I'm back from my brief trip out of town and back into my NES groove. Got a few games to talk about that I didn't get to write before I left town and one fresh one on top of that.
Since Duke.Togo was able to help me out and score me a sweet, sweet Power Pad to replace my partially functioning one I was able to dig into the last couple Power Pad games on the system. Started off with some Short Order/Eggsplode. Its basically Simon/Whack-a-Mole. If you've played those games you'll know exactly what to expect from these ones. Eggsplode was quick and relatively painless to finish, Short Order on the other hand....... I played the Challenge 99 hoping it had a different ending from the other modes because of the extreme challenge of it, but it didn't. I could have gotten away with a quick and painless 10 levels of Simon, but instead opted for the 2.5 hour, 99 level Simon marathon!! My feet were quite sore at the end, but at least its done.
[img width=641 height=481]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/ShortOrder-Ending.jpg[/img][img width=641 height=481]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/ShortOrderEggsplode-Ending.jpg[/img]Luckily for me Street Cop was a lot more enjoyable. Using the pad and controller you wander through 6 different areas busting low-level criminals until you can get the location of their boss. Once you've tracked down and arrested each of the 6 crimelords you've beaten the game. It was very enjoyable and easily one of my favorite games for the Power Pad.
[img width=640 height=480]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/StreetCop-Ending.jpg[/img]It seems that no one else that is tackling the list of NES games with me over at nintendoage is very fond of space sim type games. So with 2 of them on the list I gave the first one a try, Destination Earthstar. Their are two types of play on this game, the first one being a space sim played out on a grid in first person perspective, and the second being a side scrolling shmup (ala Gradius).
The sim part actually isn't too bad. Its fairly enjoyable, balanced and controls well. You're tasked with destroying all enemies on the grid before gaining access to the enemy base (the shmup areas). You can also explore a bit and find extra fuel and weapons. Each level like this is basically the same, the only difference is more enemies and more hidden goodies. Once you get the hang of it its pretty simple.
The shmup areas leave a lot to be desired though. Your ship can shoot from both the front and back and the powerups you collect will boost your guns for either direction. It does some things right like having varied weapons and giving you the ability to scroll through and previous collected ones if you prefer them (I liked the 3rd upgrade better than the 4th or 5th) and if you die you dont have to start the stage again, just continue from the point you died at. The levels don't seem to bad at first, but they get longer each time until they feel never-ending. On top of that your ship controls rather clunky and enemy hit boxes are pretty small. Luckily the game is pretty generous with the 1ups so as long as you can amass 10+ early enough you can just limp your way through the end like I ended up doing.
[img width=640 height=478]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/DestinationEarthstar-Ending.jpg[/img]While I tackled that space sim no one else stepped up for the other one so I took it too. Star Voyageur was very similar to the sim parts of Destination EarthStar, just a lot crappier in pretty much every way. Firstly it took me a good hour to figure out how to even navigate my damn ship. The warp system is very unintuitive. Secondly you
NEED to get two secret and randomly placed items before you can even start attacking enemy ships. So you have to hope to find them early on otherwise the baddies will be too close and you'll lose before you even have a chance to fight. When you finally get all of that down you need to learn to fight pretty decent sized hordes of TIE Fighter clones coupled with Star Destroyer clones. The Star Destroyer type ships are the motherships so you need to take them out otherwise they'll just keep spawning more ships. The combat is pretty fast and frantic which makes it pretty challenging, even with your power ups. Luckily the game is pretty short after you figure out all that stuff though.
[img width=640 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/StarVoyageur-Ending.jpg[/img]Lastly this time around was Days of Thunder. If you've ever played 30 seconds of this game, you've pretty much played the whole darn thing. Just a lot of turning left and eventually struggling through pit stops. Fun!!!
