventricles, which act as doorways to different areas of the level. It isn’t anywhere near as violent as Abadox was. But it was almost as intriguing. Major problems with the game, however, are that it is infested with glitches and the same song plays throughout the entire game, like in many of Color Dreams’ titles.

Gameplay – 3/10

The objective of Robodemons is to simply traverse each level, and defeat enemies. Whilst racking up a high score not visible on the screen (as a result of inconsistent programming). And beating a boss at the end of it; and when I say simply, I mean the game is easy beyond comprehension. On the third level, it is even possible to beat the boss at the start without even coming into contact with it. The fact that the high score isn’t even displayed on the screen also encourages incentive considerably less than any other game on the market at the time. And even back then, not many people cared about the score, to begin with.

Controls – 10/10

Since this kind of game was commonplace at the time, there shouldn’t have been a problem with it. Even so, I was glad to see that the developers got this aspect right at least. Not suffering from many of the same problems as many of the more challenging games at the time, including the original Castlevania and Mega Man, the controls are fluent and easy to get to grips with. And will cause no unnecessary complications for players willing to plow through the experience.

Lifespan – 0.5/10

Clocking in at about 20 minutes in total, this was overly short even for an NES game; and a late one at that, having been released in 1990. Side scrollers could be made to last at least an hour at this point. And for a game to last a fifth of that lifespan was and is unacceptable.

Storyline – 4/10

The game’s story is extremely archetypical for its time, save for the lack of a damsel in distress. An unnamed hero resolves to defeat a demon king named Kull. It does have a small element of artistic value since it was inspired by the Divine Comedy, and the levels are supposedly structured in the same way as Dante’s journey through Hell, but the developers were never going to make the story stand out any more than what they needed it to, which at this time, was very little anyway.

Originality – 2/10

The only unique thing this game has going for it is in the kind of things that influenced it; but even then, demonic or disturbing imagery had been seen in video games, such as Castlevania and Abadox. It certainly doesn’t stand out in gameplay either, since the genre it belongs to was the standard at the time and a trend that had been well and truly set.

Angrii

In summation, Robodemons is most probably one of the worst video games of the third generation. It’s insultingly easy, very unoriginal, and was clearly rushed by a developer who was unsurprisingly unworthy of Nintendo’s seal of quality.

Score

25.5/60

4/10 (Poor)

Raid 2020 (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Developer(s) – Colour Dreams

Publisher(s) – Colour Dreams & HES Interactive

Producer(s) – Frank Waung & Dan Burke

Rating – N/A

Released exclusively in Australia and North America as one of the many unlicensed games produced by the infamous development company Colour Dreams, Raid 2020 is largely considered to be one of the worst games available for the original NES. Especially after having gained increased exposure across the Internet following reviews from the likes of the Angry Video Game Nerd and Stan Burdman. After playing the game myself, it’s no wonder why it has been given such a terrible reception. It’s mediocre at best; even for the time.

Graphics – 6/10

The best thing about the game is the visuals, but even they come into question. The conceptual design of the game is quite varied. With levels taking place on boardwalks, in futuristic cities, swamps, and even in space at one point. From a technical standpoint, the graphics aren’t too bad either. With the developers taking advantage of some of the most revolutionary techniques used at the time. Such as giving characters black outlines and the use of shadow here and there.

Even enemies from one of Colour Dreams’ previous efforts, Robodemons, make a cameo appearance towards the start of the game. The problem being is that most of the levels are largely recycled. And by proxy, it can feel as if the player is simply playing the same level three times in a row before advancing to the next stage. Also, like Robodemons, the music exactly the same throughout. This can become irritating after a while.

Gameplay – 4/10

Raid 2020 is a run-and-gun 2D side-scroller. With vehicular combat interspersed between levels. Though the game does have variety in that respect, compared to other games of the time, it can also be seen as being fairly inaccessible. Since it is much harder than it ought to have been. This is compounded by the fact that there are things happening in the game that don’t make any sense. Such as the player losing health after being hit by bird droppings. And being hurt by stepping on tomatoes on the road. Or being hit by flies.

Controls – 5/10

The control scheme is also very needlessly complicated, to say the least; mostly due to the fact that the movement is extremely awkward. Despite the fact that the 2D side-scrolling formula had been perpetuated for over five years prior to the release of this game. When the player presses the up button, the character moves diagonally up and left, and for down, it moves down and right. As opposed to simply moving up and down. As the player would have come to expect at this point.

