TUM plays through NES games with videos

-I have decided to take a shot at my first real user project.

-Board 8ers will be nominating NES games they would like me to play.

-I will then record myself playing through each and every game and post the videos on youtube.

My youtube page - http://www.youtube.com/user/TheUtilityMan

My current Board 8 topic - http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=52890553

Rankings so far
--- (Line between games I liked and didn't like)
 * 1) River City Ransom
 * 2) Super Mario Bros. 3
 * 3) Mega Man 3
 * 4) Mega Man 2
 * 5) Contra
 * 6) Super Dodge Ball
 * 7) The Legend of Zelda
 * 8) Mega Man 5
 * 9) Little Samson
 * 10) Bubble Bobble
 * 11) Sweet Home
 * 12) Clash at Demonhead
 * 13) Super Mario Bros. 2
 * 14) Little Nemo - The Dream Master
 * 15) Gun.Smoke
 * 16) Mendel Palace
 * 17) Kirby's Adventure
 * 18) Micro Machines
 * 19) RC Pro AM 2
 * 20) Chip n' Dales Rescue Rangers
 * 21) Blades of Steel
 * 22) Duck Tales
 * 23) Felix the Cat
 * 24) Startropics
 * 25) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
 * 26) Crystalis
 * 27) Maniac Mansion
 * 28) Batman
 * 29) Castlevania
 * 30) Super Mario Bros.
 * 31) Willow
 * 32) The Three Stooges
 * 33) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game
 * 34) Blaster Master
 * 35) Xexyz
 * 36) Bad Dudes
 * 37) Burai Fighter
 * 38) Kid Icarus
 * 39) The Smurfs
 * 40) The Little Mermaid
 * 41) Marble Madness
 * 42) Faxanadu
 * 43) Amagon
 * 44) Captain Skyhawk
 * 45) Yo! Noid
 * 46) Spelunker 2
 * 47) Friday the 13th
 * 1) Die Hard
 * 2) Battletoads
 * 3) Astyanax
 * 4) Spelunker
 * 5) Snake Rattle n Roll
 * 6) Who Framed Roger Rabbit
 * 7) Dirty Harry
 * 8) Cobra Command
 * 9) Silver Surfer
 * 10) Metal Mech
 * 11) Deadly Towers
 * 12) Uninvited
 * 13) Ironsword Wizards & Warriors 2

Amagon
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaLG19tmCxw&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_SQDEStYoc&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS6LO82F7pw&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izcp1Ji7IeE&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F9YzZv4dlE&fmt=18

I was originally going to place this game lower because I hated it at first, but the last few levels redeemed it a bit which I will explain in a little bit.

The first thing I'd like to point out about this game is the awkward jumping. You can jump short, medium, high, or anywhere in between depending on how long you hold the A button, but the moment you let go of that A button it's as if gravity kicks back in bringing him down to the ground quickly. As for the shooting, it seems to be pretty much accurate. the bullets don't go full screen but it responds quite well and feels like pretty much any other sidescrolling shooter in that aspect.

Now when you become Megagon, things change a bit. Your jump is pretty much the same except now you can jump higher which definitely helps getting over pits and things. Also, now your gunfire is replaced by punching which is both good and bad really. The punch is A LOT stronger but very short range. Also, you can shoot a wide spread projectile with him but at the cost of some life.

Other than the controls, the only real notable thing about this game is the difficulty. The game starts off quite difficult. As you may have noticed, the only way to keep from dying so much is to be absolutely paranoid because enemies are jumping out at you all the time and can 1 hit kill you. Not only that, there are enemies that require so many hits, I think I counted 20 hits for 1 of them. Also, the jumping in the game can get you killed simply because of how awkward it is.

Now again, once you get Megagon things change a bit. The game actually becomes unfair but in the sense that now you're overpowered. You can 1 or 2 hit kill everything but bosses, and you can take them down pretty easy too. Now how much life you have is based on your score, so there is a limit, but later on in the game you should have a pretty nice score and the game gives you Megagon powerups at the beginning of the stages. This is what I was referring to earlier about this game redeeming itself, by giving you Megagon's at the start of a stage and then the game actually feels kinda fun.

The problem with the difficulty thogh, is that it's another game where it's either too hard or too easy based on if you're Megagon or not. If the game had had a mixture of the 2, say...shooting guy with a small life bar then this game would have been a lot better.

Some other minor things I'd like to address is the music, life stock, and the lack of something it needed.

Music

Now me personally, I didn't enjoy the first 2 stage themes in the game, nor the boss stage, but I did enjoy the dino stage theme and I really like the Megagon theme. Overall, this game is pretty average for music, I don't notice anything that really stands out as great, but it's ok.

Life stock

This is one thing about the game that's an absolute pain. You only have a few lifes and then no continues....none, that is unless you reach Area 4-1. If you can make it to that point the game will let you continue, but not at 4-1 but instead at either 2-1 or 3-1. It seems as if once you reach that point you may only continue on levels that are before the one you died on except for Area 1. Now, take this into account with how much harder the game is earlier on and this can be quite frustrating.

Something the game was missing

Variety Variety Variety...Look at 2 of the best examples of sidescrolling shooters, Contra and Mega Man. Why do these games work so well? Well not counting the awesome music, gameplay, fun factor, controls, etc etc etc, they have VARIETY. This game either has Megagon or not Megagon, that's it.

Overall, this game isn't awful, but not great. The difficulty variance in this game makes a huge difference in how much enjoyment one could get out of it. At some points the game is just flat out unfair and can end all your lives even if you know what's coming, and at some points it seems like unless you're just terrible you absolutely can't lose.

Astyanax
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A73pur0m0jQ&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShFznAK5vd8&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE-yK5UFYNg&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik4Fx_00BBA&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MYWcNkSxa0&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S2Yis8L8cM&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkxTLX17kGU&fmt=18

Don't like this one....don't hate it but don't like it. It's rather poorly made IMO and it was a lot of frustration.....until I figured out Time Stop then it became way too simple. With Time Stop,the game is almost just walk from point A to point B because nothing can hurt you while time is stopped, and it even works on bosses. Without Time Stop.....after a couple levels you are going to have 1 massive problem as stuff comes out of everywhere and you can only take so many hits before you die.

This game is like... a bad version of Castlevania. No, not like Castlevania 2, I mean like a bad version of the first game. It's platformer, you make it from one end of the stage to another killing enemies and gaining a couple powerups as you go. There are 3 different weapons you can get but I honestly have no idea what the differences are, nor did it really seem to matter once I got the strongest attack. There are also 3 different types of magic you can use. 1 is Fire, which helped for a little bit but I noticed it ran down your magic too quickly, 1 I didn't even use, and the last is Time Stop which makes Fire completely useless as it's better in every single way.

The Bosses for the most part aren't hard, you can easily beat them without time stop but I chose to use Time Stop anyway because it's funny to see some bosses die before they even get to attack. So uh, yea...it's basically a bad Castlevania. Even the last boss getting crushed extremely easy due to 1 ability is there.

Your character is big and clumsy, the hitboxes are poorly done, and there are way too many enemies. So, either you become severely aggravated at the difficulty of this game....or you use Time Stop and laugh at how easy it is. There's really no inbetween I see here. Sure you could use Fire, but once the stages become longer you run out of that way too soon and then you have no magic left. You could try going with no magic but you don't want to do that...

Lastly, I wanted to point out that this game has some of the slowest moving text I have ever seen in my life. I think about 1/3 of my entire play through is text. And why does he have such a stupid name? Especially when they say it so much.

Overall...Eh....it's a double edged sword really. It will be either way too hard or way too easy, but no matter how you look at it, it's a badly made game.

Bad Dudes
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69b9t70her0&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9RtMj1L_Ro&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os3RKyRjBg0&fmt=18

I'll admit, I'm a little biased here because this is a fighting game and fighting games are my favorite genre....well 2D fighters anyway. Though technically this is a Beat em up and not a 2D fighter but anyway....

Right off the bat, this game starts off with one of the best quotes ever....and from there, well....it's an ok game. I won't call this game great just because I happen to like it, in all honesty it's just a so so game. This was one of the earlier beat em up games and for what it was it's not bad, it's just not great.

Ok well, really not much to say here as this is quite the primitive Beat em up. You walk along a set path, or in some cases the path moves you, you fight regular enemies in this case ninjas, you have weapons/health items and you have bosses.

Now, unlike the Double Dragon games though, the paths are pretty much just straight forward, no real direction changing, no ladders to climb or anything like that. So it's as basic as basic can be in that area.

As for the fighting portion of it, it's actually done pretty well. Your basic punch/kick, crouching attack, jumping attack, even a spin kick and powered up punch. Also, I like the fact that if you're fighting enemies in front of you and one comes up behind you can kick backwards....though I don't seem to be able to do it very easily.

Anyways, there's only 2 things I really want to emphasize with this game.

1. The music on stage 2 and 5 is SO AWESOME!!!!

2. The white ninja's are so annoying. I mean, first off they either throw stars or throw what look like tacks. If they throw the stars you can usually punch it but a lot of times that doesn't work depending on if you have a weapon or if they duck, and if they throw the tacks it's real annoying if you're trying to fight enemies while having to deal with them.

3. When they say "I'M BAD" it sounds AWFUL.....but yet somehow it's still cool. XD

So overall, I like this game more than many people probably would, it's an ok game just don't expect anything amazing from it other than the intro and the stage 2 and 5 music.

Batman
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J66DNd_dPWc&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvQBqfX1-lA&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBX9JvIwu6Q&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9csEzOVXKgU&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTkl39JbAhY&fmt=18

My Life Is Batman, or at least it is while you play this.

So you're Batman........that's really the best way to put it, and nothing I add could make it sound more awesome than that. YOU ARE BATMAN!

Ya see?

Anyway, This is like your usual platformer, much jumping and much bashing of enemies. And just like every good platformer you have items/powerups, and in this game it's some of Batman's weaponry. You have your Batarang, your Bat Gun(Don't remember this), and some 3rd weapon which spreads out in 3 directions and I have no idea what it's called.

Not only that, this game also introduces wall jumping. This actually adds a good bit of depth to the game and definitely helps with the challenge. Speaking of challenge though, this game can certainly be difficult if you haven't played it a lot.

Of course your main objective is to get to the end of each stage, beat the boss, and then finally defeat The Joker at the end of the game. But beware though, before you can make it to The Joker you have to beat such timeless batman villains as uh....A MACHINE and um....boxes that shoot at you.....ok what is this? Seriously?! Couldn't they have put some of the other Batman villains in it? I mean, I certainly don't remember him having to fight the things you do face in the game.

Now, I really don't have a lot to say about this game, but I will comment on a few things.

1. For those of you that watched the run and are wondering what those "B" emblems I pick up do, all they do is give you points....which do nothing. No, you can't get extra lives, points are completely useless and therefor the "B" emblems are also useless.

2. The Music in this game RAWKS!

3. YOU ARE BATMAN! (It needed to be said again because Batman is that awesome).

Overall, this is a really good game as far as platformers go. It has it's tediousness which is disguised as difficulty, but no worries the game is full of challenge even though it's a bit short. And fortunately, unlike many of the games I've palyed, the last boss, or bosses, are not so easy they practically roll over and die the moment you look at them. Fighting the Joker takes some very good reflexes and even then you may just have to hope he does the right attack that you're ready to dodge and not something else. Great game, great music.

Battletoads
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJfxZf2AeiI&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZF-H_dU450&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9PeYbgDULc&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJCn90yqfEg&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L97QkRhs9bg&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1BzS5QT6GU&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkfAOJr8wFE&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVcc9-x7k6U&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=islsLEJHRuw&fmt=18

Yea....so despite remembering a lot of the game, I was never really a Battletoads fan. It isn't really the fact that it's hard, it's the fact that it's one of those trial and error games. It presents you with a challenge where you're just dead if you don't know what's coming.....that isn't difficulty that is just unfair. Now I know games aren't exactly meant to be fair, but Battletoads takes it too far. I'm ok with a little luck based stuff, but not when half the game is luck based if you don't know EXACTLY what's coming. Take Clash at Demonhead for example, you never know what's coming next on it unless you've played it, but....very rarely does it throw something at you where it's life or death and you only survive if you know exactly what's coming.

Blades of Steel
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aisNR8WSjHk&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIcZI88RG24&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10jDSwGop7Y&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL9P22la8zA&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH5OaF3nzvI&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ZgWhLTM5g&fmt=18

Um...it's Hockey....yea.

You know how to play Hockey? If so, you pretty much know how to play this game. I hate to make this a short writeup but there isn't too much to say about a sports game so I'll just touch on a few points.

1. The music, what little there is, is actually pretty good. Then again...the game was made by Konami so I expect good music from it.

2. Being able to get into fights and the lower of the fight being removed from the rink for a short time was a nice touch.

3. I'm not very fond of the control scheme for the goalie. It works like this...whatever direction you push controls the hightlighted character AND the goalie. As you can probably guess, this makes it hard to stop the puck from going in your net and getting a guy to retrieve the puck at the same time. I won't really complain about it though because even if I don't like it...there's probably not a better way to do it without automating your team.

4. Being able to play a mini Gradius game during the halftime is kinda cool, but it's really lacking so it's just nice the first couple times you see it.

5. Lastly, I do want to point out that there are a couple bugs you can abuse to easily beat the computer, even on the highest level. If you can position yourself behind your own goal at just the right spot and have your golie in between you and the enemy player, then they can never get you. I of course did not abuse this during the videos though.

6. Isn't the name of this game just completely deceptive? If you had no idea what it was before you started the game up you'd expect some kind of sword fighting game probably.

Overall, this is a really fun game IMO, especially for how primitive it is. I've never been much of a hockey fan per say, or even a sports fan, but I can still enjoy some of the sports games and this is one I do. Good game all around.

Blaster Master
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzaJG3-xJ-k&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlS6UBp2viM&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BqSGJ79EPc&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEdL9ZrNSs&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6WVrODW7IA&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RkR7b1MEPI&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR7xNe0WogM&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kydc0-eSVQ&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfceQYNXQ6w&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iU3Bub4BXo&fmt=18

This game is a game I like....but not one I could see myself wanting to play again and again. Since it had been so long since I played through all of this game (probably over 10 years) I was perfectly fine playing it again since I didn't remember some of it. Now that I just beat it though....it will probably be at least another 10 years before I want to play it again. XD

This game kind of puts me in mind of Crystalis. Not because they are simular in gameplay, but because both of them have cool features that are complete double edged swords. Anyways....

This game is by Sunsoft, a company that there are probably more people that know it's games than who made them. Sure we retro vets will be able to tell you, but for just casual people who didn't grow up in that time period it might be a different story. You ask them if they know Blaster Master, or the original Batman NES game, or even Lemmings and they will probably say yes, but if you ask them if they know Sunsoft they'll probably say "who?". That kind of thing is pretty uncanny today. You ask someone if they know Nintendo, or Capcom, or Konami and they'll probably say yes.

Well, anyway, Sunsuft, IMO at least, was a company that made complete hit or miss titles. They were either really good or really bad, so where does Blaster Master rate?

Well...I would say for it's time this is a really good game, it has it's tedious things which can annoy you quickly, but if you've been reading these writeups you'll know that most games do. =p

To start with, the Music in this game is amazing, they did an incredible job with it. I don't necessarily like every song in it, but the ones I do are ones that could easily go on my music playlist and I'd love it every time I heard it.

The Difficulty of this game is also pretty high. Yes I know there are some of you elitists out there thinking I'm not that good at the game cause I had trouble with it, but I don't think anyone can deny it was difficult your first time through, even your 2nd time through if you played it again. You're challenged right away by not knowing where to go or what to do, which is not the kind of challenge I enjoy but some people love to explore.

The enemies and bosses also can be quite challenging, and I love how the bosses do seem to get harder as you go. I know many games don't scale difficulty very well but I think this game did a good job. Other than the final boss, which for some reason has been easy in a lot of my games, this game is a great challenge for even people that are skilled at platforming.

The Gameplay in this is what's iffy here, and is why it reminds me of Crystalis. The controls are very smooth, but in some cases too smooth causing you to die. The hover ability is a lot of fun...but runs out way too quick to have much fun with it. The Wall climbing ability is pretty cool...but may take a little getting use to. However...all that pales in comparison to Wall Climb 2. With Wall Climb 2 you climb on celings, but also you auto climb walls as you go over ledges, and this causes all kinds of problems as you saw how much difficulty I had with it. This was a good idea in theory, but it really did a lot more bad than good.

For it's time, this game was awesome, even by today's standards it's a good game to go back and play. Forget that it's 8 bit, forget that it's on an old clunky controller, forget that it won't have the best story with amazing plot twists, and enjoy the sheer thrill of what people who grew up with it was like. Even if the NES was not your first system, this is a game you can pick up and enjoy if you like platforming at all. It may take a little getting use to the controls, but it won't take long....at least until you get Wall2 and kill yourself with it a billion times. =p

Overall, solid fun game but some of it's gameplay brings it down.

Bubble Bobble
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOqO6WOY0_4&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53P1h_Hb6U8&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83DzDg2uHxc&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIa2EQKKCpk&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lTNznkeUEg&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD1J_ZqSp9s&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdCO3UEWbK4&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8NlNdqx_2E&fmt=18

So many childhood memories playing the arcade version of this game. Although I own tons of NES games, this is one of the few I really wish I did but don't. Bubble Bobble is incredibly fun, especially with 2 players. But be careful though, the game is known to screw you over and often, especially the dreaded Level 57.

Bubble Bobble is a platformer/puzzle mixup. The basic point of this game is that you must make it through all the rooms in the game. In each room you'll have a group of enemies to face and sometimes even puzzle elements are thrown in so you have to figure out how to defeat the enemies. Your basic weapon is bubbles that you shoot from your mouth, after capturing an enemy you basically have to pop the bubble with them in it to defeat them. Leave them bubbled too long though, and they become enraged moving faster than they did before.

If you manage to kill many bubbled enemies at once, you get a much larger score for it. The scoring system is the same as most games though, you score enough points you get an extra life, however there is 1 minor difference. Defeating a group of enemies at once will often make letters appear, these letters spell out EXTEND and will give you an extra life if you collect them all.

During each stage, you will come across items, some just increase your score, some give you powerups and some have bonus effects. Powerups will include things like faster movement, increased bubble range, and electric bubbles and when an electric bubble is popped it sends a bolt all the way across the screen killing any enemies it touches. The Bonus effects will be things that happen on the stage itself, sometimes lightning bolts falling across the screen at an angle killing enemies, sometimes water that rises up and drowns all enemies, w/e the case though YOU WANT THESE. There's also 2 unique items, 1 that allows you to skip a few levels, and 1 (on level 99) that opens up a doorway so you can get the true ending.

Some people may be a little disappointed to hear that this game actually has a pretty bad lack of music. Throughout about 95% of the game you will hear 1 and only 1 song being played over and over and over. At first that may seem like it's going to annoy you, but believe me they picked a good song to be repetitive with. I have played through this game many times listening to that song for hours at a time and I still like it.

The main fun to be had in this game though is of course with it's 2 player mode. When there are 2 players you can team up to defeat all the enemies, which will of course make it easier but it can still be challenging. Also, you will need 2 players to get the real ending in the game. The best thing about playing with friends though, is that the game has unlimited continues so you never have to restart the game. If you manage to beat it though, the game will let you play through it again at a harder setting, so if you really liked it go ahead and knock yourself out. =p

Overall, this was a great game back then, it's a great game now and I don't think it will ever not seem like a great game no matter how much time passes.

Burai Fighter
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvnpZDDABrY&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPd8GTAQVNI&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrXpnuSBchM&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys5V7NcmFzU&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW4I_BrAQHM&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgD_CZ4OzMg&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHoYtJQveqo&fmt=18

I was tempted to put Burai Fighter higher on rankings.....but no, that last boss fight just had to ruin it. Ugh, my hand gets less tired playing fighting games for hours than it did rotating the d-pad over and over and over and over just hoping to hit the stupid dragon one time each rotation till he dies a million hits later.

Captain Skyhawk
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDcPahxfSzE&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzkrr0avNVQ&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dh2MA7YdVM&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFp7et7F8I0&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDdffN-VkUo&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEYBiB9pTpo&fmt=18

WALL OF TEXT WARNING (I have a lot to say about this game =p)

Right off the bat let me just say the enemy fire in this game goes COMPLETELY against your natural human instincts....and I'll explain in a bit, I have to get 2 things off my chest first about this game.

