Nathan vs His Game Collection: Day 16 - DOUBAHL DRABBLE

The well-written subtitle of today is from the opening line of Double Dribble, where a bad English pronunciation of the game's title paired with the NES's fantastic sound chip results in some pretty great hilarity.
I've been playing God of War: Ascension over the past couple of days, and I must say...I'm not all that impressed overall. I felt the games took a dip in quality when they jumped to the PS3 (not in the graphics department, of course, but the overall game feel and storytelling) and Ascension feels like everything God of War became that I didn't enjoy, instead of everything God of War was in the first game that initially drew me to the series. Regardless, I'll have a review up once I beat it. Eventually.
Today I don't have anything too special, but I was thinking about Mega Man X, so here's the best song from that. On with today's batch!

Double Dribble

A little background

 Double Dribble is known in Japan as Exciting Basket, which might be the silliest name for a video game. Imagine if you didn't know this game were a basketball game...what would you think of when you heard "Exciting Basket?" The most hardcore basket-weaving game of all time! SIGN ME UP.

Anyway, this was an arcade game turned NES game in September of 1987. It's worth noting this preceded Konami's other sports game, Blades of Steel, by a little over a year. I only bring it up because these games look and play very similarly, except with a sports change-up. Like I know anything about sports! Basketball and hockey are like the same thing, right? Put things into mesh circular other things. Done. I won sports. 

First impressions last forever

"DOUBAHL DRABBLE."

That voice is even better than the Blades of Steel voice! Though I can see the tech has improved in that year; at least I can understand the Blades of Steel guy. 

Oh right, the game.

The intro scene, where all the people crowd to the stadium, looks kind of awful, but  once you get in the game it looks good. I like how the dude shoots a hoop next to each of the settings when you change it, even if that's kind of a massive waste of time. I also like that the controls are super simple. 

But as I played further...

 This is a very solid NES basketball game, and probably my favorite NES basketball game. The characters look a lot like the Blades of Steel guys, and I'm ok with this. The controls are also similar and simple: one button passes (based on the direction you are currently holding dictates to who), and one button for shoot. Tap the button to shoot, hold it to dunk (if you're close enough). The game moves fast and you can have 5 minute halfs, meaning the game won't overstay its welcome.

The game is ok against the cpu, but really shows its stuff in multiplayer. The fast-paced, extremely smooth ball play reminds me of NBA Jam (which wouldn't come out for a while later), and you can get quite competitive. My only complaint is it's hard to steal a ball back after the other team has it (no shoving like in NBA Jam) but it's a minor issue. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Double Dribble is surprisingly good! While it isn't Blades of Steel (the addition of fights and being able to "check" opponents make the turnaround of the puck frequently, unlike the ball turnaround in Double Dribble) it's still very fast, very smooth, and a lot of fun. Konami really brought their a-game to the NES, and it shows. I also like that it plays official music during the games. It's cool!

The game is also very cheap; usually under $5 for a copy. If you like two player NES sports games, this one is a must-grab.

Dr. Mario

A little background

 Ah, Dr. Mario. Gunpei Yokoi, most famous for being the father of the Game Boy, was the key developer in this Nintendo staple, which came out in the US in October of 1990. It was rumored this game was made after seeing the incredible success of Tetris, and Nintendo wanted in on this action. They'd make other NES puzzle games as well, including Yoshi, Yoshi's Cookie, Wario's Woods, and the awesome Tetris Attack on the SNES, but this was their first successful venture into this type of puzzle game.
The game is similar to Tetris only that things fall from the top of the screen to the bottom. In truth, it's a bit like what Bejeweled became, focusing on matching colors in a row rather than clearing lines. The game since became a classic, re-released on every Nintendo system to date (sometimes multiple times) without every changing the core "three colors, two-sided pill" idea. It was just too good to change.
As a bit of a personal note, my wife and I played this game a lot at a local arcade when we were dating, and she is absurdly good at it. Seriously, I did well against her on almost all other games, but on Dr. Mario she wiped the floor with me. We even bumped her difficulty up to five higher than mine and increased the speed and she still won. I guess I just suck at Dr. Mario.
As a final aside, I think Dr. Mario 64 is the best version of this game released, just because it has four player vs support. Four player Dr. Mario is pretty hectic and fun if you have three friends who are pretty good at the game. 
But I'm not. I'm just there as a sacrifice. 

First impressions last forever

The music has since been iconic. Interestingly enough, I like Chill over Fever, which seems to be abnormal. Fever's great and all, but I dig Chill's mellow beats. Probably because I first played Dr. Mario as the Wario Ware Inc. unlockable on the GBA, which only has Chill.
Oh yeah, um...the game looks good and is simple: get four in a row, hopefully with viruses. Clear out all the viruses, go on to the next stage. Easy.

But as I played further...

