Developed by:  SunSoft
Distributed by: Sunsoft
Released: November 1988
Blaster Master is an often-overlooked NES classic from 1988 that incorporates excellent gameplay, colorful graphics, a vast array of enemies & unique bosses to take its place as one of Nintendo's best action games.  It holds up THAT well.
The game has two distinct play modes. The first is a Metroid-esque set of levels, with your character riding around in a tank blasting everything in sight.  Some levels can get tricky, but power-ups and health replenishment are all over the place, so do your job and shoot [Image]the enemies!  With a little patience, you'll really enjoy exploring your way through these levels, as you can backtrack and figure out exactly where you have to go.  The second mode, when you hop out of the tank and enter dungeon-type areas (think "Zelda"), has you running around with a top-down view, shooting at everything that gets in your way to get to the bosses.  The bosses get progressively more difficult but each has a "pattern" to work with in order to beat them.

The graphics are flat-out awesome, with the top-down levels being bright (almost a "cartoony" feel...until you reach those bosses) and the side-scrolling levels having detailed backgrounds and tons of enemies all over the place.  While the basic enemies weren't the most colorful (I never considered this a setback), the settings for each level blew away most NES games at the time.  The bosses, and really, all the enemies in the top-down mode, all look great and the levels make it actually FUN to hunt them down.
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The music for Blaster Master is catchy and a true perfect fit.  It sounds great!  The levels have lots of cool beats and from the very first second you start driving the tank, you'll know they spent time on this one.  Sound effects are pretty good, as well.

Play control is excellent.  Your tank has a moving turret, the controlled with the D-Pad when firing can shoot in different directions (up, left/right, diagonal) and it looks and plays like a moving vehicle.  You'll be flying across the screen shooting lots of enemies and experience none of the annoying "NES slow-motion" whatsoever with this game.  The tank bounces a bit when it lands, can slightly nudge forward to time a tough jump, and a lot of the usual annoying downsides to platformers will NOT be found here.  When controlling your character in top-down mode, you'll find the movements fluid and navigating the character is never a problem.

Have patience piloting the tank and get started in this game.  It's easy to catch a lot of damage but also easy to avoid rushing into a hornet's nest.  If you get the hang of Blaster Master (realistically, it takes all of 5-10 minutes) you'll love this game.  A great effort from Sunsoft.

Must-own title.

Rating:  A
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NES RATING #19 - Defenders of Dynatron City

...Defenders of Dynatron City...

Developed by:  LucasFilm Games
Distributed by: JVC Musical Industries
Released: July 1992  

Defenders of Dynatron City was developed by the usual spot-on LucasFilm Games (now LucasArts), but don't get too excited.  The game, intended to spawn a new TMNT-esque franchise, is a major disappointment.  Sadly, a number of glaring errors weighs down what could have been a hot property from the media giant who brought you the Star Wars franchise.

The game is mostly side-scrolling, and play as characters from a new, original superhero team.  Your goal is to guide them through 4 stages in order to save the town.  It's a simple enough storyline here. Unfortunately, "simple" describes the graphics and play control, as well.

As you walk around the streets attempting to clear each screen of evil robots, you'll immediately notice a ridiculously poor hit detection system.  I must have had the radioactive dog (one of the heroes) bite the robot 10 times before it explodes.  The next robot?  2 bites.  The characters move awkwardly and the game is quite repetitive.  A game being boring is one thing, but when it's not even designed well, that's a recipe for disaster.  At least there's a time limit, so the game will actually end while you're dozing off.

A major bust from a company that consistently delivered so much more.
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Rating:  D-
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NES RATING #18 - John Elway's Quarterback

... John Elway's Quarterback ...

Developed by:  Leland Corporation
Distributed by: Tradewest
Released: March 1989  

John Elway's Quarterback is a football game (alledgedly) that gives you a top-down perspective of the field and a sad perspective on life.  What was a perfectly playable arcade game turned out to be a bottom-of-the-barrel as NES football games could get.


