ShaggyTheHippy
1985
Now I'm starting to see a bump into the evolution of gaming with this entry in my list.
First of all, while being minor, there's a story. Even if simple, there's one to see and understand. The music in this game have also stepped up compared with the other games that I've beaten so far. 4 full songs is crazy when you think about it (plus a couples of short music transitions).
Gameplay wise, it's a platformers with mutiple stages. You go from point A and reach point B. You can collect different weapons to use and they all have their own behaviors. The stage screen can go up, down, left and right, which may sound stupid, but it's the first game that I come across that can do that. Also, each stages have a different background design and environnement, in which the world in makes it more alive.
This game, however is really hard. You get two hits before dying (which is more generous than other games with their one-shot death). You can collect some hidden armor pieces to "heal" yourself. The enemies can be really bulls*** with their behavior and placement (especially the flying demon). The jump momentum is a little bit janky and hard to be precise with. Some weapons are really better than others and you want to keep them. Sometimes however, the enemies can drop a random weapon that can block your path and forces you to collect it. This can be infuriating, especially when the game forces you to beat certain bosses with certain types of weapons. If you reach the last level without the right weapon, you will need to restart some stages.
When finally beating the last boss of the game, it will tell you that it was an illusion and that you need to start over. When completing the first loop, it's so unsatisfying that you need to beat a second time to have the true ending.
The game, while frustrating, is fun to do a full loop, but the second one is too much. I used save states to complete this game (and I'm not ashamed of it). Worth to beat at least once.
Game #23 of my challenge
First of all, while being minor, there's a story. Even if simple, there's one to see and understand. The music in this game have also stepped up compared with the other games that I've beaten so far. 4 full songs is crazy when you think about it (plus a couples of short music transitions).
Gameplay wise, it's a platformers with mutiple stages. You go from point A and reach point B. You can collect different weapons to use and they all have their own behaviors. The stage screen can go up, down, left and right, which may sound stupid, but it's the first game that I come across that can do that. Also, each stages have a different background design and environnement, in which the world in makes it more alive.
This game, however is really hard. You get two hits before dying (which is more generous than other games with their one-shot death). You can collect some hidden armor pieces to "heal" yourself. The enemies can be really bulls*** with their behavior and placement (especially the flying demon). The jump momentum is a little bit janky and hard to be precise with. Some weapons are really better than others and you want to keep them. Sometimes however, the enemies can drop a random weapon that can block your path and forces you to collect it. This can be infuriating, especially when the game forces you to beat certain bosses with certain types of weapons. If you reach the last level without the right weapon, you will need to restart some stages.
When finally beating the last boss of the game, it will tell you that it was an illusion and that you need to start over. When completing the first loop, it's so unsatisfying that you need to beat a second time to have the true ending.
The game, while frustrating, is fun to do a full loop, but the second one is too much. I used save states to complete this game (and I'm not ashamed of it). Worth to beat at least once.
Game #23 of my challenge
1985
Kick the ball into the goal to score a point and then the crowd goes wild. That is about as interesting as an nes soccre game can be. The game is not that fun and the game is really slow paced (which is excusable since it came out on the NES). Kicking the ball outside is more fun than this game for me.
Game #22 of the challenge
Game #22 of the challenge
This is a franchise that is considered a classic of that era, it wasn't made for me.
While the first one was underground, the second game of that franchise is now taking place on the surface. This perspective brings a more "puzzledly" aspect to the game.
Instead of just use your pump to blow up enemies (which you also can in this game), you can now sink parts of the island to help you eliminate multiple enemies. While the idea is really good, the execution is poorly made since it's hard to determine which part of the island that will fall using your drill.
There are multiple stages, but the game can be repetitive. I still prefer this one compared to the first one, there's isn't a big gap between the 2.
Game #21 of my challenge
While the first one was underground, the second game of that franchise is now taking place on the surface. This perspective brings a more "puzzledly" aspect to the game.
Instead of just use your pump to blow up enemies (which you also can in this game), you can now sink parts of the island to help you eliminate multiple enemies. While the idea is really good, the execution is poorly made since it's hard to determine which part of the island that will fall using your drill.
There are multiple stages, but the game can be repetitive. I still prefer this one compared to the first one, there's isn't a big gap between the 2.
Game #21 of my challenge
1985
Maybe I'm not in the majority here, but this game wasn't for me at all.
First of all, this is another space shooter game. This game however have his own little twist : the bells system. When killing an enemy or shooting at a cloud, a bell will appear. If you collect them, you earn points. You can shoot those bells so that they change colors. Depending on the color, it can give you a new power up when collected. These power-ups are really crucial if you want to go far in the game. When shooting the bells, thay can go off screen, making it harder to know where they are. If you shoot one shot too many, the bell will change color and it will become a normal points bell. The big issue here is that while trying to juggle your bells to get power ups, you need to deal with a whole bunch of enemies, which make it even more difficult.