There's a few things that still irk me about Dr. Mario that I still haven't gotten over (and are probably why I suck). First, the second those pills touch something else, they stick forever like super glue. Unlike Tetris, where you have some flipping/moving leniency before a piece "locks," this ain't the case in Dr. Mario.
Second, it's really easy to bury yourself and be stuck beyond fixing. Unlike Tetris, where you can screw up but you always seem to have a way out, it seems like in Dr. Mario the game is out to get you. Pill remains pile up higher than the viruses, burying them under useless colors, and you realize it's going to take ten minutes to just fix the mess you made during the first minute of the game. It doesn't help that...
...Third, the game loves to toss you useless pills. All the red viruses are gone? Dr. Mario tosses down another double-red pill. Um...are you the worst doctor ever? We cured red, you fool! Put that bottle away and only toss down blue or yellow ones!
I'm gonna sue Dr. Mario for malpractice. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Despite me sucking and having irrational anger at the game for that, Dr. Mario is still a really solid, very fun and addicting action-puzzler. The Wii port is for babies and shows you the next 4-5 pills, which is cheating for pansies. Men (and my wife) play Dr. Mario only knowing the very next pill and that's it! WIMPS. 
Anyway, Dr. Mario on the NES still holds up to this day, and is still a very good version of the game. It has two-player support, so your wife can destroy you at it too (or whatever your significant other may be), so grab two controllers and have a great (?) time.
People love to inflate this game's price (around $10-15), but you can probably grab it for cheaper with savvy shopping.

Dragon Power

A little background

 Don't be fooled by the stupid, american-ized cover: this is very much a game based on the Dragon Ball manga. Released by Bandai (ugh...) in March of 1988, Dragon Power also holds the title of being the only Dragon Ball game released on the NES in the US, Z or otherwise. It's important to keep in mind that this is before Dragon Ball Z really took off in the states; Goku and otherwise weren't known over here, so putting some generic Karate Bro on the cover made sense...I guess. In Bandai's mind. Who knows what is going on in there. 

The game also had an interesting bit of censorship, where one of the power-ups were woman's panties. They were changed to rice balls in the US, for probably obvious reasons. 

First impressions last forever

 Man, this game looks like an old NES game. Blocky, badly-drawn sprites with no black outlines, really jittery animation and bad color composition...game looks kind of awful. But also weirdly...charming? The cutscenes with awful writing and their animated faces are kind of endearing, and I like that Goku always has that happy-go-lucky smile on his face. The game, despite being hideous, kind of lured me in with its style.  

But as I played further...

 The main game is played in an over-head perspective (like Legend of Zelda only...not good), and if you can get the stick early on by going into a secret cave the game is way more fun. If not, punching has horrible range, and enemies with swords will destroy you.

Levels follow a simple pattern: a small, usually one to three screen overhead battle, followed by a fighting game style miniboss. While the overworld stuff is ok (and I like how the enemies fly off the screen when they are killed, like they're yanked off with invisible wire), its the miniboss battles that kill the game. It's hard to deal damage without taking any, with your stick disappearing for these fights and enemies giving no indication they've been hit.

Oh, and if you die even once on a stage, you start the whole stage over. Sure, you have unlimited continues, but we're talking the last five to ten minutes of work here. Yeah, I'm good Dragon Power. No thanks. 

Also the music...if we can call it that. It's basically two measures that repeat over...and over...and over...and over...

So what's the conclusion? 

I got this game because of the novelty of owning the first Dragon Ball game, and because the contrast between the game (and manga it's based off of) and the actual NES cover art amuses me immensely. While I do think the game's quirky charms are sort of endearing (which is also why I kind of like Kid Niki: Radical Ninja, even though the game is total garbage), it's hard to recommend it as an actual game. The overworld parts are sort of fun, but the one-on-one battles are a wreck. Plus, the continue system will probably turn off most casual players.
It's not a completely broken NES game, but it's not a very good one. Copies are usually around $3.

Dragon Spirit: The New Legend

A little background

 Dragon Spirit is "another damn NES shmup," but with a twist: you're a person-turned-dragon! Yes, just like the Dragon Knight in DOTA. Talk about a ripoff. 

The game is an actual good Bandai game (shocking, I know) though Namco technically made it. The game also was published by Atari under the Tengen label, meaning there's two versions of this game: the licensed cart version, and the black Tengen cart. As you can see, I have the legit version, though I know people who have the black one. They're the exact same game.

Dragon Spirit is a port of an arcade game by the same name, and sticks squarely into overhead shooting. It came out in June of 1990, and I'm tired of finding background facts for it so screw it, here's impressions. 

First impressions last forever

 This game actually has a pretty clever way of starting. It gives you a brief title to let you know the game loaded correctly, then tosses you into the action as the Blue Dragon Knight in the opening level. It's a fairly easy opening level, but the neat part is what happens if you die. If you make it to the end, you get another late title card with the "Blue Dragon" beneath it, indicating you're playing the normal difficulty. If you die, however, the game realizes you might need some help, and gives you the same title card with the "Gold Dragon" beneath it, giving you a different dragon and making the game easier. Gold Dragon is missing some levels (and you can't get the "True" ending), but it's cool to gauge a player's skill level through gameplay and then use it to determine difficulty. 

But as I played further...

 Dragon Spirit is a very good NES shmup. It plays like Xevious or Legendary Wings: you have a regular air attack, but you can also drop limited-ranged bombs on the ground for enemies beneath you. Power-ups are plentiful, which can turn your dragon into a two or even three headed dragon, spraying bullets everywhere, and powering up your attacks. You have a health bar that gives you 3-5 hits before death, but every time you are hit you downgrade a level of attack (also a bit like Legendary Wings) which is obnoxious. Luckily, since the above-mentioned powerups are plentiful, getting downgraded isn't that bad. 

