Archive for the ‘NES’ Category
Retro Game Challenge: Ghosts’N Goblins (NES)
Fred tackles one of the hardest NES titles of all time: Ghosts’N Goblins.
WARNING: Due to the difficulty and nature of this challenge, there is explicit language, viewer discretion is advised.
Podcast: Devil’s Castle Dracula
This week Fred is joined by Allen (@tearsofafeather) to discuss the Castlevania franchise. As a fan of both this show and Castlevania, Allen assisted in talking about the vast adventures of the first six titles for the Belmont clan (Castlevania I-IV along with Rondo of Blood and Bloodlines). Join us in one of the most technologically advanced and entertaining horror action platformers ever released.
Podcast: Square’s Swan Song
If you are going to talk significant JRPGs in America, one of the most influential series is Final Fantasy. Whether you believe that it was the last game Square may have ever made or that it was simply the last game designer Sakaguchi would be a part of, the massive success of this digital Dungeons & Dragons title started a strong fan base that continues today. In part one of our coverage, Fred and Eli “Sodoom” team up to discuss Final Fantasy I-VI including development, design, gameplay, and of course Cid.
Review: Final Fantasy
Console: NES
Released: 1990
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Difficulty: Moderate
Price: $13.49 (used, cart only), $48.50 (used, complete), $288.00 (new)
Additional Releases: MSX2 (Japan only), Wonderswan Color (Japan only), Playstation (Final Fantasy Origins, updated graphics), Gameboy Advance (Dawn of Souls, upgraded with additional dungeons, new translation), PSP (original title, includes Dawn of Souls content with updated visuals and soundtrack)
Digital Release? Wii Virtual Console (NES version, $5), PSOne PSN (Playstation version, $10), PSN (PSP version, $10), iOS/Android/Windows Phone (PSP version, $7)
Similar Titles: Dragon Quest (Warrior) franchise, Phantasy Star franchise, Vay, Ys I & II
If you ask most Americans what the first true console RPG was probably one of the most common responses would be Final Fantasy. Not only is Square’s epic tale of four warriors taking on a timeless being that plans to destroy the world memorable, but it stood well above the competition of the time. The Legend of Zelda may have taken around 10 hours to complete, a size and scope only possible with the ability to save that was unheard of prior, but it was nothing compared to the massive world and 30-50 hours you may spend conquering Final Fantasy. Aside from that, the 1986 Famicom title Dragon Quest (changed to Dragon Warrior in the US for its earlier iterations) had just received a slight upgrade and released to North America in 1989, less than a year before Final Fantasy. It was great but couldn’t compete with a game that was made three years later with the lack of classes, a party system, and various other differences. It should be noted that in Japan Dragon Quest II had already released and Dragon Quest III came out in February 1988, a mere two months after Final Fantasy, which had slowly built up most of the game’s staples such as a party system, exploration, turn based battle system, and both games had similar class systems. That doesn’t mean that Final Fantasy doesn’t have its own identity, it’s far superior in terms of graphics, nothing like the airship showed in the first three Dragon Quest games, and instead of sending you back to town when you die like Dragon Quest you would instead get a game over and go back to where you last saved. Final Fantasy also shipped with a map and huge manual that got players more invested in exploring and completing the campaign, not to mention a cheap and huge Nintendo Power strategy guide that released shortly after. For me, it was the near perfect conversion of the Dungeons & Dragons universe – some of the characters are literally stripped from the Monstrous Manual – and converted it into a single player experience.
Podcast: CIB – Complete in Box
This week Fred is joined by Chip Cella of the B-Team and Derrick H of All Games and Dead Pixel Live fame to discuss how games used to come packaged. This includes the box, instructions, and a bunch of freebies we pay good money for today.
Opening Song – Joe Esposito You’re The Best
Closing Song – Iron Maiden Run to the Hills
Podcast: Me Money Bin
This week Fred and Trees are discussing Capcom’s Disney games. In the 8-bit era Capcom received the Disney license and created a little game called DuckTales based on the popular Saturday morning cartoon. Not only was it a mass success, but it was an excellent game that gave way to a whole slew of 8-bit and 16-bit gems on Nintendo and Sega consoles.
Review: Ducktales (NES)
Console: NES
Released: 1989
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Difficulty: Moderate
Price: $14.05 (used, cart only), $48.98 (used, complete), $167.61 (new) – Please note: This is a recent spike in value with the release of Ducktales Remastered, approximately 45 percent, and may soon drop.
