showing 36 games
| name | publisher(developer) arrow_downward | year | tags | description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wizards & Warriors | Acclaim (Rare) | 1987 | ants bossbattles castle chiroptera claiming consoleclassix did forest keys lives monsters platformer rescue score spiders stereo subterranean swords thrownweapons wizardsandwarriors | [103]*** [49]*** [62]*** [33]*** [1]***The first game in Rare's "Wizards & Warriors" series, and the only one which made it to Japan as well. Technically well done with decent controls. The story is from the typical "heroic knight saves the princess from an evil wizard" type. In order to finish a level you have to collect a certain amount of gems. You also have to collect colored keys to open corresponding doors and chests. At the end of a level a boss fight awaits the hero. The levels are varied enough to have kept me interested and everything looks interesting. All in all not the super best game ever, but quite enjoyable.*** [52]*** [27]***You are Kuros, the knight warrior. Your journey begins deep within the woods of Elrond, where even the wind obeys the Supreme Wizard, Malkil. But Malkil has strayed from the path, and is now part of the dark side. You are the only knight with the strength to wield the Brightsword. The prisoner of the wizard calls to you from Castle IronSpire. But the wizard is watching you, warrior. And this tale has just begun.***NES-WW-USA, published by Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. in the USA, 1987 Published by Jaleco Ltd. in Japan, 1988-07-15 [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Rambo | Acclaim Entertainment;Pack-in-Video (Pack-in-Video) | 1987 | 4thwallbroken ballistics birds bossbattles chiroptera consoleclassix firearms fish giantspiders grenades gunblades helicopters humans knives lamp machineguns movie notnintendocontentguid primates rambo rescue savepassword snakes spiders tigers vietnam xp-kills | Freedom is everything. You are Rambo. Fallen hero. Once a decorated green beret; special weapons expert; master of the martial arts. Now, you're living in solitary, a prisoner of the government you swore to defend. Intelligence sources believe they have discovered a hidden POW camp deep in the jungle. Your brothers in arms have been enslaved there for years. It's your choice: accept a suicide mission to find the camp, or spend the rest of your life in a 6' by 8' cell. Your body is a weapon. Your mind, a disciplined machine. The most advanced military hardware is at your disposal, and a chopper waits to carry you to the drop site, where once again, you will be alone deep in hostile territory. This is your war, Rambo. A war that will test your every skill. A war with only two possible results: freedom or death. Armed and alone, you parachute into enemy territory. Match courage and wits with the animals that rule the jungle. Race to the landing site. It may be your only way to escape. Weave your way through the enemy weapons warehouse.*** [33]***This game gets lots of hate from players, but I think this one is actually pretty average. There are some elements that I don't like. Most of the fights, especially at the beginning is against wildlife, the whole side-scrolling knive-stabbing action is not as typical Rambo-like as other more standard Run and Gun style top-down shooters of other Rambo versions in the 80s. While not a better game per se, the C64 Rambo game from Ocean just fit the Rambo style much better. The character also looks a bit goofy and is not really well animated. On the plus side must be noted that they tried to tell a story. When I compare this to other NES games released in or before 1987 this one does pretty well in the story section and its not your typical fantasy scenario that often came with such kind of Action-Adventure titles.***This game is based on them movie [i]Rambo: First Blood Part II[/i]. This is a Zelda II clone. In Japan, Zelda II for the Famicom Disk System was released about 11 months before the Famicom version of Rambo. The Famicom version of Rambo has a level layout very similar to Zelda II. The USA version reduces the similarity be rearranging the levels a bit. | labelimagesubject |
| Conquest of the Crystal Palace | Asmik;Quest (Quest) | 1990 | birds bossbattles carnivorousplants chiroptera consoleclassix deathpits dogs highbornprotagonist lives meleeweapons monsters mountain movingplatforms nofalldamage samurai skeletons spiders swords undead | Return to the once beautiful Crystal Palace where your father's kingdom was brutally overthrown by Zaras, king of the infernal plateau. Call upon your guardian dog. Zap and battle your way through the peaks of Mount Crystal. Find Kim at the astral-mart, she will help you along your way with tools and food needed to make this awesome journey. Step into the Realm of the Guardian, the walkway to impending doom. Acid rain is forecasted by QNN... so keep your eyes on the road ahead. Beware! You will fight the biggest, meanest enemies ever seen on the NES! Investigate the Lair of Hungry Ghosts, gather special weaponry and gold. Enter the Gateway of Flame. Look out! The pathway has disappeared and there's only a moment between you and a sea of lava. These tasks and much more must be accomplished if you wish to regain your rightful throne! | labelimagesubject |
| Pocket Zaurus: Juu Ouken no Nazo | Bandai (Tose) | 1987 | boomerangs bossbattles dinosaurs egyptian-theme grecoromanmythology ladders lives monsters nofalldamage prehistoric-theme rescue score sharks snakes spiders swimming thrownweapons timetravel walking | In "Pocket Zaurus" you are a boy who gets transformed into a dinosaur and has to jump and run his way through several levels in different time zones to rescue a female. "Pocket Zaurus" is a standard platform game with ok graphics and varied levels for a 1987 game. As far is I know it was the second 2 Mbit cartridge for the Famicom ever released ([game=#155964]Ganbare Goemon: Karakuri Douchuu[/game] being the first one). The game plays well enough, but there is nothing really outstanding or memorable about it. | labelimageminimize |