1. What is the point of moving up and down in the main overhead stages? You start off low to the ground and if you stay low you crash into every single hill, so why WOULDN'T you want to move higher off the ground? There is no advantage I see to flying low to the ground, none...maybe I'm missing something but I really don't get it. If flying low is useless, which I find it to be, why do they even make you move up to begin with? Sometimes I forget to move up and end up dying very easy.

2. For as hard as the game was, the loss boss is a complete joke. Yes his form form can be a bit hard but mainly cause the controls aren't that good for it, but when facing the eyeball, as you saw, you literally don't even have to TRY to win.

Ok, with those 2 things out of the way, let's talk about the types of stages on this game.

1. Your main overhead stage, usually destroy an enemy base.

Well right off the bat you're going to notice the elevation thing I mentioned and you'll probably realize it's useless too. After you get that out of the way, you'll come to natural enemies and here is where I mentioned how the game goes against every natural instinct you have. For starters, touching enemies does not kill you, it doesn't even hurt you. So if you're use to how most video games are this thing is going to throw you off very quickly.

Secondly, if you're use to any kind of game like contra or the 1940's games, you're going to have another serious problem. Usually, enemies fire at you intending to kill you, right? Well...not so most of the time here. Enemies fire just to the left or right of you usually. Now let me ask you a question....what's your natural instinct when you get shot at? To move right? Well...then you end up moving right into the enemy fire. Happened to me SO OFTEN. Also, while on the subject of enemy fire, a lot of times you won't even notice it because you're busy firing yourself and there's so much going on on the screen.

Thirdly, If you study the enemy base as you go through the game, you'll realize as I did later on that it's actually extremely simple unless you're in a hurry. Just weave from left to right doding the fire and shooting as you get the chance.

Fourthly, and finally, I'd like to mention the take off on later stages. When you start your take off you move VERY fast and if you're positioning is wrong you WILL die because of the mountains. If you haven't played the game you won't know they are there till it's too late. Not to mention the fact that you're dodging fire at the same time so your attention may be elsewhere.

2. Behind view where planes are the only enemies

This....is annoying. It isn't hard on the first one you come to, but after that they have missiles that easily screw you over. This can easily be avoided by flying at the top of the screen as you will see me do. The missiles never come up there, and you'll never get hit there. As for killing the planes themselves? Good luck, until you get use to the wonky controls it isn't going to be so easy.

3. Docking

This is actually quite simple, all you have to do is line yourself up and hit the button as the space station opening is even with your plane.

4. Supplies Drop

Same as the normal overhead missions except you have to drop supplies in 2 marked areas. Just aim carefully as you go by them.

5. Pick up a Scientist

Also the same thing as the usual main overhead stages except with a different and actually easier boss. The only thing noteworthy here is the mines on the last scientist stage. They are evil....EVIL I TELL YOU. If you do not destroy them, you're probably dead. They blow up and scatter everywhere and also have pretty good range. These things are usually in groups too, and if you come across one in a narrow corridor and don't destroy it first...yea, you're dead.

6 The Final Boss

His first form may be pretty hard depending on how use to the controls you are, because the controls and judging when his attacks are suppose to hit will be the real challenge. All you do is destroy every weapon he has, or part to him and then the eye opens. After that it's the easiest thing in the entire game.

Also, let me address the powerups.

GO FOR CANNONS RIGHT AWAY!!!!

After that you can pretty much get what you want. =p

In closing, as frustrating as this game was to get use to, it's really not a bad game. It takes some time to get use to but that can be said for a lot of games. It just so happens that this game is one of the more unique shooters of it's kind. As tedious as a lot of it was, you can actually beat it rather simple, avoid everything...don't try to shoot anything on the main stages except the boss, always wait for the planes to use their missiles on the back view stage, learn to line up your shapes on the docking stage. etc etc etc. Naturally, I couldn't do that the entire time for this play through cause that would have been very boring. =p

So, this game gets a low placing just naturally due to me not enjoying it so much, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game at all. It's certainly not Silver Surfer hard, or Metal Mech spammy, or even Uninvited boring. I'd say it's a fairly likable game, it's just not for me.

Castlevania
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogtNOmFhebs&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d9kvlD-5fY&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNRR70pRHiU&fmt=18

Ah....this is where the epic Mega Man vs Castlevania music war began. While I can easily say I like playing Mega Man more, saying it's music is easily better is a bit of a stretch.

As for Castlevania itself, well....I would say this was one of the building blocks of challenging platformers. It's a very historical game IMO and would lead to many many great games to come..........not counting Castlevania II mind you. This game paved the way for many games to follow, to a lesser extent than Mario of course, but this game didn't pull it's punches for that "Everyone can play" crowd. No, this game loves to treat you unfairly, and it doesn't ever have to let up.

What item you have makes a huge difference here, and you have a good bit to choose from. At first the Time Stop item looks completely broken, you get it early on and you abuse it all the way until you kill the boss, and at that point you're thinking "I'll just stick with this item and breeze through", but when you get to a boss it won't work on......uh oh!

The powerups to your basic weapon would make a huge difference if they weren't so easy to come by. Even when you die and go back to your level 1 weapon you'll get level 2 and then 3 in no time.

Then there's the platforming aspect of the game. This part can be difficult just itself because there are times where if you forget to hit up or down while climbing stairs you fall to your death. Some of the jumps can be a tad tricky, but not too much. They threw in some moving platforms but they really aren't that hard at all, it could have been a lot more stressful.

The enemies on the other hand, is the big challenge (as they should be).

First level you'll most likely breeze through, getting hit by an enemy here or there, but nothing major. But then the 2nd level comes. In the first area of it you may get hit by the bat, but won't see anything too difficult. Upon making it to the 2nd area of this level you encounter what I would consider the most annoying thing in the game........The Medusa Heads!

These things can kill you, fast and easy. Most new players will more than likely try to kill them as they go, and believe me that will only get you killed. Just when you think you've gotten their pattern down though, you make it to the next part and they throw them at you while you have to jump over pits and this is where the real problems start. They only have to hit you 1 time, just once, to kill you.

As far as the bosses go...

The first 2 are easily dispatched by the time stopper, but after that is when you can't abuse it on them anymore.

Boss 3, the mummies, is actually easy if you manage to make it there with full life. Just get on 1 side and try to hit them both. And if you don't have full life there's food right there by the boss to refill some life.

Boss 4 is also pretty easy if you manage to get the Holy Water. Just go right in and blitz him at the start from the platform next to him. You should be able to take out a huge amount of his health before his little chimpanzee guy or w/e can attack you.

Boss 5 is the dreaded Grim Reaper or just Death since that's what I think he goes by. This guy is hard, very hard. I recommend doing what I did getting the cross and the X3 ability. Time Stop won't work on him, the Dagger is useless, the Axe isn't very helpful, and the Holy Water....yea good luck with that.

The Final Boss himself, Dracula, has his 2 forms. The First form is only difficult when he tries to teleport into you, if you can get the timing of his attack down though then the teleport is all you have to worry about. His 2nd form is a bit more challenging unless you have the Holy Water. The Holy Water stops him in place allowing you free hits, but without that it's going to be quite a struggle.

If you don't use those tactics on the bosses though, expect quite a bit of difficulty from some of them, maybe even to the point where you turn the game off. =p

Anyway, this is a solid game, but kinda suffers from the same thing Mario does in that the later games completely overshadow this one. Also, the fact that enemies love to abuse instant death on you can be quite annoying. I can understand if they take all my life away bit by bit and kill me, that's fine, but when the game is given so many chances to just knock you into a pit to kill you, and it does abuse that, it's quite cheap. And for those die hard Castlevania fans, try going through the game with just your basic weapon. Sure it can be done, but if you're looking for a good challenge then this is it.

Chip n' Dales Rescue Rangers
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DXv-FkQfiQ&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LtFeVR5glw&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AblcAaXPSU&fmt=18

Capcom generally does a great job with it's games, and platformers are no exception. Keeping this in mind, we look at another game of theirs, Rescue Rangers, and I notice that while it is a very well made game it lacks one important thing.......length. The gameplay is great. The music, as always from Capcom, is great. It's challenge is a bit lacking though that may just be me being use to this game. However, length is a problem for me.

The game has 10 stages and 3 of them are completely skippable. You will notice that I completed the game in 3 videos, well if you take out the intro and ending that basically means I beat it at around 30 min. Now what if I had skipped the 3 levels that I could have AND not messed around collecting items I didn't need? We're looking at a game that can probably be beaten in around 20 min, maybe less. Normally I don't let the length of the game affect it's ranking but beating this one in possibly 20 min is just way too little to do for me. Now I'm not expecting every platformer to be as long as Super Mario Bros 3, but 20 min is just not enough. I thought Felix the Cat felt a bit short but this one is easily shorter.

Aside from the length of the game, I don't know if it's just me or not but the difficulty of this game is kinda low. I will admit the 2nd last level can be challenging, but other than that I didn't really die much once I got the hang of it (which took only 1 stage to do). Each of the bosses can be challenging unless you use their pattern against them, like how I eventually did with the final boss and that in turn made him incredibly easy.

Just mentioning a couple other things about the game real quick...

The way you attack in this game is pretty cool. You don't have a generic attack per say and you don't jump on enemies, but instead you throw blocks at them. Where do you find these blocks? Well pretty much everywhere, and there are tons of them. There are probably 20 times more blocks than there are enemies. And it's nice that they decided to conceal items under blocks like life up's and stars in case you do want to take the time to search for it.

Only other thing I want to say is that as usual Capcom did a fantastic job with the music, but that's really no surprise. =p

Overall, very nice and fun game, just way too short and a little too easy for the most part. But at the very least I'm glad they added a 2 player version to the game because that's sure to be some added fun and maybe even difficulty.

Clash at Demonhead
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8plFYju3FA&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t9IIyGJKIs&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J32TwQwe5gc&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPO7-h_975I&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6j-ZBldi8k&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGKlWz-Z6c&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWU65RAUpmg&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSgJ8ujg7aM&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMz5k2hduxE&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI6YG2nh_Dw&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PJZJqgznEw&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAJBbVNDexA&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3G_dh1B3I&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp0gzHXHxt0&fmt=18

I gotta say, I really did like this game, even though some parts can be really confusing. The pitfalls in this game were by far the worst. I hated having to redo levels over again. Also the lack of knowing where to go can sometimes be a pain. However, this is a very fun game to play through. I actually think now that I know where I'm going, I could probably have more fun playing through this game again, and when a game has really good replay value you can let many of the tedious parts slide.

Cobra Command
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUGaw_qJEQ8&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P14jsQQobXE&fmt=18

<B>Part 3 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdjqA4G2Vow&fmt=18

<B>Part 4 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sCjFILESvw&fmt=18

<B>Part 5 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijGLjkC8eZE&fmt=18

<B>Part 6 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukLVO66jEZk&fmt=18

<B>Part 7 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DNpSU6qzR4&fmt=18

Right off the bat you can tell that I hate this game, and for any that watched the videos I'm sure it's pretty easy to tell why. It's actually a bit of a strange twist here though. Maniac Mansion, which is a point and click game and I'm known to hate point and click games, I actually like. Cobra Command, which is a sidescroller shooter/flying game which I usually love those types of games, I absolutely hate. Still....even for those of you that watched the video and know why I hate this game, I still wish to explain. =p

The object of this game is basically, rescue a set number of hostages in each level and that's it. Although, the last 2 levels do have bosses to actually fight. The hostages kind of just appear out of no where waving at you though wanting to be picked up. The only time this i ever a bad thing is when you're inside an enemy base and you have to rescue a group of hostages from one place. There's usually a tank guarding it so what you do is kill the tank, 3 hostages come out, kill another tank, 3 more will come out, repeat until you get them all. No where in the game does it say you have to do that so naturally my first time I just got the first 3 hostages and left because I didn't know there were more there. But anyway...now that I have the objective out of the way let's get into what the game is like.

First and foremost, the very basic mechanics of the game are absolutely busted. Moving around is like fighting with a sibling over a seat in the car. Boundaries in the game aren't clear at all, because you really have no idea what you can and can't touch. Ordinary bullets seem to turn into homing shots based on what you do. Also, there are a few other problems...but let's break them down 1 by 1.

Moving around....should not be a hassle, it just shouldn't. This game though has something that I have never seen in a video game before though. You guys remember Super Mario Bros 3? Remember how those slow moving auto scroll levels would sometimes get you killed? Well, that is understandable because the slow moving level throws you off, however.....have you ever heard of dying due to a manual scrolling level? Chances are most of you haven't or aren't sure what I mean exactly, but this game has just that.

<B>Movement</b> Here's how moving works.... You can move up to down just fine as you normally would, so no problem there, however, moving right and left is the huge frustration here. When you move forward, the screen just slowly crawls forward as your helicopter slowly moves to the back of the screen. Once your copter is at the back of the screen then the screen starts moving at normal speed again. If at any time you stop moving forward and then press forward again the screen will not scroll. The screen won't scroll until you make it to the middle of the screen holding forward and then it starts to barely ease forward again as your copter moves back to the back of the screen. You can move backwards at any time and the screen will also move back as long as your copter is at the back of the screen.

Now.....keeping that in mind I'm sure most of you can see the problem with this way of moving, for those that can't though,, and just because I want to, I will explain.

Say you're moving along and you stop because you see a missile launcher below you. The missile launcher can only shoot straight up but still you stopped because you didn't want to get hit by it. As you can guess from my explanation earlier when you stop the screen stops moving forward until you reach the middle of the screen. Once you've gotten the timing of the missile launcher down you move forward to the middle and the screen slowly starts forcing you back, back, BOOM you die to a missile cause the screen pushed you into it.

Common sense would say "Keep flying forward, if you're moving forward you'll move past it" but that is not the case here. If you are moving forward you're really moving backwards and the screen is moving forwards, so the game loves to trick you with that kind of thing that shouldn't even be in the game in the first place. You do have another option though, when it pushes you into the missiles path you could hit back to move back avoiding it, but then you'd have to hit forward again, move back when in the missiles line, move forward again, etc etc etc...............I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!!! That is absolutely stupid.

<B>Not knowing what you can and can't touch</b> Ok, this game is not very clear on anything you're allowed to touch. Sometimes you can move next to a wall in front of you and it will not kill you, even if you touch it, but other times you die instantly and without any warning. The game tries to trick you by saying you're allowed to touch the ground as long as you're straightened out but this is a lie. In most cases you can touch the ground, but there are many random times where the game just decides it doesn't want to let you touch the ground at that moment. Touching walls above you will always kill you, but at least that makes sense.....except for the fact that it ALSO should not be part of the game. This isn't Silver Surfer here. Look at a good side scrolling shooter/flying game, you can touch any wall as long as it isn't an obstacle.

Ugh, and even after that long paragraph, there's more. Throughout the game there are enemy supply depots you land on and get powerups. Now at first you really have no idea you can do that, the game mentions them but doesn't tell you what they look like or what to do if you find one. Once you figure all that out, the game changes things up on you later on. In later stages you'll find a supply depot that's a little insert in the wall that you have to fly into.....how would you possibly know to do that?! And to make matters worse, there's 1 depot you have to land on and once you get your powerup it does an auto scroll moving you up the other side of this once closed off area, the problem is though if you originally landed on that depot wrong you instantly die after getting the powerup cause the game can't move you correctly, which is no surprise due to how awful this game is anyway.

<B>Enemy fire</b> If you thought manual screen scrolling and just landing on a platform wrong killing you was absurd....well wait until you hear this.

As you know by now, if you're holding forward and at the back of the screen the screen is moving forward, and you also know that if you move back while at the back of the screen the screen moves back. We've already established how stupid the movement is, even though that sounds correct, but there's one more mechanic breaking thing to talk about, and that's enemy fire.

If you're moving forward and an enemy shoots at you, you have a few different options which will all result in different outcomes.

Move Forward - You might get hit, you might not, but the screen moves at a steady pace and there's no way to hurry it. Move Up/Down - You'll probably get hit because you'll probably be flying at the top of the screen meaning you have to move down which usually ends with the bullet hitting you anyway, or hitting something else trying to evade the bullet. Moving Back - After reading the other 2, this seems like the best option....but no...this is actually the worst option. If you move back, which causes the screen to scroll, the enemy fire changes it's directional pattern and moves back with you. Yea! What sense does that make? The bullet makes a wide arcing pattern just so it hits you anyway. I've never heard of something so stupid, and this is all, again, due to how stupid the screen scrolling in this game is.

If ordinary shots homing in on you wasn't bad enough, there actually ARE rockets that home in on you from some enemies, and they do quite a bit of damage. There are also Catapult type enemies that throw their attack in an arc pattern, these aren't too dangerous if you can stay out of their range. The only other thing to note here is the bosses, if you could even call them that. the last 2 bosses in the game fire some weird stream of attacks at you that are instant death. This is a pain at first but once you get into their blind spot there's not a thing they can do to you.

Now, taking all that I've mentioned in, I'd like to bring up just a few other things before I end this review.

The game does at least have a nice range of powerups from engines to armors to different missiles. You do get plenty of chances to complete this game, which is good due to how frustrating it is. The game is fairly short having only 6 levels. The power up change screen is the slowest thing ever, even when you click that you're done switching it's like it wants to make you wait 5 seconds before going back to the game.

And lastly, 1 brief explanation about how the damage works.

You have a set amount of damage you can take. When you get close to taking the maximum your copter will catch on fire and will always slowly be moving downward. Once you take the maximum damage you crash into the ground and die. You already know how awful the movement is, now imagine that same awful movement but with your copter slowly moving down at all times......yea, it's an absolute nightmare.

Overall, this game is terrible! It had some nice ideas, but they just screwed it by adding some things that didn't even need to be in the game. The game would have been a lot more fun if it were just auto scrolling levels except stopping when you have to pick up a hostage. At least that way you'd die because of the screen less. They tried new ideas with this game, and while a couple of them were nice, they just tried to do too much with it and it ends up breaking the game making it little to no fun at all.

Contra
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S5eIet_Ee4&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iesQS-A2pbY&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89FJVtR2ypk&fmt=18

I went ahead and finished Contra before putting up the vids seeing as it's a short game and I love it so much. =) One of my favorite games as kid, and I believe the version I have belonged to my cousins who let me keep it. I can remember this game almost down to the last detail. I mean sure there are some things I forgot but the majority I remember. I even know how to manipulate random enemy appearances in some places. Anyway....this game is an easy choice for one of the top spots on my list.

Crystalis
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKPBaJR8yB8&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikk0m7szI8k&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU2AnvoZsjg&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARkJS9Ef6sQ&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2alBf1bwAA&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBr8TghvwM4&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD4FnP8laDk&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OveGJIJs74&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G6HyIwvsB4&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoMbgprci5M&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiW_M-9JAlo&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kj8t-YvI5g&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEyAok3sgAE&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjE2Uj7OFwo&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzPDtw1NRsY&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW0dJmmPh0k&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V-HImEavS4&fmt=18

Part 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apKrWCDkyDA&fmt=18

Part 19 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ0hb9di_gs&fmt=18

Part 20 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ookcfEq-HQ&fmt=18

Part 21 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeyVli9xLd0&fmt=18

Part 22 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ayT0xgvScI&fmt=18

Part 23 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwRHPxemnis&fmt=18

Part 24 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1bQy0Ac7tA&fmt=18

Part 25 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cLAFqosyQU&fmt=18

Part 26 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPZu_eePYDQ&fmt=18

Part 27 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32RyHNcTVdI&fmt=18

Part 28 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiZ-5RtlEu4&fmt=18

Part 29 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUEaE0kZXWc&fmt=18

Part 30 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ku8FTmLivI&fmt=18

Part 31 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xroxOxGuqV0&fmt=18

Part 32 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMpuZ1iiXww&fmt=18

Part 33 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEU2DeMgTTI&fmt=18

It was a bit hard to rank this game as I did have a lot of fun with it, however...many things that make this game fun can also make it annoying.

You have the leveling system which is your traditional thing. You level up by getting a certain amount of exp, and you get stronger when you do. They decided to take this a bit further in the fact that once you get strong enough weaker enemies can't even hurt you. I thought the idea of that was pretty clever and would make perfect sense, but then you realize the reverse side to that coin. If you are too weak, you can not damage some enemies at all, this includes bosses and that's where the trouble starts. Before you reach a boss you have no idea what level you need to be at to be able to hurt him, you're given no warning at all that you even NEED to be a certain level the first time. If you aren't at least that level, you're screwed, there's nothing you can do to beat it.

