Video Game Search

showing 1 - 50 of 80 games

name	publisher(developer)	year	tags	description
Donkey Kong	Nintendo (Nintendo EAD)	1983	3dsvirtualconsole animals bludgeons cartoon consoleclassix constructionsite did donkeykong donkeykonglike elementals elevators falldamage firstpartytitle harmfultouch instantdeath jumping ladders langinsignificant launchtitle lethalobjects lives lutris maleprotagonist mario mario-universe nesclassic powerups primates rescue score walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/F1kcC4gxBFg[/media]* [142]* [22]* [52]One of the launch games for the Famicom/NES system in Japan. Considering the game's release date, it features great graphics and solid gameplay, which comes close to its arcade counterpart. The NES version only features three levels, instead of four as in the arcade version. Surely this game is a classic, although in my personal opinion the game and its three short levels become boring quite soon and doesn't reach the status of later games in which a certain plumber named Mario made his reappearance.**Donkey Kong has kidnapped Pauline, and it is up to Mario, the fearless carpenter, to come to her rescue. Throwing fate to the wind, Mario tries desperately to climb the labyrinth of structural beams from the top of which Donkey Kong taunts him. Help our hero ascend the metal structure by dodging an assortment of fireballs, steel beams, and exploding barrels the angry ape hurls at him. Prepare yourself for a never-ending adventure as Donkey Kong takes Pauline away to the next level every time Mario gets to the top. Based on the arcade game of the same name, this classic will keep hardcore and casual gamers entertained for hours.
Donkey Kong Jr.	Nintendo (Nintendo EAD)	1983	♫toccatafuguedminor 3dsvirtualconsole birds cartoon consoleclassix donkeykong falldamage firstpartytitle harmfultouch instantdeath jumppads ladders launchtitle lives mario mario-universe nesclassic nintendo4atarichristmas primateprotagonist rescue score walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/y6t5zOsWAmU[/media]* [52]Donkey Kong Jr. was one of the launch games for the Famicom/NES release in Japan. An excellent arcade conversion, especially considering the release date of 1983. The game is a little improvement of the original Donkey Kong gameplay, although the concept stays basically the same with the only difference that now Mario is the bad guy (kind of) and Junior Kong wants to rescue his father. All in all a good game for its time and surely a classic, though very limited when compared to later platform games from the post 'Super Mario Bros' era.**Based on the popular arcade game, Donkey Kong Jr. is the sequel to the immensely successful Donkey Kong. Play as Donkey Kong's son, Junior, and rescue your dad who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a cage by Mario. Use your jumping and climbing abilities to clamber up vines and chains, gather vital fruit and keys, and open the cage to free your father. Make sure you avoid the pesky birds, nasty electric sparks, and creepy chompers! Four different worlds filled with numerous climbing and jumping puzzles await you in this timeless classic.
Popeye	Nintendo	1983	birds cartoon claiming comic consoleclassix endless firstpartytitle harmfultouch instantdeath ladders launchtitle lives nintendo4atarichristmas nofalldamage platformer popeye score uvl-sku walking	[169]* [22]* [66]* [52]* [52]*Now you're the King of Spinach in a battle for Olvie's love! Are you ready to climb ladders, jump landings, eat spinach and punch out Brutus, Seahag and the flying Bernard? Because that's what it takes to win Olive Oyl's hand in marriage. You'll score points by defeating your enemies and collecting the "love tokens" Olive drops from her window. The more you collect, the more points you'll score and the faster you'll win her love. But watch out. Around every corner lurks another jealous suitor. You'll have to think with your head as well as your heart to win this fast action love affair!* [47]*UPC: 0-45496-63023-0 appears on some packages, but this is not a valid UPC code. It is most certainly a typo of the valid code 0-45496-63023-2 which appears on other packages.Popeye and Brutus are at it again in this video contest for Olive Oyl's affection. As Popeye, you must battle the likes of Brutus and the Sea Hag while you race to collect all of the floating hearts that Olive tosses to you. Once you have Spinach power, Popeye can conquer all, but without it, watch out! [...] Olive throws things and Popeye has to pick them up while avoiding the attacks of Brutus, Seahag and Bernard. In round I, Olive throws hearts; in round II, musical notes; and in round III, letters of the alphabet. Try to pick them all up before they sink in the water.**Popeye was one of the launch games for the Famicom/NES system release in Japan. It's a well done conversion of Nintendo's own Popeye arcade game. The goal in each level is to catch all objects that Olive Oyl is throwing down (hearts, notes etc.), while at the same time avoid being catched by Bluto. Graphics are great for a game from 1983 and I still like the gameplay and the different design of each level.