The graphics are pretty decent, though they don't hold a candle to the arcade version. The game also runs fairly smoothly without the awful slowdown issues of contemporary Legendary Wings. Plus, you get to travel through time! The first world is you in pre-historic times, burning up dinosaurs with your dragon awesomeness. HOW COOL IS THAT? VERY COOL. 

Also the music is good too, every Konami-esque. 

So what's the conclusion? 

I've said it a lot of times: there's a lot of damn NES shmups available, but Dragon Spirit is an overlooked one that is quite phenomenal. Even on "Blue Dragon" level the game isn't too challenging, and with a turbo controller it becomes even easier. The dragon theme is also pretty rad, turning what might have been a boring space shooter into a dragon apocalypse. I like it, is what I'm saying. I like dragons.
If you like NES shmups and missed this one, I'd say give it a go! It's certainly on my top five in that category, and is loads of fun. The only problem is it doesn't have multiplayer, but hey...you can't win 'em all.
Copies are a bit tricky to find but don't tend to cost much; usually around $5-10. 

Updates from Rogue Republic, that modern warfare 0 A.D. mod

The really nice looking modern warfare mod for 0 A.D. is steadily improving:

Rogue Republic's Russian buildings

You can now also check out their blog and facebook page, and to quote one of the main developers:

With hope of finding a proficient 0 A.D. coder

So please help out these guys, if you know some Javascript and are willing to learn how to code for 0 A.D.!

Nathan vs His Game Collection: Day 15 - Triple Dragon

FYI, Cards Against Humanity is back in stock on Amazon after a several month hiatus, as are all the expansions. I spent the evening with my cousins playing a rousing game of Space Team (which now supports up to eight people) followed by some absurd Cards Against Humanity offensiveness. It was a laugh riot, to say the very least.
Today is a classic but an good one for the Youtube: Duck Tales' moon theme, the most Mega Man song out of all of 'em. Nice work, Capcom. I don't envy the guy who is going to have to remix this song for the new Duck Tales Remastered game. Talk about an impossible task!
For tonight, we have the holy triforce of NES beat-em-ups: the Double Dragon series!

Double Dragon

A little background

 Everybody knows Double Dragon. An arcade hit turned NES hit, it was released by Tradewest on the NES in June of 1988. In the original promotional material for the game, the now iconic Billy and Jimmy were known as Hammer and Spike (ok...), so that's a fun fact.

For those who somehow missed the memo: Double Dragon is a beat-em-up game. Some like to think of it as the beat-em-up game, the one that made them popular and gave us such classics as the Simpsons arcade game and even more modern interpretations like Castle Crashers. For me personally, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage 2 on the Genesis were my first introduction to that genre, but I still played a good deal of Double Dragon in my youth, as well as in college. 

People often falsely declare the genre "outdated," while I personally think games like Castle Crashers are taking the popular idea that started the whole thing (beat up a lot of dudes in awesome ways) and modernizing it, but that's a conversation for another time. Also, Double Dragon NEON is awesome, and IGN is stupid. But considering how completely wrong they've been about other games, it isn't surprising. 

First impressions last forever

Yeah, time for some Double Dragon! Hey wait, I picked two player, but there's only one life bar...oh, right. This game's two-player is just switching off characters, Super Mario Bros style. Sorry, wife, looks like you have to wait for me to die.

The controls feel solid, with the kick and punch packing a lot of...well, punch (hur hur), and great "smacking" sound effect. You also can jump and kick, and you feel in control. The graphics aren't half bad either, and I like the opening cutscene of your lady getting punched in the stomach. Not because I'm sexist, but because it just...happens. With no background. And then the story begins. Great!

  

But as I played further...

 Man, the lack of two player is really bumming me out, but the game is still a good deal of fun. I let out a cheer at the first Abobo sighting, and ran up the elevator railings and glitched through the floor like everybody should. For a one-player beat-em-up it isn't half bad, but the fun with these games is two player, so I'll still harp on that. The only two-player mode is some VS combat fighting game thing that sucks. They can keep it. 

Also, on a side note, my cartridge is like super glitchy. The colors kept changing, the screen kept flickering, and it froze twice. Time to break out the Q-Tips and Windex...

So what's the conclusion? 

Double Dragon is still a solid, fun beat-em-up. What I really like about this game (and its sequel, which we'll cover next) is how balanced the game feels. Yeah, it's tricky and you'll die a decent amount, but you can always get pretty far before screwing up and going down. Or having your cartridge freeze.
It still has my one really big complaint for all these types of games: the insta-"falling down a hole"-death. Having full health and accidentally stepping too far down is so frustrating. Urgh, I'm getting mad just thinking about it!
Regardless, Double Dragon is a lot of (single player) fun. It's also pricey, around $13 these days. 

Double Dragon II: The Revenge

A little background

 After the runaway success of the first Double Dragon game, Akklaim bought up the franchise and pumped out a sequel. While the arcade game...exists, I think most people remember the NES version of this game. AS THEY SHOULD, because it's easily the best beat-em-up on the system, coming out in January of 1990. I guess that's a bit of a biased opinion before even getting to the review, but you know what? DEAL WITH IT. 

