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<p>The NES Encyclopedia</p><p>EVERY GAME RELEASED FOR THE</p><p>Nintendo</p><p>ENTERTAINMENT</p><p>SYSTEM</p><p>CHRIS SCULLION</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 1 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>First published in Great Britain in 2019 by</p><p>Pen and Sword WHITE OWL</p><p>An imprint of</p><p>Pen & Sword Books Ltd</p><p>Yorkshire - Philadelphia</p><p>Copyright © Chris Scullion, 2019</p><p>Hardback ISBN 978 1 52673 779 3</p><p>Paperback ISBN 978 1 52676 015 9</p><p>The right of Chris Scullion to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in</p><p>accordancewith the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.</p><p>A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.</p><p>All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any formorby any</p><p>means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or byany information storage</p><p>and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher inwriting.</p><p>Typeset in 11/13 pts Adobe Devanagari</p><p>by Aura Technology and Software Services, India</p><p>Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd.</p><p>Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen & Sword Books Archaeology, Atlas,</p><p>Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics,</p><p>Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime, Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press,</p><p>Seaforth Publishing, Wharncliffe and White Owl.</p><p>For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact</p><p>PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED</p><p>47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England</p><p>E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk</p><p>Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk</p><p>or</p><p>PEN AND SWORD BOOKS</p><p>1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA</p><p>E-mail: Uspen-and-sword@casematepublishers.com</p><p>Website: www.penandswordbooks.com</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 2 31/01/19 7:05 PM</p><p>To my mum and dad for buying me my NES back in 1987. You had no idea you were shaping</p><p>my life, but I’m so gladyou did.</p><p>To my wee brother Kevin, for being my player two during the NES days and beyond. Cheers, bold yin.</p><p>To my fantastic wife Louise, for putting up with me as I wrote this book. If life is a game, there's nobody in this</p><p>world I'd rather play co-op with. I love you.</p><p>And to my gorgeous baby girl Serena. You're too young to read this book just now, but I can't wait until you grow</p><p>up and show complete indifference as I try (and fail) to get you to like these dusty old games. No matter what I've</p><p>done in my life, and no matter how long I live, being your daddy will always be my greatest accomplishment.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 3 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 4 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>Even though well over three decades have passed since</p><p>my first encounter with the Nintendo Entertainment</p><p>System, I remember the occasion with extraordinary</p><p>clarity. It was back in early 1986 when I was a writer for</p><p>ZZAP! 64, a popular gaming periodical that covered</p><p>the Commodore 64 microcomputer. I was visiting</p><p>Activision’s London headquarters to preview some of</p><p>their upcoming games and, after I’d finished playing</p><p>them, had some time to kill before I caught my train</p><p>home. While I waited, one of the PR folks asked me</p><p>whether I was interested in checking out a new games</p><p>console that they’d just received from the company’s US</p><p>office. They called it a Nintendo, a name I immediately</p><p>recognised from such classic arcade machines as</p><p>Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and Punch Out!!</p><p>Needless to say, I was highly intrigued as I was ushered</p><p>into a back office. On a desk in the corner sat a large TV</p><p>to which was attached an unassuming two-tone grey box</p><p>that at first glance looked like a petite VCR. The PR person</p><p>casually flipped open the door on the front of the machine,</p><p>picked up what I guessed was a game cartridge– an</p><p>impressively large one at that– and slipped it into the open</p><p>slot in the same fashion that you’d load a VHS tape into a</p><p>video recorder.</p><p>Cool!</p><p>As the PR person powered on the machine, I reached</p><p>for the controller. I’d seen thin card-style joypads before,</p><p>but hadn’t ever played with one. It felt alien in my hands;</p><p>a far cry from the traditional joysticks I was used to using</p><p>with the Commodore 64. Initially I was all fingers and</p><p>thumbs as I figured out how to start and play the game– it</p><p>was called Super Mario Bros.– but soon enough I became</p><p>familiar with the controller’s ergonomics and began to</p><p>make progress, leaping across hazards, clambering over</p><p>pipes, and avoiding the many denizens that laid in wait.</p><p>I was extremely impressed on a number of levels. The</p><p>big, smooth-scrolling screen felt akin to an arcade game,</p><p>the awesome music was earworm catchy, the graphics were</p><p>gorgeously bright and colorful, and Mario’s weight, heft, and</p><p>momentum made him an utter delight to control. Then I</p><p>began to discover neat little gameplay details, such as certain</p><p>blocks containing hidden coins and power-ups. I realised</p><p>I could bounce on some monsters and squash them, while</p><p>others would retreat into their shells that I could then</p><p>launch to take out additional enemies. But the biggest</p><p>surprise occurred when I accidentally pushed down while I</p><p>was standing on top of one of the many pipes. My character</p><p>disappeared and reappeared in an underground room.</p><p>My mind was blown! How many more secrets did</p><p>this game have in store?</p><p>I desperately wanted to find out, but shortly</p><p>thereafter the PR person appeared to tell me that my</p><p>taxi had arrived to whisk me off to the station. On my</p><p>way home, all I could think about was how much I</p><p>wanted a Nintendo. I’d tasted gaming magic and had</p><p>fallen absolutely head over heels in love with it.</p><p>Julian ‘Jaz’ Rignall</p><p>Former editor of Computer & Video Games,</p><p>MeanMachines, Nintendo Magazine System</p><p>FOREWORD</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 5 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>The first time I fell in love, I was four years old. It was</p><p>early 1987 and we were visiting my aunt, who used</p><p>to live in Scotland with the rest of us but had recently</p><p>emigrated to America to get married. Sitting there</p><p>underneath the television, in the living room of her</p><p>apartment in Parma, Ohio, was an unassuming grey box</p><p>that my new uncle had just bought weeks before. It was</p><p>literally about to shape my life.</p><p>That trip to America was the first time I met Mario.</p><p>Super Mario, to be precise. And he was super: I’d never</p><p>seen anything like this in my life (even though it had</p><p>been admittedly quite short to that point). I’d dabbled</p><p>with gaming before: my dad had an Atari VCS and a</p><p>ZX Spectrum. But I thought this was on a whole new</p><p>stratosphere. I didn’t use those words, of course, being</p><p>four and all.</p><p>When I got back home to Scotland, Mario was all</p><p>I cared about. The NES didn’t exist in the UK yet, so</p><p>the best I could do was ruin all my children’s books</p><p>by pretending the sentences were Mario stages and</p><p>drawing a pencil line across the top of them: spaces</p><p>between words were pits, tall letters were pipes. I was</p><p>obsessed with a game I didn’t even own.</p><p>Later that year the NES finally came to the UK, and</p><p>my dad bought me one with Super Mario Bros. and</p><p>Mach Rider. The former was every bit as special as I</p><p>dreamed it would be, and will be covered in depth later</p><p>on. It’s games like the latter, however, that inspired the</p><p>reason for making this book. Every gamer (current or</p><p>lapsed) knows Super Mario Bros., or The Legend of</p><p>Zelda, or Metroid, and naturally these games are all</p><p>covered in the book. But it’s extremely rare for anyone</p><p>to have only owned the iconic titles and nothing else.</p><p>Maybe your parents bought you a wrestling game</p><p>because you loved the WWF growing up. Maybe you</p><p>and your brother saved up your money to buy The Ren</p><p>& Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$! because you both loved</p><p>the cartoon. Maybe your granny got you Wally Bear</p><p>and the NO! Gang for your birthday because it was in</p><p>the bargain bin and she knew you liked video games.</p><p>Or maybe you enjoyed many a family night in front of</p><p>the television playing one of the numerous versions of</p><p>Jeopardy! or</p><p>have</p><p>made it an infamous NES game, but</p><p>not one many are in a rush to play. n</p><p>BAD NEWS BASEBALL</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Tecmo</p><p>Developer Tecmo</p><p>NES GAMES WEREN’T in short supply when it</p><p>came to baseball, and Bad News Baseball offered its</p><p>own take on the sport. Originally released in Japan as</p><p>Fierce Fighting!! Stadium, it’s at least unique in that it’s</p><p>probably the only baseball game in which all the umpires</p><p>are rabbits (for no given reason). Rather than offering</p><p>a league system, the aim is instead to</p><p>choose one of 12 teams and simply</p><p>defeat the others one at a time until</p><p>they’re all beaten. There’s also a</p><p>hidden women’s version of the</p><p>game: if player 1 holds Down-</p><p>Left on the controller and player</p><p>2 holds Up, resetting the game</p><p>will replace all 12 male rosters</p><p>with female ones. n</p><p>in popular culture a couple of times, most</p><p>notably in the Steve Martin film Parenthood</p><p>(‘well, they’re bad dudes, that’s why they</p><p>call the game Bad Dudes’) and Robocop.</p><p>In the UK the game was published by</p><p>Ocean Software and renamed Bad Dudes</p><p>vs DragonNinja. This, combined with</p><p>Sega’s own ninja game Shinobi, was</p><p>the inspiration for the name of Welsh</p><p>rock band Lostprophets’ 2001 debut single</p><p>Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja. n</p><p>BAD DUDES</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publishers Data East / Ocean</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>NO ALTERNATIVE PLOT summary would be as</p><p>downright effective as the one that appears when you</p><p>start playing Bad Dudes, so allow me to to quote the</p><p>game directly: ‘The president has been kidnapped</p><p>by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the</p><p>president!?’ A very pertinent question, and one that’s</p><p>eventually answered as you fight your way through seven</p><p>stages with such no-nonsense names as The City, The</p><p>Sewer, The Forest and the final level, The Factory. The</p><p>game itself is a side-scrolling 2D beat ‘em up in</p><p>which you can initially perform little more</p><p>than jumps, punches and kicks while facing</p><p>off against a series of oncoming ninja</p><p>enemies from the evil Dragon Ninja clan.</p><p>On occasion you’ll pick up a nunchuk</p><p>or knife, each of which gives you more</p><p>powerful attacks. At the end of each stage</p><p>you take on a tricky boss battle with one</p><p>of the Dragon Ninja’s ‘super warriors’. Bad</p><p>Dudes was popular enough to be namechecked</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 27 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>28</p><p>FACT</p><p>According to Sakamoto,</p><p>Iwata knew the Balloon</p><p>Fight code inside-out</p><p>to such a degree that he</p><p>could make changes to the</p><p>game – something that</p><p>would usually take</p><p>hours – within</p><p>seconds.</p><p>What makes Balloon Fight so compelling</p><p>is this control system. The floaty</p><p>movement can make accurate flying</p><p>difficult at first, but it’s something that</p><p>can be mastered and the feeling when</p><p>you do is so rewarding. In an interview,</p><p>Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto</p><p>explained that he borrowed this floating</p><p>mechanic and used it as the foundation for</p><p>the swimming controls in Super Mario Bros.,</p><p>with the A button ‘bobbing’ Mario up in the water</p><p>in the same way it flaps the character upwards in</p><p>Balloon Fight.</p><p>Balloon Fight continues to enjoy an active life to</p><p>this day: it’s one of the first games Nintendo releases</p><p>every time it launches a Virtual Console service on a</p><p>new system, and was recently included as one of the 30</p><p>built-in games on the NES Mini. As well as its numerous</p><p>digital re-releases, a graphically enhanced spin-off called</p><p>Tingle’s Balloon Fight was released on the Nintendo DS</p><p>in 2007. Made available exclusively in Japan through</p><p>the Club Nintendo membership scheme, it replaces the</p><p>standard Balloon Fight character with Tingle from the</p><p>Zelda series and allows up to four players to play in co-</p><p>op mode. n</p><p>BALLOON FIGHT</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>YOSHIO SAKAMOTO HAS worked at Nintendo for</p><p>over 35 years. He’s best known for being one of the</p><p>co-creators of Metroid, but a couple of years before</p><p>that he was handed his first major game design</p><p>project, Balloon Fight. Teaming up with the late Satoru</p><p>Iwata– working at HAL Laboratory at the time, but</p><p>commissioned by Nintendo to program it– the pair</p><p>created one of the most memorable NES games, one that</p><p>continues to have a cult following to this day.</p><p>Balloon Fight consists of two different game types. The</p><p>first, which is also found in the arcade version released</p><p>two months prior, has players controlling a little chap</p><p>with two helium balloons attached to him. By pressing</p><p>the A button or holding down the B button, you can make</p><p>him flap his arms: this makes him fly into the air. The aim</p><p>is to defeat every enemy on the screen– each of whom are</p><p>flying around on balloons of their own– by hitting them</p><p>from above and popping their balloons, then floating over</p><p>to them while they’re grounded and knocking them off</p><p>their platform into the water below.</p><p>The second mode, Balloon Trip, was programmed by</p><p>Iwata in just three days and became a popular challenge for</p><p>high score hunters. Here, the player starts on a platform</p><p>on the right-hand side of the screen and starts flying</p><p>to the left, dodging an endless series of spikes</p><p>and collecting balloons along the way to</p><p>build their score. Collecting 20 balloons</p><p>in a row without missing any makes your</p><p>balloons change colour, giving you more</p><p>points. This adds a risk/reward element to</p><p>proceedings and suddenly makes it about</p><p>far more than just dodging the spikes, but</p><p>also mastering your floating controls so you</p><p>can swoop around and gracefully collect all</p><p>the balloons without so much as a scratch.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 28 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>29</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although Gao Qiu is</p><p>the main villain in both</p><p>this game and the book</p><p>it was based on, the real</p><p>Gao Qiu was said to be</p><p>loyal to Emperor</p><p>Huizong.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The first of the</p><p>game’s three main</p><p>worlds is called</p><p>Mall World, because</p><p>of course</p><p>it is.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The real-life Pebble</p><p>Beach is one of the most</p><p>expensive public golf</p><p>courses in the world.</p><p>A single round</p><p>costs $525.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version had</p><p>shops with ‘depart’ written</p><p>above the door, as shorthand</p><p>for ‘department store’. This was</p><p>misinterpreted during the</p><p>translation so the German</p><p>version says ‘adieu’,</p><p>French for</p><p>‘goodbye’.</p><p>BARBIE</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Hi-Tech Expressions</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>IN AN ATTEMPT</p><p>to get more girls</p><p>to play video</p><p>games– this was</p><p>over 25 years ago,</p><p>remember– Hi</p><p>Tech Expressions</p><p>released this</p><p>platformer based</p><p>on the world’s most</p><p>popular doll. The entire game is set inside Barbie’s dream,</p><p>in which she searches for a ball gown, pearl ring and high</p><p>heels to wear to the Fantasy Ball. While games aimed</p><p>at girls have mostly been patronising and</p><p>shoddy over the years, Barbie is far from</p><p>the worst offender. Despite having</p><p>one of the largest player sprites you’ll</p><p>ever see in a game, it’s actually an</p><p>acceptable enough platformer, even</p><p>if its bosses are a bit odd. This is the</p><p>only game where you’ll face off against a</p><p>floating jersey that throws shoes at you. n</p><p>BANDIT KINGS OF</p><p>ANCIENT CHINA</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Koei</p><p>Developer Koei</p><p>THIS TURN-BASED</p><p>STRATEGY game is</p><p>based on the fourteenth</p><p>century book Water</p><p>Margin, one of the Four</p><p>Great Classical Novels of</p><p>Chinese literature. It’s set</p><p>during the Song Dynasty,</p><p>where Imperial Minister</p><p>Gao Qiu has overthrown Emperor Huizong to become the</p><p>new ruler. Under Gao Qiu’s rule, ‘good men are exiled while</p><p>evil men are given power’. Playing as one of</p><p>these exiled heroes, it’s up to you to build</p><p>and command an army of troops in</p><p>an attempt to stop Gao Qiu and give</p><p>him a swift kick up the backside. As</p><p>its 58-page manual makes clear, this</p><p>is not a simple game, but while its</p><p>complex battles needed some time to</p><p>get used to the game was well-received</p><p>by those who stuck with it. n</p><p>BANDAI GOLF:</p><p>CHALLENGE PEBBLE</p><p>BEACH</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>ONE OF THE first</p><p>attempts to fully recreate a</p><p>real-life golf course, Bandai</p><p>Golf offers all 18 holes of</p><p>the famous Pebble Beach</p><p>Golf Links in</p><p>California.</p><p>Many of the elements of</p><p>the real-life course are</p><p>featured here: the hole layouts are relatively accurate and its</p><p>infamous strong ocean winds are present and accounted for.</p><p>While it’s notable for letting the player choose</p><p>their own handicap– something rarely seen</p><p>in a golf game even today– its high level</p><p>of difficulty and its inaccurate aiming</p><p>mechanic mean it can be a frustrating</p><p>game to master. There are better</p><p>golf games on the NES, but Bandai</p><p>Golf should at least get praise (well,</p><p>maybe just a golf clap) for its attempt at</p><p>authenticity. n</p><p>BANANA PRINCE</p><p>Year 1992 a</p><p>Publisher Takara</p><p>Developer KID</p><p>ALTHOUGH JAPANESE</p><p>PUBLISHER Takara</p><p>released a number of</p><p>Famicom games in Japan,</p><p>only two– Banana Prince</p><p>and Over Horizon–</p><p>made it to the NES, and</p><p>both were only sold in</p><p>Germany. Banana Prince</p><p>is about a young islander who sets out to recover the</p><p>island’s special giant banana from the evil Paprika Dragon.</p><p>While for the most part it’s a competent yet</p><p>standard platform game, it does have</p><p>one interesting feature: by pressing</p><p>Down and B, the Prince can plant</p><p>a beanstalk wherever he wants.</p><p>As well as climbing it to reach</p><p>higher platforms, he can also</p><p>do a special rolling jump off</p><p>it: this not only goes further</p><p>than a normal jump but also</p><p>does damage to enemies, Sonic the</p><p>Hedgehog style. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 29 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>30</p><p>FACT</p><p>Baseball Simulator</p><p>1.000 was popular</p><p>enough to spawn no fewer</p><p>than five SNES sequels,</p><p>only one of which</p><p>made it outside of</p><p>Japan.</p><p>FACT</p><p>This was the first and</p><p>last game in Konami’s</p><p>Cyber Stadium Series,</p><p>so anyone hoping for</p><p>a robot badminton</p><p>game should stop</p><p>waiting.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Balloon Saloon</p><p>mini-game features a</p><p>cameo by the dog from</p><p>Duck Hunt. He pops up</p><p>from time to time and</p><p>you have to avoid</p><p>shooting him.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Bard’s Tale</p><p>spawned seven sequels</p><p>and spin-offs over the</p><p>years. The latest game, The</p><p>Bard's Tale IV: Barrows</p><p>Deep, was released</p><p>in 2018.</p><p>BASEBALL</p><p>SIMULATOR 1.000</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Culture Brain</p><p>Developer Culture Brain</p><p>TOKYO STUDIO CULTURE</p><p>Brain’s take on baseball</p><p>included twelve ‘normal’</p><p>teams and six ‘Ultra League’</p><p>teams. The Ultra League</p><p>teams have the ability to</p><p>perform Ultra Plays, a series</p><p>of 25 special moves that can</p><p>change the course of the game. For example, pitchers can</p><p>throw a Phantom Ball (which disappears) or an Iron Ball,</p><p>while batters can pull off a Meteor Hit, which</p><p>causes their bat to shatter into fragments</p><p>that knock out fielders and stop them</p><p>catching the ball. As well as the Ultra</p><p>Play mechanic, the game also has a</p><p>full edit suite which lets players edit</p><p>the team and player names, stats and</p><p>Ultra Plays (if applicable) for any of</p><p>the 18 teams. n</p><p>BASE WARS</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Ultra Games</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>KONAMI’S WAY OF</p><p>standing out in the sea</p><p>of NES baseball games</p><p>was a baseball game</p><p>where all the players</p><p>are robots. Robots</p><p>that fight each other.</p><p>There are four types</p><p>in the game– cyborgs,</p><p>tanks, flybots and motorcycles– and any time there’s a</p><p>close force-out or put-out, rather than the game simply</p><p>deciding whether the runner was safe or out,</p><p>the action switches to a fight where the</p><p>winner gets the call in their favour.</p><p>Each robot has a set number of hit</p><p>points, and if a robot loses all its</p><p>points in fights it’ll explode. If three</p><p>robots on a team explode, that team</p><p>loses by default. This means you</p><p>can focus on fighting and can win</p><p>without even playing anybaseball. n</p><p>BARKER BILL’S TRICK</p><p>SHOOTING</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>ONE OF THE best</p><p>games designed for the</p><p>Zapper light gun, this</p><p>was based on Barker</p><p>Bill’s Cartoon Show, a</p><p>TV programme that</p><p>aired in the US in the</p><p>1950s. It consists of four</p><p>different mini-games. In</p><p>Balloon Saloon, players</p><p>have to shoot balloons as they float away. In Flying Saucers,</p><p>they must shoot plates being thrown across</p><p>the screen by Barker Bill and his assistant</p><p>Trixie. Window Pains has players</p><p>shooting through open windows to</p><p>hit the falling objects behind them,</p><p>while Fun Follies mixes all three and</p><p>throws in occasional bonus stages</p><p>where you shoot coins, eggs and</p><p>tomatoes. Given the age of the show</p><p>it was based on, many young gamers</p><p>mistook Barker Bill for Mario. n</p><p>THE BARD’S TALE: TALES</p><p>OF THE UNKNOWN</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer Interplay</p><p>THE ONCE</p><p>PROSPEROUS town</p><p>of Skara Brae has been</p><p>transformed by the</p><p>evil sorcerer Mangar</p><p>into ‘a world of winter’,</p><p>with monsters lurking</p><p>around every corner.</p><p>Most townsfolk have</p><p>abandoned Skara Brae, but six brave villagers have decided</p><p>to fight by rescuing the imprisoned wizard Kylearan and</p><p>enlisting his help to kill Mangar. The Bard’s</p><p>Tale is a ‘dungeon crawl’ game much like</p><p>many RPGs of the time, in which the</p><p>player makes their way through a</p><p>series of maze-like dungeons while</p><p>taking part in random battles and</p><p>levelling up. The problem is, it was</p><p>originally released in 1985, meaning</p><p>by the time it was ported to the</p><p>NES six years later it was considered</p><p>primitive by RPG standards. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 30 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>31</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite its name,</p><p>this is actually the third</p><p>Baseball Stars game. The</p><p>second, Baseball Stars</p><p>Professional, was only</p><p>released on arcades</p><p>and Neo-Geo.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The highest possible</p><p>score in the game is</p><p>1858–1854. This is because</p><p>the game ends immediately</p><p>if a team is leading by 100</p><p>runs after a half-inning,</p><p>or 10 after an</p><p>inning.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The character and</p><p>game design for Baseball</p><p>were led by none other than</p><p>Shigeru Miyamoto, who</p><p>‘personally really wanted</p><p>there to be a baseball</p><p>game’ on the</p><p>Famicom.</p><p>BASEBALL STARS 2</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Romstar</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>BASEBALL STARS</p><p>WAS a big success</p><p>in America and</p><p>Canada, and so</p><p>a few years later</p><p>SNK released</p><p>a sequel in the</p><p>arcades. By this</p><p>time SNK was</p><p>focused on its own</p><p>Neo-Geo console,</p><p>so while an NES port was still developed, publishing</p><p>duties were instead taken over by Californian company</p><p>Romstar. Unfortunately, despite being a sequel,</p><p>Baseball Stars 2 isn’t known for what it added to</p><p>the original, but what it removed.</p><p>Female players were no longer in the</p><p>game, and the ability to create and</p><p>edit custom teams and players was</p><p>also no more. Add to this the fact</p><p>that the RPG system was more</p><p>of a grind than before (upgrades</p><p>cost far more money) and the</p><p>result was a disappointing</p><p>follow-up. n</p><p>BASEBALL STARS</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>ANOTHER</p><p>BASEBALL GAME,</p><p>another interesting</p><p>gimmick. SNK’s</p><p>Baseball Stars</p><p>introduces a sort</p><p>of RPG element to</p><p>proceedings: the</p><p>better you play the</p><p>more money you</p><p>earn, and this money can then be spent to upgrade</p><p>players’ stats or buy new ones for your roster (even</p><p>female players). This aside, Baseball Stars packs a</p><p>number of other firsts: as well as being the first sports</p><p>game with a battery back-up (letting you save onto the</p><p>cartridge instead of using a password),</p><p>it was also the first to let players</p><p>create new teams and players on</p><p>top of the eight pre-existing ones.</p><p>Meanwhile, though it doesn’t</p><p>have officially licensed players,</p><p>one team has a suspiciously</p><p>familiar roster including ‘Babe’</p><p>(Ruth), ‘Hank’ (Aaron) and</p><p>‘Willie’ (Mays). n</p><p>Gail Tilden spent the holiday season of 1985</p><p>travelling to various New York and New Jersey</p><p>malls, accompanied by New York Mets players</p><p>like Mookie Wilson and Ron Darling, where</p><p>she set up large screens and had the players</p><p>compete against shoppers at Baseball. By</p><p>showing customers what was (at the time)</p><p>by far the best electronic rendition of their</p><p>national sport, Nintendo secured a lot of</p><p>early adopters and helped ensure the NES got</p><p>off to a good start in the west. n</p><p>BASEBALL</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>IT STANDS TO reason that the first baseball game</p><p>released on the NES was one made by Nintendo itself.</p><p>Because of its age– it</p><p>originally launched in 1983, just</p><p>a few months after the Famicom hit Japan– it’s also one</p><p>of the most basic baseball games on the system, though</p><p>it’s still fun to play. With only six teams to choose from</p><p>and basic pitching and batting controls, it takes barely</p><p>any time to get used to, meaning entertaining two-player</p><p>matches can be had almost right off the bat (pun always</p><p>intended).</p><p>Baseball is perhaps more important for what</p><p>it meant to Nintendo than its qualities as a</p><p>baseball game. As one of the 18 games that</p><p>released alongside the NES when Nintendo</p><p>ran its test launch in Manhattan, Baseball</p><p>was one of the key games in establishing</p><p>Nintendo’s new system and convincing a</p><p>general public losing interest in the video</p><p>game fad that this wasn’t another Atari</p><p>imitator. Vice President of Brand Management</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 31 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>32</p><p>FACT</p><p>The cover star was</p><p>Chicago Cubs second</p><p>baseman Ryne Sandberg,</p><p>even though the lack of a</p><p>licence meant neither he</p><p>nor any other MLB player</p><p>was actually in the</p><p>game.