The graphics are the game are absolutely miserable, with generic red & blue teams playing each other, numeric-integers posing as solid objects on the scoreboard, and just a dull, ugly look to the entire game.  Your team is always blue, no matter who you pick.  Your opponents?  The red team!  There are no names for the players and no reason for you to think you're being "your" team, even if your team is lucky enough to be included.

There is no music in the game.  Brilliant.

The sound effects are loud screeching noises and the annoying "CHARGE!" song (which is a baseball/hockey staple, not so much football!) coming every 45 seconds or so.

Play control is equally abysmal.  There's no simple "select a receiver and throw" method with the flick of a button, but rather you hold down B and line up an arrow to throw to your receiver.  Just lazy and aggravating.  Running is nearly impossible, as is returning kicks due to the slow movement of the runners.

A long-time ago, a young QB named John Elway put his name on an abomination of a football video game.  Pop this in to see how bad it is, then throw it in the fireplace minutes later.
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Rating:  F

NES RATING #17 - Fun House

....Fun House...

Developed by:  Realtime Assoc. / Ironwind Software
Distributed by: JHi Tech Expressions
Released: January 1991

Fun House is a seemingly G-rated game named for the game show of the same name which ran from 1988-91.  You play as a rollerblading child who must skate around and throws red balls at a number of targets, hitting them all before time expires.  Along the way, there will be several obstacles to slow you down.  Things get increasingly difficult as you progress throughout the game.

There are 72 total levels, with the earlier levels (Floor 1 & 2) playing extremely easy.  The biggest raise for concern is controlling the player, done by holding the B button to move (weird) and changing your direction with the D-Pad.  It takes a few levels to really get used to and making yourself go in a perfectly straight line can be a real chored.  You'll likely just bounce all over the place, shooting targets and advancing level-by-level.  It gets pretty old REALLY quickly but then around Floor 3 or so, the challenge ups itself.
 

The graphics for this game and are fairly basic, even below average.  Really, though, this is an action puzzle game, so besides your own character, you won't notice the graphics all that much.  Your character never "dies" but will lose a chance if time expires.  Collecting 25 coins can restore an extra chance.  The music is extremely weak, as wel

Again, the play control takes some getting used to, so use the ultra-easy opening levels to get accustomed to skating around.  Later on, the globs of slime and conveyor belts will make it much harder to hit every target.

In all, Fun House is a fairly average puzzle game with plenty of levels, but suffers from below-average performance in every area except the challenge and fun factor.  But that's what matters most, right?  Give it a try, but be willing to invest 20-25 minutes to get into some of the harder levels before giving up on it.

Rating:  D+
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NES RATING #16 - WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge

...WWF WrestleMania:...
...Steel Cage Challenge...

Developed by:  Sculptured Software

Distributed by: LJN Ltd.

Released: September 1992

WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge was the third of four WWF games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and a noticeable step down in quality from the second game, WWF WrestleMania Challenge.


Shouldn't games progressively evolve into better experiences for the player?  This attempt sure didn't.  How hard was it to update the roster from 1990  to 1992 and make some slight tweaks to play control and graphics?  Apparently very difficult, as this game was a major disappointment in every way imaginable.

That play control of Steel Cage Challenge is incredibly boring, with the same repetitive punch/kick and run moves being done by all of the various WWF wrestlers in the game.  This is a considerable downgrade from the 1990 release of WrestleMania Challenge, which featured unique speeds, sizes, move sets, and more fluid control of the selected wrestler.  Your goal here is to throw punches, kicks, maybe run off the ropes, and go for a pin.  No special moves and no unique moves, whatsoever.  All the wrestlers (if you can tell them apart) have the same endurance and you're basically having matches between sprites with different splotches of paint.  What an uncreative mess.

As stated, the graphics are horrendous here, as some of the wrestlers are basically indistinguishable (Mountie and Bret Hart) and the overall look of the game is just BLAND.  The graphics are Game Boy-esque with their lack of clarity and simplicity.  The steel cage itself is tiny, with one game ending in roughly 10 seconds after my character was slammed, never got up, and the opposition climbed to the top of the cage in 5 seconds.  Just awful.