Mario Bros.	Nintendo (Intelligent Systems;Nintendo)	1983	3dsvirtualconsole comicalaction consoleclassix crabs endless firstpartytitle harmfultouch instantdeath lives maleprotagonist mario mario-universe mp-cooperative nesclassic nofalldamage score testudines uvl-techlimitation walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	[100]* [62]* [49]*NES-MA-GBR is used in official Nintendo documentation but the cartridge shows only "GBR" NES-MC-NOE, UPC: 0-45496-63070-6, Mario Bros. (Classic Series) published 1993-04-13 in Germany.You can play alone, or team up with a friend as Mario and Luigi tackle this underground adventure together. There are plenty of cagey critters to conquer -- turtles, crabs and fireflies, to mention a few. You'll progress through endless levels of challenge collecting gold coins and building your score as you go.1 player or 2 players simultaneous. [Zerothis]Enjoyable arcade port and one of the earliest Famicom/NES games ever released. One of the better platform games of the pre Super Mario Bros. era.**Overly simple, straight-forward, yet strangely fun 2-player game. There was a way to access it from [game=Super Mario Bros. 3]Super Mario Bros. 3[/game]. [cjlee001]
Nuts & Milk	Hudson Soft	1984	3dsvirtualconsole amoeboidprotagonist amoeboids claiming deadlywater did falldamage harmfultouch instantdeath ladders leveleditor lives rescue score walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/n47fKPH2Z70[/media]*"Nuts & Milk" involves the player moving through various levels while collecting an assortment of fruit scattered throughout each one. By gathering all the fruit on a particular screen, the player will gain access to a previously unopened house door containing Milk's fiancée, Yogurt. When the player makes contact with the female blob, they are advanced to the next level to start the process anew. Movement through these levels is accomplished by using the directional pad to move Milk across the stage while avoiding pitfalls and other obstacles, most notably the character's rival, Nuts. Milk can jump a short distance vertically or horizontally, allowing him transverse pits or quickly gain access to an adjacent platform. If the player falls from too great a distance, Milk will become momentarily dazed and unable to move until the player joggles him awake with the jump button. Rope bridges are suspended in mid-air on most levels, and by using the directional pad, the player can climb them up or down as well as walk across them once they reach the top. In all, 50 individual levels exist, and each one can skipped freely by pressing the select button. Once a player has cycled through all fifty, who will return to the first level and restart the sequence until all of Milk's lives are lost. [i]Source: Wikipedia[/i]The very first game for the Famicom published by a 3rd party.**The Famicom/NES version is different from the homecomputer versions. Instead of an overhead maze game you have a side-view platform game. The goal of the game is still the same. Collect all fruits in a level while avoiding or jumping over nasty enemies, then the door to the next level opens. An overall average game. Highlight is the build-in game editor that lets you create your own levels.
Lode Runner	Hudson Soft;Brøderbund (Hudson Soft)	1984	claiming consoleclassix digging harmfultouch instantdeath ladders leveleditor lives loderunner monkeybars nofalldamage paniclike platformer robots score subterranean trapping walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Lode Runner is an early classic title originating on homecomputers which cleverly mixes challenging puzzles with platform action. And while they left the basic concept untouched in the NES version I don't like it as much as the classic homecomputer versions. The main reason for this is the fact that the level is scrolling. You can't see the whole level on your screen, which makes planning in advance very difficult. And some extra difficulty is the least element the game needs. Success is not easy to obtain here.***This landmark action-puzzle game has been a worldwide fixture in video games from the moment of its inception until today, producing many sequels and related products along the way. The player controls the hero, or "Runner," who collects gold nuggets located around every stage, all the while avoiding capture by enemy robots. The action itself is simple, but the stages are designed as increasingly challenging puzzles, and none of the 50 stages is as easy as it seems. The Runner avoids enemies by digging holes in the floor to the right and left of his position - by doing this, he can clear a path to places that, at first glance, seem unreachable. Players must use their brains to collect all the gold nuggets in every puzzling stage if they want to escape to the next. In addition to normal play, this version of the game features an Edit Mode that allows players to design their own stages, adding a new level of enjoyment to the game.
Galaxian	Namco	1984	endless fixedshooter galaxianlike instantdeath lives score space	The Galaxian Fleet has invaded and it's up to you to stop them. There's two-way action in this game; as you fire at them, they're firing back at you! All that is required of you is quick reflexes and an accurate aim. Can you destroy the Galaxian Fleet before they destroy you?*Released only in Japan. Night Arrow is a pirate version from China A prototype NTSC version was created for a USA release but remains unreleased.*In 1979 Galaxian was a milestone in the arcades and the NES version is an accurate port. But that doesn't make the game more interesting or less monotonously five years later. Always the same repetitive waves of enemies accompanied with plain graphics and sound.
Devil World	Nintendo	1984	3dsvirtualconsole claiming demons dragonprotagonist dragons endless firstpartytitle instantdeath lives mythicalprotagonist score walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Lost in the maze of Devil World, Tamagon the Dragon has to steer clear of the Devil, his nasty co-Devils, and his treacherous helpers, Medaman, the Fried-Eggman and Bon-Bon, and ward off their attacks by breathing fire. After each round, the maze scrolls up, down, right or left. The Devil decides the direction and points with his finger. As you guide Tamagon through the maze, you also have to avoid being sandwiched between the walls.*Devil World is a Pac Man clone with an interesting new element. The maze is automatically scrolling randomly in all directions. So it can happen that you are trapped inside the maze and squished between the maze wall and boundary wall. Additionally there are not only "eat all dots" rounds, but also some rounds where you have to carry bibles found in the maze into the middle of the maze to win the round. These elements work pretty well and give Devil World the necessary extra dimension from being a simple clone.*Only released in Japan and Europe. What little language usage it has, it's in English, even in the Japanese release. The Japanese title reads approximately [i]debiru waarudo[/i] (Devil World).