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Bases Loaded</p><p>games were part of a</p><p>series of sports games</p><p>called Moreo!! in Japan.</p><p>Other entries made it</p><p>to the west as Goal!,</p><p>Hoops and Racket</p><p>Attack.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bases Loaded II got a</p><p>novelisation in the early</p><p>‘90s as part of Worlds Of</p><p>Power, a nine-book series of</p><p>stories from video games</p><p>like Metal Gear</p><p>and Mega</p><p>Man 2.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Each team in Bases</p><p>Loaded has a specific</p><p>batter who will ‘charge the</p><p>mound’ and try to fight</p><p>the pitcher if you hit</p><p>him with the</p><p>ball.</p><p>BASES LOADED 3</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>SOMETIMES</p><p>WHEN YOU try</p><p>to shake things</p><p>up a bit you can</p><p>annoy a lot of</p><p>fans. This was the</p><p>case with Bases</p><p>Loaded 3, which</p><p>completely axed</p><p>the popular 130-</p><p>game season mode</p><p>and replaced it with a single challenge: play a perfect game.</p><p>As well as the normal score you also start with a rating of</p><p>100, and every time you make a mistake–</p><p>throw to an unmanned base, strike</p><p>out, etc.– points are deducted. The</p><p>aim, then, is to not only beat your</p><p>CPU opponent but also try and</p><p>keep a rating of 100 by the end.</p><p>While it was a novel idea, fans</p><p>hated the scrapping of the season</p><p>mode and Bases Loaded 3 was</p><p>criticised as a result. n</p><p>BASES LOADED 4</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>ITS LESSON</p><p>WELL and truly</p><p>learned, Jaleco</p><p>ditched its ‘perfect</p><p>game’ gimmick and</p><p>brought back the</p><p>season mode for</p><p>its final NES Bases</p><p>Loaded game. Once</p><p>again players are</p><p>able to play through a 130-game season culminating in</p><p>a ‘Super Series’ final, and once again the starting line-</p><p>up can be changed at will. One new feature does make</p><p>its debut, though, in the form of the star</p><p>system. As players make great plays</p><p>and mess up they’ll get white and</p><p>black stars assigned to their name:</p><p>these affect performance and so</p><p>the player has to decide whether</p><p>to bench players who are on a</p><p>slump, or try to build their form</p><p>up again. A happy ending for the</p><p>series on the NES. n</p><p>BASES LOADED II:</p><p>SECOND SEASON</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>THE SECOND BASES</p><p>Loaded game adds a couple</p><p>of new features to keep things</p><p>fresh for fans of the original.</p><p>The season mode is now 130</p><p>games long, but ends with a</p><p>World Series match against</p><p>either LA or New York</p><p>(depending on what league your team is from). The ability</p><p>to choose your starting lineup for each match</p><p>has been added, along with player form:</p><p>players ‘go through streaks and slumps</p><p>like real major leaguers,’ according to</p><p>the manual. The fictional rosters have</p><p>completely changed too: now all</p><p>the Washington players are named</p><p>after politicians (Nixon, Regan, Bush</p><p>etc.) while the Los Angeles squad</p><p>shares its name with Hollywood stars</p><p>(Cruise,Pacino, Astaire). n</p><p>BASES LOADED</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>DESPITE BEING</p><p>ONE of the earlier</p><p>baseball games on the</p><p>NES, Bases Loaded</p><p>was packed with</p><p>features that were</p><p>considered somewhat</p><p>ahead of their time.</p><p>Players can take on a</p><p>132-game season–</p><p>with a password given after each game– which was a rarity in</p><p>‘80s sports games, while occasional voice clips and Jumbotron</p><p>shots (where little animations played out on the</p><p>big screen) add to the atmosphere. The only</p><p>truly divisive feature is, however, the most</p><p>important: rather than the usual ‘behind</p><p>the batter’ viewpoint most baseball</p><p>games had, Bases Loaded instead places</p><p>the camera behind the pitcher. While</p><p>this makes the game look a lot more</p><p>like a TV broadcast, it makes batting</p><p>significantly trickier. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 32 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>33</p><p>FACT</p><p>This was later remade</p><p>for the Mega Drive as</p><p>Batman: Revenge of the</p><p>Joker. Speaking of title</p><p>changes, the NES version</p><p>is known as Dynamite</p><p>Batman in Japan.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s oddest</p><p>power-up is a test tube.</p><p>It can only be used once:</p><p>when you fight Catwoman,</p><p>it’s used automatically</p><p>and halves her</p><p>health.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Other DC Comics</p><p>villains who appear as</p><p>standard enemies in the</p><p>game include KGBeast,</p><p>Deadshot and Maxie</p><p>Zeus.</p><p>BATMAN RETURNS</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>BY THE TIME</p><p>the second</p><p>Batman movie</p><p>came around</p><p>the Batman</p><p>licence was</p><p>no longer in</p><p>Sunsoft’s hands,</p><p>with Konami</p><p>having taken</p><p>the reins. Its</p><p>NES adaptation of Batman Returns was a side-scrolling</p><p>beat ‘em up similar to Double Dragon, in which Batman</p><p>punches his way through six stages in an attempt to</p><p>destroy the Catwoman and the Penguin. In order to keep</p><p>things interesting, the game features special</p><p>racing stages where the player controls</p><p>the Batmobile and the Batskiboat.</p><p>While Batman only has one life bar,</p><p>the game does let you continue:</p><p>however, you don’t get the ‘true’</p><p>ending (in which a penguin praises</p><p>you, for some reason) unless you</p><p>beat the game within a certain time</p><p>withoutdying. n</p><p>BATMAN: RETURN OF</p><p>THE JOKER</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>SUNSOFT’S</p><p>SECOND NES</p><p>Batman game</p><p>didn’t have a</p><p>film behind it,</p><p>so instead it</p><p>looked more</p><p>like the comic</p><p>book versions of</p><p>Batman in the</p><p>early ‘90s. In case</p><p>the title didn’t make it obvious, Return of the Joker has</p><p>the Joker escaping from Arkham Asylum and stealing a</p><p>bunch of precious metals from Gotham’s mines. He plans</p><p>to use these metals to make explosives, so</p><p>it’s up to Batman to punch him in the</p><p>head a bit. With larger sprites than</p><p>its predecessor, Return of the Joker</p><p>has more of a focus on shooting</p><p>than hand-to-hand combat, and</p><p>plays a little more like a Batman</p><p>version of Mega Man instead.</p><p>Which is obviously no bad</p><p>thingatall. n</p><p>appear to bother players too much, as the game was was</p><p>well received for its difficult but satisfying gameplay.</p><p>Armed with a trio of weapons– the Batarang, the Spear</p><p>Gun and the Dirk (a gun that shoots in three directions)–</p><p>and able to do wall-jumps as in Ninja Gaiden, Batman is</p><p>a versatile hero to play as and the game is a treat to play</p><p>as a result. It may not match the film beat-for-beat, but</p><p>Batman still goes down as one of the rare early examples of</p><p>a licensed movie tie-in that wasn’t a half-hearted cash-in. n</p><p>BATMAN</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>TIM BURTON’S 1989 Batman movie was such a box office</p><p>smash that it led to a number of video game adaptations.</p><p>While Ocean Software got the rights to make Batman</p><p>games for home computers like the Amiga, ZX Spectrum</p><p>and Commodore 64, the console rights instead went</p><p>to Japanese studio Sunsoft, who got to work making</p><p>completely different games for the NES, Game Boy, Mega</p><p>Drive and PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16). The NES rendition,</p><p>thought by many to be the best of the bunch, is an action</p><p>platformer in which Batman makes his way</p><p>through five difficult levels in order to</p><p>reach the Joker for a showdown atop</p><p>Gotham Cathedral’s bell tower. While</p><p>this matches the final battle in the</p><p>movie, the rest of the game bears</p><p>little resemblance to Burton’s film, as</p><p>Batman takes on a series of obscure</p><p>DC Comics villains like Killer Moth, the</p><p>Electrocutioner and Firebug. This didn’t</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 33 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>34</p><p>FACT</p><p>One of the ‘tips’ in</p><p>the manual is to ‘reset</p><p>if it looks too bad’,</p><p>essentially teaching</p><p>children that rage-</p><p>quitting is okay.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Garry Kitchen was</p><p>better known for creating</p><p>Keystone Kapers and</p><p>developing A Boy And</p><p>His Blob alongside</p><p>its creator David</p><p>Crane.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In Greek mythology,</p><p>Orpheus was a musician,</p><p>poet and prophet who could</p><p>charm all living things with</p><p>his music. It’s said he</p><p>died when a group of</p><p>women tore him to</p><p>pieces.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Battle Chess spawned</p><p>two non-NES sequels.</p><p>Battle Chess II was based</p><p>on Chinese chess, while</p><p>Battle Chess 4000 was</p><p>set in space.</p><p>BATTLESHIP</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Mindscape UK</p><p>VIDEO GAME</p><p>VERSIONS of board</p><p>games are always an</p><p>interesting concept,</p><p>because they usually</p><p>have to be able to</p><p>offer something</p><p>extra to justify not</p><p>just buying the real</p><p>thing. Battleship</p><p>attempts to do this by including a 40-level single</p><p>player mode, in which the player has to destroy the</p><p>CPU’s ships. There are also different ‘weapons’ which</p><p>take the game beyond the traditional method of picking</p><p>a single square and hoping it hits. Missiles,</p><p>for example, can destroy an entire ship</p><p>with just one hit. Perhaps the biggest</p><p>blunder with Battleship, however,</p><p>is the fact that it sorely lacks a</p><p>multiplayer mode of any kind: it’s</p><p>a random game at the best of times</p><p>but playing just the CPU is even</p><p>lesssatisfying. n</p><p>BATTLE TANK</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Absolute Entertainment</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>BACK IN 1980 Atari</p><p>wowed arcade-goers</p><p>with Battlezone, a 3D</p><p>vector game in which</p><p>the player controlled a</p><p>tank and shot at enemies</p><p>from a first-person</p><p>perspective. Ten years</p><p>later, veteran designer</p><p>Garry Kitchen created Battle Tank, an NES game that</p><p>borrows so much from Battlezone that it might as well be</p><p>considered a spiritual successor. Players are put behind</p><p>the controls of an M1 Abrams tank, and the aim is to blow</p><p>up everything– enemy tanks, choppers, nuclear</p><p>power bases, fuel tanks and the like– in</p><p>an attempt to find and rescue a NATO</p><p>Commanding Officer who’s being held</p><p>hostage by the unnamed ‘enemy’.</p><p>While Battlezone’s influence is clear,</p><p>Battle Tank improves on it by giving</p><p>your tank a variety of weapons,</p><p>including a smokescreen, cannon and</p><p>machine gun. n</p><p>THE BATTLE OF OLYMPUS</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Broderbund / Nintendo</p><p>Developer Infinity</p><p>MANY GAMES OVER</p><p>the years have been</p><p>inspired by The Legend</p><p>of Zelda, but few have</p><p>borrowed specifically</p><p>from Zelda II. The Battle</p><p>of Olympus does just</p><p>that, offering similar</p><p>side-scrolling action</p><p>gameplay to Link’s second adventure. The story here is set</p><p>not in Hyrule, though, but ancient Greece: a young chap</p><p>called Orpheus has to rescue his girlfriend</p><p>Helene from Hades, the god of the</p><p>dark world Tartarus. He does this</p><p>by travelling through eight lands</p><p>in search of the gods, each of</p><p>whom gives him a new weapon or</p><p>upgrade. For example, Argus gives</p><p>you the power to fire shots from</p><p>your sword, while Poseidon gives</p><p>you an Ocarina. So in a way, maybe it</p><p>influenced Zelda too. n</p><p>BATTLE CHESS</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>A PORT OF</p><p>Interplay’s novel take</p><p>on chess. Instead</p><p>of the traditional</p><p>chess pieces, each</p><p>unit on the board</p><p>is an actual living</p><p>character that</p><p>walks when you</p><p>make a move (the</p><p>rook turns into a large stone monster). The main feature,</p><p>however, is that when the player captures a piece, the game</p><p>switches to a cutscene, set in a courtyard,</p><p>in which the two characters battle each</p><p>other until yours wins in an inventive</p><p>way. Limbs are dismembered, heads</p><p>are smashed and aforementioned</p><p>stone monsters are kicked in the</p><p>groin. While it’s a novel way of</p><p>playing chess, many criticised it for</p><p>being extremely slow, with animations</p><p>that take an age to finish. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 34 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>35</p><p>FACT</p><p>The screenwriter for</p><p>the Battletoads cartoon</p><p>pilot was TMNT writer David</p><p>Wise. By sheer coincidence, a</p><p>different David Wise at Rare</p><p>composed the music for</p><p>the Battletoads</p><p>games.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A pilot episode for</p><p>a Battletoads cartoon</p><p>aired in the US on</p><p>Thanksgiving in 1992.</p><p>It was never picked</p><p>up for a full</p><p>series.</p><p>return, their stage is much easier to complete this time</p><p>around, and a new shoot ‘em up section is also less</p><p>stressful than it could have been. While the game is</p><p>still no cakewalk, players are far more likely to</p><p>beat this one than its predecessor because</p><p>the combat, while full-on, offers far fewer</p><p>‘cheap’ deaths. Although Battletoads is</p><p>the more well-known game, it could be</p><p>argued that this is the better one, with</p><p>its greater emphasis on combat and some</p><p>truly impressive pseudo-3D scrolling</p><p>effects. n</p><p>BATTLETOADS & DOUBLE</p><p>DRAGON</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>YOU KNOW HOW I said Battletoads’ beat ‘em up</p><p>sections played a bit like Technos’ classic arcade</p><p>and NES title Double Dragon? Obviously somebody</p><p>at Tradewest or Rare thought the same, hence this</p><p>crossover game. As well as all three Battletoads– the</p><p>now-rescued Pimple is available for duty this time–</p><p>players can now also choose to play as Billy or Jimmy</p><p>Lee from Double Dragon. What’s the occasion? Well,</p><p>the five are trying to prevent the newly-formed</p><p>partnership of the Dark Queen and Double Dragon’s</p><p>Shadow Warriors gang from taking over the world</p><p>with the Colossus, a new battleship that’s emerged</p><p>from the moon. Technos had very little</p><p>involvement in the development of this game</p><p>beyond licensing out its characters: as</p><p>such, the game plays more like Battletoads</p><p>than Double Dragon, albeit without the</p><p>former’s extreme difficulty level. The</p><p>number of non-combat ‘gimmick’ stages</p><p>has dropped to two and they’re far easier</p><p>to manage: although the speeder bikes</p><p>Turbo Tunnel, in which players ride a speeder bike</p><p>and have to dodge a series of increasingly fast</p><p>obstacles.</p><p>While Battletoads obviously didn’t reach</p><p>the heady heights of the Turtles, the NES</p><p>original gained a reputation as a notoriously</p><p>difficult game: the Turbo Tunnel stage is just</p><p>the first in a series of infuriatingly tricky ones,</p><p>and as such to this day completing Battletoads is</p><p>considered a badge of honour among gamers. n</p><p>BATTLETOADS</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>WHEN THE FIRST Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</p><p>craze kicked off in the early ‘90s, a number of other</p><p>‘cool mutant animal gang’ franchises were created to</p><p>capitalise on it. Alongside the likes of Biker Mice From</p><p>Mars and Street Sharks came the Battletoads, created</p><p>by Rare co-founders Tim and Chris Stamper. Zitz,</p><p>Rash and Pimple are a trio of adventurous amphibians</p><p>who were designed to be the video game equivalent</p><p>of the Turtles, with this NES game serving as their</p><p>official introduction. In it, Zitz and Rash have to fight</p><p>their way through a series of stages in order to rescue</p><p>Pimple and their friend Princess Angelica from</p><p>the evil Dark Queen. While most of these</p><p>stages consist of standard side-scrolling beat</p><p>‘em up gameplay in the style of Double</p><p>Dragon, there are a few other types of level</p><p>scattered throughout including one in</p><p>which the Battletoads descend a chasm on</p><p>a rope, and one where they climb a tower</p><p>(complete with some impressive 3D rotation</p><p>trickery). The most infamous level, however, is</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 35 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>36</p><p>FACT</p><p>Once you win the belt</p><p>you’re asked to defend</p><p>it at the Kumate, a no-</p><p>holds-barred fighting</p><p>tournament with no</p><p>referee and no</p><p>time limits.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There have actually</p><p>been 24 different Bigfoot</p><p>trucks over the years,</p><p>including 1985’s Ms</p><p>Bigfoot, the first to</p><p>be driven by a</p><p>woman.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The manual describes</p><p>one of the scares as</p><p>‘Birdman’. Michael Keaton,</p><p>who played Beetlejuice,</p><p>went on to star in a film</p><p>called Birdman in</p><p>2014.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Hudson Soft also</p><p>released a SNES version of</p><p>Beauty and the Beast. While</p><p>the concept is the same</p><p>(right down to the snowball</p><p>level), it’s a separate</p><p>game with different</p><p>stages.</p><p>BIGFOOT</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>NOT BASED ON</p><p>the mythical beast of</p><p>American folklore, but</p><p>the famous monster</p><p>trucks that have been</p><p>wowing petrolheads</p><p>since the 1970s. The</p><p>player controls Bigfoot</p><p>in a series of events</p><p>against other cars:</p><p>most of these are normal races played from a top-down</p><p>perspective, but sometimes you’ll have to do special</p><p>events– hill climbs, tractor pulls, car crushing</p><p>and mud races– all of which are played</p><p>with a side-on viewpoint. Unusually</p><p>for a racer, these side-on sections</p><p>play more like athletics games, with</p><p>the player waggling the D-pad left</p><p>and right to build up speed and get</p><p>through the obstacle in question. This</p><p>all culminates in a ‘New York Drag</p><p>Race’, featuring every type ofobstacle. n</p><p>BEST OF THE BEST:</p><p>CHAMPIONSHIP KARATE</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Electro Brain / Loricel</p><p>Developer Movie Software</p><p>ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN</p><p>Europe as Panza Kick Boxing,</p><p>Best of the Best was ported</p><p>to consoles a couple of years</p><p>later. It’s a ‘serious’ martial arts</p><p>fighting game, in that button-</p><p>mashing or Street Fighter style</p><p>play doesn’t work. Instead, the</p><p>controls are deliberately complicated in order to make even</p><p>striking your opponent an achievement. This gives the game</p><p>an enormous difficulty curve, but once players</p><p>take the time to learn and master its</p><p>attacks the result is a surprisingly deep</p><p>fighter with impressive animations.</p><p>Despite obviously looking less detailed</p><p>than it does on other systems, the NES</p><p>port isn’t a bad effort considering it</p><p>was coded by ‘Movie Software’, which</p><p>in reality was one French chap called</p><p>CarloPerconti. n</p><p>BEETLEJUICE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>BASED ON THE</p><p>film released</p><p>three years prior,</p><p>Beetlejuice has</p><p>you playing as</p><p>the titular spectre</p><p>as you try to</p><p>scare the Deetz</p><p>family out of the</p><p>home they’ve</p><p>just moved into.</p><p>Although it, like many other movie tie-ins, is a standard</p><p>platform game for the most part, it does have a unique</p><p>‘scare’ system. Every time you kill an enemy</p><p>you’re given ‘help vouchers’: these can</p><p>be taken to a Recently Deceased</p><p>Information Booth and traded in</p><p>for different types of scares. These</p><p>can then be triggered to help defeat</p><p>enemies and bosses. In keeping with</p><p>the film’s ‘say his name three times’</p><p>gimmick, each time you take a hit the</p><p>word ‘Beetlejuice’ appears on-screen,</p><p>with the third time killing him. n</p><p>BEAUTY AND THE BEAST</p><p>Year 1994 a</p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Probe Software</p><p>ALTHOUGH</p><p>PLANNED FOR</p><p>a North American</p><p>release, the NES’s</p><p>gradual demise in the</p><p>wake of the SNES’s</p><p>release meant Hudson</p><p>Soft’s take on Disney’s</p><p>award-winning</p><p>animated movie</p><p>only made it as far as France and Germany. Controlling the</p><p>Beast, players have to make their way through a series of</p><p>platforming stages before defeating Gaston in order to win</p><p>the love of Belle and turn human. One stage</p><p>breaks from the normal platforming</p><p>routine by having you catch</p><p>snowballs thrown at you by Belle,</p><p>but for the most part it’s normal</p><p>running and jumping fare. One</p><p>novel element is the game’s timer,</p><p>which is represented by the iconic</p><p>flower from the film: when all the</p><p>petals run out your time’s up and the</p><p>game is over. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 36 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>37</p><p>FACT</p><p>Super Joe, the chap</p><p>you’re trying to rescue</p><p>in Bionic Commando, was</p><p>actually the hero in one</p><p>of Capcom’s earlier</p><p>games, simply called</p><p>Commando.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Being the cover star</p><p>has its perks: if you don’t</p><p>finish first in a race in this</p><p>game, the CPU-controlled</p><p>Bill Elliott is almost</p><p>always the</p><p>winner.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Each historical figure</p><p>has to be befriended</p><p>by giving them an item</p><p>related to them. Rather</p><p>darkly, the item for</p><p>Elvis is his own</p><p>gravestone.</p><p>arm to grapple onto ledges and swing across them</p><p>to reach other platforms. This grappling and</p><p>swinging mechanic was unique at the time</p><p>and led to many hailing Bionic Commando</p><p>as an instant classic. It’s clear Capcom is</p><p>proud of it too, as Spencer (now known as</p><p>Rad Spencer or Nathan Spencer depending</p><p>on the game) has appeared in recent times</p><p>as a playable fighter in its Marvel vs Capcom</p><p>fighting games. n</p><p>BIONIC COMMANDO</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT adventure to its arcade</p><p>game of the same name, Capcom’s arcade platformer is</p><p>considered one of the most memorable third-party NES</p><p>titles. Players take control of Ladd Spencer, a commando</p><p>fitted with a mechanical arm which he can use as a</p><p>grappling gun. Spencer’s mission is to infiltrate the evil</p><p>Empire and rescue top commando Super Joe, while</p><p>trying to put a stop to the Empire’s leader, who plans to</p><p>finish an evil scheme hatched by a former group called</p><p>the Badds (referred to in the manual as the Nazz). As you</p><p>may suspect by the latter name, these are supposed</p><p>to be Nazis, and actually are in the Japanese</p><p>version (which is known as Hitler’s Revenge:</p><p>Top Secret), but Nintendo of America’s strict</p><p>family-friendly policy forced them to be</p><p>changed to something a little less obvious.</p><p>The game itself is an action platformer, with</p><p>the twist being that while your hero can</p><p>fire all manner of weaponry, he can’t actually</p><p>jump. Instead, he must use his mechanical</p><p>BILL ELLIOTT’S NASCAR</p><p>CHALLENGE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Distinctive Software</p><p>TECHNICAL</p><p>LIMITATIONS OF</p><p>the NES era meant it</p><p>was fairly uncommon</p><p>for racing games to</p><p>be played from an</p><p>in-car perspective,</p><p>but Konami’s</p><p>racer– featuring</p><p>licenses with both</p><p>NASCAR and 16-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver Bill</p><p>Elliott– managed just that. It features four tracks– two ovals</p><p>(Daytona and Talladega) and two road tracks (Watkins Glen</p><p>and Sears Point)– and includes an eight-race</p><p>Championship mode where you visit each</p><p>course twice in an attempt to finish top</p><p>of the points leaderboard ahead of</p><p>Elliott himself and 14 other fictional</p><p>drivers. Although visually impressive</p><p>for an NES racer, the detailed pseudo-</p><p>3D viewpoint comes at a price:</p><p>the sensation of speed is drastically</p><p>lacking, meaning racing at 185mph feels</p><p>surprisingly sedate. n</p><p>BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT</p><p>VIDEO GAME ADVENTURE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Rocket Science Games</p><p>THIS NES TAKE</p><p>on the popular</p><p>1989 Keanu Reeves</p><p>movie doesn’t</p><p>follow the same</p><p>plot, but instead</p><p>acts as a follow-up</p><p>story in which Bill</p><p>and Ted are once</p><p>again summoned</p><p>to save history. Some ‘evil future rebels’ have gone into</p><p>the past, taken some famous names from history and</p><p>moved them to completely different time periods. Our</p><p>heroes have to find the likes of Al Capone,</p><p>Elvis and Robin Hood and return them</p><p>to their original eras before time runs</p><p>out, otherwise they’ll miss their</p><p>big concert and their band Wyld</p><p>Stallyns will never become famous.</p><p>While the idea is sound, the game’s</p><p>unpredictability– sometimes you</p><p>can walk on grass and talk to people,</p><p>sometimes they get you stuck and</p><p>hurt respectively– make it frustrating. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 37 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>38</p><p>FACT</p><p>At the end of the second</p><p>period the game switches</p><p>to the scoreboard,</p><p>where you can play a</p><p>mini-game based</p><p>on Konami’s shooter</p><p>Gradius.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the game’s</p><p>box and manual call</p><p>it The Black Bass, the</p><p>game’s title screen</p><p>instead says</p><p>‘The Black Bass</p><p>USA’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A brilliant remake of</p><p>Blaster Master, entitled</p><p>Blaster Master Zero,</p><p>was released on the</p><p>3DS and Switch</p><p>in 2017.</p><p>FACT</p><p>You can level up your</p><p>character this time,</p><p>building their muscle</p><p>power, body strength</p><p>and skill to make it</p><p>easier to catch</p><p>bigger fish.</p><p>THE BLUE MARLIN</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher HOT-B</p><p>Developer HOT-B</p><p>THE SEQUEL</p><p>TO The Black</p><p>Bass once again</p><p>has you taking</p><p>part in a fishing</p><p>tournament,</p><p>but this time</p><p>instead of bass</p><p>you’re</p><p>catching</p><p>billfish: marlin,</p><p>swordfish, sailfish</p><p>and the like. Rather than simply swapping out the types</p><p>of fish from the previous game, The Blue Marlin instead</p><p>completely changes the fish-catching process. Now players</p><p>have to cruise their boat across the water, trying</p><p>to trawl for fish. When you hook one, the</p><p>catching screen is now a more dynamic</p><p>viewpoint than its predecessor’s top-</p><p>down perspective. It also throws up</p><p>occasional multiple choice dilemmas,</p><p>like your gloves starting to smoke or</p><p>a marlin trying to cut your propellor</p><p>line, which force you to decide quickly</p><p>what action to take. n</p><p>BLASTER MASTER</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>A YOUNG LAD</p><p>named Jason loses</p><p>his pet frog Fred</p><p>after it jumps</p><p>down a hole.</p><p>Chasing after it,</p><p>Jason discovers a</p><p>tank called Sophia</p><p>the 3rd, designed</p><p>to destroy</p><p>the hordes of</p><p>radioactive mutants that happen to be living under the</p><p>Earth’s crust. It’s up to Jason to make his way through these</p><p>mutants and ultimately defeat their leader the Plutonium</p><p>Boss, in order to find and recover his beloved pet frog.