ShaggyTheHippy
1988
Game #68 of my challenge
Altered Beast is an entry in my list that I never heard of until I played it. It's a side-scroller Beat them up that have some nice Idea in it, but is a tough game to beat.
First of all, The plot is about the ruler of the underworld in Ancient Greece, Neff, kidnapping Athena. Zeus is pissed and resurrects you, a deceased Roman Centurions. Zeus chooses you as his champion and grants you power to get back Athena in the underworld. At least the story is kind of original and is just there to give you a purpose to beat the story. In-game, the story is not much there. I will at least give them the effort of implementing some ''audible'' dialog said by the main enemy (even though it's barely comprehensible).
The graphic is a nice change since it's not the pixelated games that I played a bunch recently. The sprites are clean, They really put an efforts in the visuals for this game. The enemies looks good, your character is clean and the background are well implemented. It's a nice change of pace. The music however, is really average. There is no remarkable tracks and the SFX are just OK.
The controls are kind of funky, You have a punch button, a kick button and a jump button. However, if you want to have an easier time to attack enemies arriving from the top, you need to press down and then use the kick button. Your character will put himself on his back and will kick straight up. It's really awkward to press down to attack enemies from above. The game feels slow when using the controls, but is understandable because of the visuals of the game.
The gameplay is a simple beat them up, with enemies spawning a little bit everywhere, but the twist is that is an auto-scroller. You need to move to the speed of the stage. Also during the level, you need to beat all 3 blue wolves and collect the orb before reaching Neff. Collecting an orb will buff your character and on the 3rd one, you will transform into a specific beast of this level. If you do not collect the 3rd one before reaching Neff, the level will loop and you will redo the whole level again. In one loop, you can only see 3 blue wolves. So if you miss one, it's too bad for you and you need to redo the loop. At least the levels are kind of short.
When transforming into a beast, you will gain special attacks with that transformation. There are 4 different beast that you can incarnate. This creates a really nice variety to the gameplay. Each level has a boss at the end and you will need to beat it with your transformation. Some of them are easy, but others are really hard to not get hit by anything. Once you beat all 5 levels, the game is over.
One thing that I hate about this game, is that you have no way of healing yourself or getting extra lives. Even when you complete a level, they do not heal you to the next one. So you pretty much need to play perfectly to be able to beat all 5 levels. If you lose all your lives, you need to start all over again, which can be really annoying.
Despite the difficulty of the game, the game had some really nice ideas and had some fun moment sometimes. This game doesn't stay his welcome since there's only 5 levels. You should try it if you search for an old, short and sweet game.
Altered Beast is an entry in my list that I never heard of until I played it. It's a side-scroller Beat them up that have some nice Idea in it, but is a tough game to beat.
First of all, The plot is about the ruler of the underworld in Ancient Greece, Neff, kidnapping Athena. Zeus is pissed and resurrects you, a deceased Roman Centurions. Zeus chooses you as his champion and grants you power to get back Athena in the underworld. At least the story is kind of original and is just there to give you a purpose to beat the story. In-game, the story is not much there. I will at least give them the effort of implementing some ''audible'' dialog said by the main enemy (even though it's barely comprehensible).
The graphic is a nice change since it's not the pixelated games that I played a bunch recently. The sprites are clean, They really put an efforts in the visuals for this game. The enemies looks good, your character is clean and the background are well implemented. It's a nice change of pace. The music however, is really average. There is no remarkable tracks and the SFX are just OK.
The controls are kind of funky, You have a punch button, a kick button and a jump button. However, if you want to have an easier time to attack enemies arriving from the top, you need to press down and then use the kick button. Your character will put himself on his back and will kick straight up. It's really awkward to press down to attack enemies from above. The game feels slow when using the controls, but is understandable because of the visuals of the game.
The gameplay is a simple beat them up, with enemies spawning a little bit everywhere, but the twist is that is an auto-scroller. You need to move to the speed of the stage. Also during the level, you need to beat all 3 blue wolves and collect the orb before reaching Neff. Collecting an orb will buff your character and on the 3rd one, you will transform into a specific beast of this level. If you do not collect the 3rd one before reaching Neff, the level will loop and you will redo the whole level again. In one loop, you can only see 3 blue wolves. So if you miss one, it's too bad for you and you need to redo the loop. At least the levels are kind of short.
When transforming into a beast, you will gain special attacks with that transformation. There are 4 different beast that you can incarnate. This creates a really nice variety to the gameplay. Each level has a boss at the end and you will need to beat it with your transformation. Some of them are easy, but others are really hard to not get hit by anything. Once you beat all 5 levels, the game is over.
One thing that I hate about this game, is that you have no way of healing yourself or getting extra lives. Even when you complete a level, they do not heal you to the next one. So you pretty much need to play perfectly to be able to beat all 5 levels. If you lose all your lives, you need to start all over again, which can be really annoying.
Despite the difficulty of the game, the game had some really nice ideas and had some fun moment sometimes. This game doesn't stay his welcome since there's only 5 levels. You should try it if you search for an old, short and sweet game.
1988
Game # 67 of my challenge
This is my first racing game on my list and let me tell you, it's a really hard one. This is also the 4th game of Rare, one iconic game company of the 90s
First of all, there are not much plot to this game. It's a racing game and your goal is to be first. However, you are not driving any cars. You are remotely controller an RC cart. That's the only premise of this game.
The visual of this game looks really good. The game is viewed in a isometric view during the race. The bright colors makes the game looks really good. It's also really simple, but it works. You can see and identify what's on the race track. The UI is also great because they integrated the map in the bottom of the screen, which helps a lot to know when there's some turns. The Music is also really great. The starting screen is really a banger.
The controls are also really simple : Control with the D-pad, B to accelerate and A to horn (you won't really use it). However, controlling the RC is really hard. Since you are in an Isometric view, it's not always obvious on where to go when you don't know. Also, turning is really hard. This car turn so abruptly it's insane. The hit detection of the cart is also really big, so it's difficult to avoid everything.
The gameplay is pretty simple, but clever. You have some basics car stats and during your races, you can collect stuff to improve your car (like turning, acceleration and max speed). This improvements will stay for several races. This makes the game really enjoyable, since you want to get first, but also collect all the stats to help you in other races. There are also other stuff that you can collect : Frames, missiles, bombs and ammo. You read me well, you can shoot missile in this game to other cars using your horn button, but it's hard to aim them. There are also a lot of obstacles to avoid on the track that will slow you down or simply make you crash.
There's one thing that really infuriated me is that if you get last in a track, you are game over. There's no retry and you start at the beginning. This is really stupid since all the races are really short and sweet. Sometimes, a single mistake will give you a game over and you need to start all over. Also, the rubber banding in this game is crazy. They can crash and catch you right after in the next 5 seconds, but you can't do that, especially when you crash, you will sometimes start backwards. So you need to turn around your car and that makes it difficult to catch them.
Even though this game is really charming, I cannot give higher than a 3 stars to the 4th game created by Rare studios. I know they will have better game in the future.
This is my first racing game on my list and let me tell you, it's a really hard one. This is also the 4th game of Rare, one iconic game company of the 90s
First of all, there are not much plot to this game. It's a racing game and your goal is to be first. However, you are not driving any cars. You are remotely controller an RC cart. That's the only premise of this game.
The visual of this game looks really good. The game is viewed in a isometric view during the race. The bright colors makes the game looks really good. It's also really simple, but it works. You can see and identify what's on the race track. The UI is also great because they integrated the map in the bottom of the screen, which helps a lot to know when there's some turns. The Music is also really great. The starting screen is really a banger.
The controls are also really simple : Control with the D-pad, B to accelerate and A to horn (you won't really use it). However, controlling the RC is really hard. Since you are in an Isometric view, it's not always obvious on where to go when you don't know. Also, turning is really hard. This car turn so abruptly it's insane. The hit detection of the cart is also really big, so it's difficult to avoid everything.