| Deadly Towers | Brøderbund;Irem (Lenar) | 1986 | actionadventure amoeboids bossbattles bossrush censored chiroptera consoleclassix constructionsite currency dawnofanewage difficulty-single earth ghosts hard inventory ladders maleprotagonist mapdeficient monsters noports projectilelimit savepassword scorpions secrets secrets-mandatory secrets-spots shopping snakes spiders stoneage subterranean swords walking | You are young Prince Myer, setting out to defend the ancient kingdom of Willner. Rubas, King of Devils, has built a castle in the north and is preparing to invade your kingdom. Ringing magic bells, he is calling out an army of the most terrifying creatures known (or unknown) to man. To defeat Rubas, you must journey to his palace and burn down his seven bell towers. On your quest, you will collect weapons and armor to defend yourself against rats and crawlers; bats, snakes and slime; demons, dragons and more. You'll need every ounce of help you can get. For you are all that stands between your people and the forces of darkness.***Deadly Towers is a mixed-bag. The gameplay is similar to [game=#9176]The Legend of Zelda[/game], with the perspective being a bit more 3D-ish. For a game released in 1986 it looks rather advanced. The graphics are nice, the music is good and the game is huge. The game has major flaws however. Some of them are not uncommon for an early NES game. Many necessary items are very well hidden in non-obvious spots. The difficulty level is too high. In this game the beginning is even the hardest part of the game. Being badly equipped you have barely a chance againts the many monsters. Sometimes when you run over a certain spot you are teleported into a dungeon. And you cannot immediately leave the dungeon, until you find the exit. Making things worse, the dungeons are huge 16x16 screen mazes with many difficult monsters. And only in these dungeons you can find shops where you can buy some better equipment to survive the final seven towers where seven bells are hidden, which you must find and destroy in order to challenge the end boss. Now with a walkthrough and cheat at hand I could avoid the biggest frustration, but I understand people who say that this game is a game design disaster.***"Mashou" is used in official documentation. Journey through this 3D looking game to collect the evil magic bells from the 7 bell towers and burn them in the sacred flame. Mashō literally means "Evil Bell" an is a pun of 魔性 which means meaning "devilishness." It was supposed to be titled "Hell's Bells," in English but this title qualified for Nintendo's unwritten censorship rules. Oddly, there are Holy Crosses shown all through the game and the game is pretty blatant that God himself has personally asked the game's protagonists to complete this quest. This game has a very long crawl screen of text. Possibly the longest crawl of any game previous and I can't think of a longer since. The text mentions that the castle explored in the game is actually under construction. This can thinly justify the level structure. [spoiler=Quick & Dirty Passwords Hack:;Close Passwords Hack]start, die immediately, change the 1st 2 letters of your password to "FE". Now you have lots of good equipment.[/spoiler][spoiler=Passwords:;Close Passwords:]GDXHDPMM10 Start with a lot of items EF1KDK.KTX End of the Game GDXHDPMM10 Another easy start EE1KBK.TTT An Easy start 54DK1P4WC4 Final Battle with double shot .AZODKNXTJ Final Battle with parallel shot[/spoiler][spoiler=Game Gene codes:;Close Game Gene codes:]LGXELPZU Start with 75 Ludder GXSONPST No Damage ZEUPKYPE 10x Ludder GOUPUYIA 4x Ludder GXUGLVON No charge at stores[/spoiler] [Zerothis]***I'm surprised to find this game listed on many 'worst games of all time' lists. Ya, its insanely hard. And true, the character and enemies moves in plain 2D even though the enemies are (not) placed in a weird pseudo 3D non-existent environment. And, I'll admit, generally hidden/invisible entrances are used for required main levels instead of just secret bonus areas. And, ok, 20 hit points for the first enemy encountered in the game that isn't even a boss and doesn't even have a name, and doesn't even have a face, or a brain, or limbs, or multiple colors, is a bit excessive. Oh and instead of finding a way to the remotest part of the dungeons, grabbing the treasure and being teleported out, the player is teleported into the remotest part of the insanely complex dungeons, loses treasures, and must find their own way out. It could be worse, imagine if it had no continue option (which is easily exploited btw. [spoiler]Start the game, die, then change the first two letters of your continue password to "EF" or "FE".[/spoiler] Wimpy). [b]However, I like it for the challenge[/b], I find the false 3Dishness very retro (by 1986 standards), in a good way. This game proceeded [gameid=9176]The Legend of Zelda[/gameid] and in many ways its better, imo. The size of dungeons and the order of their 'completion' are superior. Deadly towers was actually the 2nd NES game I ever played after Super Mario Bros. It took me about 300 hours to beat. [b]This game gets 4.5 stars by me.[/b] Summary of good points: Challenging Save your progress Enemy Variety Many Enemies Sharing Screen Eight-way Movement Eight-way Attack Vast world to explore Many secrets Permanent upgrades 3Dish Unique light-up cartridge (Japan version) [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Super Black Onyx | Bullet-Proof Software | 1988 | amoeboids chiroptera combatmode demons dragons dungeoncrawler ghouls giants goblins gorillas gridmove kobolds magic monsters orcs party saveram scorpions shopping skeletons snakes spiders undead vampires wolves zombies | labelimageminimize | |
