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Back around 2004 I ordered my first box of NES games off of Ebay. There were about 40 games in it and it cost me around $100. I was mostly trying to acquire some games I had as a kid like Hydlide, Karnov, Ninja Gaiden and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was very cool to explore other games that I didn't even know existed that also came in the box, including unusual games like Chiller, hidden gems like Kickle Cubicle, and classics like Contra. In retrospect, it was an amazing deal, but I didn't know that at the time. I had just picked up a cheap NES at a local Pawn Shop and was looking for some software to play on it...simple as that. After enjoying the next couple of weeks of immensely exploring each and every title in the box, I realized I had awakened something I didn't know was inside me.
Continue reading Full Set of Friends
Continue reading Unloved #28 - Overlord
With a new year of gaming almost upon me I decided to take a quick look back at the last year (and a couple months beyond that). Take a look and let me know what you think!
It may not be the most popular sport around, but Volleyball was well known enough in the NES era to warrant 3 licensed titles on the system. Luckily each of these titles offers a drastically different take on the sport. Each game shines and stumbles in its own distinct areas.
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Curious to know which of them are worth your time? I was, but no longer.
Continue reading Crabmaster's Guide to NES Volleyball
Most gamers that have been around for any amount of time have experienced Super Mario Bros in some fashion. I'm no exception and grew up with Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 3 as staples in my gaming education. All three are regularly named for their high quality, impact on the industry and most importantly for being fun.
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Over the years my gaming tastes have waxed and waned, constantly evolving as I experience (or re-experience) more titles, reflect on past adventures and struggle to overlook my nostalgic feelings. The Mario brothers are often at the fore front of such conflict. With all three of these games being so important to my gaming career (I like to pretend I get paid) did one stand above the others? If so, which one?
Continue reading Whats Your Mario?
With me nearing my big goal this year of getting 75% of the licensed NES library, its time I start playing the crap out of them now. I've decided to challenge myself to beating 100 NES games over a 100 day period. I havnt pinned down a start date yet, but it will be in the near future. I do need a bit of assistance from the community though.
Obviously I'll have the final say in what "beaten" means with each title. But I'm curious to know if there is a general consensus on a few different things. With each title my goal will be to beat the game on the default difficulty setting with no cheat devices or codes.
Whats the general consensus on games like Ghosts n' Goblins which have an ending and then a "true" ending by playing through a slightly harder game again? Would beating it once be considered beaten by most and the second quest left for completionists? or is it neccessary to beat both quests for the true ending to call it beaten?
Is there a rule of thumb for calling arcade style games completed? Would seeing every different screen in Donkey Kong and beating the default highscore be beaten in your eyes? Each game will obviously be a case by case bases, but does that sound about right for most arcade style games?
For Shmups like Sky Shark would it be considered a victory to have the game loop?
While I am against using codes like the Konami code, I'm not ashamed to exploit different aspects of games. Such as spamming respawning enemies to refill health/ammo/score.
Here is a list of games I'm currently going to take on:
Adventure Island
Adventure Island 2
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom
Batman
Battletoads
Blaster Master
Bonk's Adventure
Bubble Bobble
Bubble Bobble 2
Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout
Castlevania
Castlevania II
Castlevania III
Caveman Games
Chip n' Dale RR
Chip n' Dale RR 2
Circus Caper
Contra
Contra Force
Donkey Kong Classics
Dr.Mario
Duck Tales
Duck Tales 2
Dynowarz
Felix the Cat
Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak
Ghosts n' Goblins
Gremlins 2
Journey to Silius
Kickle Cubicle
Kirby's Adventure
Kung Fu
Legendary Wings
Little Samson
M.C. Kids
Mega Man
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5
Mega Man 6
Metal Storm
Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!
Monster in My Pocket
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden II
Panic Restaurant
Power Blade
Power Blade 2
Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckeroo$
River City Ransom
Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants
Simpsons: Bart vs. The World
Simpsons: Bart Meets Radioactive Man
Sky Shark
Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular
Snow Brothers
StarTropics
StarTropics 2
Super C
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros 2
Super Mario Bros 3
Super Spike V'Ball
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles
TMNT II
TMNT III
Where's Waldo?
