Nathan vs His Game Collection: Day 3 - Biohick Infinite

On today's edition, we've got hicks, cities in the sky, and aliens to shoot. Pretty much the plot of Bioshock Infinite, which I happened to beat yesterday. In an alternate timeline, 8 Eyes is good! Ok, maybe that'll never happen. Anyway, on with the review.

The Adventures of Bayou Billy

A little background

The Adventures of Bayou Billy was a June 1989 joint from Konami, who would go on to create some of the most memorable games of the NES era, either under their own label or their monicker "Ultra Games." Bayou Billy's box art still scares me to this day, with his head being so far down on his body he looks like a hunchback or something. 

This game is interesting because it was the only NES game that I know of to combine both controller and light gun segments. The game had two segments devoted to controller play, and then a shooter stage where you used a light gun. You could still use a controller on that part, but would you really want to considering how few light gun games there are?

Weirdly enough, this game was called Mad City in Japan, though it still retained the hick-like character of Billy, making the American title a bit more accurate in my opinion. It also couldn't use the Zapper to zap dudes (controller only), but it was significantly easier. 

First impressions last forever

Despite the hideous box art, this game looks really good on first boot. There's actual voice-over that sounds half decent that reads the game's title, and the opening cutscene is sharp and has some awesomely hilarious dialogue (the "OH MY GOD!" text bubble still makes me laugh).

Unfortunately, actually playing the game is rather frustrating. The first stage is a Double Dragon-esque beat-em-up, only with poor controls combined with enemies that don't seem to flinch, ever. I usually die pretty quick unless I'm lucky and somebody drops a weapon or some health. The in-game graphics also look pretty hideous, but I did enjoy the music. 

But as I played further...

The frustration continues. The Double Dragon stage goes on for far too long, and dying completely sends you back to the beginning. You really have to be either lucky or just better at games than I, because it took me a good while to finally figure out enemy patterns (or lack thereof) in order to proceed. Plus, you get to a part where 'gators pop up out of the water, and I thought you were supposed to dodge 'em. Nope, beam them in the head with a club! Billy don't take no crap!

Luckily, you can play the other modes in "Practice" if you don't want to push too far ahead in the single player. The driving stage is like a bad Rad Racer or Outrun, though you do get to shoot down cars and planes, though one mess-up and you're done. The light gun stage is the best one, and even it's just generic shooting. It actually plays fine on a controller, but with a tube TV and actual Zapper it plays best. 

So what's the conclusion? 

I've actually played Mad City on an emulator, and the game is considerably more fun. I heard that on the NES version all enemies have 3x as much life and do more damage, which explains the raw tedium that sets in during the beat-em-up stages. Part of me wants to applaud Bayou Billy for trying to fuse a lot of gameplay elements together, as well as different game controls (aka the Zapper) on the NES. The other part of me realizes I didn't really have any fun with the game except in Practice mode, and so it's hard for me to side with Billy's tobacco-stained smile.
If you have a Zapper you're probably hurting for games, so you might want to pick it up for just that. But, while Mad City felt like it struck a fair balance between challenge and fun, Bayou Billy can be frustrating until you figure it out. Not awful, certainly interesting, but just be aware before you go in that you'll probably not spend much time with it.
Copies run around $3-5. And I somehow made it through this without making a Crocodile Dundee reference.

Air Fortress

A little background

Is it just me, or does my hand look like I have jaundice in this picture? Why is it all yellow? Weird.

Anyway, Air Fortress is another 1989 game, this time released in June by HAL. You've probably heard that name before: they are the inventors of Kirby and now are being whored out to make more Super Smash Bros. games. But many people might not know that before becoming a big Nintendo staple, they released a lot of strange, obscure games on the NES. More of those to come later, but now it's time for "another damn NES shmup," Air Fortress. 

First impressions last forever

This game looks ok I guess, but my ship looks like a huge blob of...dare I say flesh? Why is it all orange and lumpy? 

Everything in the presentation department can be summed up as "just ok." Graphics are generic and a bit dull, and the music isn't offensive but nothing catchy, as are the sound effects.

