Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team (NES)

This game is fantastic, just like it sounds. Battletoads, and Double Dragon, both of whom kick lots of butt. Team them up together, like this game does, and you've got one of the best (if not THE best) beat-em-ups on the NES. This game was released late in the NES life, so it's got nice graphics and awesome sound effects and music. Sometimes, the punches and kicks look cartoony, but they feel very satisfying. They feel real. The sound effects help with that. There a good amount of stages, but this game does get difficult as you progress. At it's heart, it is a beat-em-up game, and that is what shines most of all with this one. The graphics and sound are just icing on the cake. You can't go wrong with adding this game to your NES library of games. You will definitely go back to it more than a few times. Great for more than one player as well.

Graphics: 9.0 out of 10
Sound and Music: 9.4 out of 10
Presentation: 6.9 out of 10
Gameplay: 9.1 out of 10

Overall: 9 out of 10

Xevious (NES)

Xevious is a verticle scrolling shooter from Namco.

In Xevious you play as a flying ship that travels over an island that looks very similar to the country of Peru. There are a number of different flying enemies.They all look very funny on the NES. But that is to be expected, because it is an older NES game. The sounds are great, but the music can be annoying. This is one of those games where you will try to get the highest score out of all of your friends. This game is great to play with friends. A solid shooter on the NES.

Graphics: 5 out of 10
Sound and Music: 5.1 out of 10
Presentation: 4.2 out of 10
Gameplay: 8.9 out of 10
Overall: 7.4 out of 10

Ninja Gaiden (NES)

This 1989 game from Tecmo is a classic for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is also one of the most difficult games to complete.

 In Ninja Gaiden you play as Ryu (Ninja Gaiden) who journeys to America to avenge his father. After a series of events, Ryu finds out that an evil statue has been stolen. If the statue is used by the "Jaquio", then the entire world will be plunged into darkness! This game is very fun from the start. The first few levels seem rather simple but the final stage is what defines this game. There are 20 levels in this game also known as "acts". Each act presents itself with more difficulty. The most difficult part of each level are the enemies. An eagle may swoop or a ninja may leap when you least expect it. This causes an uncertain amount of difficulty at different stages of the game. After fighting through all of that, there is boss at the end of each stage. These bosses range from a giant thug who walks one mile per hour to the jumping Basaque. The final boss is what makes this game so difficult and challenging. If you end up losing to the final boss you must restart the final level all the way from the beginning. For some reason this only happens when losing to the final boss.

The graphics are ok, nothing to flashy. It has the standard 8bit world look. The sound and music is fine. It's just the music can be repetitive and annoying after a while. The presentation is really good. This game really does seem like an action arcade game. The game play is mostly even handed, except for that final boss fight.

Overall this game is really fun to play but can get very frustrating towards the end. If the final boss was just a little bit easier to defeat then this game would have been more enjoyable from beginning to end. The level of difficulty almost makes this game unplayable and it all comes down to the horrible Jashin boss fight. In the end, this game is a solid action title for the NES but don't expect to beat it on your first, second or third try.

Graphics: 8 out of 10
Sound and Music: 6 out of 10
Presentation: 9 out of 10 Game play: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7.5 out of 10

RoboCop 3

Start, continue, sound on, music on.

To win at this game the player must go through the levels strategically. Timing is very important. The right jump at the right time. Dodging the attacks from a gun or a random fighter. Getting past the levels takes a certain level of memory and repetition. The biggest problem with RoboCop is that it just seems to difficult to complete.

Overall I think this game is better than the first RoboCop game for NES but RC3 (RoboCop 3) is still a tough game.

Graphics: 8 out of 10
Sound and Music: 7 out of 10
Presentation: 7 out of 10
Game play: 7.2 out of 10

Overall: 7.5 out of 10

RoboCop

The Future of Law Enforcement.

Data East presents this video game based on a movie. Robocop moves like a robot. He does not jump in this game. Bad guys pop out of windows and run down the street. This game does not shine a clear path. Sometimes it is hard to know where to go, for example a flashing wall indicates that Robocop must punch through the wall. Simple tasks such as walking up and down stairs can be difficult just because the game makes it that way.

The music is repetitive but not super annoying. The presentation is nice. Overall this game requires a number of replays just to get past the first three levels.