Managing those bells with enemies is extremely difficult. You can also say F*** those bells and just shoot the enemies, but thay can be in the way, blocking projectiles that were meant for enemies.
Even though the bell idea is unique, it was a frustrating experience for me. If you want a challenge and count at the same time, this game is for you.
Game #20 of my challenge
First of all, this is another space shooter game. This game however have his own little twist : the bells system. When killing an enemy or shooting at a cloud, a bell will appear. If you collect them, you earn points. You can shoot those bells so that they change colors. Depending on the color, it can give you a new power up when collected. These power-ups are really crucial if you want to go far in the game. When shooting the bells, thay can go off screen, making it harder to know where they are. If you shoot one shot too many, the bell will change color and it will become a normal points bell. The big issue here is that while trying to juggle your bells to get power ups, you need to deal with a whole bunch of enemies, which make it even more difficult.
Managing those bells with enemies is extremely difficult. You can also say F*** those bells and just shoot the enemies, but thay can be in the way, blocking projectiles that were meant for enemies.
Even though the bell idea is unique, it was a frustrating experience for me. If you want a challenge and count at the same time, this game is for you.
Game #20 of my challenge
1986
This is a pretty good space shooter. Even though there were a lot of this type of games back in the day, the Power-up systrms is what that make it special.
When beating a certain type of ennemies, they will drop an '' Power Capsule'' (name in-game), your ''Power Meter'' at the bottom of the screen can go up to one. When the bar reaches a power up that you want, you can purchase it and a Add-on will be added to your ship, the Vic Viper. This makes you feel extremely powerful, but the only problem is when you die, you lose all your add-ons and restart at the last checkpoint. This makes the game extremely brutal
Graphic wise, the game looks good for his time, however, when there are too much stuff on the screen at once, the game becomes extremely laggy and can be really slow, especially against the orange balls with two arms.
I will be honest, after a while, I used some save states because restarting from scratch can be really annoying. I still have an enjoyable moment playing this game.
Game #19 of my challenge
When beating a certain type of ennemies, they will drop an '' Power Capsule'' (name in-game), your ''Power Meter'' at the bottom of the screen can go up to one. When the bar reaches a power up that you want, you can purchase it and a Add-on will be added to your ship, the Vic Viper. This makes you feel extremely powerful, but the only problem is when you die, you lose all your add-ons and restart at the last checkpoint. This makes the game extremely brutal
Graphic wise, the game looks good for his time, however, when there are too much stuff on the screen at once, the game becomes extremely laggy and can be really slow, especially against the orange balls with two arms.
I will be honest, after a while, I used some save states because restarting from scratch can be really annoying. I still have an enjoyable moment playing this game.
Game #19 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
1984
The controls are so wack that it's hard to master. I can give props to try to make the mecanics of the game more unique than other games, but it didn't landed for me unfortunately.
Game # 17 of my challenge
Game # 17 of my challenge
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
1985
The concept of this game is really enjoyable. However, the controls is in the way of this game. The jump momentum is really inconsistent that it can be infuriating. The treadmill are hard to identify between the one that goes to the left and the one to the right (the orientation is only shown by the stripes). The two players mode helps, but can be annoying if one players goes too high
Game # 15 of my challenge
Game # 15 of my challenge
1985
This game is really fun for how simple it is. The controls are really instictive since one of the button can be hold for flying normally and the other needs to be press multiple times to ajust your flight.
This game is also fun in two players where you try to beat all the levels in coop. Even if it's coop, you still wants to get more points than your friends (especially in the bonus rounds)
The last mode is really enjoyable and challenging since you want to reach the furthest as possible since lasting longer will give you points, but getting all the baloons will give you the most points.
A classic for NES and you should play it at least once
Game #14 of my challenge
This game is also fun in two players where you try to beat all the levels in coop. Even if it's coop, you still wants to get more points than your friends (especially in the bonus rounds)
The last mode is really enjoyable and challenging since you want to reach the furthest as possible since lasting longer will give you points, but getting all the baloons will give you the most points.
A classic for NES and you should play it at least once
Game #14 of my challenge
1985
It's a fun game. It's a mix of a puzzle game and execution game. It can be really difficult at times, but being able to control the AI is really nice. I would recommand it in small bursts since there's a lot of levels.
Game #13 of my challenge
Game #13 of my challenge
1984
It's simple Pinball. The controls works really well and the game is simple fun. I really don't much to say except that.
Game #12 of my challenge
Game #12 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
1984
This is unfortunately the worst of the DK original series. While the idea is good with the spray gun so that he goes in a bee hive, you will spend your time only mashing the spray gun button. I think they only put Donkry Kong in it because it would sell more copies.
Game #9 of my challenge
Game #9 of my challenge