ShaggyTheHippy
1986
Side pocket is a basic pool game with a ''Story'' mode in it. The story mode consist of reaching a certain amount of points, then a bonus stage, and after getting a trick shot. Getting the trick shot will make you move on to the next stage.
Making points is really simple. Get the balls in the holes. The game provides you some way to make more points per stages. You can aim a ball at a Star pocket. Getting balls in a row or simply put them in a numbered sequence with give you a bonus at the end of the stage.
The trick shots however, are a real pain to do. You only get one shot and if you miss, you need to do the whole stage again. Which can be annoying.
Graphically, the game does his job of looking like a pool table. There's not much to say here.
For the controls, there are good. My only complaint is that when you really need to be precise, moving your aim can be really clunky since it moves too much at once.
It's one of the first sports game that I come across though my challenge that I found decent. it passes the time real good, but that's about it.
Game #35 of my challenge
Making points is really simple. Get the balls in the holes. The game provides you some way to make more points per stages. You can aim a ball at a Star pocket. Getting balls in a row or simply put them in a numbered sequence with give you a bonus at the end of the stage.
The trick shots however, are a real pain to do. You only get one shot and if you miss, you need to do the whole stage again. Which can be annoying.
Graphically, the game does his job of looking like a pool table. There's not much to say here.
For the controls, there are good. My only complaint is that when you really need to be precise, moving your aim can be really clunky since it moves too much at once.
It's one of the first sports game that I come across though my challenge that I found decent. it passes the time real good, but that's about it.
Game #35 of my challenge
1986
This game is a mix of puzzle with a tiny bit of platforming. This game really reminded me of Wrecking crew while playing it.
The gameplay is simple : grab some L shaped blocs and reach the door. While the concept is simple, they put some obstacle in your track to make things hard. There's some enemies, stuff that you need to collect to unlock that door, moving platforms, etc.
The enemies can be eliminated by crushing them with an L block. This is however not that simple. Crushing them is precise with both placement and timing. Also, if you think you can grab an L block anytime that you want, that's where you are wrong. There's a limit to the number of time you can grab blocks. Depending on the stage, a certain number will be allowed to the player and if you reach 0, you lost the level. You can grab an item in the game that can give one more of those grabs.
During the course of your playthrough, you will get some passwords to get back to the level that you were. This was the old fashioned way to have a save file. It's not in every levels and you have a limited number of lives.
Graphically, this game is kind of plain. Not much to see in this.
While it's clever in the way they bring the puzzle element, it can be frustrating sometimes because it can be timing specific for the level or you don't have enough grabs. Rotating them can also be a pain since you can't rotate them in your hands.
If you like puzzle games, it can be for you. However, I won't recommend someone to do all 64 stages.
Game #37 of my challenge
The gameplay is simple : grab some L shaped blocs and reach the door. While the concept is simple, they put some obstacle in your track to make things hard. There's some enemies, stuff that you need to collect to unlock that door, moving platforms, etc.
The enemies can be eliminated by crushing them with an L block. This is however not that simple. Crushing them is precise with both placement and timing. Also, if you think you can grab an L block anytime that you want, that's where you are wrong. There's a limit to the number of time you can grab blocks. Depending on the stage, a certain number will be allowed to the player and if you reach 0, you lost the level. You can grab an item in the game that can give one more of those grabs.
During the course of your playthrough, you will get some passwords to get back to the level that you were. This was the old fashioned way to have a save file. It's not in every levels and you have a limited number of lives.
Graphically, this game is kind of plain. Not much to see in this.
While it's clever in the way they bring the puzzle element, it can be frustrating sometimes because it can be timing specific for the level or you don't have enough grabs. Rotating them can also be a pain since you can't rotate them in your hands.
If you like puzzle games, it can be for you. However, I won't recommend someone to do all 64 stages.
Game #37 of my challenge
Through the course of my challenge, I played a whole bunch of sports games: soccer, tennis, volleyball, baseball and even wrestling. None of them were really pleasant to play since they didn't adapt really well the sport to the console. Now, the time have changed, in 1987, Family computer golf, Japan course release and changed everything (it's pretty much this game).
They were able to reproduce the feeling of golf pretty well in this game. You can choose your club, where you hit on the ball and the direction that you want your ball to go. All this is seen on a top down view so that you could have a great view of the course you are doing currently. You also need to take into account the wind that is blowing. This will influence greatly the shot you are about to make.
When you are ready to hit the ball, the screen will go in a 3rd person view of the golfer and you will need to do a 3 step hit by simply pressing A at the right timing. The first one is to start you shot, the second one is to determine the power of your shot and the third one is to see how precise you are hitting the ball. This will be hard at first, but once you get the hang of it. It can be really fun to time your shots.
When putting, you will fall on a top down view and you can see how the green is tilted so that you can aim correctly to the hole. It can be seen by the arrows on the green.
While this is a gold game and I know they are not the most fun, I still had a great time to do a 18 hole course.
Game #51 of my challenge.