I don't want to give any more background. So I'm just gonna play this game, ok? 

First impressions last forever

 Yeah, actual two-player action! Just don't pick "Game B," because then you can hit each other.

This game is iconic as balls. The first major change is the controls. Rather than have one button kick and the other punch, now buttons are a direction of attacking. A will always attack to the right, and B to the left. If you're facing the direction of the attack you'll punch, and if not you'll do a back kick. With one swell foop, Double Dragon II fixed the big problem with these types of games: getting surrounded and getting attacked from behind. Brilliant. 

But as I played further...

This game is a freaking blast! I even love the awful engrish and corny cutscenes. "G-R-A-S-P!"

The game is also quite fair. After beating each stage your life gets refilled, and while you don't get an absurd number of lives like in Double Dragon 1, three each is more than enough for a two-player game. 

This game also has a lot of really cool places. From the streets to the rooftops, the inside of a chopper to an undersee lab, Double Dragon II goes all over the place. The graphics look quite good, and the controls and sound effects are solid. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Double Dragon II is easily the best in the series, and still stands up today as one of the best beat-em-up games I can think of. It's never unfair (except maybe that one room where you step out of the door onto a conveyor belt that tosses you into a pit...), plays great, looks great, sounds great, and is an absolute kick co-op. Get it? "Kick?" Because...you get it.

This is an essential game for any NES collector. Seriously. It's just...so good. With so many people trying to revive this game (including the absolutely offensively bad XBLA Double Dragon II game that just came out...seriously, don't buy it), it's crazy that this sequel is still the absolute best.

Carts are a bit cheaper than the first game, but not by much. Usually $10-15. 

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones

A little background

 Man, why is that picture blurry? I swear my phone just decides when a picture is going to be good or crap on its own accord. Or it knew Double Dragon III's legacy...

Yeah, so after II drop-kicked us in the face with how awesome it was, we get this game, released on the NES in February 1991 and called Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone in Japan, though I prefer to call it Double Dragon III: The One They Screwed Up. 

Without going into too much detail, this game flopped pretty bad, essentially killing the series (though they did make the Battletoads crossover game) and got scathing reviews. Which is weird...how could they screw up Double Dragon? Just...do II again but with new stuff, right? How is that hard?

First impressions last forever

 This game actually gives a pretty good first impression. The cutscenes are sort of cool, and the game looks really good. The combat seems to be taken from Double Dragon instead of II, meaning bi-directional hits are out, but whatever. There's actually like a plot too, that seems ripped right out of an old kung-fu movie. How could this go bad?

But as I played further...

Two words: one life. That's it. You get one life, and no continues. Once that life bar is gone, the game is over. Game Over screen and everything. Vamoosh. Start from the beginning. Balls.

Compounded on that is the new enemy AI, which is cheatersville. It seems they realized that the option to hit both ways is gone now, so they intentionally surround you and get you hit-locked. As a bonus, whenever anybody new shows up off screen, their opening attack is a jump-kick, which you can't dodge if you're locked in a combo punching somebody. So you'll take a hit (either from the kicker, or from disengaging the guy you are currently beating the spittle out of) and down your single life goes. Ugh. 

I'd comment on length or levels or something, but I honestly can't beat the first level. I seem to remember getting to the end of level 2 at some point (the game at least fills up your life after each level), but never beyond that.

So what's the conclusion? 

Double Dragon III: A Festering Suckfest isn't worth your time or attention. It seriously sucks that, after the greatness of the second game, they somehow messed this up so much it's worse than even the first game! You may think I'm being too hard on this game, but seriously: it's Battletoads level of frustration here. And at least Battletoads had continues. I'd rather play Battletoads than this game, seriously. 

The most painful games are the ones that we really want to be good (and have a pedigree behind them) but just don't cut it (Final Fantasy XIII, I'm lookin' at you too). Double Dragon III isn't worth your time or money. Just stick with number two.

Copies are the same price as the rest of 'em, usually around $13.

Nathan vs His Game Collection: Day 14 - Label Damage

Today's is going to be short, both because I'm short on time and there isn't all that much to say about the games in question. Still, here's a youtube link to a Skyrim theme on violin and piano. Purdy.
And that's it! Boring day over here from me; busy with life stuff, but still managing to put out a daily review batch because I care.

Destiny of an Emperor

A little background

 Oh geez, oh gosh, oh man, what happened to that label? This was another gift, and it looks like the game went through the war, not to mention there's that huge price-tag on the lower half. Oh well...it happens. 

Destiny of an Emperor is a Capcom joint, though it looks more like a Koei game had a baby with Dragon Warrior. It was released in September of 1990, and is widely considered a "hidden gem" of the NES library? Is it?

First impressions last forever

Holy cow, this game is so Dragon Warrior. Having to enter a menu to talk and examine, the sprites look exactly like Dragon Warrior (only more Japanese , the and even the mountains and trees in the world map have a Dragon Warrior flavor. How many times can I say Dragon Warrior in a review? Dragon Warrior, Dragon Warrior, Dragon Warrior...

But as I played further...

 It gives a somewhat weak first impression, with truckloads of ambiguous text and a weird opening cutscene and no explanation for what you are doing (besides killing a band called the "Yellow Scarves." Really threatening name there, guys). But before long, you realize this game is basically just Final Fantasy (again, another game they knocked off) only much more fast paced. Which, honestly, I'm down with that.

