Genre: Skateboarding

Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Ultra
Year: 1988

Basic Idea:  Skate and die.

Review: I admit the nostalgia for this game is higher than its actual quality.  The controls are counterintuitive, but when you’re young, you get used to them.  At least enough to enjoy the game, especially while competing with a friend.  I loved the downhill events, and the joust was decent as well.  And at least when you’re with a buddy, someone gets enjoyment out of you crashing into a fence.

The sequel has a laughable, hammy action/adventure game that is horribly designed and almost unplayable.  But there’s a half-pipe game that is pretty damn awesome.  The controls here are intuitive, and it’s existence helps propel this game into the countdown.  Cheating perhaps, but I’ll often play both games at the same time.

As an aside, the Gameboy game, Bad ‘n Rad, is insanely difficult.  It’s an action game that has some wonderful elements but is just too damn hard to really stick with.

Genre: Shooter

Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Year: 1988

Basic Idea:  Topple Fidel Castro’s regime with two invincible Rambos

Review: When Ikari Warriors was released on the NES, I was rather excited, as I played the arcade and PC versions and loved them.  That the NES port was brutal would be sadder if SNK hadn’t redeemed themselves with a much superior follow-up.  Guerrilla War is fast, it’s frantic, and the easiest shooter you’ll ever play.  You die if you get hit, but continues are infinite and from where you left off.  Most importantly, there’s no way to get stuck and have to reset the game.  Weapons are unlimited and powerful.  The only thing stopping you from obliterating everything are hostages, but even if you kill them all, the only consequences is that you’ll have fewer points.

I would have preferred the game have some semblance of challenge, or at least a more substantial reward for saving hostages.  As it stands, its worth lies more in playing it with a buddy.

Genre: Racing

Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Camerica
Year: 1991

Basic Idea:  Race three other cars on kitchen tables, pool tables, bathtubs, and other reasonable places.

Review: A lovely little game that easily wins the title of most original racing game on the NES.  The scenery is awesome (I believe the outlines of the racing track on the kitchen table are Cheerios) and game control is pretty fluid.  Scaling is done well, so despite the fact that it’s top-down, there’s a good sense of depth.  I’ve heard playing this game with other humans is a blast, which is something I hope to do at some point.

It would rank higher, except the tracks require a bit too much memorization for my taste; it is very difficult to tell what is coming up ahead.  Missing a jump and having to redo can be rather annoying on top of being a punishment.

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.