The Guardian Legend - NES Review

 

Do you like Zelda style adventure games?  Do you like shoot em ups?  How about both combined into one?!  The Guardian Legend combines both genres into a masterpiece of an 8 bit era game.  This has remained one of my favorite NES games since I was a child.  I have replayed though the game at least 20 times.  I just got through with another play through that took about 4 hours.  You control a spaceship when you first start the game.  After you beat the first shoot 'em up stage, your ship transforms into a person.  Once transformed, you can walk around and explore the surface of the "star" you are on called Naju.  The premise of the game is to find the self destruct mechanism and blow up the "star." You will run into mini bosses along the way that will drop power ups and special weapons when they are defeated. There are tons of bosses in this game! There are shops that you can buy weapons / power ups at.  The game also has a feature whereas when your score increases, you power up the width of your normal shot.  There are a lot of special weapons and you will find yourself only using about 1/3 of them ever.  Be careful using power ups however because they consume "Chips" and your normal shot will decrease in width. The graphics are pretty decent for the time on the NES.  The sound and music are above average with some catchy music along the way.  The game play is outstanding, especially if you like shoot 'em ups, and top down adventure games with RPG elements.  Replay-ability with this game is high up on the scale.  If you don't want to do the adventure part of the game and just want the shoot 'em up levels, enter TGL for the password.  Overall, I give this game a perfect 10 out of 10.  This game for sure is one of my favorite games of all time and has stood the test of time.  The only thing that I could think of that is a negative thing is that there is no battery in the cart for saving the game.  It unfortunately uses a password system that really sucks (I hate all password systems though to be fair).  I highly recommend that you pick this game up and play it now! 

Urban Champion - NES Review

 

This is an original launch title, one of the 30 "black box" games that were released at the NES launch.  There is not much to the game.  You work from left to right, street fighting your opponent.  The B button is your "hard" punch, and the A button is your jab.  You can punch in the stomach or the head.  You also have a stamina meter and a time meter.  When the time meter runs out, if nobody has won, the game is over.  When the stamina meter runs out, you no longer have your "hard" punch at your disposal.  You also have to watch out for people dropping flower pots from the buildings' second floor windows.  If you get hit with a flower pot, you will be stunned for a few seconds.  The graphics and sound are mediocre as with most early NES games.  The game play is not very good, no real strategy involved, just button mashing really.  This is not a game I would play regularly.  Overall, I give it a 4 out of 10.  It is not really worth the time to play.

Monster Truck Rally - NES Review

This game is complete garbage.  Slow, boring, terrible graphics, terrible game play.  It is one of the few games that supported the 4 player feature on the NES.  I don't really have anything positive to say about it.  It does have a track editor and a random track feature that is ok.  Overall, I give this game a 1 out of 10.  Don't bother playing it unless you are a complete zombie.  My wife even said while I was playing it "what is this piece of shit you are playing"?

Back To The Future 2 & 3 - NES Review

This game is not good, at all.  Number one, the graphics are this horrible green and red that hurt your eyes while trying to play.  The sound is so repetitive it makes you want to go deaf.  The game play is terrible and your character is super hard to control with weird jumps and speed.  I can't really describe the control, you have to play it for yourself to see what I mean.  The game is not hard at all, it is just so repetitive that I could only stomach 10 minutes.  I was really trying to play longer but I couldn't do it.  Overall, I give this game 1 out of 10 stars.  It is terrible and deserves 0 stars but it is playable.

Duck Tales - NES Review

Not your typical platform game for the time.  Most platform games that came out then were linear and scrolled from left to right only.  This game is more of an adventure platformer.  When you start the game, there is a difficulty select, easy, normal, and hard.  I think the difficulty just sets the amount of damage that an enemy will deal when they hit you.  When you start, you have to select between six stages.  The whole purpose of the game is to beat all six bosses and get their special treasure.  The cool thing about the game is that you explore every level trying to get the most money in treasure.  Their are lots of hidden rooms to find and secrets in this game.  The controls are pretty good, and you will find yourself pogo sticking on your cane for most of the game.  Most enemies can be killed by jumping on top of them.  The graphics in this game are great for the NES and so is the music / sound.  The game play is also very good and fun.  Overall, I give this game a 9 out of 10 stars.  Even if you don't like platform games, try this one, its awesome.