Having 5 different swords was also really cool at first. They're each different types of attacks and can each do different things based on where you use them. Again at first it was cool.....but the flip side rears it's ugly head again. Too often you are forced to switch between your swords as not only bosses but even common enemies can be immune to some of them. Also there are many times in the game where you will come across an area as a wall or lake that you HAVE to change weapons to get by. Having the option of different weapons in the game is nice, even the fact that you have to figure out some puzzles with them, but they wayyyyyy overused it and force you to switch a lot more than you should have to.

There are many more examples but I think I will leave it at just those 2. It's a great game even with it's downsides. It reminds me of a mix between Zelda 1 and 2 both of which I liked. Solid game overall though, worth a try to anyone who likes Zelda.

Deadly Towers
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mym_DRwxZdA&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ro_RXAOHTE&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkBWedo34I&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB8ClCamcN8&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBSBAUCy6nk&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTCIf2jr52w&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUUNCb34e_M&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyxdmbppmjE&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVQWesJqUgc&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7eLP_SgoEQ&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRtGc2HQKGY&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Tl_B5H0PA&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soq-AndFzRg&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3RyAvgNtVM&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iimLEEsKlrM&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JishmiTLZ5M&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jIH88--t1o&fmt=18

Part 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9FkB_R7DCQ&fmt=18

Part 19 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfwV0xbQqOk&fmt=18

Part 20 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3gtb2fRcLU&fmt=18

Part 21 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TVOzA42UjA&fmt=18

It may surprise some people to see that Deadly Towers is not at the bottom of my list. As tedious, annoying, and painstaking as it was.....Ironsword is the definition of annoying, and Uninvited is the definition of boring, so Deadly Towers simply can't compete with their awfulness. However...it does easily earn the terrible placement it got. So naturally I won't have anything good to say about this game....which is ok because there is nothing good about it. It's hard to say that you place above something just because you aren't as horrible as it was, not because you have anything worth calling good.

To start with, I could just say...

The Gameplay is bad

The Graphics are bad

The Sound and Music are bad

The Story is bad

The Replayability is bad

And that would be a great assessment of the game. Nothing else even needs to be said and I've already listed everything that's wrong with the game....which is everything. But for those of you that read my Ironsword review, you know I can't do just that, I have to tell you WHY it's bad. So let's begin the magical tale of Prince Myer as you take him through one of the worst video games ever made.

Sound

It's bad. The end..............ok no, I mean seriously it is bad. None of the sound effects outside of the sword being thrown (which is the sound of it being swung) even sound right. Of course, we're not going to call a game awful just because it has bad sound, but that's only the first of it's problems...

Music

It's also bad. The end......ok I'm sure you're tired of that joke already. You actually have a decent amount of music here, it's a shame that most of it is so ear bleedingly annoying by the time you finish the game, you wish you'd never heard it to begin with. Let's start with the main overworld. It has 1 theme, and every time you go through a doorway/passageway it starts over. Needless to say you're going to hear it start over many many MANY times. As you have to hear it start over about 10 times(didn't really count) making your way to where you're suppose to go, you'll finally reach different, and also bad, music. Here's the thing though...You die you go back to the start and hear the stupid overworld theme again. And more often than not you're going to be dying A LOT. So by the time you beat the game that theme has become the worst thing you've ever heard in your life.

The dungeons have a few different themes, which albeit isn't as bad but it's still not good at all, and you'll be annoyed with them by the time you finish too. At the very least, each of the towers have different themes, but of course they're all badly done. You may actually find 1 theme you halfway like, but trust me, if that theme was redone in a well made video game you'd forget this awful version of it.

The theme when you are fighting the bosses...that's the real annoying one. If you're playing through it like me, you may not notice it as well due to how crappy and sometimes frustrating the bosses can be. But here...if you listen to the song by itself you'll see what I mean. Just try to last the full 3 min and see if you ever want to hear this theme again...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QedR4958z7U

Story

You're a prince....that's all that matters and even it doesn't really matter. I honestly have no clue what the story is, the game tells you but after playing through it I honestly forgot due to how bad the game was....so the story really doesn't even count for anything in this kind of game. Though, not even the best story in the world could save this game.

Graphics

Just look at the game...it's a mangled mess. I mean sure you can tell a bat is a bat....sorta...but what is any of the rest of this suppose to be? A bouncing ball hurts you? A puddle hurts you? Seriously...what is this stuff. Almost everything is drawn horribly, some of it to the extent of where even the game makers probably couldn't tell you what it was. Honestly, I think this is why they decided to name the bosses, because if they didn't they'd forget what the bosses actually were. Sure you can probably guess that the wormy looking thing is a centipede, but you'll have to admit other than being wormy it really looks NOTHING like it's suppose to. The backgrounds are very poorly drawn, just random colors with maybe a couple other things for show...but it's not much. For a castle it really is lacking. Prince Myer himself may be the best thing graphically in this game, which is pretty bad.

Gameplay

Oh boy...where to start.

Basically your objective is to roam through the castle until you get to this section that links all the towers. You climb each tower trying to stay alive, and you beat the boss at the top of each tower. When you beat a boss you get a bell which you must go back to the room linking the towers and burn it. After you've beaten all 7 towers/bosses and burned all 7 bells you can fight the final boss. It seems easy at first, I mean plenty of games have this kind of concept, but there are a few problems that take what should be only slightly difficult and turn it into a nightmare...

When you begin the game, you're extremely weak at both offensive and defensive strength, your speed is awful, and your attack speed is awful.

Offense - Your attack is absolutely horrible, some enemies will take over 10 hits at the start, and bosses....well....probably best you don't count. This wouldn't be so bad if not for the other 2 things though...

Defense - Your defense is also terrible. It seems enemies can kill you in 3-5 hits, and bosses can probably 2 shot you. You're unbelievably weak, and if that wasn't bad enough, when you get hit you get pushed back, and often this leads to you getting pushed against a wall and an enemy constantly hitting you until you die. To add to this, there are plenty of areas that have cliffs where if you fall you die instantly, and enemies love to push you off them.

Speed - When I say your attack speed is slow, I mean SLOW. You throw swords, and you can only throw 1 at a time, and until that 1 sword goes off the screen you can't throw another. The problem with this is, as mentioned, the speed of the attack.....Someone could probably go beat Final Fantasy X before the sword finished traveling across the screen. So basically if you throw and miss...you're completely defenseless. And this is just perfect when their are swarms of enemies going everywhere.

Now throughout the game you will come across powerups, armor, better weapons, and extras to help you along, all of which are great. You can buy better armor/weapons/attack speed items at the shop, but of course the best equipment has to be found when playing and can't be bought. The problem with getting the best equipment is that it's seriously well guarded, and without having said equipment already it's nearly impossible to get it.

To get the best equipment, you must step on the right spot in each tower to enter the hidden areas. The problem is you have no idea what that spot is, and if you enter it by mistake you WILL die if you're not prepared. This is also the same problem with dungeons. Each dungeon entrance is hidden and you will often step on these spots or be knocked into them and get stuck in a dungeon not wanting to be. If that happens...you'll most likely die before you find your way out.

Here's the real kicker though...all the "best" equipment is gotten in the hidden areas of each of the 7 towers, and once you defeat the boss in that tower, the doorway to the tower vanishes and you never have the chance to get whatever hidden items were in there again. So basically you're forced to buy most of your equipment which takes a loooooooooooong time due to how much it costs and how slowly you get money, and the fact that most of it is in dungeons.

And trying to due a dungeon is extremely frustrating too. Often times you will enter a doorway only to have an enemy be right there where it lets you out and and it kills you. Then there are times where you will get hit so much you literrally get pushed through 3 rooms and then die. So the overworld is a huge mess, the dungeons are a huge mess, and the towers, which I won't even go into, are a huge mess.

Enemies spam the screen as I said. You'll have the regular enemies which are on the path around you, then you'll have enemies that just appear out of nowhere and fly across the screen almost too fast for you to react....only there's sometimes so many that there's nothing you can do to not get hit and possibly die. Should you manage to kill a few of the bosses, the enemies get stronger and faster so good luck to you.

Even if you get all the best equipment in the game, which I assure you WILL take forever and you will probably break something before you do, the game can still screw you over with cliffs or bad game mechanics.

Outside of equipment, there are some other items in the game, but you're not told what they do, most of them cost a lot, and over half of them are absolutely useless. Some of the items you won't even be able to figure out what they do.

So let's have a basic rundown of what the gameplay is like before finishing this up...

You start the game, you go through the first door way, you're spammed by enemies and die.

You realize this will happen the second time so you know to attack, only thing is you miss with your sword and it takes forever to let you throw another so you die before you get the chance.

Then you think to yourself, well I'll just avoid the enemies, so you do your best to dodge and you're doing well until an enemy pops up right on top of you pushing you off a cliff and killing you instantly.

A few hours later when you've learned where to go and how to get by enemies it seems like you'll finally make it to the towers only to step on a hidden dungeon entrance and be trapped in there because of how huge it is and having no way to go until you die.

After more hours and finally making it to the towers, you realize that what you thought was hard before was nothing compared to what awaits and enemies swarm you as you try to climb and kill you.

Years later you finally make it to the first boss but only realize that you picked the wrong tower to go into and the boss is way too hard for you and you die.

Should you ever manage to kill a few bosses, the games enemies change and become much harder so you die again repeatedly.

I think you can see where I'm going with this...

Replayability

None, I didn't want to play it the first time, neither will you. So who would ever want to play it more than once?

Overall

This is one sick joke of a game. If you EVER wanted to get back at someone.....no, don't have them play this they'd hate you for life. Even if it's your best friend and you trick him into playing this for 5 minutes, he will hate you from that point on because this game is just THAT BAD.

The game has no good qualities, only bad ones. The makers of this game should have been banned from ever creating anything else after this. And as awful as I've made this game sound...there's still plenty more I could have talked about but I think this writeup is already gone far enough.

Die Hard
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLakoCwCqhA&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMaXgps_WQM&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL9yW6ov_hs&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcXd8lT37us&fmt=18

Woah now....what's Die Hard doing above Battletoads?! Is he saying Die Hard is better than Battletoads?

Well the answer to that is no, no I'm not. Far from it actually. Battletoads is wayyyyyyyyyy better than Die Hard. Keep in mind though, the rankings list is based on how much I enjoyed playing them, not how good I'm saying a game is. I did not like Die Hard, but it was no where near as frustrating as I had heard it was.

For a game that I hear is so incredibly hard, it really wasn't. Sure it was challenging and extremely unfair, even stupid at some points, but overly difficult it was not.

Anyway, the game play is basically like a terrible version of the overhead Super C levels. You kill guys, you get items off them, which in turn allows you to get further. Once you kill all the guys, you win. You have 6 different floors to check for them on, plus the roof and 1 floor you can't get to until the end. Doesn't seem that much at first but there are a few things that are not going your way.

1. Enemies are trigger happy and never run out of bullets. When I say trigger happy, I mean you'd think they had the trigger tapped in so it never stopped firing. The moment you spot an enemy it's a huge stream of bullets flying at you in many directions making it hard to dodge. We're not talking Touhou levels of dodging, but for it's time it's pretty close.

2. You CAN run out of bullets. That's right, if you have the machine gun you can fire like them for a little bit but once those bullets are gone you're down to a single shot pistol. To make it worse you can even run out of those bullets and be forced to punch people. I myself never ran out of bullets completely but I imagine this game would have gained a whole new level of difficulty had I.

3. You have a "feet" meter. Now what this is, is basically how fast you can move around. You move around, it slowly goes down, you walk over broken glass and it REALLY goes down. Eventually you'll find yourself moving like a slug trying to dodge a machine gun.

There are items that refill your life or your "feet" meter, sure, but there really isn't enough for how quickly you can die. You'll also find hidden areas you can bomb open, but be careful not to blow yourself up in the process.

Overall, the only really unique thing I find about this game, for it's time, is that enemies seem to roam freely through the floors, which is kinda cool. Other than that, this game isn't as bad as you may have heard, but it's certainly not worth playing.

Dirty Harry
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebKWWfghe0I&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjUfmYJFmUE&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n65aEF9Oim8&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc3zRq2EGZU&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aBdA93dFFU&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPY_tGQnco&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5QwNO-NDsE&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1OwdgMvATo&fmt=18

YOU ARE DIRTY HARRY............yea that doesn't sound as good.

Well as far as this game is concerned, you're going to wish you weren't Dirty Harry. In fact, you're going to wish you weren't even playing this game.

Here again we have another platformer, but this time it's a very bad one. You know the usual platforming, you jump and you have a button that punches/kicks/shoot. But no, this is one of those where you have to push both buttons to jump. Fair enough...except sometimes the jump doesn't come out because the controls are bad. Normally I wouldn't bother, but I feel like going into detail about how bad the controls are because it's a large part of what makes this game bad.

Controls

Instead of having 1 button jump, you have 1 button that punches/kicks and 1 that shoots. Fair enough I guess but there's one problem with this, when you run out of bullets the other button is absolutely useless. He will still try to fire the gun but of course nothing will come out. Why could they not have just made 1 button fire the gun and then punch/kick once you were out? Yes I know...you might be thinking it's a good way to conserve ammo, but let me tell you, if you try to play this game without shooting you WILL die, no there is no maybe, you WILL unless you're cheating.

About the punch/kick button, if you just press it you do a punch and if you hold up while you press it you do a kick. Seems simple enough, but the kick is more powerful so why wouldn't you always want to do that? As for the gun button, and this is really where it gets stupid, if you hold down you do a standing punch......WHY? Why can you do a standing punch with BOTH buttons? This is why there should be 1 button to attack and 1 to jump.

As for the Shooting part, you press the button he shoots, simple enough. But wait...enemy above you let's press up and shoot and miss him....why you ask? Because if you press up you don't aim up, you aim diagonally up. if you press up again then you are finally aiming straight up. Same with down only you can't shoot straight down. Now you may be thinking these are just minor annoyances that you need to get use to and they present no real problem, but they present a very big problem as I'll demonstrate.

You of course will not be fighting 1 enemy at a time, so even if you get use to the shooting you will get hit. You have an enemy straight up, you shoot him, then an enemy is coming from below and you hit down to shoot him and instead of pointing the gun down it goes back to pointing it diagonally up so you get shot. But what if the situation is reversed? You have an enemy coming from below, you hit down and shoot to shoot....but it does a standing punch and you get shot. For anyone who didn't already see the problem, which I'm sure all of you did, this is it! Now to add on to that, you have no way to know how many bullets you have left without pausing, so if you're there fighting off tons of enemies and you all of a sudden run out of bullets not even knowing it was coming, you're screwed.

So let's get this straight...You have no jump button and 2 buttons to attack. 1 button does 1 good kick and a half decent punch, the other shoots and does the same half decent punch which means the punching is completely useless, but it's already stupid that you have 2 buttons to attack and no jump button anyway. When you do try to use the gun button it will never fire the way you want it to, and if you run out of ammo which often you won't even know you're about to you're dead.

Control rant over

So now that we've established that the controls are half the reason the game is awful, let's move on to the other half. If the controls are half the reason, the other half is simply everything else.

Terrible level designs. Random enemies who spawn and can often hit you before you hit them. Some enemies which you don't know how to kill and the game doesn't tell you. Terrible TERRIBLE platforming elements that require very precise jumps on a not so precise moving character often resulting in you dying instantly. Bosses that will sometimes kill you even AFTER you beat them. (And no, not like Sigma) Poisonous gas that actually lags your game as it's damaging you.

I could go on and on....but there's really no reason to. Let's just give a quick rundown of the levels.

First level is pretty much a maze. You go through buildings and alleys trying to find your way to the end of w/e street you're on. You'll encounter various gunmen, snakes that you have to jump on to kill (which isn't obvious given that you can shoot downward which does nothing), poisonous gas vents and of course fall damage..

Then once you make your way into the sewers you will have enemy water drops, electric short circuits and even toy cars that blow up when they touch you. All of which I'm SURE was in the movie. *Glares at exploding toy car* I know what you're thinking punk...you're thinking did he put 4 batteries in that remote control or only 3.

Second level is the docks level. This one is actually not the bad, and if the whole game had been like this one I wouldn't have hated it half as much. Yea it has a couple annoying jumps, but other than that it's actually a decent attempt at fun. I of course would not want to play it, but I wouldn't hate it if the whole game were this way. You're only real enemies here are again various gun men and guys that attack you like Donkey Kong by throwing barrels at you. And also a guy in a boat firing shots at you.

Third level is the prison, which is actually pretty difficult. Random mines all over the place, guys coming from every direction, and of course the final boss. I only want to mention 2 things here though. 1. The mountainous part is some of the poorest platforming in history. You're not even sure what you can or can't jump on and most of it blends in with the background pretty well. Not only that, there are parts where you have to use a grappling hook to get across and it's hard to tell because again you don't know what you can and can't jump on. 2. The final boss looks like The Kingpin from Spiderman (Maybe all Kingpins look this way).

Overall, very poorly made and tedious game, I really don't want to say too much more about it because this writeup is long enough already. So go ahead Dirty Harry, make my day.......miserable. Because that's exactly how I felt playing this game.

Duck Tales
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2_MhfdeyO8&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYpz8FfXCKo&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spbIt2OLTtw&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTt3iVrp2Ig&fmt=18

Every time I see this game, or even the name of it, that song gets stuck in my head (That's not a complaint mind you). Duck Tales really brings back fond memories from when I was younger, and I am so thankful that this game was made by Capcom because that's when you know it's going to be made well. When you start the game, it has 3 difficulty settings for you to choose from, and I'll make a quick mention what the differences are later because it's actually quite minor.

As with the usual platformers, you jump, you hit items with your staff, but this one has something that's a bit unique and that's the way you attack enemies. Replacing using your cane as a weapon, you instead use it as a pogo stick to bounce on top of them....and pretty much everything else. Once you bounce the first time you can continuously bounce and this helps you getting past all sorts of things, even spikes, unharmed. Because of this method of attack though, you can't directly attack anything coming from above unless you can jump on them with the pogo cane. Though not to worry though, more platforming hero's than you may think have this problem. (Even Mario without certain items like a star does)

The game is centered around 6 different levels, all having their own distinct tileset, enemies, and bosses though all of them have the same objective. You reach the end of the stage, beat the boss, and get the treasure it is guarding. Throughout the stages though, there are a couple of secrets. 2 of the stages have hidden life-up powerups which increase the amount of damage you can take permanently. Also, hidden amongst the stages are 2 optional treasures but all these do are help you get a better ending so optional is really the best way to put it.

The items in this game are basically the norm. You have your 1ups, your invincibility item, your life replenishing item, and then you have various gems you can find which add to your money total. These gems have the same effect the optional treasures do, they only serve to get you a better ending. These items can either be found by killing enemies, destroying certain obstacles or jumping/walking by a certain spot. Also, which difficulty you choose will not only affect how much damage you take, but what items you can find. For example, if you choose the highest difficulty as I did, there will be no invincibility items at all. Other than that, I don't notice the difficulty doing anything.

Throughout the stages, you'll come across various characters from the series such as Launchpad, Gizmoduck and of course Scrooges nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie....oh wait....what is this?!

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/7533/2andahalfnephews.jpg

Huey, Louie and Louie?! Come on Capcom....how do you make a mistake like that. Yea I know, maybe it's nitpicking at such a small thing, but how else were we suppose to tell them apart back then without them being in different colors? They could all wear an orange outfit and you'd probably never tell them apart.

Anyway, I only have 3 problems with this game.

1. This game puts too much emphasis on gathering gems without a real payment for doing so. There are plenty of hidden gems and collecting them for just a better ending with nothing special seems kinda pointless. They even placed the more expensive gems in hidden areas that you need to find. But again it's completely options and really adds nothing to the game. The game is pretty short as is so couldn't they at least give you a hidden stage for getting enough money?

2. That attack is annoying sometimes. You have to jump then hold down and attack to pogo, after that you can just keep holding the attack button and he'll keep pogoing. However....often times he stops for no apparent reason which leads to getting hit at times.

3. Scrooges biggest nemesis, Flintheart Glomgold, doesn't even appear until the very end of the game and then all you do is race him to the top of a very very VERY short climb. There's no real boss battle with him at all and there really should have been.

Overall, it's still a really good game. Great music, good gameplay, and the difficulty isn't that bad. The only real downside is that the game isn't that long, but then none of the NES Disney games by Capcom were long to my knowledge. Scrooge McDuck is an absolutely amazing character, and thank you for making him Disney.