The gameplay is pretty simple, but clever. You have some basics car stats and during your races, you can collect stuff to improve your car (like turning, acceleration and max speed). This improvements will stay for several races. This makes the game really enjoyable, since you want to get first, but also collect all the stats to help you in other races. There are also other stuff that you can collect : Frames, missiles, bombs and ammo. You read me well, you can shoot missile in this game to other cars using your horn button, but it's hard to aim them. There are also a lot of obstacles to avoid on the track that will slow you down or simply make you crash.
There's one thing that really infuriated me is that if you get last in a track, you are game over. There's no retry and you start at the beginning. This is really stupid since all the races are really short and sweet. Sometimes, a single mistake will give you a game over and you need to start all over. Also, the rubber banding in this game is crazy. They can crash and catch you right after in the next 5 seconds, but you can't do that, especially when you crash, you will sometimes start backwards. So you need to turn around your car and that makes it difficult to catch them.
Even though this game is really charming, I cannot give higher than a 3 stars to the 4th game created by Rare studios. I know they will have better game in the future.
1988
Game #66 of my challenge
This game took me a lot of time to beat, but I finally able to pass through it. This is the third installment of this series and a lot of this game is similar to the others.
The plot of this game is that there's an fiend named Baramos is menacing to destroy the world (this is not the same world as in the first two games). You, a descendant of a hero named Ortega, is called by the king to create a party to stop that enemy. There's a nice change regarding the Hero of this game: You can choose if you want to be a boy or a girl. This is the first game that I've played yet that you can choose what you want to be. Also, almost every character that you will interact with will also consider the gender that you are. The party will need to find 6 orbs and when you collect them all, you will be able to go defeat that final boss. Once you beat it, you need to go back to the castle and get the Reward from the king. However (Spoilers from 1988), the ground starts to shake and there's an actual final boss revealing his identity. For the time, having a fake ending is something nobody did before (or that I know). This added a whole bunch of gameplay to it, which is great for those who loves that type of game.
The visual of the game is extremely similar to the two previous ones. There are some new sprites, but that's about it. There's not much to talk about here. The Music is also really good in this game. I wasn't tired of hearing them during my playthrough. The songs were really fitting with the environment that your characters were .
The gameplay is really similar to the other 2 games, so I will simply highlights the changes or things that they added to this game. First of all, you can choose your party that will accompany you during your quest. So you can create a party of 4. You can choose on each created character the gender, name, and class that they will have, which is great. Not only that, but you can switch mid quests since you can recruit and stored them whenever you want. This is really impressive for the time. Also, another thing that is really impressive for the time, is that there's some side quests in the game. Doing some side quests will give you items that are not mandatory to the story, but will help you during your quest. Lastly, they put a lot of funny items in it that makes the game really flavorful.
Saying all that, I really had some fun with the game, but I'm starting to be burned out by old school RPG 100% based on luck. At least in my list, I will not see one until a little while, so it will give me a break from them.
This game took me a lot of time to beat, but I finally able to pass through it. This is the third installment of this series and a lot of this game is similar to the others.
The plot of this game is that there's an fiend named Baramos is menacing to destroy the world (this is not the same world as in the first two games). You, a descendant of a hero named Ortega, is called by the king to create a party to stop that enemy. There's a nice change regarding the Hero of this game: You can choose if you want to be a boy or a girl. This is the first game that I've played yet that you can choose what you want to be. Also, almost every character that you will interact with will also consider the gender that you are. The party will need to find 6 orbs and when you collect them all, you will be able to go defeat that final boss. Once you beat it, you need to go back to the castle and get the Reward from the king. However (Spoilers from 1988), the ground starts to shake and there's an actual final boss revealing his identity. For the time, having a fake ending is something nobody did before (or that I know). This added a whole bunch of gameplay to it, which is great for those who loves that type of game.
The visual of the game is extremely similar to the two previous ones. There are some new sprites, but that's about it. There's not much to talk about here. The Music is also really good in this game. I wasn't tired of hearing them during my playthrough. The songs were really fitting with the environment that your characters were .
The gameplay is really similar to the other 2 games, so I will simply highlights the changes or things that they added to this game. First of all, you can choose your party that will accompany you during your quest. So you can create a party of 4. You can choose on each created character the gender, name, and class that they will have, which is great. Not only that, but you can switch mid quests since you can recruit and stored them whenever you want. This is really impressive for the time. Also, another thing that is really impressive for the time, is that there's some side quests in the game. Doing some side quests will give you items that are not mandatory to the story, but will help you during your quest. Lastly, they put a lot of funny items in it that makes the game really flavorful.
Saying all that, I really had some fun with the game, but I'm starting to be burned out by old school RPG 100% based on luck. At least in my list, I will not see one until a little while, so it will give me a break from them.
1988
Game #65 of my challenge
Sports games was really popular at the time. It was meant to reach out to different type of kids and try to reach the interest of some to play video games. A lot of sports had their own games, but it was time for Hockey to have his place to shine.
Once again, there ain't no plot to this game since it's a sports game on the NES. Simply be the hockey champion and beat every country.
The Intro music and game music is catchy. Nothing extraordinaire here but does the job.
The visuals are neat. The ice is good looking and nothing is really missing for an arena type of view. The characters looks decent. They created 3 types of shapes for the players on the ice and the only thing that they did is to swap colors to represent each country in this game.
The controls are where the shit show starts : You control a hockey player. You can shoot or pass the puck. This is the basics of how a hockey game should work. You can tackle the player with the puck to steal it from them. What is the most annoying thing about this game is that when you control your hockey player, you also control the goalie. This is the worst design decision ever. The reason for that is if you are at a disadvantage, you can't really control the player, because if you do that, the net will be so vulnerable. So the only thing that you can do is to goalie for the whole disadvantage situation until you are lucky enough for the goalie to keep the puck.
The gameplay is really not good as well. You have 3 type of players on the ice : The skinny, the medium and the fat one. They each have their speed and strength associated to one another. However, there isn't much difference between the stats of all of them (especially the speed). This makes the game really frustrating since the skinny one are kind of useless. Scoring in this game is also really hard. The computer is so good to block your shots. It was so painful to play this game that once I scored one point more than the other team, I kept the puck behind my goal and wasted time until the game is over. I know this is shameless, but I did what I got to do to win a game and get over with it.
While this game was really popular at the time, I had no fun at all playing this game. Maybe this game was more appreciated for his 2 player gameplay, but I didn't tried it and probably won't. This game is not be open from me ever again.
Sports games was really popular at the time. It was meant to reach out to different type of kids and try to reach the interest of some to play video games. A lot of sports had their own games, but it was time for Hockey to have his place to shine.
Once again, there ain't no plot to this game since it's a sports game on the NES. Simply be the hockey champion and beat every country.
The Intro music and game music is catchy. Nothing extraordinaire here but does the job.
The visuals are neat. The ice is good looking and nothing is really missing for an arena type of view. The characters looks decent. They created 3 types of shapes for the players on the ice and the only thing that they did is to swap colors to represent each country in this game.
The controls are where the shit show starts : You control a hockey player. You can shoot or pass the puck. This is the basics of how a hockey game should work. You can tackle the player with the puck to steal it from them. What is the most annoying thing about this game is that when you control your hockey player, you also control the goalie. This is the worst design decision ever. The reason for that is if you are at a disadvantage, you can't really control the player, because if you do that, the net will be so vulnerable. So the only thing that you can do is to goalie for the whole disadvantage situation until you are lucky enough for the goalie to keep the puck.
The gameplay is really not good as well. You have 3 type of players on the ice : The skinny, the medium and the fat one. They each have their speed and strength associated to one another. However, there isn't much difference between the stats of all of them (especially the speed). This makes the game really frustrating since the skinny one are kind of useless. Scoring in this game is also really hard. The computer is so good to block your shots. It was so painful to play this game that once I scored one point more than the other team, I kept the puck behind my goal and wasted time until the game is over. I know this is shameless, but I did what I got to do to win a game and get over with it.
While this game was really popular at the time, I had no fun at all playing this game. Maybe this game was more appreciated for his 2 player gameplay, but I didn't tried it and probably won't. This game is not be open from me ever again.
