1989
This game slaps. The whole gang is here: Mrs. Beakley gives me junk food, Launchpad McQuack flies me places, Gyro gives me crystals, and the color-coded children...well, they show up too. Even the king himself, Mr. Fenton Crackshell a.k.a Gizmoduck, graces our screen for like 0.5 seconds. I wasn't terribly surprised to find out that many of Capcom's Mega Man team members (including Keiji Inafune) worked on this title. The environments are varied and beautiful. The OST is one of the most unique on the NES, and the Moon Theme is probably more well-known than the game it comes from. Platforming and pogo-ing on enemies is smooth and relaxing (I hear the cane bounce sound in my head as I type). The difficulty is notably low for an NES game, but it's still entertaining and playable even today.
1991
It's a great concept - brutish toads, named after acne, bashing enemies with cartoon-y transformations. I never got past the snakes level, but I feel like this game was close to being brilliant. It looked and felt great to play (in the levels I was able to get through), but the crazy, random spikes in difficulty held it back from becoming a classic. As a kid, I finished or reached the final boss for most of those "Nintendo Hard" games (Ninja Gaiden, the Mega Mans, Zelda II) except this one. Also, come on, you're gonna introduce a toad named Pimple and not let me play as them?
1988
I can't think of a ninja who has plummeted to his death more often than Ryu Hayabusa.
This game invites you in with smooth controls and combat that make you feel like an unstoppable badass. Soon after that, it kicks sand in your face, grips you by the collar, and slaps you into a pit for an insta-kill.
The level designers were adept at predicting one's instinctual actions, then adding projectiles and mobs that raised the blood pressure of children across the world. Some areas are so devious, they become combat puzzles that require precise solutions, which are not easy to execute. This kind of thing, for me, is like frosting on a cake: a small amount adds a lot of joy to the experience, but globs of it make me want to hoark.
It's a high quality game from a technical perspective, and worth playing even if you can't beat it (I can't). Making it all the way through requires one to aggressively "get gud".
This game invites you in with smooth controls and combat that make you feel like an unstoppable badass. Soon after that, it kicks sand in your face, grips you by the collar, and slaps you into a pit for an insta-kill.
The level designers were adept at predicting one's instinctual actions, then adding projectiles and mobs that raised the blood pressure of children across the world. Some areas are so devious, they become combat puzzles that require precise solutions, which are not easy to execute. This kind of thing, for me, is like frosting on a cake: a small amount adds a lot of joy to the experience, but globs of it make me want to hoark.
It's a high quality game from a technical perspective, and worth playing even if you can't beat it (I can't). Making it all the way through requires one to aggressively "get gud".
1990
This game delivers, but it doesn't shine quite as bright as Mega Man 2 or 5. This one definitely has some highlights:
-First entry with slide dash: fun to use and made combat more dramatic
-First entry with a Robo-dog transformer
-Giant rocket fists for punching other robots in the face
-Wily themes 2 and 3 are intense and desperate
-Huge, wriggling robot snakes
-You can do a top-spin during screen transitions and watch Mega Man twirl
-Hilarious oversized Mets (the origin of the name for this enemy only recently dawned on me: hel-MET)
-The password theme song S L A P S
In a some ways, it felt mediocre:
-The Protoman tie-in wasn't explained well, and battling him was boring and confusing
-The Mega Man 2 boss revisit section felt low-effort and too long (although it was fun to see their sprites for a moment). This section puts damp socks on a playthrough
-Trying to top spin something would sometimes just sap the entire weapon meter and do no damage. Wtf?
Taken on it's own, it's an outstanding game for the NES. However, the NES Mega Man games will inevitably compared to one another, and this one is in the middle of the pack.
Side note: I highly recommend watching Bit Brigade perform this game (and Mega Man 2) live if you get the chance.
-First entry with slide dash: fun to use and made combat more dramatic
-First entry with a Robo-dog transformer
-Giant rocket fists for punching other robots in the face
-Wily themes 2 and 3 are intense and desperate
-Huge, wriggling robot snakes
-You can do a top-spin during screen transitions and watch Mega Man twirl
-Hilarious oversized Mets (the origin of the name for this enemy only recently dawned on me: hel-MET)
-The password theme song S L A P S
In a some ways, it felt mediocre:
-The Protoman tie-in wasn't explained well, and battling him was boring and confusing
-The Mega Man 2 boss revisit section felt low-effort and too long (although it was fun to see their sprites for a moment). This section puts damp socks on a playthrough
-Trying to top spin something would sometimes just sap the entire weapon meter and do no damage. Wtf?
Taken on it's own, it's an outstanding game for the NES. However, the NES Mega Man games will inevitably compared to one another, and this one is in the middle of the pack.
Side note: I highly recommend watching Bit Brigade perform this game (and Mega Man 2) live if you get the chance.
1990
Played the fan translation ROM. A huge leap in quality from the first Final Fantasy, and one of the better NES games.
-The world feels more alive. There are characters, with personalities n' stuff, that you care about. Events occur during the course of the game that you have to deal with.
