I loves me some old-school Nintendo, as some can attest to. Everyone talks about Super Mario 3, Castlevania, Metroid, and all that, but I need to give love to some games that people don't talk about much. These are games that are either:
1. Thoroughly obscure, or
2. Poorly received by gamers and critics alike, though there's only one real instance of this.
More after this break. This blog is brought to you by the St. Peter's School For Animal Husbandry, and the Jeffrey Dahmer Culinary Arts College. "For People With Taste!"
Vice Project: Doom
Sure, the name can be kinda confusing to pronounce at first ('is it Vice, Project Doom, or Vice Project, Doom?'), and it does borrow quite liberally from Ninja Gaiden (even down to the 'what the...?' in the cutscenes), but it uses its influences quite well. The graphics in the background are quite good, and the control is tight. I like it when you can duck while running, and stuff. The storyline is kinda confusing if you didn't have the manual, but when you do know what's going on, it's quite the interesting story with a nice 'what the...?' plot twist near the end.
I also like the combination of platforming, shooting, and driving stages. It's far-better balanced than The Adventures of Bayou Billy. The music also kicks all kinds of ass, and the challenge is quite good. It has hard stages and some tricky bosses, but it also has unlimited continues, which definitely helps. Definitely one to check out if you want some fun platformin'.
Nightshade
Ahhhhh, Nightshade. A very hard game to truly describe because of how unique it is. It's like King's Quest, but with fighting and stuff. It's another story that is kind of incomplete without the manual, but this one does stand on its own quite well. Graphics are kinda meh, but the music is suitably moody, it's a lot of fun to discover the clues, and it's funny as fuck. Seriously, the jokes alone are worth it, as it's a terrifically loving parody of comic book and superhero cliches. Definitely a concept that should have been continued on future generation consoles.
Hi-Tech Expressions is one of those companies that people don't really talk about, but they should...because most of the games they make suck the gay out of Liberace's anus. Some bleh kiddie games, a shitty version of 'The Hunt for Red October", and that horrendous Muppets game. However, they did have a really fun, overlooked platformer in 'Tom & Jerry'. The control is very good and the graphics are bright. Music is a bit annoying, but it's appropriate for the setting and kinda catchy after a bit.
M.C. Kids
Yeah, I know. It's blatant advertising for McDonald's, and it's heavily influenced by other platformers, but this is still a very fun game. The challenge is good, the graphics are decently colorful, and the level designs are actually quite inventive.
Plus, a portion of the proceeds went to Ronald McDonald's Children Charities. If you didn't buy this, you hated children. Plain and simple. Fucking babykillers.
Tom & Jerry
On a sidenote, this game is directly responsible for two of the worst minutes of television I have seen in my life. This game was featured on an episode of "Video & Arcade: Top Ten", a misleading title, since there wasn't much of a 'Top Ten' of anything. It was a video game competition show with movie and music clips to agonizingly interrupt the game footage that 99.9% of us watched the show for. Four kids played the same game, and whomever got the farthest would win a random prize they would draw from a garbage can.
On the second level, there are these crab-like enemies that cannot be killed by the marbles Jerry uses. They are just stunned for a few seconds, during which Jerry would run past it and move on to the next part of the level. One kid did not get that. For two agonizing, brain-freezing minutes, this kid did nothing but stand there and throw marbles at this one crab. TWO FUCKING MINUTES. There were THREE other screens that the producer could have focused on, likely having much more action than what this asshole was doing. I remember shouting "THAT CRAB WILL NOT FUCKING DIE!!!! MOVE ON!!!" at the TV. Other than that, though, this game was sweet.
WWF WrestleMania Challenge
While LJN's WWF games sucked floppy donkey dick for the most part (well, most LJN games in general, too), this one was actually pretty fun. Unlike later efforts like Steel Cage Challenge and King of The Ring, this one had distinctive movesets, which I find important in a wrestling game. Why play a game where everyone just has the same, basic moves? I also liked the decent variety of modes (well, for a game from 1990) and the roster. Not quite on the level of Pro Wrestling or Tecmo World Wrestling, but it's a fun one to pop in if you've got old-school wrasslin' fans over.
Captain Skyhawk
Oh, this one takes me back. This is about the 4th or 5th NES game I had, and this was quite a bit of fun to play back in the day. The graphics, while a bit repetitive, were quite well done, but the main draw is the action. In most stages, the action is quite fast and furious, especially the stages involving the dogfight with the one red ship. Fucking intense, especially if you spent the credits to upgrade the cannon (Hot Tip: always upgrade the cannon all the way first before doing anything else).
Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball
The NES had a lot of kick-ass baseball games (Baseball Stars, Base Wars, RBI Baseball, Baseball Simulator 1.000), but they also had a fun softball one. Great variety of wacky characters (though there is a Japanese version of this that has even wackier characters), and the characters are different enough to incorporate a bit of strategy when selecting the characters. You will also have your favorites that you will always pick (Rocky as the pitcher = WIN). Kinda hard to find, but if you see it somewhere, snap this bitch up.
Capcom's Gold Medal Challenge '92
Another sports title, and this one is one of the better Olympic-style games I've played. Granted, most of the ones I played were pretty shite, but this one can be a blast. Yes, most of it is button-mashing, but it's fun button-mashing. This one truly shines, though, when you get multiple players and multiple turbo controllers. Oh, that was a fun summer with me and my cousins.
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
And staying on the Capcom train for another stop, here's one that doesn't get quite as much love as other Capcom greats. This is a vibrant, colorful platformer that is a lot of fun to play, and there's a great variety in the stages. The play also becomes quite varied when you incorporate the animals that Nemo runs into during his quest. The world just wasn't ready for games based on Winsor McCay characters, though. I'm still disappointed in the severe lack of a Gertie The Dinosaur game. That could have sold BILLIONS.
Might Final Fight
I swear to God that this is the last Capcom game. Another one that would be a bitch to find nowadays, this is Final Fight, but with an experience system and awesomely cute, superdeformed graphics. It's a tremendously creative way to fit a game like Final Fight into the NES' graphical limitations. Definitely one of the better beat-'em-ups you will find in the NES library.
Rockin' Kats
The classic battle of cats vs. dogs gets a gangster-style makeover in this underrated gem. This game can be awkward at first to control, but once you get used to it, it's quite fun and extremely creative. The retractable glove-in-a-gun needs to be featured in more everything, especially games. The graphics are quite well-done, and the music is appropriate. Just try to overlook the horrendously long passwords. Seriously, it takes less time to watch the entire 'Roots' series on slow play than it does to enter a password in this beast.
There are some other ones that some people would consider underrated, such as Journey to Silius, Metal Storm, and Bucky O'Hare, but I haven't gotten to play those as much as I like to, and when I did, I got my ass handed to me. Especially Journey to Silius. Someday, though, I will get through those.
- Ryan
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