Wizards & Warriors 2: Iron Sword
World Games
Xexyz
Yo! Noid
That list is just over 70 games. So I need some suggestions from you guys too! I'd like to have a list of about 120 ideally, so that I have some wiggle wrong if I need to move on from a game. I'm looking for stuff that isnt to time consuming (obviously). Games with infinite continues are fantastic so if you know of any please let me know. I'm not against padding my list with stuff like Fisher Price, Jeopardy, Mario is Missing, etc, but if I can do it without resorting to those kind of titles I'd be happy.
During the challenge I'll be staying away from online guides, but will be using print guides that I have and asking for community help on occasion. Thanks in advance for the help!!
Finally got the second half up and running on youtube. Sorry for the long wait. Definitely have a lot more errors in this half of the run and even had to go for a couple pizzas that I could have easily skipped had I played more smoothly. The total time for the entire run is 20:21 and I'm positive that I could get it under 20:00 by cleaning up several messy spots.
Part 1
Part 2
Some of you may remember me talking about doing a Speed Run of TMNT for the NES to submit to Twin Galaxies waaay back around Christmas time. I did infact record a run I was happy with (could be cleaned up a bit, but it was fairly decent) and sent it off to get verified. Unfortunately the same week I sent the tape in the NES ref left his position at TG.
It was unclear what was happening with submissions until a new ref emerged early in June. It was my hope that the tape was forwarded along to the new ref for verification, but it seems that he has cleared his submission backlog and my tape wasnt there.
Luckily for me I sent in a copy and still have the original. Sucks that I have to re-submit it, but at least its already done and hopefully things will go smoother this time. I'll update with some good news next time I hope.
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Continue reading Unloved #24: Shatterhand
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Continue reading Unloved #?: Summer Carnival 92' Recca
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Heading back to the trusty ole' NES again for this one!
Would it surprise you if I said this game for the NES was a platformer/shooter with a space theme? No you say. It does seem to be a common style of game on the system (see previous Blogs such as Xexyz or Journey to Silius). I assume that why this title often gets overlooked.
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What people are missing out on by not playing this game is something pretty neat though. Wait for it................................upside down platforming. It might sound a little hokey at first, but its actually a ton of fun. At any time during the game you can switch from a gravity obeying mech warrior to an upside down robot with a gun.
Each stage has some form of rooftop so that you can always bounce back and forth as desired. Sometimes this is to collect powerups, other times for tactical strategy and others yet for the sheer enjoyment of it.
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Most of the levels are designed pretty straightforward, but stages 4 and 6 really stand out to me. In level 4 you play the whole area, including boss, trapped in a box. The box moves around the screen at (mostly) stationary enemies. Some you can kill and some you cannot. This makes for some very interesting platforming even though your stuck in a box.
Level 6 gets even better yet. The level scrolls downward constantly while you trek to the right of the screen. I have a hard time describing how cool it is so I found a video to help me out.
To get to the stage 6 part just skip ahead to about 2:30:
Metal Storm probably gets lumped in with a lot of other games because of the style and theme which I think is unfair. It actually translates the Sci-Fi setting into a really cool and playable game play mechanic. Definitely check it out if you haven’t yet. It can be a little harder to track down than some other NES games, but if you can find it for under $15 you've got yourself a solid deal.
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Continue reading Unloved #18: Fire N Ice
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Continue reading Unloved #17: Journey to Silius
Im not in an overly productive mood this week so I'm going with an easy blog entry this time. Best Mega Man weapons. Im not going to include the Rush/Item upgrades because I feel they deserve their own spotlight at a later time.
10 - Charge Kick
This move is obtained from Charge Man (gasp) and seems like it does nothing at first. I played around trying to get something to happen, but it just seemed useless. I was mashing the fire button and jumping around like an idiot. Finally I decided to do a slide and like magic I had a powerful sliding attack. This move makes it onto the list because its got style, its fun and its very unique compared to a lot of the other weapons that just get rehashed over and over throughout the series. Its not all that useful, but who cares about that when your Charge Kicking Wave Man in the face.
