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With all the gloom and doom I was spouting last time about not making my goal, I've actually done a decent job of finding games to keep beating. The list is running short, but I should be able to keep making some progress. And besides that there is a glimmer of hope now!! My wife and son are going out of town for about a week to visit the in-laws so if I buckle down and attack as many NES games as I can stomach in that time I might be able to get a significant boost towards my goal of 100 games beaten over 100 days!!
On to the games since last update though. Not expecting much I popped in Arch Rivals and found it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. It almost feels like an early version of NBA Jam, which is a game I really like. Besides having to watch a really stupid and occasionally nonsensical little cut scene whenever you score a basket it was fairly decent. You can punch your opponents down to the ground and take the ball by force! I havn't really found a stand out basketball game on the system, but this is one of the better ones I've played so far.
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/ArchRivals-Ending_zpsc9202b55.jpeg[/img]
Starting my point and click style adventures I went with Deja Vu. Same vein as Shadowgate, but with a 1950's private detective setting to it. You wake up with a little amnesia in a building with a dead body. After a little snooping around you'll discover that you are being setup for murder!! But by who??!?!! So your goal is to both solve the case and clear your own name. For the most part its a pretty cool game, but there are some things that are just crazy obscure and I'm not sure how you're supposed to figure them out on your own. Not a bad game, but I liked Shadowgate a bit better even if torches drive me nuts.
[img width=640 height=480]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/DejaVu-Ending_zpsa720e254.jpeg[/img]
Nightshade is one of the most surprising games I've played in a while. Not only was it a point and click style game, but it broke up the monotony associated with that style of game with both action oriented fighting sequences and a great sense of humor. You start the game with your main character tied to a chair speaking with the games villain. Both characters are purposely over the top and stereotyped which set the mood for the rest of the game right off the bat. After a few puzzles in the sewer that act as sort of a linear tutorial you'll enter the main city. The city seems overwhelming at first, but after a bit of exploration I found it to be the ideal size for this type of game. It had just the right amount of space to explore. Most different areas of the city hold some sort of secret of information you'll need in order to defeat Sutekh, with the occasional dead end.
Another really cool thing about Nightshade was the game over screen. There are 5 game over screens in total, that play out in a specific order. When you die in the main game you'll find your character in an elaborate death trap concocted by Sutekh. The cool part is that you can actually figure out how to escape 4 of the 5 traps which will let you keep playing the game instead of dying. These range from the classic tied to a conveyor belt or room closing in on you to more interesting setups that take a few different steps to overcome. Very neat game overall and something I'd urge you to check out if you're looking for something unique to play on your NES.
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/Nightshade-Ending_zpsd4b6da6c.jpeg[/img]
I have always assumed that Mickey Mousecapade was a 2 player game. I was actually looking forward to trying it out with my son as a helper. After getting over that disappointment I set my sights on getting it crossed off my list asap. Minnie tags along for the entire game (granted she isn't captured by a ghost), which is mostly helpful. If you get her star weapon it adds a bit of extra firepower to your game and she is also invulnerable to enemies with the exception of the ghost I mentioned. The annoying part is in the platforming. She lags behind trying to mimic your moves. If she falls into a pit you both lose a life. But the part I found more frustrating than losing her to a pit was navigating her in the final stage when there were lots of platforms and walls for her to get stuck on. The game would be a bit better without Minnie, but even then its far from some of the other great Capcom/Disney titles on the system.
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/MickeyMousecapade-Ending_zps71d210ea.jpeg[/img]
There are only really 2 PC game series that have ever held a special place in my gaming history. King's Quest is one of those and I was a little nervous to give King's Quest V a try after playing another bad PC port on the system (Ultima Warriors of Destiny). Much to my surprise King's Quest V felt very much like it should. Yeah it was a bit uglier and you had text boxes instead of voices, but it still felt very much like the King's Quest V I remember playing as a kid on my friend's PC. It was like they stuck the 5th game into the same engine that the first or second game in the series played on. It had a lot of great humor and puzzles (and a few frustrating ones of course). I had beaten this game with a friend many years ago, but I missed out on a decent sized chunk in the middle because his brother had come home from college and helped him through a part we were stuck on at the time. It was extremely satisfying to finally be able to finish this game off completely. It made me wish that there were console ports of some of the other games in the series as it was a lot of fun overall. Definitely another one to check out if you like classic adventure games.
