Xevious Atari 7800 Review

This is a port of an arcade shoot em up.  It is a very good port.  It plays almost identical to the arcade version.  It has 1 or 2 player switching mode and 4 selectable skill levels, novice, intermediate, advanced, and expert.  The difficulty on novice is pretty hard.  The graphics and sound are fairly good for the 7800.  It is not a real fast paced shoot em up and can get really frustrating at times.  You shoot air targets and also ground targets.  When you press the button, you shoot both air shots and ground bombs at the same time.  I was using a Wico stick single button controller and not the 2 button 7800 controller.  Maybe with the 7800 controller you can control both independently? Overall all I give this arcade shoot em up port a 6 out of 10.  It is a decent game to play but nothing special.  It looks and plays pretty similar to the NES version.

Galaga Destination Earth PS1 Review

As a fan of the original Galaga for the arcade, I was skeptical about this remade version.  This is obviously a shoot em up.  The game is actually pretty decent.  You switch between 3 modes, vertical, side scrolling, and 3D.  The game play is pretty smooth and the graphics are really good for a PS1 game.  The music is awesome.  The switching between the modes keeps the game fresh and not boring.  OK, there are a few negative things about the game.  In 3D mode it is hard to see where your shots are going even though you have a square target thing to use.  The control is a little weird also.  The ship doesn't seem very responsive in any mode.  It seems sluggish and lethargic.  I am sure this was on purpose to make the ship move like the original arcade version.  Since this is a totally remade game and not a port, I feel the ship should have been faster and more responsive.  Another negative thing is that sometimes there is so much going on in the background that I found my eyes wandering on the background objects instead of the game.  Overall I give the game a 7 out of 10.  Certainly a very playable game that is fun and cool to pop in from time to time.

Dolphin Atari 2600 Review

This is not a well known game.  In fact, I don't even remember it back in the day.  This game is really bad.  You control a dolphin which goes up and down and back and forth.  There is a octopus / squid thing which tries to kill you.  You launch sound waves and try to hit the octopus / squid thingy.  There are little sea horses that slow you down with a small space you can swim between them.  The only point that I see to this game is to amass score.  You can jump out of the water to eat a bird every now and then for score and it seems that it makes you invincible for about 10 seconds.  Weird game overall and not very fun.  I give it a 2 out of 10.

Othello NES Review

There is not much to this game.  This is a classic board game made into a video game.  It plays like you would expect it to.  There is nothing special about it, just a good old Othello game.  You can play against another player or the computer.  The computer has 4 difficulty levels.  It is actually really challenging to win even on the easy difficulty.  The graphics are as good as you would expect from the NES and a board game.  Overall I give the game a 7 out of 10.

Virtual Pinball Genesis Review

I love actual pinball games.  Video game pinball games almost always fall short.  This one falls way short.  There is nothing good about this game.  It is pure crap.  The graphics remind me of The Incredible Machine for the PC.  It doesn't even really play like a pinball game.  It has a ton of "tables" you can choose from and the variety is just about the only thing going for this game.  The game play sucks so bad you could almost just keep flipping the flippers and not even look at the screen.  There is nothing about this game that even remotely resembles a pinball table.  It takes forever to move to a different portion of the "table" and that makes it super frustrating.  I didn't even make it 5 minutes before I wanted to throw this turd of a game out the window of a moving vehicle.  Overall I give it a 1 out of 10.  It only gets a one because of the variety that it offers.

Yoshi's Story N64 Review

I am not a big N64 fan.  I didn't really grow up with it so I didn't have one.  I moved on to the Playstation and kinda skipped the N64.  Now that I own one, I find that I don't care for a lot of the games or the awkward controller.  This game is a typical side scrolling platformer.  I guess it is supposed to be the sequel to Yoshi's Island on the SNES.  It plays very similar to that game.  The goal is to go through each world and eat 30 pieces of fruit to clear the level.  With all Yoshi games, of course you can eat enemies.  You have eggs after you eat an enemy that I guess Yoshi poops out?  You can use these eggs to throw at fruit trapped in bubbles or at enemies.  You can do a few special moves such as the "ground pound" which I find difficult to pull off. I also find it hard to control the Yoshi.  I played through the first stage and got really bored with the game.  It is kind of a cutesy game that I could see younger gamers playing.  It is not a horrible game, its just not for me.  Overall I give it a 5 out of 10.  No big deal, just an average platformer.