| Mickey Mousecapade | Capcom;Hudson Soft (Hudson Soft) | 1987 | animateobjects anthroprotagonist birds consoleclassix crossover disney domesticcats fish forest ladders lives mickeymouse mouseprotagonist nofalldamage pirates refaliceinwonderland rodentprotagonist score scorpions snakes spiders | "Help! Help!" echos a mysterious voice. Mickey Mouse, the famous world explorer, has heard the cries of one of his friends and he's off on a rescue mission... This adventure starts in a zany Fun House. Join Mickey and Minnie as they turn it inside out looking for their missing friend. A mischievous creature may fly off with Minnie, and you'll have to get her back. Now that Minnie is safe, you must help our heroes make it across a vast ocean - on foot! Even the feisty flying fish can't stop Mickey from his search, but what about the cantankerous crocodile waiting at the shore? Enter the world of fantasy, mystery and excitement with Mickey and Minnie as you solve the mystery of Mickey's missing friend!***A nice non-scrolling platform title from Hudson Soft (released by Capcom in the USA) with Disney's most famous star. You play Mickey Mickey on his search for a girl, who happens to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland. He is accompanied by Minnie who follows him automatically. Not as good as later Disney games developed by Capcom themselves, but fun for a one-time runthrough nevertheless.***HFC-MI Mickey Mouse: 不思議の国の大冒険 (ミッキーマウス 不思議の国の大冒険, Mickey Mouse: Fushigi no Kuni do Daibouken. Mickey Mouse: Adventures in Wonderland) published by Hudson Soft Company, Ltd. 987-03-06 in Japan NES-MI-USA Mickey Mousecapades published by Capcom 1988-10 in the USA Mickey Mouse published elsewhere 1 player only Micky Mouse along with Minnie are off to rescue the kidnapped Alice from Alice in Wonderland (the Japanese title translates Micky Mouse: Adventures in Wonderland). This is a non-scrolling platformer with some adventure elements (locked doors and keys for them.) If you open the North American cartridge, (not recommended), you can see a Mickey Mouse silhouette on the circuitboard above pin 5. Both version feature Disney villains as the bosses for each level. But the Japanese version uses Alice in Wonderland baddies while the US version uses a wider mix of Disney characters. In the Japanese versions, Mickey shoots balls of magic (sorcerer's apprentice style) but inexplicable uses Shuriken. There are other minor variations. Both controller 1 controls Mickey and Minnie. Controller 2 controls Minnie and Mickey. This feature can be exploited to have each character operate somewhat independently. Minnie can fall down holes and lose a life, but is otherwise suffers no permanent effects from other hazards. [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Millipede | HAL Laboratory;HAL America (HAL Laboratory) | 1987 | bees beetles centipede centipedelike consoleclassix dragonflies earwigs endless fixedshooter instantdeath lives millipedes mosquitoes nintendo4atarichristmas score spiders worms | You are lost in a dark, perilous, and enchanted forest. Dark dangerous mushrooms push up through the squishy forest floor, snaring you on every side. Something slimey flashes through the mushrooms, moving in on you. The MILLIPEDE, not a normal size one, but the gigantic monster, is attacking you. All you have to fight back with is the magic arrow. Shoot his head to turn him into mushrooms. But that is not the only thing attacking you. There are more creepy, crawling, buzzing, swarming creatures in this forest. Keep fighting with your magic arrow. If you are lucky, you may survive. Watch out, here they come!***Like most other ports of old, classic arcade games for the NES, Millipede is quite playable, fast and stays true to the arcade original. But the gameplay feels a bit too old for a 1987/88 release. After a couple of tries I got bored and didn't get any motivation for playing more, because except accumulating a higher score there is no goal in this game. Oh and why did they put an archer-like character on the game box and a story of your character being lost in a field of giant mushrooms, and at the same time they call your character sprite "ship" in the game?***ミリピード 巨大昆虫の逆襲 / Milli-Pede:巨大昆虫の逆襲, HAL-ML, 1987-10-01 in Japan Millipede 1988-10, HAL-ML-USA, in USA Its centipede with added enemies, bonus levels, creeping mushrooms, and DDT bombs. This game also uses a flying craft armed with a laser like weapon instead of the garden gnome armed with a magic wand. The main objective is to shoot the millipede. Shoot it in the middle and the remaining sections will run around independently of each other. One of 4 prototypes presented by Nintendo to Atari as part of their deal to partner with them to bring the Famicom to North America. The potential deal was forgotten and ignored moments later as Atari began to considered that the 1983-84 video game market crash was possibly the end of videogames rather than a long-term pause in the market. These prototypes are not under copyright but do contain trademarks. [quote]Nintendo will, in the interests of expediency for this Christmas season, program 4 Atari titles of our choice.[/quote] [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Adventure Island | Hudson Soft (Hudson Soft;Westone) | 1986 | adventureisland birds bossbattles chiroptera consoleclassix did elevators fish forest frog island lives nofalldamage octopus platformer rescue score skateboard snails snakes spiders subterranean thrownweapons walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole wonderboy | [media=youtube]https://youtu.be/dwxJ7QO3hlk[/media]*** [37]*** [29]*** [27]***Adventure Island is the NES version of Sega's [game=#158027]Wonder Boy[/game], only with having the main character and music changed. It is a simple and fun platformer with colorful graphics and really good gameplay and controls. Some later levels are rather hard to beat, especially when you die and must start the section again without a weapon. There is a life bar that functions as some kind of time limit. You refill the bar by collecting food. At the day of its (Japanese) release this might be the best Famicom/NES platform game since [game=#5128]Super Mario Bros.[/game] made its appearance.