They were able to reproduce the feeling of golf pretty well in this game. You can choose your club, where you hit on the ball and the direction that you want your ball to go. All this is seen on a top down view so that you could have a great view of the course you are doing currently. You also need to take into account the wind that is blowing. This will influence greatly the shot you are about to make.
When you are ready to hit the ball, the screen will go in a 3rd person view of the golfer and you will need to do a 3 step hit by simply pressing A at the right timing. The first one is to start you shot, the second one is to determine the power of your shot and the third one is to see how precise you are hitting the ball. This will be hard at first, but once you get the hang of it. It can be really fun to time your shots.
When putting, you will fall on a top down view and you can see how the green is tilted so that you can aim correctly to the hole. It can be seen by the arrows on the green.
While this is a gold game and I know they are not the most fun, I still had a great time to do a 18 hole course.
Game #51 of my challenge.
1985
To be honest, This game is pretty much forgettable. Jumps between floor, eliminate enemies with shurikens until the stage is cleared and that's about it. I have really nothing else to say about it.
1986
This was... a game. A clunky beat them up with power-up and enemies behaviors that was hard to understand. I played through all of it and I can't really remember the experience.
Game #16 of my challenge
Game #16 of my challenge
1987
My first point and click adventure that I got on the list. I played a lot of those when I was a kid. I still like those type of games. However, I think Shadowgate was an good experience, but nothing more.
The main plot of the game is that you want to stop a corrupted magician from creating conflicts among races (humans, elves, dwarf, etc.). You want to enter the castle to put an end to this. I think this story is based on a novel, so the story must be really nice for those who read the book. For my part, I think that the story was good enough for this game.
Graphically, the game looks nice for the time. Since it's a point and click, they were able to concentrate more on the background and details compared to more ''control'' focus games.
The OST is good! It puts you in the mind being in an unexplored castle and give the sense of adventure to the player. The music puts more emphasis on the mystery aspect of the game.
The gameplay is a typical point and click. You need to find clues and object to be able to progress though the game by clicking on stuff on the screen. If you are not the type of person who likes to solve puzzles in your game, this is not the right type of game for you. Some clues can be really hard to find, and you can also die in this game compared to other point and clicks. This can be frustrating since you need to know everything from the game if you don't want to restart your progress.
I'm glad that I could try this type of game on the NES, however, I don't see myself wanting to replay this game.
Game #53 of my challenge.
The main plot of the game is that you want to stop a corrupted magician from creating conflicts among races (humans, elves, dwarf, etc.). You want to enter the castle to put an end to this. I think this story is based on a novel, so the story must be really nice for those who read the book. For my part, I think that the story was good enough for this game.
Graphically, the game looks nice for the time. Since it's a point and click, they were able to concentrate more on the background and details compared to more ''control'' focus games.
The OST is good! It puts you in the mind being in an unexplored castle and give the sense of adventure to the player. The music puts more emphasis on the mystery aspect of the game.
The gameplay is a typical point and click. You need to find clues and object to be able to progress though the game by clicking on stuff on the screen. If you are not the type of person who likes to solve puzzles in your game, this is not the right type of game for you. Some clues can be really hard to find, and you can also die in this game compared to other point and clicks. This can be frustrating since you need to know everything from the game if you don't want to restart your progress.
I'm glad that I could try this type of game on the NES, however, I don't see myself wanting to replay this game.
Game #53 of my challenge.
1986
Star Soldier is another Space shooter. but have it's own little gimmicks to it.
First of all, the power up system is a little difference. There's some background stuff that can be shot and destroyed. Once they are all destroyed, a Power capsule is released and the player can collect it. Those things that can be destroyed blends a lot in the background, so it's can be not obvious to get.
Also, one thing that this game can stand out of other space shooters of the time, was the fact that players can hide behind obstacles and background. Hinding in the background will make you dodge the bullets. While it seems really neat on paper, this can sometimes be confusing since there were no difference between those you can hide and those who can't. Sometimes, you can even lose view of your ship because of it.
Other than that, it's an average Space Shooter game.
Game #33 of my challenge
First of all, the power up system is a little difference. There's some background stuff that can be shot and destroyed. Once they are all destroyed, a Power capsule is released and the player can collect it. Those things that can be destroyed blends a lot in the background, so it's can be not obvious to get.
Also, one thing that this game can stand out of other space shooters of the time, was the fact that players can hide behind obstacles and background. Hinding in the background will make you dodge the bullets. While it seems really neat on paper, this can sometimes be confusing since there were no difference between those you can hide and those who can't. Sometimes, you can even lose view of your ship because of it.
Other than that, it's an average Space Shooter game.
Game #33 of my challenge
1985
The main goal of this game is to get as much points as possible. To do that, you need to roll on some lines with your car.
Your car can jump over enemies (which are police cars and cats) and each stages has 3 differents floors to go to.
The game is really boring since the only thing that you do is to drive the car without hitting anything. The jump timing to go to different floor is precise and getting the stripes on a side of a ledge is really annoying.
I would not recommand this game unless you are curious about it. If you try it, 5 minutes is enough to get an idea of the game.