Pac-Man	Namco;Tengen;HES (Namco)	1984	claiming consoleclassix endless firstpartytitle ghosts instantdeath nesclassic pacman pacmanlike powerups score wiivirtualconsole	[100]* [27]Pac-Man is a classic and it was just a matter of time until it saw a release on the Famicom/NES system. Generally the port is well done, but the gameplay of Pac-Man didn't get fresher over the years.Move Pac-Man through the maze, avoiding ghosts and eating all the Pac-Dots. Beware, each of the ghosts behave differently. When Pac-Man chomps a Power Pellet, he becomes invincible and is able to eat the blue ghosts. The more ghosts Pac-Man eats in a row, the higher the score. Don't forget to eat the bonus fruit too. Released in 1980, Pac-Man is the most well-known video game on Earth and is also commonly acknowledged as one of the most successful coin-operated games in history. Enjoy this masterpiece of gaming history today.Tengen published a licensed version of this game in North America. After some disagreements with Nintendo, they published an 'unlicensed' version that did not contain Nintendo's seal of '$10 has been added to the cost of this cart'. After Tengen was court ordered to temporarily stop selling unlicensed NES games; Namco published yet a third version of this game. Namco's version was licensed (and cost more). Also, Tengen and Namco both originated with the old Atari company. They are separate companies, but Tengen and Namco continued to be business partners for many products. All versions developed by Namco パックマン, NAM-NPM-4500-02, JAN:4907892000025, published 1984-11-02 by Namco in Japan Pac-Man NES-PQ-USA, UPC:0-31763-03111-6 published 1989 by Tengen in North America Pac-Man (Unlicensed) TGN-003-PM, UPC:7-22674-02032-9 published 1989 by Tengen in North America Pac-Man (Unlicensed) HES-PM, EAN:9312590130090 published 1990 by Home Entertainment Suppliers in Australia Pac-Man NES-P7-NOE published 1990 by Nintendo in Germany Pac-Man NES-P7-FRA published 1990* by Nintendo in France Pac-Man NES-P7-UKV published 1990* by Nintendo in the United Kingdom Pac-Man NES-P7-AUS published 1990* by Nintendo in Australia Pac-Man NES-P7-USA, UPC:0-45496-43049-8 published 1993-11 by Namco in the United States UPC:031763031123 ? *Dated by the printing on the circuit board (manufacture date). Actual publishing date might be years later. [Zerothis]
Xevious	Namco;Bandai (Namco)	1984	bossbattles consoleclassix endless instantdeath juggernauts lives nazcalines score scrollingshooter secondaryattack wiivirtualconsole xevious	[49]* [33]* [52]*Yes, Xevious is a classic arcade title of some fame. And it is a title released early in the Famicom era. But that shouldn't be an excuse for an overall unenjoyable gaming experience. Gameplay could be considered well done, since the controls are decent and the fact that you must throw bombs on ground targets gives the game a bit variety. But it is exactly the boringness and the non-variety of all the rest with the neverending flight over very plain ground with dull colors, shooting waves after waves of the same, bad looking flying enemies and ground targets that makes this game so inferior to nearly all shooters that would follow. The sound is especially annoying.*Players control their Solvalou ship and destroy the XEVIOUS forces. Fire the zapper missiles against air-based enemies and drop the blaster bombs down upon ground-based targets. Destroy Andor Genesis to earn bonus points. Unique enemies, interesting background music, a variety of vertically scrolling background environments and many hidden game play features differentiated Xevious from the other shooting games released at the time. Are you devious enough to beat Xevious?
Mappy	Namco	1984	3dsvirtualconsole anthroprotagonist claiming domesticcats endless instantdeath lawenforcerprotagonist lives mansion mouseprotagonist nofalldamage rodentprotagonist score walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Mappy is a side-scrolling platform game that features cartoon-like animals, primarily cats and mice. The game's main character itself is a mouse. The player guides Mappy the police mouse through the mansion of the cats to retrieve stolen goods. Mappy and the cats move between floors by bouncing on trampolines at various places in the house. Both Mappy and the cats can land on a floor on the way up, but not on the way down. When they pass in the air, Mappy is unharmed by the cats, but if Mappy runs into a cat anywhere else, he will lose a life. A round is completed when all the loot is retrieved. [i]Source: Wikipedia[/i]***In Mappy you control a police mouse with the task to retrieve stolen goods from buildings infested with lots of criminal cats. In order to reach an upper platform you have to use one of the numerous trampolines. A good arcade port and one of the better platform games of the pre Super Mario Bros. era.
Clu Clu Land	Nintendo	1984	3dsvirtualconsole firstpartytitle instantdeath launchtitle lives score stereo timelimit wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	[49]* [22]* [52]* [52]A good puzzle/action game where you have to wander through a kind of maze to reveal all gold bars while avoiding contact with enemy creatures. At the beginning mastering the conrols is the major task for the player. The controls are good, but work differently than similar games where you just press "down" to wander down and so on. In Clu Clu Land you have to press left / right according to the direction the player looks at. Once you get used to it the game plays very well and motivates with many different level layouts (not too common in 1984).**Take a deep breath and prepare for a puzzle game set in the underwater kingdom of Clu Clu Land. The greedy Sea Urchins have stolen all of Clu Clu Land's gold bars and buried them in a series of mazes. As Bubbles, a brave bubble fish, you'll set out to uncover all of the gold bars in each maze. But you'll have to be careful: Sea Urchins will relentlessly pursue Bubbles, and there are also dangerous black holes that must be avoided. Bubbles isn't defenseless, though, as she has the ability to stun Sea Urchins with sound waves and quickly change direction using posts scattered throughout the stages. Not only that, but the locations of the gold bars in each maze form the outline of another object—once you know the object, you're well on your way to finding the gold. With 20 stages to complete and increasingly complex conditions (like having to pass over the gold bars twice to uncover them), you might just want to bring along a friend for help.
Ice Climber	Nintendo	1985	3dsvirtualconsole birds consoleclassix firstpartytitle iceclimber instantdeath launchtitle lives mp-cooperative nesclassic nofalldamage pinnipeds score verticalplatformer walking wiivirtualconsole wintery	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/SM-tDhDHlzM[/media]* [142]* [52]* [22]* [52]*As Popo, players use a trusty mallet to work their way up the mountain. They chip away at the blocks overhead, then jump up through the resulting hole to the mountain's next level. Once Popo reaches the top level, he enters a fast-moving bonus stage in which he can pick up veggies and, hopefully, reach the summit for a big point payoff. Of course, not everyone's supportive of Popo's pastime. Toppies fill Popo's holes, so players must jump through the gaps quickly. It's easy to slip off some of the icy levels, as Polar Bears, Toppies and other ferocious fauna don't want players up there. There are 32 challenging peaks to scale – players can face them alone or with a friend.1 player or 2 players. The Great Britain version catalog number is "NES-IC-GBR". But the cartridge shows simply "GBR" The French version catalog number is "NES-IC-FRA". But the some cartridges show simply "FRA" [Zerothis]**The graphics are surprisingly nice and colorful for its time, but after a few tries you start to realize that the gameplay is rather dull and unspectacular.