</p><p>Blaster Master holds up as one of the better</p><p>third-party NES action games, and features</p><p>two distinct game styles: at times you’ll</p><p>be riding inside Sophia in 2Dside-</p><p>scrolling platforming sections, but</p><p>sometimes you’ll have to leave her</p><p>and enter a cave, at which point the</p><p>game switches to Zelda-style top-down</p><p>mazeexploration. n</p><p>BLADES OF STEEL</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>KONAMI’S ICE</p><p>HOCKEY game was</p><p>originally an arcade</p><p>title, and it keeps its</p><p>fast-paced action in the</p><p>jump over to the NES.</p><p>There are eight teams–</p><p>four from Canada and</p><p>four from the US– and</p><p>players can take part in either a standard exhibition match</p><p>or a tournament mode, which puts all eight teams</p><p>in a quarter finals style knockout bracket.</p><p>The game is notable for its shooting</p><p>system (in which an arrow moves up</p><p>and down the goal, requiring timing</p><p>to shoot the puck where you want</p><p>it to go) and its fighting, where the</p><p>action switches to a side-on view</p><p>much like a fighting game. Unlike</p><p>in the NHL, the loser of a fight is</p><p>punished with a two-minute penalty. n</p><p>THE BLACK BASS</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher HOT-B</p><p>Developer Another</p><p>CONGRATULATIONS,</p><p>YOU’RE ONE of</p><p>200people who have</p><p>been invited to participate</p><p>in the oddly generic</p><p>sounding Black Bass</p><p>Fishing Tournament.</p><p>Thetournament is</p><p>set over four different</p><p>lakes and takes place from 6.00am to sunset, and in order</p><p>to proceed to the next stage you have to, quite simply, catch</p><p>a load of fish. While you can catch a variety</p><p>of fish including trout and pike, since</p><p>this is The Black Bass only the titular</p><p>species will count towards your total</p><p>haul. The game is mostly played from</p><p>a top-down perspective, making it</p><p>easier to see your lure as you move it</p><p>around and try to hook your fish. Lures,</p><p>weather and the time of day affect how</p><p>likely you are to catch a bass. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 38 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>39</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s</p><p>soundtrack consists</p><p>of 8-bit versions of</p><p>songs from the movie,</p><p>including Everybody</p><p>Needs</p><p>Somebody.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Before it made it</p><p>to the NES, a port of</p><p>Bomberman was released</p><p>for the ZX Spectrum in</p><p>Europe. Bizarrely, it was</p><p>renamed Eric and</p><p>the Floaters.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the NES</p><p>version was never</p><p>released in Europe, it did</p><p>make it to the Amiga</p><p>there under the name</p><p>TV Sports</p><p>Baseball.</p><p>you beat the game he does indeed turn into a human, at</p><p>which point it’s revealed that he’s actually the star</p><p>of Lode Runner, a game Hudson Soft released</p><p>a year prior. The need for sequels means this</p><p>story has since been brushed under the</p><p>carpet, and now Bomberman and his friends</p><p>have no corporate weapons-manufacturing</p><p>past, and have always been heroic arsonists</p><p>only ever interesting in blowing things up for</p><p>the sake of all that is good. n</p><p>BOMBERMAN</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Hudson Soft</p><p>HUDSON SOFT’S ICONIC bomb-dropping franchise</p><p>didn’t actually start on Nintendo– having been</p><p>released on Japanese home computers first– but it was</p><p>on the NES that the series properly took off. Despite</p><p>Bomberman being well-known nowadays as one of the</p><p>finest multiplayer experiences in gaming, the first NES</p><p>game was a strictly solo affair consisting of 50single-</p><p>player levels. In each, the aim is to blow up all the</p><p>enemies with your bombs, at which point you’ll be able</p><p>to exit to the next stage. Your bombs’ explosions shoot</p><p>out vertically and horizontally, so the trick is timing</p><p>your bomb drops so they detonate just as an</p><p>enemy walks past and hits the flame.</p><p>This first Bomberman game had a storyline</p><p>which has been forgotten over the years:</p><p>Bomberman is actually a robot built by</p><p>an evil corporation to make bombs in an</p><p>underground lab, and one day he hears a</p><p>rumour that if he can make it to the surface</p><p>he’ll turn human. In an interesting twist, when</p><p>BO JACKSON BASEBALL</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>ANOTHER</p><p>IN THE long</p><p>line of baseball</p><p>games released</p><p>for the NES,</p><p>and one that</p><p>doesn’t do much</p><p>to stand out</p><p>other than a few</p><p>presentational</p><p>quirks. The star</p><p>of the show is obviously MrJackson, one of the greatest</p><p>multi-sport athletes of all time (he’sbetter known</p><p>among NES gamers, not for his baseball ability,</p><p>but as the best player in American football title</p><p>Tecmo Bowl). While the actual gameplay</p><p>is similar to that seen in other baseball</p><p>games of its era, its cut-scenes–</p><p>including players squaring up to the</p><p>umpire and a singer giving a full</p><p>rendition of the national anthem–</p><p>gave it more of a personality.</p><p>Oddly, a cheat code lets you play</p><p>as an All-Bo Team, in which every</p><p>player is BoJackson. n</p><p>THE BLUES BROTHERS</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Titus</p><p>Developer Titus</p><p>A 2D</p><p>PLATFORMER</p><p>based on the</p><p>comedy movie</p><p>and Saturday</p><p>Night Live skits</p><p>starring John</p><p>Belushi and</p><p>Dan Aykroyd.</p><p>Seemingly</p><p>following on</p><p>from the events of the film, the brothers are ‘back in</p><p>town’ (despite having been jailed in the movie) and</p><p>plan to put on the world’s greatest rock ‘n roll concert.</p><p>However, the local law enforcement still aren’t</p><p>happy with the chaos they caused last</p><p>time and so the sheriff has shut down</p><p>all roads to the stage, meaning the</p><p>pair have to take an alternative</p><p>route via a mall, warehouse, prison,</p><p>sewer and abandoned building</p><p>site. Given the buddy nature of the</p><p>movie, the game can be played in</p><p>co-op with two players, but the screen</p><p>only focuses on the first player. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 39 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>40</p><p>FACT</p><p>A remake of A Boy and</p><p>His Blob was released</p><p>on the Wii in 2009. This</p><p>was then ported to other</p><p>current-gen systems</p><p>in 2016.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In Japan, Bonk was</p><p>called PC-Kid because</p><p>the TurboGrafx-16 is called</p><p>the PC Engine there. When</p><p>the game was ported to the</p><p>Famicom and Game Boy he</p><p>was renamed FC-Kid and</p><p>GB-Kid respectively.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bouder Dash and</p><p>its sequels have been</p><p>released on over 25</p><p>systems over the years,</p><p>from the NES and Game</p><p>Boy to the 3DS and</p><p>Xbox 360.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Sega Saturn version</p><p>of Bomberman included a</p><p>ridiculous 10-player mode,</p><p>complete with cameo</p><p>characters from the likes</p><p>of Adventure Island</p><p>and Bonk.</p><p>A BOY AND HIS BLOB:</p><p>TROUBLE ON BLOBONIA</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Absolute Entertainment</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>DESIGNED AND</p><p>PROGRAMMED by David</p><p>Crane– the brains behind</p><p>Activision’s classic Pitfall–</p><p>A Boy and His Blob tells the</p><p>story of a nameless child</p><p>who befriends a big white</p><p>globule called Blobert.</p><p>Blobert needs the boy’s</p><p>help to prevent the evil emperor from killing everyone on</p><p>Blobert’s home planet of Blobonia by feeding them nothing</p><p>but marshmallows and chocolate. The game is a puzzle</p><p>platformer with a very novel gimmick: by</p><p>eating different coloured jelly beans,</p><p>Blobert can turn into a number of</p><p>different shapes. For example, a cola</p><p>jelly bean turns him into a bubble so</p><p>you can breathe underwater, while a</p><p>punch-flavoured</p><p>one turns him into</p><p>a hole which lets you drop down into</p><p>new areas (as in ‘hole punch’, geddit). n</p><p>BOULDER DASH</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher JVC / Data East</p><p>Developer Sakata SAS</p><p>AS FAR AS game plots</p><p>go, having your dad tell</p><p>you on his death bed</p><p>to finish his adventure</p><p>is pretty deep. That’s</p><p>the fate that’s befallen</p><p>Rockford, whose old</p><p>man wants him to do</p><p>what he never could</p><p>and find the Secret Jewels of the Six Worlds.</p><p>Rockford is a miner, and his adventure takes him</p><p>through a series of mines full of diamonds and enemies.</p><p>This game’s all about gravity: while you can dig your way</p><p>through all directions as you explore each</p><p>level, if you dig the ground out from</p><p>under a gem or rock it’ll fall, killing</p><p>anything underneath it (including</p><p>you). Initially straightforward,</p><p>the game gets trickier as it starts</p><p>forcing you to trigger huge</p><p>rockfalls and release fast enemies</p><p>by collecting the gems</p><p>blocking them. n</p><p>BONK’S ADVENTURE</p><p>Year 1994 a </p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Red Company</p><p>BONK WAS ORIGINALLY</p><p>created as a comic character</p><p>for a Japanese magazine</p><p>based on the PC Engine (the</p><p>Japanese name for NEC’s</p><p>TurboGrafx-16 console).</p><p>Bonk’s Adventure, then,</p><p>was originally a TurboGrafx</p><p>exclusive, with Bonk considered NEC’s mascot. When NEC</p><p>decided to pull out of the console market, Hudson Soft was</p><p>allowed to port the game over to other systems,</p><p>meaning NES owners finally got the</p><p>chance to play this entertaining</p><p>platformer, in which Bonk has to</p><p>rescue the Moon Princess from</p><p>the evil King Drool. He does</p><p>his by headbutting enemies (or</p><p>‘bonking’ them, if you will) with</p><p>his oversized head, and climbing</p><p>walls by clamping his teeth onto</p><p>them and gnashing his way upwards.</p><p>A strange game, but a fun one. n</p><p>BOMBERMAN II</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Hudson Soft</p><p>THE SECOND</p><p>BOMBERMAN game</p><p>was also the first to be</p><p>released on the NES in</p><p>Europe (where it was</p><p>known as Dynablaster).</p><p>The single-player mode</p><p>is similar to that of its</p><p>predecessor, albeit with</p><p>a new story: this time</p><p>Bomberman’s been wrongly jailed for a bank heist his evil</p><p>twin committed, so he has to blast his way out.</p><p>Bomberman II is most notable, however,</p><p>for being the first game in the series to</p><p>feature its iconic multiplayer mode.</p><p>Up to three players (using a Four</p><p>Score multitap) can take part in</p><p>head-to-head deathmatches where</p><p>blasting your friends is the order</p><p>of the day. The multiplayer mode</p><p>was so well-received that it became a</p><p>Bomberman staple from that point on. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 40 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>41</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite many thinking</p><p>Bucky O’Hare is</p><p>an imitation of the</p><p>Teenage Mutant Ninja</p><p>Turtles, both actually</p><p>debuted in separate</p><p>comic series in</p><p>May 1984.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Publisher FCI is the</p><p>American arm of Japanese</p><p>media company FCG</p><p>and exists to this day,</p><p>delivering news to</p><p>Japanese nationals</p><p>living in the US and</p><p>Europe.</p><p>FACT</p><p>BreakThru was also</p><p>released on the ZX</p><p>Spectrum, where it had a</p><p>massive bug: you could</p><p>complete the whole game</p><p>by holding down</p><p>the jump</p><p>button.</p><p>FACT</p><p>While most games save</p><p>their main enemy until</p><p>the final boss fight, this has</p><p>you fighting Dracula no</p><p>fewer than seven times</p><p>in various</p><p>forms.</p><p>BUCKY O’HARE</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>BASED ON THE comic</p><p>book and animated series</p><p>of the same name, Bucky</p><p>O’Hare is a run ‘n gun</p><p>action platformer similar to</p><p>Contra (albeit significantly</p><p>less difficult). KOMPLEX,</p><p>the evil ruler of the Toad</p><p>Empire, has instructed the Toad Air Marshal to kidnap</p><p>Bucky’s crew members and imprison each on a different</p><p>planet. Bucky must travel to each planet,</p><p>rescue his colleagues then head to the</p><p>Toad Magma Tanker and destroy it</p><p>once and for all. Bucky’s crew act</p><p>almost like weapons in a Mega</p><p>Man game: once they’re rescued</p><p>you can switch between them at any</p><p>point and use their unique abilities.</p><p>Dead-Eye Duck, for example, can</p><p>cling to walls, while Blinky can use a</p><p>jetpack to fly out of danger. n</p><p>BREAKTHRU</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>BAD NEWS: SOME</p><p>nondescript enemy soldiers</p><p>have stolen your nondescript</p><p>country’s secret fighter plane,</p><p>the PK430. It’s up to you</p><p>to get it back, by ‘breaking</p><p>thru’ five different enemy</p><p>strongholds in your trusty</p><p>jumping ATV. Each of the game’s five stages– mountain,</p><p>bridge, prairie, city and airfield– is filled with soldiers,</p><p>tanks, helicopters and other obstacles that must be</p><p>either shot with your car’s mounted gun or</p><p>simply jumped over. Although its focus</p><p>is on vehicular combat, the way your</p><p>car is constantly moving sideways</p><p>while shooting and jumping means</p><p>BreakThru often feels more like an</p><p>auto-scrolling action platformer.</p><p>Because it’s relatively easy and based</p><p>on an arcade game, it can be beaten in</p><p>under ten minutes with a little practice. n</p><p>BREAK TIME: THE</p><p>NATIONAL POOL TOUR</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer Opera House</p><p>A POOL GAME in which</p><p>the aim is to ‘become</p><p>America’s Number One</p><p>Hustler’. It offers four</p><p>types of pool– 8-ball,</p><p>9-ball, rotation and</p><p>14-1 rack– as well as the</p><p>main National Pool Tour</p><p>mode. Here you travel</p><p>across America playing 9-ball tournaments against ‘the</p><p>pros’, who are fictional characters with appropriately</p><p>pool-themed names like Suzie Cue, Betty Bank Shot</p><p>and Hot Shot Harry. The game ends</p><p>on a cliffhanger, with the message:</p><p>‘Congratulations! You have finally</p><p>become America’s No. 1 hustler!</p><p>A new hero is born. But the</p><p>World Championship still awaits</p><p>you.’ Sadly, there’s no World</p><p>Championship in the game,</p><p>meaning your hustler remains</p><p>untested on the global stage. And</p><p>that’s a hollow victory, if you ask me. n</p><p>BRAM STOKER’S</p><p>DRACULA</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Sony Imagesoft</p><p>Developer Probe Software</p><p>THERE WERE A</p><p>number of completely</p><p>different games created</p><p>to celebrate Francis Ford</p><p>Coppola’s gothic 1992</p><p>horror film, from the</p><p>first-person PC game to</p><p>the video-heavy Mega</p><p>CD version. The NES–</p><p>along with the Game Boy, Game Gear and Master System–</p><p>received a side-scrolling action platformer in which Jonathan</p><p>Harker has to fight his way through Transylvania to London,</p><p>then back to Transylvania again, to catch and</p><p>defeat Dracula in order to save his mistress</p><p>Mina from a potential eternity as a</p><p>vampiress. Along the way, Jonathan</p><p>can collect a number of weapons,</p><p>including rocks, axes and torches.</p><p>However, the game’s ‘ultimate</p><p>weapon’ (according to the manual)</p><p>is the ‘triple rock’, which essentially</p><p>means the best way to beat Dracula is to</p><p>lob stones at his head. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 41 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>42</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version</p><p>of the game is called</p><p>Happy Birthday Bugs.</p><p>Oddly, the western</p><p>version technically is too,</p><p>because that’s all it</p><p>says on the title</p><p>screen.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There’s a Game Boy</p><p>version of Bubble</p><p>Bobble Part 2 which makes</p><p>things even more confusing</p><p>by instead claiming</p><p>you’re playing as a</p><p>character called</p><p>Robby.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Partly due to translation</p><p>issues, Bub and Bob are</p><p>referred to as Bobby and</p><p>Babby during one ‘good’</p><p>ending, and Bubblun and</p><p>Bobblun during the</p><p>‘best’ ending.</p><p>THE BUGS BUNNY</p><p>BIRTHDAY BLOWOUT</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Kemco</p><p>Developer Kemco</p><p>IT’S BUGS BUNNY’S</p><p>50th birthday (he was</p><p>created in 1940) and his</p><p>fan club has planned</p><p>a big birthday party</p><p>to celebrate. However,</p><p>the rest of the Looney</p><p>Tunes characters are</p><p>jealous of the attention</p><p>he’s getting and so they</p><p>unleash a horde of contraptions to stop him reaching the</p><p>party. Players must help Bugs– armed with his hammer–</p><p>fight his way through evil soap boxes, poisonous</p><p>frogs and ‘jumping telescopic bullet</p><p>sprinklers’ in order to make it to the</p><p>celebration, at which point it’s revealed</p><p>all the Looney Tunes are actually</p><p>there and ‘had just moments ago</p><p>been playing some very funny tricks’.</p><p>So it’s all good in the end, though</p><p>Bugs will presumably never forget that</p><p>time all his pals tried to kill him. n</p><p>BUBBLE BOBBLE PART 2</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer ITL</p><p>BUBBLE BOBBLE’S</p><p>‘PROPER’ sequel,</p><p>Bubble Symphony,</p><p>didn’t make it to</p><p>arcades until 1994.</p><p>Before that, NES</p><p>owners got this</p><p>console-only follow-</p><p>up starring… well,</p><p>it’s not quite clear.</p><p>The game manual says it’s Bub and Bob again,</p><p>whereas the back of the box instead claims it’s their</p><p>descendants, Cubby and Rubby. Whoever you’re</p><p>playing as, this time you have to rescue their friend</p><p>Judy, who’s been kidnapped by the Skull</p><p>Brothers. While it plays much the</p><p>same as its predecessor, the stage</p><p>backgrounds are more varied</p><p>and you can now also hold the</p><p>B button to inflate your body</p><p>and slowly rise into the air. It’s</p><p>a shorter game though, with</p><p>around 80 stages instead of the</p><p>first game’s 224. n</p><p>essentially punish lonely players. It’s impossible to</p><p>get a good ending in a single-player game: the</p><p>only way to get the best one is to play through</p><p>all 224 levels and beat the final boss in two-</p><p>player co-op mode. However, it does also</p><p>have a secret ‘drop-in’ command (pause the</p><p>game and press Select to add Player 2), so</p><p>solo players can still get the best ending by</p><p>pausing right before they beat the final boss and</p><p>adding Bob. n</p><p>BUBBLE BOBBLE</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Taito</p><p>MANY GAMES IN the ‘80s and early ‘90s went with the</p><p>classic ‘an evil person has stolen your girlfriend’ storyline,</p><p>but there’s a special sub-genre in which the hero is also</p><p>transformed into a creature in the process. It’s not clear why</p><p>the evil-doer does this because it almost always gives the</p><p>hero extra powers they wouldn’t normally have, as is the</p><p>case in Bubble Bobble. After their girlfriends are kidnapped</p><p>by the nasty Baron Von Blubba, the cherubic Bubby and</p><p>Bobby are also turned into ‘bubble dragons’ called Bub</p><p>and Bob. This lets them spit bubbles at enemies, which</p><p>can then be popped to defeat them. This unique</p><p>method of disposing of enemies made Bubble</p><p>Bobble a favourite among gamers, and its</p><p>infuriatingly catchy music forever remains</p><p>in the heads of anyone who plays it. If you’re</p><p>familiar with it, chances are you’re already</p><p>humming it right now. Bubble Bobble is</p><p>notorious for its length– it contains 112 levels</p><p>and another 112 bonus ones– and for having</p><p>four different endings, two of which are ‘bad’ and</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 42 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>43</p><p>FACT</p><p>The odd walking</p><p>ingredients that chase</p><p>Peter around each level</p><p>actually have official</p><p>names: Mr Hot Dog, Mr</p><p>Egg and Mr Pickle.</p><p>So now you</p><p>know.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bump ‘n’ Jump has had</p><p>a number of different</p><p>names in Japan. The original</p><p>arcade game was known as</p><p>Burnin’ Rubber, while the</p><p>Famicom version goes</p><p>by Buggy Popper.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Burai Fighter was</p><p>one of the first games</p><p>produced by Ken Lobb,</p><p>who went on to work</p><p>for Nintendo. The Klobb</p><p>gun in GoldenEye 007</p><p>is named</p><p>after him.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Other characters</p><p>appearing in regional</p><p>versions of subsequent</p><p>Crazy Castle games include</p><p>The Real Ghostbusters,</p><p>Garfield and Woody</p><p>Woodpecker.</p><p>BURGERTIME</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>A PORT OF Data East’s</p><p>iconic 1982 arcade game.</p><p>Playing as the anxious</p><p>chef Peter Pepper, players</p><p>have to make four</p><p>enormous hamburgers</p><p>by navigating around</p><p>a ladder-filled maze</p><p>and running over the</p><p>huge ingredients to drop them down to the platform below.</p><p>Onceevery ingredient is dropped down to the bottom of</p><p>the screen, the player moves onto the next</p><p>level. It’s not as easy as that, though,</p><p>because chasing Peter are bizarre</p><p>anthropomorphic eggs and sausages</p><p>who are somehow angry that these</p><p>burgers are being made. Maybe</p><p>they’re jealous that they aren’t being</p><p>eaten instead. Regardless, they can</p><p>be kept at bay by throwing pepper at</p><p>them, which stuns them. n</p><p>BURAI FIGHTER</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Taxan</p><p>Developer Taxan</p><p>THOSE PESKY BURAI</p><p>are needing a smack in the</p><p>chops, and it’s up to you to</p><p>see to it that it’s delivered.</p><p>What are the Burai, you</p><p>ask? Why, they’re cyborg</p><p>super-brains blessed with</p><p>extreme intelligence, and</p><p>they’re keen on using their</p><p>vast mental capabilities to dominate the entire universe. Burai</p><p>Fighter is a side-scrolling shooter where your</p><p>nameless hero, armed with a jet pack and a</p><p>laser gun, has to fly through the Burai’s</p><p>seven bases and destroy the super-</p><p>mutants guarding each one. One</p><p>interesting feature the game has is</p><p>hidden rooms which occasionally</p><p>appear at the edge of the screen: if</p><p>you push into one as you pass it the</p><p>screen scrolls in a different direction,</p><p>giving you access to the secret room. n</p><p>BUMP ‘N’ JUMP</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Sakata SAS</p><p>VIDEO GAME</p><p>TITLES rarely get</p><p>more literal than</p><p>Bump ‘n’ Jump, a</p><p>top-down arcade</p><p>racing game in</p><p>which bumping and</p><p>jumping are indeed</p><p>the two main</p><p>things the player is</p><p>expected to do. The</p><p>bumping is because you’re racing against</p><p>time– trying to reach checkpoints before</p><p>your timer runs out– but a bunch of</p><p>enemy cars are getting in your way.</p><p>The aim, then, is to bump into them</p><p>and force them into the walls to</p><p>destroy them. Sometimes it all gets</p><p>too much, or the road can end, and</p><p>that’s where the jumping comes into</p><p>it: with the press of a button your car</p><p>can leap over enemies and gaps with</p><p>the greatest of ease. n</p><p>THE BUGS BUNNY CRAZY</p><p>CASTLE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Kemco</p><p>Developer Kemco</p><p>THE FIRST ENTRY</p><p>in Kemco’s massively</p><p>confusing nine-game</p><p>Crazy Castle series,</p><p>which often features</p><p>completely different titles</p><p>and characters in each</p><p>region. The Bugs Bunny</p><p>Crazy Castle, known in</p><p>Japan as Roger Rabbit (told you) has Bugs travelling through</p><p>60platform-based levels in an attempt to rescue Honey</p><p>Bunny from Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam,</p><p>Daffy Duck and Sylvester. Unlike most</p><p>other platform games, Bugs can’t jump</p><p>here: this makes it more of a puzzle</p><p>game in which you have to use</p><p>doors, stairs and weapons such as</p><p>safes and boxing gloves to navigate</p><p>each stage safely. This was eventually</p><p>ported to the Game Boy, and was</p><p>once again changed so that this time</p><p>the main character was Mickey Mouse. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 43 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>44</p><p>FACT</p><p>Seemingly feeling</p><p>more brazen in its home</p><p>country, Capcom decided</p><p>to name the Japanese</p><p>version of the game the</p><p>less subtle Capcom</p><p>Barcelona ‘92.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The real Caesars</p><p>Palace opened in Las</p><p>Vegas in 1966 and has</p><p>a 4,500 square foot,</p><p>24-hour poker</p><p>room.</p><p>FACT</p><p>If you’ve ever played</p><p>a PC game you may</p><p>be familiar with DirectX</p><p>technology. Its inventor,</p><p>Ken Nicholson, designed</p><p>the footbag event in</p><p>California</p><p>Games.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The developers at</p><p>Rare weren’t given the</p><p>arcade game’s source code,</p><p>so they had to play the</p><p>arcade game over</p><p>and over again and</p><p>recreate it from</p><p>scratch.</p><p>CAPCOM’S GOLD MEDAL</p><p>CHALLENGE ‘92</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>ONE OF A number of</p><p>unofficial athletics games</p><p>conveniently timed to release</p><p>around the same time as</p><p>the 1992 Olympic Games in</p><p>Barcelona, Capcom’s effort</p><p>includes an impressive total</p><p>of 18 events, although many are</p><p>similar (for example, the 100m Breaststroke, 100m Butterfly,</p><p>100m Freestyle and 200m Medley are all controlled pretty much</p><p>the same way). Of particular note is the Marathon</p><p>event, which isn’t often featured in Olympic-</p><p>themed games for obvious reasons. Rather</p><p>than stretching out button-bashing over</p><p>26 miles (42km) though, it’s actually</p><p>more of a strategic affair in which you</p><p>decide how much effort your runner</p><p>is going to put into each of the course’s</p><p>six legs. The aim is to decide when to</p><p>conserve energy and when to go for it. n</p><p>CALIFORNIA GAMES</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Milton Bradley</p><p>Developer Epyx</p><p>EPYX WAS WELL known</p><p>(among other things) for</p><p>Summer Games and Winter</p><p>Games, its Olympic-themed</p><p>sports compilation games.</p><p>Keen to continue the series’</p><p>popularity despite running out</p><p>of high-profile competitions</p><p>to draw inspiration from, Epyx came up with California</p><p>Games, which ditched the athletic</p><p>tracks and mountain</p><p>slalom courses of the Olympics in favour of the beaches and</p><p>streets of Los Angeles. While some versions of California</p><p>Games were missing some events, the NES</p><p>version is among those that includes all</p><p>six: half-pipe skateboarding, footbag,</p><p>surfing, roller skating, BMX and</p><p>the notoriously tricky flying disc.</p><p>Not only was California Games</p><p>well received, it ultimately ended</p><p>up outselling Summer Games and</p><p>Winter Games, going on to become</p><p>Epyx’s best-selling game ever. n</p><p>CAESARS PALACE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Virgin Games</p><p>Developer Realtime Associates</p><p>THE VIDEO</p><p>GAME version of</p><p>the popular Las</p><p>Vegas casino hotel</p><p>offers– according</p><p>to the manual– ‘a</p><p>royal wonderland</p><p>that will dazzle you</p><p>with unparallelled</p><p>excitement and</p><p>challenge your</p><p>every skill with games of chance’. Quite how games of</p><p>chance can challenge your skill isn’t clear but, regardless,</p><p>there are seven games on offer here: video poker,</p><p>three different slot machines, blackjack,</p><p>roulette and the ‘Big Six Money Wheel’.</p><p>You start with $1000 in chips, and when</p><p>you decide to leave the casino you get</p><p>a different ending depending on your</p><p>total winnings: if you earn $140,000 or</p><p>more you leave the casino in a fancy red</p><p>sports car, and if you go bust you leave</p><p>on a bus instead. n</p><p>CABAL</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Fabtek</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>YOU’RE A COVERT</p><p>agent who’s spent a</p><p>week undercover at</p><p>the training camp</p><p>for D.R.A.T.