So I leave you with the theme song...cause we all know you can't be a fan of the show without liking the theme. =p .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6PVxlPu-Yo&fmt=18

Faxanadu
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vArwTC0Y1Jc&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dIEoWwGBzo&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWzYtYISZ2I&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIgDk0_2eao&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPzBt3m75qg&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQrNG0nQlkg&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMmVqXQQSx4&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RID5FmR-mNI&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf86RRSoaRk&fmt=18

Part 10 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6GREdySQ6k&fmt=18

Part 11 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XxhBTF0bn4&fmt=18

Part 12 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUthftLOiYg&fmt=18

Part 13 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=penT5wCM1u0&fmt=18

Part 14 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnWtN-PlFbg&fmt=18

Part 15 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kARuR5hszFg&fmt=18

Part 16 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKVfNR4Iymc&fmt=18

Part 17 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xzreMJwJ8s&fmt=18

Part 18 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J6b-T4EgQE&fmt=18

Part 19 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIGmy29UH1U&fmt=18

Part 20 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFuDE_kQ-m0&fmt=18

For starters, I want to say that this game does have it's fun, it was a very good idea..........however, this game has some things that just frustrate me to no end and they occur all throughout the game. I know the game was relatively long but I want to keep the writeup shorter than usual. So I'm quickly just going to mention the things I liked and disliked about it.

1. I like the idea this game had. It's kind of like Zelda 2 in the fact that it's an RPG/Platformer and the way many things are done, but it stays completely in the front view never switching to an overhead. It's 1 big world that you explore. This I'm fine with.....but

-1. While I do like the idea of this, it presents some problems, mainly backtracking. I'm ok with a little backtracking but this game requires a little too much of it. Yea, I'll admit that it isn't completely overdone, but it's still a little annoying to have to do so this is just a minor nuisance.

2. Equipment. It's nice that the game has a good amount of equipment. This I think was missing from Zelda 2. Yea there are things to get in Zelda 2 but having better weapons and armor and some nice items wouldn't have hurt it.

-2. The Armor/Weapons and even the Magic is a little on the pricey side. Not to mention that you can only carry 8 items. The fact that you're limited to 8 isn't so bad as the fact that your keys take up some of those slots. And if you need to get rid of keys to free up space only certain shops will buy them off you. If you saw in my videos I had to backtrack 2 towns just to get rid of some keys, that's ridiculous! There is no excuse for this, at the very least they could have given you the option to throw away items.

3. The level design. I actually do like the design on the areas of this game, they connected them all together nicely into the 1 big world that I mentioned. Sure this game isn't the most colorful thing ever, but the game made it to where you can still get a little challenge out of the platforming aspect even though it doesn't focus on that. As focused as you are on the RPG elements, it never lets you forget it's also a platformer.

-3. Sometimes they REALLY messed up. There are many areas where you have to go up a ladder and it's impossible to avoid being hit by something. And in some cases once you get hit you get knocked back down and have to do it all over again. I mean really, how did they overlook this? Once I can understand but there's at least 3-4 instances I can recall off hand. Not to mention the movement of the character isn't very good.

4. The game has a nice variety of enemies, and even uses the method of having bosses as casual enemies later on in the game to make it more difficult.

-4. Some of the enemies are just down right cheap. Again as you may have seen in one of my videos, I shifted from 1 screen to another and got killed immediately without even being able to do anything. How is this fair...or even fun for that matter? Also the part where you get knocked back whenever you get hit, the game loves abusing that with the platforming aspect and it can get real frustrating.

5. Lastly, I want to comment on the leveling system. It's a bit different than usual. You don't get any stronger when you level, instead you get a new title and you are given more money when you die. This can actually be easily abused as I did in a few instances, so it's nice for what it is but I would have still liked it to affect the stats some.

-5. Getting money any other way is a huge pain! So often I had a huge load of money and died and lost all of it except whatever I got for my level, which wasn't that much. And with how often you die in this game due to unfair circumstances and enemies...they really could have been a little more lenient. They can't seriously expect you to be carrying 2-4 red potions all the time can they?

Anyways...there's a few more little annoyances I wanted to mention like keys vanishing after you use them once, or the fact that gold takes so long to run down when you buy something....but I'll end it here.

Overall, the game is a fine little game to have fun with, it has it's moments and while I'm not saying I disliked it there certainly were more things that bothered me about it than I enjoyed.

Felix the Cat
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUX_RnFJHxc&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA8O1_rNbUQ&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLhsmgIOEjk&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCWNeOCE9tM&fmt=18

Ahhhh, platformers...the building blocks of old school. If not for this genre of games video games probably would not be as good today....ok I take that back I'm certain they wouldn't be as good.

It is also pretty easy to tell the difference between a good platformer and a bad platformer, so which does Felix fall into? Well....it's kinda on the good side. I mean, there's nothing seriously wrong with Felix per say, just minor things that take what could have been a great game and pull it back towards just good.

You know the basic platformer drill, you jump, you attack, you make it from Point A to Point B, good stuff! Felix manages to do most things right. It has very smootch controls, the length of the game for it's time isn't bad, the platforming elements are nice though I think they could have done a bit more, and it even has a little variety thrown in there with land, water, underwater, flying, and even a space stage. The music variety is ok as well, so why could be wrong with it?

Well, as I said it's nothing too serious, just a few minor things.

Difficulty, for one, is a bit lacking. Maybe it's just me but I find 95% of this game to be too easy and often I was rushing through the levels, though taking hits at times, but was rarely in real danger. Even when I did die though, I had tons of lives stocked up. And the bosses, most of them are pathetically easy, just spam attacks and dodge simple to dodge enemy fire.

The Powerups. I'm not "too" bothered by this due to the fact that the game is already quite easy, but the tank powerup which is the strongest form sucks for pretty much everything that isn't a boss. The car is nice, but if used properly his 2nd form, which is the magic, is easily the best. You can easily rush through most level's with the magic attack as it hits on all sides of you. The non land stages had ok powerups, though the flying one's most powerful form is not that great.

The ice level...you can guess what I think of them so I'll just leave it at that. <_<

One unique thing to this game though, is the way the powerups are done. You don't have health but instead you have hearts that are basically a timer for your powerups. There is 1 way to increase the timer though and that is by collecting cat emblems. After you collect so many 1 of 2 items will pop out. Either you will get milk which increases the powerup time as I mentioned, or you will get a heart which takes you to the next form. Either way both will replenish the time completely.

There really isn't much more to say about this game really, it's a pretty simple game, and since I barely remember the felix cartoon I can't tell you how close it is to the actual thing. One thing I would like to point out, and I'm not sure if this is a mistake, but......every time you defeat a boss you go back to Felix's house and receive a phone call from the final boss (don't know his name sorry). Now, normally you'd think he was just going here and there taking out bosses for info on where to go or something, but once you beat the space stage he receives one more phone call and the mad scientist guy says good job to Felix making it there....yet he's back in his house again. I can only wonder if this was just something they didn't think about, or if his house actually travels everywhere with him.

Anyway, overall, fun game, but a bit too easy.

Friday the 13th
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po4tVo_0Mh4&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pazOoltmv4Q&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzereD1ycMs&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb9Mn1wRLps&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DF5_HXGPOA&fmt=18

Ok, I know this game is iffy for most who have played it.....but, I kinda like it. Sure it isn't the best game on the NES...or even close for that matter, but I do enjoy playing this game.

The thing about this game is, 2 of your characters are almost useless, they're good for nothing but taking hits. 2 of your characters are semi helpful, but not really characters you should focus on. So that leaves you with 2 characters are that are much better than the others, Mark and Crissy. Without those 2, this game can take quite a bit longer to beat, so don't let them die!

Beware the dreaded forest.......that kind of maze is just terrible. The rock is an awful weapon, upgrade it IMMEDIATELY. Do not use George...seriously for your own safety AND enjoyment, STAY AWAY FROM GEORGE! Jason's mother is a huge pain without a good weapon, so be careful there too. And also...after you get a good weapon don't accidentally pick up the BILLIONS of knives that just so happen to be hovering around in the air everywhere, it screws you out of your good weapon, and if you had the pitchfork you can't get it back.

Lastly, don't expect that much out of this game. It's not a long game, it can be beaten pretty quickly if you're really good. But for what it is, I somewhat like it.

Gun.Smoke
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxO7RmAI2vY&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1VqvWnNGw&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvODHGJ_XSs&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SygURjgyPq4&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVXeRimuug&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si6QY7tM3SE&fmt=18

Gun.Smoke was a lot of fun, but it was pretty short. These are one of my favorite types of games. Galaga, 19XX, things like that. However, as mentioned seeing as it was so short of a game I have to put it lower than I normally would.

Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors 2
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsXDoGreX9w&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSGRZGvKGjU&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Dmp4KCdWI&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENRCH9B0EvY&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4hmnaqslms&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUQfeewFF7E&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0baY4LGUsKc&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt6ZLHd-ITM&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96IbdizXsc&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyLyLZDmwkQ&fmt=18

(If you intend on reading this make sure you're comfortable because it's going to be long)

You'll notice right off the bat that this game is dead last so far....yea...dead last and no that's not mistake. I HATE this game, I hate it. I hated it from beginning to end. This is the only game I know, that instead of focusing on killing you, it focuses on annoying you. So there you go Rusty, I finally placed a game below Uninvited.

Good things about this game: The music was ok at times and I really like the last theme in the game. Bad things about this game: EVERYTHING ELSE

So let's start with some of the things that aren't stage specific.

Weapons and Armor


 * Pushes button to attack* *knight waggles blade not even 1 centimeter away from him*...........WHAT IS THIS?!?!

No, seriously, what is that attack, that's horrible. It doesn't even look like he's trying to swing the weapon and kill something, it looks like his buddy has an itch they can't reach and he's too lazy to get up to help so he just reaches over with his sword and attempts to scratch it. This may possibly be the worst attack in any game ever...yes, even worse than Splash Attack. You can waggle the sword in front of you, above you, or duck and waggle it but no matter what you do it's pretty much useless. Sure, you get better weapons later on the game but they're still useless until the final weapon which is only good IF you have magic.

As for the armor....I really don't know. My guess would be that things like the helmet and shield reduce the damage you take, I mean...that would be the logical assumption. As for the boots...they seem to make me move faster and jump higher, so at least all the armor is helpful.

Hit Detection

No I don't necessarily mean if you get hit or not, I mean what happens if you get hit. Yes, the collision boxes in this game are whacked too, but my point here is that depending on where you get hit and if you hit them or they hit you determines if you take no damage, take normal damage, or just die. I'm sure you've seen many times in the videos that I ran right into enemies and took no damage, but there were also times where I just barely touched them and keeled over dead.

So what determines if you take damage or not? Well....I honestly don't know, so I'll just try to guess here. It seems as if sometimes when I hit things with my head, and even sometimes with my feet, I kill things without taking damage. The thing is though, that only works SOMETIMES...You never know when it's going to work and when it's not. And due to the fact that you can't attack in the air until later in the game and only if you have magic...this will be the way to defend yourself best I assume.

Treasure Chests

Ok, now this is really stupid, say you buy a key for 400 gold, then you go open a chest with that key and find treasure, seems normal many games do that. Here's the problem though, you get less than 400 gold for treasure.....so...how was that helpful AT ALL? They least they could do is give you like 425 gold to compensate for you taking time to go to the shop.

Enemies

Ok case and point, right off the bat they swarm you, they literally spam the screen. Now normal enemies aren't that big a deal....well, other than you'll have a seriously hard time killing them with that useless weapon. Or at least they wouldn't be a big deal if there weren't so many of them, they're everywhere. Now, when it gets down to having less enemies, they of course do more damage and many of them 1 shot you. Really now...enemies that can 1 shot you on the very first level? That's pretty harsh. And often times you will come across these enemies that can one shot you, and there's no way around them other than to jump right in and hope you don't die.

Slopes

OMG...this is one of the most annoying things in the entire game, and they're everywhere. From the first level to the last level there are slopes, and they do nothing more than irritate you. Very rarely do you actually WANT to go down one, so really most of the time they're just there to be an annoyance, and on one occasion the game flat out abuses them to annoy you.

And now, the level by level analysis...

First area, the wind levels

Without all the talk about how the enemies were unfair and the weapon was dreadful and all that, I'm just going to touch on some things level by level that were bad.

First off you'll notice that your weapon is dreadful and there's so many enemies that it's unfa....oh wait... Anyways, the first thing that bothers me about this level is the layout of it. It's a climbing level and man does it have a lot of those aggravating slopes I mentioned. Also you will notice on this first part something that isn't a problem now...but will bother you the rest of the game, and that's the doors. If you go near them and are in a jumping or crouching state, you automatically go in. Now, I wouldn't object to this so much if it wasn't very simple to fix this problem, just make the button to go in doors be UP, since the up button is next to useless anyway.

After you make it past this first section, you get to the clouds. The first thing to mention here is that the clouds alter yor jumping, which....I guess in some way is believable but it still shouldn't be part of the game. You jump once then immediately jump again to bounce higher. This wouldn't be so bad either if the game didn't make it so you HAD to do that in some places or you simply die. Well, other than that there isn't too much to say about this first part of the game other than how badly the jumping is again...

Second area, the water levels

The first part of this area is a forest setting. This is where the game starts focusing on annoying you rather than killing you. You've probably seen by now that there are secret passages in some places, and they usually hold items and stuff to help you out which is good....until this level.

On this level, there is a treasure chest you need to open and get a waterspout spell, once you do that you can retrieve a golden fly that you need in order to pass this level. Seems simple enough so far, but now here's the bad part about this. As you know, when you open a chest it uses a key, basic stuff, only here if you get the waterspout spell and then go inside any place, secret passages included, you lose the waterspout spell. Well now what are you suppose to do...well, you could use another key to open the chest getting the spell again. Seems just like an inconvenience so far, but the thing is there are secret passages everywhere, and you usually won't know they're there until you go in them. So you constantly lose the spell again and again until you run out of keys, then you have to gather gold to buy more keys. Once you know where all the passages are and manage to avoid them, the enemies on this stage will probably knock you into them once or twice, and it really isn't that rare that they do. It's nothing but a complete waste of time, and the game makers didn't have to do this, it's not challenging it's just annoying.

The next part of this area you'll find yourself in a water cavern, and you'll notice that the boss is just a little ways from you. If you're like me, you'll probably see the boss and try to take him on because yo figure that's what you're suppose to do. However, also like me you'll find it's impossible to defeat him at this point so why you run into him now I have no idea. So you go back the other way only to come across one of the most annoying enemies in the entire game....these weird little face things. They drop down on you when you get close like thwomps do, only... there's many of them, and it's almost impossible to fit between them without getting hit. If you get hit 1 bounces you into another which bounces you back into the first one and so on till you die. You can easily have an instant death right there, and if you die the game resets you back in the middle of them but at least you get some invincibility. Should you make it past them you'll find that you did all that for a completely worthless item....all it does it give you points and that's it.

The last part of this area that you have to go through before the boss is an underwater cavern. It's actually pretty easy so I don't have anything to say about it.

Third area, the fire levels

The first part of this is an annoying climb with enemies that can instantly kill you and waterspouts which bounce you around, which can cause fall damage and usually just causes you to have to climb the same parts of this stage again and again....and that's going to be the theme for the next part of this area too.

The volcano.....well, the game has annoyed you with enemies, and then secret passages, so now it's going to annoy you with passages that aren't secret. Should you make it past that first tedious climb, then you've made it out of the frying pan and into the fire, literally. This volcano part is another annoying climb full of doors and lava which seems to follow you. When you walk over a geyser, it erupts which will damage you. So just avoid them right? Well....you can't, you have to walk over some to get where you're suppose to go so expect to be hit many many times. The climb here isn't too long, the problem is the stupid doors everywhere, and if you remember what I said about the ones on level 1 then they are even worse here. If you just go near them you go in and then you instantly slope fall back down to the bottom of the level. Expect this as well to happen many many times. Since you've fall so many times, the geysers have probably killed you a couple times by now.

Once you pass all that, you'll come to what might be the most annoying boss fight in this game. You're inside the volcano now, lava is spurting everywhere, flames are coming up everywhere, and there's these weird flying creatures that follow you around. About the boss fight though, as usual you need to find a spell to kill the boss, and it's always in a hidden area, but even once you find the spell you of course need magic to use it. So you make it to the boss which is this weird blob like thing, and you have to fire off shots that arch up and then drop down on him, but they have to hit him in a specific place and you're bouncing at the same time so you're going to most likely run out of magic before he's dead. So how do you get magic? Well.....luck really. You kill one of those weird flying guys and they MIGHT drop magic, like 1 out of every 7 or 8. So you get a little, go back to the boss and if you don't kill him with that little bit you do it again and again till you do. Now if you're like me, you probably won't think of the skull thing giving you magic by getting hit until later.

Fourth area, the earth levels

The only real things I found annoying about these were

1. The treasure chests giving you less gold than keys costing and it having so many of them, which I already mentioned.

2. It has some of the worst jumps in the entire NES history.

Fifth area, the all elemental levels

Again, not much to say here for the most part, the only thing I would like to point out is the very last level.

The entire level is full of weird snow creatures that don't really damage you but instead blow you off ledges and make you miss magic...basically just there to annoy you.

And then there's the final boss battle....all 4 elementals in 1 fight. Of course, you can take them on 1 at a time but I find this would probably take too long and can still be very difficult if not more difficult.

As you saw in my fight with them, they are all swarming around the top of the mountain and you have to kill them all. At this point you'll have the best weapon in the game, and it also shoots projectiles if you have enough magic so make sure you have enough to kill them all.

The main problems with this fight though, is that if the elementals touch you they bounce you up and they can keep juggling you one after enough until you die. Sometimes they go behind the mountain where you can't see them but they can still hurt you, which is extremely stupid. Even with full lives and the best gear this is a very tough fight.

Also, this level has my favorite song in the entire game...but then it's the only one I actually like. XD

In conclusion....Yea, even after getting all that off my chest I STILL HATE THIS GAME!!!

No, it's not the challenge of the game, it's what about it that's challenging. Your controls should not be a challenge. The tediousness of jumps is ok but it was wayyyyy overused. Enemies should not be able to 1 shot you so often. Your weapon shouldn't be more worthless than trying to fight a dragon with a toenail. It's just bad....it's really bad, and the game could have been fun, it had some nice ideas that could have been enjoyable, but in every possible instance they butchered it and made it a pain to play. I don't know if the 1st and 3rd games are like this, but if they are I hope I NEVER have to play them, this game is permanently burned into my memory with how terrible it was.

Kid Icarus
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3u450nrkuU&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0joEAWP0DM&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsYegdXaNlM&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw40o-DgSIY&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW4_wPRc0qo&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZatWsMREQxs&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkeBVdsRQ8Y&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgea8K51lLM&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCAN7zpmvXw&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvgJh0mlDdg&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwVRcMZSQ6E&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6KmhbYEnU&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv8sZwsb_bY&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY5pCaKMG2s&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7CQs6HqcuU&fmt=18

This was another really difficult game to place, it had drastic ups and downs for me. I didn't dislike the game so it was at least above Battletoads, but I didn't REALLY like it either so it had to be below Super Mario Bros. So what's good, what's ok, and what's bad?

Good

The 2nd set of 4 levels. Sure it was your basic sidescrolling platformer, but it was fun. The challenge was not overly done but wasn't really simple either.

The boss fights other than the last one.

The training grounds I guess I'd call them. In one you get a special item for surviving and in the other you kill stuff to get the hearts to buy things with.

The dungeons. I almost decided to bump this down to the ok category, but I decided that even though it's a maze, the fact that they added shops, a healing spot and a place to remove the curse off you makes it a little be more than just average.

Ok

The variety of enemies. There were plenty of enemies, but some of them were just slightly altered. Though tons of games have this so I'll just leave it here in ok.

The way you power up. It goes against you when you either don't know how to do it or when you're doing videos of it like me and don't want to wait around.

The Controls, for the most part, are ok but not as good as I think they should be. Hitting a ceiling makes you come to a complete stop which can really throw you off. Ice makes you continue going forward even if you jump off it. And you can't jump while holding up...

Item prices....a bit too much but not terrible I guess.

The difficulty, which is completely nuts. The game is quite hard until you get powerups, or at least I think so. Once you do get powerups though, the game is a lot more balanced and fun.