***A mysterious tropical paradise known as Adventure Island is the setting for this side-scrolling action game. The evil Witch Doctor has kidnapped Tina, the true love of Master Higgins. To save her, you must safely guide Master Higgins through eight perilous stages - including dense forests and creepy caves - while defeating all of the enemies in your path. Each area is made up of four rounds filled with enemies determined to stop you in your tracks. In addition, as time passes, Master Higgins's vitality is automatically drained. To keep going, he must eat constantly by grabbing fruit, milk and whatever other goodies he can as he races toward his goal. Sometimes eggs containing miraculous items like axes to throw at enemies or honey that grants temporary invincibility will appear. Use items skillfully to help you clear the areas. At the end of each area you'll face the Witch Doctor, who you must defeat to advance. Go, Master Higgins, go!***A platform game that is simply an altered version of Sega's Wonder Boy. Help Master Higgins save his girlfriend! The Japanese title means 'Master Takahashi's Adventure Island'. Takahashi is the original Japanese name for Higgins. [Jacquismo] | labelimagesubject |
| Adventure Island II | Hudson Soft (Now Production) | 1991 | 3dsvirtualconsole adventureisland birds consoleclassix lives nofalldamage platformer score snails snakes spiders wiivirtualconsole | Soar into action with Adventure Island II. That Evil Witch Doctor's just snatched your favorite lady. And you've got to battle your way past EIGHT treacherous islands to get her back. Combat prehistoric monsters -- some of the creepiest, fire-spitting critters ever to slither across a video screen! Survive molten volcanoes. Dodge giant scorpions and king cobras. And the action gets even crazier with a new vertical/horizontal scroll, while stage select lets you control play. So sharpen your axe, slip on a leopard skin, and take off for ADVENTURE ISLAND II. It's gonna be a wild ride!!!*** [37]*** [32]*** [29]*** [27]***Great game geared towards a younger audience but unless you can play the game for 12 hours nonstop you will never finish the game. There is no password or save game state when the game includes tons of levels. However, the game is very challenging and that means lots of fun. Also with the advent of emulators and save-state features this could be useful in saving your spot and continuing later. | labelimagesubject |
| Binary Land | Hudson Soft | 1985 | ♫jeteveux ♫odetojoy 3dsvirtualconsole birdprotagonist nohumans penguin score spiders timelimit walking wiivirtualconsole | In Binary Land you control two cute penguins simultaneously through a maze. At the beginning you decide which bird you control directly resulting in the other bird having a mirrored control scheme. That means when you run left with the first bird, the second bird would run right. Both birds start from different locations in the maze and the goal is that both birds reach the heart on the middle top of the maze at the same time. I found the concept really refreshing. With enemies roaming the maze you have to keep a good look for both birds at the same time. There are lots of mazes and the difficulty level raises just in the right amount, starting with easy mazes and getting slowly more difficult ones. | labelimageminimize |
| Xexyz | Hudson Soft (Atlus) | 1988 | bossbattles consoleclassix deathpits did fish lives monsters nofalldamage powerups rescue robots savepassword score shopping spiders versionvariations | [90]***In the year 2777,the earth existed in a totaly different atmosphere.Due to nuclear wars and natural disasters,the population decreased dramaticly and only five small islands existed on the surface of the earth.Those five islands formed a nation and for hundreds of years people lived peacefully.The new nation is called XEXYZ.At XEXYZ,aside from human beings,there exist fairies and spirits who lived under the ruling of King Xeu Star.But one day,XEXYZ was attacked by the mechanic fortress,GORUZA from outer space.XEXYZ did not have many weapons to fight back and was forced to surrender.GORUZA built mechanic castles on each island,captured a queen from each island and confined them.King Xeu Star was murdered and his only daughter,Maria Star,has been missing since then.Battle-soldier Apollocould not endure the cruel treatment of GORUZA any longer.So he put on his space battle suit and challenged the mechanic beasts' empire! | labelimagesubject |
| Spelunker II: Yuushahe no Chousen | Irem (Now Production) | 1987 | adventurerprotagonist bossbattles falldamage firearms forest ghosts keys knives knockback ladders meleeweapons movingplatforms mysticprotagonist psychics spelunker-series spiders subterranean swimming swords titularcharacter undead zombies | For the sequel to Spelunker the developers changed quite a lot of gameplay elements. You can choose between one of three different characters (explorer, priest and esper) each with its own life and "holy" stat bonuses and different attacks/weapons. The way is often blocked by doors which need the appropriate key and there are also very few adventure/puzzle elements with hints hiding in bonus items. You explore a forest and underground caves in search for three orbs guarded by evil bosses to ultimately rescue a fairy kingdom. Well, Spelunker II is a bit better than its predecessor, but still the controls aren't the best. The most annoying thing about this game is the knockback effect you get from touching enemies which feels like pushing you back a quarter of the screen. That makes the knockback in games like Castlevania feel very tame in comparison. The levels have a rather complicated layout with exits not only to the left and right but also up and down and often strangely connected paths. But that seems to be typical for a Famicom/NES game of that time, probably hoping to sell more hint books in Japan *ahem*.***[media=youtube]vwzgPSKD5xA[/media] | labelimageminimize |