– the</p><p>Dreaded Republic</p><p>of Allied Terrorists.</p><p>It’s time to blow your</p><p>cover, though, and</p><p>that means pumping</p><p>countless bullets into everything that moves and most</p><p>things that don’t. Originally an arcade game by Japanese</p><p>developer TAD Corporation, the NES version</p><p>of Cabal was instead handled by Rare.</p><p>Like its coin-op counterpart, it’s a</p><p>very early take on the cover shooter</p><p>in which players use a cursor to</p><p>fire at enemies like a rail shooter</p><p>or FPS, but can also run left and</p><p>right to get behind cover and avoid</p><p>enemy fire. The cover mechanic was</p><p>revolutionary for its time, at least until</p><p>games like Gears Of War reinvented it. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 44 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>45</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version</p><p>is based on the manga</p><p>series $1,000,000 Kid</p><p>and uses real names like</p><p>Las Vegas and the</p><p>Golden Nugget</p><p>casino.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The final boss is Duke</p><p>Nukem, a villain in the</p><p>Captain Planet cartoon.</p><p>He predates the more</p><p>well-known foul-mouthed</p><p>video game character</p><p>by at least</p><p>a year.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite the game not</p><p>having a first-person</p><p>perspective, the manual</p><p>insists you’re actually Captain</p><p>Skyhawk, armed with ‘a spy</p><p>satellite viewer that lets</p><p>you see your plane</p><p>from above’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Data East made one</p><p>more licensed Avengers</p><p>game in 1995, an arcade</p><p>fighting game called</p><p>Avengers in</p><p>Galactic Storm.</p><p>CASINO KID</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Sofel</p><p>Developer Sofel</p><p>SETTING ASIDE THE</p><p>fact that children shouldn’t</p><p>be gambling in a casino</p><p>anyway, Casino Kid takes</p><p>an interesting approach</p><p>to the strangely saturated</p><p>NES gambling game genre</p><p>by adding a storyline.</p><p>Playing as the titular kid,</p><p>your aim is to make as much money as possible in the city of</p><p>Lost Wages (ahem) so that you can eventually challenge the</p><p>notorious Casino King and claim his metaphorical throne.</p><p>While you can only choose between blackjack</p><p>and poker– the Japanese version also</p><p>included slot machines and roulette– the</p><p>game does at least attempt to make</p><p>things feel less random by adding</p><p>bunny girls and tourists to the hallway:</p><p>talking to them will reveal tips about</p><p>which tables to use and how your</p><p>poker opponents will act. n</p><p>CAPTAIN SKYHAWK</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Milton Bradley</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>ALIENS HAVE</p><p>INVADED Earth and</p><p>their mission, it won’t</p><p>surprise you to find</p><p>out, is to destroy us all.</p><p>They’ve built four bases</p><p>in remote corners of the</p><p>globe and plan to use</p><p>them to drain the Earth’s</p><p>energy, leaving the planet open to attack. It’s up to the heroic</p><p>Captain Skyhawk, in his trusty F-14VTS plane, to do two</p><p>things: destroy the four bases, and also drop</p><p>off supplies at various underground</p><p>caverns so that the world’s scientists</p><p>can finish creating a super weapon to</p><p>destroy the alien space station. This</p><p>is all played out in an isometric</p><p>viewpoint, similar to Sega’s Zaxxon,</p><p>in which players have to be sure to</p><p>avoid not only alien attacks but the</p><p>scenery too. n</p><p>CAPTAIN PLANET AND</p><p>THE PLANETEERS</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Chris Gray Enterprises</p><p>EVERYONE’S</p><p>FAVOURITE ‘90s eco-</p><p>friendly superhero made</p><p>it to the NES in the shape</p><p>of this part shoot ‘em</p><p>up, part platformer from</p><p>Mindscape. A number</p><p>of dastardly deviants are</p><p>wrecking the environment</p><p>by spilling oil, dumping toxic waste in Yellowstone Park,</p><p>killing elephants for ivory and destroying the ozone layer,</p><p>so it’s up to the five Planeteers to take on the</p><p>frankly hefty task of putting a stop to</p><p>them with the help of Captain Planet.</p><p>Each of the game’s five stages are</p><p>split into two sections: the first</p><p>is a vehicle section in which the</p><p>Planeteers approach the location</p><p>in question by plane, submarine</p><p>or helicopter. Once they get there,</p><p>the main man is summoned and the</p><p>game becomes an action platformer. n</p><p>CAPTAIN AMERICA AND</p><p>THE AVENGERS</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>IN 1991 DATA East</p><p>created a Captain</p><p>America arcade game</p><p>which offered beat ‘em</p><p>up gameplay similar to</p><p>the likes of Final Fight</p><p>or Double Dragon.</p><p>Other systems would</p><p>eventually get ports of</p><p>this arcade version, but</p><p>Data East’s NES offering is a completely different game with</p><p>the same title. This version is instead a side-scrolling action</p><p>platformer in which players control both the</p><p>Cap’n himself and Hawkeye, switching</p><p>between them at will. The aim is to</p><p>rescue Iron Man and the Vision, who</p><p>have both been captured by the Red</p><p>Skull. There’s also a battle mode,</p><p>where two players fight to the death</p><p>in a single-screen arena. Here, Player</p><p>2 gets to select one of three villains:</p><p>Wizard, Crossbones or Ultron. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 45 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>46</p><p>FACT</p><p>In the Japanese</p><p>Famicom version of the</p><p>game, players start with</p><p>four lives. In the western</p><p>version this is bumped</p><p>up ever so slightly</p><p>to 50.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Castle of Dragon was</p><p>based on an arcade</p><p>game, also by SETA,</p><p>often known as Dragon</p><p>Unit. It’s extremely</p><p>hard to come by,</p><p>however.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Castelian has been</p><p>released on a number of</p><p>formats under numerous</p><p>different names. You</p><p>may recognise it as</p><p>Nebulus or Tower</p><p>Topper.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Oddly, despite being</p><p>the new Casino King, you</p><p>only start this game with</p><p>$200. It’s never made</p><p>quite clear what the</p><p>kid wasted all his</p><p>money on.</p><p>CASTLEQUEST</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Nexoft</p><p>Developer ASCII</p><p>IF SOMEONE</p><p>HAD decided to</p><p>plant a tree every</p><p>time the NES</p><p>got a game about</p><p>saving a princess,</p><p>the rainforests</p><p>would have been</p><p>saved by the early</p><p>‘90s. This time</p><p>the fair maiden in</p><p>question is Princess Margarita, and this time her captor is</p><p>Mad Mizer, the Dark Lord of the Groken Castle. Playing as</p><p>Prince Rafael, players have to make their way to</p><p>the castle and navigate through its maze</p><p>of rooms in order to find and defeat</p><p>Mad Mizer. Castlequest is a puzzle</p><p>platformer featuring 100 rooms</p><p>filled with doors, keys and a variety</p><p>of pushable objects. There are six</p><p>different colours of door and key, so</p><p>often the trick is figuring out the right</p><p>sequence of doors to open. n</p><p>CASTLE OF DRAGON</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher SETA</p><p>Developer SETA</p><p>A CURIOUS SIDE-</p><p>SCROLLING action</p><p>game in which most of</p><p>your enemy encounters</p><p>play out almost like</p><p>mini boss fights. The</p><p>gameplay is an acquired</p><p>taste, in that while it</p><p>initially appears to</p><p>be a standard side-</p><p>scrolling hack-and-slash game it’s actually a much slower</p><p>affair, with most enemy battles separated as standalone</p><p>confrontations with energy bars. The game’s plot is a little</p><p>more generic, with more made-up names than you can</p><p>shake a sword at: playing as Geraden, the</p><p>Duke of Menlary, you have to track down</p><p>and defeat the evil Dragon Master</p><p>Darklarza, and in doing so save</p><p>the kingdom of Offeria and rescue</p><p>Princess Amoreena. While far from</p><p>the best game on the NES, it does</p><p>have some of the best music on the</p><p>system. n</p><p>CASTELIAN</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Triffix / Storm</p><p>Developer Bits Studios</p><p>THE IDYLLIC ISLAND</p><p>nation of Jemmerville</p><p>is under attack by</p><p>mysterious forces.</p><p>Seven huge alien towers</p><p>have appeared out of</p><p>nowhere and are now</p><p>surrounding the island,</p><p>their aim being to stop</p><p>the island’s lucrative gem-mining industry in its tracks.</p><p>It’s up to a little frog-shaped creature called Julius to climb</p><p>to the top of each tower and plant a bomb at the peak so</p><p>he can destroy them and save Jemmerville</p><p>before it’s too late. At its core Castelian</p><p>is a straightforward platform game,</p><p>but it’s one with a very eye-catching</p><p>graphical style. As you make your way</p><p>up the circular towers Julius stays in</p><p>the middle of the screen, meaning the</p><p>tower rotates around him. This gives</p><p>an impressive 3D effect which was rare</p><p>for its time. n</p><p>CASINO KID II</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Sofel</p><p>Developer Sofel</p><p>WHEREAS IN REAL</p><p>life the idea of a child</p><p>becoming the king of</p><p>a casino would have</p><p>likely ended with his</p><p>parents in custody,</p><p>in the world of video</p><p>games all is well. As</p><p>such, Casino Kid II</p><p>picks up a year later</p><p>with our betting boy still considered the best gambler in</p><p>the US. However, a ‘mystery man’ has now</p><p>challenged the Casino Kid to take on the</p><p>best the world has to offer, meaning</p><p>this time you’re touring the globe to</p><p>play blackjack, poker and roulette.</p><p>Oddly, it turns out this mysterious</p><p>challenger is actually the Casino</p><p>King you already beat in the last</p><p>game, meaning he’s effectively sent</p><p>you around the globe just to end up</p><p>facing a guy you’re already better than. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 46 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>47</p><p>FACT</p><p>Castlevania’s end</p><p>credits has a ‘cast’ section,</p><p>with modified versions of</p><p>famous horror actors’ names</p><p>including Christopher Bee</p><p>(Lee), Boris Karloffice</p><p>(Karloff) and Belo</p><p>(Bela) Lugosi.</p><p>most modern fans are used to, but it’s to the game’s</p><p>credit that more than three decades later it’s</p><p>still an immensely playable and enjoyable</p><p>experience. Launching axes at the giant bat</p><p>in the first boss battle is still as satisfying</p><p>as ever, as is whipping your way through</p><p>hordes of ghosts and successfully navigating</p><p>your way through a tricky series of floating</p><p>Medusa heads.</p><p>It isn’t without its frustrating moments:</p><p>for example, there are plenty of bottomless</p><p>pits dotted around the castle and many</p><p>enemies are cleverly placed in such a way</p><p>that taking a hit from one will invariably</p><p>result in you falling directly into a hole and</p><p>dying instantly. As with many games of its</p><p>era, though, Castlevania is an adventure</p><p>that’s supposed to be attempted over and</p><p>over again until you master every screen,</p><p>know where every hidden secret lies, and</p><p>know the patterns to defeat every boss.</p><p>Most impressive of all is the way that</p><p>Castlevania actually makes you feel like</p><p>you’re on a journey. At a time when so many</p><p>action adventure games consisted of a series</p><p>of similar stages, Castlevania’s wide variety</p><p>of backgrounds and its map screen showing</p><p>your progress gave the real sense that you</p><p>were making your way through this enormous</p><p>castle and its grounds. Without using a single</p><p>word, its level design told the story. n</p><p>CASTLEVANIA</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>VERY FEW THIRD-PARTY NES games are as iconic</p><p>as Castlevania, and that it appeared so early into the</p><p>system’s life is even more impressive. The first game in a</p><p>series that now spans more than 30 years and 35 games,</p><p>Castlevania tells the story of Simon Belmont, a vampire</p><p>hunter who travels to Count Dracula’s castle to defeat</p><p>him (although Dracula is only ever referred to as ‘The</p><p>Count’ in this first game’s western release). Along the</p><p>way Belmont faces a number of other iconic monsters,</p><p>including Frankenstein’s Monster, Medusa, the Grim</p><p>Reaper and even a couple of Mummies for good measure.</p><p>The game is an action platformer, and players are</p><p>primarily armed with a whip which can be upgraded for</p><p>length and power. Simon can also collect special weapons,</p><p>which can be activated by holding up while attacking:</p><p>these include an axe (which flies in an upwards arc), a</p><p>boomerang shaped like a cross, a stopwatch that freezes</p><p>enemies, and holy water (though Nintendo’s anti-religion</p><p>stance means it’s instead called a ‘fire bomb’).</p><p>What makes Castlevania so interesting with the</p><p>benefit of today’s hindsight is that it’s one of the few games</p><p>in the series that doesn’t follow what would eventually</p><p>become the ‘Metroidvania’ template of a large</p><p>map that can be freely explored and requires</p><p>backtracking. Although there’s a slight degree</p><p>of free movement in terms of occasionally</p><p>being able to go off-track to collect some</p><p>bonus items, for the most part this initial</p><p>offering is a linear experience, with 18</p><p>distinct stages and a number of boss fights</p><p>appearing at set moments. This does make it</p><p>feel slightly different to the Castlevania games</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 47 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>48</p><p>FACT</p><p>Caveman Games</p><p>was also released on</p><p>the Commodore 64 and</p><p>MS-DOS PCs under the</p><p>slightly better name</p><p>of Caveman Ugh-</p><p>lympics.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The oddly translated</p><p>manual implies lefties</p><p>are dangerous by</p><p>introducing one of its</p><p>characters with: ‘BE</p><p>CAREFUL! He’s</p><p>left-handed.’</p><p>FACT</p><p>The animated</p><p>Castlevania series that was</p><p>commissioned by Netflix</p><p>(and can be viewed there)</p><p>is based on the events of</p><p>Castlevania III.</p><p>FACT</p><p>While the first</p><p>Castlevania game simply</p><p>refers to your nemesis</p><p>as The Count, here he’s</p><p>explicitly named Count</p><p>Dracula for the first</p><p>time in the west.</p><p>CHAMPIONSHIP</p><p>BOWLING</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Romstar</p><p>Developer Another</p><p>FOR DECADES</p><p>DEVELOPERS have tried</p><p>to make 10-pin bowling</p><p>games good value for</p><p>money, and more often</p><p>than not they fail (the only</p><p>big example of a successful</p><p>one is the bowling game</p><p>in Wii Sports). As an early</p><p>attempt at the genre, Championship Bowling is a good</p><p>example of why this has been the case: other than setting the</p><p>number of players and which lane you bowl in,</p><p>there are no other options to ensure the</p><p>game’s longevity. The actual bowling</p><p>mechanics are sound enough: choose</p><p>one of four characters, position them</p><p>on the lane, press a button to set your</p><p>spin and another to set your power</p><p>then see how well you did. This isn’t</p><p>enough to keep players’ attention for</p><p>any reasonable length of time, though. n</p><p>CAVEMAN GAMES</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Painting By Numbers</p><p>AN (EXTREMELY)</p><p>OLD-SCHOOL twist</p><p>on event-based sports</p><p>titles like Track & Field</p><p>and California Games,</p><p>Caveman Games</p><p>consists of six different</p><p>prehistoric sports that</p><p>have been forgotten over</p><p>time, probably because they never existed. These include</p><p>Fire-Making (the winner is the first to create a flame by</p><p>rubbing two sticks together), Clubbing (a fight to the</p><p>death with clubs), Dino Race (a hurdles race</p><p>while riding a dinosaur), Saber Race</p><p>(hurdles again, but this time on foot</p><p>while being chased by a saber-tooth</p><p>tiger) and Dino Vault (pole-vaulting</p><p>over a T-Rex without being eaten).</p><p>Easily the most controversial though</p><p>is Mate Toss, which is essentially a</p><p>variation on the shot put in which the</p><p>projectile is instead your wife. n</p><p>CASTLEVANIA III:</p><p>DRACULA’S CURSE</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>PERHAPS REALISING</p><p>THAT Castlevania II</p><p>was a bit too clever for</p><p>its own good, Konami</p><p>brought things back</p><p>to basics for its third</p><p>NES stake ‘em up… at</p><p>least, to some extent.</p><p>Dracula’s Curse is</p><p>actually a prequel:</p><p>set 215 years before the first game, it puts the players in the</p><p>fifteenth century boots of Trevor Belmont– an ancestor of</p><p>Simon– as he tries to stop Dracula and his</p><p>monsters from taking over Europe. While</p><p>Wheel of Fortune.</p><p>Most books and articles about video games tend to</p><p>cover the best or most notable titles, and that makes</p><p>perfect sense. When you can write about Kid Icarus,</p><p>INTRODUCTION</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 6 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>7</p><p>whywrite about Kid Niki: Radical Ninja? This book</p><p>asks: ‘Why not write about both?’</p><p>When I told my brother Kevin that I was writing</p><p>a book about NES games, the first thing he asked me</p><p>wasn’t how long it was going to be, or when it would</p><p>be out, or whether I could stop texting him while he</p><p>was at work. It was: ‘Is Low G Man going to be in it?’</p><p>To me, this perfectly sums up the point of this NES</p><p>Encyclopedia. The NES was a part of so many gamers’</p><p>childhoods, but we didn’t all share the same cookie-</p><p>cutter experiences.</p><p>Yes, Super Mario Bros. and Tetris and Contra were</p><p>part of so many of our childhoods, and those itches will</p><p>be scratched here. But Low G Man was my brother’s</p><p>childhood too. Tecmo World Wrestling was my</p><p>childhood. One of my friends in school won a copy of</p><p>Section Z in the UK Club Nintendo magazine: that was</p><p>his childhood. We all love the big games, but the small</p><p>ones have a place in our hearts too. If you owned an</p><p>NES or knew someone who did, my aim with this book</p><p>is to ensure that your childhood is in here too.</p><p>Nintendo entered my life at the age of the four and</p><p>never left it. I’ve spent my life playing video games,</p><p>many of which were on Nintendo systems. From as</p><p>early as I was able to read, I read as many Nintendo</p><p>magazines as I could get my hands on (especially</p><p>anything written by my childhood hero, Julian Rignall).</p><p>I’m now 35 and I’ve been a video game journalist for</p><p>well over a decade (with six years spent at the UK</p><p>Official Nintendo Magazine).</p><p>Nintendo was my childhood, Nintendo is my</p><p>adulthood. And the NES started all of that.</p><p>I hope you enjoy this book: if you do (or don’t) please</p><p>send me a message on Twitter @scully1888 and let me</p><p>know. Thank you so much for reading it: with any luck,</p><p>there may be more to follow.</p><p>Chris Scullion</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 7 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>The Nintendo Entertainment System might never have</p><p>existed. When we look back now at what it achieved–</p><p>35million sold in North America alone– and consider</p><p>how it launched such iconic gaming series as Super</p><p>Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid,</p><p>hindsight makes it difficult to consider the NES as</p><p>anything other than a sure-fire success. For a while,</p><p>though, there was a good chance it may have failed to</p><p>see the light of day, the crumbling American video game</p><p>industry threatening to bury it in its rubble before it</p><p>even appeared on the shelves.</p><p>Founded in 1889, the Kyoto-based Nintendo</p><p>spent decades mainly devoted to the manufacture of</p><p>playing cards before the decline in their popularity</p><p>forced it to branch out into other fields. Folklore</p><p>says that throughout the ‘60s the company tried out</p><p>everything from taxi services and TV channels to</p><p>instant noodles and hourly-rate ‘love hotels’. These</p><p>claims should be taken with a pinch of salt, however,</p><p>as it’s likely that some of these ventures were</p><p>separatebusinesses launched by Nintendo owner</p><p>Hiroshi Yamauchi, rather than specifically Nintendo-</p><p>branded ones.</p><p>One thing Nintendo certainly did dabble in,</p><p>however, is toymaking. After its maintenance</p><p>engineer Gunpei Yokoi invented an extendable</p><p>THE HISTORY</p><p>OF THE NES</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 8 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>9</p><p>grabbing device during his free time, Nintendo</p><p>decided to make it into a proper product called the</p><p>Ultra Hand. Over a million were sold, and its success</p><p>led to more Yokoi-developed toys like the Ultra</p><p>Machine (an automatic baseball-launching device)</p><p>and the Love Tester.</p><p>The birth of video games presented a new avenue</p><p>for Nintendo’s experimentation. In 1977 it launched</p><p>the Color TV-Game 6, the first of five Color TV-Game</p><p>devices which plugged into the user’s television and</p><p>offered a number of variations on a single game type</p><p>(in this case it was the Pong-like Light Tennis). In 1978,</p><p>after previous experiments in arcades with shooting</p><p>games using 16mm video, it released its first sprite-</p><p>based arcade game, Computer Othello. More notably, in</p><p>1980 Gunpei Yokoi created the Game & Watch, which</p><p>would become an immensely popular series of handheld</p><p>LCD games.</p><p>Throughout the early 1980s Nintendo found</p><p>its greatest success in the arcades, with games like</p><p>Donkey Kong (1981), Donkey Kong Jr (1982), Popeye</p><p>(1982) and Mario Bros. (1983) proving enormously</p><p>popular not only with Japanese gamers, but players</p><p>worldwidetoo.</p><p>Arcade accomplishments were one thing, but as</p><p>a company still enjoying the fruits of its toy-making</p><p>division Nintendo wanted to infiltrate the household</p><p>too. On 15 July 1983 the Family Computer, Nintendo’s</p><p>first major home console, was born. Dubbed the</p><p>Famicom by most gamers, it was clear by its three</p><p>launch games– Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr and</p><p>Popeye– that the Famicom’s initial selling point was</p><p>the ability to play Nintendo’s arcade hits at home.</p><p>Although initial sales were relatively slow (partly due</p><p>to reports of faulty motherboards causing crashes), a</p><p>redesigned chip set eventually saw momentum build,</p><p>and by the end of 1984 the Famicom was an enormous</p><p>success in Japan.</p><p>It was time to take the Famicom to the west, starting</p><p>with America, but there was a problem: gaming</p><p>was dead there. While the games market remained</p><p>relatively healthy in Europe (the UK in particular)</p><p>thanks to homegrown ‘bedroom’ coders making</p><p>games for home computers like the ZX Spectrum and</p><p>Commodore 64, in North America it was a different</p><p>story: Atari and arcades had been king there, and both</p><p>were flatlining.</p><p>The Atari VCS (later renamed the 2600) had</p><p>started as a huge success, but a series of big-name</p><p>disappointments– most notably Pac-Man and E.T.–</p><p>had put a massive dent in customers’ faith, and the</p><p>sea of awful third-party ‘shovelware’ jumping on the</p><p>bandwagon eventually weighed said bandwagon down</p><p>to the extent that the whole thing collapsed in what</p><p>was known as the video game crash of 1983. Games</p><p>that launched for $35 were being jammed into $5</p><p>bargain bins and still weren’t selling, while arcades</p><p>up and down the country closed their doors. As far</p><p>as America was concerned, gaming was a fad, and it</p><p>wasover.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 9 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>10</p><p>Enter Nintendo, with its plans to bring the</p><p>Famicom to the States. After a proposed distribution</p><p>partnership with Atari collapsed, Nintendo decided to</p><p>go it alone and launch the Famicom itself. It attended</p><p>the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1983</p><p>with its redesigned Famicom, dubbed the AVS: the</p><p>Advanced Video System (see the image on page 8).</p><p>Clad in space-age silver, it consisted of a full keyboard,</p><p>a joystick, two small infrared controllers, a sci-fi gun</p><p>and a cassette deck for recording data. The AVS saw</p><p>no takers: retailers weren’t interested in taking a risk</p><p>on another video game system, not when they were</p><p>already struggling to get rid of the heavily discounted</p><p>stock of previous ones they were stuck with.</p><p>Nintendo went back to the drawing board</p><p>and returned two years later with a new design,</p><p>a new accessory and a new name: the Nintendo</p><p>Entertainment System. By positioning the NES as</p><p>an entertainment centre instead of a games console,</p><p>Nintendo was able to appeal to retailers without ever</p><p>having to put the now toxic idea of ‘video games’ into</p><p>their head. All the terminology that made retailers</p><p>run a mile had been replaced with something</p><p>different. Themain NES unit itself wasn’t a console,</p><p>itwas a ‘control deck’. It didn’t play cartridges, it</p><p>played ‘game paks’. This point was driven home</p><p>further by a newly-created Trojan horse, or Trojan</p><p>robot if you will.</p><p>The Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B. for short,</p><p>was a 10 inch (25cm) battery-powered robot that sat</p><p>alongside the player and watched the TV with them,</p><p>reacting</p><p>this game’s levels are linear, the twist is</p><p>that there are branching paths to take,</p><p>meaning the route taken in multiple</p><p>playthroughs can be completely</p><p>different. You can also team up with</p><p>three new helper characters, including</p><p>Dracula’s son Alucard, who you can</p><p>switch to mid-game. n</p><p>CASTLEVANIA II: SIMON’S</p><p>QUEST</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>DESPITE DEFEATING</p><p>DRACULA at the end</p><p>of Castlevania, Simon</p><p>Belmont still feels</p><p>rough. It becomes clear</p><p>why when the vision</p><p>of a maiden appears to</p><p>him and tells him he’s</p><p>cursed, and the only way</p><p>of lifting the curse is to find Dracula’s five body parts and</p><p>burn them in his castle. Unlike the first game, CastlevaniaII</p><p>is a non-linear affair in which the player</p><p>explores the game world freely, talking</p><p>to townspeople and buying items</p><p>from merchants. Unfortunately, it</p><p>wasn’t nearly as well-received as its</p><p>predecessor, partly thanks to the</p><p>fact that some of the clues given</p><p>on your journey are so cryptic–</p><p>perhaps due to bad translation– that</p><p>beating the game without some sort of</p><p>guide is impossible for most players. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 48 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>49</p><p>FACT</p><p>The man in the iconic</p><p>image of the Chessmaster</p><p>that featured in many</p><p>versions of the game is actor</p><p>Will Hare. He was the farmer</p><p>in Back to the Future who</p><p>shot at Marty with a</p><p>shotgun in 1955.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In case you can’t tell</p><p>them apart, Chip is the</p><p>one with the small black</p><p>nose (like a chocolate</p><p>chip), while Dale is the</p><p>one with the larger</p><p>red nose.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A year after its</p><p>Australian release,</p><p>Championship Rally</p><p>launched on the Famicom</p><p>under the name</p><p>Exciting Rally: World</p><p>Championship.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s lead</p><p>designer and programmer,</p><p>Franz Lanzinger, originally</p><p>worked at Atari</p><p>where he programmed</p><p>popular arcade</p><p>game Crystal</p><p>Castles.