Exerion	Jaleco (Tose)	1985	endless instantdeath lives moaifigures score wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Simplistic shoot'em up game, featuring a - very sloppy and distracting- scrolling terrain under the players ship. You also have a limited amount of ammo at your disposal. Killing enemies fills the amount of ammo back up a bit. Gameplay is a bit like Galaga, but with worse playability.
Formation Z	Jaleco (Hect)	1985	aliens instantdeath lives mecha score scrollingshooter transformation wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Taking place in the year 2701, the player controls a robot which can transform into an aero fighter on a mission to stop an alien super weapon from reaching the Earth. The robot may move forwards, backwards and jump, and the aero fighter may travel anywhere on screen but has limited fuel in which to do so. A combination of the two must be used to avoid obstacles, as well as to destroy any on-screen enemies for extra points. [i]Source: Wikipedia[/i]***A rather monotonous side-scrolling shoot'em up game. Prominent feature of this game is the ability to switch between a land-based robot form and air-borne fightercraft. Everything is standard, unspectacular shoot'em up gameplay with rather plain graphics and sound as well as too many loops regarding the level environments.
Championship Lode Runner	Hudson Soft	1985	claiming digging hard harmfultouch instantdeath ladders lives loderunner lutris monkeybars nofalldamage paniclike robots savepassword subterranean trapping walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Championship Lode Runner features the same graphics and gameplay as the original Lode Runner. However, while Lode Runner was a difficult, but playable game, the difficulty level of each of the 50 new Championship Lode Runner levels goes miles through the roof. Only experts, who know every trick from the original game, will stand a chance to beat a single level in this sequel. I bet many people who bought the game were unpleasantly surprised by this.
Space Invaders	Taito (Tose)	1985	alieninvasion cover cover-destructible fixedshooter instantdeath lives score spaceinvaderslike spaceinvadersseries	Attention all Earthlings! Relentless alien hordes have been identified near you. Prevent the dangerous Space Invaders from landing on your territory. Use your cannon to defend against waves of descending alien invaders. Don't let them hit the ground or it's all over for you and the Earth! Destroy them and score points!***As a Famicom/NES game Space Invaders is a big disappointment. The gameplay is slow and even in 1985 the gameplay must have felt like being from a distant age where games were overly simple. Graphics and sound are also true to the original and thus outdated. If you can't help yourself and you feel the urge to play an old-school arcade shoot'em up conversion on the NES then you better go for [game=#7813]Galaga[/game].
Chack'n Pop	Taito (Tose)	1985	bombs instantdeath lives monsters nofalldamage puzzleplatformer timelimit walking wiivirtualconsole	Chack'n Pop is the unofficial precursor of [game=#28]Bubble Bobble[/game], but by far inferior to its famous sequel. You have to destroy monster eggs with timed bombs as well as recover a stolen heart from a cage. Problem with this game are the bad controls and stupid aiming of the bombs. Combine this with a harsh time-limit and you get a game that is infuriatingly frustrating. Graphics and sound are also on the weak side.
Dig Dug	Namco	1985	3dsvirtualconsole digdug digging instantdeath lives maleprotagonist monsters score subterranean walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	A good conversion of an old arcade game.***Become Dig Dug, the champion of love and justice, as you drill up, down, left and right, defeating any enemies in your path. Avoid the persistent Pooka and the deep-dwelling but whimsical Fygar as you defeat all the enemies in order to clear each stage. Defeat enemies by hitting them with the harpoon and pumping air into them, or by dropping rocks on them from above. Receive bonus points by getting the vegetables that appear in the middle of the stage. Receive high points for defeating deep-dwelling enemies or by defeating Fygars from the side with the harpoon. Pass through inflated enemies or defeat enemies in an adjacent passage for an even higher score. Lure multiple enemies and defeat them with a single rock from above in this thrilling action game.
Flappy	dB-SOFT	1985	instantdeath lives score timelimit walking wiivirtualconsole	Flappy plays like a mixture of Soukoban and Boulder Dash. The goal of each level is to place a blue boulder on a blue platform. And levels this game has enough. There are 200 of them. The graphics and sound are outdated and the controls are not so great. In the end Flappy is only for people who like puzzle games and want to play something different for a change.
Wrecking Crew	Nintendo	1985	3dsvirtualconsole consoleclassix endless firstpartytitle instantdeath ladders launchtitle lives mario mario-universe monsters walking wiivirtualconsole	[4]* [22]* [52]* [49]1 player or 2 players simultaneous cooperative. [Zerothis]Nice early puzzle / platform mix with nice graphics for its time. Destroy (nearly) everything on the screen to make it to the next level. One of the not so well known games featuring star plumber Mario.*In the days before Mario and Luigi became sports stars in their downtime between plumbing and saving the Princess, they tried their hands as one-man wrecking crews. With a hammer as their only tool, players take control of the brothers and set out to destroy ladders, rip out pipes, knock down walls and detonate explosive devices. But make sure to plan your path of destruction carefully, as each building is designed as its own clever puzzle—if you're not careful, you can easily trap yourself in a dead end. Adding to the excitement and challenge are fireballs, enemies and an angry foreman roaming the buildings. They're all trying to stop you from moving on to the next stage. With 100 buildings to demolish and the ability to construct your own, it's a wonder Mario and Luigi ever got back to saving the Mushroom Kingdom.
Star Force	Hudson Soft;Tecmo (Hudson Soft)	1985	consoleclassix instantdeath lives parallaxscrolling powerups score scrollingshooter starforce-series	Moving in the darkness of the cosmos is a evil and mysterious planet named GORDESS. Everyone gave up fighting against GORDESS because of it's awesome power, until one day a soldier riding a space patroller challenged GORDESS to fight! Join forces with STAR FORCE and travel across the galaxy in order to defeat GORDESS.***Still a simple and straightforward vertical scrolling shooter, but a few steps more advanced and varied than a game like [game=#8480]Xevious[/game]. The game is playable, has graphics according to it coming from 1985 and with its 24 levels is considerably large for its time. The US and EU versions of Star Force have some minor graphical and sound improvements over the Japanese Famicom version.