Graphics: 6 out of 10
Sound and Music: 5 out of 10
Presentation: 6 out of 10
Game play: 6 out of 10

Overall: 6 out of 10

Battletoads

This 1991 beat em up game from Rare is a 1 to 2 player video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
There are three battletoads in this game: Rash, Zitz and Pimple. The game begins with Rash. I really like this game because it is fun to play. The music is great, probably some of the best tunes on the NES. The graphics are great. The fighting is really easy to pull off and there are some cool effects with the punching moves. Some levels require a level of memorization such as the 3rd level in the game with the hover bikes. Levels like these take real skill. There are a number of continues that help but this game requires a lot of time to master the levels in order to complete the game.



Tip: try to get as many points as you can. When fighting the birds, keep hitting them for more points. Points equal extra lives. Also, look for warp zones. Warp zones look like a mass of dots hidden in some levels.
Overall this game is fun but it is also just a bit too difficult.
Graphics: 9 out of 10
Sound and Music: 10 out of 10
Presentation: 7 out of 10
Game play: 7 out of 10

Overall: 7.9 out of 10

The Adventures of Bayou Billy

This game is from Konami, the same company that made games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
First, the game play is very interesting. This game is both difficult to play and yet somewhat realistic. The main character (Billy) is just a normal guy from the bayou. He has to fight all kinds of different things, including alligators. The problem is that the bad guys seem to be moving all the time. It is almost like Billy has to dance around them until he can get a good kick. The jumping in this game is only possible with a kick included. The graphics are not that bad but there are some screen glitches that do stand out. The music is the best thing about this game. It has a cajun feel throughout. There is also a sound test which is cool.
My final thoughts: This game is really difficult. The worst part is the fighting. If you can get past level one then maybe you can find a jeep to drive and then use the NES Zapper to shoot the bad guys.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
Sound and Music: 9 out of 10
Presentation: 7 out of 10
Game play: 5 out of 10

Overall: 6 out of 10

The Immortal

This game is hard! It is a 3d isometric view, much like Marble Madness. So, the graphics are very good. I like them a lot. You play as an old wizard that looks much like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. You can shoot fireballs, as well as fight with your sword hand to hand with orcs and goblins. You are trapped in a huge dungeon with multiple rooms and must avoid all kinds of traps. Avoiding the traps is very hard until you get to grips with the controls. Because the view is isometric, it's hard to know which direction you will go when you press left or right, you may not go left or right. After much trial and error, you may get far, but I do not know how long this game is, because I gave up pretty early. However, I'm told that if you stick with it, you may be rewarded. Pretty good action game, with pretty NES graphics.

Graphics- 8.7 out of 10
Sound and Music- 8.1 out of 10
Presentation- 6.0 out of 10
Gameplay- 6.9 out of 10

Overall- 7.4 out of 10

Kung Fu

I found Kung Fu for the NES to be very fun, but also very challenging. The main problem is that the enemies are too hard. You can high kick, and low kick, and low punch and high punch. You can also kick in the air. But it's all about timing. If you don't time your punches and kicks right, you will get hurt. The main character has a life bar, but any kind of damage that he takes makes it go down quickly. You fight other kung fu masters, and snakes and bats, but the game is very hard to beat. Some skilled player will make it to the end, but only after lots of trial and error. It's not as hard as Ninja Gaiden for the NES, but still very challenging. You must have quick reflexes and perfect timing. Good graphics, and the music is fun to listen to, somewhat annoying after about 45 minutes. Sound effects are very good. This is a challenging action game for the NES that will definitely test your kung fu skills!

Graphics- 5.5 out of 10
Sound and Music- 7.0 out of 10
Presentation- 2.0 out of 10
Gameplay- 8.0 out of 10

Overall- 5.3 out of 10

T & C: Town & Country Surf Design

This LJN game is a Pearl City, Hawaii surfing, skating game.

In this game you can pick either 2 players or 1 player. This game is basically and extreme sports game. There are two different sports: surfing and skateboarding. The cast of characters include a cat, gorilla, Hawaiians and a beach dude.

