Code Name: Viper
released on Mar 23, 1990
The player takes the role of Kenny Smith, an agent of the 98th Special Forces, also known as "Code Name: Viper", who is assigned by his commander, Director Jones, to investigate a large drug syndicate that covers all of South America. Smith's objective is to rescue a missing Viper agent in each of the syndicate's seven hideouts and uncover clues of the Syndicate's true mastermind.
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This was decent I can't decide if I like it better or rolling thunder. I had never heard of this game when i was growing up.
As a whole, the Rolling Thunder series wasn’t necessarily all that great. Sure, it wasn’t all completely terrible, and Rolling Thunder 3 was at least a good enough game to where I would recommend it, but the first two games weren’t really good at all, and the series as a whole was plagued with plenty of issues, such as a constant barrage of enemies, repetitive gameplay that never evolves too much, terrible boss fights (and a lack thereof), and being way too cruel in the process, much like most arcade games are. I guess it could appeal to huge arcade buffs, but I couldn’t really recommend the series to anyone else. Now, with all that out of the way, you are probably thinking to yourself, “Mega, why the hell are you talking about Rolling Thunder?” Well, it is because of the fact that I am reviewing Code Name: Viper today.
I didn’t know anything about this game when going into it, and I thought it was just gonna be another typical NES action game that didn’t really do that much to stand out from the crowd. However, when I then went into the game myself, I then realized that this game is pretty much just a Rolling Thunder clone, having the exact same style of gameplay, a very similar look, and very similar issues. And to think, this wasn’t even made by Namco, but instead by Arc System Works, the guys who would go onto make Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and would also end up owning franchises like River City and Double Dragon. So, I was cautious to continue playing this, to say the least, but surprisingly, I found this game to actually be good. Dare I say, it is even BETTER than most of the Rolling Thunder games. Sure, it has its share of issues, ones that are also carried over from those games, but I found this to be much more tolerable and fun then any of those other games, even if it just barely on the same level as RT3.
The story is generic for a game with this title, where a drug syndicate is found operating in South America, so it is to Agent Viper to travel to various locations around the country to find out who is behind it all, which is simple enough to get you into the action, and appropriately anti-drug for the time that the game came out, the graphics are typical of what you would expect for the console, but they work well enough, and there are some quality animations of the characters to be found here, the music is very good, having plenty of good tunes to listen to while you shoot up enemy soldiers, but some tracks are repeated across multiple levels, so that kinda sucks, the control is good, feeling exactly like a Rolling Thunder game, in both a good and a bad way, and the gameplay is mostly what you would expect if you are familiar with the Rolling Thunder series, but with several changes made that make it more appealing to me.
The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Agent Viper, go through a set of eight stages taking place in numerous locations in South America, shoot down many different, multi-colored enemy soldiers that you will encounter, gather ammo pickups and health upgrades in various different doorways that you can enter throughout all of the levels, and save the many hostages that you will find all throughout the levels so you can… feel better about yourself, I dunno. It is very similar to Rolling Thunder in just about every way, which can be a deal breaker for plenty of people, but for me, it was much more tolerable than any of those games, while also having several changes that makes it better than those games.
First of all, we actually get a difficulty selection upon starting the game, with three different choices available, which may not sound like a big deal, but trust me, this makes this game MUCH more bearable when compared to the first two Rolling Thunder games. It doesn’t completely fix some of the problems it has, but hey, it helps out a lot, and I am ok with this. Not only that, but the game also has a different approach to how you complete levels, much more in a similar vein to Shinobi. Instead of just getting to the end of the levels, you have to save the hostages that can be seen throughout all of the stages, including a commando, who you need to find in each level to get a grenade that will let you blow up the wall at the end of the levels. This makes it so that the doorways you can hide in in these games have some ACTUAL PURPOSE, and I did really like this approach to it. It may be pretty tedious in some circumstances, especially when you run into multiple empty doorways at a time, but since a lot of them give you ammo and health upgrades along the way, it helps out more then anyway.