Elevator Action	Taito (Micronics)	1985	3dsvirtualconsole consoleclassix elevators firearms instantdeath lives lutris runandgun score specialagentprotagonist walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Good arcade conversion of a nice and "different" action game. Your goal is to obtain documents hidden behind red doors and then make it to the basement of each building to leave it. Secret agents try to stop kill you and you have to avoid or shoot them. As the title implies, elevators are the main game element here. You have to make extensive use of them to make your way through the building. Simple to understand and hard to master. Nice gameplay and interesting level design. A negative point might be that there is only one enemy type in the whole game.***This is a multi directional, scroll-type spy-action game that is a blast from the past. Control a spy and sneak alone into a building to steal the secret papers hidden there. Use a pistol, kicks, an elevator and even the lights to take out the building's guards. The gun-fighting action is full of thrills. Players will need speed and timing to get on the elevators, move between floors, steal the secret papers and escape from the basement parking lot.
Warpman	Namco	1985	aliens arenashooter bombs endless instantdeath lives score walking	Simple single-screen shooter where you have to kill a certain amount of aliens to finish a stage. Warpman is basically an improved version of the 1981 arcade game [game=#763]Warp Warp[/game]. There are two different playing fields. The one is in space and has very straightforward shooting gameplay, the second one is in a Bomberman-style maze where you have to leave bombs on the ground to kill nearby enemies.
Door Door	Enix (Chunsoft)	1985	falldamage instantdeath ladders lives monsters puzzleplatformer score walking	Before Chunsoft developed the immensely popular [game=#7747]Dragon Quest[/game] for Enix, they made some more obscure games. Door Door is such a game. Your goal is to trap all enemies behind doors. A slightly above average typical fixed-screen platform game from the pre Super Mario Bros. era with strange looking creatures.
Gyromite	Nintendo	1985	arg claiming firstpartytitle harmfultouch instantdeath ladders launchtitle lives nofalldamage nojumping packagevariants realrobot rob score stereo timelimit uvl-sku walking	In this action-packed game you've got to keep R.O.B.'s gyroscope spinning in order to assist Professor Hector, the mad scientist, in defusing all the bombs in his laboratory. R.O.B. will help move the columns blocking the scientist's way so he can get to the dynamite before it explodes. Master the technique and you can get R.O.B. spinning two gyros at the same time. But don't take your eyes off the screen for two long - because anything can happen in Gyromite!* [52]* [52]*The catalog number for the Great Britain / Italy version of this game is officially "NES-GY-GBR". However, the cartridge simply has "GBR" on the label. [b]Some[/b] Canadian version cartridges likewise show only "CAN". Also "FRA" for [b]some[/b] French Versions. Some USA version cartridges have no catalog number printed on the cartridge label. There exists a 'big box' USA version'. The cartridge in this box has "NES-GY-USA" on the label. The USA R.O.B. and Gyromite boxed set shares the same UPC as the Gyromite game sold alone, 0-45496-63001-0. The Japanese cartridge label reads: "ファミリーコンピュータロボット HVC-GY ジガイロ Gyro" Where "ファミリーコンピュータロボット: ジガイロ" seems to be the intended title "HVC-012" Applies to the Japanese Robot without the Robot Gyro game. This box apparently has no JAN barcode. UNKNOWN: Japanese Robot + Robot Gyro game JAN code Robot Gyro lone cartridge JAN code.Gyromite is one of two Famicom/NES game using Nintendo's (today very expensive) R.O.B. addon. You are playing a professor who has to collect all dynamite in each level. One player controls the professor, the second player controls the pillars, which block the way. Pillars can also be used to kill enemies by squishing them beneath pillar and ground or ceiling. R.O.B. can also take the role as second player. The game is quite interesting with nice graphics and music for its time. Now the problem is to get a willing second player or R.O.B. to fully enjoy the game, because alone it doesn't rise to its full potential.Since the average younger sibling is usually slightly smarter that ROB, they are a much better choice as a 2nd player. [Zerothis]*1 player or 2 players simultaneous cooperative. Technically, the game is two player only, one human player only, R.O.B. being the second player. This is a very basic platform game with the added twist of a second player having simple control over certain elements in the game world. It is intended that the first player would command ROB to spin up his gyroscopes and move them around to push buttons on the 2nd player controller to manipulate the game world on behalf of player 1. Thus human player 1 and robot player 2 would cooperate to beat the game. Tags: The game is designed to be used with the Robot Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) Gyromite was available when the NES was launched in the USA. It was also packaged with some NES decks. Gyromite was available as a standalone game in a package with ROB parts. It was also available in a package without ROB parts inside. Some players have noted that when this game is played on an NES deck modified for stereo or an emulator with stereo out capability, that it sounds as if it were designed for it. [Zerothis]
Geimos	ASCII (Micronics;Wixel Corporation)	1985	endless instantdeath lives score	[media=youtube]0VkT639__Tk[/media]***Below average shooter which is played from a third-person perspective similar to [game=#192]Space Harrier[/game], just with far inferior graphics. Aiming is always an issue with this kind of shooters and Geimos is no exception in this regard.