The music is good and so are the sound effects. I feel like I am in Hawaii when I play this game (a little bit). The graphics are okay but the biggest problem is the control. The surfing levels is really hard to understand. All I know is that pushing "up" and "B" at the top of the wave is a good thing. Other than that it is difficult to surf in this game, which is probably realistic? The sessions seem to go on for a long time too (is there an end?). The furthest I got on the 'Street Skate Session' was round 06. Overall this game is just okay. It is fun to play. There just does not seem to be enough in this game. Don't pay a high price for T & C.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
Sound & Music: 7.9 out of 10
Game play: 6.9 out of 10
Presentation: 9 out of 10

Overall: 7.8 out of 10

Tetris (Tengen Version)

I had a chance recently to play the very much talked about NES game, Tengen Tetris, and let me just say, this is a great Tetris game. I have played many different versions of the game over the years, and this version is my favorite. The reason it's my favorite version is because of the many game modes this offers.

There is One Player which involves just one player trying to get the highest score possible. 2 Player is the same thing with 2 Players instead of 1. Co-operative mode lets 2 Players play on a giant game grid and the goal is to get the highest score. The 'with computer' mode is the same as co-operative, except you don't need a second player, you can just play with the computer.

The music is extremely simple but it works, and there are four different songs to choose from, or no music at all. They all sound like Russian dance songs, which makes sense being that Tetris was created by a Russian.

The gameplay is here and it works. The is Tetris, and if you don't know what Tetris is, it's basically this--blocks fall from the top of a game grid and you have to match them up in one or more lines to delete them. As the game continues, they fall faster and faster. The graphics are very basic like the sound. There is only one solid black in the background with blue colored tiles surrounding the grid. Each brick is a different color, but their is no detail in the bricks. Presentation is simple for this game, like everything else, but it works just fine. A game like this doesn't need fancy menus. This is Tetris as it's best, and it's fun.

Graphics- 4 out of 10
Sound and Music- 5 out of 10
Gameplay- 10 out of 10
Presentation- 4 out of 10

Overall- 10 out of 10

Tecmo Bowl

1987 arcade/1989 Nintendo Entertainment System American football game from developer Tecmo. Some of the best sports games (for the Nintendo) was from the company Tecmo. This is a review for the game Tecmo Bowl.

This is one of the most fun football games around. It can be either one-player or two-player. The combination of a simple control, strategy and balanced difficulty against the computer is what helped make this game so good. Let's start with the teams. Tecmo was not able to use the real names from the NFL. But they did have the city names:

Indianapolis
Miami
Cleveland
Denver
Seattle
Los Angeles
Washington
San Francisco
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Chicago
Minnesota

Some teams are better than others. Chicago and San Francisco are considered the top two teams. When I play against the computer I always seem to think that Minnesota is the hardest team to play against. The computer is smart in this game. After beating one game against the computer the next team is picked. In week two the computer really tries to intercept any pass attempted. You really have to carefully decide who to pass to.

The game-play control is basic and it seems to work. Your team can select to either pass or run on offense. You can run up, down, left, right or diagonally. The players seem to run a little slow. Overall the game-play is really simple and done right for the NES. It is easy to learn and there are many teams to master. Playing against the computer is basically a season game. You pick a team and then the computer randomly picks a teams to play against you. To finish this game you have to beat all 11 teams. The graphics look OK. You should be able to visualize the football elements. The sound and music is simple, not much variety. The music can get a bit old after a while. They did improve some stuff in the sequel "Super Tecmo Bowl".

Overall this is a sports game. If you really enjoy playing old style football games then Tecmo Bowl is one of the best sports games.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
Music and Sound: 4 out of 10
Game-play: 8.5 out of 10
Presentation: 6 out of 10

Overall: 8.3 out of 10

Excitebike

Excitebike is a 1984 motor cross (dirt bike?)racing game. The objective is to beat the clock and get in third, second, or first-place after two laps. The game is single player.

This game is all about timing. The timing of the jumps, speed, and track finishing time. There are three modes in this game: Selection A, Selection B, Design. "A" is just the biker. "B" is with other bikers. "Design" is make-your-own-track with the various ramps and obstacles. The game-play is the best part. "A" button is regular gas. "B" accelerates the bike to go faster (if held too long the bike temp will overheat). The ramps in the game can help or hurt your time. It is all about getting the fastest time. The bike landing and maneuvering is very important too. You can really master the control in this game and race for the best time. There are only five tracks in the game. The fifth track is special, because the minimum time requirement goes lower after a few wins. I don't think track five has an ending. Each time you beat the track a number is added in the lower corner of the screen. The gameplay is overall what makes this game. I really like it because it is simple yet it has a good balance between easy and difficult.