1987
Game #64 of my challenge
Now that I'm back on where I was at, we now move on to a good sports game. But This time, we are playing football.
I won't spend much time on the plot of this game since..... it's a sports game. Be the best team and win the super bowl. That's about it.
The music however, should not be allowed to be this good for a NES game. The title screen song is such a good song. During the gameplay, there's some tiny song bits that plays depending on what's happening during the game. This add some enjoyment during the gameplay.
The visual is good for what it needs to be during gameplay. Tiny players running around on the field is enough to understand what's going on. One thing that I though what nice was the transition screen. They were detailed pictures with a little bit of movement in them. They look really good for an early NES game.
The controls are good (except for the pass section). They were able to add so many options on one button depending on the situation. This helps for a controller that only have A or B on it. The kickoff is a simpler golf gauge that you need to hit at the right time. Running with the ball is good and you can mash the A button to get out of a tackle. For a pass, the controls are not instinctive. To select who you want to throw the ball, you need to tap A to switch and once you selected your player, Tap on B to pass. The selection player thing is not the best in my opinion.
For the gameplay, depending if you are on Offence or Defense, you will have 4 different plays that you can select from. However, there are only 4 plays for the whole game. It's understandable for the era since it would have been hard to program so many players on the field for the type of play you selected. On offence, selecting a run play was really easy to get the first play usually (or even a touchdown). On defense, I don't if it was programmed like that or simply luck, but when I was selecting a run defense tactics, the opposite team will take a run play and same thing goes for a pass defense tactic. This make the game was easier to win.
I still really enjoyed my time playing this game. Right now, it's my second favorite sports game on the console and it impressed me on how they managed to create a football game on the NES.
Now that I'm back on where I was at, we now move on to a good sports game. But This time, we are playing football.
I won't spend much time on the plot of this game since..... it's a sports game. Be the best team and win the super bowl. That's about it.
The music however, should not be allowed to be this good for a NES game. The title screen song is such a good song. During the gameplay, there's some tiny song bits that plays depending on what's happening during the game. This add some enjoyment during the gameplay.
The visual is good for what it needs to be during gameplay. Tiny players running around on the field is enough to understand what's going on. One thing that I though what nice was the transition screen. They were detailed pictures with a little bit of movement in them. They look really good for an early NES game.
The controls are good (except for the pass section). They were able to add so many options on one button depending on the situation. This helps for a controller that only have A or B on it. The kickoff is a simpler golf gauge that you need to hit at the right time. Running with the ball is good and you can mash the A button to get out of a tackle. For a pass, the controls are not instinctive. To select who you want to throw the ball, you need to tap A to switch and once you selected your player, Tap on B to pass. The selection player thing is not the best in my opinion.
For the gameplay, depending if you are on Offence or Defense, you will have 4 different plays that you can select from. However, there are only 4 plays for the whole game. It's understandable for the era since it would have been hard to program so many players on the field for the type of play you selected. On offence, selecting a run play was really easy to get the first play usually (or even a touchdown). On defense, I don't if it was programmed like that or simply luck, but when I was selecting a run defense tactics, the opposite team will take a run play and same thing goes for a pass defense tactic. This make the game was easier to win.
I still really enjoyed my time playing this game. Right now, it's my second favorite sports game on the console and it impressed me on how they managed to create a football game on the NES.
Game #63 of my challenge
This should be my last game that I'm catching on before resuming where I was on the timeline. This game was release on April 14th 1986. So I will judge based on games that I played that released before this one (this should be after The legend of Zelda on my timeline).
Before seeing this on the Nintendo Switch NES catalog, I have never heard of this game before. When I booted it, the main character was vaguely familiar. It's another character that I saw as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. After playing this game, let me tell you that it was a good experience, but I will never do again.
First of all, the plot of the game is wild. You (a samurai named Takamaru) are in the 1600s Japan era and on a stormy day, a golden thing fell from the sky and took possession of an old statue. That statue gives orbs to the daimyos of this land and because of that, they got corrupted to be evil. Your goal is to eliminate the corrupted daimyos and get rid of that golden thing (which appears to be an alien). To be honest, only by playing the game, I would have never know what was happening in the game. I didn't read the plot of this game after beating it. I was really surprise to see a huge alien as a final boss.
The visuals are good. I have the same vibe as the legend of Zelda. Everything is distinct. You know from the background where the game is happening. Most of the common enemies are similar, but with different color pallets. There are other types of ''special enemies'' which looks good or ok (there were some things that I could never tell what they were).
The music was good. It gives an old japanese theme vibe. They were able to kind of replicate that kind of music, which is kind of impressive to be honest. If it had a more modern touch to it, I would probably listen to it on my own.
The controls are kind of ok at best. The A button will swing the character sword and B will use his special technique. What is weird about the A button is that if nothing is close to you, it will throw a projectile (it can be a knife, a boomerang kind of thing or some fireballs). But you have a limited amount of projectiles that you can throw. So if you you only want to swing your sword, you will also throw your projectile. At least, the enemies will drop a lot of ammo for those projectiles. The special technique can be a lightning bolt that kills all enemies or an invisible jutsu that makes you invincible for a brief moment. You have a really limited amount of those special techniques.
The gameplay was really different from I was though at first. I though it would have been a legend of zelda type of game with some adventure elements mixed with some sword play. However, after going further into the game, it's more of a bullet hell type of game. There's so many projectiles going around the screen that it's really hard to not get hit by anything. Even if you have 3 hits before losing a life, this makes the game so hard. At least you can block shuriken with your sword.
There's 5 levels in the game, and each of those stages consists of 2 levels. The first level is in the outside world where your goal is to reach the castle and the other level is inside the castle. Both of those levels are real mazes. You can get lost easily in those levels.
This game is extremely hard and I won't recommend this if you don't like challenging games. However, if you like bullet hell games, then this is a game for you.
This should be my last game that I'm catching on before resuming where I was on the timeline. This game was release on April 14th 1986. So I will judge based on games that I played that released before this one (this should be after The legend of Zelda on my timeline).
Before seeing this on the Nintendo Switch NES catalog, I have never heard of this game before. When I booted it, the main character was vaguely familiar. It's another character that I saw as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. After playing this game, let me tell you that it was a good experience, but I will never do again.
First of all, the plot of the game is wild. You (a samurai named Takamaru) are in the 1600s Japan era and on a stormy day, a golden thing fell from the sky and took possession of an old statue. That statue gives orbs to the daimyos of this land and because of that, they got corrupted to be evil. Your goal is to eliminate the corrupted daimyos and get rid of that golden thing (which appears to be an alien). To be honest, only by playing the game, I would have never know what was happening in the game. I didn't read the plot of this game after beating it. I was really surprise to see a huge alien as a final boss.
The visuals are good. I have the same vibe as the legend of Zelda. Everything is distinct. You know from the background where the game is happening. Most of the common enemies are similar, but with different color pallets. There are other types of ''special enemies'' which looks good or ok (there were some things that I could never tell what they were).
The music was good. It gives an old japanese theme vibe. They were able to kind of replicate that kind of music, which is kind of impressive to be honest. If it had a more modern touch to it, I would probably listen to it on my own.
The controls are kind of ok at best. The A button will swing the character sword and B will use his special technique. What is weird about the A button is that if nothing is close to you, it will throw a projectile (it can be a knife, a boomerang kind of thing or some fireballs). But you have a limited amount of projectiles that you can throw. So if you you only want to swing your sword, you will also throw your projectile. At least, the enemies will drop a lot of ammo for those projectiles. The special technique can be a lightning bolt that kills all enemies or an invisible jutsu that makes you invincible for a brief moment. You have a really limited amount of those special techniques.
The gameplay was really different from I was though at first. I though it would have been a legend of zelda type of game with some adventure elements mixed with some sword play. However, after going further into the game, it's more of a bullet hell type of game. There's so many projectiles going around the screen that it's really hard to not get hit by anything. Even if you have 3 hits before losing a life, this makes the game so hard. At least you can block shuriken with your sword.