Battle City	Namco	1985	arenashooter destructibleenvironment endless instantdeath leveleditor lives mp-cooperative powerups score tank tanks vehicleprotagonist wiivirtualconsole	[media=youtube]DfixqYPonHw[/media]*1 player or 2 players simultaneous. [Zerothis]*Battle City feels a bit like an evolved form of the Atari 2600 classic [game=#41961]Combat[/game]. With your own tank you have to defend your headquarter, which is in the bottom middle of the screen, from enemy tanks. Enemy tanks come in four different variants, regarding speed and shots they take until they are destroyed. Tanks can shoot down brick walls and hide under trees, but have to maneuver around solid walls or pools of water. Shooting a blinking enemy tank makes an extra appear somewhere on the map. Upon collecting this you get certain bonuses like freezing all enemies, creating an undestructible wall around your hq and so on. Besides a standard one player mode the game features a very nice cooperative two player mode. When you become bored you can also build new levels via an editor in construction mode. Graphics are below average, music is nearly non-existant, the sound effects during the game get their work done. Playability is rather good, especially the two-player mode can be real fun.
Pooyan	Hudson Soft	1985	anthroprotagonist bows endless femaleprotagonist fixedshooter instantdeath lives lutris pigs score wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole wolves	You control Mama pig and defend your little pig family with a bow and arrows against attacking wolves. Shoot the balloons and the wolves fall to their death. Hudson did a good job by bringing an accurate port of the classic Konami arcade game Pooyan to the Famicom system.
City Connection	Jaleco;Jaleco USA (Hect)	1985	3dsvirtualconsole city-london-uk city-newyork-ny city-paris-fr consoleclassix domesticcats england france germany india instantdeath japan lives nofalldamage score usa wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/z5Z43hDnzfQ[/media]* [100]シティコネクション literally reads [code]shiti konekushon[/code]The goal in "City Connection" is to drive with your car over each segment of all platforms while avoiding police cars and other stuff (especially a very nasty cat that always appears on the road when you least expect it). In addition to the ability to jump, your car can shoot enemies. After completing a stage you make your way to the next stage which takes place in another famous city somewhere in the world. City Connection is a strange platform game, but not without its qualities. Graphics and sound are ok for a game from 1985 and the gameplay is motivating enough to try the game for a couple of rounds.*Based on the arcade hit, a young man born in California sets out to tour famous sites and cities around the world. As he drives the highways surrounding these locations, the road is painted white as proof of his visit. Only once all sections of the road have been painted will he move on to the next location in his world tour. Not surprisingly, the local police will chase the driver and do their best to stop him from completing his goal. In addition, cats roam the highways and spikes lie in wait for unsuspecting drivers. To combat these dangers, the driver's customized car can jump, fire cans of oil and collect balloons to warp to a new stage. It's the ultimate road trip.
Route 16 Turbo	Sunsoft	1985	claiming difficulty fuel instantdeath lives uvl-sku	By the title you could first think this game to be a racing game. But this is far from being true. It is more or less a Pac-Man clone, just with a slightly different setting. You are going through a couple of mazes, which are all linked by an "overworld" maze. In each maze you have to collect all items. Avoid other cars who try to catch you. The game is far from being great. Simplistic graphics and rather boring gameplay.
Sky Destroyer	Taito (Home Data)	1985	20thcentury aerodyne aeroplane endless fighteraircraft instantdeath lives pacificocean propellerplane score worldwar2	Sky Destroyer is a pseudo-3D third-person shooter in a second world war environment. Gameplay is similar to [game=#16657]After Burner[/game]. Of course the graphical effect is not nearly as impressive on an early 8-bit Famicom game and the landscapes mainly consist of water. Shoot down planes with your machine gun and occasionally some enemy ships with torpedoes. The game is playable and people who like this kind of shooting games will be pleased enough for a few tries.
Onyanko Town	Pony Canyon (Micronics)	1985	♫unhatchedchicksballet anthroprotagonist dogs domesticcats endless felidprotagonist instantdeath lives score town trapping walking	In Onyanko Town you control a mother cat in her search for her little kitten, which strolls around in a huge maze-like town. When you found your kitten your task is only half finished. You have to bring him back to your home under worse conditions, namely more aggressive enemies. Enemies consist of cars, dogs, manholes etc. Being in a town gives this maze game a nice touch. Otherwise it is nothing special and good for just a few tries.
Pac-Land	Namco	1985	ghosts instantdeath lives pacman platformer score walking	Pac-Land is a side-scrolling platform game and was ported from the arcade to the Famicom system. The game is well playable.The graphics are very cartoonish, just like in the arcade original, but also really undetailed. The game doesn't reach the evergreen status of the classic Pac-Man and never reaches the quality of a Super Mario Bros.