| Kid Klown in Night Mayor World | Kemco;Playtronic (Kemco) | 1993 | bees clams clowns cyclopes dogs hedgehogs livesnowman owls robots snails snakes spiders wintery witches | The life of a clown isn't easy. Always having to wear that hideous make-up, wear those funny clothes, and always be cheerful, no matter what's going on in one's personal life. In KID KLOWN IN NIGHT MAYOR, Kid Klown has the stupid make-up and goofy clothes, but he's anything but cheerful, the Night Mayor has kidnapped his entire funny family! Now it's up to you to help Kid find his family and give the Night Mayor an old pie-in-the-face. The only problem is that the Mayor lives in a klown-dominion filled with all kinds of klown-hating goons, and all you have are some magic balloons. Will you be able to entertain your way through the world, or is there some other way? | labelimagesubject |
| Getsufuu Maden | Konami | 1987 | 146thcentury adbc amoeboids bossbattles bossrush currency deathpits demons distantfuture dungeon earth elementals fantasticearth future futureearth giantanimals heads inventory lives meleeweapons monsters movingplatforms ninja nofalldamage npcspawning postmodernage samurai savepassword scorpions shopping skeletons snails spiders squid swords thrownweapons undead | "Getsufuu Maden" plays like a mix of [game=#7949]Zelda II The Adventure of Link[/game] and [game=#7647]Castlevania[/game]. And as a bonus to the overworld map and side-scrolling action there are even three huge dungeons which you must explore in third-person perspective. The game is of high quality with lots of (short) levels, shops and interesting boss battles. Some repetitive parts can not be avoided however. There is lots of backtracking through already played levels. Graphics and music are good Konami standard, which means a step better than most other companies at that time. BTW: The box art is a special lenticular print (changing its image depending on which angle you look at it), so my box scan looks rather strange.***[media=youtube]5VuU2rvPmGI[/media] | labelimageminimize |
| Hi no Tori: Gaou no Bouken | Konami | 1987 | amoeboids birds bossbattles deathpits dinosaurs fish forest foxes manga moaifigures monsters mountain nofalldamage osamutezuka score snakes spiders testudines thrownweapons walking wintery | "Hi no Tori" is a well made Konami platform game based on a manga series by Osamu Tezuka (the creator of Astroboy). Killed enemies leave blocks behind which you can collect and then use anywhere else to reach otherwise unreachable places. Graphics and music are well done for an early Famicom game from 1987 and the controls are good as well. Sadly Konami placed a few very hard to find secret doors throughout the game which in the end must be found to warp to other places/time zones of the game. I don't like it to be forced to look into a walkthrough for an otherwise very simple and straightforward game. | labelimageminimize |
| Majou Densetsu II: Daimashikyou Galious | Konami | 1987 | birds bossbattles cartoonbones castle chiroptera containers destructibleenvironment dragons fish grecoromanmythology knightmare-series knockback ladders monsters movingplatforms multiprotagonists nofalldamage octopus porcupines secrets skeletons spiders swords undead witches | "Majou Densetsu II" is the NES port of the second game in the Knightmare series which was quite popular on Japanese homecomputers and the only one which was ported to the Nintendo console. The story is the same as ever. You, entering a monster-infested castle, trying to save the kingdom by defeating the evil Galious. The special thing is that you can switch between two characters (a male and female one) at any time. Each of them has some special abilities which makes switching between them necessary at certain points. Killing monsters will eventually increase you life bar, you can collect coins to buy and upgrade weapons and items, which gives the game an Action-RPG touch. The typical Konami quality is all there with good controls and audiovisuals (although not quite as good as in some earlier games). However I must say that I was a bit disappointed because at this time in the lifetime of the NES, Konami was the one company that didn't rely on overly complicated, nearly unfair level layouts and tons of not non-apparent secrets. But sadly "Majou Densetsu II" features all that. Without a map or very strong nerves you won't stand much of a chance. | labelimageminimize |
| The Goonies II | Konami | 1987 | boomerangs chiroptera consoleclassix crabs dragons fish ghosts inventory ladders metroidvania movie movingplatforms nofalldamage octopus penguin savepassword scorpions secrets sharks slings snakes spiders subterranean underwaterdiving ursines walking walruses yo-yo | Packin' a heap of ugliness, mean old Ma Fratelli's come back for revenge. And this time she plans to do away with "The Goonies" for good! One by one this crazed mama and her two nutty sons have kidnapped your fellow Goonies, hauling them off to a spooky shack and hiding them in a maze of adventure filled with danger, including the slippery ice cavern, secret underground sea, and eerie attic. Now you're the only Goonie left. The fate of your friends is in your hands. But saving the day won't be easy. Armed with your trusty yo-yo and whatever weapons you can find, you'll be forced to fight off fearsome foes, and solve menacing mysteries. You'll have to be willing to risk it all, being brave and bold, to rescue your buddies, "THE GOONIES!"*** [49]*** [33]*** [83]*** [49]*** [52]***As in the first Goonies game your task is to rescue your friends from the evil Fratelli gang. Goonies II features a bigger scenario and slightly better graphics than its predecessor. And besides the typical platforming scenes it has first-person adventure scenes when entering one of the many doors. But it's exactly the adventure part that I didn't like very much. Most of the time you are hitting the walls and ceilings with your fist or a hammer, hopefully finding secret items or passages. The adventure scenes are also not as good looking. The whole layout of the house and the several cave systems is much more complicated than in the first Goonies game, which was simpler, but worked better in my opinion. | labelimagesubject |