There's 5 levels in the game, and each of those stages consists of 2 levels. The first level is in the outside world where your goal is to reach the castle and the other level is inside the castle. Both of those levels are real mazes. You can get lost easily in those levels.
This game is extremely hard and I won't recommend this if you don't like challenging games. However, if you like bullet hell games, then this is a game for you.
1984
Game #62 if my challenge
Just like the last review, this is something that was release before some review that I did. This game was first release October 5th 1984, so that put it after Balloon Fight. I will not take into account game that I reviewed that was release after this game.
The first time I saw this Devil, it was as a trophy in a Super smash bros game. I never knew where he came from, but my only impression of him was that he was annoying as hell. Well, that didn't change my opinion after seeing his origins.
First off, there's not much plot to it like the old games. You are a dragon-like creature that wants to attack the devil's world. We don't know what the devil did to him, but the little dragon seems motivated.
Music wise, it's really simplistic and repetitive. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention to the music that much during my playthrough since I needed to concentrate so hard to not die.
The controls are simple : Move with D-Pad. That's what I though at first since when pressing every button, it didn't do anything. However, if you hold a cross or a bible in hand, you can shoot fireball. It took me a lot of time to figure it out since it's not instinctive, because those objects is what make you complete the objectives. Shooting fireballs will get rid of the enemies for a brief moment and they will respawn at the center of the stage.
The gameplay is a maze-like game that your character needs to run into and collect stuff. However, what makes this game special compared to other is that the devil will always move the camera in a random vertical or horizontal direction so that can get stuck and die between the screen and a wall. There are also some enemies that will walk around and try to catch you. There are three type of stages and once you clear all 3, it will loop back again. There's no end to this game since it approaches more of an arcade angle where you goal is to beat the highest score.
The first type of stage is to collect all the dots in the stage (kind of like Pac-man). However, you can only collects those pellets if you hold a cross in-hand. If you don't have the cross, walking on the dots will do absolutely nothing. That's why I was saying at first that I didn't know that holding the cross will grant you the power to shoot fireballs. Randomly during the stage, some ice cream will appear and you can eat them to gain extra points. Once all pellets are collected, the stage is cleared.
The second stage goal is to collect 4 bibles and bring them to the center of the stage to stop the devil (I think). Those bibles will always stay at all 4 corners of the screen, even when the camera is moving. This can be really frustrating since it can overlap the walls of the stage, which makes it really hard to grab them. It can be random if you are able to get them or not since the camera will always move in a different direction. It's the same thing for when you get a bible. It can take a lot of time before you are able to bring it back to the center of the stage. It's a really frustrating type of level. Once cleared, the devil runs away.
The last type of stage is a bonus one. You are on a timer and you goal is to collect every item in them to get more points. This time, you are the one who influence the camera. On the floor, there are some arrows that, when stepped on it, will change the direction of the camera. Pretty simple and once you collect everything or the timer runs out, you loop back to the first type of stage.
This game can be really frustrating since it's so random, but I still like the idea behind it. I would only recommend someone to try it for curiosity purpose only.
Just like the last review, this is something that was release before some review that I did. This game was first release October 5th 1984, so that put it after Balloon Fight. I will not take into account game that I reviewed that was release after this game.
The first time I saw this Devil, it was as a trophy in a Super smash bros game. I never knew where he came from, but my only impression of him was that he was annoying as hell. Well, that didn't change my opinion after seeing his origins.
First off, there's not much plot to it like the old games. You are a dragon-like creature that wants to attack the devil's world. We don't know what the devil did to him, but the little dragon seems motivated.
Music wise, it's really simplistic and repetitive. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention to the music that much during my playthrough since I needed to concentrate so hard to not die.
The controls are simple : Move with D-Pad. That's what I though at first since when pressing every button, it didn't do anything. However, if you hold a cross or a bible in hand, you can shoot fireball. It took me a lot of time to figure it out since it's not instinctive, because those objects is what make you complete the objectives. Shooting fireballs will get rid of the enemies for a brief moment and they will respawn at the center of the stage.
The gameplay is a maze-like game that your character needs to run into and collect stuff. However, what makes this game special compared to other is that the devil will always move the camera in a random vertical or horizontal direction so that can get stuck and die between the screen and a wall. There are also some enemies that will walk around and try to catch you. There are three type of stages and once you clear all 3, it will loop back again. There's no end to this game since it approaches more of an arcade angle where you goal is to beat the highest score.
The first type of stage is to collect all the dots in the stage (kind of like Pac-man). However, you can only collects those pellets if you hold a cross in-hand. If you don't have the cross, walking on the dots will do absolutely nothing. That's why I was saying at first that I didn't know that holding the cross will grant you the power to shoot fireballs. Randomly during the stage, some ice cream will appear and you can eat them to gain extra points. Once all pellets are collected, the stage is cleared.
The second stage goal is to collect 4 bibles and bring them to the center of the stage to stop the devil (I think). Those bibles will always stay at all 4 corners of the screen, even when the camera is moving. This can be really frustrating since it can overlap the walls of the stage, which makes it really hard to grab them. It can be random if you are able to get them or not since the camera will always move in a different direction. It's the same thing for when you get a bible. It can take a lot of time before you are able to bring it back to the center of the stage. It's a really frustrating type of level. Once cleared, the devil runs away.
The last type of stage is a bonus one. You are on a timer and you goal is to collect every item in them to get more points. This time, you are the one who influence the camera. On the floor, there are some arrows that, when stepped on it, will change the direction of the camera. Pretty simple and once you collect everything or the timer runs out, you loop back to the first type of stage.
This game can be really frustrating since it's so random, but I still like the idea behind it. I would only recommend someone to try it for curiosity purpose only.
1984
Game #61 of my challenge
Before I start this review, this game was added to the list of game that I have recently, and this was release in may 1984. The game I was playing before this one released in december 1987. So this is a game that I need to catch up for my challenge. For reference purposes, this was release after Pinball in my game list, so I will judge it on that. (FYI, my next couple of review will be some catch up as well).
Flicky is an Arcade game that really have it's own identity. A game made by Sega, Flicky is a platform game that the main goal is to save some Chirps from some cats named Tigers (they are actually cats, not tigers) and some Green Iguanas called Iggys.
The visual is really good compared to all other games that I played before this. The only game that is visually better than this game that was released before was Dragon's lair. The main character Flicky, the flightless blue bird, is really standing out in terms of protagonist. The sprite of Flicky is well detailed. The background is also charming and the enemies looks good.
The music is simplistic and also charming. It fits the theme of the game and although the music loops a lot, it never bothered me to listen to that song.
The controls are good, but not the best. Since you can't fly as a bird, you can only jump. The momentum of the jump feels good, but it's annoying when you touch a wall, because you bounce out of it like if you were a bouncing ball. This makes the platforming precision kind of hard. Also, the controls are only the D-pad and one button that does everything. It would have been fine if you would only jump with it, however, that button does another thing as well. In the levels, you can grab random objects that the character can grab by simply running into it. You can throw them at enemies, but with the same button as when you jump. So that means you need to jump to throw the object, which can be a pain at times.
Gameplay wise, you need to collects some chicks spread throughout the level and bring them to the exit door. When you grab one of the chicks, it will follow you behind. You can collect multiple of them and they will all follow you in a line (which is really cute). Bringing multiple of them at the same time to the door will gain you more points. You will lose a life if a cat or iguana touches you. The enemies can also break the line behind you if they touch to the chicks. Depending on the type of chick (sunglasses or not) they will run away with different behavior. You can grab them again without issues or penalty (except for the time bonus at the end of the level).
The bonus level is simply Flicky with a net that tries to catch the chicks launch by some cats with a seesaw. It's chaming and kind of easy when you understand the path of the chicks.
With all 48 levels, I was starting to be tired of playing since the game is kind of redundant. The last level have Sega being part of the level design, which is great. Something that I noticed is that this bird seem familiar. After further investigation, I learn that this bird is the one that Sonic the hedgehog can save from Dr. Eggman. This bird is part of the tiny animals that are captured.