BurgerTime	Data East;Namco (SAS Sakata)	1985	burgertime consoleclassix food-theme instantdeath ladders lives lutris platformer predictablenpcs score walking wiivirtualconsole	As Chef Peter Pepper, you must fend off the Food Foes while making perfect burgers! Use pinches of pepper to stun Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Egg and Mr. Pickle, or lure them onto or under burger buns, lettuce, cheese or tomatoes to escape their clutches! Making perfect burgers gets progressively tougher through the six screens of BurgerTime!*A good conversion of an arcade classic. I personally think that the Famicom/NES version came a year or two too late to be considered impressive, since many other home versions were already available (e.g. the very good Colecovision port). Gameplay gets a bit old after a few tries and the difficulty level is rather high from the beginning.*Developed by Data East Published by Namco Limited in Japan, 1985-11-27 NES-BR-USA published by Data East Corporation in USA, 1987-05 The player controls Chef Pepper while he makes giant hamburgers by walking over and knocking the layers of required ingredients off the giant lattice where they sit. Layers only fall one level of the lattice at a time. When one layer falls on another, it falls one level also. Hamburgers are complete when all the required layers are knocked to hamburger tray on the bottom. Required ingredients are bun, meat, lettuce, and bun. The optional ingredients, are the antagonists; Mr. Egg, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Hot Dog. Apparently, fried eggs and hot dogs are a popular hamburger ingredients in the alternate universe where videogame characters live. Should they be caught between the falling required layers, they will become permanent ingredients. Otherwise they will kill Chef Pepper on contact. But Chef Pepper can pick up salt to protect himself. One sprinkle od salt will stun the optional ingredients long enough for Chef Pepper to walk past them. [Zerothis]
Ikki	Sunsoft (Tose)	1985	15thcentury 16thcentury 3dsvirtualconsole arenashooter claiming feudaljapan ikko-ikki instantdeath japan lives ninja score shallowwater thrownweapons walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Run around, collecting all money bags scattered around the level and defend yourself against attacking ninjas. Only four rather short stages and a bonus round were left from the original eight arcade stages. The game is not free of some problems. Sometimes your enemies spawn in unfair spots and the fact that the game starts to scroll only when the player is already near the edge of the screen makes it even worse. On the other hand the game's start isn't very difficult. I was rather disappointed to come to the end of the fourth stage only after a few minutes in my first try. The fifth stage just repeats the first stage with more difficult enemies. The motivation to play on drops down drastically from there.***In this game you play rebel farmer who defends his section of land from marauding ninjas. This is based on Ikkō-ikki history. Presumably the ninjas were hired by the Samurai to wreak havoc? (I'm not that familiar with Japanese history). The farm land is a maze-like area that the player must navigate while the Ninjas can piratically fly. They Approach from the north with smaller numbers from the flanks. The player uses his boomerang to kill hundreds of them (maybe these are Ninja school dropouts). There are also Japanese coins to be collected in a Pac-Man like manner. The player does not remain centered in the screen and most scroll it by advancing dangerously close to the edge. Only the protagonist knows the boundaries of his land and stops on them (this information is not revealed to the player before reaching the edge). This game was released only in Japan. [Zerothis]
Spelunker	Irem;Brøderbund (Irem)	1985	3dsvirtualconsole chiroptera consoleclassix elevators falldamage instantdeath ladders lives spelunker-series subterranean titularcharacter walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	Spelunker could have been a really good game, but it has a huge problem. The play controls are really bad. Nearly every time you fall down something it feels more due to the controls than your because of your own fault. And regarding falling down: Falling down more than a few pixels results in death. All this makes the game ridiculously difficult. The cave exploring part could have been really fun, but not after so many deaths due to the sloppy controls. Graphics and sound are nothing special. They get their work done well enough for an early Famicom/NES game.***Wander through miles of uncharted caves in search of the legendary underground pyramid and its vast treasures. To complete your adventure, you will swing from ropes and ladders, run across unstable terrain and down ravines, operate elevators, mining carts and rafts. You will collect keys, bombs, flares, jewels, sacks of gold coins and other valuable items as you navigate the hazardous terrain. But beware of the scalding steam vents, poisonous bats and the avenging spirits of dead spelunkers that lurk in every corner of this massive underground labyrinth.
1942	Capcom (Micronics)	1985	1940s 20thcentury aeroplane aircraft-p38-lightning bossbattles consoleclassix fighteraircraft instantdeath lives lutris pacificocean powerups propellerplane score scrollingshooter worldwar2	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/N7mDn_ceL2Q[/media]* [52]* [52]*The positive aspect of this classic vertical-scrolling shooting game are the good play controls. On the negative side stands the repetitive stage and enemy design. Over 30 levels is much for an old shooting game, but after a few stages you have virtually seen everything the game has to offer. And in later stages with many enemies on screen the game begins to flicker annoyingly. Still quite an improvement over other classic shooters like [game=#8480]Xevious[/game].*This game is great its just your plane and you fighting planes for 34 or so levels. Watch out for the sand and the planes that circle you and come out you from behiend [mouw]
Zunou Senkan Galg	dB-Soft (Team Bioteckers)	1985	instantdeath lives score	Looking at the box of Zunou Senkan Galg I was intrigued to find out about this so self-called "Scroll-RPG". I mean, what is a Scroll-RPG? On first glance of the screenshots on the backside I could have sworn it is a normal shoot'em up game. Well, it actually is. And not a very good one as well. Fly through myriads of relatively small levels and collect 1 of 100 important parts each level. Having gathered 100 parts (means flying through at least one hundred more or less boring levels, which actually consist of only about 30 repeating levels) you can finally try to kill the final boss. To call this collecting of 100 parts a kind of quest and inventing the word Scroll-RPG only for this boring game element is rather bold. Graphics are not good and the music and sound effects are much too high pitched.
Chubby Cherub	Bandai (Tose)	1985	angelicprotagonist anime birds dogs flying instantdeath score	Jump and fly with a little angel (or ghost in the Japanese version) to the end of each level. Enemies consist mainly of dogs who have nothing better to do than try to bark the little hero to death. The graphics in this game a relatively nice with good backgrounds for a title from 1985, but the gameplay is weak with several unfair situations.
Exed Exes	Tokuma Shoten (Micronics)	1985	bossbattles instantdeath lives mp-cooperative powerups score scrollingshooter	Exed Exes is a poor Arcade conversion with rather plain and monotonous graphics and gameplay. The pace of the game is rather slow and it takes a few rounds until the on-screen action becomes a bit more hectic. A special warning has to be given about the music. That high-pitched sorry effort of music gave me the creeps.
Son Son	Capcom (Micronics)	1986	anthroprotagonist birds fish instantdeath lives runandgun score walking xiyouji	Son Son is a conversion of a rather unknown Capcom arcade game and was only released in Japan. You control a monkey named Son Son on his way through 19 stages towards a heaven-like place. When you select 2-player mode Son Son is accompanied by his pig friend Ton Ton, which is controlled by the second player. You can jump up and down platforms and shoot incoming enemies. The levels are scrolling automatically. An overall average shooting/platform hybrid. At least it spawned eventually a much better sequel ([game=#101388]Son Son II[/game]) for the PC-Engine a few years later.