[img width=641 height=480]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/DaysofThunder-Ending.jpg[/img]NES Games Finished In 2012(
click on a title to view the video)
Silver SurferNinja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of DoomDouble Dragon II: The RevengeDouble Dragon III: The Sacred StonesGhosts n GoblinsTetrisPro WrestlingGradiusZanacAdventure IslandKarnovTrojanExcitebikeBaseballSpy HunterAdventure Island IITennisBattletoadsShadowgateBattletoads/Double DragonPinball QuestSection ZGodzillaHydlideMarble MadnessBack to the FutureDarkmanTerminator 2RobocopTotal RecallPredatorRobocop 2Robocop 3Hudson HawkHome AloneHome Alone 2Batman ReturnsGhostbusters IIGhostbustersDie HardA Nightmare on Elm StreetThe Krion ConquestAdventures of Dino RikiUltima: ExodusLegacy of the WizardAir FortressUltima: Quest of the AvatarDarkwing DuckUltima: Warriors of DestinyLegends of the DiamondPro Sports HockeyDusty Diamond's All-Star SoftballYoshi's CookieKick MasterZombie NationStadium EventsSuper Jeopardy!JoustYoshiDance AerobicsAdventures of Bayou BillyPipe DreamsSki or DieWerewolf: The Last WarriorSimpsons: Bart vs The Space MutantsCity ConnectionAmerican GladiatorsRoundball 2-on-2 Challenge720Athletic WorldSuper Team GamesRomance of the Three KingdomsGumshoeBases LoadedThe Addams Family Pugsley's Scavenger HuntKings of the BeachThe Blues BrothersVolley BallLode Runner3D World RunnerTwin EagleDragon's LairThe Adventures of Rad GravityBreak Time: The National Pool TourBases Loaded IIRainbow IslandsConquest of the Crystal PalacePeter Pan And The PiratesKid Kool and the Quest for the Seven Wonder HerbsAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon StrikeSlalomWrath of the Black MantaRace AmericaTreasure MasterKrusty's Fun HouseKing's KnightMighty Bomb JackBases Loaded 3CastelianFlying Dragon: The Secret ScrollDirty HarryConanCobra TriangleSpider Man Return of the Sinister SixTag Team WrestlingEliminator Boat DuelGalaxy 5000George Foreman's KO BoxingFerrari Grand Prix ChallengeThunder & LightningHeavy Shreddin'Flying WarriorsRocket RangerRoger Clemens MVP BaseballBill & Ted's Excellent Video Game AdventureDestination EarthstarStreet Cop
Short Order/Eggsplode
Star Voyageur
Days of Thunder
BONUS GAME -
AssimilateFuture Plans - There isn't much hope left of finding hidden gems to play with us nearing 20 games left on the system, only about 6-7 that I even own. I'll probably be trying Laser Invasion and Silent Service *shutter* soon.
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I can only imagine you asking your doctor if it's okay for you to be running on a PowerPad. Glad you're doing better sir and nice beat down on these titles.
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Honestly, there's a reason Star Voyager and Days of Thunder were left on the list sir. I owned both as a kid, and even TRIED figuring out Star Voyager without the instructions...yeah.
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Without instructions I can't imagine playing Star Voyager. I mean I love the game, but you can't get anywhere until you figure out hyperspace jumps and upgrades through planetary landings.
Days of Thunder... shiver. Drafting was the key to that game, if I remember. Yuck.
I love me some space sims. Now I gotta try Destination Earth. Any other space sims on the NES, Crab?
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I had Star Voyager new as a kid WITH the instructions and I still couldn't beat the thing. Glad someone else got it done.
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@singlebanana: Its great to feel well enough to Power Pad again!!
@Shadow Kisuragi: Yeah, I'm not exactly going to find anymore hidden gems with what is left on the list I'm working from. I'm still having fun for some reason though 
@bombatomba: I looked through a scan of the manual to help figure out how to navigate. Even then it still took me a few tries to figure out exactly what to do. I accidently ran across a secret weapon hidden in space once by warping to the wrong spot and got a secrect weapon that you activate with the second controller. I got super excited that it was gonna make the game very easy....... turns out its a one time one hit kill so it wasnt very helpful since it quite hard to make sure you actually hit your one target with it.
I havn't tried out the Star Trek games yet, they might be worth checking out. Let me know what you think of Destination Earthstar if you do give it a try too.
@Duke.Togo: I don't blame you. I never would have beaten it as a child either.
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