Game #24 of my challenge
Your car can jump over enemies (which are police cars and cats) and each stages has 3 differents floors to go to.
The game is really boring since the only thing that you do is to drive the car without hitting anything. The jump timing to go to different floor is precise and getting the stripes on a side of a ledge is really annoying.
I would not recommand this game unless you are curious about it. If you try it, 5 minutes is enough to get an idea of the game.
Game #24 of my challenge
1982
Basic space shooter. You can shoot in front of you or on the ground. There is not much else to it. If you like space shooter, it's a classic, but like any arcade games, it's okay for a short amount of time.
Game #6 of my challenge
Game #6 of my challenge
1987
This game is really simple in concept, but it's so much fun, especially in 2 players. Bubble Bobble is a cute platformer with 100 levels in it.
The art of this game is really appealing, with the cute dragons and enemies. the background is really really simple and doesn't have much. However with some designs of certain levels, they do some nods to others games release before it. Those are cute Easter eggs.
The music is really catchy and the short music loop can get stuck in your head for a while.
The gameplay is really simple : catch the enemies with the bubbles that your dragon spits and burst that bubble afterwards. However, the charm of it comes from how the the stage is designed. It's a still screen, however, if there's a hole at the bottom of the screen, you can jump in it and fall from the hole at the top of the screen. This makes the game feel like a puzzle game. The bubbles creates can also be used as platforms. This gameplay is really clunky and is kind of hard to be consistent with it.
The game is fun, but can be redundant with 100 levels. it's a good thing that sometimes you can skip levels when collecting stuff. Also, just has a heads up, you can only have the real ending if you beat it with two players.
Game #34 of my challenge
The art of this game is really appealing, with the cute dragons and enemies. the background is really really simple and doesn't have much. However with some designs of certain levels, they do some nods to others games release before it. Those are cute Easter eggs.
The music is really catchy and the short music loop can get stuck in your head for a while.
The gameplay is really simple : catch the enemies with the bubbles that your dragon spits and burst that bubble afterwards. However, the charm of it comes from how the the stage is designed. It's a still screen, however, if there's a hole at the bottom of the screen, you can jump in it and fall from the hole at the top of the screen. This makes the game feel like a puzzle game. The bubbles creates can also be used as platforms. This gameplay is really clunky and is kind of hard to be consistent with it.
The game is fun, but can be redundant with 100 levels. it's a good thing that sometimes you can skip levels when collecting stuff. Also, just has a heads up, you can only have the real ending if you beat it with two players.
Game #34 of my challenge
1984
While the controls are simple, winning a match is really hard. The AI is extremely good and the hit detection is not the best. I had my frustrating time with it, and now that it is over, I can finally move to a better game(I hope).
Game #11 of my challenge
Game #11 of my challenge
1983
This game is really hard to win. Since you can't control any AI on your team. It's basically a game of luck. The only real control you got is to hit the ball, throw the ball as a pitcher and throw the ball to which bases you want to throw. I know it is a game of his time, however I cannot give in good concious give a good score to this game since I had no fun at all playing this game.
Game #10 of my challenge
Game #10 of my challenge
1983
In solo mode, the game can be repetitve since it's the exact same level display, but with different enemies. The fireball can be annoying if you aren't fast enough. However, the game can be fun in 2 players. You can play it in coop to reach the farthest level, or you can play competitively, which make the game way more fun since you try to screw your friend over.
Game #7 of my challenge
Game #7 of my challenge
1987
This game have a lots of things that were really neat for the time. It's a mixture of platformer adventure with a sprinkle of RPG in it.
The platforming part is ok at best. It's not bad, but it isn't good as well. For the adventure parts, the nice thing about it , is that you have some section of side-scrolling and some top view action. The mix of both is a really nice change of pace. The attacks that your character have is really original with his spinning shield. The last part is the RPG element. So, when you beat a whole bunch of enemies, you will gain XP. When you do, you gain a level and your strenght/HP is upgraded. At the time, the XP mecanic is not really exploited yet, so it brings a new flavor to this game.
However, since the game is not fully polish and not that memorable, I can only give it a 3.
Game #29 of my challenge
The platforming part is ok at best. It's not bad, but it isn't good as well. For the adventure parts, the nice thing about it , is that you have some section of side-scrolling and some top view action. The mix of both is a really nice change of pace. The attacks that your character have is really original with his spinning shield. The last part is the RPG element. So, when you beat a whole bunch of enemies, you will gain XP. When you do, you gain a level and your strenght/HP is upgraded. At the time, the XP mecanic is not really exploited yet, so it brings a new flavor to this game.
However, since the game is not fully polish and not that memorable, I can only give it a 3.
Game #29 of my challenge
1984
Excitebike is a good racing game for it's time. The way you need to manage your engine, bumps, jumps is really fun. The game is however really hard to beat all the other racers in the game and it can be infuriating when you fall off of your bike. The game also have a track creator(I spent no time in it, but it is still a nice feature for those who are more creative than I am).
Game #18 of my challenge
Game #18 of my challenge