NES: FreshNES Part 1: Technical Difficulties

I finally purchased a tube TV to play my fabulous NES titles on. I eagerly hooked up the console and took the time to choose a couple games. With the intension to keep things light and easy I decided on 10-Yard Fight and Blades of Steel.

I inserted the first cartridge.

Nothing. Just the nightmarish blinking red light and a steadily flashing gray screen. I was devastated.

"Not to worry," I thought, "I have a back-up NES."

I unplugged the first console and hooked up the other. Same thing, I was zero for two.

Eventually this happened:

[img width=700 height=388]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2458.jpg[/img]

Surely the Internet would yield some kind of answer to my trouble. Apparently the 72-pin connector needs replacing. Alas, being impatient as I am, I continued to scour the web for a makeshift solution. It turns out that if you gentle wiggle the cart once its inside the console the connection can be improved. So wiggle I did and sure enough I was greeted by the 10-Yard Fight title scrren.

I know that this is not a real solution, but until a new 72-pin connecting comes in the mail there isn't much I can do.

OK! Time to toss the pixelated pigskin!

[img width=700 height=388]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2462-1.jpg[/img]

10-Yard Fight simply put is a fun little football simulator. The player controls one of two teams. The control scheme is easy to master after a couple of minutes. While on the offense the A button initially passes the ball to the quarter back, then can be pressed to perform a long distance pass, whereas the B button executes a quick lateral pass. When playing on the defense the player first must select one teammate to control with either A or B then the gameplay begins.

What I really liked about the game were the sound effects. The players running across the field sounded a lot of horses galloping over the wide steppe. Even the rhythm resembled galloping. I also enjoyed watching the player sprites; they looked like they were doing some kind of cossack dance.

I actually horribly lost the match 21-0. I'm terrible at football. But since I'm Canadian maybe I'd have better luck on the ice.

So, I laced up my skates, I mean, fired up Blades of Steel.

[img width=700 height=388]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2465.jpg[/img]
[img width=700 height=388]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2468.jpg[/img]

I used to like hockey games growing up so I had high hopes for this one.

Video games don't get any simpler than this. Rapidly tapping the B button enables you to almost always win the face off. With the puck in your possession B is used to pass, and A is pressed to shoot. Where the game gets interesting is when the opposing team crosses the blue line the player controls the goalie. I really liked that concept.

I was especially good at the most important aspect of hockey - fighting. The gloves were off and it was fisticuffs on ice!

[img width=700 height=388]http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o736/Fleach/DSCF2470.jpg[/img]

When one team scores the opposing team's goalie suddenly flails his arms like an angry troll. Very cool.

Of the games played today Konami's Blades of Steel was the better of the two. It did not have any clunky animations or controls. It felt smooth and flowed nicely even by today's standards. The voice acting was entertaining, albeit repetitive. The announcer's "with the cross!"booming from the speakers every time I passed the puck did get annoying after a while. However, the simulated sound of skates slashing over the ice was pretty decent. Overall, I thought it was a good game and one that I'll return to. That says a lot as I'm not really a fan of sports games.

I don't think there is much to be said about sports games. They're fun ways to pass the time and provide a bit of healthy competition between friends. The simple gameplay mechanics are easy to grasp making them enjoyable to play.

PS - Does anyone know how to take quality pictures of gameplay in action? I used a Fujifilm EXR for these snapshots.