Bad

The room with the pots.....hit the wrong one and not only do you get nothing but you lose your special items and with no warning that you will. Not only that, I hear there is a pattern to knowing which pot the guy is in but how would you know that by just playing?

The climbing stages, ugh....so many places to fall and die and so many ways to do it.

Enemies falling out of the sky on top of you or when you're trying to make jumps.

STUPID EGGPLANT WIZARDS!!!!

The amount of enemies, which can many times lag the screen.

The final level, which I felt was very boring including the boss fight once you realize his pattern.

So in closing, the game is just ok for me, not awful, not outstanding, but can be fun.

Kirby's Adventure
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juf24r7vIrM&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crqOozmv9zo&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmMiFE4WStI&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx7Cj5Ezlmo&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKSaKgh0hxk&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtuWWa5Qqq8&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgIP8puwDI&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIiZBpOUHqw&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYcxNB19aJU&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM5zy7kzrhU&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxbhPJXBy4o&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVGnpr_6xWA&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCVKawWeh8&fmt=18

Kirby's Adventure is a nice little game, and even though I'm not really a Kirby fan, I vastly prefer the SNES version. I'm sure most if not everyone who reads this knows who Kirby is so I doubt I really need to go into that. As far as the game mechanics...you can jump, you can float, you can slide to attack things, and you can eat enemies to gain their powers.....though only 1 power at a time.

For this game you have neither an overworld nor a constant level alteration, but instead you have something I find unique. You start at Level 1, of course, and you have a door you can enter which is stage 1. After beating that stage, the area you're in gets bigger and another stage, and maybe bonus things, will appear. Bonuses can range from games to get 1 up's to places you can keep going back to so you can get a certain powerup. These bonuses will sometimes appear just for beating a stage, and sometimes you have to do something in a certain stage to make them appear.

Most stages are pretty linear on where you need to go in order to finish, but many of them have little side paths you can take to get extra lives, open bonus areas, get better powerups, etc. Stages are much like you'd expect from a well made NES game, and the controls are nice (for the most part but I'll get into that later) to fit. Having the ability to gain powerups from eating enemies makes the game ever changing, even playing through it again will not be the same experience because of this.

The length of the game is also a plus for it, as it will keep you occupied for a few hours without even taking the replay value into account. For a non RPG NES game I'd say that's pretty good. The replay value of course, as mentioned, is good due to the supply of powerups, so what you got playing through it 1 time you can try something different the next time. There are even a few powerups you only have a couple chances to get throughout the entire game, and they are usually pretty fun to have.

Now, as I was saying before about the controls...there is just 1 annoyance I have to mention. You have to push down after eating an enemy before you can gain their ability, and while having them in your mouth you seem to fall a bit faster. Now normally this would not be a problem, but say you catch an enemy over a pit or under water...well, if you don't think to spit it back out and start floating again you're going to die. This happened to me plenty of times because I didn't think about it quick enough, and even sometimes when you do realize it fast enough Kirby has fallen too far and hitting Up won't save you in time. This is my one gripe about the game, and other than that it's a pretty solid game.

Overall, it's a great game even if I don't rank it very high. I enjoyed playing it even though I didn't really want to. Kirby games just really aren't my thing so I never try to play them, but I can still admit they are good games.

Legend of Zelda
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuBz-Zn4ZD0&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RFY6cxf4iQ&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdYl-TWgp0c&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFqXtum4-48&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuGSXDt6cRs&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTh7WGK20oM&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpum_5tsUEA&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpFneW5Zr3Q&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAYzAdbqbCc&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92wOHzUUWts&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWLYEg5uW3I&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtpvFW2NEu4&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8RiBYDkKWM&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAIOBmIcBPs&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkWZidk1gHY&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEV5q51oblY&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnbQ7Oo2wcw&fmt=18

I'm not overly huge Zelda fan, but come on...it's Zelda.

Little Nemo - The Dream Master
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KevzRvA6plA&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9naUcX0xerI&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8FH3yeKsmE&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwj9K91-Dps&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXOADXw0GF8&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6qByV3_SM&fmt=18

I really wanted to put this game higher because I love this game and it has so many fond childhood memories, but I just couldn't do it. Clash at Demonhead has been in the top 5 since the very beginning...though Mega Man 5 will probably knock it out. <_<

Anyway what can I say about this game? If you like platformers and haven't played it, PLAY IT! I doubt anyone could say they're a platformer fan and not like this game, especially if you grew up in that era of video games as I did. This game is a complete classic in every sense of the phrase. Oh I know, some people may think "Typical Capcom platformer, good but just the usual stuff" but no...this is a good bit different than what you'd usually expect.

So what makes this game different? Well the main thing is that you're playing as Nemo. He isn't a fighting robot, he isn't a commando, he isn't a super hero, he isn't even rich. He's just a little boy that throws candies which don't even damage enemies. Now that may not sound good, but that's where the uniqueness of the game comes in. Instead of being one of those things able to fight hordes of enemies, you enlist the help of various creatures by feeding them the candy.

The creatures you find can be a bee, gorilla or even a lizard. They all have different abilities they can use, some can fly for a brief period of time, some can climb walls, some can kill enemies. This really changes up the expectations of a normal platformer. In a normal platformer, if you need to kill an enemy you just do, if you need to get up to a high ledge you usually climb yourself. But here, you have to remember you're just a young boy, you don't have super powers or magical abilities, but you don't need them to be a hero.

As you go through each level, you have to find a certain number of keys to finish the level. This seems like it would be a tiresome search, but the game manages to make it so that they aren't that difficult to find, yet still fun to find. You got to search high and low, literally, seeing as sometimes you have to go above or below the screen to find secret areas. Now....that part of the game is just fine and all, but my 1 problem with this is that sometimes the holes aren't secret areas but pits that will kill you if you fall into them, and there seems to be no way to tell them apart until you go down there.

The last thing I want to point out here is the challenge of this game. This game can actually surprise you. It's more difficult than it looks as capcom manages to make it so enemies pop out at you in the worst of times. This is not a complaint mind you, just a slight annoyance I felt I had to mention. The overall difficulty of the game scales pretty nicely, it has a few minor concerns at first as it gets you use to the game, and by the time you reach the last levels you'll definitely notice some challenge. The 2nd last stage is a perfect example of this.

After you make it through all the regular stages, now it's time to step your game up and take on the Nightmares. You're finally given a weapon, and you no longer need keys, but now you have to deal with bosses.

The bosses aren't too challenging if you can get their patterns down, but they probably won't be easy your first time through either. The first boss honestly seems to be the hardest of the 3 due to the fact that his attack spreads so much. The second boss is not that tough really, he's just very evasive at times and he may kill you through patience and persistence. The final boss in the game can be difficult due to him having a homing attack, the only thing is he isn't really that hard to dodge. The challenge from the final boss is mostly trying to attack him WHILE doding as your charged shots move you backwards just a little bit.

Anyways, this is a great game, but feels a little short. Not that it is short, it's just one of those games that when you beat it you think "It's over already? =(" because it was such a fun game and you want it to keep going. And outside of a few minor problems like your companions running into you and killing you, or you actually being hurt because of their abilities, this is an amazing game. Highly recommended!

Little Samson
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h8HWTQJb_s&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoy9ihDdTpw&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onAi71PmdDY&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh7EyQVxTMs&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bddHw14HWLs&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3mdjuhkFkE&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Awo_bQ9rAw&fmt=18

For an NES platformer, this game has very nice variety. You know the rules, shoot/punch/kick and jump, but this game takes it a bit further. What is unique about this game is that you have 4 playable characters that you can switch back and forth with, and each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Beacuse of this, the game has very nice replayability as you can try beating certain things with different characters going through a 2nd time. Speaking of the 4 characters though, I'll classify what each of them can and can not do.

Lickle

Main character basically. He appears to be a young human boy. From what I can tell he's the 2nd fastest moving character. His shots are the weakest in the game but he's able to spam them like crazy. Shots fired go in a straight pattern. He's also able to scale walls and even climb on the ceiling. He has the 2nd largest life bar.

Dragon

Well...he's obviously a dragon. He's the 3rd fastest in the game it seems but he's almost equal in speed with Lickle. He has the 3rd strongest attack and his fire shots go in an arced pattern. The Dragon is also capable of charging up his attack and firing 3 bigger shots at once. He isn't able to climb walls but he can hover in the air for a little bit. He has the 3rd largest life bar of the 4.

Golem

Big and Powerful, just as you'd expect from a golem. He's the slowest character in the game by quite a bit. He has the 2nd strongest attack, which is quite strange considering you'd think he'd be the strongest. For his attack he launches his fist at you, which can go in 3 directions, up down and straight. He can neither climb nor hover but he can walk on spikes without being damaged. He has the largest life bar in the game.

Mouse

Tiny and able to get into some places the others can't. Mouse is the fastest character in the game. He has the strongest attack in the game, surprisingly, but his attack is almost even with golem so it's very hard to tell. His attack is not shooting per say but laying down bombs which explode in a second or two. Mouse can climb on walls and ceilings just like Lickle. He has the smallest life bar in the game so he dies pretty easy.

As for items, you really only get a few items. Little Hearts and Big Hearts which each replenish a certain amount of life. Extra lives. Some kind of leaf emblem that increases your max life a little but each character can only get it once. And lastly you have this game's version of an E-Tank which is basically an item each character can hold 1 of and it completely restores all your life when used.

The stages in this game are very colorful and extremely well done IMO. You'll see many different area's ranging from mountains to volcanoes and even caves. And though it may have a world map which really doesn't do anything other than showing where you are next, it's a nice little addition to help you figure out how much of the game you've completed and what might be next.

The bosses in this game can produce a suitable challenge at some points, even when using all 4 characters. Do be careful when choosing a difficulty setting though. Easy is your basic setting, but if you pick normal and the Dragon, Golem, or Mouse dies they stay dead forever. Also if you choose normal you will get a few extra stages to play at the end that can be quite challenging.

Overall this is a very fun game, and outside of the Mega Man games I'd have to say this is the most enjoyable I have played in a good bit. I would highly recommend this game to any platforming fans, and do not be turned off by the idea of playing it just because it's an old NES game. Some games stay good no matter how old they are, and for me this will be one of them.

Maniac Mansion
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKnbkT4SxG4&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8b9ieF-UvQ&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCBSFEPMv8E&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HjO-6X6eXw&fmt=18

<B>Jukebox - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5wPNmW-QVc&fmt=18

Wait what's this? Isn't Point and Click my most hated genre? So why isn't Maniac Mansion much much lower?!

Well...though there were probably few wondering this, the reason for this is that Maniac Mansion fixes the problems I have with almost every Point and Click game.

1. There's no senselessly long wondering around just checking out scenery. (Like Myst)

2. I don't have to figure out what to do because as I mentioned my sister played this game a lot when I was young. Now, I know that sounds like I could just watch any Point and Click game to find out what to do and then have fun with it, but.....that isn't exactly the case. What makes Maniac Mansion different is not only the fact that I have plenty of nostalgia but plenty of other factors.

3. Music being one factor, the fact that you can see your characters, you have 3 at a time which normally I'm not sure I'd like but again I already knew what to do, and some of the humor in it is pretty good. There are other reasons but this is getting too long. Basically, many various problems this game didn't have where so many others of it's time were.

4. You don't simply DIE for doing the wrong thing. Yes, you can die but usually you just get taken to the dungeon and you can get back out. Whereas in a game like Uninvited I was dying constantly and often for not doing anything other than holding an item I had no idea was killing me.

Anyways......moving on. If you haven't figured it out now, and I'm sure everyone has....this game is your Point and Click type game. You have your characters on screen, you select from a bunch of options you want your character to perform and then you click somewhere on screen. For example, I could choose the option "TURN ON" and then click a light switch to turn it on.

When you start the game, you have to select 3 characters and you have a choice from a group of 7. You have to choose the main character, Dave, so really you to choose 2 characters from a group of 6. Each characters have advantages and disadvantages by what they can do during the game, and because of this there are different endings if you wish to replay the game.

The main plot is that an evil meteor has landed on earth and found it's way to a nearby mansion where it has taken control of a scientist known as Dr. Fred Edison. While in the process, Sandy, Dave's girlfriend, was kidnapped by Dr. Fred. Now, him and 2 of his friends plan on sneaking into the mansion to get her back. Along the way you'll meet Weird Ed, Dr. Fred's son, who may or may not join your side depending on what you do. You may also run into Dr. Fred's wife Edna, but you should hope you can stay away from her because she'll throw you in the dungeon if she finds you.

Throughout the game, you have various tasks in the mansion to complete your overall objective. All your tasks are completely dependent on what ending you are going for though. You can call the Meteor Police to come get the evil meteor, or even get the meteor a publishing contract..........yes, that isn't a joke. Some of the main tasks in the game will be doable only if you have the right character though.

The game isn't very long if you know what you're doing, but it is still longer than some of the more boring/no fun at all Point and Click games on the NES like Uninvited. <_<

Overall, I give this game a stamp of approval. The biggest improvement this game does, for me, is makes it so that it isn't boring to play and one of the huge reasons for that is the music is awesome. I really wish I could have done the other endings but I decided to just go with the canon ending (even though I didn't go through the entire game planning to do that). This is, for me, an ok game. I won't say great....but ok. Fun times have been had playing this.

Marble Madness
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Mhzdsx8II&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvVd0NX4N4U&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1eJEBs8oQU&fmt=18

Ok, here's the thing about Marble Madness. Yes, it has it's annoying moments, yes it can be a really difficult game, but I like it. It would be higher if it were a longer game, the fact that you can beat it in less than 6 min really brings it down. I have both many fond and many irritating memories of this game. For anyone interested in trying this game, it may not look that hard, but that's where it will catch you off guard. The input presses for this game have to be spot on in a lot of occasions. Maybe not to the extent of Snake Rattle n Roll, but it can still be a really nice challenge.

Mega Man 2
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJVJwcbX20E&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BooXNSBcP6o&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x40ZchfFL0Q&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1yfogAc_VU&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loE7rX8k5LE&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCmHQs3Mnyo&fmt=18

Mega Man 2, not my favorite of the series but a very awesome game nonetheless. The game does contain my favorite of the original Robot Master themes though............METAL MAN!!!

Anyway, other than 1 or Mega Man & Bass this is probably the hardest of the original Mega Man series. And yes, I know that I pretty much beat the game with just the mega buster 97% of the time but that's because I've played this game so many times. Also as I mentioned, this was my first ever Mega Man game, I purchased it from an old video store that went out of business a long time ago.

About the game though. The mechanics of Mega Man 2-6 mainly stay the same, and there are only minor differences so I really don't need to say too much seeing as I already reviewed Mega Man 5(And because I want to keep this short =p)

The same aspects that I mentioned were great about Mega Man 5 are also present here. Great gameplay, music, controls, etc etc etc. Sure the game has less to it, but I still prefer it over Mega Man 5.

Overall, amazing game, even better than Mega Man 5 which was great.

Mega Man 3
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC02Idt53Do&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEX6UuEivuI&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXPpcIUxiiU&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIz5j5CTMbk&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMfoy-qzir4&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJfWEoKXoss&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QxpRhWkvzs&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGjMtRyN8fk&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP7-XOYcrb0&fmt=18

Again, just like Mega Man 2, I can't really say much about this game because Mega Man 2, 3, 4, and 5 have basically the same gameplay with minor differences. That doens't mean all 4 of them aren't worth playing though, each and every one of them is highly enjoyable. This one in particular is my favorite though.

Seeing as I've already done a writeup on Mega Man 2 and 5, I will just list a few of the differences in this game.

For starters, this is the first Mega Man game with Rush in it. If you don't know who Rush is, he's Mega Man's robotic dog....though I hope you knew that. He basically replaces the Items from Mega Man 2 and from this point forward becomes a staple character in the original Mega Man series.

This game also introduces the Slide move, which is very simply but for some reason a lot of fun to do. And like Rush, ever since it was introduced in the original series it was never removed.

Also new to this game, is Protoman, who is Mega Man's brother. He plays a role in the game by appearing at a few points in the game challenging you to battle.

And 1 final change, which sadly never returned, was the fact that after you beat the 8 Robot Masters you have to play through 4 of their stages again while battling upgraded versions of the 8 robots from Mega Man 2. I think this aspect alone is what makes some people like Mega Man 3 more than 2. I honestly wish they had kept doing that, but oh well. =(

Overall, as I said, it's my favorite Mega Man game. While it doesn't have my very favorite Robot Master theme, it does have more overall favorites than any of the other games in this series. Also the fact that it adds a few characters that reoccur in every game after. The last thing I want to mention is just something I find interesting, the box/cartridge art for this game is the first one that depicts the cartoony style Mega Man that we see in the game itself.

Mega Man 5
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UGWhZV1lI0&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNvI4rPnfeE&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRNIp5RQ8MI&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1NaOLl5pas&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE3KyFgnIfM&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9XvtZ7KH7Q&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91j2BIKbWs&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ZMGmsiApY&fmt=18

And thus, we finally have a new entrant in the top 5, and although it just barely made it in it is there. It is making me think about changing the order on some of those rankings though.

I'm sure most of you know the drill by now. Fight the 8 Robot Masters, Do the castle stages, fight the Robot Masters again, then defeat Wily. It's the order most of us Mega Man fans are use to, and even though we do it time after time after time it works, and it works well! Sure Capcom tried to change it up a little here and there, but the traditional way was always the most fun to me. It also allows things like "Metal Man gets owned by his own weapon". =p

So, what is it that makes Mega Man so great? Well, this is a difficult thing to answer as it's based completely on preference, what I like about it though is simple to answer.....everything about it. The gameplay, music, controls, even the short story of it which wasn't much even back in those days.

You start up the game and it has epic music right at the title screen. This completely sets the mood for an amazing game that will follow. The controls are spot on, the graphics for it's time were good, the music is awesome, the difficulty is good but not overbearing, the story is what it is.....and the gameplay is some of the bet you'll find in this category. Granted, Mega Man 5 isn't my favorite Mega Man, but as far as the NES is concerned 2-5 is greatness, 6 is pretty good, and 1 is ok.

I've said this on a few rare occasions, but this game is one of those that even newer gamers today can pick up and enjoy. The NES Mega Man games, 2-5 at least, have a distinct charm about them. They're extremely nostalgic for those of us that were there for them, and an exhilarating experience for those that weren't. Yes I know the tried and true way of going from 1 end of the stage to another has been done to death but remember 2 things here....

1. These NES Mega Man games are part of history. They started many of the ideas later games would use.

2. These games are incredible. I urge anyone who likes this time of game to play all 6 of the original Mega Man games, you won't be disappointed. Even as far back as Mega Man 2 has withstood the time moreso than most games out there.

While this game isn't something I could see myself playing through a 2nd time right after beating it, it is something that I could come back to later and play again because it's just that fun.

Overall, the Mega Man series is one of the best game series out now that has been around since the old NES and this game is no exception. Yes the series has had it's share of games that didn't stand up to the rest, but you'll find no game series that's been out nearly as long as Mega Man that doesn't have 1 game that's below great. Mario has them, Zelda has them, Final Fantasy has them, Castlevania has them, Metal Gear has them even Dragon Warrior has them. They all have games that just didn't match up to the rest. So if you hit a Mega Man game you don't like, you should still try others.

Mendel Palace
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3PKMuBsBkA&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf0tzrDXqA8&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCNNe_iAfGk&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZdL0bPPWsE&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG6z8sJHdKY&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzyQ2fICdB0&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmXunJSNdXM&fmt=18

Now here is an unusual game if I ever saw one. Mendel Palace is unlike any game that I know of, and I don't even know what kind of game to classify it as. GameFAQ's just says General Action so I guess I will go with that because it really is in a class of it's own. And for those of you that play this, you may want to make sure to have a 2nd player, it's not an easy game at all.

Think of this game like looking at a board game from overhead. Each stage is a square stage composed of many square panels. The object of the game is to slide the panels an enemy is on until you make them collide with either a wall or a block. Just based on that this seems like a very boring game, but it's far from boring or easy.

Each panel can become 1 of many different things when you slide it, from a block to a chance to get an extra life to a star(collect 100 for a life). It even has a moon panel you can get which turns every panel into a star and plays some cool music. Be careful though, sometimes the panel will turn into an enemy creator and create an enemy if there aren't too many on screen.