| Noah's Ark | Konami;Matchbox;Piko Interactive (Source Research and Development) | 1991 | africa alligators amphibians animateobjects antarctica asia australia bees birds bossbattles caterpillars censored cetaceans chiroptera cnidarians crabs crocodiles crocodilians dragons ducks eagles earth elderlyprotagonist europe fish flood frog giantanimals hedgehogs ichthyoids insects jumping killerwhales lagomorphs livesnowman lobsters mice mollusk monsters mosquitoes motorboat mummies mutants ninja northamerica notnintendocontentguid ocean oceanworld octopus owls pandas parrots penguin plantcreatures prehistoric progressleft rapidmovementplants rats scorpions skunks snails snakes southamerica spiders stonemen undead uvl-descriptionincomplete walking walruses | Developed by Source Research and Development NES-NH-UKV Noah's Ark published by Konami 1992 in the United Kingdom for Region B PAL units. NES-FH-NOE Noah's Ark published by Konami 1992 in Germany for Region B PAL units. Matchbox would have published the USA version of this game, but were apparently prevented. This NTSC version was not fully debugged. 1 player only. [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street | LJN (Rare) | 1990 | 3ormoreplayers cartoonbones chiroptera consoleclassix lives movie movingplatforms mp-cooperative multitap rats snakes spiders | Something frightening has been happening on Elm Street lately. It seems that with each waking day another grussome discovery is made... another neighborhood teen has mysteriously passed away into the dark stillness of the night. Everyone says it's "natural causes," but it seems as if something (or someone) has been picking them off one by one in their sleep. It's a horrible nightmare come true... and this nightmare has a name: Freddy Krueger. It's up to you and your remaining friends to search Elm Street for his bones, which have been scattered about then collect and burn them in the High School furnace. If you can just stay awake long enough, you might be able to end Freddy's reign of terror for good. You had better hurry though, it's getting late and you can feel your eyelids getting heavier and heavier by the minute.***NES-ES-USA 1 player, 2 players, 3 players or 4 players simultaneous. [Zerothis] | labelimagesubject |
| Thunder Warrior | Micro Genius;Glut (TXC) | 1992 | birds boomerangs bossbattles chiroptera eagles fish ghosts skeletons spiders volcanic | labelimageminimize | |
| Dragon Buster | Namco (Namco;Tose) | 1987 | 3dsvirtualconsole bossbattles cave chiroptera dragons ladders magic meleeweapons midairjumping monsters mystics nofalldamage rescue skeletons snakes spiders subterranean swords walking wiiuvirtualconsole wiivirtualconsole zombies | "Dragon Buster" for the Famicom is a port of a 1984 Namco arcade game. The game consists of 12 rounds, each represented by a more or less big overworld map with several levels each. Inside the levels you kill standard enemies with your sword and lots of mid-level bosses inside of rooms. These bosses might open up the passage to the next level or leave extra items behind. Sounds not too bad for a 1987 game but the game suffers from its extreme repetitiveness. There are four or five different graphic sets and you will see them repeating a lot. Every level feels the same. After two or three sub-levels you will have seen everything the game has to offer. After that it becomes very tedious and boring making your way through the more and more labyrinth-like levels. Graphics are not on par with the arcade version; I expected more from a port that comes three years after the arcade game. Controls are rather complicated. Dragon Buster was one of the first (if not the very first) game that implemented mid-air jumping. Pulling this of is not easy though and the controls generally annoyed me.***ドラゴンバスター literally reads [code]doragon basutaa[/code] | labelimageminimize |
| Super Pitfall | Pony Canyon;Activision (Micronics) | 1986 | ammomagazines blacksheep chiroptera consoleclassix deathpits electriceels elevators firearms frog goldbars instantdeath ladders lives moaifigures nofalldamage pitfallseries platformer ropeswinging score scorpions secrets snakes southamerica spiders subterranean superpitfallengine swimming walking | [media=youtube]https://youtu.be/3Ln9lRk5b3Y[/media]***Super Pitfall is a kind of remake of Pitfall II and widely considered to be one of the worst games for the Famicom/NES. It is not so much the quality of the graphics or controls that make this game so annoying and unpleasent to play. It is the fact that everything of importance is hidden until you jump around to trigger the appearance of the item. This goes so far that the programmers hid a necessary warp zone inside birds or walls. There are no hints in the game where something could be located. Without a walkthrough you will curse about this game design. There are also too many cheap deaths, mostly resulting by falling down into deadly animals or spikes which you couldn't guess they are beneath you. | labelimageminimize |
| Nomolos: Storming the Catsle | RetroZone (Gradual Games) | 2012 | amoeboids bees bossbattles cemetery chiroptera difficulty gargoyles gunblades indoors jumping lives meleeweapons noscore outdoors skeletons snails snakes spiders subterranean swords temple uvl-sku wyverns | Yes, the title is "[b][i]Catsle[/i][/b]" not "[b][i]Castle[/i][/b]". It is not a typo. That is the intended title. | labelimageminimize |
| Athena | SNK (Micronics) | 1987 | achillesheelfoes athena-series bossbattles consoleclassix destructibleenvironment femaleprotagonist godlingprotagonist knockback lives monsters nofalldamage platformer score secrets shapeshifters shapeshifting spiders timelimit underwater | [100]***Before I started playing this game I read that this is considered to be one of the weaker NES games out there. At first I was pleasantly surprised, considering that this game looks much better than the (quite bad looking) C64 version that I already knew (and didn't like). And the first level wasn't bad at all. But the game gets worse with each level. The difficulty level is much too high. Even with walkthrough and cheats I had to curse this game numerous times. Controls are bad and there is much much sprite flickering. When being hit, you get thrown back too far. With the wrong weapon choice you suddenly are stuck in places where it is necessary to break walls and backtracking is not possible, or bosses become unbeatable. Important items are too well hidden and suddenly you find yourself at the beginning of a level and ask yourself what you have done wrong and what item you might have missed. | labelimageminimize |