</p><p>CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE</p><p>RANGERS</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>ONE OF MANY Disney-</p><p>licensed offerings from</p><p>Capcom, Rescue Rangers</p><p>is based on the Saturday</p><p>morning cartoon show of</p><p>the same name. The titular</p><p>chipmunks are trying</p><p>to find their neighbour</p><p>Mandy’s kitten– which</p><p>has gone missing– but they’re also concerned about reports</p><p>that there are mechanical bulldogs and robotic rats doing</p><p>the rounds. It appears that their nemesis Fat Cat</p><p>is up to no good, so it’s up to the duo to</p><p>investigate. The game is a platformer with</p><p>a block-throwing gimmick: players</p><p>can pick up objects, from crates to</p><p>giant apples, and throw them at their</p><p>enemies. Unusually for a game of its</p><p>era, there’s also a two-player co-op</p><p>mode in which both players appear</p><p>on-screen at the same time. n</p><p>THE CHESSMASTER</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Hi Tech Expressions</p><p>Developer Software Toolworks</p><p>IN THE WORLD of</p><p>chess video games,</p><p>The Chessmaster</p><p>used to be… well, the</p><p>chessmaster. Over</p><p>the course of eleven</p><p>games spread out</p><p>over two decades,</p><p>more than five</p><p>million Chessmaster</p><p>games were sold, and at one time its chess engine was</p><p>considered the 14th best in the world. The NES version</p><p>offers 16 different skill settings, ranging from</p><p>Newcomer up to Infinite (in which the</p><p>Chessmaster will think forever about</p><p>the best move to make until you</p><p>tell it to move). It has a library of</p><p>over 150,000 opening positions,</p><p>and also offers a ‘War Room’</p><p>viewpoint in which you get to see</p><p>what the Chessmaster is thinking:</p><p>this is designed to help those who</p><p>are learning chess. n</p><p>CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY</p><p>Year 1991 </p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer Human Entertainment</p><p>NES COLLECTORS</p><p>OFTEN struggle to</p><p>get hold of this one,</p><p>because it was only</p><p>released in Australia. It’s</p><p>a top-down racing game</p><p>similar to the likes of</p><p>Micro Machines, where</p><p>the aim is to become</p><p>the world rally champion. You do this by competing</p><p>in 34different races through the likes of Monte Carlo,</p><p>Sweden, Argentina and Greece, trying to</p><p>score as many points as possible. There’s</p><p>a basic tuning system in the game</p><p>where players can change between</p><p>2WD and 4WD drive trains, and</p><p>normal and turbo intakes. You can</p><p>also choose between snow, tarmac</p><p>and gravel tyres: each of the tracks</p><p>has a certain surface so choosing</p><p>the right tyre is key for grip and</p><p>performance. n</p><p>CHAMPIONSHIP POOL</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Bitmasters</p><p>NOT MANY POOL</p><p>games can claim to be</p><p>officially endorsed by</p><p>the Billiard Congress</p><p>of America but</p><p>Championship Pool</p><p>certainly can, proudly</p><p>displaying its logo on</p><p>the title screen. When it</p><p>comes to game modes, this one’s filled to the brim: as well</p><p>as a Tournament mode in which you have to win a regional</p><p>qualifier before making it to the finals, there’s</p><p>also a Challenge mode where you can</p><p>practice your skills and a Party mode</p><p>for up to eight players. There are</p><p>also no fewer than 10 different</p><p>types of pool here– 3-ball, 8-ball,</p><p>9-ball, 10-ball, 15-ball, 14.1</p><p>Continuous, Rotation, Straight</p><p>Pool, Equal Offence and Speed</p><p>Pool– so it’s safe to say the whole</p><p>package is fairly comprehensive. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 49 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>50</p><p>FACT</p><p>This is another game</p><p>heavily modified from</p><p>its Japanese release. The</p><p>Famicom version is based</p><p>on manga and anime</p><p>series Moeru! Onii-san,</p><p>aka The Burning</p><p>Wild Man.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In one cut-scene the</p><p>car’s driver is seen having</p><p>a smoke: it’s not clear how</p><p>this managed to get past</p><p>Nintendo’s inspections</p><p>as this was a big no-</p><p>no at the time.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version</p><p>of Chubby Cherub</p><p>was actually based</p><p>on Q-taro, a ghost</p><p>character from</p><p>a manga</p><p>series.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Both Chip ‘n Dale</p><p>games appear in The</p><p>Disney Afternoon Collection,</p><p>a current-gen Capcom</p><p>compilation that also</p><p>includes DuckTales 1</p><p>and 2, Darkwing Duck</p><p>and TaleSpin.</p><p>CITY CONNECTION</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Jaleco</p><p>A SORT OF cross</p><p>between Pac-Man</p><p>and a platformer,</p><p>City Connection</p><p>puts you in the</p><p>role of a jumping</p><p>car with paint on</p><p>its wheels. The</p><p>aim is to paint</p><p>every section of</p><p>the floor on each looping stage, while avoiding cop cars in</p><p>the process. If you can paint each individual section,</p><p>you’ll move onto the next stage where you’ll</p><p>repeat the process. Believe it or not,</p><p>there’s actually a plot to this: you’re</p><p>apparently a criminal who’s broken</p><p>into ‘an exclusive paint store in New</p><p>York City’ and have decided for some</p><p>reason that you want to paint all the</p><p>roads before travelling on to other</p><p>cities to repeat this. Hey, it’s as good a</p><p>reason as any. n</p><p>CIRCUS CAPER</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Toho</p><p>Developer Advance Communication</p><p>Company</p><p>TIM AND HIS sister</p><p>Judy approach a circus,</p><p>but they only have</p><p>enough money for</p><p>one ticket. Judy goes</p><p>in, but when Tim goes</p><p>to pick her up at the</p><p>end, he’s informed by a</p><p>chap called Mr Magic</p><p>that he’s kidnapped her, for reasons not quite made clear.</p><p>Timenters the circus tent to rescue her, and the</p><p>game– which is a standard side-scrolling</p><p>action platformer– begins. Along the</p><p>way Tim has to punch numerous</p><p>clowns in the face, and can also</p><p>enter doors to trigger odd bonus</p><p>mini-games. The first, for example,</p><p>has you teaming up with a bear to</p><p>jump over flames on the ground. If</p><p>you ask me, this circus clearly doesn’t</p><p>have a safety certificate. n</p><p>CHUBBY CHERUB</p><p>Year 1986 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>AS THE NAME</p><p>suggests,</p><p>Chubby Cherub</p><p>is a relatively</p><p>chunky, angelic</p><p>chap. It quickly</p><p>becomes clear</p><p>exactly why he’s</p><p>so rotund, as</p><p>his main ability</p><p>is eating almost</p><p>anything he comes across: strawberries, rice balls, kebabs,</p><p>you name it. There’s a reason for this rampant greed,</p><p>as every time you eat food his power meter is</p><p>topped up. When you run out of power</p><p>you can no longer fly, and what’s the</p><p>point of a grounded cherub? Along</p><p>the way, the chubster has to rescue</p><p>his friends, who are being held</p><p>hostage by burglars. In case you</p><p>haven’t quite managed to figure it out</p><p>yet, the tone of this game is all over</p><p>the place. n</p><p>CHIP ‘N DALE: RESCUE</p><p>RANGERS 2</p><p>Year 1994 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>THE RESCUE RANGERS</p><p>are back, and this time</p><p>they’re dealing with more</p><p>than a mere missing</p><p>kitten. Fat Cat is once</p><p>again causing mischief,</p><p>but this time he’s stolen</p><p>the precious Urn of the</p><p>Pharaoh. It’s up to Chip</p><p>and Dale to get the urn back and lock Fat Cat up in prison</p><p>once and for all. Chip ‘n Dale 2 plays a lot like the original</p><p>game for the most part, with the same</p><p>object-throwing gameplay and co-op</p><p>multiplayer option as before. This</p><p>time the levels are played in a</p><p>linear order (in the first game</p><p>the player could choose in which</p><p>order to take them on), and</p><p>there’s also a new co-op move</p><p>where one player can pick up</p><p>their partner and throw them at</p><p>enemies. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 50 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>51</p><p>FACT</p><p>As ridiculous as the</p><p>Cliffhanger movie is, a lot</p><p>was cut after test audiences</p><p>criticised how ridiculous</p><p>it was. At one point,</p><p>Stallone’s character</p><p>made a 300-foot</p><p>(91m) jump.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The name Clu Clu Land</p><p>is actually a mistranslation.</p><p>In Japan, ‘Kuru Kuru’</p><p>means going round</p><p>and round, so it should</p><p>have been called</p><p>Kuru Kuru</p><p>Land.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Each time you finish</p><p>a game you’re given a</p><p>four-digit code. This can</p><p>be entered the next time</p><p>you play to make sure no</p><p>puzzles are repeated</p><p>until you’ve played</p><p>them all.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Clash at Demonhead</p><p>is the name of one of the</p><p>bands in the Scott Pilgrim</p><p>vs The World movie and</p><p>comic books, so it</p><p>clearly has at least</p><p>one fan.</p><p>CLIFFHANGER</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Sony Imagesoft</p><p>Developer Spidersoft</p><p>BASED ON THE</p><p>the hit Sylvester</p><p>Stallone action movie</p><p>of the same name,</p><p>Cliffhanger is similar</p><p>to many other film</p><p>tie-ins in that the</p><p>8-bit NES version</p><p>differs greatly from the</p><p>16-bit ones. Whereas</p><p>SNES, Mega Drive and Mega CD owners were treated to a</p><p>side-scrolling beat ‘em up similar to Final Fight or Double</p><p>Dragon, the NES game is instead a more</p><p>traditional 2D platformer in which you</p><p>run, jump and fight your way through</p><p>six stages in order to reach Qualen,</p><p>a megalomaniac terrorist leader</p><p>who’s kidnapped your friends. As</p><p>far as action platformers go it’s fairly</p><p>generic, right down to the weapons</p><p>you can pick up: a knife, a gun, a stick</p><p>of dynamite and some rocks. n</p><p>CLU CLU LAND</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>ONE OF THOSE first-</p><p>party NES games that</p><p>isn’t quite remembered</p><p>to the same degree as</p><p>the Marios and Zeldas</p><p>of its time, Clu Clu</p><p>Land is an odd take on</p><p>Pac-Man where players</p><p>have to travel around</p><p>a maze uncovering</p><p>gold ingots that, when all revealed, usually form a picture.</p><p>The game’s protagonist is a balloonfish called Bubbles, and</p><p>whereas in Pac-Man you can move in all</p><p>directions, Bubbles can only move</p><p>forward. To turn, Bubbles has to hold</p><p>her hand out and grab one of the</p><p>levels’ turning posts, which let her</p><p>swing round. Although it isn’t one</p><p>of Nintendo’s major hits, Bubbles</p><p>did return as a hidden playable</p><p>character in 2005’s Game Boy</p><p>Advance game, DK: King of Swing. n</p><p>CLASSIC</p><p>CONCENTRATION</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Softie</p><p>GAMETEK MADE A</p><p>number of video games</p><p>based on popular US game</p><p>shows, including this one</p><p>based on the 1987–1991</p><p>series Classic Concentration,</p><p>hosted by Jeopardy!’s Alex</p><p>Trebek. As in the TV</p><p>version, players are presented with a 25-square grid and</p><p>have to turn them over to find matching pairs. As pairs</p><p>are removed a cryptic picture puzzle is slowly</p><p>revealed, and the aim is to figure out the</p><p>phrase before your opponent does. The</p><p>game also features the show’s final</p><p>round, in which players try to solve</p><p>a smaller grid within 35 seconds</p><p>in order to win a car (though this</p><p>is obviously less exciting when</p><p>you win it and realise a BMW isn’t</p><p>suddenly going to appear in your</p><p>driveway). n</p><p>CLASH AT DEMONHEAD</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Vic Tokai</p><p>IN CASE YOU</p><p>were wondering</p><p>which NES game</p><p>protagonist had</p><p>the greatest name,</p><p>I’ll put you out of</p><p>your misery: Clash</p><p>at Demonhead</p><p>has you playing as</p><p>Sergeant Billy ‘Big</p><p>Bang’ Blitz(!) as he sets out to rescue Professor Plum,</p><p>the creator of the Doomsday Bomb. He’s being held</p><p>captive at the top of Demonhead Mountain, so</p><p>you have to rescue him and deactivate</p><p>the bomb to make sure the world</p><p>isn’t blown to smithereens. This is</p><p>a Metroidvania style open-ended</p><p>platformer, but one in which</p><p>the abilities you gain are a little</p><p>more varied than usual. As well as</p><p>getting new weapons you can earn</p><p>the ability to shrink, fly, heal yourself</p><p>and teleport. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 51 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>52</p><p>FACT</p><p>As is often the case,</p><p>the Japanese version of</p><p>the game has a</p><p>much better title.</p><p>It translates to Human</p><p>Weapon</p><p>Dead Fox.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The music for Color</p><p>a Dinosaur was actually</p><p>composed by Tommy</p><p>Tallarico, who went on</p><p>to compose the likes</p><p>of Earthworm Jim,</p><p>Aladdin and Cool</p><p>Spot.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Cobra Triangle was</p><p>one of the 30 games</p><p>featured in Rare’s 2015</p><p>retro compilation Rare</p><p>Replay, which is</p><p>available on Xbox</p><p>One.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game ends with a</p><p>shot of a soldier holding</p><p>up a rifle in front of a</p><p>massive American flag. It’s</p><p>also revealed that your</p><p>character’s name is</p><p>General Power.</p><p>COLOR A DINOSAUR</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Virgin Games</p><p>Developer FarSight Studios</p><p>CREATED BY DR</p><p>Stephen Clarke-Willson</p><p>for his four-year-old</p><p>son Sam, Color a</p><p>Dinosaur was created</p><p>with a budget of $30,000</p><p>and was, according to</p><p>Clarke-Willson himself,</p><p>produced ‘on the absolute</p><p>cheapest cartridge Nintendo made’ and made ‘exclusive</p><p>to Walmart’. As the name suggests, it’s a colouring book</p><p>featuring 12 different illustrations of dinosaurs. Players</p><p>choose from a range of different eight-colour</p><p>palettes (some of which offer special</p><p>effects like glowing colours) and</p><p>colour in the dinos by choosing a</p><p>colour, switching between areas</p><p>with the D-pad and pressing the</p><p>A button to fill them in. Color</p><p>a Dinosaur has appeared on</p><p>numerous ‘Worst NES Game’ lists</p><p>over the years due to its simplicity. n</p><p>CODE NAME: VIPER</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Arc System Works</p><p>A MASSIVE DRUG</p><p>syndicate is operating</p><p>from seven hideouts</p><p>in South America. As</p><p>Special Forces agent</p><p>Kenny Smith, code</p><p>named Viper, it’s up to</p><p>you to visit each hideout,</p><p>rescue a missing agent in</p><p>each and try to bring the syndicate down to its knees. This</p><p>action platformer pays more than a passing resemblance</p><p>to Namco’s Rolling Thunder, with a lanky hero shooting</p><p>enemies while jumping up and down between</p><p>floors and entering doors for safety. One</p><p>thing it does have that Rolling Thunder</p><p>doesn’t is the uncomfortable fact that</p><p>the developers made Viper’s trousers</p><p>the same colour as his face, making</p><p>it look like he’s running around</p><p>completely naked from the waist</p><p>down and giving his codename a</p><p>differentmeaning. n</p><p>COBRA TRIANGLE</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>ALTHOUGH IT’S</p><p>NOT immediately</p><p>obvious at first</p><p>glance, Cobra</p><p>Triangle is a heavily</p><p>modified successor</p><p>to Rare’s RC Pro-Am,</p><p>released the year</p><p>before. Switching</p><p>from radio-controlled</p><p>cars to speedboats, Cobra Triangle mixes things up a</p><p>bit by giving you a range of different stage types– eight</p><p>in total– rather than just simple races. As well as these</p><p>races, other missions include guarding</p><p>swimmers from space ships, taking</p><p>mines to a disposal area, collecting</p><p>pods and– most memorably– facing</p><p>off against a selection of monsters.</p><p>These include giant enemy crabs,</p><p>sea serpents and sharks. The variety</p><p>of activities on offer across the game’s</p><p>25 stages make Cobra Triangle an</p><p>entertaining choice tothis day. n</p><p>COBRA COMMAND</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>IN EARLY 1988 Data</p><p>East released Cobra</p><p>Command in arcades.</p><p>It was a standard</p><p>side-scrolling shoot</p><p>‘em up in which you</p><p>flew a helicopter</p><p>from left to right,</p><p>destroying everything</p><p>in its wake. Later</p><p>that year Cobra Command came to the NES, but despite</p><p>the box referring to it as the ‘arcade hit’</p><p>it was actually a</p><p>completely different game, far more similar to</p><p>Broderbund’s Choplifter. Although you’re</p><p>still controlling a helicopter, this time</p><p>you control the direction it moves.</p><p>Armed with bullets and missiles (for</p><p>ground-based enemies) you have to</p><p>navigate through six stages, killing</p><p>enemies and stopping to pick up</p><p>hostages. You can also upgrade your</p><p>chopper, something else that isn’t in</p><p>the arcade version. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 52 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>53</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Conflict manual has</p><p>an extremely large table</p><p>showing the likely results</p><p>of every combination of</p><p>red and blue unit type</p><p>fighting each other.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s designer</p><p>(Yasumi Matsuno) and</p><p>composer (Masaharu</p><p>Iwata) would go on to</p><p>work together on the</p><p>likes of Final Fantasy</p><p>Tactics and Final</p><p>Fantasy XII.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Of the eleven pages</p><p>in Conan’s manual which</p><p>don’t consist of copyright</p><p>and legal information,</p><p>nine of them tell the</p><p>game’s story in</p><p>painstaking</p><p>detail.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s badly-</p><p>translated ending</p><p>says: ‘Your all mission is</p><p>all over. Thank you for</p><p>playing. Your great</p><p>player. This game</p><p>was ended.’</p><p>CONQUEST OF THE</p><p>CRYSTAL PALACE</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Asmik Corporation</p><p>Developer Quest</p><p>NOT ACTUALLY A sports</p><p>game based on trying to</p><p>defeat a London football</p><p>team, this is in fact an action</p><p>platformer about a 15-year-</p><p>old boy called Farron.</p><p>Along with his fearless dog</p><p>Zap, Farron has to restore</p><p>peace in the Crystal Palace (which is the game’s kingdom) by</p><p>tracking down the evil Zaras and destroying him. Oneof the</p><p>game’s quirks is that before playing you can</p><p>choose one of three power-up crystals</p><p>to help you out. Spirit lets you throw</p><p>fireballs, Life gives you more health</p><p>and Flight lets you jump higher.</p><p>This, along with the ability to</p><p>summon Zap to attack enemies on</p><p>your behalf, leads to slightly more</p><p>varied gameplay than in many other</p><p>2D action platformers at the time. n</p><p>CONFLICT</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Vic Tokai</p><p>A COMPLEX (FOR its</p><p>time) two-player strategy</p><p>game, with the aim being</p><p>to destroy the other</p><p>player’s commander’s</p><p>unit (a tank marked ‘H’).</p><p>One player controls the</p><p>blue army (the Western</p><p>Bloc) while the other</p><p>controls the red army (the Eastern Bloc), each of which has</p><p>a different range of planes, tanks, trucks and jeeps available.</p><p>The game’s map is a hexagon-based grid, with each hexagon</p><p>containing different terrain which can</p><p>affect unit movement. Players can earn</p><p>‘fame’ by destroying enemy units or</p><p>occupying cities and airports: these</p><p>fame points can then be spent on</p><p>building more powerful units.</p><p>When playing against a computer</p><p>opponent, they start with more fame</p><p>points: after all, nobody ever said war</p><p>was fair. n</p><p>CONAN: THE MYSTERIES</p><p>OF TIME</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Mindscape</p><p>THE MIGHTY</p><p>BARBARIAN warrior</p><p>Conan has to claim the</p><p>throne of Aquilonia by</p><p>finding the four burial</p><p>urns of the early kings of</p><p>Aquilonia and returning</p><p>them to their proper</p><p>resting place. Although</p><p>this is a licensed game featuring the use of the popular</p><p>Conan the Barbarian character, The Mysteries of Time was</p><p>not actually initially designed with Conan in</p><p>mind. It is in fact an NES port of System 3’s</p><p>computer game Myth, with its ‘teenage</p><p>boy sent back in time to legendary</p><p>eras’ plot replaced with the Conan</p><p>one. As such, it carries over all of</p><p>Myth’s least popular features, like</p><p>the fiddly weapon-switching and</p><p>controls: the need to press Up to jump</p><p>instead of the A or B button was one</p><p>particular complaint. n</p><p>COMMANDO</p><p>Year 1986 a </p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>A VERTICALLY-</p><p>SCROLLING RUN-</p><p>AND-GUN shooter</p><p>based on Capcom’s</p><p>arcade game of the</p><p>same name. Players</p><p>take on the role of</p><p>Super Joe, a soldier</p><p>who’s been dropped off</p><p>by a helicopter into the</p><p>middle of an enemy-infested jungle. Super Joe has to make</p><p>his way out of the jungle by emptying bullets into everyone</p><p>that moves. He’s also armed with a limited</p><p>number of grenades, which he can lob to</p><p>destroy large groups of enemies and</p><p>also take out the enemy commanders</p><p>who hide behind barricades. Super</p><p>Joe may be the hero here, but he</p><p>ultimately doesn’t end up looking</p><p>too super: he’s the soldier you have</p><p>to rescue in Capcom’s later game</p><p>Bionic Commando, which must be</p><p>prettyawkward. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 53 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>54</p><p>FACT</p><p>Contra Force was</p><p>originally supposed to be</p><p>a Japanese game called Arc</p><p>Hound, with nothing to do with</p><p>Contra. The Japan</p><p>release was scrapped,</p><p>but it came to America</p><p>with its new Contra</p><p>name.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The movie had a</p><p>budget of $28 million and</p><p>made a total of $14 million.</p><p>Its creator was unhappy</p><p>with the film: he wanted</p><p>to make it R-rated</p><p>but the studio</p><p>refused.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Probotector name</p><p>remained in Europe</p><p>for nearly a decade, with</p><p>every Contra game being</p><p>renamed until Contra:</p><p>Legacy of War arrived</p><p>on the PlayStation</p><p>in 1997.</p><p>COOL WORLD</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Ocean</p><p>Developer Ocean</p><p>BASED ON THE</p><p>flop 1992 movie</p><p>starring Brad Pitt and</p><p>an animated Kim</p><p>Basinger, the Cool</p><p>World NES game</p><p>features a completely</p><p>different plot. In the</p><p>tunnel between the</p><p>real world and Cool</p><p>World– a land inhabited by cartoons– there’s an object called</p><p>the Golden Spike of Power, which balances both worlds. Holli</p><p>Would (Basinger’s character) wants the spike so she can turn</p><p>human, but this may actually destroy both</p><p>worlds. In a fairly standard platform</p><p>adventure, Detective Frank Harris</p><p>(Pitt’s character) has to find five</p><p>pieces of a map to the tunnel and</p><p>find the spike so he can return it to</p><p>where it belongs. The SNES version,</p><p>meanwhile, is an adventure game in</p><p>which you play as the cartoonist who</p><p>created the Cool World. n</p><p>CONTRA FORCE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>THE THIRD GAME</p><p>in the Contra series</p><p>(the second being</p><p>Super C), Contra Force</p><p>is a standalone story</p><p>that has nothing to do</p><p>with its predecessors.</p><p>This time the threat</p><p>isn’t aliens taking over</p><p>the world, but more</p><p>traditional terrorists. A criminal organisation called DNME</p><p>has murdered an informant, so it’s up to the new C-Force</p><p>squad to take them out before they destroy</p><p>the city, ‘cleverly’ named Neocity. The</p><p>main difference between Contra</p><p>Force and previous Contra games is</p><p>that you can now choose between</p><p>four different characters, each</p><p>with their own strengths and</p><p>weaknesses. If that isn’t enough</p><p>to convince you that it’s worth a</p><p>look, bear in mind that one of these</p><p>characters is called Beans. n</p><p>them without dying. It’s also notable for being one of the</p><p>earliest games to use the famous Konami code, a cheat</p><p>(Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, or</p><p>variations on this) which usually makes games easier in</p><p>some way: in this case giving the player 30 lives instead of</p><p>just three.</p><p>Because censorship laws in some European countries</p><p>prohibited violent games like Contra, the European version</p><p>of the game was modified. Lance and Bill went from being</p><p>shirtless soldiers to cyborgs, and the game was renamed</p><p>Probotector to give the impression that the violence was</p><p>between robots, not humans. n</p><p>CONTRA</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>ALTHOUGH CONTRA WASN’T the first ‘run-and-gun’</p><p>game ever created, its popularity and perfectly balanced</p><p>gameplay mechanics mean it’s become synonymous</p><p>with the genre. Set in the Amazon jungle in 1987, the</p><p>game has Special Forces elites Lance and Bill sent to</p><p>investigate reports that a large object from outer space</p><p>which crash-landed 30 years prior has suddenly powered</p><p>up, and that its alien host Red Falcon has begun plans to</p><p>take over the Earth. The aim is to blast your way through</p><p>eight stages, taking out the Royal Guard (Red Falcon’s</p><p>alien soldiers), in an attempt to reach the top dog</p><p>himself and destroy him.</p><p>Contra is notorious for its high</p><p>difficulty level, with hordes of</p><p>enemies and one-hit kills. Although</p><p>a number of NES games were</p><p>similarly</p><p>hard, Contra is more</p><p>fondly remembered because its</p><p>deaths rarely feel cheap: with</p><p>practice and patience players can</p><p>eventually learn each enemy’s attack</p><p>patterns and figure out how to defeat</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 54 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>55</p><p>FACT</p><p>This is the fifth main</p><p>game in the Kunio-kun</p><p>series of games. Other</p><p>entries that made it to the</p><p>west in localised versions</p><p>include River City Ransom,</p><p>Super Dodge Ball and</p><p>Nintendo World</p><p>Cup.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although not confirmed,</p><p>it’s claimed that Crystalis’</p><p>story is influenced by the</p><p>Studio Ghibli</p><p>anime movie Nausicaa</p><p>of the Valley of</p><p>the Wind.</p><p>FACT</p><p>This is one of a number</p><p>of early Konami games</p><p>to include Konami Man,</p><p>a superhero character</p><p>who makes cameo</p><p>appearances. Here he</p><p>triggers a level</p><p>warp.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite the name</p><p>Cowboy Kid, the game’s</p><p>front cover depicts a chap</p><p>with a full moustache.</p><p>Cowboy Man would have</p><p>perhaps been more</p><p>appropriate.</p><p>CRYSTALIS</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>CRYSTALIS IS A</p><p>game that was roundly</p><p>ignored when it was</p><p>originally released,</p><p>but over the years</p><p>has developed a</p><p>cult following. Set</p><p>100years after a Great</p><p>War which ended</p><p>civilisation, the game</p><p>has a young magician who was frozen in ice during the</p><p>war being thawed out in the hope he knows how to defeat</p><p>Draygon, a new evil that threatens the world.</p><p>It’s a top-down action RPG similar to</p><p>the original Legend Of Zelda, but it</p><p>also borrows elements from the likes</p><p>of Mega Man and Metroid thanks</p><p>to the need to find four elemental</p><p>swords: each of these has an ability</p><p>that lets you access new areas, and is</p><p>also strong (or weak) against specific</p><p>majorenemies. n</p><p>CRASH ‘N THE BOYS:</p><p>STREET CHALLENGE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Technos</p><p>Developer Technos Japan</p><p>THERE MAY BE a number</p><p>of multi-event ‘sports’ games</p><p>on the NES, but this is the</p><p>only one about class warfare.