The experience was short, but redundant at the end. I still enjoyed my time and though it wasn't a bad game at all. Would recommend to try.
Before I start this review, this game was added to the list of game that I have recently, and this was release in may 1984. The game I was playing before this one released in december 1987. So this is a game that I need to catch up for my challenge. For reference purposes, this was release after Pinball in my game list, so I will judge it on that. (FYI, my next couple of review will be some catch up as well).
Flicky is an Arcade game that really have it's own identity. A game made by Sega, Flicky is a platform game that the main goal is to save some Chirps from some cats named Tigers (they are actually cats, not tigers) and some Green Iguanas called Iggys.
The visual is really good compared to all other games that I played before this. The only game that is visually better than this game that was released before was Dragon's lair. The main character Flicky, the flightless blue bird, is really standing out in terms of protagonist. The sprite of Flicky is well detailed. The background is also charming and the enemies looks good.
The music is simplistic and also charming. It fits the theme of the game and although the music loops a lot, it never bothered me to listen to that song.
The controls are good, but not the best. Since you can't fly as a bird, you can only jump. The momentum of the jump feels good, but it's annoying when you touch a wall, because you bounce out of it like if you were a bouncing ball. This makes the platforming precision kind of hard. Also, the controls are only the D-pad and one button that does everything. It would have been fine if you would only jump with it, however, that button does another thing as well. In the levels, you can grab random objects that the character can grab by simply running into it. You can throw them at enemies, but with the same button as when you jump. So that means you need to jump to throw the object, which can be a pain at times.
Gameplay wise, you need to collects some chicks spread throughout the level and bring them to the exit door. When you grab one of the chicks, it will follow you behind. You can collect multiple of them and they will all follow you in a line (which is really cute). Bringing multiple of them at the same time to the door will gain you more points. You will lose a life if a cat or iguana touches you. The enemies can also break the line behind you if they touch to the chicks. Depending on the type of chick (sunglasses or not) they will run away with different behavior. You can grab them again without issues or penalty (except for the time bonus at the end of the level).
The bonus level is simply Flicky with a net that tries to catch the chicks launch by some cats with a seesaw. It's chaming and kind of easy when you understand the path of the chicks.
With all 48 levels, I was starting to be tired of playing since the game is kind of redundant. The last level have Sega being part of the level design, which is great. Something that I noticed is that this bird seem familiar. After further investigation, I learn that this bird is the one that Sonic the hedgehog can save from Dr. Eggman. This bird is part of the tiny animals that are captured.
The experience was short, but redundant at the end. I still enjoyed my time and though it wasn't a bad game at all. Would recommend to try.
1990
Game # 60 of my challenge
The first game was a fun experience despite the difficulty. The devs took the first one and put a little bit more sauce in it and that's what makes this game better than the first one.
The plot takes place a year after the first Contra game. Our heroes are sent to another mission. This time, the aliens took control of an allied military base. You need this time to fight a mutated version of the last boss in the first one. Let's be honest, who really care about the plot of this game when your only goal is to shoot everything that you see.
The OST is also a huge banger once again. The rhythm is really catchy and wants to make your head bop. It's really action intense music like if you were watching an action movie back in the 80s. I would say that they have one of the best soundtrack in the business so far.
The visual is pretty much the same as the previous one. They added some new background and enemies. However, the visual quality is really similar to the previous one.
When it comes to gameplay, it plays the same as the first one as well. However, they added a new type of stage : Top-down view. They added this type of stage to replace the one that you had a back view from the first one. The switch of type of stage were a really good idea and brings some novelty to the game.
The konami code were cheaper this time. Instead of giving you 30 lives, they only gives you 10. The game is really difficult once again so you need those lives. I think this game is arguably harder to beat than the first one, only because of the levels designs and the spawn location of the enemies. I do however think that the bosses are easier in Super C.
I preferred this entry than the previous one, but I still think that the first game is good. I would recommend this game to those that want a short experience with a higher difficulty.
The first game was a fun experience despite the difficulty. The devs took the first one and put a little bit more sauce in it and that's what makes this game better than the first one.
The plot takes place a year after the first Contra game. Our heroes are sent to another mission. This time, the aliens took control of an allied military base. You need this time to fight a mutated version of the last boss in the first one. Let's be honest, who really care about the plot of this game when your only goal is to shoot everything that you see.
The OST is also a huge banger once again. The rhythm is really catchy and wants to make your head bop. It's really action intense music like if you were watching an action movie back in the 80s. I would say that they have one of the best soundtrack in the business so far.
The visual is pretty much the same as the previous one. They added some new background and enemies. However, the visual quality is really similar to the previous one.
When it comes to gameplay, it plays the same as the first one as well. However, they added a new type of stage : Top-down view. They added this type of stage to replace the one that you had a back view from the first one. The switch of type of stage were a really good idea and brings some novelty to the game.
The konami code were cheaper this time. Instead of giving you 30 lives, they only gives you 10. The game is really difficult once again so you need those lives. I think this game is arguably harder to beat than the first one, only because of the levels designs and the spawn location of the enemies. I do however think that the bosses are easier in Super C.
I preferred this entry than the previous one, but I still think that the first game is good. I would recommend this game to those that want a short experience with a higher difficulty.
1987
Game # 59 of my challenge
Dragon warrior was the first JRPG of my list that I tried. It was barebones, but did a great job at what it wanted to do. The second dragon warrior came along and added a bunch a new stuff to the JRPG formula. Now, it's time to try another franchise and it's was a breath of fresh air.
First of all, the plot is about four heroes called the Warriors of light. They each have an elemental crystal of their world that was tainted by the four elemental fiends. OS their goal is to restore their restore to bring back world peace. The story is way more complicated than any other games that I previously played and keep adding more stuff when getting further in the story. The story is well given to the player if the player is interested to talk to a lot of NPCs in the game.
The music is also really good. I would also say that some of the songs are iconic, especially the battle theme. The OST is really well created for the universe that the adventure took place in. The music feels like you're in a fantasy world. So props to the composer of this game.
Visually, the game looks really good as well. One thing that came straight to mind about how much they improved the JRPG genre is the battle. Instead of only seeing the enemies in front of you, you can also see your characters in the battle. When it's their turn, they also have an animation of their attack, which is nice. The world is pretty to explore and have some different type of terrains and villages to explore (especially at the end of the game). The enemies and bosses looks good as well.
The start of the game is also really fresh compared to the other game of that genre that I played previously. You can choose a party of 4 characters to play from. They each have their unique traits and ability. This adds a really big layer of replayability. However, some characters were way stronger than other, or some that simply didn't work. For example, the thief main stats is not even functional in the game.
Speaking of the characters, during the course of the game, your character will gain levels by defeating enemies. Those levels will grant better stats to your characters. Also, it will also grant access to spellcasters to access some stronger spells in their ''spell books''. Each spellcasters can have 3 spells per level of spell that they can hold. Further in the game, all characters can also transform to a better version of what they were previously. Their stats and even their visual is also changed by that transformation.
The combat is really good. The player can fight to up to 9 enemies on the same screen. You can select the type of attack to each of your character and can also target the specific enemy that you want. This is a huge upgrade compared to Dragon Warrior, but it also comes with a downside. If the target your character wants to hit is not present anymore, they lose their turn. This can be frustrating at times, but you need to take it into account when fighting. Also, there's a total of 128 different enemies in the game (including bosses). That is really an impressive feat for the time.
The exploration is also really neat in this game. You can walk across different type of terrains, you can also unlock a boat early on in the game to move from a continent to another, and can unlock a blimp further in the game, which makes you go wherever you want to go. This makes the exploration less redundant and also faster when you're further in the game.
The villages are nice also. There's some inns to heal your characters, shops to buy a whole bunch of stuff and some NPCs that you can talk to. One thing that is really annoying in the game is that you cannot buy a lot of the same item in one purchase. You need to buy every one of them individually one at the time, which can be really tedious when you need to buy 99 of them. In one town, there's a tombstone with the name of Eldrick, which is a really nice nod to the hero of the first game of Dragon Warrior.