Lifespan – 1/10

The game can take a grand total of 20 minutes to complete; just like Robodemons, it’s hopelessly short, even for the time. Given the fact that the RRP price of an NES game back then was anywhere between $40 and $65 in the US in particular, I’m sure it would have felt like an insult to anyone who may have gone ahead and bought it at the time.

Storyline – 3/10

The story of Raid 2020 follows a detective who is codenamed Shadow. He is on a mission to topple a massive drug empire by the kingpin Pitbull. Though it does break away from the typical white saving the damsel in distress story that the industry had become synonymous with at that point, the plot still makes little to no sense. Since not only are there merely vague explanations of what exactly is going on. But the dialogue interspersed between levels only appears on-screen for a few seconds. This would have made it even more unnecessarily harder to follow what exactly is going on.

Originality – 2/10

The only true aspect of originality this game has going for it is the fact that the gameplay is fairly well-varied and it isn’t all just the same thing over and over again. The problem is that everything else is the same thing over and over again. The individual levels are largely recycled throughout despite visual diversity between stages of the game, and personally, I’ve found that inaccessible games always make for a much more needlessly frustrating experience.

Angrii

Overall, Raid 2020 is thoroughly deserved for the bad wrap it has gotten. Especially over the last few years with the advent of YouTube reviewing. Out of all the efforts produced by Colour Dreams, it stands as being one of the worst; if not, the worst.

Score

21/60

3.5/10 (Very Poor)

Punch-Out!! (Arcade)

Punch-Out

Developer(s) – Nintendo IRD & Nintendo R&D1

Publisher(s) – Nintendo

Producer – Genyo Takeda

ESRB – E10+

The original Punch-Out was one of the first franchises established by Nintendo, even before the release of Super Mario, and was met with positive reviews worldwide after its international release in 1984. The project was worked on by many now-famous Nintendo employees such as Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto, and is notable for being the first Nintendo game to have the soundtrack composed by the esteemed Koji Kondo, who would go on to compose some of Nintendo’s most familiar musical scores. To me, it is one of the most memorable arcade games of the 1980s, and I’m glad Nintendo chose to build upon the franchise over many of the others they had even back then.

Graphics – 6/10

The visuals have a fair bit of graphical detail for the time, and I’ve always been wise to how intelligent a move it was on Nintendo’s part to represent the playable character as a wireframe to get around to many technical limitations of the time. The biggest problem that many people have had with this game, however, is the fact that almost every character is either hopelessly generic or an overblown racial stereotype; despite the fact that it was Shigeru Miyamoto who designed them. For example, there’s an Italian boxer named Pizza Pasta, and a wimpy French boxer named Glass Joe. Though personality would come into play more as the series progressed, despite the fact that racist caricatures of the characters would become even more pronounced, it all started out quite primitively; especially since this was only an arcade game.

Gameplay – 7/10

The way the game plays out is actually particularly interesting. The player would use the bottom screen to fight, and the top screen would portray the stats and character portraits of the fighters. It also worked well as it was ported to the Game & Watch, and is also in turn seen as a precursor to the idea of the DS, interestingly enough. It also becomes a lot more challenging as it progresses, but the difficulty does mercifully come down after beating the game thrice, so it’s not too inaccessible.

Controls – 10/10

The general control scheme of Punch-Out is rather simple, and getting to grips with it will be self-explanatory for any gamer of today looking to try it out. The direct sequel would introduce some particularly strange mechanics, but still, players can pretty much jump from the first to the second without missing a beat. It was that straightforward, even back then.

Originality – 9/10

Though at the time the game seemed particularly simple in scope, it would go on to become instrumental in inspiring many of Nintendo’s future works, and consequently, this game is actually a very important piece of gaming history. Not only that, but it would also go on to inspire the creation of the licensed boxing video game sub-genre; especially as Mike Tyson lent his own name and likeness to a later installment of the series for the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

Happii

Overall, Punch-Out is a much more important game than most people probably realize. It would go on to serve as inspiration for a plethora of games, and even consoles, and at the same time, managed to entertain a lot of people in the process and is essential for any fan of retro gaming.