Fights are done in random encounters that look...bland, but it does have some nice character pictures in the corner when they attack. A little touch I really liked was that your hit points are actually soldiers under the commander's...well, command, and when you get hit you lose that many guys. Massive manslaughter here!

You gain more commanders and tacticians as you advance, and in order for your sub-generals to do advanced commands you have to assign them a tactician. You can only have six people in your party at once ("only"...), but the battles are very fast and pretty hard, which is a plus.

So what's the conclusion? 

I will openly admit I didn't play enough of this game to probably give it a fair rating, but I will say that I warmed up to it quite a bit after getting a little more into it. While my initial impressions were just "Lame Dragon Warrior knockoff," the game actually feels a bit more like Dynasty Warriors meets Final Fantasy, which is pretty neat. The story seemed ok, and the translation was at least decent. As a whole, if you are looking for a totally unique turn-based strategy game on the NES that isn't a Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior game, Destiny of an Emperor is worth checking out.
Copies are usually between $5-10 (depending on the label damage...)

Donkey Kong Classics

A little background

I will openly admit this review is kind of stupid, because Donkey Kong Classic is just a compilation of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr, and I own a DK Jr. cart, so it's next on the list alphabetically. But for the sake of purity, we're doing this one first.

Donkey Kong Classics is...well...two NES Donkey Kong games together. It was released in October of 1988, and it's worth noting that was two years after the ill-received Donkey Kong 3, which isn't on this cartridge. I guess even Nintendo knew that game wasn't as good as the other two.

Since I'm going to give my thoughts on Jr after this, I'll just focus on the original for this review, since I don't actually have an original Donkey Kong cart as of yet. 

 First impressions last forever

 Donkey Kong looks very similar to the arcade game, which is a good thing. The sound effects are spot on, and even though a few graphical effects (like DK smashing down the stage before it beings) are missing, it's still solid gameplay-wise. I also think it's easier than the arcade version, though I can't pinpoint exactly why. 

But as I played further...

 The biggest fault of this version is the missing level three, which this compilation doesn't even have. If they were making a "best of," couldn't you have brought that level back? I know you have more than enough space on the cart!

That aside, Donkey Kong is still a fun game that I'm awful at. Not as bad as Burger Time, mind, but still not that fantastic. I'm no "King of Kong" if you know what I'm saying. Also, go watch that movie. It's great. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Do I really have to explain Donkey Kong? You jump. You climb ladders. You dodge barrels. You do it over and over until you get a high score. Simple.

Another thing that fries my bacon about this compilation, I should point out: no battery backup. The original games didn't have it and that made sense - they were older games before battery backups became normal. But for this? Not saving any of my saves after I turn the NES off? This is an arcade game, for crying out loud, two of the most iconic of all time. For this "greatest hits" you could have at least saved my scores, if you aren't going to put that level back in!

That's really the biggest problem with the port, to be honest, because besides that it's perfect. If you like Donkey Kong and/or Donkey Kong Jr, this is the copy to pick up, as it's usually as much as any one of those two carts, and has both game on it and they run flawlessly. 

Also, mine has a little scratch on the top, continuing the "label damage" theme. See? Consistency. 

The game is usually $10-15. 

Donkey Kong Jr. 

A little background

Ah, Donkey Kong Jr. My favorite of the original Donkey Kong arcade games. 

This cart came out in June of 1986, four years after the arcade release. It is pretty much a perfect port of the original Arcade game and, unlike Donkey Kong, isn't missing any levels. It's also noted as being the first game where Mario is actually the bad guy, capturing the big dumb ape and forcing his wifebeater-wearing son to come save him. 

As a fun fact, it's implied that Cranky Kong in Donkey Kong Country is the original Donkey Kong, and since he's that game's Donkey Kong's grandfather, it means DK in Country is the son of Donkey Kong Jr. Leave it to Rare to think our freaking arcade games needed some weird continuity with their series. So does Mario come visit the Donkey Kong Country world? Is Pauline there? Who knows? 

Nobody, that's who. And nobody cares, either. Just like the Donkey Kong Rap. Why does that exist?

First impressions last forever

 I love Donkey Kong Jr. I don't know why, but it is one of the few arcade games I really got good at. The game has some clunky controls, and it takes a while to realize that if Jr falls from just a little too far, he'll die (what?!). However, after dying a few times in the first world you start to get the hang of it, figuring out the two-handed climb (which is faster going up) and the one-handed slide (which is faster going down) in order to best burn through the levels. 

But as I played further...

I've also always felt this game is better than Donkey Kong for a few reasons. First, it gives you an offensive capability that was skill based, not just picking up some stupid invincibility hammer. Knocking down fruit to hit enemies is tricky. Second, it does a good job mixing climbing with jumping, while the original Donkey Kong was more about the jumping than anything. DK Jr. takes the best from the original and spices it up, which I think was smart. 

So what's the conclusion? 

This is one of my favorite old arcade games (which I'm actually pretty good at, weirdly enough, though not that good). It's similar to Donkey Kong in a lot of ways, but also does well branching out on its own and being unique because of it. Both games are very distinct and require different styles of play to master, and are absolutely necessary for any collector's library.
Copies are around $7-15, but you should probably just get the Donkey Kong Classics collection in this case. 