9 - Top Spin
This is possibly the only other move that can be compared to the Charge Kick. Its probably also the most powerful move in any Mega Man game when used on the right foe. Mega Man sticks out his arms and spins around..... yes, like a 3 year old. Its kinda scary to use at times because you have to get so close to your enemies and often take damage while inflicting it, but its satisfying to beat Shadow Man or the last boss with only 1 or 2 hits from the mighty Top Spin.
8 - Hyper Bomb
The Hyper Bomb is quite useless for many levels, but the times it does come in handy can't be emulated by any other weapons in the game. It really shines while traversing Dr. Wily's Fortress. Dropping you bomb down to clear out enemies instead of jumping down all guns blazing helps to save you alot of health during this fortress.
7 - Magnet Missle
This is probably the most fun weapon to use period. As long as you are facing the right direction you pretty much cant miss your target. The Magnet Missle shoots forward until it has an enemy either over top of it or below in and then dives (or rises?) straight for that target. Because of the lack of aim (or skill) require to use it you can just keep running through the level shooting away without a care in the world.
6 - Search Snake
This handy little weapon is pretty weak, but as long as you collect enough powerups to keep it full you'll be laughing. It shoots out a little tadpole (common they dont really look like snakes) that race across the ground and climbs up and around obstacles until it hits something or leaves the screen. Its very helpful when trying to conserve your life meter and hurting enemies from a distance.
5 - Leaf Shield
Another handy weapon when trying to conserve health, but this one is helpful in a lot more situations. It puts a protective barrier of leaves around Mega Man and can also be shoot forward as a projectile. Uses a pretty large amount of power to use, but as long as your picking up powerups it shouldnt be to much of a problem.
4 - Time Stopper
This move stops everything on the screen except your little blue man. Very useful in any level that has a difficult spot to overcome that is full of enemies. Just make sure to keep it full for Quickman, otherwise you'll be using some much needed E-cans.
3 - Gemini Laser
This weapon is a blast to use aswell. It shoots a thick laser beam straigh a head that bounces at an angle when it hits the wall. Very fun to use in tight areas and does a pretty decent amount of damage without breaking the power meter's bank.
2 - Metal Blade
I bet no one is surprised to see this weapon so high on the list. I mean common you can shoot in any direction including straight up. And it uses so little energy that you can use it as your main weapon and just forget about the Mega Buster in most cases.
1 - Pahroah Shot
This move only beats out the Metal Blade by a small amount. It has one great advantage, and that is the ability to charge it and then run with the charge. Nothing beats running around with a huge ball of energy over you head and simply jumping into enemies. This makes beating the last Wily fight possible in less than 10 minutes. Could you really imagine how long it would take to finish him off with regular shots from anything?? Thank God for the Pharoah Shot.
Hope you guys enjoyed this list. I'm going to be away from a computer for most of next week, because I'm taking my wife to Edmonton as a surprise birthday gift (I know, I'm the best). I will be back to work on Saturday so I may write up another one so that I dont miss a week, but I just may not get a chance. So if you don't see a new Top 10 Mega Man just be patient and I should have one the following week.
Anyway I was thinking of doing either Rush/Item upgrades or maybe my favorite Mega Tunes next time. What do you guys think??
Over the next couple months I'll be taking a trip down memory lane. Those memories will include Robot Animals, Fat Bearded Scientists, Blocks Appearing out of nowhere (seriously), and Mega Busters.
Ill be trying to put up one Top 10/Bottom 10 (maybe 5 in some cases) per week. These lists will range from: Master Robots, Weapons, Levels, Music, Non-Master Robot Bosses, Wily Levels, Regular Enemies, Upgrades From Game to Game and anything else that pops into my head (or is suggested by you guys!!).
We'll start off with something easy and do Top 10 Master Robots. This should be up by the end of the week.
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