For enemies, you have a choice between 8 different castles, all having a different enemy. Yes I said enemy, singular, as in that's the only enemy you fill fight in that castle. Don't think of that as a bad thing though, each enemy can have a couple different versions to keep the variety up, and the stage you play on will always have an effect on the battle. Enemies can range from a sumo that stomps the floor causing you to get pushed back, or graffiti drawers who's drawings turn into more enemies.

After beating all the castles, you have 1 more castle to beat which has all 8 enemies, 1 per stage. After you beat that then you have 1 final castle with a new enemy. At the end of all but 1 of the castle though, there will be a boss fight, and you could have 1 of 3 different boss fights. 1 fight will be a guy that jumps around quickly trying to land on you, 1 will be a girl that turns you into the enemy of w/e castle you are on, and 1 will be a more difficult battle of the enemies for that castle.

As I mentioned back at the start of this, this game can be very difficult, which thankfully you get unlimited continues for it. Some times you won't be able to defeat your enemies without using the stage to your advantage, so this game requires A LOT of thinking on your feet. With 2 players it isn't as difficult, but going at it solo can be quite a challenge.

That's all I can really say about this game, it's a simple little game that can be a lot of fun and quite difficult. It was a game I first played when I was really young and I loved it. Always wish I had bought it. =/

Metal Mech
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1hjkYIdCVU&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64J4E-Q5nVI&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Kh-ycwAJQ&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KZEohRBchE&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHNShZtH214&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T37o1dIwkNQ&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PurUHfoacsg&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ3T_be2tR8&fmt=18

As bad as this game is, I was actually planning on putting it above Spelunker and Snake Rattle n Roll. Yes the game is terrible, aggravating, and kinda boring, but that last level really did it. The last level in this game is a total PAIN IN THE...........well you get the point.

I had read this game was like Blaster Master at first, and I am extremely disappointed. The mech itself is nearly invincible, but so extremely slow. It's jumping is terrible, it's movement is terrible, even the shooting isn't that great but it's the best of the 3 things. Then once you are using the guy instead of the mech, your jumping gets a little better, your movement gets a little better, but then you become extremely weak.

The hunting for keys is absolutely terrible. You aren't given any kind of clue where it's at, and often times it's in things you didn't even know you could destroy. Then once you get the key you don't know where the end of the level is. To make matters worse, that last level is one of the most frustrating things ever. Your enemies can 1 shot you. Your controls are terrible, if you try to move up or down it moves you slightly forward as well. If you're trying to aim the gun, you have to move in that direction to do so. Often enemies come from straight up or down and you can't hit them there, but if you don't kill them quickly you get 1 shotted.

In closing, I'll have to make a statement I didn't think I ever would. If this entire game were all like the final level, it would have placed below Uninvited. Thankfully for me though, Uninvited remains the worst pile of garbage I've had to play for this topic.

Micro Machines
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6R3PKr2QYo&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5VjXHaMNFo&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZ5X5G7IDo&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlRUAty_rUs&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxKrwGClOvQ&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2VpTfefTqI&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJBRciPpwA4&fmt=18

Right away I want to say that I find the Game Boy version of this game vastly superior even though it lacks a lot of color (At least from memory it is).

Anyways, this is a really fun game with tons of variety. Whether it's Boats, 4 wheelers, or even Tanks which are my favorite you'll constantly have to adapt to new things. Like most racing games of this age though, you always have that problem of not knowing what's coming up ahead of you and it causing you to lose, in my case however I've played this game so many times that I remembered most of it.

As mentioned, this game features a lot of variety at the time and a good bit of difficulty to boost....however, unlike The Smurfs this game has cheating AI. The AI cheats so much it's like they didn't even try to hide it and this can really REALLY cause problems, but I'll get to that a little later.

The game itself is done brilliantly, putting together so many types of vehicles and stages to match it is a very fun idea and can be really enjoyable. Formula 1 cars on the pool tables, 4x4's on the breakfast table, etc, just things that are really fitting to the name "micro machines". Each vehicle has it's own speed and handling, and each type of course has various objects that you'd normally find on that type of course. Even each of the computers themselves have varying difficulty, but the game doesn't tell you who's harder or easier you'll have to find out for yourself. =p

This game easily made it onto my favorite 30 video games list, and is the racing game I have played more than any other. So why is it so low on the rankings? The cheating AI....

As I said before, I prefer the Game Boy version over this one and the main reason is the AI. The AI in this game is even worse than Mario Kart, it blatantly cheats and doesn't let up. There are many races where if the AI gets ahead of you that's it...you can't ever catch up no matter how good you play. Now, this is only for the NES version mind you, the Game Boy version, although has cheating AI, it isn't NEARLY as bad. The Game Boy one lets the AI cheat just to keep it competitive so you'll never find yourself having lost a race just because 1 passes you. The AI makes all the difference in it's rank placement here, I love the game, I have for so long, but the NES version annoys me.

All in All, this is still a really fun game, but you have to figure out for yourself which AI's cheat, how much they cheat, and which AI's don't cheat. Once you know that, you should make sure to save those AI's for the end of the game so it won't be so unfair to you. I "was" trying to do that myself. Mike and Walter are the 2 weakest, however, in the Game Boy version Dwayne is 3rd weakest and in the NES version he's not so weak as you saw because they switched the difficulty around a bit. Anyways, great game, but if you want to play it stick with the Game Boy version.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJjQJdx0sDk&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4irS7yo-LH8&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXFrwsQlbXc&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGt20C053OI&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWaN4JHEiFA&fmt=1

Ok, I know, Punch out may seem a tad low....but the main thing that keeps this game from making it higher is that it isn't a very long game. If I had sat there and practiced the game and then played it to where I hadn't gotten knocked down so much I may have been able to do it in 3 videos. I'm aware however that same concept can be applied to many other games, however....there are 2 aspects which really make a difference.

1. How much fun it was playing through it. While Punch Out is a fun game there are many other games I prefer over it.

2. Replayability. If a game is slightly less fun to play through the first time than Punch Out, but stays more consistent so that it retains that same level of fun again and again I can still put it higher than Punch Out. This game's replayability, to me at least, is pretty low. You can come pick it up a long time later and play through it again and maybe enjoy it as much....but that's just it, it's only a maybe and you have to wait a while.

So now that we've gotten it's placement explanation out of the way, let's get into the game itself.

This is the game I would say started the entire boxing video game franchise. Yes, there were boxing games before it, but this was the first big name one to my knowledge and for a good reason. This game is simple yet addicting fun.

It's what you'd expect in a boxing game, dodge when your opponent tries to hit you, hit them when the chance comes up, but the game added a few additional features that make it much more fun...

1. The opponents have all kinda of attack patterns. This of course doesn't play nearly as much of a roll as later games in the series, but it is still present in this game. It's a good way to keep you guessing on what's coming next. Even after you get use to the patterns you still have a chance of messing up at some points though.

2. Star punches. This is a pretty cool way to help you out with certain opponents or just give you the ability to crush them quickly. It's kinda fun to find out when attacking would give you a star punch, but be careful about being too experimental or you'll be tasting an uppercut to the chin.

3. Join the Nintendo Fun Club today Mac!

4. The challenge in the game scales well. When you finally get the hang of a difficult opponent you move on to the next wondering what could possibly be harder and the game usually doesn't disappoint.

Anyway...going to stop this writeup here and just say that it's a fun game, but unlike games like Super Mario Bros. 3 it's sequels have really taken their tole on the original and made it not nearly as fun as it once was. Still a good game though.

RC Pro AM 2
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_jPzaTrCmA&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvUQl_MurnM&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HxF4Cm8Az0&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzsp6XcayWI&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeqbYXlX_GY&fmt=18

Ok, just going to come right and out and say I like this game. Yes it has many things about it that would absolutely annoy many people, but it's a fun simple little game. This is completely an underrated and probably little known game due to the time of it's release being after the SNES had already come out.

Now, that's not to say some of those annoyances don't bother me, they certainly do, though probably not as much as they would others. I have the first RC Pro AM, and I'm use to some of the things already, not everyone will be able to say that due to these 2 games not being that popular despite them being good.

So let's get down to it here...

Things that kept this game from placing higher

1. The first and most important reason is the cheating computer. It doesn't matter if you have all the best equipment and are fully powered up they can just run off and leave you easy. Some just zoom by you in straightaways, some can rush over rugged terrain like it's nothing, some move faster on the speed arrows. For whatever reason, this was a bad idea IMO. What's the point of having the computers be able to use their money to buy upgrades and things if they're always going to come out better than you anyway? As you probably noticed in the video, if I hadn't bought weapons I'd have had no way of doing so well in the final few races.

2. The uncertainties of the track. Sure you can see the shape of the track, but when they display the track they should show you where the oil slicks, water spots, speed arrows, etc are. This isn't like Mario Kart where you can see everything that's coming up. Usually though, it's more than one lap so if you can memorize quickly you can do better the 2nd round, only problem is by that time many of the items you need are gone and the computers can be way ahead.

3. The Point/Continue System. As you see, when you place 4th you use up a continue, pretty normal, only thing is the points still get distributed and later in the game you have to redo the stage. Looking back at Mario Kart here, think about it....you have a bad race and get last, you still get the least amount of points and have to redo that stage. It would completely mess up your game and you'd probably have to reset. Now here of course it isn't nearly as bad, but it is unfair still.

4. Prices. The prices in the shop are incredibly high at first, and if you go through and buy every part 1 at a time you won't have enough to get the best engine/tires later on. You buy the wrong things, you'll slowly start lagging behind the computers, get less money, and not be able to get better parts. It's a fairly long game, and while you can buy more continues that doesn't really help much when your cash flow is too low for you to be able to win a race. What I personally would have done is given the option to sell parts back for a partial price or give partial refunds based on what you had when you buy an upgrade.

Now for the things I do like

1. The most important thing again first, you do not have to finish in first place to advance, you can get 1st 2nd or 3rd.....sometimes even 4th. I feel that this makes the videos a lot more entertaining because you don't always know if I'm going to win a race or not.

2. Car upgrades. I like the fact that you collect the letters to get car upgrades and that the computers also must do so to get them. That much seems very fair to me at least.

3. Upgrades in general. You can buy better speed, better turning, weapons, shields, even oil slicks and nitros. For it being an NES game, it's a pretty nice selection I think. And also the fact that computers also buy these, it does determine how well they do until near the end of the game apparently when they just blow past you like you're standing still.

4. The Mechanics of the game. From the way you race to the way you buy upgrades, even the fact that it's an overhead view, I had a lot of fun with this game, and it's a nice improvement over the first game yet the first game would still be fun to play.

Anyways, I could keep going but this writeup is getting too long. This game is one of those that I could play again and again and again. Fun Fact about this game is that the last 8-10 tracks are randomly picked from the rest of the tracks in the game so it won't always be the exact thing every time you play. Maybe I'm a little biased for this game, but I like it, I really do. And if not for the cheating computer I could see this game placing a spot or two higher.

River City Ransom
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly524fvcbVo&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU5JCGbYCj0&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sps3VBOzzyQ&fmt=18

Let me just start out by saying, I LOVE THIS GAME!!! Playing this game is one of my best memories as a child. When I was really young, 7, 8, w/e, and I had any of my friends stay the night we would always play through this game.

Anyway, this game is one of the earliest beat-em-up type games that I know of and it is also one of the best IMO. The combat format is simple but expanded upon. Punch, Kick, use a weapon, use your opponent as a weapon. XD Generally, I would say this is a Beat-em-up with RPG elements. Although you can't really tell in the videos, you do have statistics for nearly everything you do. Punch power, kick power, throw power, jump height, dexterity, etc. The game is really done well, makes me sad that there are only a few other games like it.

So anyway, let's get down to discussing the game itself.

The controls are very fluent, you tell it to move and it moves.

The graphics are ok for it's time, they aren't amazing but not many graphics on the nes are so that isn't really meant to be taken into account.

The difficulty can be pretty hard if you aren't EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the game as I am.

The replayability of this game is also pretty high I'd say. There are a good 6-7 powerups and you most likely will not get them all your first run. There's even a couple of secret places in the game.

Lastly, the fun factor of the game. If you like beat-em-ups at all I can almost assure you that you will love this game, maybe not as much as I, but hopefully you will. =p

The RPG Elements of the game are pretty noticeable even though you didn't see much of them in the videos. You have a status screen just like most if not all RPG games which has a number representing how good each stat is. Due to me knowing the game so well, and playing it on normal difficulty, we didn't really have to focus on improving our stats much. The format for it is pretty simple. Beat enemies, get money, buy stuff that helps increase your stats, typical RPG stuff, but considering the time this game came out I think it's pretty amazing.

Now the 2 player aspect of the game, this is where the game gets REALLY fun. I know in most games, like Double Dragon 2 or Battletoads, hitting your teammate can be a real nuisance because it can really mess you up, but that isn't the case for this game. You don't have a set number of lives or continues, so no matter how many times you die you just go back to w/e your last town was. So the real fun is being able to kill your teammate anytime without having to worry about the consequences, sure you may die, but the game won't take you back very far. When you're playing with someone, and hopefully they're a good sport, just surprise them by picking them up and throwing them at someone when they're low on health killing both the enemy and them, it's load of fun to do. In fact, all the deaths in the vid actually made the game that much more fun to go through.

So, definitely one of my fondest memories growing up and a game that's sure to stay near the top for as long as I'm a gamer.

Silver Surfer
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayng69-zqYo&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cENfdjOwXdw&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGshid1GTu8&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSdT65d-6f4&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEgx5gQThZQ&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akDMrH3fTQk&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg7sLMrIkCQ&fmt=18

I will go ahead and say right off the bat, when you're fully powered up and blowing up tons of enemies the game actually can be a tiny bit of fun.....until you bump your head on a wall or ceiling, die, and then RAGE at the game...

Just looking at the game it doesn't seem like it would be that bad, and it wouldn't be if they would have just changed a couple things.

1. Walls/Ceilings should NOT be lethal to the touch. The walls aren't some living organisms that attack you if you get too close. More than that, even if you had a life bar they shouldn't even damage you. Silver Surfer is in complete control over how he moves and he isn't going that fast. He isn't some machine that gets scuffed up by running up against a wall.

2. Life Bar, Life Bar, Life Bar. I won't lie, this game CAN be easy with a life bar if you know exactly what to expect, but that's just it...unless you've played through it a few times or watched someone else you won't know what to expect. Enemies that take multiple hits fly out of no where at you and you just barely make it out of the way if you even do. Battletoads has this same kind of problem but at least it gives you a life bar.

3. Enemies. Enemies take way too many hits unless you're powered up and the game apparently expects you to be powered up the whole time. Fully powered the enemies are pretty easy to kill, but fully unpowered is a nightmare. The game REALLY should have distributed the difficulty better. Have there be some enemies other than the final boss that are still hard to kill fully powered, and have there be enemies that aren't hard to kill fully unpowered.

Well, given those 3 major problems with the game, if they had fixed at least 2 of them the game could have been ok. With all 3 of those problems though, this game is terrible.

You can get a pretty good example by watching the videos but let me map out one for you.

You start off very weak, enemies take tons of hits and you have no way of knowing which drop powerups and which don't. You could try to kill them, but you may die due to touching a wall or hitting one of them and having no life bar. So you decide to play it safe by going for the powerups that are already visible. Soon as you grab it, enemies jump out of no where at you killing you because you have no life bar and they take too many hits. So you go through many plays to get the layout of the first level down, you get your powerups and enemies are going down pretty easy now, but oooo, you touch a wall causing you to die thereby making you weak again and enemies now take a billion shots and kill you because you have no life bar. Yea....the game is bad, it was just bad. Fixing even ONE of those problems could have made it a good bit more enjoyable.

In closing, I feel I should point out that the game does have some codes to make the game easier. But wouldn't you know, the first one I got is a code for higher difficulty, everyone wants that right? XD

Snake Rattle n Roll
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvPeUqL7kiY&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2fyoe3jV8M&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxCy70-hc6c&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF2pa-sWzdk&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIsb-V01bTQ&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgmgzHoSMzQ&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVVDalFQBhw&fmt=18

The game is just too tedious to make it any higher. I would say without a doubt the hardest thing about this game is controlling the movement added with the fact that you can die in the later stages very easy if you don't control it right. The sliding panels seem to take effect on you the moment you jump over them, even if you haven't touched them yet, and that can really throw someone off quickly.

Spelunker
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLkejk9WtfQ&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alNOJmE6id8&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnyI3kbIBX8&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HWZoxGTBU8&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=488Pz63C5nY&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ErQv3uk5o&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykrdvFXDnp4&fmt=18

This game....is an annoying mess. You jump, you die, you walk, you die, you sit there, you die. Even using your weapon drains your time, WHAT IS THAT?! I have never heard of that. Ammo I could understand, but using your weapon shouldn't be able to kill you. Then there's the terrible controls in this game. Whenever you decide to jump to a vine or ladder, let go of forward IMMEDIATELY or expect the guy to let go of the vine/ladder and die, what kind of logic is? Ok, I want to jump to that vine there, but I can't hold forward or I die? To make matters worse, you can't jump up and then push forward to ease into the jump.

Then there's the fact that even your own weapons can hurt you. This isn't bomberman so why am I dying from my own Bomb? Are they trying to make it realistic? If so, how does a firework kill me?! Let alone the fact that it's my own firework. And on the note of jumping again "Oops, you missed a platform and fell half a centimeter, guess you're dead lawl"..........Yes, if you want to get technical and take the size of the guy into account, yes you fall further than half a centimeter. However...I'm a little over 6 foot, if I was on a ladder and jumped down 6 feet IT WOULDN'T KILL ME! And let's not forget about the Ghost, sure he isn't much of a threat himself but don't let him catch you on an elevator because you're helpless on there as the game won't let you shoot.

As awful as this game is though, it isn't the worst game I've played, but it's still bad enough to make it on my dislike list without any problems.

Spelunker 2
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHvMhW8A2kU&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EXRDhF5lsY&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1tPAmfrX3o&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7MifFN_INw&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0_qOT97SZg&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvkHSnghtRE&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsMi4l4w5bg&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoS7JoUssG4&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh-NDdK2cbY&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fUk_iud4TA&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG9gGvIKO-Y&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF8ss4ux3OY&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHLUqOGVB1g&fmt=18

This game is amazing. Not because it's such a good game, but because it can be buggy, glitchy and tedious....and yet still get me to like it a little.

Well, anyway, this game is much improved over the first game, but it still has it's downfalls as most games do.

The Controls

They're ok at best. Yes he moves when you push the button to move, but the attack is the problem. Sometimes when you press the button to attack, it simply doesn't attack. I only noticed this with the knife but it may be all the other items as well. Also, moving up and down stairs is a real pain sometimes as when you're trying to duck to hit something low you end up going down the stairs if you're to close, and if you're on the stairs you can't attack.

The Difficulty

It's average. It's not too hard, not to easy, but it does have extreme ups and downs. For starters, the bosses seem to get easier as you go along.

Boss 1 - Hard to kill regardless of what you do.

Boss 2 - Might be a little hard to kill with the knife but very easy with the gun.

Boss 3 - Very easy with the knife or gun.

Final Boss - If you fight him with just the sword he can be ok in the difficulty department, but if you use the stun like I did he's a complete joke, even easier than most common enemies.

The Common enemies themselves can be kinda hard. The larva that move around and turn into flying bugs either after you hit them a few times or over time can be hard. You don't know when they're going to turn into the fliers and when they do it's usually too late to get away. The Scorpions can be hard as well. At first they just seemed like basic enemies that took more hits but then they started jumping and firing projectiles.

The Gameplay

It's kinda like Castlevania but not as good of course. You have your life bar and your holy meter which is a new feature after playing the first. Holy is for 2 things, using the rosary to kill zombies and ghosts, and keeping yourself out of hell whenever you fall into a hole. You get holy by killing enemies and lose it by either falling into the holes, looting sacks(which you usually need unfortunately), or killing deer. Without holy you can't use the rosary and are defenseless against the undead unless you bomb them.

Music and Graphics

The graphics are pretty average for an NES game, it's nothing too special but then you can't expect much from an 8 bit game so it's ok. The music on the other hand I like, especially the temple music as it's one of those themes I can sit there and listen to again and again. XD

In comparison to the first game

There are many things that this game fixes that were a real problem in the first game, however, it creates some new problems itself along the way.

IT DOES fix the falling deaths which I am very thankful for. Now you just take a little damage from falling too far, but that's much better than completely dying. However, if you fall into one of the holes it may not kill you but it will send you back to start and that can get a little aggravating.

