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!
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.
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.
Welcome! I hope you’re all ready for the next game from the randomizer: Batman: Return of the Joker! This is another game I remember playing as a rental back in the day. From what I recall it was a side scrolling action shooter that was pretty fun and enjoyable. I have a good feeling about this game and I have high hopes that it will hold my attention longer than the Addams Family did. I’ll be diving into the game later today so stay tuned for some first looks into this game!
Welcome back! I’ve been playing the Addams Family for the NES and to be completely honest it’s a pretty average game. The graphics are bland, the music isn’t great, and the gameplay is flavorless. While the game is not overly challenging, there are aspects that can be frustrating and annoying. Let’s take a look:
On my first play the game wasn’t too bad. The Addams Family theme music in the background was kind of fun and the gameplay was familiar. Once I got further into the game I started to realize that the game was pretty mediocre. I only heard two different musical scores: One for the main area (Addams Family theme) and another for the “dungeon” areas. After hearing the same music for about 30 minutes I was ready to put the sound on mute and listen to my own tunes.
The gameplay was just about as bland as the music. I remember in the movie Gomez was pretty bad-ass in the fencing scene. In the game, Gomez just jumps and bops his foes on the head. No sword, no cool throwing items to subdue your enemies, just the soles of those black dress shoes to stomp your enemies to death. Sometimes your jump doesn’t even register as a hit, which can be frustrating. Also frustrating (and annoying) are the number of times I was inflicted with unavoidable damage. Chandeliers, spiders, and falling blades all hit me within a second of going through a door. It makes the game feel unfair and makes you wonder if the programmers put it in there as a big middle finger to the player.
As an added bonus to the frustration, the game also suffers from the dreaded difficult jumps that require exact precision. The most notable being the freezer area, which promptly drained all my remaining lives. The floors in this room are slippery, causing Gomez to slide around, making jumping across bottomless pits all the more difficult. Another area I found to be passable but particularly frustrating was the toy room, which requires you to jump across several jack-in-the-box platforms that knock you down and leave you to the mercy of the enemy below when your jump timing and speed isn’t up to snuff.
In short, this game just doesn’t hold my interest. Everything about the game is overly average. My advice is to go watch the movie instead. It will be an hour and a half better spent and you’ll probably have a more enjoyable time than playing the NES game.
Welcome back! I played The Addams Family for a good hour last night and I feel like I’ve got a pretty good handle on the game. This game isn’t 8 Eyes challenge level, it’s a pretty simple action platformer and the gameplay is straightforward. Rescue your family members, collect all relevant items, and secure the family fortune from those goons who are attempting to steal it. It’s a pretty simple formula that many NES games used. Some were good, others not so much. My initial thoughts on the game is that it’s pretty average. Nothing so far has stood out in the game. The graphics are average, the music is a repetitive rendition of the Addams Family theme (there are equally repetitive tunes for specific game areas as well), and the gameplay hasn’t offered much depth or excitement. Games based on movies were generally pretty lackluster in the 80’s and 90’s and this game fits the bill as one of them.
So, the game is pretty average so far. Since I played the game before I really wasn’t expecting it to be great, but for some reason I thought it was more fun back in the day. Playing the game nowadays it seemed kind of boring with points of platformer frustration. I’ll have to give it a few more hours of play time to see if there are any redeeming aspects.
Honestly, I don’t think I’m going to spend a lot of time on this game. There’s just not enough depth to keep my interest. 8 Eyes wasn’t great either but it did have the added depth of a second playable character and music that was good. Expect me to have this game wrapped up before the New Year. Hopefully the random pick for the letter B is something that will satisfy my gaming chops a bit more.
Well, that’s all I have for The Addams Family for now. Check back soon for my final thoughts and stay locked in to my social media for a sneak peek at the next game!
Hey retro gaming fans! It’s time to select another random game from the NES library and today the letter is A. For A, I’ll be looking at The Addams Family. I’m somewhat familiar with this game as I remember renting it back in my younger days. From what I recall the game is your standard bump-and-jump platformer much like the Super Mario Bros. series of games. This one should be fun! A game I can reminisce about and at the same time a game that is based on a movie franchise! Keep yourself plugged in for a look into this and more as I continue my NES A to Z series!