| Seikima II: Akuma no Gyakushuu | Sony (ISCO) | 1986 | cemetery claiming forest jumping moneybags monsters musicband nofalldamage platformer rescue score snakes spiders thrownweapons upgradesystem walking | This game is based on the Japanese heavy metal/rock band "Seikima-II" and is not as I first thought a sequel to another game. You are out to rescue your fellow band members in four zones which are divided into eight scrolling "rooms" each. In each room you have to collect all items so the exit opens. Your life bar goes down continuously but can be refreshed by finding or buying potions from shops. You can also upgrade your weapons and buy music instruments which are needed to successfully finish the game. Each of the four zones has its own graphical theme and music. After rescuing the complete band you must face the endboss Zeus. The game is rather poor, with very strange and not very well working controls and only average graphics and sound. | labelimageminimize |
| Deep Dungeon III: Yuushi Heno Tabi | Square (Hummingbird Soft) | 1988 | combatmode deepdungeon-series demons dungeoncrawler encounters-random giantinsects giants gridmove magic meleeweapons menus monsters mystics shields shopping skeletons spiders swords undead ursines xp-kills | "Deep Dungeon III", similar to its both predecessors, is a difficult old-school dungeon crawler RPG. More dungeons, more towns and instead of a single character you control a party of four characters. Standard dungeon crawler elements everywhere. A bit more story or surprising elements would have been good. In every regard an average game for fans of that particular RPG sub-genre only.***Deep Dungeon III: Yūshi he no Tabi is the third installment in the Deep Dungeon series and the first to be released on the Famicom. This is the first Deep Dungeon title to offer the player a world to explore spanning multiple dungeons and multiple towns. It also allows the player to create their own party with up to three companions in addition to the hero character, with a choice of ranger, magician or priest for each character. Though the player can dismiss a character once the game has started, they will only be able to replace that character if they meet another pre-created playable character in one of the dungeons. However, the game will still end as soon as the protagonist "swordsman" character is defeated. This game retains the player-adjustable level-up stats from the first game, as well as the feature that removes randomized encounters if the player is at a significantly higher experience level than needed for their current location. One exclusive and rather annoying feature of this game engine is that sometimes the player character will fumble (remove) their equipped weapon, wasting that character's turn. If the player wishes to re-arm their weapon, it will cost the player another turn. This is the only game in the series to award the player money (Gold) when defeating enemies. All other games will force the player to re-enter maps to collect respawning chests for money or items (for resale) if they want to gold farm. [i]Source: Wikipedia[/i] | labelimagesubject |
| Takeshi no Chousenjou | Taito | 1986 | birds cave city civilianprotagonist currency hangglider inventory island japan pachinko pacificocean pirates playertaunting primates realprotagonist scorpions shopping singing skeletons snakes spiders unarmedfighting ursines walking | [media=youtube]j_RH518LyOk[/media]***Now the gameplay design in this game is most bizarre. You are playing a guy (I think representing the Japanese actor Takeshi Kitano himself) who goes on a search for a big treasure. You start in your home city where you have to prepare some things to undergo a trip to a remote pacific island where the treasure is hidden. Some of the game's puzzles are extremely unusual and unfair. Best example is when you get a non-readable treasure map and to make it readable the simplest! solution is to put it in water and wait between five and ten minutes. If you press a single button before the five minutes are over then it won't work. Or the laughable karaoke sequences that make use of the build-in microphone of the second Famicom controller. The action sequences are also more or less stupid and unfair. There is a hangglider shooter sequence where you can move your glider down, left and right but not up. Extremely difficult. This game put in so much unfair and nonsense gameplay that it is often regarded as a prime example of what Japanese people call a "kusoge" (shitty game). With the difference that Taito in this case exactly wanted this game to be unfair and impossible to solve without a walkthrough. It even makes fun about the player who completes the game by saying that you shouldn't take this game so seriously. Well, with a walkthrough the game is at least enjoyable in a sense that you always wonder that nothing makes sense and what the game designers smoked when they came up with some puzzles and curiosities. Not every game is as memorable as this. The graphical representation of the starting city is quite ok. Music is much too repetitive. | labelimageminimize |
| Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements | Taito;Natsume (Natsume) | 1989 | amoeboids consoleclassix dragons dungeoncrawler gargoyles goblins golems gridmove harpies magic minotaurs monsters naga scorpions shopping skeletons snakes spiders undead werewolves xp-kills zombies | A dark storm veils the sun, twisting trees and sowing terror. Deep in the earth the devil Darces emerges to rule over all. Join in the quest for Tores, the only sword with magic enough to smite Darces the Overlord. Search ancient caves, dank dungeons and mysterious mazes for clues to the age-old prophecy. Receive blessings and cast wondrous spells. Every step brings danger, every town holds a secret. If at last you understand, you can call the elements to your ultimate triumph!***Confusingly, this has nothing to do with Taito's Dungeon Magic in the arcades. This is a text-and-graphics RPG, not a beat-'em-up. | labelimagesubject |