-Jobs added variety so you're not stuck with the same strategy for 95% of the game. There were a lot of them, like Geomancer, Scholar, frikkin' VIKING, and they affected your stats when you leveled. So you had to strategically choose jobs that build your character the way you intend.
-The soundtrack is NES gold. "Eternal Wind" (overworld theme), "Elia, Maiden of Water", "Boundless Ocean", "Battle 2" (boss theme). And "Theme of the Four Old Guys"; when was the last time you heard a whole tone scale in a NES game, COME ON
-You can summon Chocobos and Dragons and other things
-It doesn't have a bunch of glitched and broken weapons and spells
A good Game, and a prelude to SNES GOAT FFIV
-The world feels more alive. There are characters, with personalities n' stuff, that you care about. Events occur during the course of the game that you have to deal with.
-Jobs added variety so you're not stuck with the same strategy for 95% of the game. There were a lot of them, like Geomancer, Scholar, frikkin' VIKING, and they affected your stats when you leveled. So you had to strategically choose jobs that build your character the way you intend.
-The soundtrack is NES gold. "Eternal Wind" (overworld theme), "Elia, Maiden of Water", "Boundless Ocean", "Battle 2" (boss theme). And "Theme of the Four Old Guys"; when was the last time you heard a whole tone scale in a NES game, COME ON
-You can summon Chocobos and Dragons and other things
-It doesn't have a bunch of glitched and broken weapons and spells
A good Game, and a prelude to SNES GOAT FFIV
I wish I could wiggle my tiddies like Super Macho Man.
1986
I'm glad Nintendo continued to support the series even though this one is mostly a goober. I could never figure this game out as a kid and only finished long after I played Super Metroid. With the notable exception of Tourian, it's pretty bad:
-Jumping and walking feels like a bad Atari game
-The graphics seem kinda low-effort (the Ridley sprite is pretty funny though)
-So many of the corridors looks similar or identical. It's difficult to figure out where you are if you don't track yourself on a paper map
-Combat is mediocre for an NES game, and the Kraid and Ridley boss fights are meh
-To change weapons (between ice and wave beam, e.g.), you have to travel back to the Chozos where you originally got those weapons
-Despite the bad stuff, the soundtrack is varied and full of bangers
Tourian is the exception to most of these problems. Fighting Metroids is thrilling, the Mother Brain fight is innovative, and the game becomes FUN. Even the appearance of the game seems to get a boost here. The reveal in the epilogue should also be noted as creative and progressive at the time (creative in the sense that there was anything to reveal about the protagonist at all after the game is over).
Probably not worth playing, but I'm glad this game was made.
-Jumping and walking feels like a bad Atari game
-The graphics seem kinda low-effort (the Ridley sprite is pretty funny though)
-So many of the corridors looks similar or identical. It's difficult to figure out where you are if you don't track yourself on a paper map
-Combat is mediocre for an NES game, and the Kraid and Ridley boss fights are meh
-To change weapons (between ice and wave beam, e.g.), you have to travel back to the Chozos where you originally got those weapons
-Despite the bad stuff, the soundtrack is varied and full of bangers
Tourian is the exception to most of these problems. Fighting Metroids is thrilling, the Mother Brain fight is innovative, and the game becomes FUN. Even the appearance of the game seems to get a boost here. The reveal in the epilogue should also be noted as creative and progressive at the time (creative in the sense that there was anything to reveal about the protagonist at all after the game is over).
Probably not worth playing, but I'm glad this game was made.
1989
Mediocre game, A+ game over screen.
Press B to thrust Kermit's feather.
SKATE. OR. DIE. SKATE, OR, DIE, DIE-DIE-DIE-DIE
SKATE. OR. DIE. SKATE-SKATE, SKATE-SKATE, OR, DIE
D-D-D-D-D-D-DIE-DIE DOOIIIY
SKATE. OR. DIE. SKATE-SKATE, SKATE-SKATE, OR, DIE
D-D-D-D-D-D-DIE-DIE DOOIIIY
1988
They printed the alphabet on the cover of the game.
Starts off well with a captivating open world, atmospheric ost, fun combat, and interesting character development. After a while, it deteriorates into level-scaled follow-the-arrow activities. The unique rewards are fun to get, but an overwhelming majority of the content gets repetative. And yeah, it's glitchy.
From a technical perspective, this game is astounding. It's extremely difficult to pull off an open world RPG without making every quest and item feel exactly like the one before it (but with slightly higher numbers). But they keep things fresh for the entire journey. Conversation choices and persuasions feel like they matter. The quest log kept things organized without any glitches that I remember. I could stare at the iso-POV graphics forever. Load times were a bear, but after you get your save file going, it doesn't skip a beat.
The battles and gameplay were a joy. This was the first "strip-armor-before-you-can-deal-health-damage-or-status-effects" game for me, which took time to adapt to. But developing strategies that actually worked was extremely rewarding. The game is difficult (even on Normal setting, which I played) but there appear to be lots of viable approaches. Some battles took a few attempts, but I was never stuck.