Whew! Welcome back everyone, this game has been quite the challenge! After doing some research on the game and skimming over a walkthrough guide I was finally able to defeat the Duke of Spain. It was a glorious occasion indeed! Let’s take a look at some of my final thoughts on 8 Eyes before I move onto the next game.
This game is hard. Super hard. As in difficult. A guide of some sort is almost necessary for this game as there are no in-game or hints in the game manual that I could dig up online regarding the correct stage order. You’ll also need to know the location of all the hidden power-ups to have an easier time succeeding at the boss battle. When I played the game without the knowledge I gained from the walkthrough the game seemed ten times more difficult than it already was. It was frustrating enough to make me throw a controller, but I resisted. All difficulties aside, the scene after the boss battle was totally worth the effort. Check out my gameplay video of the boss battle here.
Overall, the game wasn’t bad. For the approximately five hours I spent playing the game, while at times frustrating, I enjoyed the game. The only downsides I experienced were the steep learning curve and the extreme difficulty. You’ll want to spend a good one to two hours to build some skills and learn the mechanics of the game before you really dig into it. The upsides were the music and the added depth of having a bird as a second playable character. This is definitely one of those overlooked games from the past that would benefit from a modern reboot.
Well, that’s all the time I’m going to spend on 8 Eyes for now but who knows, I may return to it in the future! Next up on the list is the letter A! What random game will it be? Keep an eye on my twitter or instagram to get a sneak peek before I post tomorrow!
Welcome back retro gaming fans! I’m just about ready to wrap up 8 Eyes and move on to the next game, a random game beginning with the letter A. I just wrapped up a session earlier today and one thing I can say is that this game is tough! The difficulty is high and every mistake you make counts against you massively. Each playthrough I did I became more efficient and eventually had a few decent battles with the boss of the Spain stage. Let’s hope my next session goes well and I defeat the evil Duke of Spain!
Stay tuned for more retro gaming action as I pick a random game from the letter A! What will it be? Check back later this week to find out!
Welcome back! Hope you’re ready for some random retro games! This week’s pick from the list starts with the number 8. The game: 8 Eyes. Let’s take a quick look at this game from the late ’80s/early ’90s!
While playing the game for the first time, I noticed a couple of things: The game is an action platformer that is strikingly similar to the Castlevania series and the music is excellent. Graphically, the game looks okay for the hardware it’s on, but the music is really where the game shone for me after my hour long quick play.
The gameplay, as you might have guessed, is a lot like Castlevania as well. Your character uses a sword instead of a whip, there are secondary weapons, stairs to climb, doors to go through, and secrets hidden in bricks, all of which are very similar to Castlevania. Not much new or original so far. There is, however, a feature that sets it apart from Castlevania: you have (limited) control of your bird friend! Controlling the bird is a bit janky, but I found out it is necessary to use the bird to hit otherwise inaccessible switches to open doors. It’s kind of a cool feature that adds a little depth beyond the standard platformer formula.
The game features seven different castles to explore, along with The House of Ruth which I assume can only be accessed after completing the seven castles first. As I pondered which castle to visit first, I simply selected the castle my cursor was on, Arabia. After unsuccessfully playing each stage a couple times, I thought “Damn, this game is difficult!” as I considered looking for a walkthrough for the game to assist.
Now, I’ll be playing this game a little more after I do a little research on it. So far, the game plays like a standard platformer and I foresee difficult jumps at some point in the game as your character cannot change direction midair. Other than the bird adding a bit of depth, the game seems pretty shallow and adds few new features beyond what Castlevania offered earlier in the ‘80s. It’s not a bad game so far, it just hasn’t hooked me with anything groundbreaking apart from the music.
That’s about all I have on 8 Eyes for now. I’ll be doing some research and playing the game with some help from a walkthrough to hopefully advance through some of the castles before I write up my final thoughts. Stay tuned for that and more retro games in the future!
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