| Lost Word of JeNnY: Ushinawareta Message | Takara (Tose) | 1987 | aliens ants cemetery chiroptera crocodiles deathpits dogs dragons femaleprotagonist jetpack knights ladders lives mice monsters movingplatforms mummies nofalldamage pirates score spiders unarmedfighting uvl-tiein vampires walking witches | "Lost Word of Jenny" is based on the "Jenny" dolls toyline, a kind of Japanese "Barbie". In six levels you are collecting parts of a passcode to finish the game. Compared to Takara's first Famicom game [game=#155967]Transformers: Convoy no Nazo[/game] , "Lost Word of Jenny" is an improvement, but not by much. The levels look different from each other and are connected by a city overworld scenario but have a very repetitive layout. The jumping controls are bad and its nearly impossible to land precise attacks. | labelimageminimize |
| Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates: The Revenge of Captian Hook | THQ (Equilibrium) | 1991 | cartoon chiroptera consoleclassix peterpan pirates score spiders | Neverland. That magical island where dreams come true and children never get old. Home to mythical tree fairies and beautiful mermaids. The most wonderful place in the whole world. "Wonderful, indeed," thought Captain Hook, the wickedest pirate on the seven seas, "but not for long! When my crew of cutthroats is done ravaging the island, Neverland will be mine at last. Then, I'll have my revenge on that litttle pest Peter Pan!He'll walk the gangplank before I'm through!" Now you can help Peter Pan rid Neverland of the evil pirates and destroy Captain Hook once and for all! But hurry! There's no time to lose! | labelimagesubject |
| Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde | Toho;Bandai (Advance Communication Company) | 1988 | ♫mendelssohnwedding 19thcentury birds book britain cemetery consoleclassix dogs domesticcats drjekyllandmrhyde england insects monsters multipleendings spiders | "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide" is often regarded to be one of the worst NES games ever. While I agree that it is really bad I must also admit that I have seen worse games. The concept of the game is unusual. You main task is to get Dr. Jekyll to his wedding. Once you die as Dr. Jekyll the game switches to Mr. Hide into a mirrored nightmarish version of the level. In the Mr. Hide part yo Neeu have to kill enough creatures to get enough power to switch back to Dr. Jekyll. The special thing or problem about this is the fact that once you reach the place with Mr. Hide where Dr. Jekyll died, he will die as well and the game is over. The concept does not work well but was worth a try. The graphics, especially the background graphics are also not too bad. What makes this game bad is the frustrating difficulty level, especially of the Dr. Jekyll part. Controls are bad and when you are hit you suffer a huge knockback. So playability stinks, but as I said at the beginning that was the case with quite some more NES games as well.***"Houma ga Toki" is used in official documentation. [Zerothis] | labelimageminimize |
| Captain Silver | Tokuma Shoten (Jorudan) | 1988 | birds bossbattles butterflies crabs deadlywater deathpits fish forest island ladders lives meleeweapons movingplatforms pirates score scorpions sharks shopping skeletons spiders swords testudines timelimit undead | labelimageminimize | |
| Garfield no Isshukan: A Week of Garfield | Towa Chiki (MARS Corporation) | 1989 | anthroprotagonist cartoon comic deadlywater dogs domesticcats felidprotagonist fish frog garfield mice nofalldamage score spiders worms | labelimageminimize | |
| Ninja-Kun: Ashura no Shou | UPL | 1988 | bossbattles chiroptera crocodiles falldamage fish lives ninja ninjakun-series ninjaprotagonist octopus score skeletons spiders throwingstars thrownweapons timelimit undead underwater underwaterdiving wallclimbing walljumping wiivirtualconsole | "Ninja-Kun: Ashura no Shou" is the sequel to [url=http://www.uvlist.net/game-167992-Ninja+Kun+Majou+no+Bouken]Ninja-Kun: Majou no Bouken[/url]. It's bigger (31 levels!), and more varied than its predecessor. In some levels you have just reach the exit, other levels require you to kill all enemies. There are underwater swimming passages, some levels go mostly up, others go from left to right. But it's still not really good, because the game is hard. Really hard. Unfair hard. You know the typical climbing up a wall and with bad luck an enemy sitting at the edge which you impossibly can avoid? This game includes lots of those scenes. And the controls are not the best. Wall jumping, despite being necessary in later levels is hard to put off for example. One of those games that gave me lots of trouble finishing despite an endless lives cheat and save states.***Was planned to be published in North America as [i]Ninja Taro[/i] by American Sammy. | labelimageminimize |
| Hottaman no Chisoko Tanken | Use | 1986 | ants beetles bombs centipedes crabs digging doors instantdeath keys scorpions spiders subterranean swimming teleporters walking | In "Hottaman no Chisoko Tanken" the goal is to reach the exit door of each level. The exit door appears after collecting all four keys hidden in the level. Controls and gameplay are similar to [game=#153259]Dig Dug[/game], the levels are much bigger though with more elements, like collecting and placing bombs to reach treasure/keys. Teleporter fields can be used to teleport yourself to different locations. However the teleporters destination is random, you could possibly land at every teleporter in the level. Also, killed enemies reappear very fast at the very same location where you have killed them. All this, amongst the not so good graphics and music, make this game rather unattractive for action gamers and too much based on randomness for puzzle gamers. The game only features about 15 levels, eventually starting over at level 1. Not very much content when you compare it with similar games of its time. | labelimageminimize |