I enjoyed my time playing this game, however, there were some tedious things that you come across way to often and some stuff that simply not work (like a character and some spells). I would still recommend this game, but I heard that the remasters of those games are better. That mean that if you're interested to see what the first Final Fantasy have to offer, try a newer version of it.
Dragon warrior was the first JRPG of my list that I tried. It was barebones, but did a great job at what it wanted to do. The second dragon warrior came along and added a bunch a new stuff to the JRPG formula. Now, it's time to try another franchise and it's was a breath of fresh air.
First of all, the plot is about four heroes called the Warriors of light. They each have an elemental crystal of their world that was tainted by the four elemental fiends. OS their goal is to restore their restore to bring back world peace. The story is way more complicated than any other games that I previously played and keep adding more stuff when getting further in the story. The story is well given to the player if the player is interested to talk to a lot of NPCs in the game.
The music is also really good. I would also say that some of the songs are iconic, especially the battle theme. The OST is really well created for the universe that the adventure took place in. The music feels like you're in a fantasy world. So props to the composer of this game.
Visually, the game looks really good as well. One thing that came straight to mind about how much they improved the JRPG genre is the battle. Instead of only seeing the enemies in front of you, you can also see your characters in the battle. When it's their turn, they also have an animation of their attack, which is nice. The world is pretty to explore and have some different type of terrains and villages to explore (especially at the end of the game). The enemies and bosses looks good as well.
The start of the game is also really fresh compared to the other game of that genre that I played previously. You can choose a party of 4 characters to play from. They each have their unique traits and ability. This adds a really big layer of replayability. However, some characters were way stronger than other, or some that simply didn't work. For example, the thief main stats is not even functional in the game.
Speaking of the characters, during the course of the game, your character will gain levels by defeating enemies. Those levels will grant better stats to your characters. Also, it will also grant access to spellcasters to access some stronger spells in their ''spell books''. Each spellcasters can have 3 spells per level of spell that they can hold. Further in the game, all characters can also transform to a better version of what they were previously. Their stats and even their visual is also changed by that transformation.
The combat is really good. The player can fight to up to 9 enemies on the same screen. You can select the type of attack to each of your character and can also target the specific enemy that you want. This is a huge upgrade compared to Dragon Warrior, but it also comes with a downside. If the target your character wants to hit is not present anymore, they lose their turn. This can be frustrating at times, but you need to take it into account when fighting. Also, there's a total of 128 different enemies in the game (including bosses). That is really an impressive feat for the time.
The exploration is also really neat in this game. You can walk across different type of terrains, you can also unlock a boat early on in the game to move from a continent to another, and can unlock a blimp further in the game, which makes you go wherever you want to go. This makes the exploration less redundant and also faster when you're further in the game.
The villages are nice also. There's some inns to heal your characters, shops to buy a whole bunch of stuff and some NPCs that you can talk to. One thing that is really annoying in the game is that you cannot buy a lot of the same item in one purchase. You need to buy every one of them individually one at the time, which can be really tedious when you need to buy 99 of them. In one town, there's a tombstone with the name of Eldrick, which is a really nice nod to the hero of the first game of Dragon Warrior.
I enjoyed my time playing this game, however, there were some tedious things that you come across way to often and some stuff that simply not work (like a character and some spells). I would still recommend this game, but I heard that the remasters of those games are better. That mean that if you're interested to see what the first Final Fantasy have to offer, try a newer version of it.
1987
The video game industry was rising in those year and each company tried to rise to the top. One way to do it was to create a really good game with a distinct main characters. Here comes the creation of mascots. Capcom had some hits like Ghost and Goblins, but wasn't good enough for them. Here's come the new rising star of Capcom : Mega Man (or Rockman).
The story goes as follow : Robots were created to help humans for certain tasks and because of that, lives in harmony with humans. All that was thanks to Dr. Light. However, 6 masters robots started to attack the humans for no reason. Dr. Light found out that it was his rival Dr. Wily who caused all of this. Dr. Light then took one of his personal robot Rock, and transform him into a weapon to stop the 6 master robots and Dr. Wily evil plans. The story is pretty good for the time and serves pretty well the plot of the game.
One thing that distinguish Mega Man from other games was the music. Those songs were really bangers and have a great variety when going in each levels. There are some songs that I could listen while doing other tasks since it's really good.
The visual of the game is also really good. The cartoon style of visual fits really well and makes this game come out of the lot. The main character is charming, the enemies are all different from each other and some of them are iconic. Also, the bosses looks pretty nice as well. Each stages also have a nice background that makes them them uniquely different from one another.
The controls are also pretty good. One button to jump and the other to shoot. In this run and shoot game style, they feel good. The jump is not too stiff, which in certain game it can be annoying. You can also press select to change your weapon as well. That's a really nice touch.
The gameplay is something that wasn't explore at the time. When starting the game, the player can choose which stage to start in. For the time, that's kind of revolutionary. No other games let you choose the order of the level. This was a genius move by Capcom because it creates so much replayability for the player when they own the game. Also, once you beat one of the bosses, you gain the power of that boss. This was a neat idea since some enemies or bosses were strong or weak against certain type of weapons. This makes the exploration of those weapon so much better.
Once all 6 bosses were beaten, you now have a linear path when it comes to the upcoming levels until you beat Dr. Wily. During those stages, you will fight new boss, but also something new at the time : Boss Rush. Beaten once again all those bosses was a new touch for a game at the time. I personally don't like this type of gameplay, but it was still an innovation for the time.
One of my biggest gripe about this game is that it's a hard game. There's some section that you can die in one hit, which can be really a pain. There's some part where you are on flying platform that shoot bullets on each side. Those platforming parts were an absolute pain in the ass if I'm being honest, since those platform were random when it comes to their movement. There's also an infamous boss that is really infuriating : the yellow devil. That boss is so hard and need way to much practice to actually learn his pattern. One thing I haven't mention is that all your special bullets have some ammo, which is fine. But if you die, they do not replenish until you get a game over, which is frustrating at times.
While this game have so many innovative thing for the time and a banger of a soundtrack, I cannot give it more than that because of the difficulty and frustrating moment. This will pave the path of some many games to come and they will just getting better (I hope).
Game # 58 of my challenge
The story goes as follow : Robots were created to help humans for certain tasks and because of that, lives in harmony with humans. All that was thanks to Dr. Light. However, 6 masters robots started to attack the humans for no reason. Dr. Light found out that it was his rival Dr. Wily who caused all of this. Dr. Light then took one of his personal robot Rock, and transform him into a weapon to stop the 6 master robots and Dr. Wily evil plans. The story is pretty good for the time and serves pretty well the plot of the game.
One thing that distinguish Mega Man from other games was the music. Those songs were really bangers and have a great variety when going in each levels. There are some songs that I could listen while doing other tasks since it's really good.
The visual of the game is also really good. The cartoon style of visual fits really well and makes this game come out of the lot. The main character is charming, the enemies are all different from each other and some of them are iconic. Also, the bosses looks pretty nice as well. Each stages also have a nice background that makes them them uniquely different from one another.
The controls are also pretty good. One button to jump and the other to shoot. In this run and shoot game style, they feel good. The jump is not too stiff, which in certain game it can be annoying. You can also press select to change your weapon as well. That's a really nice touch.
The gameplay is something that wasn't explore at the time. When starting the game, the player can choose which stage to start in. For the time, that's kind of revolutionary. No other games let you choose the order of the level. This was a genius move by Capcom because it creates so much replayability for the player when they own the game. Also, once you beat one of the bosses, you gain the power of that boss. This was a neat idea since some enemies or bosses were strong or weak against certain type of weapons. This makes the exploration of those weapon so much better.
Once all 6 bosses were beaten, you now have a linear path when it comes to the upcoming levels until you beat Dr. Wily. During those stages, you will fight new boss, but also something new at the time : Boss Rush. Beaten once again all those bosses was a new touch for a game at the time. I personally don't like this type of gameplay, but it was still an innovation for the time.
