What would a lot of people consider this game as a classic, this game is average when it comes to gameplay.

Graphically , this game looks decent. The Enemies sprites looks good, the main characters as well. However, the background is kind of basic. A black background with obstacles in the middle is average to the other games that I played so far.

This game is a platformer that you go from bottom to the top of the screen. The screen will follow the character. However, you can't go back. Once the screens goes up, you cannot go down again. This is present in most of the game. You also have some doors that have some shops in them or simply some bonus rooms. The bonus rooms are really unclear on what to do.

Your main character can shoot tiny arrows and jumps all around. This game have also a health bar system. The character can level up when completing a stage or in bonus rooms. Like I said previously, it is really unclear on what you need before entering the room. Once you exit that room, you lose the ability to go back in. That means you can lose some upgrade along the run.

There are some dungeons setting that you can pass through doors and the screen is still until you cross a door. Those dungeon are really easy to get lost in them. The enemy spawns in certain rooms can also be really annoying at some time.

One part that is really nice to do is at the end when it is a side scrolling part where your character flies and becomes a side shooter style game. That part was a nice change to the pacing. However, it only occurs at the end of the game.

Even though I have my complains about the game, the controls are good and the shooting part is kind of fun. However, I still don't understand why so many people adore this game when I only found it decent. Maybe it's simply because I don't have the nostalgia for it.

Game #45 of my challenge.

Game #74 of my challenge.

I'm so glad that I reached a really good classic game that changed gaming as a whole. A lot of marketing was put into this game back in the days (a whole movie was dedicated for it). This entry brought a whole lot of innovation to the franchise and it became the blueprint of all other Mario games going forward. Super Mario Bros.3 is the 4th entry of the classic Mario's (because lost levels wasn't numbered) and boy it was a fun time.

The plot has a twist a little bit different this time : The mushroom kingdom is taken control by the seven Koopalings (bowser's kids). They separated into 7 worlds and stole the magic wands from the king of that kingdom. They used the wand on them to transform them into animals. Peach (sorry, I meant Princess Toadstool) ask Mario and Luigi to go save those kings to restore peace in the kingdom. The theme for this game is like a play, since at the beginning of the launch menu, there's a curtain that opens to tell the player that the play has started.

The visual of this game aged really well. All the enemies are clear and different, the level is distinctive, so there's no confusion of what you can interact with and all powerup can be recognize really easily. The game is super colorful and that makes it super charming because of it. A lot of enemies became staples since this game like the Chain Chomps, Dry bones, Boos, Thwomp and many more. It even introduced the Koopalings for the first time and became iconic bosses in the series. Each worlds are really distinct from one another since they all have their own theme. Also, the music is also really iconic. The composer did an excellent job to creates a real banger. My top 3 songs would be the Underground theme, Hammer Bros. Battle and the Bowser battle.

The controls of this game are simple : one button to jump and one button to run. This run button can also hold items in your hands. Those control are so crisp. They are really responsive and what is really nice compare of any other platformer before this one is that you can control the momentum in the air. All future platformer learn a lot from the early platformers. Something new in this game is the P-Meter. With this meter, you can know when you reached your top speed when running. This meter will also affect some power-ups in the game when you reach top speed.

The gameplay introduce a lot of staples mechanics that will be put in future Mario games. First of all, you have a level selection screen. This is a nice addition since you don't need to do every levels if you want to. You can choose your own path. You can also choose which world you want to play in if you collect the flutes. This makes the game easier to go where you want to go since there's no save files integrated in the cartridge. Another great addition that they put in the world selection is to give yourself some power-ups before starting a level. You collect those throughout the game and that can help the player to beat certain levels (or give you access to certain paths in the stage selection). Each world introduce some new mechanics and each levels feels unique. This makes the game fresh all the time. I think one thing that everyone enjoy form this game are the power-ups. You have the classics like the mushroom, fire flower and the star. You now have a whole bunch of new one like the frog suit, the boots, the hammer suit or the beloved Tanooki suit.

All the world boss are super charming and makes those Koopaling really unique. The final boss is really different for the time since it's more strategies instead of only hurting him. I should also mention that this game is filled with secrets. One of my favorite is that when you play 2 players, if you go on the same completed stage, you go in a battle mode of the original Mario Bros arcade game.

This game is the definition of fun on a cartridge. Yes there are some difficult levels in the game, but completing them are really satisfying. This is a must play for everyone that consider themselves as gamers.

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.

Another puzzle platformer that I beat recently and this one is better than the previous one that I played : Mystery Tower.

First of all, the character has a magic wand that can do multiple stuff and can jump. The main utility of this wand is to create or destroy blocks in the game. This is what makes the puzzle part of the game since you need to create your own platform to complete the level.