Nathan vs His Game Collection: Day 13 - Taking Command

Smooth McGroove is back, this time with a Chrono Trigger beat that's pretty dang kickin! This guy is too cool for school.
Oh, right. Also some reviews. I guess we'll do those now.

Defender of the Crown

A little background

 Defender of the Crown was ported by Ultra (aka Konami) to the NES in July 1989. It was made by Cinemaware, who went on to make a bunch of games I've never heard of so I won't list them here. 

Defender of the Crown is cool because not only is it a medieval simulator, it also incorporates a lot of medieval tournaments, warfare, and more into one big strategy/negotiations game. It's like Crusader Kings II, only, you know, old. It also reminds me of Lords of the Realm II, aka the most awesome old PC game ever, except also really old. 

First impressions last forever

This NES port doesn't look all that great. The map screen is dull, the sprites in battle are muddy, and the overall color palette they chose is dull. I also have no idea at all what I'm doing, which leads to me getting in a fight and swiftly losing. "In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die..."

I'm like the Eddard Stark of this game. 

But as I played further...

 There's a pretty cool idea here, buried under all the extremely difficult and obscure gameplay. Basically, you want to pick Wilfred, because he's the most balanced, and get an army ASAP. Of course, you have to get money to get an army (as this is a strategy game) so you go on raids or do tournaments and stuff and probably lose. 

The computers are ruthless to the point of unfair, and nine time out of ten you'll probably end up just failing completely and becoming the court jester or losing your head. I'd imagine the Amiga version, with a keyboard and mouse, probably played a lot better, because this NES version isn't great. 

So what's the conclusion? 

I really want to like Defender of the Crown, because it has everything I like in one game. Medieval warfare and tactics, deep strategy, and cool fighting. Unfortunately, in the end I can't recommend it. It's just not a very good port. I wanted to be a Lannister, instead I was Sansa Stark. And that's enough Game of Thrones references for this review.
Copies are around $5-10.

Deja Vu

A little background

 Deja Vu is part of a trio of adventure games that made it from the Macintosh (part of the "MacVenture" series) over to the NES. The other two are the hard to find Uninvited and the ever-classic Shadowgate. These games are considered extremely classic, with some great writing and interesting stories overall. While the Macintosh versions are obviously the best (if only because you can use a mouse), they did pretty dang good with these NES ports as well.

They also made a sequel to Deja Vu called Deja Vu 2: Lost in Las Vegas (which sounds more like a movie about lost pets or a Home Alone spinoff than a game about a hard-boiled detective) but that never got ported over. Which is too bad.

First impressions last forever

 The writing and graphics in this game are great. While Shadowgate's menu interface had a medieval vibe, this one goes all-out in the "detective notebook" thing. The text is interesting, the music is good enough background noise, and the controls are a decent mouse substitute. 

But as I played further...

This game is classic noire. You thought L.A. Noire was noire? Well, these guys did it a billion years before those jerks even existed! The characters are memorable and the game actually delves into some pretty dark themes (much like Shadowgate, which has some grisly descriptions of textual death), but the adventure is solid and a lot of fun. 

I love adventure games, and it's always great to find a good one I haven't played. I found it hard to put Deja Vu down after getting thoroughly engrossed in its story. 

So what's the conclusion? 

While the NES controller isn't a great keyboard and mouse substitute, it doesn't hurt Deja Vu one bit (minus maybe slow cursor speed). What's sad is how well remembered Shadowgate is, while Deja Vu (and Uninvited) are pretty much forgotten. If you got even the slightest bit of enjoyment out of Shadowgate, you owe it to yourself to give Deja Vu a chance. It's a cop-with-nothing-to-lose action as good as it gets, with a fun story, monologuing, and pretty much anything fans of old detective movies will love.
Copies are a bit tricky to find but never are too expensive, usually around $3-5.

Demon Sword

A little background

 Oh Taito, what weird games you made before Square Enix bought you. 

Demon Sword (which has the phrase "RELEASE THE POWER" above the title, which is pretty great) was a sequel to the arcade port of Legend of Kage. Kage came out in August of 1987, while Demon Sword was January of 1990. A bit of Legend of Kage background is required to understand the review: that game was basically just Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on the NES, only not as cool as I just made it out to be. You climbed trees, jumped a billion feet into the air, threw ninja-stars (or deflected them with your sword) and murdered other ninjas. You did it over three stages with limited lives, and the game cycled. That was the whole game. You can tell it was an arcade port. 

Demon Sword intended to use a similar formula but flesh out the game, making it better. Did it? Eh. 

Also, the guy on the cover looks like Conan mixed with Stannis Barathian (aw crap, another Game of Thrones reference slipped in) when in the game it's very obvious he's a samurai and it's set in medieval Japan. Not even close, localization team. Not. Even. Close. 

Lastly, the Japanese version had six more stages and bosses that were cut for no reason from the US version. Again, way to crap it up for the states. 

First impressions last forever

 This game sure looks better than Legend of Kage, which looked like total garbage. It plays similar, with space jumps, dudes spawning from nowhere, and a general sense of non-direction. Though hey, power-ups!

