NES A to Z – E: Elevator Action – First Looks/Final Thoughts

Elevator Action. Pretty much the game I expected it to be.

Hey again! I totally forgot to get my post in yesterday for my first looks at Elevator Action but I’ve got it ready today! Let’s take a look:

Elevator Action was pretty much the game I expected it was going to be: An action platformer where you go up and down elevators with enemies on each floor to block your progress. The gameplay is  pretty basic: shoot enemy agents, go through the red doors and continue downwards to your getaway car. The gameplay was pretty addictive at first but the levels seemed identical when I played through the first few stages. It’s a pretty fun game played in twenty minute chunks to burn some time, but I didn’t find it engaging enough for an extended play session. 

I actually think I’m going to wrap this one up early. The game isn’t terrible by any means, it just doesn’t have a lot of depth in gameplay to keep me playing much longer. I spent maybe a total of an hour so far, and while I may play another session or two, I think it’s time to move on to the letter F. I’ll be announcing it soon so stay tuned!

NES A to Z – E: Elevator Action

Next up for the letter E: Elevator Action!

Hello again! It’s the end of another week! Last night I checked my random list of games and for the letter E the random pick was Elevator Action. It’s another game I’ve never tried and it looks to be an arcade game that was ported over to the NES. I’ll try to get some gameplay in tonight but I just started The Outer Worlds so I might dive into that game a bit tonight instead. Stay tuned in and check back tomorrow for some first thoughts on Elevator Action!

NES A to Z – D: Dynowarz: – Destruction of Spondylus – Final Thoughts

I was met with several difficult and frustrating platform jumps in Dynowarz.

Hello! I’m back again with Dynowarz and  I think it’s time to wrap this one up. I really didn’t spend a lot of time on this game due to the frustration caused by the touchy jumping controls.

I spent a good hour or two on this game and while the cutscenes were kind of cool, they got repetitive. I was met with the same two after each stage I made it through. The stage design also seemed a bit repetitive. The interior stages all had similar layouts with small differences like extra enemies or different platform types. After falling into bottomless pits one too many times, I decided it has time to shelve this one. 

While I didn’t enjoy the NES rendition of Dynowarz, I really think a modern day remake/reboot could really bring this game to life. The game has a cool concept that might have been hindered by the hardware at the time.

Well that’s all I have for Dynowarz, next up is the letter E. Hopefully the randomizer picked out something good! I’ll be announcing the pick tomorrow so stay tuned!

NES A to Z – D: Dynowarz: – Destruction of Spondylus – First Looks

Dynowarz looks like it could be cool as a modern day reboot/remake. The NES game left a lot to be desired.

Hello again and welcome back for some more retro NES action! For the letter D I’ve been playing Dynowarz. I put in a couple of game sessions and my first impressions are telling me that this game… isn’t great. Let me dive into the game a bit to explain.

The graphics and sound are pretty average for an NES game. Not horrible or repetitive, just not what I’d consider great sound from the NES’s hardware. Same with the visuals, not bad but not impressive either although the between stage cutscenes are kind of cool. 

The control of your character feels really… unnatural. I was met with a few difficult jumps that I felt were due to poor play control. Your character kneels down before jumping which sometimes made precision jumps nearly impossible. I was met with non-stop frustration throughout most of my play sessions. I was so frustrated with this game, I even yelled at the cat. I felt bad afterwards and apologized. That’s when I decided it was time to put the game away for the night. 

I’ll give this game another shot tomorrow night for another session but if the game gets too frustrating, I’m going to have to end this one early and move on to E. By the looks of things though I’ll more than likely have my final thoughts wrapped up by tomorrow night.

On a side note, I kind of feel like I was spoiled by playing Batman: Return of the Joker earlier. That game was a great example of the NES being pushed to its very limit. Great graphics, great sound, and a pretty fun game to boot. Honestly though, I just don’t think Dynowarz is very good. It does however, look like a pretty good concept that would benefit from a modern day reboot/remake.

Alright, that’s all I have for tonight! I’ll be back tomorrow for my final thoughts. Until then, check me out on social media for updates, screenshots, and more! Scroll to the bottom for the links.

NES A to Z – D: Dynowarz: Destruction of Spondylus

Next up: Dynowarz, an action platformer published by Bandai. What’s it like? I’ll be taking a look later this evening!

Welcome back for another edition of NES A to Z! If you’ve been following me on the socials you already know the game for the letter D is Dynowarz: Destruction of Spondylus. I’ve already started playing it but I’m going to hold my first looks for later this evening. This is another game I’ve never played and according to Wikipedia it’s another action platformer and since I have already started playing, I can confirm that it is. I glossed over the rest of the page, but I did catch something stating that the game wasn’t great. Is it really that bad? Stick around, tonight I’ll be taking a deeper dive into the game as well as giving the game some first looks and I’ll also be posting some gameplay videos to my YouTube channel. Until then, check out some of my previous posts from my NES A-Z project and as always, game on! 

NES A to Z – C: Castle of Dragon – Final Thoughts

Finally! A dragon battle! One of the Dragons of the Castle perhaps?

Whew! Welcome back! If you’ve been following along then you’re aware that I’ve been playing Castle of Dragon for my NES A to Z random game series. I put a few good hours of gameplay in and now it’s time to wrap it up and move on to the next game. Was it any good? Let’s take a look:

The game itself was pretty average in nearly all aspects. The visuals and sound are average for the NES and the gameplay and controls are pretty standard. Nothing really stuck out for me as I played and even though the game didn’t seem that great, I wanted to keep playing. The gameplay had me coming back for more after each game over and each time I played I progressed a bit further in the game, a formula that seemed to work for me for a while. After a few sessions though, the gameplay got a little repetitive and my interest waned a bit. I did enjoy it while the fun lasted. The game is worth a quick play but if you’ve never played it before, you’re not missing much. 