What more can I say?  The music is atrocious (when there is any), the graphics look awful, the game play is as basic as can be, and overall, WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge feels like a total rush-job with no replay value, whatsoever.

Rating:  F

NES RATING #15 - Ghostbusters II

....Ghostbusters II....

Developed by:  ActiVision

Distributed by: ActiVision

Released: April 1990

Let's travel back to 1989.  At the time, Ghostbusters 2 held the record for the largest three-day box office opening in history.

You'll find many familiar scenes from the movie in Ghostbusters 2 (as well as some attempts at music, but no Bobby Brown) which is really the strength the game, it's attempt to provide you with a fun movie atmosphere.  Scenes include the Underground River of Slime, Subway, Statue of Liberty, and Courtroom, as well as the Museum of History.  Unfortunately, even with these levels, the game is repetitive and difficult, serving more as a "memory game" to avoid obstacles rather than the true interactive shoot 'em that most Ghostbusters fans crave. 

The music is okay.  I didn't find it annoying and thought it actually worked pretty well in some cases.  It doesn't sound great but it also isn't distracting.

Play control can be a bit awkward for a game where split-second timing is everything.  You have to aim the "slime gun" (sadly, no proton packs here) with the D-Pad which can be quite annoying and makes the game even harder.  Especially with ghosts flying around from various angles at the same time.  Play control loses major points here.  Otherwise, you're basically ducking, running, and dodging everything in sight.  The scenes where you're driving the Ecto-1 rely on your ability to steer the fast-moving car through barricade openings, jump the car over pits, and shoot ghosts.  This nothing terribly exciting.

There is no pause button.  The game require non-stop shooting and dodging.  NO PAUSE BUTTON.  Let that sink in.  How do you forget that?

Overall, this is a challenging and not very exciting game that improved on the first release but still needed a lot of work.  Give it a try, but unless you love the Ghostbusters 2 film you'll likely be bored after 10-15 minutes.

Rating:  D+

NES RATING #14 - Alien Syndrome

...Alien Syndrome...

Developed by:  SEGA

Distributed by: Tengen (U.S.) / Sunsoft (Japan)

Released: 1988

Alien Syndrome was a 1987 arcade game that was brought to the NES in 1988 as an unlicensed U.S. release by Tengen.  The goal is to run through each of 6 levels, rescuing 12 friends (or “comrades”) before defeating a boss.  You’re racing against the clock here, and it can get close, so there’s no time to waste.  You’ll likely find the clock the biggest challenge when attempting to find the weak points of boss aliens, which can be problematic the first time you face them.

Much of the appeal of the arcade classic is gone, as the mazes aren’t so much mazes but rather wide open areas to run around in.  The 12 comrades are easily found, and enemies are incredibly weak.  You’ll no doubt find the initial stages extremely boring, as every alien is killed with one hit from any gun.  So whether you’re wielding the powerful laser or the weaker gun you start off with, what’s the difference?  A far cry from the challenging panic that arcade game could cause.  While the boss characters are quite tricky and require your character to keep dodging and moving, the build-up to the bosses is just repetitive.  

The graphics are a major step down from the arcade’s colorful look, and very flat to the eye.  Particularly noticeable are the look of your character, your “comrades” and basically the entire level you’re running around in.  The lackluster music is also a major problem and fails to set any mood for this supposed “scary aliens on a ship” game.  The sound effects are your standard NES shooter noises.

Perhaps the biggest appeal of this game are the simple controls, with one button to shoot (you can fire in 8 directions) and movement via the D-Pad (no jumping) the entire time.  There’s really nothing to learn except "run and shoot," and even the most inexperienced gamers could instantaneously get the hang of this one.

In conclusion, Alien Syndrome is an easier, duller version of the arcade game that you'll likely grow tired of after 20-30 minutes or so.  Give it a play or two and see if you can get into it.

Rating:  C-
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