Score

33/40

8/10 (Very Good)

Menace Beach (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Menace Beach

Developer(s) – Color Dreams

Publisher(s) – Color Dreams & Hacker International

Programmer – Vance Kozik

Rating – N/A

Like many games of its kind, the most interesting thing about this game is its history. Back in the days of the NES, Nintendo included the 10-NES lockout chip inside the console to prevent developers from releasing unlicensed games for it. Regardless, there were a number of unlicensed games released for the NES. As development companies did find a way of circumventing the 10-NES chip. Perhaps the company that did this more than any other was Color Dreams. Amongst their NES repertoire was Menace Beach.

One of their most well-known games, for its level of violence and mature content. But when Nintendo threatened to stop doing business with retailers who carried unlicensed NES games, Color Dreams renamed themselves Wisdom Tree. And then took to re-developing their games and selling them in Christian bookstores instead. Menace Beach was re-developed and renamed Sunday Funday, and toned down considerably. Though there was a strong level of violence. But in my opinion, Menace Beach stands out more as being one of the first genuinely mature games on the NES.

Graphics – 7/10

The visuals are by some distance the best element that I can attribute to this game. Since they were fairly advanced for the time. For example, the characters have black outlines for the most part, which effectively separates them from the scenery. Which though may have been pioneered by Capcom with the Mega Man series, still makes the game stand out somewhat from many others. There is also an unprecedented amount of variety in level design. As the last level, in particular, is set in Hell and the last boss is a demon.

Gameplay – 5.5/10

As for the gameplay, however, I found it extremely typical for what was being released for the NES at the time. As well as being typical of the type of game that Color Dreams would release back then. It’s a 2D side scroller, whereby the player must simply get from A to B without dying. And even then, there’s not a great amount of variety in it compared with many other Nintendo-licensed titles. Such as Mario or Zelda. Plus, the fact that the main character rides around on a skateboard doesn’t have as much bearing on gameplay. As it might sound as if the idea was presented on paper.

Controls – 10/10

I am happy, however, to say that there aren’t any issues with the game’s control scheme. Which at the time at least, did seem fairly difficult for developers to execute. As many 2D platformers did have some issues with controls, such as Castlevania and Mega Man. Though riding on a skateboard doesn’t really make any kind of difference, the point is that the formula was done as well as it could have been. And the game is due credit for that, at least.

Lifespan – 6/10

Menace Beach can be made to last for just under half an hour. Which was about the average lifespan for an NES game. Though it doesn’t last any longer than a game like Super Mario Bros or Mega Man, there’s nothing in gameplay that would suggest to me that it would or could be made to last any longer without players becoming bored of it, so to me, it’s just as well that it lasted as long as it did.

Storyline – 5.5/10

Also adding to the game’s typicality is its storyline. The main character is an unnamed skateboarder, who must rescue his girlfriend Bunny, who has been kidnapped by a gang led by a villain called Demon Dan. The standout story element is the series of cutscenes played in between each level, whereby Bunny is tied to a table demeaning her boyfriend for not rescuing her faster, whilst her clothes are gradually falling off until she is left in her underwear. I think the inclusion of that element, similar to Killer is Dead, which I reviewed earlier this year, was a particularly cheap way to get players to continue with it, and can only be seen nowadays as being much less believable, since Menace has long since been graphically outdated.

Originality – 4/10

Although this game stands out for how violent it is for the time as well as including other mature elements and fairly advanced graphics, there’s not much else to distinguish it from others. It is a very typical NES game, which has the misfortune of not having the official Nintendo seal of quality.

Niiutral

Overall, I think Menace Beach is worth one playthrough, but not really worth bothering with for an extended amount of time. Though Color Dreams did release quite a few 2D platformers for the NES, none of them really stand out in terms of gameplay to any great extent; and Menace Beach is no different.

Score

37.5/60

6/10 (Average)

Mega Man (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Mega Man

Developer(s) – Capcom

Publisher(s) – Capcom

Director – Akira Kitamura

Designer – Akira Kitamura

PEGI – 7

Before I played Mega Man for the first time, I had a pretty decent idea of what I would be getting. But I wasn’t prepared for its relentless level of difficulty. For how innovative and groundbreaking it was for the time, I couldn’t help but think that like the original Castlevania, it would’ve done better if it had appealed to the more casual gamer. As well as gamers looking for a challenge. But regardless, this game had become a cult classic, and I decided to judge for myself.