But as I played further...

 The weirdest thing is, I kind of like Legend of Kage, and I don't like Demon Sword. The further I got, the more frustrated I became. I'm glad I have life this time (vs one hit deaths of Kage), but attacks are so near impossible to deflect death is inevitable. The game also makes it out as if there's somewhere I should go, but never offers any direction towards it. I get upgrades (which is cool), but because of the totally inability to not get hit all the time, I don't feel empowered. The game's a mess. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Demon Sword is a weird sequel where you'd think everything was improved over the previous game, but they still somehow screwed it up. On paper, everything in Demon Sword is better: a life bar, better weapon upgrades, better graphics, a story/point, etc. But in execution the game is sloppy, and trying to give it a point falls flat. Weirdly enough, the arcade-style frustrations of Kage are much more enjoyable than the controller-snapping unfairness of Demon Sword. It's like they didn't even playtest it. Kage you can actually get better at, and use that skill to advance further. Demon Sword is a huge crapshoot.
I guess I might be being a little harsh, but seeing as there's roughly eighty quad-billion NES platformers, you can probably skip this one. Copies are very cheap, usually $3 or less.

Desert Commander

A little background

 Not to be confused with "Dessert Commander," Desert Commander is another game by the dudes who brought us Deja Vu...or their publisher, rather. Kemco published both, is what I'm trying to say. Because it's weird I have two of the same...you know what? Let's start over.

Have you every played Advance Wars? You know, the game with little kids as commanders over this brutal war on the GBA, and it had that absurdly catchy song? The game was basically a mix between Fire Emblem and...I dunno, Command and Conquer? Only tuned down a notch.

Well guess what? This game is Advance War's grandaddy! Released in June of 1989 as an NES exclusive, Desert Commander was quite ahead of it's time for a console platformer.

First impressions last forever

 Geez, this game looks a lot like Advance Wars (or I guess it should be the other way around). And they got the "desert" thing right: sand everywhere. That's cool, I'm cool with that. I like sand. I also like tanks and shooting stuff, so this game seems alright from the get-go.

But as I played further...

 Desert Commander is good fun, with a few minor problems. The first (and biggest) is your units' movement speed is set to "slow" and can't really be sped up. The second is the CPU can be pretty tough.

That's it. Other than that, game's solid. Seriously, it's fun. It has the same "battle" cutscenes as Advance Wars when units engage (except in NES style), and the strategy is very solid. The lack of a tutorial is a bit annoying, but it's the NES days so it comes with the territory. 

So what's the conclusion? 

While I want to fully recommend this game, it pains me to have to admit that Advance Wars is better. But if you're playing NES games anyway, you don't care about modern games and their improvements, right? Yes? Maybe?
Point being: Desert Commander is a solid, modern (as of 1988) war game with great turn-based strategy and excellent controls and visuals. If you like that sort of thing, than grab yourself a copy!
They're usually between $5-10.

Looking to fund working on OpenGameArt.org full-time.

Hey folks!

Just a quick note.  I'm looking to fund work on OpenGameArt.org full time (probably via Kickstarter or similar) once my current work project is done, and I'm interested in hearing what people would like me to work on.  If you have any thoughts, please join the discussion on OGA:

http://opengameart.org/content/if-i-could-work-on-oga-full-time-what-would-people-want-me-to-code-or-do
...or on reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1d11ir/i_run_opengameartorg_and_im_looking_at_options_to/

Thanks!

Bart

Nathan vs His Game Collection: Day 12 - Shirts are for Sissies

This is the first post as of yet from my gaming rig! It's been having ongoing issues since I built it, but I've decided to risk bringing it back into mainstream use for this blog post. Especially handy since it's in the same room as all them games.
Today's youtube song is one of my favorite Persona 4 remixes. Piano-ing anything makes it better.
Enough jibber-jabber, it's review time!

Contra

A little background

 Man, Konami was on fire back in the day. Pumpin' out classic games and franchises like nobody's business. The only other third party that I think could even keep up was Capcom, and even they didn't push as many new IPs that lasted like Konami did. 

What was I talking about? Oh, right, Contra.

Contra is actually (and I don't know how many people know this) an arcade port! Yes, really. Despite the NES version (which came out in February of 1988) being probably the most well remembered version, it was also a very popular arcade game. So, that's a fact I guess. Another fact: this game's arcade title Gryzor in Europe, while the NES version was Probotector. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat.

What else can I say about Contra? It inspired a slew of imitators, basically inventing the run-n-gun 2D platform which would be perfected (in this reviewer's opinion) by SNK's Metal Slug series a while later. It's Manly Men shooting Aliens 101, and it's pretty great. Take Rambo, mix him with Aliens, and you get Contra. Sold. 

First impressions last forever

 This game still looks and plays great, even for an early NES game. The first thing you notice is how intense the action is (and how crazy the spin-jump looks!) and how fluid the game controls. Seriously, games were trying to mimic how well Contra controlled for years after it came out. The music is also rockin, and with two-players it's a blast-happy attack. Also, surprisingly low slowdown and sprite flicker for the number of projectiles on screen. 

But as I played further...