</p><p>Crash Cooney and his ‘boys’</p><p>are students at Southside</p><p>High, a school for children in</p><p>working-class families. The</p><p>students from the other three ‘rich’ schools challenge them</p><p>to a no-holds-barred athletics competition, so the aim is to</p><p>notch up a win for the working man. Well,</p><p>working boy. The game consists of</p><p>five events which are more violent</p><p>than in normal athletics: the 400m</p><p>Hurt-les, Hammer Throw Golf,</p><p>Water Slaughter, Skyline Scramble</p><p>and Judo. Between events you</p><p>can visit the mall to buy sporting</p><p>goods, health food and other items</p><p>to improve your stats and give you a</p><p>winning edge. n</p><p>CRACKOUT</p><p>Year 1991 a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>KONAMI’S</p><p>ATTEMPT AT the</p><p>Breakout-style ‘ball-</p><p>and-block’ genre shares</p><p>more similarities</p><p>with Arkanoid than</p><p>anything else. As in</p><p>other games of its type,</p><p>the aim is to destroy all</p><p>the blocks in each of</p><p>the 44 stages by bouncing the ball off your bat and trying</p><p>to knock it in their direction. Much like Arkanoid there</p><p>are a number of different power-ups, as well</p><p>as enemies wandering around on the</p><p>screen. Where this differs slightly,</p><p>however, is that there are occasional</p><p>boss battles which help break up</p><p>the block-busting for a while.</p><p>Released only in Europe, Australia</p><p>and Japan (where it was called</p><p>Block Break: The Mysterious Wall),</p><p>Crackout is arguably one of the best</p><p>games in the ball-and-block genre. n</p><p>COWBOY KID</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Romstar</p><p>Developer Pixel</p><p>AN UNDERRATED</p><p>ENTRY in the NES</p><p>library, Cowboy</p><p>Kid is a visually</p><p>impressive action</p><p>RPG set in the Wild</p><p>West. Players control</p><p>Sheriff Sam and (in</p><p>two player games)</p><p>his slightly politically</p><p>incorrect Native American partner, Little Chief, as they try</p><p>to bring justice to Villatown. A group of varmints known</p><p>as the Scorpions have taken over the town</p><p>and potentially killed Sam’s father, so</p><p>as sheriff– with Little Chief as his</p><p>deputy– it’s time for Sam to put</p><p>them behind bars. Cowboy Kid</p><p>is an accomplished game with</p><p>large, endearing sprites, a catchy</p><p>soundtrack and a handful of mini-</p><p>games including Blackjack and a</p><p>shooting gallery. Some would argue it</p><p>deserves more recognition these days. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 55 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>56</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Power Pad was</p><p>Nintendo’s first attempt to</p><p>offer a fitness programme</p><p>for its players. It wouldn’t</p><p>properly succeed with this</p><p>until Wii Fit nearly two</p><p>decades later.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Danny Sullivan won</p><p>the Indy 500 in 1985, and</p><p>went on to win the 1988</p><p>CART Indy Car World</p><p>Series. He tried F1 for a</p><p>season but only got</p><p>2 points.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Cybernoid title</p><p>screen says the ship was</p><p>designed in 2117 by ‘M.</p><p>Sugden’. This is a reference</p><p>to Molly Sugden, a</p><p>popular British sitcom</p><p>actress.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The NES version of</p><p>Cyberball was originally</p><p>going to be an unlicensed</p><p>release by Tengen,</p><p>but Jaleco eventually</p><p>released the licensed</p><p>version instead.</p><p>DANNY SULLIVAN’S</p><p>INDY HEAT</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>A TOP-DOWN, SINGLE-</p><p>SCREEN racing game that</p><p>was a spiritual sequel to</p><p>Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s</p><p>Super Off-Road. Starring</p><p>American IndyCar hero</p><p>Danny Sullivan, it features</p><p>nine tracks with the aim</p><p>being to continually finish</p><p>first (otherwise you lose one of your three lives). Unlike many</p><p>other arcade-style racers, Indy Heat features a pit</p><p>system: if your car runs out of fuel and starts</p><p>driving slowly, or if you damage it enough</p><p>that it goes on fire, you have to steer into</p><p>the pits so your crew can repair it and</p><p>get you back into the race. The ninth</p><p>and final stage, the Tradewest Speed</p><p>Bowl, is based on the Indianapolis 500</p><p>race, though obviously licensing issues</p><p>preventing it from being called that. n</p><p>DANCE AEROBICS</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Human Entertainment</p><p>THE THIRD GAME</p><p>released for the Power</p><p>Pad floor mat, Dance</p><p>Aerobics offers a series</p><p>of exercises that involve</p><p>dancing on the mat</p><p>(in a way, it’s a very</p><p>early ancestor of arcade</p><p>dance games like Dance</p><p>Dance Revolution).</p><p>There are three main modes: Dance Aerobics consists of</p><p>eight progressively harder routines where you have to</p><p>follow an on-screen trainer’s steps, while</p><p>Aerobic Studios is similar but lets you</p><p>set a 5, 10, 15 or 20 minute workout.</p><p>Rounding things off is Pad Antics,</p><p>which offers a few mini-games that</p><p>have you playing music on the mat</p><p>or trying to place your hands and</p><p>feet on the mat to match an on-</p><p>screen diagram (similar to the party</p><p>game Twister). n</p><p>CYBERNOID: THE</p><p>FIGHTING MACHINE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Studio 12</p><p>THE PLANET EARTH</p><p>has stored all its rare</p><p>minerals and precious</p><p>gems in three random,</p><p>unassuming asteroids in</p><p>the middle of an asteroid</p><p>belt. Unfortunately, they</p><p>weren’t hidden well</p><p>enough, and space pirates</p><p>from the planet Zog have found them, stealing ‘jillions of</p><p>astralbucks’ worth of loot. It’s time for you to get it back, and</p><p>you’ll be doing it in the Cybernoid, a brand new</p><p>state-of-the-art combat ship straight off</p><p>the construction line. A side-scrolling</p><p>shoot ‘em up without any actual</p><p>scrolling, Cybernoid instead offers</p><p>three stages made up of numerous</p><p>individual screens. While this does</p><p>make things feel a little more static,</p><p>it does allow for a more interesting</p><p>journey in all directions instead of</p><p>simply going from left to right. n</p><p>CYBERBALL</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Jaleco</p><p>IN THE DISTANT</p><p>future– the year</p><p>2015– the American</p><p>football league</p><p>officially disbands</p><p>due to an ongoing</p><p>controversy with</p><p>players getting</p><p>surgery to replace</p><p>their body parts</p><p>with bionic machinery. The sport continues to be played</p><p>underground until the International Cyberball League</p><p>is formed in 2022, replacing all players with robots and</p><p>introducing other rule changes, such as</p><p>an exploding ball. Cyberball, then, is a</p><p>futuristic take on American football</p><p>where most of the same rules</p><p>apply. However, instead of having</p><p>four downs to gain 10 yards, you</p><p>instead get five downs to ‘defuse’</p><p>the ball by running it over one of the</p><p>defuse lines (the 50-yard line and the</p><p>endzone), otherwise</p><p>it blows up. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 56 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>57</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the game’s</p><p>manual proudly declares</p><p>that ‘Data East brings you</p><p>arcade realism at home’,</p><p>there never was a Dash</p><p>Galaxy arcade</p><p>game.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In some bonus sections,</p><p>Davey has to shoot a gun</p><p>out of an enemy’s hand. You</p><p>can either use an on-screen</p><p>cursor or the Zapper (if</p><p>you were still using</p><p>your Zapper in</p><p>1992).</p><p>FACT</p><p>Darkwing’s gas gun has</p><p>special attacks that deplete</p><p>his gas energy. The power-</p><p>ups that refill it are energy</p><p>canisters identical to those</p><p>in Mega Man (except</p><p>they have a G on them</p><p>instead of an E).</p><p>FACT</p><p>Darkman is one of a</p><p>number of R-rated movies</p><p>in the 80s and early 90s</p><p>(like Rambo and A Nightmare</p><p>On Elm Street) that were</p><p>marketed to children</p><p>through action figures</p><p>and video games.</p><p>DAY DREAMIN’ DAVEY</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer Sculptured Software</p><p>DAVEY IS A</p><p>schoolboy with</p><p>an overactive</p><p>imagination. When</p><p>he’s at school it doesn’t</p><p>take much for him to</p><p>start daydreaming and</p><p>before he knows it he’s</p><p>off to Ancient Greece,</p><p>the Old West or</p><p>Medieval England. In this game, Davey goes into a daydream</p><p>in order to resolve real-life incidents when he’s at school.</p><p>In an early example, the school bully Lumpy</p><p>takes his pencil, so he daydreams that he’s</p><p>a knight trying to get back his lance</p><p>(which conveniently looks like a giant</p><p>pencil). Its witty concept only takes</p><p>it so far though, and ultimately the</p><p>game itself is a little underwhelming</p><p>due to awkward collision detection</p><p>and some serious flickering making</p><p>some enemies hard to see. n</p><p>DASH GALAXY IN THE</p><p>ALIEN ASYLUM</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>DASH GALAXY,</p><p>FEARLESS space explorer,</p><p>has landed on a dangerous</p><p>alien planet and has to</p><p>leave by navigating his way</p><p>through the asylum’s maze</p><p>of rooms so he can reach</p><p>his ship. The game consists</p><p>of two different play styles:</p><p>starting in the elevator shaft of each floor, you’re given a top-</p><p>down view and have to push blocks around to gain access to</p><p>doors. When you enter a door the action switches to a side-</p><p>scrolling platformer as you try to collect stars,</p><p>bombs and keys. Although it’s a relatively</p><p>unique concept, the game was criticised</p><p>for its sluggish momentum-based</p><p>movement: despite his name, Dash</p><p>takes a while to pick up speed and</p><p>depending on how fast he’s running</p><p>his jumps are either extremely high</p><p>and slow, or extremely low and fast. n</p><p>DARKWING DUCK</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>CAPCOM’S OWNERSHIP</p><p>OF the Disney licence</p><p>continued in 1992 with</p><p>this game based on</p><p>the Saturday morning</p><p>cartoon Darkwing Duck.</p><p>A number of F.O.W.L.</p><p>agents including the</p><p>Liquidator, Quackerjack</p><p>and Wolfduck have been looting parts of St Canard as part</p><p>of a larger plan to seize control of the entire city,</p><p>so special intelligence agency S.H.U.S.H.</p><p>sends out the call for Darkwing Duck,</p><p>their beak-wearing freelancer, to</p><p>investigate. Much like DuckTales</p><p>before it, Darkwing Duck plays</p><p>like a modified version of Mega</p><p>Man, with some differences: as</p><p>well as the ability to jump and</p><p>shoot like Mega Man, Darkwing</p><p>can hang from ledges, and also has a</p><p>cape shield which deflects attacks. n</p><p>DARKMAN</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Ocean</p><p>Developer Painting By Numbers</p><p>A PLATFORM GAME</p><p>with an interesting</p><p>twist based on the 1990</p><p>movie by Sam Raimi.</p><p>Because the film is a</p><p>superhero story about a</p><p>scientist who can create</p><p>synthetic skin to imitate</p><p>his enemies, each of the</p><p>game’s five stages has you wearing a different ‘mask’, giving</p><p>you a different set of abilities. Before each stage</p><p>begins you have to try to take photographs</p><p>of that level’s boss, in order to get</p><p>reference shots to make the mask.</p><p>The better the photos, the better the</p><p>quality of the mask you make and</p><p>the more time you get to finish the</p><p>level (because the synthetic skin</p><p>disintegrates when it’s exposed</p><p>to light). A clever idea that adds</p><p>variety to the gameplay, since you’re</p><p>essentially five different ‘characters’. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 57 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>58</p><p>FACT</p><p>The 1981 arcade</p><p>version of Defender II was</p><p>called Stargate, because</p><p>Williams wasn’t yet sure if</p><p>it was still allowed to use</p><p>the Defender name.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Also in 1989, the PC</p><p>version of Defender</p><p>of the Crown was the</p><p>second computer game to</p><p>ever be released on CD-</p><p>ROM (after children’s</p><p>adventure game The</p><p>Manhole).</p><p>FACT</p><p>Deadly Towers was</p><p>originally supposed</p><p>to be called Hell’s Bells,</p><p>but Nintendo of America</p><p>said it wouldn’t issue a</p><p>Seal of Quality unless</p><p>the name was</p><p>changed.</p><p>FACT</p><p>While NASCAR would</p><p>frown at such suggestions,</p><p>the manual suggests that</p><p>‘cutting off other cars, even</p><p>bumping them aside, is</p><p>a legitimate tactic in</p><p>this game’.</p><p>DEFENDER OF THE</p><p>CROWN</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Ultra Games</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>THE YEAR IS 1149, the</p><p>place is England and the</p><p>status of the King’s heart</p><p>is ‘not beating’. With the</p><p>ruler dead, six lords are</p><p>competing to replace him.</p><p>Playing as a Saxon lord,</p><p>your aim is to initially</p><p>destroy the three Norman</p><p>castles to the south and claim the crown. To do this you have</p><p>to conquer lands and raid castles to earn money to build your</p><p>army. As the game proceeds you’re faced</p><p>with a number of tasks, from taking</p><p>part in jousting contests to rescuing</p><p>damsels in distress, to getting in</p><p>touch with Robin Hood to ask him</p><p>for help. The result is a strategy</p><p>game that’s surprisingly deep</p><p>and gained something of a cult</p><p>following, with numerous fan-made</p><p>remakes released over the years. n</p><p>DEFENDER II</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer HAL America</p><p>THE SEQUEL TO</p><p>Williams Electronics’</p><p>hugely popular</p><p>Defender arcade</p><p>game, Defender II</p><p>for the most part</p><p>plays similarly to its</p><p>predecessor. Set in the</p><p>year 7211, aliens have</p><p>once again attacked</p><p>the planet Ligaras meaning you have to head out in</p><p>your trusty ship again and stop the residents from being</p><p>abducted. While at first glance it looks almost identical to</p><p>the first game in terms of its side-scrolling</p><p>shooting and the ability to shoot aliens</p><p>as they carry away humans (letting</p><p>you catch the humans as they</p><p>fall), there’s one major addition: a</p><p>stargate. Fly into this and you’ll be</p><p>teleported to the nearest abduction</p><p>or falling human, letting you find</p><p>and reach danger quickly before the</p><p>abduction is complete. n</p><p>DEADLY TOWERS</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Broderbund</p><p>Developer Lenar</p><p>PART SIDE-SCROLLER,</p><p>PART isometric, this</p><p>action RPG puts you in</p><p>the armour of Prince</p><p>Myer, a young royal</p><p>who’s about to become</p><p>crowned as king. Sitting</p><p>by a lake and thinking</p><p>about his future reign,</p><p>the Prince is surprised when a shadowy spirit emerges from</p><p>the lake, forms the shape of a man and tells him that the</p><p>‘horrid devil of darkness’ Rubas is planning</p><p>to take over the land by building a castle</p><p>nearby and using its magic bells to</p><p>summon monsters. The aim is to</p><p>visit Rubas’ castle, climb each of its</p><p>seven bell towers, kill the bosses</p><p>there and destroy the magic bells.</p><p>Deadly Towers is notorious for its</p><p>enormous dungeons: there are 10 in</p><p>total and each has a large number of</p><p>screens (many have over 200). n</p><p>DAYS OF THUNDER</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>A RACING GAME</p><p>based on Tony Scott’s</p><p>1990 NASCAR-themed</p><p>movie starring Tom</p><p>Cruise. Playing as</p><p>Cruise’s character Cole</p><p>Trickle, you have to try</p><p>to win the Series Cup by</p><p>taking on seven races</p><p>and trying to finish top of the points leaderboard by the</p><p>end. Although it’s based on a Hollywood movie, the Days of</p><p>Thunder game is actually fairly complex, and</p><p>racing involves far more than just holding</p><p>down the accelerator and dodging past</p><p>opponents. You have to take your</p><p>fuel, engine damage and tyre wear</p><p>into account and regularly make</p><p>pit stops. Once in the pits, you</p><p>have full control of every element,</p><p>from swapping tyres to repairing the</p><p>engine and refuelling. This makes for a</p><p>surprisingly difficult game. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 58 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>59</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the box art</p><p>for Demon Sword shows a</p><p>Conan-style warrior, the</p><p>actual sprite wears a red</p><p>kimono. That’s because</p><p>it’s untouched from the</p><p>Japanese version,</p><p>where the hero is</p><p>Japanese.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the North</p><p>American version makes no</p><p>mention of the Second World</p><p>War’s North African theatre,</p><p>the last of the game’s five</p><p>available scenarios is</p><p>still called ‘North</p><p>African Front’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The US version was</p><p>censored to fit Nintendo’s</p><p>acceptable content guidelines.</p><p>A glass of scotch on the</p><p>Japanese version’s title</p><p>screen was replaced with</p><p>some coins, and most</p><p>dead bodies had their</p><p>blood removed.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The animated TV pilot</p><p>aired in February 1992 and</p><p>included voice acting</p><p>by Whoopi Goldberg and</p><p>Tim Curry. Christopher</p><p>Walken also provided</p><p>a voice but it was</p><p>replaced.</p><p>DESERT COMMANDER</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Kemco</p><p>Developer Kemco</p><p>ALTHOUGH NINTENDO</p><p>STARTED its series of</p><p>turn-based tactical games–</p><p>known among fans as</p><p>Nintendo Wars– way back</p><p>in 1988 with Famicom</p><p>Wars, gamers in the west</p><p>didn’t get a taste of it until</p><p>Advance Wars (the seventh</p><p>game) was released in 2001. That doesn’t mean the NES didn’t</p><p>have similar strategy games, however. Desert Commander is</p><p>based on the North African conflict in the</p><p>Second World War , and players can</p><p>choose between playing as the Allied</p><p>Forces and the Axis Powers. At</p><p>least, that’s the case in the Japanese</p><p>Famicom version. For the NES</p><p>localisation, all references to the</p><p>Second World War were removed–</p><p>presumably because a game in which</p><p>you get to play as the Nazis isn’t ideal–</p><p>and the factions became anonymous. n</p><p>DEMON SWORD</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>MANY GAMES OF this</p><p>era used the usual ‘an evil</p><p>force has taken over a</p><p>land so it’s up to the hero</p><p>to save the day’ storyline,</p><p>but Demon Sword’s plot</p><p>is so half-hearted that the</p><p>evil force in question here</p><p>is simply referred to as ‘a</p><p>dark fiend’. Mind you, it’s perhaps understandable given that</p><p>the hero’s name is Victar. Victar owns the rusted</p><p>old hilt of a legendary sword, so he has to</p><p>travel across the land to find the broken</p><p>pieces of its blade so he can kill his</p><p>generically-named foe. Demon</p><p>Sword was changed significantly</p><p>for its western release: the</p><p>Japanese version featured 13 stages</p><p>compared to the North America’s</p><p>seven, and while the western release</p><p>gave you a health bar the Japanese</p><p>one had one-hit kills. n</p><p>DEJA VU</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Kemco</p><p>Developer ICOM Simulations</p><p>‘YOU ARE WAKING</p><p>from a stupor that feels</p><p>like a chronic headache</p><p>after a week in Vegas.’ So</p><p>begins Deja Vu, a point-</p><p>and-click adventure set in</p><p>the early 1940s. Playing</p><p>as retired boxer turned</p><p>private investigator</p><p>Ace Harding, you begin the game by waking up in a public</p><p>restroom with blood on your hand (we’ve all been there) and</p><p>have to clear your name for the murder</p><p>you’re about to be framed for. Deja</p><p>Vu was originally released on the</p><p>Macintosh as the first in a series</p><p>of four ‘MacVenture’ games</p><p>designed to have a windows-</p><p>based appearance similar to the</p><p>Mac’s operating system. When it</p><p>was ported over to the NES this</p><p>design was changed a little, but</p><p>the general idea of using windows</p><p>to navigate remained. n</p><p>DEFENDERS OF</p><p>DYNATRON CITY</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher JVC</p><p>Developer Lucasfilm Games</p><p>JVC’S ACTION RPG had</p><p>a lot of hype behind it.</p><p>Defenders of Dynatron</p><p>City was developed by</p><p>Lucasfilm Games– before</p><p>it became LucasArts–</p><p>and its lead designer was</p><p>Gary Winnick (co-creator</p><p>of Maniac Mansion).</p><p>Meanwhile, Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell wrote a six-issue</p><p>comic series for Marvel while DIC Entertainment made an</p><p>animated TV pilot for it. Safe to say, this game</p><p>about a group of futuristic superheroes was</p><p>supposed to take the world by storm.</p><p>Ultimately though, the awkward</p><p>controls and sloppy hit detection</p><p>meant that rather than becoming</p><p>the next X-Men, the likes of Ms</p><p>Megawatt, Jet Headstrong, Monkey</p><p>Kid and Radium Dog instead faded</p><p>into obscurity and Lucasfilm Games</p><p>moved on to bigger and better projects. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 59 18/01/19 7:12 PM</p><p>60</p><p>FACT</p><p>There’s a bizarre Super</p><p>Punch power-up where</p><p>punching enemies sends</p><p>them spinning along the</p><p>stage, taking out other</p><p>enemies like a Koopa</p><p>Troopa shell.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Romance of the Three</p><p>Kingdoms is ideal if you</p><p>fancy some light holiday</p><p>reading: it’s 800,000 words</p><p>long and introduces</p><p>nearly 1,000 characters</p><p>over 120 chapters.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Devil did</p><p>eventually make it to</p><p>America as an assist trophy</p><p>in the Wii, Wii U and 3DS</p><p>Smash Bros games, where</p><p>he appears and moves</p><p>the stage to the</p><p>side.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Don’t let the plot excite</p><p>you too much: when you</p><p>finish the game you simply</p><p>get a message saying:</p><p>‘The people of Earth</p><p>welcome you home</p><p>again.’</p><p>DICK TRACY</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Realtime Associates</p><p>TO COINCIDE</p><p>WITH the Dick</p><p>Tracy movie starring</p><p>Warren Beatty and</p><p>Madonna, a bunch of</p><p>different Dick Tracy</p><p>games were released</p><p>for various systems.</p><p>While the NES game</p><p>used some of the</p><p>imagery from the film (including the iconic logo showing</p><p>Beatty in silhouette), the game itself is based more on the</p><p>comic strip with a total of 15 villains included, many of</p><p>whom were never in the movie. The game’s</p><p>split between driving and side-scrolling</p><p>sections as Tracy tries to find out which</p><p>criminals are responsible for certain</p><p>crimes. In an interesting twist, the</p><p>player has to follow the letter of the</p><p>law: if you shoot an unarmed thug</p><p>instead of punching him, you lose</p><p>health (the real Dick Tracy wouldn’t</p><p>stoop so low). n</p><p>DEVIL WORLD</p><p>Year 1987 a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>A RARE EXAMPLE</p><p>of a first-party</p><p>Nintendo game being</p><p>released in Europe,</p><p>but not in North</p><p>America. Devil World</p><p>is a slightly more</p><p>elaborate take on</p><p>Pac-Man: playing as</p><p>a green dragon called</p><p>Tamagon, you have to escape the Devil World by getting</p><p>through each maze. Depending on the stage, this could</p><p>involve eating dots (but you can only eat them while carrying</p><p>a cross) or collecting bibles and placing them</p><p>into a holy seal. While all this is going</p><p>on, the ‘Devil’, standing at the top</p><p>of the screen, gestures in random</p><p>directions for his minions to scroll</p><p>the screen, potentially trapping you</p><p>against a wall. Because of its use of</p><p>religious iconography, Nintendo of</p><p>America decided not to release Devil</p><p>World in North America. n</p><p>DESTINY OF AN EMPEROR</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>KOEI MAY HAVE been</p><p>the game studio best</p><p>known for its video games</p><p>based on Romance of the</p><p>Three Kingdoms, but the</p><p>fourteenth-century Chinese</p><p>novel was also (loosely)</p><p>interpreted by Capcom in</p><p>this strategy RPG. Starting</p><p>off with three warlords– Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu–</p><p>you can then recruit new warlords to join your party as you</p><p>progress. Whereas most other RPGs have</p><p>you fighting random battles against</p><p>standard enemies, in Destiny of an</p><p>Emperor you’ll regularly come</p><p>across other warlords and fight</p><p>them too. When you defeat one</p><p>there’s a chance they may ask to</p><p>join your group, but you eventually</p><p>have to get picky: while there are</p><p>150warlords in the game, you can</p><p>only befriend a maximum of 70. n</p><p>DESTINATION EARTHSTAR</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>AS FAR AS plots go,</p><p>Destination Earthstar has</p><p>an interesting one. Two</p><p>hundred years ago, a group</p><p>of humans were kidnapped</p><p>by an alien race called</p><p>the Kojans and brought</p><p>back to their planet as</p><p>slaves. As generations</p><p>passed, the Kojans gave humans rights and privileges, so</p><p>you’re chosen to fly back to Earth as an ambassador to find</p><p>out more about your ancestors. The problem</p><p>is, there are eight star systems between</p><p>your planet and Earth, and they’re</p><p>riddled with space pirates. Cue a shoot</p><p>‘em up played with two different</p><p>viewpoints: from inside the cockpit,</p><p>firing</p><p>at approaching enemies as</p><p>you approach an enemy base station,</p><p>then as a more traditional side-</p><p>scrolling shooter as you try to bring the</p><p>station down. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 60 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>61</p><p>FACT</p><p>Further noting its</p><p>audio expertise, Dirty</p><p>Harry is the only NES</p><p>game to credit its</p><p>composers on</p><p>the back of the</p><p>box.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the hero in</p><p>the Dig Dug games is</p><p>officially called Taizo Hori,</p><p>at this point he was still</p><p>simply referred to as Dig</p><p>Dug in the game’s</p><p>manual.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Die Hard has four</p><p>different endings,</p><p>depending on whether you</p><p>called the police earlier in</p><p>the game and whether</p><p>you kept the detonators</p><p>to stop the roof</p><p>exploding.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game ends with</p><p>Digger arriving at the</p><p>Lost City, and a ‘to be</p><p>continued’ message.</p><p>At the time of</p><p>writing, it never</p><p>has been.</p><p>DIRTY HARRY</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Gray Matter</p><p>ANOTHER NES</p><p>GAME based on a</p><p>movie considered</p><p>far too violent for</p><p>children, Dirty Harry</p><p>has you playing as</p><p>Clint Eastwood’s</p><p>legendary police</p><p>detective Harry</p><p>Callaghan as he tries</p><p>to bring down a drug kingpin known as The Anaconda.</p><p>Fighting your way through the streets, sewers, waterfront</p><p>and finally Alcatraz, you have to defeat San Francisco’s drug</p><p>gangs while destroying their weapon and drug</p><p>stashes. While it’s only loosely based on the</p><p>films– at no point in the five movies does</p><p>Harry find himself jumping on snakes’</p><p>heads in a crack den– it does feature</p><p>some impressive voice sampling,</p><p>including a full 20-second clip of his</p><p>famous ‘do ya feel lucky punk’ routine</p><p>when you finish the game. n</p><p>DIGGER T. ROCK: THE</p><p>LEGEND OF THE LOST CITY</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Milton Bradley</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>DIGGER T. ROCK</p><p>is a spelunker who</p><p>likes nothing better</p><p>than digging through</p><p>underground caves in</p><p>search of hidden wonders.</p><p>One day he finds a sign</p><p>pointing downwards</p><p>towards a ‘Lost City’. Keen</p><p>to see whether it exists, Digger decides his mission is to</p><p>explore further into the cave to try and find this mysterious</p><p>city. This is a 2D platformer with similarities to Boulder</p><p>Dash and Spelunker, in which Digger is armed</p><p>with a number of different tools to help</p><p>him dig through each stage. As well as</p><p>his trusty shovel, players can collect</p><p>rocks to throw at enemies, as well</p><p>as rope ladders and dynamite to</p><p>help him escape certain tricky areas.