Tag Archives: NES

Wrecking Crew ’98 Review

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It’s time to look at a game that I didn’t even know existed until very recently. The game has an actual story and everything which was cool, although sadly Nintendo didn’t translate the text so we’re missing out on that quality dialogue. Ultimately the gameplay itself is interesting and reasonably fun but it does get hurt by the implementation. I can see why this game was not originally licensed.

The basic plot involves Mario heading back to the Mushroom Kingdom but Bowser has developed something far more sinister than his old Koopa Hotels. Now he has whole towers and is taking over with a lot of corrupt builders. Mario quickly switches out his classic M hat for a construction one and gets to work. Can he really tear these buildings down and defeat Bowser or is this a fool’s errand? There’s only one way to find out.

So the story is fun of course and the art style has aged well for the cutscenes. The graphics within the game are fun too and it’s why a colorful artstyle like this will often beat a more realistic look that gets dated way quicker. You could have a game look like this in 2024 and I wouldn’t bat an eye because it would still be a fun look. Meanwhile the soundtrack is reasonable enough. It doesn’t quite have the popping themes of the mainline Mario games but it works well enough.

Unfortunately the weakness here is the gameplay and as all gamers will know, it can be hard to get around that. Think of this like Tetris. Technically there is another game type that is even more similar but you have blocks raining down from the top of the screen. Your goal is to match sets of 3 or more of the same type. This allows you to summon block to the opponent’s side of the screen. You win by getting their blocks to go past the ceiling and you lose if the same thing happens to you. One main difference this game has compared to other games of the style is you can jump from row to row and use levers to move the blocks across different spaces. It’s an interesting addition but unfortunately it paves the way for the game’s downfall.

Put it this way, the game is just too easy. You can keep on moving the blocks and breaking them as fast as they come down. The opponent can do this as well so even when you’re landing big combos, nobody ends up dying. The first stage took over 20 minutes before the enemy finally gave in and that felt more like a fluke than anything. The difficulty of the game really needs to be ramped up because otherwise the matches are too long. I imagine it would be even worse with a player who really knows what he is doing.

Now, I’m sure I would still lose against an expert player who is able to chain such long combos together than they would exceed my speed of destroying boxes but the single player mode is almost unplayable. It is possible that I have missed something but it seems to be that the only way to really defeat your opponent is to dial in and risk the big combos but it also means that you run the risk of being defeated. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and so you are unlikely to keep on playing til the end.

There’s no real reason to do so when there are better versions of this game out there. Titles with a good sense of balance that let you progress a lot easier. Maybe the platforming elements are what doomed this one even if they made the title stand out more. It’s a shame but that’s just how it goes sometimes. It definitely keeps this game from having a whole lot of replay value.

Overall, At best I can say that with friends this game could be a little entertaining as everyone takes turns poking fun at the game. Look, I wouldn’t say that it’s downright bad either. There’s just no real reason to play it and that’s a really important factor. If you have the Switch Online then you may as well give it a try since the game is free but otherwise there’s no real reason to dive into this one.

Overall 5/10

Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll Review

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It’s time for another classic retro game. This one’s definitely fairly difficult with how the control scheme goes. Particularly in the last levels you wonder how anybody could pull this off in a reasonable amount of time. You have to be running and jumping while trying not to slip on the ice and it’s a really difficult task. I had to retry the sections so many times. There may only be 11 levels in here but let me tell you that the levels can take a while to complete.

The gameplay itself is fairly simple. You have to maneuver your way through the level until you reach the scale where stepping on it will cause the alarm to hit the ceiling. That means that you have put enough weight on it. At that point, the door at the end of the level opens and you can crawl through it. The way that you pick up weight is to eat the little balls that get shot out of a cannon somewhere in the level. The cannon also shoots out bombs that look similar but you must make sure not to pick up those or you will lose health instead. All the while you have to keep the timer in mind because if that goes to 0 then it is all over for you.

The timer is often the most difficult part to get around. The exception are the ice levels that I mentioned earlier, but it can just be really difficult to get big enough to break the scale before the time goes away. I suspect there is probably a better way to optimize how you eat the pellets since I was just button mashing though. All in all, it’s an interesting gimmick but it’s a gimmick that does get old quicker than standard platforming.