Graphics – 9/10

The visuals not only hold up in comparison to indie 8-bit games developed today. But for the time, they were revolutionary. The most notable technique Capcom used was to give the character sprites black outlines. Which was something rarely seen on the NES prior. A problem with the original Nintendo was that it had a limited color palette. And game developers had to compromise accordingly; but with Mega Man, Capcom simply realized that colors could be made much more distinctive from one another. By merely separating them with thin lines of black between the scenery and the character sprites. And it worked flawlessly. Not only that, but the diversity in level design was also top-notch. The game takes place in locations like futuristic laboratories and vast, rocky canyons.

Gameplay – 5/10

This aspect is where the game posthumously fell short on in my opinion. My feelings towards it are too mixed. On one hand, this game incorporates so many innovations that would go on to become industry standards. Such as non-linearity, giving players the choice of which order they complete levels in. And variety in the array of different abilities that the player can acquire throughout the course of the game. But on the other hand, the game is notoriously hard. And for the most part, I just felt marred by its level of difficulty. It’s because of that, I found it too hard to enjoy. And in turn, hurts its replayability overall. I think part of the problem has to do with that back in the time of its release, video gaming was a much more casual interest in America and Europe than it was in Japan.

And the Western world wasn’t used to such challenges in video games. But there were a few of these games, like Mega Man and Castlevania, that were met with decent reception. And so they worked for many players, but not for all. This is part of the reason why Nintendo was apprehensive about releasing the original Super Mario Bros 2 in the Western world. So they took another game they previously developed called Doki Doki Panic. And re-imagined that game as our version of Super Mario Bros 2. And the original Japanese take was re-released as part of Super Mario All-Stars. Where it was called Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. Although there is much more to the story than that, the fact of the matter remains that Mega Man was just far too hard for me to enjoy overall.

Controls – 9/10

Like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, I did sometimes find the controls to be somewhat unresponsive. Which made it hard to time jumps properly and not fall from platforms and lose lives. However, for the most part, it is down to the player’s own individual skill. And my advice to anyone looking to try this game out is to be prepared and be patient because players will inevitably die over and over again.

Lifespan – 5/10

As I alluded to before, past linear 2D side scrollers don’t tend to last for overly long periods of time. And Mega Man is no exception. I think experienced players are able to complete this game in about four hours, but for inexperienced players, most time will be spent dying. And as I said before, the game’s level of difficulty will inevitably hinder its replayability for many players. Also, as Mega Man is not exactly a linear 2D side scroller, giving players the choice of what path to take, I think the game’s short lifespan is made that little more intolerable as a result.

Storyline – 7/10

For a time when there was considerably less emphasis put on a story in video games, Mega Man’s storyline is actually fairly well done. What made it different is that there is a little bit more back-story in Mega Man than there was in other games at the time. It follows a humanoid robot called Mega Man. He is deployed by his co-creator, Dr. Light, to stop his former assistant Dr. Wily. The two scientists created Mega Man and six other humanoid robots for industrial labor.

But Dr. Wily chose to use the other six humanoid robots in a bid to take over the world. And Mega Man must prevent this from happening. An interesting fact about the story is that Mega Man was originally going to be called Rock Man to fit in with the other six humanoid robots. But also as a reference to rock music. But the problem was that the developers were afraid of the name Rock Man being mistaken for a reference to drugs, so it was changed. This is also why Mega Man’s sister is called Roll. As it would have been Rock and Roll if the name change hadn’t happened.

Originality – 7/10

Although I found the game too difficult to enjoy playing, the fact of the matter is that a lot of innovations were made in this game that would become stable elements of video games to this very day, and I have to at least respect it for that. For me, it loses marks for the fact that the more difficult games back in the time appealed to a lesser demographic overall, and therefore the game was different, but in a more negative way. I can’t help but feel that if they’d toned down the difficulty for the Western release of the game, then it would have done better at the time.

Happii

In summation, whilst it’s not a terrible game, it is only open to specific kinds of gamers; the kind who don’t mind the challenge of playing through such a hard game. But for a lot of other people, it will just become nothing but frustrating to play. But with its outstanding visuals for the time, and groundbreaking gameplay features, it most definitely earned its place in video gaming history.