I like that it lays out exactly how many fortresses you are going to blow up at the start of the game. But why are they air fortresses if they're in space? There's no air in space, HAL. 

I'm overthinking this. 

But as I played further...

Oh, that bulge on top was a guy! Who gets off the spaceship to infiltrate the base after I fly in with a jetpack to blow up the core!

That's...pretty cool.

Also very Blaster Master-esque, which came out a year before this game, but still: pretty neat idea. And I can actually beat Air Fortress, unlike Blaster Master, which is absurdly difficult.

This game is actually loads of fun, and does a lot to differentiate itself from being "another damn NES shmup." During the shooting segments you get powerups in the forms of energy and bombs, which you can't use while in ship-form. When you detach from your space-skiff and enter the bowels of the titular air fortress, your energy is essentially your max life, which is temporarily used when you move and shoot, and recharges when you stand still. Every hit drops the max down, rendering you less and less mobile until you either die or blow up the ship. Neat idea.

While some of the graphics are blotchy and the enemies are kind of dull (ok, they're very dull), this was a fun time. Not too hard, but not too easy either, and the two styles blend well together. Good on ya, HAL.

So what's the conclusion? 

It's not revolutionary, but Air Fortress is a lot of fun. While I'll admit the shmup stages aren't anything special (they're actually kind of droll), putting them in conjuncture with the jetpack stages was a smart move. The jetpack also doesn't have any actual momentum or lift: it's just direct 1:1 directional control, so don't expect Moon Lander or Asteroids controls here. The inside of the fortresses have a Metroid quality to them, and they get more non-linear as the game progresses. It's a fun little excursion.
If you somehow don't have a boatload of NES shmups already, I don't believe you. But if you still want another one, Air Fortress is alright in my book. Nothing exceptional, but still fun.
Also, the main character's name is Hal. Nice plug, guys.
Copies are usually around $5-10.

Alien Syndrome

A little background

Oh hey, our first Tengen game! These unlicensed NES carts made by Tengen (who is actually Atari in disguise) are well known for their weird shape, black color, and bad design that makes them almost impossible to pull out of a regular Nintendo. Seriously, try pinching that with fat fingers, with only one grip on the whole cart. Not cool. 

Anyway, Alien Syndrome, a 1988...uh, we'll say "interpretation" of an arcade game of the same name. These games were very obviously inspired by the Alien movies, with space marines out to blast all the aliens, pick up power-ups, and rescue the survivors, Smash TV style. Only without two sticks. The game was ported to everything (and even had a modern reboot of sorts that wasn't very good), and may consider the Genesis version the best port at the time. 

First impressions last forever

Minus the fact I hate Tengen carts (and mine is super faulty and took around five minutes before it finally loaded), Alien Syndrome is...very brown. But still controls excellently. It doesn't have two sticks, so the direction you go is also the direction you shoot, but the aliens aren't that aggressive in the first few levels and the shooting is fun. Rescuing survivors can be tedious as everything looks the same and I never know if I'm backtracking, but eh. No biggie. I can shoot them and they don't die. Yay?

But as I played further...

This game starts out pretty slow, with early levels being a cakewalk, but it does ramp up the difficulty. The bosses are big and pretty cool as well as a large difficulty jump (exactly how bosses should be), but not impossible. After every stage a self-destruct sequence begins, making me wonder if these are all different ships or if I'm just systematically blowing up certain rooms because I don't like them. Whoops, there goes the kitchen! I self-destructed the rec room! Unfortunately, Alien Syndrome never answers these important plot points. 

So what's the conclusion? 

This game's ok. It does support two-player, which is considerably more fun than playing alone, so if you have a buddy or significant other be sure to rope them into the adventure. It looks good enough, with the alien designs being eye-catching, the shooting is solid, the power-ups are fun, and the bosses are hard. Overall, it's a solid experience if you are into these types of games. It isn't as faithful or good as the arcade port, but it's still a blast. I also personally think it's better than the Genesis version in terms of gameplay, though the Genesis' music just slaughters the NES on this one.
Copies can usually be found for $10+.