Genre: Basketball

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Year: 1992

Basic Idea:  Play through the 1991 NBA season (with the retired Magic Johnson) while obsessing over the statistics.

Review: Sadly, the best basketball game for the system only hits #83 on this list, but there it is.  It has many good qualities.  Each roster is complete with real NBA players, with their respective abilities.  Muggsy Bogues is never going to dunk, and Manute Bol can block almost anything shot in front of him.  John Stockton can steal often, and John Paxson can drain three-pointers at a 40% rate.  Goaltending and backcourt violations are called.  There’s a shot clock.  You can’t run through players without being called for charging.  And every statistic is kept.

But there’s just something missing.  Playing the computer gets real boring, real quick.  It’s not just that it’s insanely easy to beat the computer.  It’s that there’s very little variety in how you can beat the computer.  Much like NHLPA ’93 where the wrap-around goal was almost guaranteed every time, rushing the bottom of the court and then dunking from the side is sure-fire points.  There is no play-calling, and very rarely can a player–not even Michael Jordan–drive the lane.  You either make a few passes and take a jump-shot and hope for the best, or pull off one of many, many fast-breaks.

While playing two-player is more entertaining because the games are closer, the variety of play doesn’t significantly change.  Also, while the rosters are full, there’s no need to access them unless someone fouls out, as your starters never tire.  Perhaps if there was more Tecmo-style close-up shots the game would hold a little more entertainment value.  As it stands, there’s little reason to play this unless you dislike more modern games or you really want to play with these old rosters.

Genre: Arcade

Developer: Atari
Publisher: Mindscape
Year: 1988

Basic Idea:  Deliver newspapers while avoiding rabid dogs, possessed tires, rolling pin wielding housewives, and the grim reaper.

Review: A completely ridiculous game that is nevertheless addicting.  While not that difficult to win, one can take the extra challenge of trying to keep as many subscriptions as possible by not missing any houses on your route.  The isometric view can be frustrating at times, but it really does test your reaction speed.  Hard to recommend, but it’s pretty much a perfect mindless game.

Genre: Um…track and field?

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Year: 1985

Basic Idea:  Compete in ten events against a high score or a friend.

Review: One of the better sports game released in Nintendo’s first year, each event in the game is implemented very well considering the technology.  While there is too much button-mashing involved, the play control is more or less flawless.  I appreciate the game having some precision events as well, like clay shooting and archery.  Unfortunately, the game doesn’t record your high scores, so one would need a notebook to compete against one’s own best scores.

The sequel, sadly, will not make the list.  While Track & Field 2 has more events like swimming and taekwondo, it is simply way too difficult for any sane person.

Genre: Arcade

Developer: Atari
Publisher: Milton Bradley
Year: 1989

Basic Idea:  Race with marbles!

Review: A port arcade that was put on about forty-seven systems.  The best might be the Amiga, though the NES version holds up just fine.  There are six isometric levels you must race your marble through within the allotted time limit.  On some levels you have to avoid enemies.  On some levels you have to utilize catapults.  And on the incredibly frustrating fifth level, you must defy gravity and go uphill.

The game is very hard to win due to the very difficult fifth and six levels, but the learning curve is perfect and it is winnable.  Considering I still play it about once every few years, I figured it deserved a spot in the countdown.

Genre: Puzzle

Developer: First Star
Publisher: JVC Musical Industries
Year: 1990

Basic Idea:  Collect diamonds and dash out of the way of boulders.

Review: We first had this game as a booter on the IBM, and it got plenty of our time.  The premise is insanely simple, but pretty satisfying.  While digging through the mines to get at diamonds, boulders will fall on you if you’re not careful.  But in later levels, you have to intentionally let loose some boulders to kill enemies (that magically sprout diamonds when they die).

From what I’ve seen, this is a huge upgrade from the computer versions due to the significant graphics improvement.  If you enjoyed them, you should enjoy this port as well.

Genre: Platformer

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Ultra
Year: 1989

Basic Idea:  Be totally radical while saving April and defeating the Shredder!

Review: This game gets a lot of flak for the second level where you must disarm the underwater bombs, as well it should.  It’s an insanely difficult level where it’s easy to lose a turtle.  But it’s not difficult in a Battletoads or Ghosts N’  Goblins way, and with enough practice, it can be done without losing any turtles.  The controls could be a bit tighter, but they’re actually pretty responsive.

What I love about this incarnation of the turtles is that the four turtles are distinctly different with their weapon abilities.  Donatello’s bo is more powerful, but slower.  Leonarda’s katana is dynamic and be used to kill enemies in hard-to-reach places.  Raphael’s sai is short-range but very fast.  I also love that the game really feels like it came out of the cartoon I adored before I had taste.  The music is there.  Use eat pizza to gain energy.  The bad guys are all there and act similarly as they did on the show.  You get to drive around in the turtle party wagon.  It’s pretty much all there, including the hokey, gnarly dialogue.