Joe And Mac - NES Review

I am really not into platformers but this one isn't too bad.  It reminds me a bit of Bonk's Adventure.  The point of the game is to clear each area and defeat a boss after each.  You start with a stone ax that you can throw which can be a bit tricky to jump and throw at the same time.  Jumping can also be a challenge with a double jump that can also be utilized.  Once you get the hang of it, it is pretty fun. The only thing I wish that the game had was something to collect, coins, etc.  Overall I give the game a 6 out of 10, a bit above average but not great.

Excitebike - NES Review

This game was one of the initial launch titles for the NES way back in 1986.  Most everyone has likely played this game at least once.  Most people write it off as just a cutesy dirt bike racing game, but in reality, this game is one of the most technically difficult games on the console.  You have to control the speed of you bike and make sure you don't overheat it.  You also have to shift the weight of the bike back and forth when you jump and land. There are three modes to the game, mode A where you are racing to beat the time on each track, mode B where you race against others adding more difficulty, and track creation mode.  It was pretty awesome back in 1986 that you could make your own tracks and race on them.  Overall, this game gets a 8 out of 10, being almost a perfect game.  If you have only played it once or twice I would definitely recommend revisiting it.  

Rollerball - NES Review

Another pinball game for the NES, there are quite a few.  This one suffers the same fate as most video pinball games do.  It is slow and almost impossible to score high.  This is a 4 tier pinball game that is pretty challenging.  It is painfully slow at times and gets very tedious.  Not really too much to say about it as it is just pinball.  Nothing spectacular or very exciting, just video pinball.  Overall, I give this game a middle of the road 5 out of 10 stars for being a plain Jane, run of the mill game.

Yoshi - NES Review

It is very hard for me to fairly rate puzzle games, but I try.  This is a Tetris like game where two pieces at a time fall.  You can't move the pieces as the are falling, you can only rotate ones than have already fell.  Match two and they go away and you score points.  There is also a 2 player simultaneous mode.  Graphics and sound are on par with the NES and the game play is what it should be for a puzzle game.  Overall, I will give this game a 4 out of 10 stars.  I am sure it would rank higher for someone who likes puzzle games.

Times Of Lore NES Review

This is supposed to be an RPG, however I found no way of leveling up while playing it.  The game is terrible.  It is slow, repetitive and hard to control.  The game play is horrible, borderline unplayable.  The game reminds me of a slower, easier, Hydlide.  You have to bring a menu up to talk to people and to pick things up.  The path from town to town is linear so there is no exploring.  Graphics and music are both sub par for the NES.  Overall, I give this game a 2 out of 10.  Horrible, don't even bother with it.

Robowarrior NES Review

This game is almost identical to Bomberman.  I am not a big fan of either.  This type of top down puzzle action game is not really one of my favorites.  The game play is tedious and not very fun in my opinion.  Boring, boring, boring.  Simply put, I don't like this game at all.  I give it 2 out of 10 stars.  The only thing that is remotely good about it is there is a huge amount of power ups.  

Skykid NES Review

This game is terrible in my opinion.  The graphics are sub par for the NES, even early NES.  The music is repetitive and not very good.  The game play is atrocious.  It is difficult to control the plane and it seems like you never get the hang of it.  The purpose of the game is to fly your plane through each stage, picking up a bomb, bombing a target, and then landing.  I think this is a direct arcade port.  Overall, I give the game 3 out of 10 stars.  Maybe people like this game? Not I.

Gun.Smoke NES Review

This is a forced vertical scrolling shoot 'em up that takes place in the old west.  Your goal is to find or buy a wanted poster of each villain on each stage.  If you don't find or buy a wanted poster, the stage loops back around and you replay through it.  There are about 5 gun power ups that you have to buy and enemies drop bullets and money after you shoot them.  You also gain money instead of points for shooting enemies.  There is also a horse power up that you can find or buy that speeds you up and allows you to get hit twice before you die, instead of the usual once.  The graphics are OK and on par with the NES, the sound and music are decent and above average, and the game play is great.  I give this game an 8 out of 10 stars.  It is always fun to play and you can play it for a long period without getting bored.

