NES

Metal Gear (MSX / NES) Review

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After skipping forward (or backwards game-continuity-wise!) to MGS3 due to the remake being on the horizon it’s time to get this on-and-off look at the Metal Gear franchise off proper by looking at the very first game in the series. I actually own and played the NES version back in the day so unlike a lot of people who started with MGS on the PS1 this game does hold a lot of nostalgia for me. Okay, I was really bad at the game at the time and the NES version is much worse than the MSX original as it turns out, but regardless it’s always fun to head back here, and thanks to the “Master Collection” it was even easier to play the original AND the NES version on my regular TV this time round. So let’s take a look at the game that started it all.

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Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja (NES) Review

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Bad Dudes vs DragonNinja

Any game that has an opening that reads “The President has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?” deserves respect for not giving a crap about any kind of serious plot and having a laugh with itself, but is the actual game good? This is one of the only completely side-on, 2D Scrolling Beat ‘Em Ups I’ll be covering, but it’s also possibly the earliest example of the genre I actually played. Let’s see if I’m a bad enough dude to give this game a fair shake in 2020, shall we?

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Double Dragon II (NES) Review

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Double Dragon II

Scrolling Sundays moves into week two, and with it the second (and I’m pretty sure last) game on the list that I didn’t actually play back in the day. I’ve already reviewed the original, and DD III is up next week (which I actually owned on the Mega Drive…) so given I have access to it via Nintendo Online, I thought I may as well complete the original Double Dragon trilogy rather than leave this out. It’s safe to say “The Revenge” is a big improvement over the original, but by how much? Let’s find out!

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River City Ransom (NES) Review

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River City Ransom

Time to finally kick of “Scrolling Sundays”! Oddly, the first two games in the weekly feature are ones I didn’t play back in the day, but since I have free access to them via Nintendo Online, I thought “why not?”. River City Ransom is a game I’ve been meaning to play for many years, so it was nice to finally sit down and play it a bunch. What’s this extremely early example of the genre like? Let’s find out!

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Double Dragon (NES) Review

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Double Dragon NES

Double Dragon is one of the earliest examples of a scrolling beat ‘em up, one of my favourite genres as a kid, and one I still enjoy today. That being said, I didn’t actually play the original Double Dragon all that much, me and my brother rented it out once or twice, and I played it around my friends once, so this was an interesting revisit in that it felt fresher than most of the older games, with no nostalgia glasses to block any potential flaws… though given the film I reviewed alongside this, any flaws will seem pretty minimal…

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Super Mario Bros. (NES) Review

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Super Mario Bros Game

There have been times on this blog where a marathon has led me to having to review something that makes me go “What new can I possibly say about that?” This is one of those times. The original Super Mario Bros. is iconic, addictive and its influence on the industry can’t be overstated. Even in 2019 the game is still fun to play, a joy to listen to, and has charming sprite-based graphics… In other words, the polar opposite of the film version (reviewed here!) Let’s take a deeper look anyway.

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Ice Climber (NES) Review

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Ice Climber

Man oh man, do I ever dislike Ice Climber. I never played it growing up, Popo and Nana, the Ice Climbers, appearing in Melee was my first exposure to the series, and I didn’t even get round to properly playing it in any fashion until the mini-game collection known as “NES Remix” came out on the Wii U. Those short bursts didn’t convince me that the game was any good, and playing the full game now for this review certainly confirmed it… At least the Switch Online service meant I didn’t have to pay for the “Privilege”! Let’s take a look, shall we?

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Kid Icarus (NES) Review

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Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus is another one of those popular early NES games, but in this case I never played it growing up. I remember wanting to because I really loved the Captain N cartoon which featured Kid Icarus’ Pit as a character (though he was actually called Kid Icarus, if I remember rightly) but upon playing it I’m glad I never did because it’s obscenely difficult, for me right now, let alone me back then! Let’s take a look…

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Gyromite (NES) Review

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Gyromite

Hey look, it’s another game from the “never thought I’d review this for the blog” pile. Gyromite technically doesn’t star R.O.B., no game did until Mario Kart DS, but it was one of the two games that actually worked with the peripheral that now stars in the Smash Series, so it makes sense. Now, let’s take a look at this simple little puzzle game…

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Mega Man 6 (NES) Review

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Mega Man 6

If this is your first time visiting this blog, you may be thinking “Why Mega Man 6?”, well, throughout the year I’ve reviewed 1-5, so this not only ends the original NES run of Mega Man games on this blog, but it’s also the Mega Man franchise rep for the Smash Bros. Ultimate marathon! Double… er… thing. Anyway, does Mega Man’s original run end with a bang or a whimper? Let’s find out!

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