The game gives you freedom. If you want to kill someone, or an entire city, you can do it if you're tough enough and you can deal with the consequences in terms of quest lines. Steal whatever you want if you don't get caught. If you want to attack something too powerful for you, go for it! There are strategic ways to win these battles sometimes, and it's dopamine city if you do.
The characters are varied and interesting, but nothing that I'd call "deep". The mini- and micro-stories in the world were more compelling than the actual plot, for me. The moderate amount of medieval grit added some spiciness. Battling characters (for example like Kniles and the Witch in the first area) is a blast because of the technical aspects, but never in this game did I really feel any emotional investment, even when it was laid on thick. Not a major issue since the "game" aspects are on point. It's just something that's nice to have in RPGs and story-heavy games.
Bad stuff:
-Inventory and crafting becomes a slog about halfway through, and just gets worse (despite the organization tools).
-Optimizing equipment can be overwhelming (but that just might be my brain, which is susceptible to paralysis through analysis).
-Green tea seems a bit broken, but I didn't find it until the last 3 battles.
-Why can't I haste-run all the time??
Worth the time investment, which is steep.
The battles and gameplay were a joy. This was the first "strip-armor-before-you-can-deal-health-damage-or-status-effects" game for me, which took time to adapt to. But developing strategies that actually worked was extremely rewarding. The game is difficult (even on Normal setting, which I played) but there appear to be lots of viable approaches. Some battles took a few attempts, but I was never stuck.
The game gives you freedom. If you want to kill someone, or an entire city, you can do it if you're tough enough and you can deal with the consequences in terms of quest lines. Steal whatever you want if you don't get caught. If you want to attack something too powerful for you, go for it! There are strategic ways to win these battles sometimes, and it's dopamine city if you do.
The characters are varied and interesting, but nothing that I'd call "deep". The mini- and micro-stories in the world were more compelling than the actual plot, for me. The moderate amount of medieval grit added some spiciness. Battling characters (for example like Kniles and the Witch in the first area) is a blast because of the technical aspects, but never in this game did I really feel any emotional investment, even when it was laid on thick. Not a major issue since the "game" aspects are on point. It's just something that's nice to have in RPGs and story-heavy games.
Bad stuff:
-Inventory and crafting becomes a slog about halfway through, and just gets worse (despite the organization tools).
-Optimizing equipment can be overwhelming (but that just might be my brain, which is susceptible to paralysis through analysis).
-Green tea seems a bit broken, but I didn't find it until the last 3 battles.
-Why can't I haste-run all the time??
Worth the time investment, which is steep.
The 2D combat felt just as good as any other "Nintendo Seal of Quality" game, especially downstab bouncing. Some of the secrets in the late game were kinda cheap, and I think Nintendo pooped the bed with the final boss. I'm secretly hoping for a fan-made 2D Zelda sequel, and I hope they also include a moment where link triumphantly hoists a lost child over his head like an item get.
1986
Rad aesthetics, and the soundtrack is a GOAT. As difficult as the game is, I always wanted to see what was next. I needed to know what the next boss was like. I could not rest until I destroyed Frankenstein's best pal, the infuriating flea person.
Whipping enemies feels good. The wind-up for each attack requires a tiny bit of strategic timing, but adds weight when it cracks on their stupid demon faces. Simon is slow and he jumps like he's in Jupiter's gravitational field, but he's consistent.
The difficulty seems a bit high for an action adventure game. Knock-back death rage induced by this game is second only to Ninja Gaiden, and those respawning sinewave-ass Medusa heads make me want to stick my head in a microwave. Many sequences are so punishing, the game kinda transitions from an action platformer into a combat puzzler with a specific solution of controller inputs required to proceed (see also: Ghosts n' Goblins). This isn't necessarily a bad design, but it removes some of the visceral push-and-pull drama. You either solved the scenario and performed the inputs correctly, or you didn't. There's less reacting to the environment or trying different approaches the further you go.
I used save-states for my recent playthrough. If you're finding the game extremely frustrating, I recommend a checkpoint to the beginning of the stage. I spammed one of the stages and I regret it - don't be like me.
Whipping enemies feels good. The wind-up for each attack requires a tiny bit of strategic timing, but adds weight when it cracks on their stupid demon faces. Simon is slow and he jumps like he's in Jupiter's gravitational field, but he's consistent.
The difficulty seems a bit high for an action adventure game. Knock-back death rage induced by this game is second only to Ninja Gaiden, and those respawning sinewave-ass Medusa heads make me want to stick my head in a microwave. Many sequences are so punishing, the game kinda transitions from an action platformer into a combat puzzler with a specific solution of controller inputs required to proceed (see also: Ghosts n' Goblins). This isn't necessarily a bad design, but it removes some of the visceral push-and-pull drama. You either solved the scenario and performed the inputs correctly, or you didn't. There's less reacting to the environment or trying different approaches the further you go.
I used save-states for my recent playthrough. If you're finding the game extremely frustrating, I recommend a checkpoint to the beginning of the stage. I spammed one of the stages and I regret it - don't be like me.