Karate Kid NES Review

This game is not very good for many reasons.  When you start the game you are in a Karate tournament stage where you fight 3 people.  This is literally stand in place and keep pressing kick while the other guy runs into your foot repeatedly.  After you take 6 seconds to beat that you go through an Okinawa stage where it is basically just run through the stage as fast as you can while avoiding the thugs that come at you.  I suppose you could take your time and build up score <shrug>.  There are bonus stages where you have to go into the doors in the huts.  It is really just a black void that is very awkward to make your character enter.  It is hard to explain, you just have to play to see what I am talking about.  You have 3 different bonus stages that randomly come up.  Swinging hammer, ice block break, and chopstick fly catch.  The bonus stages give you crane kicks and drum punches which work if you are standing still and press the jump or punch button.  The next stage is a little trickier because you are now in a typhoon where you are walking against the wind.  There are sticks and bird that run into you and knock you back.  You can still use the run as fast as you can through the stage strategy however.  Next stage is a rocky desert like stage with some increased difficulty.  I think after that is another tournament with the boss and I think you can stand in one spot and kick and have him run into your kicks just like the beginning of the game.  The game is not fun at all and gets boring very quick.  Overall I give it a 3 out of 10.  Maybe good for younger or non experienced gamers?

Dynowarz NES Review

This game is a side scrolling platformer.  Yet another game that people absolutely hate.  I don't find the game that bad.  Yes it is repetitive, but after playing for a few minutes I had the desire to keep pressing on to go through the entire thing.  You start out as a guy in a spacesuit with a gun that fires a spread shot.  You go through a level and jump in to a robot dinosaur that you control and fight against other robots.  Then you jump out, fight through another level and destroy a pulsating brain like thing at the end of the level.  You then backtrack through the level and jump into your robot dinosaur where you are transported to the next stage.  There are 7 stages in all.  The game doesn't really get any more difficult, the stages are just longer.  The power ups in the game suck and it appears that not much though was put into them.  Overall I give the game a 4 out of 10.  Its entertaining for a bit but not a game you would play on a regular basis.  There are worse NES games though for all the haters out there.

Zaxxon Atari 2600 Review

What can I say about this game?  Not much.  It is basically River Raid with horrible graphics and game play.  The only difference is the elevation / 3D control.  I never really cared for the arcade game and this version just plain sucks.  It is not even remotely fun or enjoyable to play.  I did have the C64 version when I was a kid and played that quite often.  It seems like the makers of this game focused everything into the elevation / 3D aspect of the game and just let everything else go to shit.  I understand the 2600 had its limitations but it seems like they could have done way better with this game.  They would have been better off to maybe make it a side scroller and called it Zaxxon 2 or Super Zaxxon or something and not tried to make a port of the arcade.  They failed miserably on this game.  I give it a 1 out of 10 only because the only other game I know of to use the elevation / 3D feature on the 2600 is desert falcon which came out way later.  I believe this game was the first to use that feature / novelty.

Here is a pic of the cartridge.

Kung Fu NES Review

This was one of the original 17 launch titles when the NES came out in North America back in 1985.  I remember going to K-Mart in 1986 and playing this game along with others on the demo NES unit.  This is a pretty decent game.  In it's simplicity it manages to remain fun over and over again.  You make your way through 6 levels of enemies who get progressively more difficult on every level.  There is a boss at the end of every level that has his own style of fighting and way of being defeated.  This game is fun to pick back up if you haven't played it in awhile.  The graphics are good, game play is awesome, and difficulty is just right.  This is one of those games that I remember being extremely difficult when I was a kid but is now pretty simple.  Overall I give this game a 7 out of 10.  Definitely a must for anyone's NES collection.    