Circus Charlie	Soft Pro (Konami)	1986	acrobatics animals childprotagonist circus clowns horses instantdeath lions moneybags riding ropeswinging score timelimit	[media=youtube]https://youtu.be/2EmrTTl8Q4U[/media]***In Circus Charlie you play a young clown through five side scrolling stages, which eventually repeat itself endlessly. The arcade original featured a sixth stage which was omitted from the Famicom version. In the first stage you ride a lion and have to jump through circles of fire. The second (extremely easy) stage lets you jump over monkeys; in the third stage you must jump from one circus ball onto another. In the last two stages you have to ride on a horse and finally swing yourself from rope to rope. The game is playable, but since it is pretty easy to finish all levels in a few minutes, the game has no long motivating content and you have virutally seen everything the game has to offer. Graphics and sound are nothing special and merely average even for a rather early Famicom game.
Gyrodine	Taito (Human)	1986	aerodyne endless helicopter instantdeath lives rotorcraft score scrollingshooter uvl-searchelp	Commonly misspelled "Gyrodyne". But Box and Title screen are clear on the proper spelling "Gyrodine".*Unimpressive generic vertical scrolling shoot'em up game. You switch between shooting airborne or ground targets similar as in [game=#8480]Xevious[/game]. There is only one seemingly everlasting level and no extra weapons. Your helicopter also moves a bit too slowly and enemy projectiles a bit too fast making it a pretty hard game.*[media=youtube]N8fEi-fxTMQ[/media]
Keisan Game: Sansuu 1 Toshi	Tokyo Shoseki	1986	animalprotagonist edu-math instantdeath lagomorphprotagonist lives math	This is the first game in an edutainment game series for the Famicom aimed at children in their first year in elementary school to improve their basic math skills in addition and subtraction. There are four mini-games with two difficulty levels each, requiring you to solve simple mathematical problems whilst surviving the on-screen action sequences.
Keisan Game: Sansuu 3 Toshi	Tokyo Shoseki	1986	edu-math instantdeath lives math submarine	This is the third game in an edutainment game series for the Famicom clearly aimed at children to improve their basic math skills, concentrating on division and multiplikation. There are four mini-games with two difficulty levels each, requiring you to solve simple mathematical problems whilst surviving the on-screen action sequences.
Bird Week	Toshiba EMI (Lenar)	1986	animalprotagonist biologicalsimulation birdprotagonist birds butterflies femaleprotagonist fungus-mushrooms insects instantdeath lifesimulation nohumans score vgpocketmini worms	Bird Week is a simple, cute action game where you control a mother bird and have to collect butterflies/insects to feed your baby birds until they are ready to leave the nest. Also avoid numerous predators that try to catch you. The simple gameplay is accompanied by below average graphics and rather annoying music and clearly aimed at kids. Wikipedia categorizes this game amongst "biological simulations", but I think that is really far-fetched. You can't influence development of anything at all.***As a mother bird, you must gather worms and insects to feed your chicks. The won't eat until they're hungry. They die of hunger fairly quickly after demanding to eat. You can only carry one bite at a time. You have two or more chicks. Watch out for predators who are after you as you go hunting for your own prey. Originally published by Toshiba-EMI. The VG Pocket Mini version is titled Worm Catcher. [Zerothis]
Choplifter	Jaleco (Tose)	1986	aerodyne caveflying choplifter city endless fuel future helicopter instantdeath lives ocean rescue rotorcraft score wasteland	Choplifter for the Famicom is a port of Sega's arcade version, which itself is an enhanced remake of the old Apple II original game Choplifter. The Famicom version features all four arcade levels. The goal is to rescue a certain amount of prisoners in each level with your helicopter. You start from a base and fly left until you come to structures or buildings which contain people. Destroying them will release the people and you can pick them up by landing near them. While flying you can shoot down hostile air and ground forces, which try to stop you. Graphics are only average and the music is on the weak side. The helicopter's controls are not the best, movements feel too slow. Despite being a (semi)-classic, the game didn't age very well. If you want to play a good home conversion you might better try the much better Master System version, which lacks one level, but features better audiovisuals and controls.
Sqoon	Irem (Home Data)	1986	alieninvasion antiheroprotagonist consoleclassix crabs earth endless fish instantdeath lives merfolk notnintendocontentguid nudity ocean rescue ruins score scrollingshooter submarine underwater uvl-searchelp	Sqoon is a horizontally scrolling shoot'em up game. The player controls a submarine where he not only has to shoot everything in sight but also has to rescue as many humans as possible from underwater farms (where they are held like cattle by hungry alien invaders cough). Only by delivering people or gold bars to the surface you can fill up necessary fuel. Without fuel or touching an enemy you die. The graphics are not very detailed, background graphics consist mainly of simple blue water. Controls are average. Worst part is the miserable hit detection and the boringness that comes as soon as you have seen two levels. There is virtually no variety in later levels. After the eighth stage the game starts at stage one with some more palette swapped backgrounds.***The proper name is "Sqoon", however, proper spelling would be Squoon. which is not the actual title of this game.
Kanshakudama Nage Kantarou no Toukaidou Gojuusan Tsugi	Sunsoft (Tose)	1986	3dsvirtualconsole asia asia-east deadlywater dogs feudaljapan ghosts grenades harmfultouch instantdeath japan lives ninja nofalldamage platformer score walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole	You are playing a fireworks-maker on his way from the city of Kyouto to the city of Edo (Tokyo) via the Toukaidou route. This route is a famous historical route which consists of 53 stations. Each of the games levels represents one station of the route. Since the game only has 21 levels not all stations are included. And of course the route is dangerous, because you are followed and attacked by henchmen of an evil merchant who wants to steal the secret of fireworks manufacturing from you. The game itself is a standard platform game. You make your way from left to right, avoid enemies or kill them via throwing explosives. On the way you can collect hidden items which help passing some otherwise especially nasty enemies. Also you have to find gold coins, which at some points in the game make a platform appear without which you can't progress further. Graphics and music are not more than average and the jump controls feel strange and slow.

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