That’s about all I have for this game. It was pretty average, kind of fun for a while, but nothing special. That being said, it’s time to move on to the next game. Next up is the letter D! What will the game be? Dragon Warrior? Double Dragon? I’ll be announcing the random pick for D later this evening so until then, game on!

NES A to Z – C: Castle of Dragon – First Looks

Castle of Dragon. The game is pretty average but I can’t stop playing it!!

Welcome back for another installation of random NES action! For the letter C the randomizer chose Castle of Dragon for me. Also, as a side note, I worked the randomizer overtime to select the rest of the A-Z list! Most of them I haven’t played, some look to be based on films so I might have to watch the movie first! Anyways, let take a look at Castle of Dragon!

On my first play, I wasn’t terribly impressed by the game. The graphics and music are okay and it’s your pretty run-of-the-mill action platformer. You play as a knight of some sort using a sword and various weapons you pick up to fight your enemies on the way to the Castle of Dragon. The character sprites are fairly large as well but the animation is jerky. I played for a bit, then came my first game over. No save feature, no continues. At first I assumed this game would be super difficult. That is until I started the game again.

Luckily, you get to keep all of your weapons from the previous playthrough, which allows you to breeze through the stages fully powered. This is a welcome feature that adds a bit of replay value to the game. When I played the game a few times, I was met with a few game overs, but after each session I progressed farther into the game. I kept thinking as I played “this game isn’t the greatest, but I want to keep playing!” The gameplay formula for some reason had me hooked! You can take a look at some of my gameplay sessions on my YouTube channel to get an idea of how the game looks and plays.

That’s about it for my first looks, I’ll be wrapping this game up tonight! After that I’ll be moving on to the game for the letter D later in the evening. Stay tuned to see what it will be!

NES A to Z – Next Up: C – Castle of Dragon

The random pick for the letter C is Castle of Dragon! I’ll be jumping into this game later today.

Welcome back! I was having so much fun with that Batman game I almost didn’t want to move on to the next game! But I sucked it up and fired up the randomizer to give me another game to play. For the letter C it chose Castle of Dragon for me to play. I have never played this game before, or even heard of it before for that matter. I’ll be taking a look at it later today. Let’s hope it’s a good one!

NES A to Z – B: Batman: Return of the Joker – Final Thoughts

Batman: Return of the Joker really took the cake on this one. I highly recommend it.

Hello again! I played a quick session earlier today and while I really would like to spend more time with this game, I have to move on to the next title. Perhaps for a future project I’ll play the game to completion. Who knows? With that in mind let’s wrap up Batman and move on to the next game brought to you by the letter C.

Overall this is probably one of the better titles for the NES. Everything about the game was pretty solid and I kept coming back for more. Whenever I wanted to set it down I thought “Just one more try to beat that boss!” or “I can make it through that part taking less damage than that!” A lot of the game is memorizing enemy locations and avoiding damage, a pretty standard formula that works in this game’s favor. The boss battles are a little different as well and pit you against your foe one-on-one, leaving you to strategize and formulate tactics to win the fight. The challenge in this game is fair and doesn’t frustrate. No controller throwing, but maybe a little bit of cussing while playing the snow stage or the sewer stage, two levels I encountered that have some challenging jumps.  

Sunsoft sure didn’t screw up this game. This game is sure to please retro fans and it’s a great representation of the capabilities of the NES’s hardware. Give it a play and I’m sure you’ll add it to your top NES games list.

NES A to Z – B: Batman: Return of the Joker – First Looks

Batman: Return of the Joker has been great fun so far. Great graphics, great music, great fun.

Hello again all you retro gaming fans! I’m back to take a quick look at the next game for my A-Z project! For the letter B I’ve been playing Batman: Return of the Joker. I played it for about two hours last night and I can already tell this game is a winner. Let’s take a quick dive into the game to find out why:

 The graphics on this game are great. The background and foreground graphics are eye-catching and use a dark, gloomy color palette that really sets the mood for the game. The character sprites are large and well animated as well. Batman’s cape even moves when you walk! The layering effects, for example when Batman walks behind a fence in the foreground, are also a nice touch and both show the capabilities of the NES’ PPU(Picture Processing Unit). 

The music and sound on this game are both great as well. The music is non repetitive and was pleasing to my ears while I played. Sometimes repetitive music can really kill a game (looking at you Addams Family) but this game’s music kept me hooked. When the music melds seamlessly with the game and causes little or no friction, you’ve got a good game (or good game music at the very least) in my book.

As for the gameplay, this game scores high for me as well. It’s a run-and-gun style side scrolling platformer with plenty of action. As Batman you have several power-ups for your weapon, each with its own unique ability. The game has your normal platformer jumps and strategically placed enemies to buffet you as you progress through each sub-stage to the boss at the end.

During my play session I found that the game is challenging but fair. The game gets progressively more difficult as you move ahead and the learning curve is short. There’s a password feature and so far I have been met with unlimited continues, both are welcome features as so many NES games lacked a way to continue from where you left off, forcing you to complete the game in one sitting. Batman was easy to control and the button layout made sense. This is a game that is easy to pick up and play even without a manual. 

Overall, I’m looking forward to playing this game some more. It hit all the right spots for me and I feel like I might even incorporate it into a future project. If you’re a collector, consider snagging a copy of this game. It’s a great game you can spend a few action packed gaming hours on and I think it would be welcome in any NES collection.