</p><p>Digger T. Rock was re-released on</p><p>Rare Replay for the Xbox One. n</p><p>DIG DUG II: TROUBLE IN</p><p>PARADISE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Namco</p><p>WHILE THE ORIGINAL</p><p>Dig Dug game is considered</p><p>an arcade classic and</p><p>regularly features on</p><p>Namco’s numerous arcade</p><p>compilations, its sequel</p><p>has been widely forgotten</p><p>over time. No longer set in</p><p>underground caves, Dig Dug II instead takes place on a</p><p>tropical paradise. The aim is still to kill all the</p><p>enemies to move on to the next level,</p><p>but now you have a new trick up your</p><p>sleeve. While you can still use your</p><p>pump, as in the first game, to inflate</p><p>your enemies and make them</p><p>explode, you can also now use your</p><p>drill to break up pieces of land and</p><p>make them collapse into the sea. This</p><p>can kill a number of enemies at once:</p><p>or you, if you aren’t careful. n</p><p>DIE HARD</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Activision</p><p>Developer Pack-In Video</p><p>THE BEST CHRISTMAS</p><p>movie that isn’t about</p><p>Christmas has been</p><p>immortalised in video</p><p>game form a number</p><p>of times over the years,</p><p>including this NES take.</p><p>As in the movie, John</p><p>McClane has to rescue his</p><p>wife and other hostages from the Nakatomi Plaza building by</p><p>defeating terrorist leader Hans Gruber. It’s a top-down action</p><p>game with a couple of interesting gimmicks,</p><p>including a ‘foot health’ meter. The more</p><p>you run or walk over broken glass,</p><p>the slower you get. It also makes</p><p>sure McClane has no advantages</p><p>over his enemies by deliberately</p><p>blacking out areas of the screen that</p><p>are out of his line of sight. This is a</p><p>big difference from other top-down</p><p>games, where the entire play area is</p><p>usually visible. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 61 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>62</p><p>FACT</p><p>The NES version of Donkey</p><p>Kong included new title</p><p>screen music, composed by Yukio</p><p>Kaneoka, which would eventually</p><p>become known among Nintendo</p><p>gamers as the Donkey Kong theme</p><p>despite not appearing in the arcade</p><p>original. Donkey Kong Country on the</p><p>SNES opens with Cranky Kong (the</p><p>ape from the original Donkey</p><p>Kong) playing this theme on</p><p>a gramophone.</p><p>before Nintendo kept its characters and IP on its own</p><p>consoles, Donkey Kong was already available on a host</p><p>of other systems, including the Atari 2600, Colecovision,</p><p>Intellivision and Commodore 64. Many of these</p><p>versions were also missing stages, and all of them were</p><p>graphically inferior to the NES version, which was as</p><p>close to arcade perfect as you could get at the time,</p><p>given the limitations of homegaming.</p><p>In 2010 Nintendo decided to celebrate the 25th</p><p>anniversary of Super Mario Bros. by releasing a red Wii</p><p>in Europe which contained a built-in Virtual Console</p><p>game, Donkey Kong: Original Edition. This newly</p><p>updated version of the NES game finally added the</p><p>pie factory level, along with the animation</p><p>of Donkey Kong grabbing Pauline and</p><p>climbing up the ladder at the end of</p><p>each level. The Wii version of Original</p><p>Edition was never made available</p><p>outside of these limited edition EU</p><p>consoles, though it did eventually</p><p>come to the 3DS Virtual Console in</p><p>Japan and North America through</p><p>special ‘buy game X and get this</p><p>free’ deals. In 2014 it came to the 3DS</p><p>eShop in Europe and Australia, where at</p><p>the time of writing it remains the only way</p><p>you can currently buy it. n</p><p>DONKEY KONG</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developers Nintendo R&D1,</p><p>Intelligent Systems</p><p>THERE ARE FEW games more important to Nintendo’s</p><p>history than Donkey Kong. Had it not been for the</p><p>struggling toy company’s decision to let Shigeru</p><p>Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi convert its failing Radar</p><p>Scope arcade machines into something more appealing,</p><p>Nintendo may very well have bowed out of the video</p><p>game market and we’d never have had the NES, SNES or</p><p>anything after that (not even this book, which would have</p><p>been the real tragedy).</p><p>If it’s somehow passed you by, Donkey Kong is the story</p><p>of a giant ape, who captures a young woman called Pauline</p><p>and climbs to the top of a building site with her. Her heroic</p><p>boyfriend Mario sets out to rescue her by making his way</p><p>to the top of the structure, with the aim being to loosen the</p><p>bolts at the top and send the angry ape plummeting to his</p><p>doom.</p><p>Because of the huge success of Donkey Kong when</p><p>it made its arcade debut in 1981, it was inevitable that</p><p>Nintendo would release ports of the game on its eventual</p><p>home console. It wasn’t an arcade-perfect</p><p>conversion, though: because storage space</p><p>was limited on early NES cartridges,</p><p>Nintendo wasn’t able to include all four</p><p>levels from the arcade version. As a</p><p>result, the second level– nicknamed</p><p>the ‘pie factory’ stage because it</p><p>consists of conveyor belts moving</p><p>piles of sand that look like apple pies–</p><p>was removed entirely from the NES</p><p>version, reducing the total number of</p><p>levels from four to three.</p><p>That’s not to say it wasn’t still a strong</p><p>port, though. Because these were the days</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 62 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>63</p><p>FACT</p><p>Hudson Soft made a</p><p>strange sequel to Donkey</p><p>Kong 3 for Japanese</p><p>computers, which featured</p><p>20 levels set in the likes</p><p>of a UFO, a pyramid</p><p>and an active</p><p>volcano.</p><p>FACT</p><p>During the NES’s run</p><p>Nintendo teamed up with</p><p>Sharp to make the Sharp</p><p>Nintendo Television, a TV with a</p><p>built-in NES. The Japanese version</p><p>of this, the My Computer TV C1,</p><p>came with a 2 in 1 cartridge</p><p>containing Donkey Kong</p><p>Jr and Donkey Kong</p><p>Jr Math.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Colecovision version</p><p>of Donkey Kong Jr was</p><p>supposed to have a bonus level</p><p>set in a bakery, with Mario trying</p><p>to drop pies on Jr’s head. Coleco</p><p>was forced to remove the level</p><p>after Nintendo took</p><p>issue</p><p>with it taking</p><p>liberties with the</p><p>licence.</p><p>DONKEY KONG JR MATH</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D2</p><p>THIS WAS AN early attempt</p><p>by Nintendo to make</p><p>education fun for children</p><p>by making a mathematics</p><p>game with the Donkey</p><p>Kong Jr engine. Players were</p><p>shown a number by Donkey</p><p>Kong and had to reach that</p><p>total by collecting numbers</p><p>and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division</p><p>symbols. While the intent was noble– it was supposed to be</p><p>the video game equivalent of crushing pills into your sick</p><p>child’s ice cream so they’d eat it– there was a</p><p>slight problem in that the game wasn’t</p><p>actually fun. Although the box said it</p><p>was part of the ‘Education Series’</p><p>(implying more were to come),</p><p>Nintendo quickly decided that</p><p>maybe ‘edutainment’ wasn’t</p><p>the road to go down and</p><p>went back to making games</p><p>about jumping on things’ heads</p><p>instead. n</p><p>DONKEY KONG 3</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>THE BLACK SHEEP</p><p>in the Donkey Kong</p><p>family, the third</p><p>game in the series is</p><p>more of a shoot ‘em</p><p>up than a platformer.</p><p>This time the player</p><p>controls Stanley, a</p><p>pest exterminator</p><p>who’s a bit annoyed</p><p>that Donkey Kong is hiding in his greenhouse. Donkey</p><p>Kong is hanging from two vines, and the aim is to</p><p>continuously spray him with your bug spray to force</p><p>him off the top of the screen while also shooting the</p><p>bugs that fly around and attack you as he</p><p>disturbs them.</p><p>The repetitive gameplay and</p><p>the lack of ‘spark’ that made the</p><p>previous games such a smash hit–</p><p>not to mention the lack of Mario–</p><p>meant Donkey Kong 3 was only</p><p>modestly received and Stanley went</p><p>into early retirement. n</p><p>grab two vines at the same time, which lets you climb</p><p>up quicker but down slower– mean Donkey Kong Jr</p><p>is initially a trickier game to get to grips with than its</p><p>predecessor was, but many who got over this initial</p><p>hurdle believe this second game is superior.</p><p>While the NES version of Donkey Kong was missing a</p><p>stage, that isn’t the case with the sequel: all four levels of the</p><p>arcade game are present here, making the NES port easily</p><p>the best home version at the time without question. n</p><p>DONKEY KONG JR</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>DONKEY KONG WAS a phenomenon in arcades so a</p><p>sequel was a no-brainer. Rather than simply offering more</p><p>levels though, Donkey Kong Jr turns the tables entirely</p><p>by making Mario the bad guy. After defeating the titular</p><p>ape in Donkey Kong, Mario’s imprisoned the big lunk in</p><p>a cage, meaning it’s up to his son to come after him and</p><p>save the day by unlocking the cage and sending Mario</p><p>plummeting to his doom. Hang on, that sounds familiar.</p><p>The main mechanic in this sequel is Donkey Kong Jr’s</p><p>ability to climb vines. Not only does</p><p>this let him get around, he can also</p><p>knock off the fruit that hangs on</p><p>these vines and drop it onto</p><p>unsuspecting enemies below.</p><p>As in the original game, the</p><p>player can only fall a very</p><p>short distance before dying, so</p><p>using these vines to navigate</p><p>each stage is essential.</p><p>The extra complexities of</p><p>the climbing controls– you can</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 63 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>64</p><p>FACT</p><p>A terrible Double</p><p>Dragon movie hit cinemas</p><p>in 1994. It was set in ‘New</p><p>Angeles’ and starred Alyssa</p><p>Milano as Billy’s girlfriend,</p><p>and Robert Patrick (aka</p><p>the T-1000) as the</p><p>main villain.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The final Obstacle</p><p>Course stage has you</p><p>waggling the D-Pad side</p><p>to side or up and down</p><p>for each obstacle.</p><p>‘Prizes’ include a holiday,</p><p>a BMX bike and even</p><p>an NES.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Saturday Supercade, a</p><p>cartoon show that ran in</p><p>the US in 1983–84, included</p><p>a bunch of short animated</p><p>segments based on arcade</p><p>games. These included</p><p>Donkey Kong and</p><p>Donkey Kong Jr.</p><p>than two enemies on-screen at the same time, and they</p><p>have to both be the same character. This also means the</p><p>arcade version’s two-player co-op mode is missing, since</p><p>the entire game would have consisted of two-on-one</p><p>battles. To Technos’ credit, it made lemonade from these</p><p>technically limiting lemons by adding a twist to the story:</p><p>whereas Jimmy Lee is the Player two character in the</p><p>arcade version, here it emerges he’s actually the Shadow</p><p>Boss, the final boss in the game. This would be more of a</p><p>shock if the game’s manual didn’t reveal this. n</p><p>DOUBLE DRAGON</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Technos Japan</p><p>WHEN PEOPLE THINK of side-scrolling beat ‘em ups</p><p>they usually think of one of three games, depending on</p><p>their past experiences: Streets Of Rage, Final Fight or</p><p>Double Dragon. Technos’ iconic arcade brawler– about</p><p>brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee heading out to rescue Billy’s</p><p>girlfriend from an evil gang– was released in arcades</p><p>in 1987 and came to the NES the following year. Rather</p><p>than a direct port, however, the NES Double Dragon</p><p>has a number of differences that make it feel almost</p><p>like a completely separate game. Each of the 10 stages</p><p>(spread out over four ‘missions’) is laid out completely</p><p>differently from the arcade version, and</p><p>players can also learn new moves as</p><p>they progress in a primitive sort of</p><p>‘levelling up’ system. While this</p><p>‘new’ adventure was a positive</p><p>for arcade fans, however, the</p><p>limitations of the NES mean it</p><p>has its drawbacks too. Nintendo’s</p><p>console isn’t able to handle more</p><p>DOUBLE DARE</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>DOUBLE DARE WAS</p><p>a children’s game</p><p>show that aired on</p><p>Nickelodeon from</p><p>1986 to 1993. This</p><p>NES version is faithful</p><p>to the TV version,</p><p>right down to the</p><p>chance to win prizes</p><p>in the final event, the</p><p>obstacle course. Players control a team of two children</p><p>and are given two rounds with 10questions in each. If a</p><p>player doesn’t know the answer to a question</p><p>they can Dare their opponent to answer</p><p>it, but they can then Double Dare</p><p>it back. If they do, the player</p><p>can instead choose a ‘physical</p><p>challenge’, which involves one</p><p>of eight different mini-games.</p><p>These include the questionable</p><p>‘Pie in Your Pants’, in which your</p><p>partner throws pies at you and</p><p>you have to catch them in your</p><p>trousers. n</p><p>DONKEY KONG CLASSICS</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo</p><p>NINTENDO MADE A</p><p>handful of multi-game</p><p>cartridges (see the end</p><p>of this section), but these</p><p>were mostly created to be</p><p>bundled with NES consoles.</p><p>For example, a Super Mario</p><p>Bros. / Duck Hunt cartridge</p><p>was included with the NES</p><p>Action Set, which came</p><p>with a Zapper gun. Donkey Kong Classics was the only</p><p>multi-game cartridge that was released by Nintendo for</p><p>retail sale, rather than as part of a system bundle.</p><p>It contains both Donkey Kong and</p><p>Donkey Kong Jr, both unchanged</p><p>from their standalone NES releases.</p><p>‘This double dose of monkey</p><p>business will have you rolling</p><p>in the aisles,’ reads the game</p><p>box, unaware that this phrase</p><p>only works with cinema, theatre</p><p>or anything else that has aisles.</p><p>Nintendo knew games, but it didn’t</p><p>know interior design. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 64 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>65</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you start a two-</p><p>player game the intro</p><p>refers to ‘Bimmy and Jimmy’.</p><p>As a tribute to this typo,</p><p>2012 reboot Double</p><p>Dragon Neon has bosses</p><p>called Bimmy</p><p>and Jammy.</p><p>FACT</p><p>One episode of TV show</p><p>Family Guy showed Peter</p><p>playing Double Dribble and</p><p>exploiting the three-point glitch.</p><p>The gameplay footage was taken</p><p>from a YouTube video: that video</p><p>was then removed by Fox</p><p>for showing copyrighted</p><p>Family Guy content.</p><p>FACT</p><p>If you beat the game</p><p>on its hardest ‘Supreme</p><p>Master’ difficulty setting,</p><p>an angel comes down and</p><p>brings Billy’s girlfriend</p><p>back to life.</p><p>As you do.</p><p>basketball intended. Much like many</p><p>sports games in the ‘80s it was</p><p>also limited in terms of content:</p><p>there were only four teams to</p><p>choose from and you could</p><p>only play exhibition games,</p><p>with no league or tournament</p><p>modes available. All this</p><p>aside, it remains a playable and</p><p>entertaining game to this day. n</p><p>DOUBLE DRIBBLE</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>THE FIRST BASKETBALL game to</p><p>be released on the</p><p>NES, Double Dribble remained one of the most popular</p><p>throughout the system’s life. It’s a port of Konami’s arcade</p><p>game of the same name, and offers full 5-on-5 basketball</p><p>on a scrolling court. For its age, Double Dribble plays a</p><p>remarkably authentic game of basketball, and its presentation</p><p>is impressive too. Games start with the Star Spangled Banner</p><p>playing as the crowd enters the arena, sampled speech is</p><p>present (even though it isn’t much more than a chap saying</p><p>‘Double Dribble’ on the title screen) and there’s even a</p><p>half-time show with cheerleaders and dancing mascots.</p><p>Performing jump shots near the basket triggers a brilliantly</p><p>detailed cut-scene in which your player performs one of three</p><p>dunks, the likes of which had never been seen in sports games</p><p>at the time. Despite its flashy appearance, however, it wasn’t</p><p>without its flaws: there were numerous areas on the court</p><p>where three-point shots were almost guaranteed to go in</p><p>(such as the extreme top corners of the screen), meaning two</p><p>players who had mastered this exploit would end up playing</p><p>playing something very different to the traditional style of</p><p>DOUBLE DRAGON III: THE</p><p>SACRED STONES</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Technos Japan</p><p>AFTER DYING</p><p>THEN coming back</p><p>to life, Marion– Billy</p><p>Lee’s girlfriend– has</p><p>disappeared for</p><p>the third time. A</p><p>soothsayer called</p><p>Hiruko explains that</p><p>the only way to get</p><p>her back is to find</p><p>the three Sacred Stones and bring them to the kidnappers.</p><p>Double Dragon III takes on a more international feel with</p><p>stages set in the US, China, Japan, Italy</p><p>and Egypt. The big change this time,</p><p>however, is the removal of the normal</p><p>‘lives’ system. Billy and Jimmy only</p><p>have one life each, but later in</p><p>the game you can add two other</p><p>characters– Chinese martial artist</p><p>Chin and Japanese ninja Ranzou–</p><p>to your party. You can switch</p><p>between each character, essentially</p><p>giving you more lives. n</p><p>DOUBLE DRAGON II:</p><p>THE REVENGE</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Technos Japan</p><p>DECIDING TO</p><p>COMPLETELY ignore</p><p>the massive twist in the</p><p>first Double Dragon,</p><p>the sequel pretends</p><p>Jimmy Lee was never</p><p>the leader of the evil</p><p>Black Shadow Warrior</p><p>gang and that he and</p><p>his brother Billy have</p><p>always been best pals. This time Billy’s girlfriend has actually</p><p>been killed, so it’s time to avenge her death. Double DragonII</p><p>has a number of notable differences over the</p><p>original game: two-player simultaneous</p><p>co-op is now available (hence Jimmy’s</p><p>return) and the levelling-up system</p><p>has been scrapped: you now have all</p><p>your moves at the beginning of the</p><p>game. Other than the first level, the</p><p>NES version is completely different</p><p>from the arcade version of Double</p><p>Dragon II, with entirely new stages and</p><p>a different final boss. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 65 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>66</p><p>FACT</p><p>Nintendo released a set</p><p>of Dr. Mario Valentine’s Day</p><p>Cards in 1990. One showed</p><p>Dr. Mario in an ambulance with</p><p>the message ‘I rushed right</p><p>over to say, won’t you be my</p><p>valentine?’. Which seems</p><p>like misuse of a hospital</p><p>vehicle.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Sometimes a game’s</p><p>ending doesn’t need to be</p><p>dramatic, it just needs to be</p><p>rewarding. When you beat</p><p>this game you’re reunited</p><p>with your brother and a</p><p>message simply reads:</p><p>‘Congratulations! You</p><p>are great.’</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s enemies</p><p>include Murphy – a</p><p>sleeping dog who wakes</p><p>up and attacks you – and</p><p>Rachel, a beautiful widow</p><p>who attacks you because</p><p>you look like her late</p><p>husband.</p><p>colours match up. Match up four or more in a row</p><p>and they’ll disappear, but the aim is to include a</p><p>virus in the group, because it’ll disappear along</p><p>with the pills. Each level is complete, then,</p><p>when every virus is removed. There’s also a</p><p>two-player mode, where players compete</p><p>to clear their bottle of viruses first: getting</p><p>combos forces random pills to slowly drop</p><p>down your opponent’s screen, holding up</p><p>their progress. n</p><p>DR. MARIO</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>ALTHOUGH MARIO HAD made appearances in other</p><p>non-platforming games before this point– including</p><p>the likes of Wrecking Crew, Pinball and Alleyway–</p><p>Dr. Mario was the first ‘proper’ Mario-themed spin-off,</p><p>opening the door to an eventual world of karting, sports</p><p>and party games. In it, Mario– who, let’s just assume,</p><p>has had the 11+ years of training required to become a</p><p>qualified doctor– is now working in the virus research</p><p>lab at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital, but something’s</p><p>gone wrong. According to Nurse Toadstool, one of the</p><p>experiments has gone out of control and the viruses</p><p>are spreading quickly. As luck would have it,</p><p>Mario’s developed a new vitamin that should</p><p>deal with them, so it’s up to the player to</p><p>help him out. The game takes place inside</p><p>a big jar, where a number of viruses are</p><p>lingering at the bottom. Mario regularly</p><p>tosses pills into the jar, each of which are</p><p>split into two colours. You have to rotate</p><p>and arrange the pills as they fall so their</p><p>DR. JEKYLL AND</p><p>MR. HYDE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Advance Communication</p><p>Company</p><p>DR. JEKYLL’S GETTING</p><p>married! There’s just one</p><p>problem: between his house</p><p>and the church are countless</p><p>enemies and obstacles</p><p>all seemingly out to ruin</p><p>his day, and if he gets too</p><p>angry he’ll transform into</p><p>the evil Mr.Hyde. As Dr. Jekyll, you must travel from left</p><p>to right avoiding enemies. As you take damage your anger</p><p>meter rises: when it’s full you’ll turn into</p><p>Mr.Hyde and you’ll play a mirrored,</p><p>auto-scrolling version of the same</p><p>stage. You have to destroy enough</p><p>demons (using your ‘psycho wave’)</p><p>to turn back before reaching the</p><p>point you reached with Dr. Jekyll,</p><p>otherwise you die. It’s an interesting</p><p>idea let down by awkward controls</p><p>and the high difficulty level of the</p><p>Dr.Jekyllsections. n</p><p>DR. CHAOS</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer Marionette</p><p>WHEN YOUR BROTHER</p><p>is a physics genius</p><p>who experiments with</p><p>warp zones, you’ve got</p><p>to be prepared for the</p><p>likelihood that something</p><p>might happen to him.</p><p>That’s what’s happened to</p><p>Michael, whose brother–</p><p>Dr. Ginn Chaos– has been missing for three months.</p><p>Heading to the doc’s house, Michael discovers that it’s full</p><p>of creatures and warp zones. Time to figure out what’s</p><p>going on, then. Dr. Chaos is similar to</p><p>Goonies II in that it consists of side-</p><p>scrolling platforming sections and</p><p>first-person room exploration</p><p>sections. In the latter you can</p><p>come across warp zones that</p><p>make enormous monsters</p><p>appear: if this happens you’re</p><p>sent back to the side-scrolling</p><p>stage where you have to defeat</p><p>the hefty beast before you’re able</p><p>tocontinue. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 66 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>67</p><p>FACT</p><p>If Zabbaong is one of</p><p>the worst villain names</p><p>ever, the boss for the</p><p>game’s fifth level may</p><p>have one of the best:</p><p>the Discorporeal</p><p>Skeleton.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s prologue</p><p>stage determines which</p><p>difficulty level you play. If you</p><p>beat it you get a blue dragon</p><p>and play on Normal difficulty,</p><p>but if you die you ride a gold</p><p>dragon on Easy difficulty,</p><p>which ends after only</p><p>six stages.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although numerous other</p><p>Dragon Ball games were</p><p>released in Europe, North</p><p>America didn’t get an official</p><p>one until Dragon Ball GT: Final</p><p>Bout hit the PlayStation in</p><p>1997, and even then only</p><p>10,000 copies were</p><p>initially released.</p><p>DRAGON SPIRIT: THE NEW</p><p>LEGEND</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Namco</p><p>DRAGON SPIRIT WAS</p><p>originally an arcade game</p><p>released in 1987. The New</p><p>Legend is an NES ‘sequel’</p><p>which is still based on the</p><p>arcade version but makes a</p><p>number of changes. Playing</p><p>as Lace, the son of the arcade</p><p>game’s hero, you have to save your sister Iris from new bad</p><p>guy Galda. Like its coin-op counterpart, it’s a vertical-scrolling</p><p>shoot ‘em up in which you ride a large</p><p>dragon which spits fireballs at your</p><p>enemies. The NES version, however,</p><p>has a different look and feel: your</p><p>dragon is smaller and moves</p><p>faster– making the game</p><p>a little</p><p>easier– and with fewer enemies</p><p>and more power-ups, it’s a more</p><p>laid-back experience than the</p><p>significantly more difficult original</p><p>arcade version. n</p><p>DRAGON FIGHTER</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Sofel</p><p>Developer Natsume</p><p>EAGER TO WIN the</p><p>‘strangest name for</p><p>a villain in an NES</p><p>fantasy adventure’</p><p>award, Dragon</p><p>Fighter tells the story</p><p>of an ‘envious and</p><p>malicious warlock’</p><p>called Zabbaong.</p><p>Jealous of the thriving</p><p>community and charitable nature of the people of Baljing,</p><p>Zabbaong and his monsters set the place ablaze. In the</p><p>middle of Baljing, though, is a statue of a warrior, and as</p><p>luck would have it the Dragon Spirit– who</p><p>protects the land– fires lightning at it,</p><p>turning it into the game’s hero. Cue</p><p>a side-scrolling action platformer</p><p>where you, as the Dragon Fighter,</p><p>have to battle through six stages to</p><p>defeat Zabbaong. The twist is, after</p><p>killing enough enemies you can</p><p>transform into a flying dragon and fly</p><p>around causing havoc. n</p><p>to keep your power topped up (it decreases</p><p>as you get hungrier). The story resembles</p><p>the Dragon Ball plot, but there are some</p><p>changes: in the questionable scene</p><p>where Bulma/Nora is asked to show her</p><p>underwear in return for a Dragon Ball,</p><p>instead she’s asked for a sandwich. A</p><p>couple of years later the game made it to</p><p>France, but this time it did have the Dragon</p><p>Ball licence, and was named Dragon Ball: Le</p><p>Secret du Dragon. n</p><p>DRAGON POWER</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>GOKU AND HIS companion Nora are on a mission</p><p>to find seven crystal balls. If they manage to find all</p><p>seven, the Dragon Emperor will grant them a wish. If</p><p>this feels a little familiar to you, that’s because Dragon</p><p>Power is actually a Dragon Ball game modified for North</p><p>America to have the Dragon Ball licence removed.</p><p>Whereas in Japan it’s known as Dragon Ball: Shenlong</p><p>no Nazo (Shenlong’s Riddle), in America the general</p><p>plot is the same but many names have been changed:</p><p>Goku remains the same but Bulma, Tamcha, Oolong</p><p>and Pilaf become Nora, Lancer, Pudgy and King</p><p>Minos respectively. Want to use Goku’s famous</p><p>Kamehameha energy attack? Go for it, but</p><p>now it’s called the Wind Wave. And it</p><p>isn’t Dragon Balls you’re looking for, it’s</p><p>Crystal Balls. Character renaming and</p><p>sprite modifications aside, the game</p><p>plays similarly to the licensed version:</p><p>it’s a Zelda-style top-down adventure</p><p>(with occasional side-on battle sections)</p><p>where you make your way through ten stages</p><p>fighting various enemies while eating food</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 67 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>68</p><p>FACT</p><p>In Japan, each Dragon</p><p>Quest game sold more</p><p>copies than the one before it</p><p>(3.8 million this time), but in</p><p>the US the opposite was true.</p><p>Dragon Warrior III sold around</p><p>95,000 copies, compared to</p><p>around 150,000 for the</p><p>second game.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s merchant</p><p>Taloon (known as Torneko</p><p>in Japan) starred in a spin-off</p><p>dungeon-crawling game. It was</p><p>to become the first game in</p><p>Chunsoft’s Mystery Dungeon</p><p>series, which later had</p><p>numerous Final Fantasy</p><p>and Pokémon</p><p>versions.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Dragon Quest I & II were</p><p>later remade for the Super</p><p>Famicom, using the Dragon</p><p>Quest V engine. This remake</p><p>then became a Game Boy</p><p>Color de-make, which was an</p><p>8-bit port of the enhanced</p><p>version. If that makes</p><p>sense.