10 Yard Fight NES Review

One of the original 30 launch titles.  Looking at this game and playing it now, it seems like pure crap.  When this first came out, it was awesome because all other football games at the time sucked bad.  I am not a real big football fan so I didn't play this one much back in the day.  I play it now and I can't say that I enjoy it.  It just isn't fun for me to play.  It was an arcade port and the graphics are pretty good for an early NES release.  The game play is OK, and the sound and music are sub par in my opinion.  Overall, I give it a 5 out of 10.  Average game, not really something I would play at all.  There are better 8 bit football games out there for sure.

Zanac NES Review

An above average shooter for the NES.  Very busy, lots of stuff going on the screen at once with no noticeable slow down.   Game play is decent and the music and sound are on par with the NES.  There are lots of power ups and it can become confusing at times which one that you have and what one you are picking up.  Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10 stars.  Worth checking out but nothing special to get too excited about.  Oh, and the name sounds like a heartburn pill or something.  :)

Young Indiana Jones Chronicles NES Review

Typical NES platformer.  Nothing really special about it.  You start with a whip and can get weapon upgrades.  You can pick up a knife, rifle, rock, dynamite, and a pistol.  I got to the boss at the end of the first stage but got bored.  The game is pretty repetitive with not too much going on.  I lost interest in it after about 10 minutes.  The game play is pretty good and the music and sounds are decent.  The graphics are on par for the NES.  Overall, I give it a 5 out of 10.  Same old same old.

Operation Wolf NES Review

Arcade port of a side scrolling shooting game.  Not bad graphics and sound for the NES.  Game play is OK, not great.  You can use the game pad or the zapper.  The difficulty is set pretty high on this game and it is a little difficult to control with the game pad.  Your goal is to shoot through six stages that scroll automatically.  You rescue hostages and get ammo clips, rocket bombs and other power ups.  Watch out for not only people shooting at you but also armored vehicles and helicopters.  Not one of my favorite games but it is average for the NES.  Overall I give it 5 out of 10 stars. 

Double Dragon NES Review

This is a port of an arcade game of the same name.  They did a pretty good job translating this game to the NES.  There is a different kind of element to this version where you get experience points in addition to your score.  Each time you reach a certain point level, you get a heart and level up.  Leveling up gives you a new special move with every heart.  You can get a headbutt, a jump kick, and the ability to knee you opponent in the head and throw them to name a few.  There are two difficulty modes that make the game challenging and boss fights at the end of each level.  There is also a mode that allows you to fight against a second player like a fighting game such as Street Fighter 2.  Overall, the game play is fun and the graphics are great for the NES.  The music in this game is also pretty cool.  It has a funky kind of vibe to it.  I give the game a 7 out of 10 overall.  It would have gotten a higher rating but the amount of glitches in the game bring the rating down for me.

Best Of The Best Championship Karate NES Review

This game is complete garbage.  It is not even playable in my opinion.  The game play is so horrible and sluggish that it is painful.  It is almost impossible to hit the other person and when you do, it is impossible to tell that you did.  The graphics are reminiscent of 4 color CGA graphics on an early IBM XT and the sound is complete crap.  Talk about a complete piece of garbage.  This game gets a 0 out of 10 stars.  Stay away from it unless you like complete crap.

Legendary Wings NES Review

Shoot em up port of an arcade game.  It is not quite the same as the arcade version but close.  The memories I have of this game is that it was extremely hard.  I remember playing it as a kid and not getting very far.  It seemed impossible. The game starts out as a vertical scroller.  You then get sucked in a large mouth on the ground and go into a horizontal scrolling mode.  There is a worm like mini boss after this and you go back to vertical mode.  At the end of the level, you come to a palace and fight another mini boss which is a dragon that shoots fire.  You go into the palace which is side scrolling again.  At the end of the palace you fight the level boss which kind of looks like the first level boss in Gradius.  There are 5 levels total in the game and all the bosses are the same except they have increased difficulty.  At the end of the game you fight a final boss which is pretty challenging.  In each level there is a "lucky" underground level with treasures and power ups which is located under a ground target.  The weapon you start with is very weak.  It is recommended to get the best power up early on and keep it.  You can also shoot ground bombs in vertical mode. Graphics and sound is on par with the games of it's time.  Game play is great for an NES shooter, and re playability is very good.  Overall I give it an 8 out of 10.  The recycled bosses really hurt the game but it is still very fun.  Try playing the 2 player simultaneous mode for added fun.