Seicross NES Review

This game is a side scrolling shoot em up.  You ride on bikes that travel on green beams of light.  The speed is forced and changes on every level.  The control and game play is good and smooth.  You can hit into other "bikers" and shoot them.  You have an energy bar on the top that depletes automatically.  You pick up little pods with a nuclear symbol on them to give you more energy.  You can also pick up / rescue blue guys that look like your character (maybe buddies that fell of their bikes?).  You get points and bonus and the end of the level for picking these guys up.  Only thing that is bad about this game is that the music is super repetitive which is the case with a lot of NES games.  If you like shooters, this is pretty decent.  I give it a 6 out of 10 overall. 

Drakkhen SNES Review

Drakkhen is a RPG.  I think it was originally a PC game.  It plays like one anyway.  A lot of people hate this game.  You have to give it a chance.  It is a very slow, tedious game.  Sometimes you can play it for about an hour and seem like you are making no progress.  I like the game.  It is challenging and decent to play.  You do have to be in the right kind of mood to enjoy it though.  This game had awesome graphics and sound for its time.  I remember when it first came out being blown away by it.  You have 4 characters which you can select male or female and then their attribute points.  You have a fighter, scout, magician, and a priest or priestess.  Weapons and armor are sometimes dropped by enemies.  The battles are automatic and hit points regenerate automatically.  You will have to explore to find out what you even have to do to advance because the game is not straightforward.  That is sometimes frustrating but makes the game challenging and allows you to level up and collect more items.  I recommend trying this game out it you are a RPG fan and are looking for something different.  I give it a 6 out of 10 overall.  

Prince Of Persia NES Review

I just picked this game up a few weeks ago at one of my hotspots where I have good luck finding games.  I was skeptical to pay the $10 they wanted for it.  For those of you that don't know, this is a port of a PC game that game out in the late 80's.  I was a huge fan of the PC game.  I remember playing it on my 386SX/33 with 2 Megs of ram back in the day.  Anyway, I was not disappointed with this version on the NES.  I don't know what other ports there are out there of this game, but this is a solid one.  Game play and graphics are identical to the PC and the music is pretty good considering that I only remember beeping coming out of my PC internal speaker.  This version has a time limit which I don't remember in the PC version but I could be wrong.  This game is not one of my favorites on the NES but it is a fun, different, and certainly playable game to pick up and play every now and then.  If only the NES had a keyboard.  I remember playing this game with the arrow keys.  Overall I give it a 6 out of 10. Solid game. 

X-Men NES Review

This game is pure crap.. There is nothing good about it.  The graphics suck and the game play is horrible.  It is a top down adventure game, I guess.  You pick from 6 X-Men.  1 is a NPC who does absolutely nothing except get stuck and hinder your progress.  Horrible design.  When you die, you start all the way back at the beginning.  It is very awkward to control and attack.  I can play for about 5 minutes before I become frustrated and turn it off.  Games are supposed to be fun, not agitating.  I give this turd of a game 1 out of 10 stars.  It gets 1 star due to the fact that it is X-Men and 2 players can play simultaneously and it has a stage select.

Robot Tank Atari 2600 Review

I just picked this game up today.  It is just like Battlezone also for the 2600.  It is slightly less challenging than Battlezone.  It plays pretty smooth and has very good graphics and sound as most Activision titles do.  The game switches between daytime, nighttime, and a mode with rain which gives it a boost of difficulty.  You have a radar on the bottom of the screen which you use to locate tanks.  The tanks fire at you and you can dodge their shots or shoot the shots with yours.  The scoring is based on how many tanks you can destroy.  You start out with 3 tanks and get an extra tank for every 12 you kill.  Overall a decent game for its time.  I give it a 6 out of 10.

GunNac NES Review

This game is a shooter.  I love shooters.  Many people have not played this game before because of its rarity.  As of this review, prices on Ebay range from $79 to $167 for a loose cartridge.  I was lucky enough to get my copy for $7.50 at a garage sale.  The lady wanted $25 because she looked it up online she said.  This was a recurring barn sale where I saw this game for months.  She also had Tombs & Treasure another rare NES game.  I talked her down to $15 for both which was an awesome deal.  I told her that I had seen it there for months and it is not selling.  Anyway, this is a pretty awesome shooter.  I just re played through it tonight without dying.  I amassed over 4 million score and had 34 ships when I beat it.  In my opinion this game is the fastest you will see on the NES with no slowdown at all, no matter how many sprites are on the screen at once.  The game plays like a cross between Blazing Lasers on the TurboGrafx 16 and The Guardian Legend for NES.  The power ups are good and can be utilized for many different areas of the game.  there are mini bosses half way through every level with 8 levels total.  The 8th level has 4 mini bosses however.  The game play is awesome, the graphics are top notch for the NES and the music and sound is great.  My only beef with the game is that it is too easy.  It might have been nice to include a difficulty select mode to make it harder.  You can upgrade your weapons between stages in a shop using money that you collect during levels.  Overall I give this game a 9 out of 10 on the Jason scale.  It would have gotten a perfect 10 if it were just a bit more difficult.