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/KingsQuestV-Ending_zps6a28bd61.jpeg[/img]
Vegas Dreams on the other hand isn't to exciting. After figuring out early on that you get a password to save your progress is became pretty easy to exploit the game. Simply choose your favorite gambling method (I used Black Jack), bet it all, and win!! What you didn't win? Just punch in your previous password and try again until you do then. After winning a little start up cash on the slots and experiencing a few of the random encounters that you'll get during the game I just started doubling my money on the Black Jack table until I hit the final goal of $10,000,000. The measle $700 I entered with was now a fortune. And apparently that means my character has to act like a total ass during the ending 
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/VegasDream-Ending_zps7cc1c132.jpeg[/img]
With a little downtime at home I decided to try and knock out some simple sports titles this morning. Tried out Magic Johnson's Fast Break. Even put it on the hardest difficulty (Professional) and mopped the floor with the computer by about 30 points when it was over. No sort of league or tournament mode so it was just the one game. Arch Rivals was much more fun.
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/MagicJohnsonsFastBreak-Ending_zps03a472ef.jpeg[/img]
Lastly for this update was Touchdown Fever by SNK. The cover looks awful if you ask me. I was just expecting 10 Yard Fight part 2. Luckily SNK makes better games than they make covers  It was actually kind of fun. Very arcade style visuals/gameplay and great music made the tournament mode go by pretty quick. The computer opponents turned out to be pretty easy to figure out after the first couple games and I was able to shut out my final opponent after having a bit of trouble in the first rounds. Gonna have to try this one with a second player and see if its as good as it seems to be.
[img width=643 height=479]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/TouchdownFever-Ending_zps5cf0bd1b.jpeg[/img]
2013 NES List
83 Games Beaten Over 70 days
17 Games more to reach goal of 100 with 30 days left to do it
Sesame Street Countdown
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters
Shooting Range
Space Shuttle Project
Double Dare
Win, Lose or Draw
Othello
Whomp Em
Dragon Fighter
Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle
Family Feud
Tale Spin
Platoon
Gotcha!
Gun Smoke
Kiwi Kraze
10 Yard Fight
Tom & Jerry
Wrecking Crew
Hatris
Time Lord
Orb 3D
Wheel of Fortune Jr
Wheel of Fortune Family Edition
Captain America and the Avengers
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Bo Jackson Baseball
Jeopardy! Jr
Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary
Cowboy Kid
Crash n The Boys: Street Challenge
Galaga
Color A Dinosaur
Millipede
Popeye
Sesame Street 123
Sesame Street ABC
Sesame Street Hide & Speak
Soccer
Classic Concentration
Fisher Price I Can Remember
Fisher Price Perfect Fit
Mickey's Safari in Letterland
Mickey's Adventure in Numberland
NES Open Golf
Pictionary
Chessmaster
Anticipation
DK Jr Math
Donkey Kong 3
Urban Champion
Balloon Fight
Pinball
Qix
Hollywood Squares
Twin Cobra
Flintstones Rescue of Dino & Hoppy
Tiger-Heli
Winter Games
NES World Cup Soccer
Defender II
M.U.S.C.L.E.
MTV's Remote Control
Spot The Video Game
Spy vs Spy
Taboo The Sixth Sense
Gemfire
Monopoly
Legend of the Ghost Lion
Jackal
Rad Racer
Rad Racer II
Arch Rivals
Deja Vu
Nightshade
Mickey Mousecapade
King's Quest V
Vegas Dreams
Magic Johnson's Fast Break
Touchdown Fever
Future Plans - My slower games are going to consist of things like Casino Kid, Caesar's Palace and Maniac Mansion. When my family leaves I'm going to try and hammer out some action games like Life Force, Bucky O'Hare, P.O.W., Rush 'n Attack, Joe & Mac, etc. Wish me luck!!
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