Aside from those two differences, this is pretty much yet another Rolling Thunder game in all but name, and while it is much more tolerable than RT 1 and 2, it does still carry several of those games’ issues. They have brought arcade syndrome onto the NES with this one, with there being plenty of enemies that will bombard you throughout, and you can’t even aim in multiple directions, only being able to shoot in front of you. Not to mention, this goes without saying, but if you didn’t like the type of game that Rolling Thunder was, then you definitely aren’t going to like this one. It does hold back on the difficulty in several areas, and it can be fun at points, but it probably won’t convince you to change your mind. But hey, at least we got another RT-esque game that I actually liked, so that is good to see.
Overall, despite… console syndrome, I guess, as well as a limited range of attack and lack of change, this is definitely an improvement over most of the RT games, and one that I am glad to have checked out out of curiosity, even though I will also most likely never touch it again. I would recommend it for those who were fans of Rolling Thunder, as well as those who are fans of these types of games in general, because while it certainly isn’t perfect, it just manages to hit the mark of being good, which is all that I can really ask for at this point. So now, with all that out of the way, can we PLEASE not have anymore games like RT from now on? This was good, yeah, but I swear, if it turns out that there are, like, 10 other RT clones out there, I may have a heart attack and die.
Game #474
I didn’t know anything about this game when going into it, and I thought it was just gonna be another typical NES action game that didn’t really do that much to stand out from the crowd. However, when I then went into the game myself, I then realized that this game is pretty much just a Rolling Thunder clone, having the exact same style of gameplay, a very similar look, and very similar issues. And to think, this wasn’t even made by Namco, but instead by Arc System Works, the guys who would go onto make Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and would also end up owning franchises like River City and Double Dragon. So, I was cautious to continue playing this, to say the least, but surprisingly, I found this game to actually be good. Dare I say, it is even BETTER than most of the Rolling Thunder games. Sure, it has its share of issues, ones that are also carried over from those games, but I found this to be much more tolerable and fun then any of those other games, even if it just barely on the same level as RT3.
The story is generic for a game with this title, where a drug syndicate is found operating in South America, so it is to Agent Viper to travel to various locations around the country to find out who is behind it all, which is simple enough to get you into the action, and appropriately anti-drug for the time that the game came out, the graphics are typical of what you would expect for the console, but they work well enough, and there are some quality animations of the characters to be found here, the music is very good, having plenty of good tunes to listen to while you shoot up enemy soldiers, but some tracks are repeated across multiple levels, so that kinda sucks, the control is good, feeling exactly like a Rolling Thunder game, in both a good and a bad way, and the gameplay is mostly what you would expect if you are familiar with the Rolling Thunder series, but with several changes made that make it more appealing to me.
The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Agent Viper, go through a set of eight stages taking place in numerous locations in South America, shoot down many different, multi-colored enemy soldiers that you will encounter, gather ammo pickups and health upgrades in various different doorways that you can enter throughout all of the levels, and save the many hostages that you will find all throughout the levels so you can… feel better about yourself, I dunno. It is very similar to Rolling Thunder in just about every way, which can be a deal breaker for plenty of people, but for me, it was much more tolerable than any of those games, while also having several changes that makes it better than those games.
First of all, we actually get a difficulty selection upon starting the game, with three different choices available, which may not sound like a big deal, but trust me, this makes this game MUCH more bearable when compared to the first two Rolling Thunder games. It doesn’t completely fix some of the problems it has, but hey, it helps out a lot, and I am ok with this. Not only that, but the game also has a different approach to how you complete levels, much more in a similar vein to Shinobi. Instead of just getting to the end of the levels, you have to save the hostages that can be seen throughout all of the stages, including a commando, who you need to find in each level to get a grenade that will let you blow up the wall at the end of the levels. This makes it so that the doorways you can hide in in these games have some ACTUAL PURPOSE, and I did really like this approach to it. It may be pretty tedious in some circumstances, especially when you run into multiple empty doorways at a time, but since a lot of them give you ammo and health upgrades along the way, it helps out more then anyway.