Bill Elliott's Nascar Challenge NES Review

The NES is not known for its racing games.  There are a few that are OK but nothing to get excited about.  This game is a sub standard racing game on the NES.  I will give them an A for effort for trying to make a simulation style racing game like Test Drive which was so popular on the PC at the time this game came out.  I like racing games, just not this one.  It is very difficult to control...  too difficult, NES hard (like some people like to say).  Anyway, there is not much to say about this game, the game play stinks, the music stinks, and the graphics stink.  I give it 1 out of 10 stars.  It only got 1 star due to the fact that you can tell that there was a huge amount of effort put into the game, it just fell short.

Palamedes NES Review

<sigh>  I don't really like puzzle games at all except Tetris.  I do try to give every game a chance though.  I don't really care for this game at all.  The goal of the game is to make lines with 6 dice.  You make poker hands with the dice or get 3 in a row for a line.  The game requires math which turns me off to it right away.  Nothing spectacular in the graphics or sound dept. of this game.  I give it a 2 out of 10 and thats only because you can do head to head with another person.  Although I didn't try the head to head feature I can see how it would be fun for like 5 minutes.

Karate Champ NES Review

Another port of an arcade game for the NES.  I never really cared for this game growing up.  I thought it was too difficult to control and that translates over to the NES as well.  It is a great port however and the graphics are spot on.  I just don't care for the game at all so I don't really have much to say about it.  Overall it gets a 3 out of 10 stars on my scale.  It only got those 3 stars because of its music and great match to the arcade version.

Defender II NES Review

I never was a fan of this game.  This is just a port of the original arcade version.  It is a very good port.  The graphics are about as good as you can get on the NES for this game.  The game play is identical to the arcade version.  I can play this version and be satisfied as an arcade port.  Overall I give it 8 out of 10 stars.  The only reason it didn't get a 10 out of 10 is because the title screen music is ripped off from NES Baseball and after you press start it uses Mike Tyson's Punch-out music.  The other reason this game did not get a perfect score is the fact that the ships lasers are white instead of multi colored like the arcade version.  Maybe this game is supposed to be a mash-up of Stargate and Defender?

Infiltrator NES Review

By Chris Gray (he wants you to know that, his name is real big in the title screen.) Odd Cheesy title screen with repetitive, horrible music.  Shitty game play and graphics.  This game is not even remotely good.  I have played some shitty games before but this one takes the cake.  I don't even understand how this game made it to the NES.  I am not sure if it was ever released on any old computer system, but I can see this game on like an Atari  800 computer or something.  You start off with the option to do a flying mission or an enemy base mission.  I started with the flying mission.  The horizon line stays at the same point so there is no frame of reference on altitude except an altimeter.  Little black planes fly away from you no matter what altitude you are at and they are impossible to shoot with any of the 8 "weapons" that you can select.  There is a map mode you can go into that doesn't show you where you are going or what you are supposed to do.  Did I mention that the graphics are crude and blocky?  There is also some attempt at humor in the opening montage of the game but it is really lame.  The second part of the game is the enemy base mode.  This mode sucks too.  Apparently if you figure out where you are supposed to go in the helicopter and land, you get to explore an enemy base.  This mode is a crude attempt at something that tries to resemble Metal Gear maybe?  The game play really sucks and is super repetitive.  It certainly does not make up for the really shitty graphics.  Overall I give this game 1 out of 10 stars and the 1 star is only because it is the only helicopter sim game on the NES.  Stay away from this turd of a game unless you want to waste 3 or 4 minutes of your life.