Score

42/60

7/10 (Fair)

Kirby’s Adventure (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Kirbys Adventure

Developer(s) – HAL Laboratory

Publisher(s) – Nintendo

Director – Masahiro Sakurai

Producer(s) – Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto & Takao Shimizu

PEGI – 3

One of the last games to be released on the Nintendo Entertainment System before software support ended back in 1994, Kirby’s Adventure is also considered to be one of the best games on the system. Making use of some impressive graphics for the time, as well as extremely varied gameplay. Aspects contributing to the overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim it received upon its release. Whilst I don’t think it quite deserved a perfect score, I do agree that it is most definitely one of the better games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. And just as good as its Game Boy counterpart, Kirby’s Dream Land; if not better.

Graphics – 9/10

As I alluded to, as this game was one of the last released on the NES, it was released at a time when the console’s graphical capability had been fully explored and expanded upon. And developers were in the process of pushing the boundaries of what else they could theoretically be capable of. Before completing the transition to the 16-bit era. Advanced 8-bit rendering techniques were incorporated into Kirby’s Adventure such as giving characters black outlines. And making full use of the console’s limited color palette to present one of the most colorful and visually diverse games on the system.

The conceptual design, whilst reminiscent of Super Mario Bros 3, is also wonderfully varied, with many different landscapes used as levels. And incredibly varied enemy and boss designs. There’s actually quite an interesting story surrounding both this game and Kirby’s Dream Land about the color of the main character Kirby. The character’s creator, Masahiro Sakurai, had originally envisioned the character to be pink. But Mario’s designer, Shigeru Miyamoto wanted him to be yellow. There was also confusion on the part of Nintendo of America who thought that because the Game Boy was a monochromatic system, Kirby was supposed to be white. Henceforth, Kirby was colored white on the box art for Kirby’s Dream Land.

Gameplay – 8/10

The game is a 2D side scroller, as was typical for the time. Though it doesn’t conform to many of the set trends synonymous with most games released within the genre. Kirby has the ability to swallow enemies and take on their combat abilities. Giving the game a surprising amount of variety. Different abilities include laser beams, attacking with a sword, fire powers, ice powers, and even the ability to use loud sounds like a crowd control move. When put together, it is extremely enjoyable to play. There were few games released for the NES with comparable amounts of variety to this title.

Controls – 9/10

The only vague problem I had with the game’s control scheme is how the flying mechanics work. Players use the up button to have Kirby float in the air to reach otherwise unreachable areas. And then the attack button deflates back to a walking state. It made visible the fact that more buttons were certainly needed in future consoles to accommodate a greater amount of variety in controls. Otherwise, however, there are no other issues to address.

Lifespan – 8/10

Kirby’s Adventure is also an exceptionally long game for its time. Lasting an average of around 2 and a half hours. Most games would normally last around 40 minutes or an hour, but for a 2D side scroller to last this long was exemplary. Even if the bulk of innovation in the genre had been made prior to the release of this game. Super Mario introduced the idea of multiple levels. And Mega Man introduced the idea of black outlines in 8-bit games. But Kirby’s Adventure is a by-product of how all these different ideas can be brought together to make something extremely special.

Storyline – 7/10

Though gamers would have had to rely on the instruction manual to learn of any story involved, as customary for the time, the story of Kirby’s Adventure somewhat stands out. Since like it’s the gameplay, does not follow the same tropes used in most games of that era. It follows Kirby on his quest to recover the Star Rod from his nemesis King Dedede, in order to restore power to the Fountain of Dreams. This game was also the first to feature the character, Meta Knight. Who would go on to be in my opinion one of the most unfairly neglected characters in Nintendo history. For more information about why I think this, check out this article:

http://darkzero.co.uk/game-articles/nintendo-we-volume-4-meta-knight-mania-the-curse-of-the-castle-in-the-clouds/

Originality – 7/10

Back in the NES days, it was becoming increasingly difficult for video games to stand out from one another. Especially 2D side scrollers. But in my opinion, Masahiro Sakurai managed to do just that, and in some emphatic style too. With its exemplary conceptual design along with some fun and varied gameplay, it certainly went leaps and bounds ahead of many different third-party efforts released on the NES, especially those designed by Colour Dreams, and did well to prolong the shelf life of the console for another year or so before Nintendo went on to create bigger and better things with this franchise among their many others.