By the way, the way you complete a level is you first need to grab a key, and then reach a door. However, there will be a whole bunch of enemies and obstacles in your way to make the level hard. The puzzle aspect is really hard and the solution is not that obvious (I will admit that I used a guide for certain levels). You can eliminate enemies by making them drop from a high place or throw fire at them. To throw fire you can collect some flame vases and that will add a flame charge to your wand. The wand is neat because the items in the game can be changed with your wand.

The 2 main annoyances for me were the timer. I'm really not a fan of time limits in general, but when it comes to puzzle game, I prefer to take my time to grasp the situation and find a solution for it. The other thing is that there's no save file or password system to beat it. So you need to beat the whole thing in one sitting (or leave the console open).

With the wand system alone, this game is better than the previous puzzle platformer that I have beaten not too long ago (Mystery Tower). This one is easier to recommend to someone who like to think a lot, but the solutions are sometime really hard to find.

Game #39 of my challenge

This is a game that started the beloved Metroid franchise. Samus, our hero, exploring some planet to exterminate the menace. The game doesn't tell you the full story of this game, however, in the manual of this game, the story is well more detailed so that the player could understand the goal our game.

The music of this game is iconic. The first song when arriving on the planet is really good. What is impressive about the OST is that the music is able to catch the atmosphere of the game.

The visual of the game is simplistic, but does the job perfectly. It's able to catch a darker atmosphere of an unknown planet. The enemies are all well distinct and the main character looks badass for the time. However, because of the background, it's really hard to find your bearings and know where you are going. The reason for that is that the background and level sections looks really similar to one another. For an exploration game and you need to do some back and forth in certain areas can be really confusing.

The controls are really good. Samus can run, jump, crawl and shoot. While you are exploring the planet, your character will get some buffs and upgrades. It can be more health, more missiles or simply power-ups. The fact that your character can shoot different type of bullets is really neat for the time, especially when you need to use them for the exploring part of the game. The player can freely use limited ammos, since eliminating some enemies will drop some missiles or health.

The bosses are also able to make you feel in danger when facing them (especially Mother Brain). Most of the bosses are big missile mashing battle, some of them were really cool to do. The last boss can be really frustrating to go against since there's so many bullets coming your way and it's impossible to dodge all of them. So you really need to explore and collect a whole bunch of upgrade before reaching the last boss.

While this game was really fun to play, I consider it a "walkthrough" game. You really need a map to tell you where to go and where stuff are since the level design looks really similar to one another in certain section. Also, there are a lot of secret passage and hidden objects scattered all around the map. You should try this game with a walkthrough in my opinion.

Game #40 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.

This game is not that great. The controls were terrible. Once you were down on the mat, it was really hard to go back up since you were really vulnerable and it is really luck base on whether or not the match will end with the ref countdown.

Graphically, it looks kind of good for the time and the crowd was fun to watch. Wish it was mario the Ref.

The only other positive I can give this game is the fact that the intro song was good, even though this song was reuse in a lot of previous sports games. I would not recommend this game unless you want to see one of the first wrestling game of this console.

Game #42 of my challenge

All renown people always need to start before reaching where they are today. This was the first game of Hideo Kojima. He create this game that also created a genre : Stealth games.

First of all, the music is really good. It sets pretty well the atmosphere of the game. Since you are a special ops, having a James bond/mission impossible inspired type of music fits pretty well for this game.

For the story part, you are Solid Snake, a rookie sent to his first mission. He needs to save a top agent Grey Fox that tried to infiltrates a base that was create a nuclear weapon named Metal Gear. The story is told via a radio and from other characters that you meet along your mission. This is one of the first game that the story is more present in the game. This makes a huge change compared to a basic plot just to give motivation to the main character.

The gameplay is also different then all previous game that I beaten so far. The stealth aspect is really present since you cannot just run and shoot everything that you see. Sure, you have a weapon with bullets, but it's only there to back you up in case of emergency. You will get other weapons and tools to help you along the way.

There's also a neat system that when you get caught by one guy, he will try to eliminate you. However, if you get caught by more that one person or you do a lot of noises, reinforcement will comes off-screen to eliminate you. While the idea is good, it makes the game so much harder because of it.

Also you will find some locked doors that will require you some special keys. However, the key system is really annoying in this game since the door doesn't tell you which key that you need. So that means you will need to try every single key to know if you got it or not. This can be really irritating.

Also the hitbox of the character can also be blocked by obstacles in the game even though you could pass. If a pixel at the bottom of your character is aligned with an obstacle, you will not be able to move in that direction. This can be crucial in part that you want to be stealthy and also need to be fast.

While this game created a new genre of game, it had a couple of issues that bothered me during the gameplay. I would still recommend to try this game to get a glimpse of the first game of Solid Snake.

Game #52 of my challenge