IT DOES fix having to worry about a timer. In the original game, not only did you die from running out of time, but even using your weapon drains your time. In this game though while you do seem to have some kind of time it never once ran out on me and using your weapon in no way affects it. I'm really not sure what the time has to do with this game though.

IT DOES NOT fix the problem with jumping from vine to vine I'm afraid. If you let go of forward too late when jumping from vine to vine you can easily let go and fall.

IT CREATES a new problem with the keys. In the original game keys were automatically used when you got near the doors but in this game you have to select them. I find this to be a pointless addition to the game really.

IT DOES fix how easy it is to die not only from falling but enemies themselves. You no longer get 1 shotted by everything, now you have a life bar and a really good amount of life at that.

IT CREATES traps as I mentioned before. There are places that you can fall and can't get out but don't die immediately. The main problem with this is you have only 1 life and no continues and because these places or under where you have to jump from vine to vine you can easily mess up and have to start the entire game over again.

It DOES NOT fix the problem with the bombs. In the 2nd game your own bomb won't kill you, but it will still damage you. The main problem though is that in the 2nd game it's much harder to get far enough away from them that you don't get hurt and in some cases I don't think you even can.

Overall

Its not really a bad game despite it's downsides. Sure it can be a little annoying because of it's bugs but it's still a vast improvement over the original game. If you can look past it's flaws though, you may have a little fun with it, though, I recommend getting the english patch for it if you want to play it. =p

Startropics
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHA7ah8nf1g&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igo1VXgbKto&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgumCrY_np4&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I9XQZL5saM&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-OqwbaXh3M&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsxD_EI5ggk&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTa_45C3R88&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNetLarH7cI&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhObI6FGhZ8&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCLRv-RJEUE&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ3HapGPLTE&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDW8rpNEooQ&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdAkDdgqXXo&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43WWcOE69ag&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk9d36WDAkQ&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRlA87YDWuY&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyW4QX7O9Gs&fmt=18

Part 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtDv9NapKyA&fmt=18

Part 19 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T9agxtLx84&fmt=18

Part 20 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkVEkmSs0I8&fmt=18

Part 21 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r94d3x8Xi4&fmt=18

Part 22 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdnzIHaRorg&fmt=18

Part 23 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylAlr9aj6tA&fmt=18

Startropics has been an RPG like none I have ever played before. In fact...it's so different that I don't even think calling it an RPG would be appropriate. *Looks up game* Apparently Action-Adventure with RPG elements is what you'd classify it is, and that seems fine to me so let's go with that. =p

To start it off, this game has possibly the weirdest movement controls I've ever seen for this type of game. If you're facing one way and you push a different direction he doesn't automatically go in that direction, first he turns and then a second later he starts moving in that direction if you continue to hold the d-pad down. It can be very VERY easy to get thrown off by this as I was so often while playing the game and it is this aspect that can make or break the game. For me I honestly bumped it down a couple notches in the ranks just because this feature annoyed me, but honestly it's not the game or the developers fault if we take an in depth look. Looking at the way this feature is, it actually makes perfect sense and is in some ways BETTER than the usual way of movements. What hurts it though, is that almost every other game does not do it this way and so I highly doubt anyone will be use to this kind of thing at first.

Other than the wacky moments, the rest of the basics are still pretty much the same. You can attack, jump, or use items/magic. You have a set amount of life in the form of hearts and throughout the game you have the chance to increase it a few times. All your items/magic have a specific number of uses based on how much of them you collect. Unlike RPG's though, you don't have Magic Points and there are no shops. The game still has towns but they all serve some kind of purpose unlike with many RPG's where there are towns just to stock up/rest up/etc. The game is almost completely linear, while you may have to figure out how to do some things the only times you may actually get lost are on the overworld parts where they just throw a maze at you for no reason. You won't run into any random battles or have enemies to fight, the mazes are simply just to consume time.....which is annoying.

As stated, there are no random battles, all fights are in dungeons and they are overhead battles like Zelda instead of like Final Fantasy. As you'd expect, each enemy has their own pattern/attacks/etc to make them unique and the actual terrain of the dungeons will play a factor many many times. The bosses themselves are diverse enough so you won't feel they are copied from each other. Often times during these dungeons you'll find many hidden paths that have items to help you out, and every now and then you will have to find a hidden path to move on. Sometimes the game will give you a few seconds to glimpse over the floor and then shut you in the dark forcing you to remember what you saw so you'll know how to get through, and other times the game will just remove the floor out from under you, so you usually won't know what to expect.

The story part of the game is pretty basic. It seems like a nice little game about a guy who disappeared until you find out it's due to aliens and well....that's where it takes an odd turn. <_<

Anyway, before finishing this writeup I would like to point out a few annoyances both minor and major.

1st off, why even let you pick a name if they aren't going to call you by that name.

2nd off, as I said before the mazes are a complete waste of time. There are no hidden items, no enemies to fight, nothing to gather, just a pointless waste of time.

3rd off, I hate the movement in this game, I really do. Even right up to the end of the game it was still getting on my nerves.

4th off, some of the AI in this game is just annoying rather than good. Take the last part of the game for example with the shooting enemies. They intentionally try to be as close to you as possible while remaining diagnal to you because you can't do anything to them that way. Then knowing that running into you will only hurt you they attempt to do that. If you don't have full health they can outrange you, and if you do shoot them once they start running away where you can't get them but they can still get you. This is just annoying...it combines many things I hate. Running into you and it only hurting you and outranging you while staying away from you, this is just irritating.

Lastly, just because I have some gripes about this game don't think of it as a bad game or that I didn't like it, I did like it and still do. Overall it was still a really good game outside of the annoying movements, and it may take some time to get use to them but you will....hopefully. While the game will never be making it onto any of my favorites lists, I will at least admit I had a good amount of fun with it, and hopefully the sequel will be just as fun if not more fun.

Super Dodge Ball
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHuGeH2TWso&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji0wM3YHhIw&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcnnCHYQ2Tw&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVdncZkWUTc&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMGTsPbtZ4M&fmt=18

This is another game I had very fond memories as a little and also 1 of the 3 I played just about every time I had a friend spend the night at my house. This game, Rivery City Ransom, and Mystical Ninja were the big 3. While they weren't my favorite of favorites, they were favorites to play with someone else. Sure the multiplayer in this game is a bit 1 sided based on which team you pick, and it's pretty hard to beat someone when 2 players are really good, but it's definitely a satisfying win when you finally get it.

Dodge ball is what it sounds like....dodge ball. You have 6 people to a team and you choose 3 to use at a time while the other 3 are outside the barriers on your opponents side. Each team member has regular throws they can make and the damage and speed can vary depending on stats, momentum and height of a jump. All characters also come equipped with 2 special throws, 1 for running on the ground and throwing and the other for running them jumping and throwing. Some characters however can throw an air special without running. There are many special throws in the game, not sure exactly how many per say but I'd guess around 16-18.

Not including multiplayer, there are 2 modes of play both which I showed in the videos.

The first is Bean Ball. Bean Ball is basically every man for himself. Unfortunately it can only be done with the main team (USA) though. The cool thing about it though is that because it is every man for himself this can still be challenging because you never know what computer player will be after you. Now me personally I messed around a bit and it ended up being more challenging than it should be but anyways... Bean Ball can also be played with 2 people (wish it could have used the 4 player accessory) and when in multi player it adds a lot more fun to it.

As for the main mode of the game, the "story" I guess you would say even though it doesn't have much of one really, you again are stuck with Team USA, drag, but still enjoyable. If they had allowed you to pick w/e team you wanted though I imagine everyone would pick the team with the most life. <_<

For the main mode though, you travel around the world facing each countries Dodge Ball team. These teams range from the USA All Stars(which strangely is not you as there's 2 USA teams) and Russia. And be careful, some teams have fields that will affect play. The basic goal is to beat 1 team, move on to the next, and so on until you beat the game. You're given some variety though as you have 6 players on a team and you can use any 3 you wish during any match, the choice is completely up to you.

And while this is all fun, the real treat is the multiplayer mode. For multiplayer, both people can use any team in the game. While some teams will be clearly better than others, it's still a nice change of pace from having to use the same team over and over. Unfortunately though...Bean Ball, as mentioned, will always be Team USA even during multiplayer.

Also, while there are many Dodge ball games out there I would recommend only 2 others for fans of this game. Dodge Ball Advanced on the GBA and Dodge Ball Brawlers on the DS. Those 2 games come the closest to this type of gameplay while the rest of the Dodge ball games just don't feel right at all.

Overall, awesome game, even more awesome with a friend.

Super Mario Bros.
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ0VOHbjxZ8&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb-6nFcKHfQ&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow-JEzFOEVI&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfGbGNrMhPI&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc1pLavK27E&fmt=18

This one I REALLY had a tough time placing in the rankings. Obviously it wasn't going to be first, I mean the 3rd game beats it in pretty much every way, but for the outdated original I think I have it fairly placed.

For it's time, it was revolutionary. But by todays standards age has taken it's tole not to mention later games in the series have outclassed it in every way possible. It's Mario, so if you're a fan of the Mario series and you were around back then you probably loved the game. Though if you were to pick it up for the first time today you may not find it that good. The game has a few drawbacks that were later fixed in Super Mario 2 and 3.

The Controls in this game are good for the most part...but Mario's momentum gain can really throw you if you're use to later games and often cause you to die where you wouldn't expect to.

The Difficulty I find is harder than 3. Yes most of us know about the warps where you can get through the game quickly, but without those it's a pretty challenging game. No continues, hard to gain extra lives and many enemies like the flying fish and hammer bros. that take some getting use to in order to be able to deal with effectively.

The Gameplay is great for it's time and still good now but overshadowed by later games in the series.

The main thing about this game is it started the most successful video game series ever. Plenty of later games would make little tributes to this first classic game here and there by having parts of it pop up. And for those that were around at the time of the original it's such a feeling of nostalgia and we just love it. Plenty of people today still love the 2D Mario side scrolling the most and for good reason. Whether it was the best way to do Mario or not, it was the original and it can't be denied that it worked wonderfully.

From the first time we got that fire flower, to the first time we discovered the warp pipes in Stage 1-2, for it's time this game was a masterpiece. I doubt that are many today who don't know of it, but for those that haven't played through it give a try. Sure it's primitive, sure it may feel a tad clunky, but for what it was it's a game that deserves the praise it gets.

Super Mario Bros. 2
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK-IeDtAdG4&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1duMFbm60&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpXFpN8UDQ4&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvkYQzpuQPU&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFFkzbAZymw&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrlpMPXN2Jw&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUSsaPW6ab4&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q6-FN_9Jfg&fmt=18

Super Mario Bros. 2, the oddball of the original 3 and I actually really like this game.....but I'm sure many do.

Just by looking at the game you can tell it's different, even if you look at just the box. Here there are no goombas, no koopa troopas, no King Koopa, and youd didn't even have warp pipes. Instead you got Ostro(Birdo) and Wart........ Well anyway, the characters may not have been as great but the game is certainly still enjoyable.

As usual for a Mario Game (at least ones made by Nintendo) the controls are smooth, the graphics are nice, and the gameplay is overall very fun. I'd say the only reason the games ranked above this are above it is simply because I have more fun playing them, but if you based it on which game is actually better made than this one would certainly be higher. I know sometimes this game gets a little hate due to it being different, but I say that change is not always a bad thing.

3 writeups in 1 day certainly messes with the quality of them, and I don't have time to go into all the differences but I would like to point out a few major ones.

1. Character Select Screen. This is something that is very unusual for a Mario game, in fact it's so unusual that I don't know of them ever doing it again (Not including Mario Party/Mario Kart etc)

2. You no longer kill enemies by just jumping on them, now you jump on them, pick them up and fling them at each other. You can even throw other things at them to kill them.

3. Keys were implemented. You get a key, the crazy face guardian or whatever chases you as long as you have it. This key idea may have returned in Super Mario World but we know it's very different from that.

4. Boss at the end of every level. Sure it may just be Ostro(Birdo) at the end of most of them, but it's far different from just jumping on a flag or touching a finish line square to get a card.

5. Cast of enemies. It's sooooooooo different, so much in fact that I don't think you see any enemies in this game that you do from Super Mario Bros. 1 or 3.

Anyway, I really need to finish this up so I'm just going to say plain and simple, this is a great game and underrated I think.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvafenwIotM&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yuoeua-yV0&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COaNfTv4IGc&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVz0vjEaO80&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfUIYgylaNE&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9njaAoDiuok&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV6MmYSYuDU&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCdYzEFgaSY&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=934TyxX3nkk&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tthc4veWBPs&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YdIdH2c0MQ&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO8Pm5Xf8NI&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHWFnlgPLQ8&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4L4_OEjHvY&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXs8tRhup7M&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzoQGK8423I&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6k1mECMWd4&fmt=18

Part 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW9FsxCe4vU&fmt=18

What can I say? Easy choice for it's placement. This game had it all, it was amazing for it's time.

Controls are perfect, He moves when you tell him and exactly how much.

Difficulty is perfect. It can challenge you without being overly challenging. It keeps you well stocked on lives to where you may not run out, yet you still hit levels that make you go through life after life after life.

Gameplay is perfect. Tons of secrets, plenty of powerups, lots of variety, and even a few games for 2 player mode.

I loved this game so much as a kid I even made sure to keep the box for it. I even have more than 1 copy of this game though I'm not sure how that happened seeing as both work just fine. This game starts you off right away having fun. Each and every new thing you discover somehow manages to top the last.

Raccoon Mario - Woah he can fly....BEST POWERUP EVER!

Tanooki Mario - Woah he can fly AND turn to stone to kill things you couldn't before....BEST POWERUP EVER

Hammer Bro Mario - Ok, this is just awesome, that's all there is to say....BEST POWERUP EVER

Frog Suit Mario - Not my favorite, but some people like him best. =p

Fire Mario - Even the old traditional powerup has plenty of love.

Even nowadays, this game is praised for not having been affected by age at all. You can still pick it up after 10-19 years and love it all over again. As far as the NES era goes, this is about as close to perfect as it gets.

Sweet Home
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UO5R5oLiJM&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v5CKqaxYa0&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdmxvWgVOxI&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fym0hARXrXU&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkjNLGIcWQ&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7_tpVsZblo&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHFb0QYJGjs&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cMW4g3WTic&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s33AGRMKD7M&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPgJ5itGUkw&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRUaynDxkWM&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zKGqGt5Yhw&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo6O0_fmJkA&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXlN6c5azls&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dH14wVdyAw&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1CXdwEN7FM&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kHgw2ER_xc&fmt=18

Part 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G027fJIYo4&fmt=18

Part 19 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS0TNQBB96I&fmt=18

Part 20 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SR0N7W1lcs&fmt=18

Part 21 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLNaC9iNKNE&fmt=18

Part 22 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcvAlGTrmEs&fmt=18

Part 23 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sva-cA_3Mio&fmt=18

Part 24 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJv7yEVrbco&fmt=18

Part 25 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmR3qviHHDY&fmt=18

Part 26 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86A0CSJ9TmM&fmt=18

Part 27 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYJSUmDlI9A&fmt=18

For a game I had never even heard of, it was a lot of fun. What I find amazing about this game is that the things about it that would annoy me if they were in other games I somehow didn't mind in this one....I hope that makes sense at least. The actual RPGish elements of the game are pretty simple as the game isn't much of a challenge fight wise. You can however lose your characters pretty easy due to areas in the game gone wrong or status effects. But anyway...on with the actual review =p

This game is an RPG but certainly not a traditional one. It isn't one of those "Level up a billion times and rage through everything" RPG's, no, in this one you actually have to figure out puzzles and things and I find that pretty cool. While battles are still the same as most other RPG's it's what you do outside the battles that makes this game unique. Whether it's finding items to get past certain areas or just figuring out where to go next via clues given. Ok ok, I know I usualy like non linear games and hate having to figure out where to go but as I said the things that normally would annoy me with this game didn't seem to bother me at all.

As you begin you have 5 characters each with things only they can do(for the time being anyway). For some reason you're forced to split them up in at least 2 groups which is understandable after having played it but it didn't make sense at first. Unlike most RPG's, you don't buy items in a shop or from a store, you find them laying around and you have to pick up each item. The odd thing though is when you try to do this with weapons. You can't simply just pick up a weapon, you have to switch it with the one you currently have which I got stuck on cause I had no idea how to do that for a little bit.

Throughout the game you'll come to certain areas where you need a specific item to pass it, thankfully each character can hold 2 including their unique item that they start with and a weapon. This can get a bit tedious at times though when the item is with the wrong character and they're no where near where you need it at. Also certain items only have 1 use so use them wisely. As you go through the game you'll find what I could call "replacement unique items" which do the same thing each characters unique item does, this is useful in case a character dies, because once they die they don't come back.

The game drops you clues all the way through by using paintings that have hidden words in them giving you a hint of what to do next. This feature severely cuts back on the "OMG ME SO LOST" factor that some RPG's have, but there's still some guess work to be done at times.

I don't really want to give away too much story in case someone hasn't seen the videos, but the basic story is that the 5 characters are trapped after entering this mansion and the mansion ends up being haunted due to what happened there. Sure this kind of thing has probably been used a lot, but it had been used a lot less at the time this game was released, and sadly this is a Japanese only game. =(

The last thing I want to mention really is the final boss fight. Again I don't want to give too much away, but this is another way the game is unique. The final boss fight is actually story driven instead of hack and slash. You don't fight till you beat the boss, you have to use items obtained throughout the game to finish the story and that will win you the game.

Overall, this game was surprisingly awesome. In that respect it also disappoints me again that it's a Japanese only game, but given that it's based off a movie that I think was only released there I guess I understand.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8yeQbD_h8w&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwW_zMxwsxM&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTHnIqBwlGA&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0q_pEspYsY&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weREVDZKpp8&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuwlcgaELm8&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2gAdi2V9Co&fmt=18

TMNT 2 was a fun game for it's day, but I feel that it has not aged well AT ALL. I find this to be mostly due to later games in the series completely obsoleting this one by pretty much improving on everything. And this isn't like going from Street Fighter 3 back to Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo because both games are still worth playing. It's more like going from Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo back to the original Street Fighter 2. There's really no point as other than the enemies it's the same thing just with way less to do.

Not that this game can't still be fun, it can if you have a friend and you aren't use to playing the TMNT series. Once you've played later games in the series though, I can't see why you'd want to come back to this one other than to just to check it out.

For it's time, it was a very solid beat-em-up. Very smooth controls, nice difficulty, a few extras but back in that day we didn't expect A LOT from this genre as no game had ever went really far with it yet. And of course when playing with friends we all knew how big a debate you had if you both wanted to pick the same turtle.

There's really not a lot to say about this game that can't be said about other old Beat-em-up's for it's day. Sure it was one of the best in it's time, but back then we weren't expecting nearly as much as we do now.

The Little Mermaid
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCJmsXjxEk&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRgxskHG04k&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT9gxhDSjgc&fmt=18

Going to try to get back into shorter writeups here after the monstrosity that is Ironsword.

Let me just start off by saying that this game is not bad. It's a simple little game by Capcom, and Capcom really did the Disney series well. Darkwing Duck, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, all great games but all 3 surpass this one.

As great a job as Capcom did with this game, it is not without it's problems. The game has minor problems like the shell glitching into the wall, but I'm going to focus on the main problems here.

For starters, the game is just way too short. It only has 5 stages, none of which are that big, and then 1 final boss fight which also isn't much. Stage 5 itself is suppose to be a maze but as you can see I easily figured it out without knowing what to do....of course you are pretty much given a big hint before the stage. Also, you can swim even faster than normal making them feel even shorter as you'll notice I remembered I could do in the 2nd video.

Second off, this game has what I would call miniature Silver Surfer Syndrome. If you're fully unpowered this game can offer you a slight challenge with 1 or 2 boss fights, but if you're full powered up this game is a breeze. Also, if you just have a little patience you can probably beat this game with only dying once or maybe not at all in your first playthrough. I of course have a bit of a problem being patient when I'm recording though, so I did mess up a bit. XD

Third, the final boss is a complete joke. I highly doubt anyone could have trouble with. Now, I'm not gonna say it's Castlevania II easy or even Spelunker 2 easy, but really she could pass as a first boss in all honesty.

Lastly, I gotta mention 1 little thing about the story, it isn't a major thing, just a little thing I found humorous. At the end of the game it says Ariel spent every day looking up at the land and crying, and THEN Triton decided to make her human again. What a jerk to let her wait for days knowing what she really wanted.