Happii

Overall, Kirby’s Adventure is a very well-crafted title and satisfying to play, as well as excellent to look at for the time. Witnessing the birth of the franchise, it’s no wonder to me why it would become one of the most prolific in Nintendo’s history over the last 20 years and continues to be to this day.

Score

48/60

8/10 (Very Good)

Duck Tales (Nintendo Entertainment System & Game Boy)

Developer(s) – Capcom

Publisher(s) – Capcom & Disney Interactive Studios

Designer – Yoshinori Takenaka

Producer – Takuro Fujiwara

PEGI – 7

Released back in 1989, and has many key personnel from the team behind Mega Man, including the franchise’s creator Keiji Inafune taking charge of character design, Duck Tales went on to become a critical and commercial success on the back of the immensely popular Disney cartoon series. It’s regarded by many as one of the best. And indeed one of the most challenging, Game Boy games ever developed. And I found that whilst it is challenging, it was developed in such a way that didn’t make it inaccessible to me, unlike Mega Man. And I ended up spending a lot of time on this game when I was a kid as a result.

Graphics – 8/10

Though the NES version had a massive assortment of colorful environments, despite the console’s limited color palette. What the original Game Boy lacked in color variety and technological advancement developers had to make up for in conceptual design. Duck Tales is a classic example of this. Set in a variety of 5 different locations. Including The Himalayas, The Amazon River, and even the Moon. It, in turn, allowed for a wide assortment of enemy designs and different types of scenery to accompany each stage. The soundtrack is also arguably one of the best 8-BIT music arrangements in gaming. Tracks for the Amazon and The Moon stand out to a majority of players.

Gameplay – 8/10

Like Mega Man, Duck Tales is also a non-linear 2D platformer. Players are given the facility to complete the game in any order they desire. There are also unlockable areas within each of the five different levels. Giving players cause to revisit levels multiple times, adding to the game’s longevity. It was also one of the first video games to include multiple endings since there is a good ending. And a bad ending to unlock is dependent on how much money the player accumulates.

Controls – 10/10

Though the 2D platforming game formula had been well and truly mastered at this time, Duck Tales introduced one particular mechanic that made things pretty interesting. The pogo stick jump. Scrooge can use his cane as a pogo stick to attack enemies as well as traverse dangerous platforms in order to reach otherwise impassable or secret areas hidden throughout the game. It would have been particularly difficult for developers to introduce new ideas into a formula that had arguably been definitively perfected by Nintendo with the advent of Super Mario Bros. But Capcom managed to keep it fresh with their plethora of Mega Man games as well as Duck Tales.

Lifespan – 6/10

Clocking in at around an hour and a half, it lasts around the average of what a game was expected to last at that time. Less experienced players will spend some more time on it. Since it can take a while to master the control mechanics to effectively get past each individual challenge the game throws at them. But there had been a select few games on the NES that lasted a great deal longer than this. And so the game wasn’t able to stand out in this respect at least.

Storyline – 5.5/10

The game also marginally stands out in terms of story. It simply revolves around the same concept as the cartoon series. Scrooge McDuck, along with his nephews Huey, Dewey, Louie, and his friend Launchpad McQuack are on an adventure to increase Scrooge’s fame ahead of his closest rival, Flintheart Glomgold. It’s only slightly more unique than most video game plots at that time since it doesn’t revolve around a white knight having to save the damsel in distress. But although most people didn’t play games for the story at this time, there is indeed a lack of it in this title.

Originality – 7/10

As I alluded to, it was extremely difficult to make a winning 2D side-scrolling game in the time when Nintendo had pioneered the industry standards with the original Super Mario Bros. But Capcom managed to accomplish that with Duck Tales by introducing additional control mechanics. As well as a non-linear progression along with hidden secret areas. It was one of many licensed Disney games that Capcom went on to develop that sticks out in the minds of gamers everywhere. And helped to establish them as powerhouses within the industry.

Happii

In all, Duck Tales is indeed one of the best platformers on the Game Boy, as well as the NES. And a gaming experience that still very much holds up to this day. Though it conformed to many of the story limitations synonymous with gaming at the time, it excelled in the aspect that truly matters. The gameplay.

Score

44.5/60

7/10 (Fair)