In terms of graphics this isn’t the most impressive Nintendo title. It looks good but it’s nothing to write home about. I do like the artstyle though. In terms of the soundtrack, eh it’s okay but also not super good. So all in all it is passable which is sort of how I would describe the whole game. It excites you a bit with how unique it is and by the end you start to get tired of it. I would say that’s what separates a good gimmick from one that gets old. As you see it used in more difficult contexts you have to ask yourself if this is still a lot of fun or if it’s getting in the way now. In this case it was the latter so then that’s an issue.

While there may not be much in the way of replay value, the 11 levels will take you longer than you might suspect so that’s not actually a big problem. Especially for back in the day when most games were super short. I’d say it’s why people loved RPGs and Mario titles because those were certainly way longer than the average title. It’s definitely quite impressive and I couldn’t appreciate that quite as deeply as I do now after playing all of the competitors. Who knows, maybe this will get a remake at some point, but in the meantime it’ll stay forgotten and that just makes sense to me. It needed to have a little more pop.

I guess my quick gameplay tip for this title is to remember that you are always moving in 4 directions. There is no way to move diagonally despite what the camera angles might indicate. So if you are having trouble getting somewhere, pick a direction and plunge straight ahead. It can be really tough to see exactly where you are going so this helped me a lot in the later levels. It doesn’t mean that things will suddenly get easier but it certainly helps.

Overall, Snake Rattle is a decent game but I do think that the level designs end up holding it back quite a lot. There needs to be less slipping and sliding. If you remove ice from the equation then the levels end up being a lot more pleasant but part of the problem is that you just don’t want to play through the later levels. You just spend too much time slipping around which takes away from the platforming. That’s where this game doesn’t really age well if you ask me. Give it a try if you have the Nintendo Switch Online but it’s not a game that you will be coming back to.

Overall 5/10

Devil World Review

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It’s time to jump into one of the new NES online games that has surfaced. Devil World is interesting because the gameplay is really not what you’d expect when you jump into it. It plays a whole lot like Pac Man to the point where they copied the fruits (switched to desserts) idea as well as the monsters chasing you. I like it but it doesn’t beat the original.

The gameplay is easy to describe, you have to eat all of the pellets in a maze before you get tagged by one of the monsters trying to destroy you. To protect yourself you have to pick up a cross which allows you to shoot blasts of fire at these creatures. You also aren’t able to pick up pellets unless you are holding the cross so keep that in mind. The cross only lasts for a few seconds so then at that point you have to pick up another one or you are really going to be a sitting duck there. So don’t let the opponents get the upper hand or you’re doomed.

Each stage has 2 levels to it. Once you beat the first level then the second has you collecting 4 Bibles to seal up the portal of doom. You basically have to carry the book over to the entrance and you’re good. In some ways this level is a lot easier than the first because it gives you unlimited firepower until you drop it off and then you just repeat that until you’ve done it 4 times in total. Of course the one tricky part is being patient here because if you go to the center too quickly you may find yourself surrounded.

There is one big change compared to Pac Man though which is that the devil is constantly moving the screen. If you get caught being a little too slow then you will be squished and that will be game over. Additionally this mean some pellets will go off screen and you have to wait until the next rotation in order to grab them. It’s actually a pretty interesting gimmick that does help to differentiate this from Pac Man. Granted I really don’t think you needed this gimmick but it’s a good way to really test your skills. I would make the case that it increases the difficulty level right out of the gate compared to Pac Man. In a lot of ways for Pac Man you’ll probably master the first 20 levels or so after playing it enough times while the screen shifting here adds a whole other dimension to it.

The graphics are fun enough for the NES. You can easily tell where everything is and the screen is always clear. The game never lags and the screen never gets too cluttered either. The music isn’t particularly memorable though. Pac Man at least has the fun stage transitions and such which have iconic sounds but this one is a lot less memorable. Fortunately the gameplay itself makes up for that and of course there is pretty much unlimited replay value to be found here. You can be playing the levels over and over again for pretty much forever. I can especially see this being fun to play with friends and trying to get the highest score.

Overall, There’s not a lot more to say about the game beyond that. It’s a very simple game and that’s what makes it fun. You can jump into the adventure at any time and just work on getting as far as possible. It’s easy to just pick up and play and from there it all comes down to your strategy skills. So even if someone has a 1 year head start on you, it’s completely possible that you could just go in and start getting a higher score. I love strategy titles like this. Again that’s why Pac Man is the better game though since without the screen moving it is complete strategy but this is still a fun little rival to play from time to time. I bet it would be a hit at parties since most people don’t even know about it. The best tip I can give is to just be really patient here and wait for the right path to open up.