The graphics are good enough for this game, simple 8-bit. Every person in the crowd looks exactly the same. There is a clear line between the sound effects and the music. First, the music is mostly a few short jingles which are spread throughout the game. Then there is the sound which comes from the dirt bike engine. Plus a few other sound effects can be heard by jumping, crashing or finishing the race.

Overall this game has a basic layout with a few key features that I really enjoy. The design mode is great, I can make a track almost any way I want to make it. The game control is fantastic. It is easy to play but only a few can master it. Downside?A two-player option is lacking. Plus the never ending track five is an enigma.

In the end, I really like playing this game. It is one of the best Nintendo Entertainment System games. I would put it high on the list. If you like racing games you really should try to get the game Excitebike. Post your best clock times in the comments too!

Graphics: 6 out of 10

Music and sound: 6 out of 10

Game-play: 9 out of 10

Presentation: 5 out of 10

Overall: 9 out of 10

Tecmo NBA Basketball

Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are all playable in this 1992 basketball game. This game is 1-2 players.

This game is great. First, lets look at the presentation. It has the real players that played during the 1991-'92 season. You can pick any NBA team and play as the star players back in the day. This game is jam packed with stats and information! Each team will be provided with player names, pictures and abilities. A playbook can also be found (Use the D+Pad and the 'start' button during game-play). The game-play options are many: Preseason, Season, All-Star Game, Team Data, Game Speed, Period Length, Music (on/off). The NBA Leaders/Standings will show which players are the best shooters, etc. In a Season mode it will also show the top teams in the NBA.

The game-play is simply fun. It is 5 on 5 basketball. You can set shooting plays or just pass to the open man and make the jump shot or slam dunk. You also have the option of calling a time out (20 seconds or full). Plus substitutions of different players. The graphics are really good for this 8-bit game. There are some cool dunk scenes but there is also a little bit of flickering with the graphics. That can make the players flash a little bit and can cause some confusion while playing the game. The music and sound is basic. More music variety would be an improvement, but I can't complain too much.

Overall, this game is the best NBA game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game-play works great. The difficulty starts easy then becomes more difficult (depending on the team you pick). A vast amount of stats and players also make this game big. If you like basketball video games then you will have to play this game. The graphics are a little ....eh, but overall it is a fun game.

Graphics: 7 out of 10

Music and sound: 6 out of 10

Game-play: 8.8 out of 10

Presentation: 9 out of 10

Overall: 8.7 out of 10

Double Dribble

Konami and basketball combine to make "Double Dribble". This game is 1-2 players.

As far as I know the ability to double dribble is not something that can be performed in this game. There are foul shots and out-of-bounds calls. The game-play is simple and there is a bit of strategy to it. I think it is an easy game once you figure out how it works. There is a shot in the game (three-points) that will go in 90% of the time. A three-point shot on the outside corners (when lined up correctly) will go in. The difficulty is most difficult on "level 3". On that level the CPU will steal the ball between passes more often.

This game is trying to be like a real NBA basketball game even if there are only 6 players on the court. The camera angle is an overhead side view. It works well. The teams: Boston, Chicago, L.A., New York. Not real teams but real cities. Clock options: 5:00, 10:00, 20:00, 30:00. The shot clock runs faster than normal. The graphics are good. Whenever a slam dunk happens a special picture will show the dunk in stop-motion slow-mo. The sound is basic and works well too. No music during the game but there is music during the half-time show. Overall this is a fun but very easy basketball game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I would like to see some sort of tournament bracket in the game (too bad it was not included). If you like basketball video games then you might want to play it.

Graphics: 6.5 out of 10

Music and sound: 5 out of 10

Game-play: 7.6 out of 10

Presentation: 6.4 out of 10

Overall: 7 out of 10

The Lengend of Zelda

This is an adventure/RPG of sorts.

The story: Prince darkness Ganon stole the triforce of power. Princess Zelda divided the other triforce into 8 units. Then she was captured by Ganon. You play as Link. You must save Zelda and collect the triforce units.

This game is easy to understand with a good amount of difficulty within each area on the map. It is especially difficult during the later dungeon levels. Secrets are scattered throughout the land. Some of the items that need to be found are very difficult to find. Some of the dialog is puzzling too. The graphics and presentation is good. Basic 8-bit with an overhead view of the area Link is exploring. Classic tunes that loop can be heard in the music. Some of the songs loop very well, but the dungeon music can sound repetitive if not haunting.