Digital Release? No, although a re-creation of the original, Ducktales Remastered, is now available on Xbox 360, PS3, WiiU, and PC
Ducktales is one of those rare titles on the NES that has a universal love from anyone who talks about it. That’s because it is a perfect example of what most of us who grew up with Nintendo’s 8-bit console loved about gaming, and all with a Disney license to boot. Granted the developer was Capcom, who at the time was responsible for Mega Man and several other gems on the same console, but Ducktales proved that you could experiment and still get a game right. It was fun, it was addictive, it looked good, it sounded great (one of the signature soundtracks of that era), and of course sought after thanks to licensing deals that will surely prevent a re-release.
At face value it was a standard side-scrolling platformer where you control Scrooge McDuck as he journeys the world looking for treasure. Where it diverges from this classic formula is that of the five levels you explore (Amazon, Mines, Transylvania, Himalayas, and the Moon) you are given the option what order to complete them in. It doesn’t really matter, although from a difficulty standpoint there can be a given order, but I know plenty of fans that have played it enough to do whatever order you choose. I also think due to the various hidden items throughout each level there is a need to complete certain levels in an order if you want to collect a million dollars and get the true ending. This is all before you even start the game, where you learn about the other great mechanic: the pogo cane. Probably one of the most notable gameplay mechanics of the console, Scrooge’s pogo cane allowed him to take out enemies Mario style but also get through hazards like spike pits untouched. Later in the game it will also be the only way to traverse large pits by jumping on the heads of attacking enemies or proper placement of an enemy to reach a seemingly untouchable spot. Once you master the cane, this title is a cinch.
Hardware Profile: Game Cartridges
It’s hard to believe, but the typical cartridge game began to phase out of gaming in 1995 when the new wave of consoles and the subsequent movement to disc-based media began. I’m sure plenty will be quick to point out that the N64 was a cartridge-based console, but I truly believe this decision was the result of Nintendo not wanting to give up the control over manufacturing and sordid history making a machine that read discs. This change happened 18 years ago, which means there is a significant number of gamers that are now in their early to mid 20s that have never played games on a cart. This is truly a shame because the versatility of cartridges is much more abundant than most people realize, but the crutch will always be that carts offer little storage for massive prices. In today’s lesson we will discuss what makes up a cartridge, benefits/setbacks, and how the cartridge was used to literally upgrade consoles for more than two decades.
Retro Game Night: Adventures of Lolo and Joe & Mac
This week’s retro game night had two requested classics:
First up is the puzzle platformer from Kirby developer HAL Laboratories (also where Nintendo CEO Iwata got his start) entitled Adventures of Lolo. This title predates Kirby’s Adventure by a few years, but the basic concept of his design are very apparent (Lolo and girlfriend Lala are also enemies in a Kirby title). Requested way back when in our forums by IzzleMoxle, here’s an NES classic:
Immediately following is our second title, the action platformer Joe & Mac (sometimes with the subtitle Caveman Ninjas) on the SNES. As a near launch title, this is one of many arcade ports that showed off Nintendo’s 16-bit console’s big impressive sprites while somewhat showing off its impressive Sony sound chip. I remember dumping hours into what is a moderately difficult, but wonderfully addictive game:
If you would like to see a classic game played for retro game night or beaten for our occasional retro game challenges, just hit me up in the contact section.
Retro Game Night: Beetle Adventure Racing and Sweet Home
Starting yesterday I am now doing a weekly show where I play retro titles that either I’ve always wanted to play, my readers request, or anything I just think is cool. It records every Friday night, gets uploaded to the YouTube channel late, and then I create a subsequent post here on Saturday. For the first week I decided to try a game I originally was recommended on a recent Video Game Outsiders appearance: Beetle Adventure Racing on the N64.
The next comes from one of our Japanese readers/listeners Fenian (@F3nian), Sweet Home. This was released only in Japan on the Famicom (NES) by Capcom and features RPG and puzzle elements as five people try to survive and escape a haunted mansion. Although based off of a Japanese horror film of the same name, many say this was the precursor to Resident Evil, complete with the opening door cinematic. It was only released in Japanese, but thanks to a fan translation and flash cart I present to you the game in all its English glory running on an actual NES.
Hope you enjoyed these episodes. Tune in next week where I will be featuring initial gameplay of Expendable on the Dreamcast and an attempt to complete the fighter Street Fighter The Movie: The Game on the Sega Saturn!
Gaming History 101 