Overall 6/10

Joy Mech Fight Review

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So I like a good fighting game as much as the next guy. This one even has a plot which is cool so I would have been pretty satisfied if I got this back when it first came out. That being said, it’s a shame that Nintendo didn’t translate this one. Seriously would that have been so hard? The game has an impressive amount of battles in the story and while it will be tough to beat them all in one batch, I appreciate the replay value since you get a decent bang for your buck if you had bought the game.

The basic plot appears to be similar to Mega Man where two doctors have created a bunch of robots but one of them turns evil. So you play as the main character and every time you beat an enemy robot, the heroic scientist mind controls it so it joins your side. You rinse and repeat this until you’ve beaten all 8 robot masters. You then jump to the next planet and do the same thing. You beat all of them…then you go to the 3rd planet. It just keeps on going and going and going. The robots actually do change a bit, some are color swaps while others actually swap parts a bit. They’re mainly similar but I liked how creative the devs were here.

My only issue is that you can’t unlock these robots so that’s a bit of a tease. I beat the first two worlds and stopped at the 3rd one. There appears to be 4 worlds and every fight is a best of 5 set so this actually takes some time. You’re basically looking at 40 battles per world so over 100 in the game. Again, the value here is pretty good. I won’t say the gameplay is extremely polished and everything but it’s fun enough. It should remind you of the old Street Fighter days where you would spam the hadouken to keep on hitting enemies for as long as possible. That would just keep them at bay over and over again.

Well I did that here with my main projectile attack and it was great. I would then use a flying kick and take the win. I never even needed to rewind which was cool although it was starting to get really close in the last world so I was probably pretty close to that point. The game would be a lot more difficult without spamming since the attacks can be hard to dodge. Like you think it’ll hit a certain area but then it hits you somehow instead. The hit boxes may not be perfect but granted it can also just be that the designs are all a bit different and take some getting used to.

The graphics aren’t bad but not super clean. I’d say for NES standards they’re a little below average. They make up for that with the colors and the interesting designs though. You won’t forget some of these robots very quickly so I give the devs credit for that. Again I also give them credit for having an actual story since that’s pretty awesome and you don’t see it very often.

Overall, This is a decent mech fighting game. To be honest there is little reason to play it more nowadays with so many other fighters on the block but it doesn’t take away from the fact that a decent amount of effort was put into this one. Certainly more than I would have expected based on the box art and how the game’s never gotten popular. As long as you have the Switch Online you should play the game. It’s got a multiplayer mode as well so you can definitely play that for a long while before getting bored. It’s yet another game that I would consider a good proof of concept for something that could be a lot grander with a modern remake.

Overall 6/10

Pinball Review

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You can’t say that this game isn’t trying to be direct. With a title like Pinball, it’s letting you know up front what kind of game this is going to be about and I can definitely respect that. This was the final NES game on the Switch Online service that I had not completed yet so it felt good to knock it out. It’s fairly basic though so whether you like it or not will depend on if you like Pinball.

That’s because this is the only mode in the game. It’s literally just playing Pinball over and over again on the same field. There are no other levels or bonus features to play. I imagine that I probably would have been a little disappointed if I had bought this opening day but I dunno, maybe it would have been nice. I imagine it saves you a lot of money to play this on the console than to go to the arcade every day. Technically you do have a lot of replay value to try and beat your high score all the time.

Of course for that to mean anything you’re going to need to not use the rewind or access points since then you could create as high a score as you want. Without any extra features though, I can say that this is one of those games I played for 30 minutes or so and then put down. At this day and age there are just other Pinball games I could play instead that have more features and all of that.

Not to say that this is one to be forgotten but unless you’re playing it for free like I did, then I don’t see why you would purchase it. There really isn’t an incentive to go out and buy this game when you could play something like Metroid Pinball instead. Granted, that one wasn’t amazing either. The single best Pinball game would be Mario Pinball because it actually had a story and even took place in the 64 continuity which was a blast. Now that is a Pinball game that I won’t be forgetting any time soon.

In terms of the graphics I would say that it looks pretty good. It’s not amazing or anything but you can always tell what is happening which is the important part. Mario even makes a little cameo here during the bonus level where you have to catch Pauline and escort her out safely. This gets you a ton of points so it’s definitely worth doing. Beyond that, just play your hardest and you’ll get great scores in no time.