This game is an adventure (fantasy) It takes a long time to finish. After beating the game you can play again while the dungeons are scattered/hidden across the land. Some items are hard to find so you might need some additional help. There are also 3 save spaces in the game cartridge. I recommend this game. It is a big game with many puzzles.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
Music and sound: 8.5 out of 10
Game-play: 8.7 out of 10
Presentation: 8 out of 10

Overall 8.9 out of 10

Alien³

Alien³ is based on the 1992 movie Alien³. It is a 1993 one-player game from JLN/Acclaim Entertainment.

You play as Riply. You must find all of the prisoners who are tied to the wall, in each area in order to advance to the next level. Aliens will pop out on screen and some will come from the ceiling. There are a number of different weapons to use but the ammo is limited. This game is a race against time. You must rescue all of the prisoners and then escape the building before time runs out.

The challenging part of this game is memorizing where the prisoners are located.The game begins as an easy one. It then starts to get more difficult. Time runs out quickly on the later levels. You can have up to 9 tires before you get game over. Jumping is a bit hard at times and shooting is easier. In "configuration" there is a music and sound test mode. You can also change the difficulty (normal, easy, hard). Plus, the "tires" can be changed up to 9.

This game can be fun but it later becomes very frustrating. It will take many different tries before you can complete this game. Finding the prisoners and stopping the aliens is the hardest part.

Graphics: 6.5 out of 10
Music and sound: 8.8 out of 10
Game play: 6 out of 10
Presentation: 7 out of 10

Overall: 6.8 out of 10

Bible Adventures

Wisdom Tree presents the 1991 one-player video game Bible Adventures. True to the title this game features three games in one: Noah's Ark, Baby Moses and David and Goliath.

It starts with the title screen and music (Bach, Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring). You can pick to play one of the three games. Each game has the same style of game play but different stories and missions in each game. Noah's Ark is a collecting game where Noah must collect two of each animal before the rain comes. Plus food! Game two: baby Moses must be carried to the end of each level. Game three: David has to collect sheep and later he must fight Goliath with a sling.

I like that this game contains three games in one cartridge. The game play consists of jumping and picking up things. A simple game that works well. The music is very subtle throughout each game with simple sound effects that pop. I think this game is commonly criticized as one of the worst games. It does have a few problems. It can be easy and it can be hard. I would not add this to any worst game list.

I find it to be very fun. At times slow paced. It contains more strategy than action. Bible Adventures is a well made game with the addition of Bible elements.

Graphics: 7 out of 10
Music and sound: 6 out of 10
Game play: 8.5 out of 10
Presentation: 8 out of 10

Overall: 8.7 out of 10

Metal Storm

Irem presents this single player 1991 side-scrolling video game called "Metal Storm".

You play as a robot and shoot the robotic enemies on each level. The game is not very long but the levels are really well made. The game play is very fun and something new! You can flip and play through the levels upside-down. Many levels require you to jump and flip to shoot the enemies and get past obstacles. Your M-308 gunner explodes if he is hit (one time). There are power-ups throughout the game that will help you attack and survive.

This is one great game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The music can get old, but most of the time it is worth listening to. The graphics are stunning for an 8-bit system. The presentation is sleek and simple. This game provides challenges and the levels get more difficult. I think there should be more levels. In the end, this is a fun game and one of the best 2D "plat-former" games I have played. If you can find this game it is worth a play.

Graphics: 9 out of 10
Music and sound: 8.4 out of 10
Game play: 9.5 out of 10
Presentation: 8.8 out of 10

Overall: 9.2 out of 10

Xevious

Xevious is a scrolling shooter game by Namco. It was released around 1988. This is a 1-2 player game. The original arcade game was first seen in 1982.

The game begins as you play as one the the Solvalou ships. Object fly on the screen attacking your ship. You must dodge them as they shoot from many different directions. The screen continues to move throughout the game. It looks like earth.

The game play is very basic. Move around on the screen and shoot either a fast gun or drop a bomb using the aim box. The graphics are very simple. The sound and music is very basic also. Very little amount of music and sound is heard. The presentation is like an arcade game. Overall I like this game. It is a simple shooter, not the best but still fun.

Graphics: 3 out of 10
Sound and Music: 2 out of 10
Game play: 7 out of 10
Presentation: 2 out of 10

Overall: 7.3 out of 10