Aside from those two differences, this is pretty much yet another Rolling Thunder game in all but name, and while it is much more tolerable than RT 1 and 2, it does still carry several of those games’ issues. They have brought arcade syndrome onto the NES with this one, with there being plenty of enemies that will bombard you throughout, and you can’t even aim in multiple directions, only being able to shoot in front of you. Not to mention, this goes without saying, but if you didn’t like the type of game that Rolling Thunder was, then you definitely aren’t going to like this one. It does hold back on the difficulty in several areas, and it can be fun at points, but it probably won’t convince you to change your mind. But hey, at least we got another RT-esque game that I actually liked, so that is good to see.
Overall, despite… console syndrome, I guess, as well as a limited range of attack and lack of change, this is definitely an improvement over most of the RT games, and one that I am glad to have checked out out of curiosity, even though I will also most likely never touch it again. I would recommend it for those who were fans of Rolling Thunder, as well as those who are fans of these types of games in general, because while it certainly isn’t perfect, it just manages to hit the mark of being good, which is all that I can really ask for at this point. So now, with all that out of the way, can we PLEASE not have anymore games like RT from now on? This was good, yeah, but I swear, if it turns out that there are, like, 10 other RT clones out there, I may have a heart attack and die.
Game #474
A complete ripoff of rolling thunder. It is still a fun game that controls and plays well. If you beat rolling thunder and want more of the same then here you go. If not, then just play the rolling thunder series as you wouldn't be missing much by skipping this one.
This is the type of game I would have spent hours of time and lots of money on in the arcades as a kid. A game similar to Code Name: Viper, called Rolling Thunder, was actually an arcade game, but Code Name: Viper itself was released for the NES.
This is a side scrolling action game where you control "Mr. Smith", a special forces operative who is tasked by "Commander Jones" to take down seven hideouts of a drug syndicate. There is a mystery here to uncover and it reveals itself bit by bit after each stage you complete.
There are two weapons in this game, a pistol and a machine gun. Enemies are mostly syndicate members who are differentiated by color of their outfits. A blue member needs two shots to be killed and can only hit you by running into you, while a pink member can be killed with just one shot, but has a pistol of his own. You only have two lives, at least in the first three levels I've played, so this game can become very tricky real fast.
Not only are just two lives a problem, but you can accidentally run into an enemy that just gets into frame, you can enter a wall (to free hostages) and run into enemies or a bullet right as you exit the wall etc. Expecting a smooth experience I did not, so I'm not surprised that there were some annoyances here.
However, the gameplay loop got me trapped for a few hours anyway and if it weren't for the fact that I will likely play dozens of games like this in the coming days, weeks and months, I wouldn't have minded trying a bit longer to finish. But the game only gets harder from here and looking at a Longplay of it on YT, I doubt I'll get close to the level necessary to play through this.
But definitely worth checking out and would have been a favorite of mine back in the day.
This is a side scrolling action game where you control "Mr. Smith", a special forces operative who is tasked by "Commander Jones" to take down seven hideouts of a drug syndicate. There is a mystery here to uncover and it reveals itself bit by bit after each stage you complete.
There are two weapons in this game, a pistol and a machine gun. Enemies are mostly syndicate members who are differentiated by color of their outfits. A blue member needs two shots to be killed and can only hit you by running into you, while a pink member can be killed with just one shot, but has a pistol of his own. You only have two lives, at least in the first three levels I've played, so this game can become very tricky real fast.
Not only are just two lives a problem, but you can accidentally run into an enemy that just gets into frame, you can enter a wall (to free hostages) and run into enemies or a bullet right as you exit the wall etc. Expecting a smooth experience I did not, so I'm not surprised that there were some annoyances here.
However, the gameplay loop got me trapped for a few hours anyway and if it weren't for the fact that I will likely play dozens of games like this in the coming days, weeks and months, I wouldn't have minded trying a bit longer to finish. But the game only gets harder from here and looking at a Longplay of it on YT, I doubt I'll get close to the level necessary to play through this.
But definitely worth checking out and would have been a favorite of mine back in the day.