I always felt like there was a bit of luck in the game with the ball just falling straight down the middle though. Like what can you possibly do in a situation like that? It feels like you’re just out of luck at that point whereas in the arcade as least you could jiggle the table or something. Not officially recommended of course heh heh. There isn’t much of a soundtrack here but the steady music that is around is nice and soothing so it works well enough with the game.

Now if this ever got a remake then I think there’s a lot you could do with it now. Have stages for each of the Nintendo mascots. Like you could have a Mushroom Kingdom stage where you see Mario and friends with the obstacles and bumpers being related to the characters. One for Metroid, etc. At the end of the day it’ll still be the normal Pinball that you know and love but with a lot of visual effects that would be fun. Bumping up the visuals and the soundtrack is the best way to enhance a Pinball game to the next level. Of course adding a story is also great but I feel like that would be rare for the genre so I wouldn’t hold out too much extra hope on that.

Overall, Pinball is a decent game. There just isn’t a lot to do beyond playing Pinball and there are so many free games for that at this point. If you really like Pinball then it’s nice that you have something to play on the console but otherwise I’d say you can give this one a pass. Maybe play it for a few minutes but I don’t think it’s something that will hold your attention in the long run. There’s just too much other competition out there.

Overall 5/10

Daive Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia Review

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It’s time for a very old school sci-fi shooter. Nintendo didn’t bother translating this one so you definitely won’t be able to get much out of the story but once I was able to figure out the gameplay then I had some fun with this one. It’s definitely not the kind of game that you’re just going to breeze through but with the power of access points and rewinding, there isn’t any game that can take you out forever! I think this one tries a little too hard to be different by adding a bunch of mechanics that don’t actually enhance the game but in the end I’d say that it’s still fun enough.

So, while I don’t know the plot, the goal of the game is to take over 14 planets. Enemies will be trying to take them over as well. The format of the game has 3 main phases. The first is that you start on the overworld and you fly to the planet that you want to conquer. You have to slow down so that you can enter the planet. Planets that you’ve taken over are in blue while enemy planets are in orange. Watch out because they can retake planets that you’ve won so you have to move quickly or else you have to beat a planet twice.

If you do have to fight them directly for a planet, then you enter a turn based ship battle where you both fire off your weapons. This one felt the most random but I only got to play this style once so I probably have to master it some more. I made sure to keep attacking quickly so that I wouldn’t have to play the worlds twice. Finally you get to the heart of the gameplay which is the 2D shooter part. So for this part you control a mech suit as you go through an auto scroll level with a big boss at the end. Before going in, you get to place 3 items on the board. 1 is a full health recharge, one is a rocket, and one is a bomb. You decide how deep into the level they appear.

For example, I set my health refill to appear around 80% through the level so that I could arrive to the boss with almost full health. Strategize and then set your items up accordingly to where you want to have them at the ready. The levels are quite tough though as you get endless bullets and laser blasts being fired at you. It’s hard to see how people did it back in the day, especially with no save feature. You may think there are only 14 levels in the game but that feels like a lot when you are on the back foot the whole time.

The controls are simple as you can only jump and shoot. That’s it but that also means that every movement has to be completely precise or you will be in trouble. Touch the bullets too often and that will be it for you. Then for the boss fights it’s especially tough as you have 6 different weapons being fired at you. The trick is to quickly focus on one and knock it out so there are less things to dodge. You win once you have beaten them all but it won’t be easy.

The graphics have held up rather well for this title. It could definitely pass for being an SNES title if you ask me. This game may not be super well known but it’s clear that a lot of effort was put into it. The soundtrack is also fairly decent. It’s calm enough to suit the gameplay style well enough. In terms of replay value there isn’t a lot for this game. It’s one of those titles where when you beat it, it freezes on the credit screen. So once you have beaten the game, there isn’t anything else to do. That’s just the end of the journey for you.

Overall, This is a game I’ve never heard of before so I’m glad that it made it to the online service. Part of the fun here is playing out a lot of games that I never would have gotten to try normally so that’s pretty cool. I would definitely recommend checking this one out if you have a few minutes. No need to play through the whole game but this way you can get a nice feel for it and just have some fun that way. Until you get the hang of it the game won’t be that much fun but once you enter the 2D levels then you can see the real appeal of the game. It just takes some trial and error.

Overall 6/10