There’s some minor issues with the RAM, and I wish the difficulty was a bit more fair, but I genuinely enjoy this game.

Genre: Point-N-Click

Developer: ICOM
Publisher: Kemco/Seika
Year: 1990

Basic Idea:  You wake up with fiction’s most beloved plot device (see: amnesia) and try to catch the real murderer.

Review: ICOM had three of their games in this vein reach the NES.  Point-N-Click is a difficult endeavor on a console, as the control pad isn’t near as fast as the mouse (not to mention most console gamers want something a bit faster).  With that said, the story and atmosphere must be amazing to make up for it.  Uninvited was brutal.  Walking dead situations.  Insanely illogical puzzles.  Laughable haunted house plot.  Déjà Vu makes the cut.

Of the three games, this is the only one that has a plot that develops as the game progresses.  It’s pretty much your typical ham-fisted film noir dialogue and situations, but it’s improved by a pretty decent sense of tension throughout.  The puzzles seem fairly logical as well.  However, there’s a bit too much randomness in the game to keep me from being annoyed.  There are thugs who randomly steal your money, and if they do, you’re pretty much in a walking dead situation (but at least an obvious one–hope you saved!).  Also, the sound and graphics are probably the worst in this series of games.

It’s probably not worth much of a play these days, even if you loved Shadowgate or other adventures.  But if you do, there’s plenty of well-executed sections that should keep you entertained.

Genre: Puzzle

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Year: 1987

Basic Idea:  Build blocks.  Get keys!

Review: A game similar in spirit to Lode Runner, you must collect keys (instead of gold) on each level to get through the exit.  And instead of digging holes, you can build and tear down blocks to misdirect enemies or create your own staircases to get to hard to reach places.  The level designs can be tricky (perhaps too early even, before the player has a good grasp on things) but are generally satisfying to complete.  The controls could be a little tighter, and I always hate time limits, but these are mild frustrations.  Solid, but not great, puzzler.

Genre: Baseball

Developer: Tose
Publisher: Jaleco
Year: 1988

Basic Idea:  After trying not to drop fly balls, bean the opponent’s best hitter to start a brawl.

Review: This baseball game has some serious flaws, but it’s loads better than the other three games in the series.  I am pretty sure the main reason I can tolerate all the flaws is because I owned it and played it a lot, adjusting to them.

What really set Bases Loaded apart from all the other baseball games out at the time is that the strike zone, for the first time in video game history, had depth.  You pitched from the perspective of the pitcher, and could try pinpoint placement of your pitches.  Not only that, your batter couldn’t just swing;  he he had to aim his bat as well.  The game  has other advantages over its contemporaries.  There were clearly spoken umpire calls for “Play Ball!” as well as “safe/out” and “ball/strike.”  Landing a curveball on the outside corner and hearing the umpire yell, “Strike three.  You’re out!” back in 1988 was pretty sweet.  The music, while repetitive, was pretty darn catchy.  When you hit a home run, your pitcher would hang his head in shame while the batter would do a little showboating.  And as already mentioned, if your best batter is beaned, there’s a chance he’ll charge the mound and kick the living daylights out of the pitcher.

This game would easily be top 50 if it weren’t for some seriously difficult running and fielding controls.  Unlike most baseball games, you advance bases by holding the base you’re coming from rather than the one you’re going to, which is really counter-intuitive.  Controlling your defense is insanely difficult as well.  Defenders run slowly, especially when going diagonally.  Moreover, tracking fly balls is nigh impossible, as the camera waits until the last second to catch up with your outfielders.  The defenders are already going towards the ball, but making last second adjustments is difficult.  The final dagger is that while the defenders are slow, they’re throwing arms are insanely good, as tagging up from third is likely to result in an out even if the center-fielder catches the ball at the warning track.

While the game didn’t have an MLB or MLBPA license, it was still easy to fall in love with the players, as they all had unique names and unique batting stances.  Some even had unique showboating on home runs.  My favorite team was always Hawaii, with Debro anchoring the lineup.  I never played through a whole season, mostly due to the significant lengths of a single game, but I did enjoy it quite a bit as a kid.  Unfortunately, due to the above flaws, I don’t see myself enjoying it much anymore.

But I’ll never forget the umpires, Yuk, Dum, Boo, and Bum.

Genre: Platformer

Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Year: 1991

Basic Idea:  Use skateboards, dinosaurs, and tomahawks to save your girl.

Review: I was never a huge fan of this series.  The first game has pretty counter-intuitive controls and level design required memorization of pits and enemies to be successful.  And, to be blunt, the series is just not that interesting.  There are few secrets, crisp but unmemorable graphics, and just not a whole lot going on.  But the second game improves vastly upon the first, from the graphics to the level design to the addition of several dinosaurs you can control to your benefit, all with different abilities. And unlike Little Nemo: The Dream Master, the use of your monsters is intuitive.

Levels are perhaps a bit too short for my taste, but there is a nice variety.  While the game doesn’t excite me, it is well made and worth a look.