 Contra is a classic for a reason: it's a really solid game. The graphics, music, and gameplay are all tight and fun. Blasting aliens (and dudes) is always great, and even if every power-up sucks next to the Spread Gun, I guess it's good they're there? Also, the 3D levels are cool!

Contra's main hang-up (even for me today) is that the game is stupid hard. This is the game that made the Konami code famous (even though Gradius was the first instance of the code's existence), because trying to beat this game with three lives and one-hit deaths is literally impossible. Impossible. IMPOSSIBLE.

So what's the conclusion? 

Contra is another game I'd put next to a lot of modern games and say "Hey! Retro games can still be solid experiences!" It's fast, extremely difficult, but still a blast to play. With the Konami code the game is a lot more tolerable (and less stressful), but there is still something about playing it with limited lives that keeps you on edge and gets the blood pressure up. The only downside is collectors seem to want it too, which has pushed the price up. But hey, it's still less than most modern new games! (I keep telling myself that when I drop $60 on Lufia 2). 

Copies are usually $20-30. 

Crystalis

A little background

Crystalis (or known by its infinitely more badass Japanese name, God Slayer) was a late-NES SNK joint that came out in July of 1990 and was later ported to the Game Boy Color. From what I know, the game didn't sell very well because it came out right when the SNES was becoming a big deal. Which is a damned shame.

As an aside, I write for a site called ARPGamer (which is currently under new management and undergoing changes), and I actually already did a write-up of Crystalis on there. So if you want more detail than what I'm about to cover, go read that instead. 

First impressions last forever

 Crystalis has an amazing opening, that might remind more than a few people of the Fallout franchise. Mankind is devastated by nuclear war, so they seal up a bunch of people in containment pods to be opened after the world is safe. Pods huh. Like VAULTS?!

The game looks incredible, even if the main character is purple. Despite the box-art, I always imagined the hero as a girl for some reason. He/She certainly looks like it could go either way (it's just a bunch of pixels anyway).

Another thing of note is full pixel movement. Yes, it's a top-down action game like Zelda, but isn't confined to four-way directions. Fantastic! 

But as I played further...

 Crystalis is a really fun action RPG, and fans of the 2D Zelda games or games like Secret of Mana should absolutely pick it up. It's very combat-heavy but with a few bits of puzzle-solving, with the ability to equip and "charge" different elemental swords to both release elemental attacks as well as open secret doors and solve puzzles.

The quest is fairly simple: start in village, explore dungeons, solve problems, go to next village, lather, rinse, repeat. But, then again, you could argue every Zelda game is kind of like that, so maybe it isn't fair to boil it down to something so simple.

The real fun in Crystalis is the leveling up, interesting environments, buying and using new gear, and lightning-fast combat. For a top-down RPG on the NES, Crystalis was way ahead of its time, which makes it sad nobody bought it. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Get Crystalis. Seriously, it's phenomenal. While it does fall into a level-grinding trap near the end (and expect to do a fair amount throughout), the graphics are gorgeous, the controls are solid, and the world is interesting (and the text is even translated decently, which never happens on NES games). It's one of my favorite action RPGs ever, and I might even like it better than Secret of Mana. Oh snap, he didn't go there!

Copies are a little tricky to find, and usually roll around $10-15. 

Days of Thunder

A little background

 Um, so I know nothing about Days of Thunder. Like, at all. A friend donated his collection to my cause a few months back, and this game was in it, and I actually don't even remember testing the game to see if it worked before putting it on my shelf. That's a good sign, right?

From what I gather, it's based on a movie (probably made by Paramount, based on the logo at the bottom there) but I sure haven't seen it. It came out in October of 1990 (the game. I'll be damned if I look up when this movie came out) and was made by Beam Software, who also made the awful Back to the Future game. 

Oh. Good. 

I also assumed it was about racing, because there were cars. Probably NASCAR? Great, a "drive left for five hours" simulator. 

First impressions last forever

 The opening graphics are actually kind of impressive. It has that "glowy text fade in/out" thing that usually was reserved for every SNES game ever's intro/brand logos. So there's that.

The graphics also look ok, if filled with solid colors, but it's a bad sign if there's no actual start screen and the game just tosses you into a "qualifying race." Looking forward to doing that every single time I load up the game!

But as I played further...

 It is based on NASCAR, and guess what? It's just as boring. And you turn left a lot. Yay!

The graphics are actually ok. It's sort of Rad Racer esque only without any of the little environmental things that gave Rad Racer that awesome sense of speed. You just drive around the track, sometimes turning left. Hooray.

The controls also threw me for a loop. From what I can see, holding "A" just applies the gas, but if you release it you'll kind of cruise-control unless you bump something. The problem is that, since the actual races are absurdly long, if you hold A the whole time you'll run out of gas after like the seventh lap. Yes, there's more than seven laps around the same boring course, over and over. Charmed. 

Running out of gas restarts the whole game (at the "qualifying race," with no other cars) so that's also a totally great game design. Did they even playtest this? It doesn't help the races are so hard you'll never win without massive amounts of skill and luck, and every time you fail it's back to qualifying. Ugh. 

So what's the conclusion? 

Yeah ok, this game is a great cure for insomnia, but beyond that it sucks. I don't even think it's worth me saying more about it.

I'll be damned if I'm going to look it up on eBay for a price average, but since it's a licensed NES game I'd assume no more than $5.