One of my biggest gripe about this game is that it's a hard game. There's some section that you can die in one hit, which can be really a pain. There's some part where you are on flying platform that shoot bullets on each side. Those platforming parts were an absolute pain in the ass if I'm being honest, since those platform were random when it comes to their movement. There's also an infamous boss that is really infuriating : the yellow devil. That boss is so hard and need way to much practice to actually learn his pattern. One thing I haven't mention is that all your special bullets have some ammo, which is fine. But if you die, they do not replenish until you get a game over, which is frustrating at times.
While this game have so many innovative thing for the time and a banger of a soundtrack, I cannot give it more than that because of the difficulty and frustrating moment. This will pave the path of some many games to come and they will just getting better (I hope).
Game # 58 of my challenge
One of the best game game to play at in High School, and now, we can play it at home with a controller instead. This is another good sports that is worth playing.
There's not much plot to this game. You want to be the best dodgeball team in the world. However, this is the second entry of the series Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun since it's the same character as the first one.
The music in this game does it's job. Not many memorable songs, but they were good enough for the game. They created songs that were fitting for the country that our team was up against. Of course, there's a lot of stereotypes when creating the song.
The visual of this game is good. Since the game doesn't need to create a whole lot of levels, they only needed to create backgrounds that were fitting for the team that we were up against. We are always the Away team, so that means that you travel the world to play dodgeball.
The controls are good in general. You can throw the ball, catch it and also throw it. You can also pass the ball to your teammates on your side of the course or your crew around the opposite part of the field. The most effective technique that I found in this game to eliminate the other team is to run until you reach the middle line and throw it. It will throw the ball much harder and will make the opponents fly away. One thing that I really hated from the controls is that the character that you control will always switch to the one closest to the ball. When the opponents does some passes to their teammates around your court, your character will switch all the time. This can be really annoying when you try to time the catch of the ball.
All characters have some health bars, so that when you hit your opponents, they are not out it they get hit by the ball once. You need to deplete their health bars until all 3 players form the other teams are out.
The game is still really good, short and doesn't overstay their welcome. However, you will do the same thing over and over to eliminate the enemies. So that makes the game really repetitive. I would still recommend this game since it's really short to beat.
Game #57 of my challenge.
There's not much plot to this game. You want to be the best dodgeball team in the world. However, this is the second entry of the series Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun since it's the same character as the first one.
The music in this game does it's job. Not many memorable songs, but they were good enough for the game. They created songs that were fitting for the country that our team was up against. Of course, there's a lot of stereotypes when creating the song.
The visual of this game is good. Since the game doesn't need to create a whole lot of levels, they only needed to create backgrounds that were fitting for the team that we were up against. We are always the Away team, so that means that you travel the world to play dodgeball.
The controls are good in general. You can throw the ball, catch it and also throw it. You can also pass the ball to your teammates on your side of the course or your crew around the opposite part of the field. The most effective technique that I found in this game to eliminate the other team is to run until you reach the middle line and throw it. It will throw the ball much harder and will make the opponents fly away. One thing that I really hated from the controls is that the character that you control will always switch to the one closest to the ball. When the opponents does some passes to their teammates around your court, your character will switch all the time. This can be really annoying when you try to time the catch of the ball.
All characters have some health bars, so that when you hit your opponents, they are not out it they get hit by the ball once. You need to deplete their health bars until all 3 players form the other teams are out.
The game is still really good, short and doesn't overstay their welcome. However, you will do the same thing over and over to eliminate the enemies. So that makes the game really repetitive. I would still recommend this game since it's really short to beat.
Game #57 of my challenge.
1987
This game had a unique take on the adventure game of the time. It's a 2D side scrolling adventure game with some RPG elements in it which makes the game ambitious for the time.
The story of this game have a little bit depth to it. it starts off with our character, a wanderer with no name, coming back to his town. When he arrives, he see that all that he once knew have changed and the village was in trouble. He then goes see the Elven king and learns that they have been attacked by the dwarves and they stopped the Elves water fountain and poisoned all the remaining water in the village. Your goal is to put a stop to this. The story is really well given to the player in the game the dialog that the NPC gives makes more sense and also have more than one sentence. One thing to point out is that when talking to an NPC, there's an animation of their face talking to you. This makes the game a little more immersive (even though they look like they are having a seizure ).
The music is good, but not memorable. The music does a good job of be fitting in this adventure that you take part in, however, I couldn't be able to hum any of those songs.
The graphics of this game are better than all other games that I played previously. The NPCs are detailed and can be differentiate from one another. The enemies are also nice, but some bosses are not great looking. Some of them are just plain ugly looking. The background and environment of the game is also pretty good.
The controls of the game are good in general. A to Jump and B to attack. You can do Up B to use the magic equipped on you (which a lot of games started to do that). The only thing is that when you want to use an Item, you need to do Down B. This is really not instinctive. They could of use Select since both Start and Select paused the game for you, but one of them brings up the menu.
The game also have a lot of variety in the gameplay. There's some village where you can buy some gear, items, heal, restore magic and save in them. Outside the villages, there's some enemies that wait you in every screen. One really big gripe I got about this game is the spawning position of certain enemies. Some enemies spawn exactly where they player appears on the next screen. Which makes even worse is that when you go though a door, the enemies will spawn on the door, which makes it impossible to dodge. This happens way too often in the game and that makes it frustrating at times. The player can gain some XP by defeating enemies and can only level up in the church.
This game was a good experience from start to finish, however, I cannot put it higher because of the frustrating moments (and also an item that when you pick it up, instead of buffing your attack power, it debuffs it because it was not well programmed).I would still recommand playing this game if you want to try something new on the NES.
Game #56 of my challenge
The story of this game have a little bit depth to it. it starts off with our character, a wanderer with no name, coming back to his town. When he arrives, he see that all that he once knew have changed and the village was in trouble. He then goes see the Elven king and learns that they have been attacked by the dwarves and they stopped the Elves water fountain and poisoned all the remaining water in the village. Your goal is to put a stop to this. The story is really well given to the player in the game the dialog that the NPC gives makes more sense and also have more than one sentence. One thing to point out is that when talking to an NPC, there's an animation of their face talking to you. This makes the game a little more immersive (even though they look like they are having a seizure ).
The music is good, but not memorable. The music does a good job of be fitting in this adventure that you take part in, however, I couldn't be able to hum any of those songs.
The graphics of this game are better than all other games that I played previously. The NPCs are detailed and can be differentiate from one another. The enemies are also nice, but some bosses are not great looking. Some of them are just plain ugly looking. The background and environment of the game is also pretty good.
The controls of the game are good in general. A to Jump and B to attack. You can do Up B to use the magic equipped on you (which a lot of games started to do that). The only thing is that when you want to use an Item, you need to do Down B. This is really not instinctive. They could of use Select since both Start and Select paused the game for you, but one of them brings up the menu.
The game also have a lot of variety in the gameplay. There's some village where you can buy some gear, items, heal, restore magic and save in them. Outside the villages, there's some enemies that wait you in every screen. One really big gripe I got about this game is the spawning position of certain enemies. Some enemies spawn exactly where they player appears on the next screen. Which makes even worse is that when you go though a door, the enemies will spawn on the door, which makes it impossible to dodge. This happens way too often in the game and that makes it frustrating at times. The player can gain some XP by defeating enemies and can only level up in the church.
This game was a good experience from start to finish, however, I cannot put it higher because of the frustrating moments (and also an item that when you pick it up, instead of buffing your attack power, it debuffs it because it was not well programmed).I would still recommand playing this game if you want to try something new on the NES.
Game #56 of my challenge
This is the best sports game so far that I have encountered during my challenge. Even though that it's more focus on goofy/ arcade style, this is still a really great game.
There's actual a story to this sports game : Little MAc (the main character) have met Doc Louis (coach) on pure chance. Doc started to train Mac and Mac started to enter the World Video Boxing Association. He goal is to beat everyone and challenge the champion of the league : Mike Tyson. This is not at all mentioned in the game and can only be learned in the booklet of the game.