Other than that, everything with this game is ok. The controls are fine, the music is fine, the gameplay is fine, though Capcom usually does do a good job with all 3 and especially the music.

Before I finish this writeup.....no, it being a girly game did not affect it's ranking placement though to be honest that is one reason I didn't want to play this. Solid game though, especially for younger kids just getting into video games.

The Smurfs
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzTkP-t2g8o&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ivKLa71EE&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt_UNhJNG4I&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRusHQGtMxc&fmt=18

I really don't have too much to say about this game. It's very short and very basic and with the exception of 1 level it was a pretty easy game.

Now don't get me wrong, I had fun with this game, but the fact that it's so easy kinda brings it down. The first video I was dying a lot but I realized after I got use to the controls that this game wasn't going to be that much of a challenge so I switched to hard.

I can't stress the difficulty enough. I find the music to actually be pretty good, the platforming aspect of it is ok, even the item collection in it is a fun touch, but the difficulty is awful. I'm not asking it to have annoyingly hard difficulty, but at least don't allow it to be too easy.

I hate to have such a short writeup but there's not match to say really.

Music, fine

Controls, fine

Gameplay, fine

Difficulty, outside of the sledding level and bosses 5 year old could probably beat this game, because those are the only parts of the game I would even consider hard.

The only other thing I really want to make mention of is the final level and bosses.

The final level itself is a bit tedious. They did a pretty good job with it because it actually reaches that difficulty point I was wanting in some areas.

The bosses however, can be pretty challenging.

The first one has an easy pattern to figure out, but if you mess up you can find yourself getting hit into the water and dying instantly.

The second one just requires patiece and timing, if you can do that he's not nearly as difficult as he seems, but there again you can get hit into a pit and die instantly.

The final boss though, is the real kicker. You have to get the bird to drop the acorn(or w/e it is) onto the board at just the right place, if you're even a little off you will probably not beat the boss. It only allows you to mess up twice and then you have no hope of winning and the board has a pretty precise place where the acorn has to drop.

Overall, if they fixed the difficulty in the game and made it longer(like they probably did with the SNES version) I could see this game placing a good bit higher.

The Three Stooges
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM8bP_1-4Lc&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EA0DHbwjt8&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWaU78AKdqY&fmt=18

The best way I can sum this game up is it's a game of mini games/events, that's basically all there is to it.

Basically think of this game as a board game. Your main objective is to make enough money to stop the bank from foreclosing on an orphanage. To make matters worse, the orphanage also needs money to make repairs, so this game basically has 3 endings. Don't make enough money, make enough for the bank only, make enough for both. As you're playing the board game, you have 30 turns to make enough money.

There's an ok amount of spaces you can land on, but there really should have been more. Yes I know it's an NES game, and it has some ok variety, but it's lacking. I definitely had fun playing this...but that's only because I hadn't played it in like 15 years. Playing this again right after you beat it you'll probably get bored pretty fast, especially when you have all the mini games down like I do.

The catch to this, like other board games, is you don't get to just pick what space you want to land on. The space chooser starts off slow, but gets progressively faster as you play the game, and late in the game can be quite challenging. There is thankfully a way to slow it down though, but you're taking a risk as if you fail you may make it go even faster.

Anyway, from what I understand, every part of this game outside of maybe the mousetrap has something to do with shows they've done. I'll just go into the different spaces you can land on, and that will be the review.

Mousetrap - Land on this 4 times and you won't even get 30 days to make the money. Your game comes to an end right there.

Banker - Usually he will just tell you that you won't make enough, but sometimes he takes money from you, so bad space to land on.

Cash sign - For this you just get a random amount of money, I think it goes up to $1000.

SAFE - Either you get $500 or lose $1000.

Pointer - Does nothing but waste a turn really. Or at the very least I've never noticed it do anything.

Trivia - You must answer trivia questions about their careers. This part I am absolutely terrible at, despite how many of their shows I've actually seen.

Faceoff - This looks like Moe pulling Curly's nose. Basically the point of this is to beat up Larry and Curly as badly as you can, the better you do the slower your space chooser will go...but if you do poorly it speeds up on you. Very risky space to land on.

Boxing - Basically the story is that Curly is fighting the champ and can only do well while Pop goes the weasel is playing. The violin Larry is using to play it gets broken so he has to dash to the music store. On your way there you come across piles of boxes, poles, ladders and other various things you must dodge to get there and back before the 6 rounds are up.

Crackers - Curly has entered a cracker eating contest but the oyster's are eating up the crackers before he can get them. You must quickly scoop them up before they get stolen from you.

Doctors - In this mini game you follow behind a doctor on the way to the emergency room trying to dodge other patients and collecting items that fall at the same time. This is actually more difficult than it seems.

Waiters - Best game IMO. You are having a 3on3 pie fight, you must hit your opponents and dodge the pies they throw at you.

Overall, I think this is a very fun game the first few times you may play it, but it's charm wears after that. It will always have the nostalgia of being The 3 Stooges and in that aspect it forever stays awesome....but as far as NES games go it should have been a lot better. The one thing that I will give this game credit for is the epic intro it has, I absolutely love that.

Uninvited
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG0qst01c9w&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W80Lud6HZLw&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFEduKGSFSY&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzYCppJWbSk&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPpFgGQY3xk&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUjqJj2rzVI&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2EY2tT01E&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LCpSsOxT6o&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8lMKhFegr0&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0rdYaCSzvA&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3lPQqgsDcs&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmbhkzEcMaE&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g1OFlDW3Zg&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V6SRYbK9R0&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlf97YPww5Y&fmt=18

UGH, This game, was so TERRIBLE! Seriously, get it away from me. I hated this game so much that I can GUARANTEE the next 5 games nominated for me to play I will like better. No I'm not kidding, even Cheetahmen II with it's horribly bugged glitchiness was more fun than this awful game. It's so bad, I'm actually recommending that you DO NOT watch the videos of this game.

I'll say it straight out, there are annoying games, there are terribly made games, and then there are games like this that are just flat out BORING. I will take the first 2 over boring games any day. I may not always hate a boring game the most, but I am sure less willing to give it a 2nd chance.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJzkDKIKwmc&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8QaNsI-iFY&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1bEpitKPII&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SnpUrdyBjc&fmt=18

Ugh this game.....just ugh.

Ok, there's no nice way to say it, this game is BAD....oh so bad. It's not one of those games that's bad because it's boring or bad because it's overly difficult, no, this game is just a nice tossed salad of several bad things together. Oh boy where to start...

First off, everything in this game is against you. Whether it's trying to kill you, trying to kill you, or trying to kill you.....or just not being helpful. I mean honestly now, you can get killed by potted plants falling on your head, dogs, cats, MICE, even a PAIR OF SHOES CAN KILL YOU. Yes I'm aware there are other things that kill you, but at least they make sense. Snake Bite...yea, you're dead, makes sense. Weasels take Roger, well..you're suppose to protect him so yea, makes sense to lose a life there even though you don't actually die. Apair of boots running into you and you dying....yea, that's where the sense just stops. I can let it slide a little seeing as the boots are in Toon Town, but come on....just how does a mouse that touches your shoe kill you. This is worse than Silver Surfer in that aspect. Yes, Silver Surfer does just touch a wall, which is ridiculous, but a pair of boots kill you....that's just too much.

And if things aren't killing you, they're being as little help as they can. You try to find objects by talking to people, but here's the thing, ONLY the people in rooms seem to ever want to help you. People outside the building don't help and people insidet he building don't help unless they're in a room. That one stupid women in the black outfit not only doesn't help you, she's counterproductive by telling you to search the place and then there's nothing. She won't help you till you give her the heart. Lastly, again, I feel the need to bring up Toon Town and how stuff can kill you while you're talking to someone. <_<

Second thing. Finding stuff. Every time you start the game up, where things will appear is completely random. Now, I'm not complaining about where the stuff is per say, I'm complaining about how you find it. You go from building to building checking furniture again and again and again and again and ugh....make it stop. I honestly can't think of but maybe 1 or 2 games that are as repetitive as this game.

And if searching every place wasn't bad enough, the searching part itself is aggravating. Searching....Searching...Searching...and then you find nothing....why does it have to take so long? Then what do they do to make the game even FURTHER annoying? They have it to where enemies can attack you WHILE you're searching in Toon Town. All this does is either cause you to die, or cause yo to have to stop and then research cause you didn't finish.

Was this their idea of a challenge? At this point did they realize how awfully boring this game was so they decided to incorporate some timing? Well, you did a great job of it....no, not of timing I mean of ruining the game further, way to go, good job, give yourselves a pat on the back.........oh wait it's made by LJN, well they probably knew the game would be awful before they started.

Third off. The flow of the game. Find the dynamite and the detonator, find the 4 pieces of the will, find the baseball and now you can fight the last boss. That's it...sure, it sounds easy, and it honestly isn't that hard if you focus on just doing this and say screw all the weapons I'll use the punch glitch on Doom.

The Dynamite and Detonator can both be bought from the store if I remember correctly, and the baseball is always outside a building in toon town and never guarded(again if I remember correctly), so that just leaves the 4 pieces of the will, which are only semi random, you usually know the general area of them but not their exact location. Now of course, the problem comes in when you realize you need other items to get one of the 4 pieces. And as you probably noticed in one of my videos, you need the spring shoes and the rattle to distract the snake. Be careful though, cause I died just by picking up the will cause the game is stupid like that. <_<

Lastly, this game horrible...no seriously it is. Do not play it, please DO NOT PLAY IT. If you need to see more on it, go watch AVGN's review on it, it's short but accurate. I only wish I could list this game lower, but the haunting memories of the games below it just wouldn't allow me to do so. So as I originally said, this game is a tossed salad of many bad games. It's boring, it's annoying, it's extremely unfair when it wants to be, it is completely devoid of fun of any kind, and you will feel no satisfaction at all beating it.

It's not even enough of a difficult game to give you a sense of accomplishing something when you beat it, because if you die at all in the game it will almost always been an unfair death and not because the game actually outsmarted you or anything. So the game starts off unfun, continues to be unfun, and then robs you of the joy of beating it if you do. I would say the only redeeming quality I can even find in this game is that I don't mind a couple themes in the game. Unfortunately, none of these are the ones the game makes you listen to a billion times.

Willow
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ZiCxoU4zk&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SO_vbFqNOE&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlftnC_npI&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAultthFxo&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D8GgrP2xgQ&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0IdRDlHuxg&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXZp2kPqVBY&fmt=18

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LaOgO2wxrw&fmt=18

Part 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ4HLJD9MhU&fmt=18

Part 10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8l3nQO2hVo&fmt=18

Part 11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbHMIiOqY5M&fmt=18

Part 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu75R_8vg_E&fmt=18

Part 13 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAzMHWiLWps&fmt=18

Part 14 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qibPspuASXQ&fmt=18

Part 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0wZ2xTqoxc&fmt=18

Part 16 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Tvpwp3oDs&fmt=18

Part 17 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwAu0KW8nw&fmt=18

Part 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFW_UDBgQ8U&fmt=18

Part 19 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9SCuOJYsU&fmt=18

Part 20 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RVxVemkCUw&fmt=18

Part 21 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HeG2LJ_jyg&fmt=18

Part 22 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwHtwyON2OI&fmt=18

Part 23 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu8h8btk9Qc&fmt=18

Right away I'm sure there will be people who would question my placement of Willow, especially since many people can easily tell it's similarities to Zelda. However, Willow may look like Zelda in many aspects, but it doesn't feel like Zelda. Since it does have similarities to Zelda though, I'll try to base my writeup off the things that are alike and aren't alike.

As the game starts, it seems kinda the same, you have no weapon, no shield, nothing. You walk around the town and there's people to talk to, some help some done.....but then we hit the first thing that puts Willow lower.

Many times during the game, you'll find that a town has empty houses, which serve for nothing more than wasting your time. In Zelda, even places that have no people in them usually serve a purpose, but not so in Willow. Also, for reasons I don't understand, Willow seems to only be able to have 1 house/hut/whatever per screen making it take a long time to walk around town.

After leaving the village, you may encounter some enemies just like in Zelda. However, unlike Zelda you will have screens that do absolutely nothing.

Just like the houses, in Zelda each screen "usually" serves a purpose. Whether it has enemies, a secret entrance to some place, an item, or even a mixture of the 3. Willow on the other hand has many completely empty screens that do nothing, and this makes the game feel a lot slower.

Now I'm not saying I want enemies to be bugging me the entire time, but it would be nice to have a lot less emptiness. Also, sometimes you'll come across enemies you can't do anything about. Rocks coming down the mountain, a face in the wall that can only be killed by magic, and some flying things that look like Baxter Stockman from Ninja Turtles and it's rare to kill one of these things until you're most of the way through the game. This game has too many wastes of time.

Once you encounter enemies, you of course have the option to fight them or not just like in Zelda. But here again, another problem that puts this game below Zelda.

The attacking itself is pretty odd to get use to. If you stand still and attack, he swipes his sword, but if you're moving and you attack he does a thrust. Now let me ask you something, if you're fighting a moving enemy, won't you normally be moving yourself? Well in that case you won't always be able to directly face them so if you have to move you're going to do a thrust and miss. This is completely stupid IMO, it should be the other way around where moving = swipe and not moving = thrust. The way they chose to do it like this will get you killed many many times. In fact though, why even have a thrust? In at least 90% of all cases swipe is better.

Just like Zelda, this game will have plenty equipment for you to get from chests in dungeons and such. However, in Willow you aren't really getting new items per say, just a new weapon/shield/magic to help you out. Now I don't have a problem with this or anything, this is fine, but what I do have a problem with is that in Willow after you open the chest it stays there. And not only does it stay there but you can actually get too close and activate it again in which case it will just tell you there's nothing in it. Absolutely POINTLESS!

Anyway, it has some other similarities to Zelda but this writeup is getting kinda long so I just want to point out a few more things about this game.

1. This game is more RPGish in the fact that you have stats and experience and this does play a big role. You even have an agility stat that determines how fast you can swing certain swords.

2. Though, because it is RPG like that also presents some problems. If you die, you go back to the starting exp of w/e level you're on, so leveling can be annoying. This wouldn't be so bad if you weren't so fragile.

3. Also when you die, it unequips your stuff.........what is the point of that?! All it does it make you reequip it back and I see no reason for this.

4. If you miss an item, you may not always be able to go back and get it later. When I was playing through the game I missed my chance at getting the first healing magic and had to go most of the game without being able to heal, which slowed me down quite a bit.

5. Like in Crystalis, you will sometimes have to change swords as magical enemies can only be killed by a specific sword and that sword can't kill non magical enemies. This really isn't much of a problem for me, it's 2 swords as opposed to 4 and they don't put nearly as much emphasis on them as Crystalis does.

6. Boss fights. When you're in a boss fight you can't use magic, it's just you slugging it out with the boss. However...most of them are actually really easy if you abuse the sword swipe. Sometimes you can hit them 3 times with just 1 shot. Also, I like the way they list a life meter for both.

7. Finally, I want to comment on the leveling system itself. Like Crystalis it's a slightly forced leveling system. It's not nearly as bad though so it's only a minor nitpick that you have to be at least level 13 to beat the game.

So anyway, it may look like Zelda, but it's not Zelda. A fun game, but don't be fooled thinking it's going to be an epic game, it's not but it is still good. It has many moments where I was enjoying myself, but it also has little quirks here and there that are really frustrating and/or completely pointless.

Xexyz
<B>Part 1 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQE2oa91SM

<B>Part 2 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJhOz4hvojo

<B>Part 3 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWwOPErXHmY

<B>Part 4 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUD9tHt3fHI

<B>Part 5 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24pmS1kgW_0

<B>Part 6 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r79YXxDUY5A

<B>Part 7 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJX8tMZ_VMc

<B>Part 8 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0AinErFZF4

<B>Part 9 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t43awEN217Q

<B>Part 10 - </b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5g-f8pV-aA

Xexyz is a strange mixture of Platforming and a Flying shooter. I've decided to break down both halves into their own sections.

<B>Flying Shooter</b>

The flying shooter portion of the game is basically a lesser version of Gradius.

You're in some kind of ship, you scroll from left to right, and you have enemies either flying at you or stationed throughout the stage and you must either destroy or dodge them. Along the way, you will get 2 powerups, 1 for speed which is just faster movement, and 1 for power which upgrades your attack depending on the ship you're using.

Now, with just that it seems like it would be pretty cool, however....you don't get to pick your ship, and you can only upgrade your ship's weapon once which is done by getting 2 "P" items. The Speed boost appears as "S" items, I believe you can get 4 of these before you're at maximum movement speed.

There are 2 kinds of flying shooter stages though, 1 which is just a basic kind where you make it to the end, and the other kind has a boss. For the first type, you have to make it through a couple sections, at the end of each section you are given 2 doors, 1 lets you go to the next section and the other door makes you redo the section you're in. There's no way to know which is which until you choose one. Honestly, that seems irritating at best really, because the flying portions really have little to them so I can't see why I'd want to redo them.

As for the type that has bosses, again it's just your basic make it to the end of the stage with not much to it but the actual boss fights themselves can be fun. The boss fights are what you'd expect from these kind of games, some enemy craft or monster comes out to fight you, they have a particular movement and firing pattern, and you have to kill them before they kill you. So as far as the boss battles go, I have no complaints, I enjoy that kind of thing.

Overall, the flying stages seem too lacking to really be great, the boss battles is about the most fun I got out of them.

<B>Platforming</b>

Ugh, now this was a real annoyance when I first started. I'll just give a basic rundown of what a level is like.

The first thing I noticed, was that this game seems really fast paced until you get use to it. Your character moves fast, he jumps and lands fast, he shoots......well actually, his gun is not that fast. You can shoot it kinda fast but if you push the button too fast then he shoots slow for some reason, so they can kinda throw you off. The main problem with him moving so fast though, is that it makes it really hard to not only dodge things, but also hitting things when jumping. At this point in the game, I wasn't aware you could jump high or shoot upwards, so that didn't really help me.

So anyway, throughout the stage you will collect money, extra life (not extra lives), and as you progress through the game more weapons and powerups will be available. Each platforming stage has many rooms on it, in each room could be a number of different things such as A chance to win money A mini boss fight A shop A chance to powerup your weapon Information Or simply someone wanting to give you something.

For the first part of each platforming stage except the last, you must find a hidden door and get a force star to progress to the next half of the stage. Once you find the door you face a mini boss, who is the same one you fight every level with no differences, and after winning you get the star.

The amount of powerups you can get isn't a high number, but it has enough.

In between and during the platforming stages, you will have to do the flying stages. Also, all the bosses you face will be on flying stages, but the the platforming stages usually have the mini bosses.

Other than that, there isn't much to say about this game. The story isn't much, but it is what it is. The music is ok, neither great nor terrible. I don't think I could see myself playing through this again though.

Overall, not a bad game, but not something that will be on my favorites either.

Yo! Noid
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNcKfYmXia0&fmt=18

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pskc_KWKwyk&fmt=18

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wOi0CWL7Io&fmt=18

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABGPgPhKNCw&fmt=18

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeQHZQfp0uw&fmt=18

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hhH8HJ_pEA&fmt=18

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRL260sCh50&fmt=18

This ones really a weird one for me. At first I absolutely hated this game, but as I went on it began to grow on me. Those things that annoyed me in this game, the moving ice platforms and the water rising and killing you, those kind of things have all been in really good games as well. I dealt with it in good games simply because of how good those games were overall, so I have to give Yo! Noid a break for having them. Sure, this game doesn't shine in any area, it's an overall simple little game, but it wasn't that bad actually.

The controls are smooth, the graphics for it's time aren't bad, and the gameplay is a little lacking but not terribly done. The pizza eating contests look extremely boring, but they weren't surprisingly. I mean sure I couldn't have sat there and played them 1 after another, but being spread out like they were gave you the time you need to not feel like it was being too repetitive.

Invisible items were a nice touch once I found out they were actually in the game. I actually had fun looking for them even though I was pretty much attacking everywhere just to uncover them. The only real downside I can see to this is the fact that the pizza eating contests are already pretty easy to win and finding so many invisible II's and III's makes them completely pointless as you can decimate the other Noid in 3 moves or less.

All in All, it seems like one of those games you have to get use to before you can really enjoy it. I won't lie, I had fun later on in the game, but the game is going to be placed middle of the pack for now in rankings due to the fact that it simply didn't have all that much to it, even the boss fight at the end was extremely easy and pointless.....and not really even a boss fight.