The graphics are really nice. Since there's nothing in the background that moves, they could focus more on the opponents and little mac as well. You can also see Mario as the Ref in this game. The opponents looks really good and they all have some great design and personality to them, which is great.
The music is also a really great There's a neat that I learn form the title screen music : The song is an adaptation of a Gilette (the rasor brand) song that used to always pay during boxing matches in the 50's. The main song during the fight is really catchy and will probably be a earworm for a while after playing a lot of Punch out. Also, each fighters have their own intro songs when they enter the ring. This is a great touch.
The controls of the game are really good and responsive. You can dodge or block with the D-Pad, use B for a left punch and A button for a right punch. You can use the Up on the D-Pad while punching to aim the Face instead of the stomach.
For the mechanics of the game, each bosses have their own patterns that you will need to learn to beat them. This is a great way to learn the AI Behavior. When pushing at some specific timing, you can have a star, which can be used for an Uppercut. However, using the uppercut is not at the right place on the controller in my opinion. The select button is not instinctive to hit in the heat of the combat. You get used to it though.
You also have a cardio meter. This get depleted when getting one of your hit blocked or when blocking. When fully depleted, you need to dodge every hit that's coming and will receive more damage if you eat a punch.
My major complaint about this game is the last boss. Mike Tyson is simply way too hard in the first round. A single hit at the beginning of the match and you will see the floor instantly. That can be really frustrating and makes the match really hard. I don't mind a challenge in games, but a one-hit kill in that type of game is too much.
That being said, I really enjoy this game and will often play a couple of matches since the game is so fun and addicting. I recommend this game to be played by everyone. You don't need to try and beat it, but yo will find some fun to go the furthest possible.
Game #55 of my challenge.
There's actual a story to this sports game : Little MAc (the main character) have met Doc Louis (coach) on pure chance. Doc started to train Mac and Mac started to enter the World Video Boxing Association. He goal is to beat everyone and challenge the champion of the league : Mike Tyson. This is not at all mentioned in the game and can only be learned in the booklet of the game.
The graphics are really nice. Since there's nothing in the background that moves, they could focus more on the opponents and little mac as well. You can also see Mario as the Ref in this game. The opponents looks really good and they all have some great design and personality to them, which is great.
The music is also a really great There's a neat that I learn form the title screen music : The song is an adaptation of a Gilette (the rasor brand) song that used to always pay during boxing matches in the 50's. The main song during the fight is really catchy and will probably be a earworm for a while after playing a lot of Punch out. Also, each fighters have their own intro songs when they enter the ring. This is a great touch.
The controls of the game are really good and responsive. You can dodge or block with the D-Pad, use B for a left punch and A button for a right punch. You can use the Up on the D-Pad while punching to aim the Face instead of the stomach.
For the mechanics of the game, each bosses have their own patterns that you will need to learn to beat them. This is a great way to learn the AI Behavior. When pushing at some specific timing, you can have a star, which can be used for an Uppercut. However, using the uppercut is not at the right place on the controller in my opinion. The select button is not instinctive to hit in the heat of the combat. You get used to it though.
You also have a cardio meter. This get depleted when getting one of your hit blocked or when blocking. When fully depleted, you need to dodge every hit that's coming and will receive more damage if you eat a punch.
My major complaint about this game is the last boss. Mike Tyson is simply way too hard in the first round. A single hit at the beginning of the match and you will see the floor instantly. That can be really frustrating and makes the match really hard. I don't mind a challenge in games, but a one-hit kill in that type of game is too much.
That being said, I really enjoy this game and will often play a couple of matches since the game is so fun and addicting. I recommend this game to be played by everyone. You don't need to try and beat it, but yo will find some fun to go the furthest possible.
Game #55 of my challenge.
I know that this game gets dunked on by almost everyone, however it's not as bad as people think it is.
The plot of this game takes place 7 years after the first game. Simon got a curse from dracula after defeating him and his goal is to find all pieces of dracula's corpse and get rid of them once and for all. Doing this would get rid of the curse. It's fun to have a continuity in the story (even though it's NES game plots).
The Soundtrack is really good like the previous one. I cannot say that there's one song that I think it's bad. Satoe Terashima is a composer that was on the first one. This person and the rest of the team did a good job once again on this OST.
The graphics are pretty much similar to the first one. It's really good and you can differentiate mostly everything from the game from just looking at it. The setting and backgrounds are still atmospheric.
For the gameplay, They decided to chance the formula of the first one. Instead of being a 2D side scrolling that you need to go from point A to Point B, it's more of an adventure game. You need to go in different regions and part of this world to collect key items and defeat bosses. I would almost consider it a metroidvania. You still have your whip and other items in your arsenal, but now, you need to purchase it. There's some village scattered all around the game and you can do a whole bunch of stuff in them. There's also a leveling up system in this game.
There are 2 controversial part that people thinks it's a bad game because of it. The first one is the Day/Night System. People say that that those transitions are annoying and happens too often. I gonna say that people with this opinion are exaggerating. The reason for that is that the timer of when it's day/night only advance when you are outside. Meaning that when you are in a building or dungeon, the timer will be on pause. The other thing is that the transition to change from day to night (or vise-versa) is only 9-10 seconds. There's some recent games that the loading screen lasts even longer. The Day/Night system also influence the ending of your game. There are 3 different ending and it all depends on how many days (in-game) it took you to beat the game. This is really nice for back then to have 3 different endings. The only one that I played that had that was Metroid.
The other thing is that the game is really cryptic. To that I said it's true, but only for a handful of things. Most of the game you should be fin on your own. But it's true that there are some stuff that the game will never tell you to do and without a guide, your progress will be blocked.
My biggest complaint is that you will lose all your currency if you game over, which is really annoying. Other than that, it's a decent game and people should try it and see how fun it can be. I still prefer the first one, but I still enjoyed my time.
Game #54 of my challenge
The plot of this game takes place 7 years after the first game. Simon got a curse from dracula after defeating him and his goal is to find all pieces of dracula's corpse and get rid of them once and for all. Doing this would get rid of the curse. It's fun to have a continuity in the story (even though it's NES game plots).
The Soundtrack is really good like the previous one. I cannot say that there's one song that I think it's bad. Satoe Terashima is a composer that was on the first one. This person and the rest of the team did a good job once again on this OST.
The graphics are pretty much similar to the first one. It's really good and you can differentiate mostly everything from the game from just looking at it. The setting and backgrounds are still atmospheric.
For the gameplay, They decided to chance the formula of the first one. Instead of being a 2D side scrolling that you need to go from point A to Point B, it's more of an adventure game. You need to go in different regions and part of this world to collect key items and defeat bosses. I would almost consider it a metroidvania. You still have your whip and other items in your arsenal, but now, you need to purchase it. There's some village scattered all around the game and you can do a whole bunch of stuff in them. There's also a leveling up system in this game.
There are 2 controversial part that people thinks it's a bad game because of it. The first one is the Day/Night System. People say that that those transitions are annoying and happens too often. I gonna say that people with this opinion are exaggerating. The reason for that is that the timer of when it's day/night only advance when you are outside. Meaning that when you are in a building or dungeon, the timer will be on pause. The other thing is that the transition to change from day to night (or vise-versa) is only 9-10 seconds. There's some recent games that the loading screen lasts even longer. The Day/Night system also influence the ending of your game. There are 3 different ending and it all depends on how many days (in-game) it took you to beat the game. This is really nice for back then to have 3 different endings. The only one that I played that had that was Metroid.
The other thing is that the game is really cryptic. To that I said it's true, but only for a handful of things. Most of the game you should be fin on your own. But it's true that there are some stuff that the game will never tell you to do and without a guide, your progress will be blocked.
My biggest complaint is that you will lose all your currency if you game over, which is really annoying. Other than that, it's a decent game and people should try it and see how fun it can be. I still prefer the first one, but I still enjoyed my time.
Game #54 of my challenge