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Nintendo Power magazine</p><p>offered Dragon Warrior to</p><p>new subscribers to try to build</p><p>interest in the series. Nearly half</p><p>a million new subscribers took</p><p>the offer, and employees were</p><p>given shirts saying ‘I survived</p><p>the 1990 Dragon Warrior</p><p>mailing.’</p><p>DRAGON WARRIOR IV</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Enix</p><p>Developer Chunsoft</p><p>THE FOURTH DRAGON</p><p>Warrior has nothing to do with</p><p>the first three games, and is</p><p>its own standalone adventure.</p><p>It’s split into five distinct</p><p>chapters: the first four follow</p><p>separate characters, while the</p><p>fifth brings them all together</p><p>as (non-playable) companions of the actual hero. Because</p><p>in this final chapter you’re only able to issue commands to</p><p>your hero– unlike other party-based RPGs, where you can</p><p>tell each character what to do– a new</p><p>option called Tactics is introduced.</p><p>This essentially lets you choose the</p><p>strategy your four AI-controlled</p><p>partners will follow during</p><p>battles: for example, this could</p><p>be all-out offence, choosing not</p><p>to use magic (when doing so is</p><p>dangerous), or the odd ‘Try Out’</p><p>tactic, which results in a completely</p><p>random move each time. n</p><p>DRAGON WARRIOR III</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Enix</p><p>Developer Chunsoft</p><p>AFTER TWO GAMES</p><p>playing as descendants of the</p><p>fabled hero Erdrick, Dragon</p><p>Warrior III is a prequel in</p><p>which it’s eventually revealed</p><p>that you’re playing as Erdrick</p><p>himself (or herself: you can</p><p>choose your hero’s gender).</p><p>Accompanied by up to three companions, you set out</p><p>to stop the evil Baramos from destroying the world, but</p><p>is he actually acting on behalf of an evil greater power?</p><p>(Yes.) Once again the previous game</p><p>is built upon further with more</p><p>new features: there’s now a class</p><p>system, meaning you can recruit</p><p>the likes of Soldiers, Pilgrims,</p><p>Fighters and ‘Goof-offs’ to</p><p>your party. You can also add</p><p>and remove party members,</p><p>and a new day/night cycle</p><p>affects which characters and</p><p>quests you can encounter. n</p><p>DRAGON WARRIOR II</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Enix</p><p>Developer Chunsoft</p><p>SET 100 YEARS after the</p><p>events of the first game,</p><p>Dragon Warrior II stars a</p><p>descendant of the previous</p><p>hero. Your quest is to defeat</p><p>the evil wizard Hargon,</p><p>who wants to summon a</p><p>demon and destroy the</p><p>world. This sequel greatly</p><p>expands on its predecessor by providing a much larger</p><p>game map and introducing a party system. Whereas the</p><p>first game was a solo quest that strictly</p><p>consisted of one-on-one battles, this</p><p>time you’re eventually joined by two</p><p>of your cousins, which allows for</p><p>team battles against numerous</p><p>enemies at a time. Although</p><p>the first game was a success in</p><p>Japan, it was Dragon Warrior II</p><p>that really kicked off the series’</p><p>astronomical popularity, with</p><p>around 2.4 million copies sold in its</p><p>native country. n</p><p>DRAGON WARRIOR</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Chunsoft</p><p>WHILE THE FINAL</p><p>Fantasy games are the most</p><p>popular JRPGs in the west,</p><p>in Japan it’s the Dragon</p><p>Quest series that’s always</p><p>sold the most (1.5 million</p><p>copies for the first game</p><p>alone). Dragon Warrior,</p><p>then, is the western version</p><p>of Dragon Quest. Being the</p><p>first game in the series, its plot is fairly basic:</p><p>the evil Dragonlord has stolen magical</p><p>balls of light and plunged the realm</p><p>of Alefgard into darkness, so as</p><p>a descendant of the legendary</p><p>warrior Erdrick you have to get</p><p>them back. In a clever twist,</p><p>when you eventually reach the</p><p>Dragonlord you’re asked if you</p><p>want to side with him: if you</p><p>do he puts you to sleep and the</p><p>game freezes. That’s what you get</p><p>for being evil. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 68 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>69</p><p>FACT</p><p>Because it was bundled</p><p>with most NES systems</p><p>that included a Zapper gun,</p><p>it’s estimated that more than</p><p>25 million copies of Duck</p><p>Hunt ended up</p><p>in people’s</p><p>homes.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Publisher US Gold</p><p>released the other versions of</p><p>Dropzone and stopped paying</p><p>MacLean royalties after 18</p><p>months, claiming it wasn’t selling</p><p>any more (it was). MacLean</p><p>settled with them out of court</p><p>and bought a Ferrari with</p><p>the money.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The European version</p><p>of the game was tweaked</p><p>before release in an</p><p>attempt to improve things.</p><p>It runs faster and it’s more</p><p>responsive, but was made</p><p>even harder with new</p><p>hazards added.</p><p>your dog appears from the tall grass, proudly</p><p>showing off your catch. If you miss, however,</p><p>the dog starts laughing at you. The arcade</p><p>version, VsDuck Hunt, let you get your</p><p>own back by shooting the dog, but he</p><p>became such a cult figure that he actually</p><p>became a playable character in Super</p><p>Smash Bros. forWiiUand 3DS. n</p><p>DUCK HUNT</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>DUCK HUNT WAS originally Beam Gun: Duck Hunt,</p><p>a 1976 toy that projected the image of a duck</p><p>to certain actions or moments accordingly.</p><p>R.O.B. may have ultimately been a fairly useless</p><p>accessory with only two mediocre games to his name,</p><p>but he looked cool and robots were massive in the</p><p>‘80s, so he served his actual purpose well: to convince</p><p>retailers that the NES wasn’t just another video game</p><p>system.</p><p>The Nintendo Entertainment System ‘soft-</p><p>launched’ in New York on 18 October 1985, with</p><p>around 100,000 units distributed to the likes of FAO</p><p>Schwarz, Sears and Macy’s. Los Angeles got its first</p><p>stock the following February, and by the end of</p><p>September 1986 the NES had launched nationwide.</p><p>Most of mainland Europe also began to receive it in</p><p>1986 via various distributors, although this process</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 10 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>11</p><p>wasn’t quite as smooth. Someareas– like the UK</p><p>and Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Australia and</p><p>NewZealand– didn’t get it until 1987, courtesy of</p><p>toy company Mattel.</p><p>As the years went on, the NES became a huge</p><p>success, especially in North America: a particularly</p><p>impressive feat given that gaming’s name was as good</p><p>as mud to both retailers and the general public when it</p><p>made its debut. The steady release of games like Super</p><p>Mario Bros., TheLegend of Zelda, Metroid, Tetris,</p><p>Contra, Castlevania and Punch-Out!! ensured that the</p><p>quality shone through.</p><p>What about the other games? That’s what this book</p><p>isfor.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 11 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>The video game crash of 1983 was mainly due to the</p><p>slew of poor quality games, especially those available</p><p>for the Atari 2600. The initial success of Atari’s console</p><p>encouraged third parties to jump aboard and try to get</p><p>a piece of what seemed to be a lucrative cash cow. The</p><p>problem was, so many of these games were of such a low</p><p>standard that customers were sick of buying garbage</p><p>and the ‘fool me twice, shame on me’ rule came into</p><p>play. Tired of being burned by barely working products,</p><p>the public abandoned video games in droves.</p><p>Eager to make sure the same mistakes weren’t made,</p><p>Nintendo set up a licensing system for its games in an</p><p>attempt to make sure that nobody could make a game</p><p>for the NES unless it gave permission. Publishers would</p><p>have to jump through a number of hoops to get their</p><p>games onto Nintendo’s system: in theory, this would</p><p>have meant that anyone making a cheap low-quality</p><p>game in search of a quick and easy buck wouldn’t have</p><p>wanted to go through all the rigmarole.</p><p>In order that Nintendo could control the games</p><p>appearing on its system, publishers had to agree to a</p><p>strict set of licensing requirements. Nintendo was the</p><p>only company that was allowed to manufacture NES</p><p>cartridges, and publishers had to pay for them all in</p><p>advance. They had to buy a minimum of 10,000, and</p><p>any unsold cartridges couldn’t be returned to Nintendo,</p><p>so publishers had to be sure their game was good</p><p>enough to sell before going ahead with the process.</p><p>Another requirement of the licensing deal was that</p><p>publishers could release no more than five games per</p><p>year. While the reasoning for this was valid– Nintendo</p><p>wanted to make sure a bunch of sloppily, hastily-</p><p>developed games weren’t dumped onto the system– it</p><p>frustrated some larger publishers who had the capacity</p><p>to make more than five decent-quality games within</p><p>the space of 12 months. Most publishers put up with it,</p><p>but Konami chose not to: it set up two new companies,</p><p>Ultra Games in North America and Palcom in Europe.</p><p>Since these were considered brand new entities, this</p><p>increased Konami’s quota to 10 games a year.</p><p>All games officially licensed by Nintendo received the</p><p>iconic Nintendo Seal of Quality, a small golden emblem</p><p>that appeared on the game box and cartridge. Contrary</p><p>to what some believed, the Seal of Quality wasn’t a</p><p>promise that the game in question was a ‘quality’ title</p><p>that was great fun to play: it was simply a promise that</p><p>the game had met Nintendo’s quality control standards;</p><p>had met a basic level of programming competence,</p><p>wasn’t plagued with game-breaking bugs and essentially</p><p>just worked on the NES. Somewhat controversially,</p><p>the Seal of Quality was also an assurance that the game</p><p>met certain family-friendly criteria. This meant that if a</p><p>game had bad language, excessive gory violence or any</p><p>religious iconography whatsoever, Nintendo wouldn’t</p><p>approve it.</p><p>In all, there were a total of 714 officially licensed</p><p>games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. These</p><p>range from the ones everyone knows and loves– Super</p><p>Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and the like– to</p><p>exceptionally rare titles like Stadium Events and</p><p>Nintendo’s competition cartridges. You’ll find them</p><p>all in this section, along with notes on whether they</p><p>were released in North America or Europe. Bear in</p><p>mind that there were two different European regions:</p><p>PAL-A consoles are those released in the UK, Ireland,</p><p>Italy, Australia and New Zealand, while PAL-B ones</p><p>are those released elsewhere in Europe. Games from</p><p>one region won’t work in the other, although an easy</p><p>10-minute modification to your NES (involving</p><p>removing a single pin with a screwdriver) can undo</p><p>the region-lock. There are numerous guides online</p><p>showing how to do this.</p><p>LICENSED GAMES</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 12 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>13</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 13 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>14</p><p>THE 3-D BATTLES OF</p><p>WORLDRUNNER</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Square</p><p>DESPITE ONLY</p><p>APPEARING a year</p><p>and a half into the</p><p>NES’s life, it’s fair</p><p>to say this Square-</p><p>developed rail</p><p>shooter is one of the</p><p>most impressive-</p><p>looking games on the system. It’s little wonder, given that</p><p>designer Hironobu Sakaguchi, programmer Nasir Gebelli</p><p>and composer Nobuo Uematsu would all later become</p><p>famous as the main team behind Final Fantasy. Bearing</p><p>more than a passing resemblance to Sega’s Space</p><p>Harrier,3-D WorldRunner (as the US box</p><p>calls it) is a third-person game in which</p><p>you run, leap and shoot through pseudo</p><p>3D environments. It’s actually a proper</p><p>3D game too: by pressing the Select</p><p>button you can toggle a 3D view that</p><p>can be played with standard red and</p><p>cyan anaglyph glasses. n</p><p>1943: THE BATTLE OF</p><p>MIDWAY</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>1942 WAS SUCH a successful</p><p>arcade game, it made logical</p><p>sense that a sequel would follow,</p><p>and made similarly logical sense</p><p>that it would be called 1943. Still</p><p>set in the Pacific theatre, this</p><p>time you’re getting revenge on</p><p>the Japanese air fleet that bombed an American aircraft</p><p>carrier, with the ultimate goal being the destruction of</p><p>Yamato, a Japanese battleship. Whereas the NES version of</p><p>1942 was a straight port (albeit a weaker</p><p>one), this time it actually offers more</p><p>than its arcade counterpart. Players</p><p>can upgrade their plane, choosing</p><p>whether to enhance its attacking</p><p>or defensive power, fuel and</p><p>special weapons. As well as</p><p>offering more depth than its</p><p>predecessor, then, it also has</p><p>a vastly improved frame rate</p><p>making for smoother action. n</p><p>10-YARD FIGHT</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Irem</p><p>JAPANESE STUDIO</p><p>IREM originally</p><p>released its American</p><p>football sim</p><p>10-Yard Fight as an</p><p>arcade game in 1983.</p><p>While the Famicom</p><p>version had the same</p><p>high-score focused</p><p>gameplay, this NES port– which was a launch title in</p><p>the US– actually played differently. In the arcade and</p><p>Famicom versions the player only ever plays</p><p>as the offensive team: the goal is to</p><p>score a single touchdown before time</p><p>runs out, at which point you then</p><p>move on to the next, more difficult</p><p>opponent. The NES version, on the</p><p>other hand, plays more like normal</p><p>American football, with a standard</p><p>‘six points for a touchdown’ scoring</p><p>system and the player getting to</p><p>control both offence and defence. n</p><p>1942</p><p>Year 1986 a </p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Micronics</p><p>A PORT OF the first</p><p>game in Capcom’s 19XX</p><p>series of vertically-</p><p>scrolling shoot ‘em</p><p>up games. Set during</p><p>the Pacific War in the</p><p>Second World War</p><p>onto your</p><p>wall and challenged you to shoot it with a provided</p><p>light gun. When the NES launched nearly a decade</p><p>later alongside its Zapper gun accessory, Nintendo</p><p>decided to resurrect Duck Hunt as the game designed</p><p>to show off what it could do. The NES version has three</p><p>game modes: Game A gives you a series of 10 ducks,</p><p>appearing one at a time, and gives you three shots each</p><p>to take them out. If you to shoot a certain number of</p><p>ducks you’ll progress to the next level. Game B is similar</p><p>except the ducks come two at a time, while Game C</p><p>replaces the ducks with clay pigeons, which are</p><p>much smaller but move in a more predictable</p><p>direction. While there isn’t really much</p><p>more to it than that, Duck Hunt remains</p><p>one of the NES’s most memorable games,</p><p>partly because most people with a Zapper</p><p>owned it, and partly because of the</p><p>infamous dog. When you a shoot a duck</p><p>DROPZONE</p><p>Year 1992 a</p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Eurocom</p><p>ORIGINALLY CREATED</p><p>BY British developer Archer</p><p>MacLean (also known for</p><p>IK+ and Jimmy White’s</p><p>Whirlwind Snooker) for</p><p>the Atari 800, Dropzone</p><p>is a side-on shooter</p><p>that’s heavily inspired by</p><p>Defender to the extent that</p><p>it’s basically the same game with a few notable differences.</p><p>Firstly, your ship is replaced with a spaceman in a jetpack,</p><p>meaning when you don’t move your character’s thrusters</p><p>turn off and he slowly falls towards the</p><p>ground. Secondly, instead of simply</p><p>protecting humans from capture</p><p>you have to collect them and</p><p>place them in a ‘dropzone’.</p><p>Finally, rather than swooping</p><p>down and grabbing humans,</p><p>the game’s enemies instead</p><p>drop off androids (essentially</p><p>red-coloured humans) which</p><p>have to be shot. One of the better</p><p>Europe-only NES games. n</p><p>DRAGON’S LAIR</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher CSG Imagesoft /</p><p>Elite Systems</p><p>Developer MotiveTime</p><p>FEW ARCADE GAMES</p><p>were are visually</p><p>groundbreaking as</p><p>1983’s Dragon’s Lair,</p><p>which was actually a</p><p>fully animated cartoon</p><p>running off a laserdisc</p><p>inside the cabinet. There</p><p>was no way a home</p><p>console could handle that– at least not until the dawn of</p><p>CD-ROM– so the NES port seven years later was instead</p><p>a completely different game. The plot’s the</p><p>same: Dirk the Daring has to rescue</p><p>Princess Daphne from the evil</p><p>dragon Singe– but rather than</p><p>a video with a series of quick</p><p>time events, it’s a 2D platformer</p><p>consisting of seven stages.</p><p>Unfortunately, the clunky</p><p>controls, sluggish pace and</p><p>extremely high difficulty level</p><p>mean Dragon’s Lair is considered</p><p>one of the worst games on the NES. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 69 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>70</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s manual</p><p>suggests you draw a map</p><p>as you progress, as with</p><p>tabletop RPG games.</p><p>‘Good fortune go with</p><p>you,’ it states, ‘and don’t</p><p>forget your graph</p><p>paper!’</p><p>FACT</p><p>Launchpad McQuack</p><p>and Gyro call Scrooge</p><p>‘Uncle Scrooge’ in</p><p>DuckTales 2, even</p><p>though he isn’t</p><p>their uncle.</p><p>FACT</p><p>DuckTales was ported</p><p>to the Game Boy a year</p><p>later, and went on</p><p>to become Capcom’s</p><p>best selling game</p><p>on that system</p><p>too.</p><p>DUNGEON MAGIC:</p><p>SWORD OF THE</p><p>ELEMENTS</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Natsume</p><p>DARCES IS</p><p>AN evil Dark</p><p>Overlord who was</p><p>defeated 500 years</p><p>ago by the great</p><p>warrior Magi, who</p><p>had a legendary</p><p>suit of armour</p><p>and six ‘beautiful</p><p>swords’. Five of</p><p>these swords were</p><p>made with the powers of the elements while the sixth, Tores,</p><p>was made with an unknown metal and is the most powerful</p><p>sword in the world. Magi has long since died,</p><p>but Darces is back so it’s up to you to find</p><p>Magi’s six swords– really, how many</p><p>swords does one person need?– and</p><p>beat him again. This first-person</p><p>RPG is similar to The Bard’s Tale</p><p>but is notable for its massive</p><p>selection of spells: by combining</p><p>elemental runes, there are 243 in</p><p>total to discover. n</p><p>DUCKTALES 2</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>ALTHOUGH THE NES was nearing the end of its life</p><p>by the summer of 1993, that didn’t stop Capcom from</p><p>chucking one more gem onto Nintendo’s machine. In</p><p>DuckTales 2, Huey, Dewey and Louie find part of a treasure</p><p>map drawn by Scrooge McDuck’s father Fergus. Scrooge</p><p>heads off to find the McDuck family treasure, this time</p><p>taking in Niagara Falls, Egypt, the Bermuda Triangle, the</p><p>lost continent of Mu and his native Scotland.</p><p>Gameplay is similar to the first game</p><p>except Scrooge’s pogo jump is easier to</p><p>pull off (jump and press B instead of</p><p>Down + B) and he can now upgrade</p><p>his stick so he can hit harder, jump</p><p>higher and pull stronger. Because of</p><p>how late it launched, it’s considered</p><p>relatively rare. n</p><p>however, Scrooge is armed with his trusty walking stick.</p><p>This lets him thwack objects he’s standing next to, but more</p><p>importantly he can also use it as a pogo stick. This has a</p><p>variety of uses: he can use it to jump higher, he can bounce</p><p>on enemies’ heads to kill them, and it even lets him travel</p><p>over spikes without taking damage. DuckTales is well-</p><p>known for its non-linear gameplay– you can take on the</p><p>five stages in any order you want– and also its music, which</p><p>is widely believed to be among the best on the NES. n</p><p>DUCKTALES</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>OF THE MORE than 35 games released on the NES by</p><p>Capcom, DuckTales was easily the biggest seller. Around</p><p>1.67 million NES players owned its platforming take on the</p><p>Disney Saturday morning cartoon show starring Scrooge</p><p>McDuck and his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey and</p><p>Louie, and it became one of the most popular games on the</p><p>system as a result.</p><p>The story goes that Scrooge– who’s already a world class</p><p>millionaire– isn’t satisfied with his wealth because there’s</p><p>one thing he still needs: five lost treasures</p><p>that have been scattered around the world</p><p>and beyond. He needs to head to the</p><p>Amazon, the Himalayas, Transylvania,</p><p>Africa and even the Moon to find</p><p>each treasure, and maybe then he’ll</p><p>be happy. Maybe. Like a number</p><p>of Capcom’s other Disney games,</p><p>DuckTales is based on the Mega Man</p><p>game engine. Instead of firing bullets,</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 70 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>71</p><p>FACT</p><p>There are eight</p><p>opponents, each racing</p><p>you three times. These range</p><p>from the hopeless Seasick</p><p>Sidney to the champion, the</p><p>oddly weak-sounding</p><p>Disaster Don.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A sequel called Elevator</p><p>Actions Returns was</p><p>released in arcades in</p><p>1994 and later came to the</p><p>Sega Saturn, PS2 and</p><p>Xbox. It had three playable</p><p>characters and six</p><p>different towers.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite being a softball</p><p>game, the rules are more</p><p>like that of baseball. The</p><p>only real difference</p><p>is that here there are</p><p>only seven innings</p><p>instead of nine.</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you complete the</p><p>game, you’re given the</p><p>presumptuous message:</p><p>‘Congratulations!</p><p>You’ve finished</p><p>another great game</p><p>from Bandai.’</p><p>ELIMINATOR BOAT DUEL</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Electro Brain</p><p>Developer Sculptured Software /</p><p>Radioactive Software</p><p>A SPEEDBOAT RACING</p><p>game with 24 different tracks,</p><p>Eliminator Boat Duel (or</p><p>‘Elimonator Boat Duel’, as the</p><p>top of the cartridge says) features</p><p>two distinct types of viewpoint</p><p>and switches between them at</p><p>certain parts of each race. After a brief side-on section at the</p><p>start line you get either (depending on the course) a top-down</p><p>racing section similar to the likes of Micro</p><p>Machines, or a third-person behind-the-</p><p>boat view. As you progress and the</p><p>tracks get longer, the game starts to</p><p>switch between these views numerous</p><p>times during each race. The slightly</p><p>questionable aim to all of this boat</p><p>racing action, according to the manual,</p><p>is to win each race so you can end up</p><p>‘holding the trophy and the gorgeous girl’. n</p><p>ELEVATOR ACTION</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Micronics</p><p>SUPER-SLEUTH AGENT</p><p>17(CODENAMED Otto) has</p><p>been given a mission: land on</p><p>the rooftop of a 30-floor heavily</p><p>guarded enemy defence tower,</p><p>break in and make your way</p><p>down to the ground floor, while</p><p>stealing all their secret government documents from inside</p><p>any red doors you find along the way. Armed with a pistol, you</p><p>have to make use of the numerous elevators</p><p>and escalators inside the tower to make</p><p>your way down, while shooting the</p><p>countless enemies who emerge from</p><p>doors to try and gun you down.</p><p>As you get near the bottom of the</p><p>tower, things get more difficult: the</p><p>lights are off in one section, while</p><p>another has a more complicated</p><p>array of elevators, making you consider</p><p>which order to take them in. n</p><p>DYNOWARZ: THE</p><p>DESTRUCTION OF</p><p>SPONDYLUS</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Advance Communication</p><p>Company</p><p>THE PSYCHOTIC DR Brainius</p><p>has infected the man-made</p><p>Spondylus Solar System’s life</p><p>support computers with a virus,</p><p>and sent a bunch of giant robot</p><p>dinosaurs to take over. Professor</p><p>Proteus, the man behind</p><p>Spondylus, decides it’s time to unleash his own robosaur,</p><p>Cyborasaurus, to save the day. Dynowarz is a side-scrolling</p><p>action platformer consisting of two types of gameplay.</p><p>Each level begins with you inside Cyborasaurus,</p><p>trying to reach the artificial intelligence</p><p>compounds on each planet. When you</p><p>do, the Professor leaves his robo-dino</p><p>behind and enters the compound</p><p>in an attempt to destroy the virus,</p><p>before legging it back, jumping into</p><p>his metallic monstrosity and heading</p><p>to the next planet. While the idea of</p><p>robot dinosaurs sounds great, the game</p><p>suffers from being easy and buggy. n</p><p>DUSTY DIAMOND’S ALL-</p><p>STAR SOFTBALL</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Broderbund</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>DID YOU KNOW</p><p>every year the</p><p>world’s best softball</p><p>players take part</p><p>in the World</p><p>All-Star Softball</p><p>Championship in</p><p>Mudville? Probably</p><p>not, because they</p><p>don’t in real life.</p><p>They do here, though, and you get to choose your own</p><p>team of 10 from the 60players available. Impressively,</p><p>all 60– from Ace McFace to ‘Sparky’ Nackledrag– have</p><p>their own personality and abilities, meaning</p><p>you have to choose carefully to put the</p><p>best team together. The single-player</p><p>game involves defeating five other</p><p>teams of 10 from the remaining</p><p>players, before facing off against</p><p>the powerful, all-female Amazons</p><p>team. With six unique stadiums</p><p>(ranging from one on a cliff edge to</p><p>one in a local park complete with a</p><p>pond), there’s a lot of variety here. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 71 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>72</p><p>FACT</p><p>Excitebike spawned</p><p>a bunch of sequels,</p><p>including Excitebike 64,</p><p>Excite Truck, Excitebots and</p><p>WiiWare game Excitebike:</p><p>World Rally. Most recently,</p><p>an Excitebike track</p><p>featured as DLC in</p><p>Mario Kart 8.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bell and Braben fell out</p><p>when Braben reportedly</p><p>tried to sue Bell over a</p><p>1995 interview in which he</p><p>criticised the way Braben</p><p>handled the sequels to</p><p>Elite. The pair still</p><p>aren’t talking.</p><p>determines how cleanly you land. If it’s a sloppy</p><p>landing you’ll slow down, but if it’s a hopeless</p><p>one you’ll fall off your bike, wasting crucial</p><p>seconds. Excitebike was part of Nintendo’s</p><p>‘Programmable Series’, which means it</p><p>also has a Design mode where players can</p><p>create their own tracks. This mode has</p><p>‘save’ and ‘load’ options, but they didn’t</p><p>work because they were designed for the</p><p>Famicom Disk System, which didn’t make it</p><p>outside Japan. n</p><p>EXCITEBIKE</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>THIS NES LAUNCH game is a motocross racer where</p><p>balance is as important as speed. There are two main</p><p>game types: Selection A has you racing on your own,</p><p>while Selection B puts you against other racers. Whatever</p><p>you choose, the aim is the same: finish in at least</p><p>third place in a qualifying race to reach the Excitebike</p><p>(championship) race. Your bike has two speed settings:</p><p>the A button accelerates and the B button activates a</p><p>turbo boost. This makes you go faster but also overheats</p><p>your engine, risking shutdown. This is overcome</p><p>with speed arrows located on the course: drive</p><p>over these and your bike’s temperature is</p><p>reset, meaning skillful players can drive</p><p>with the turbo on for most of the race and</p><p>use the arrows to keep the engine cool.</p><p>It wouldn’t be a motocross game without</p><p>jumps, of course, and Excitebike’s come</p><p>in all shapes and sizes. Moving the D-Pad</p><p>left and right shifts your balance: this</p><p>controls how high and far your bike takes</p><p>off from a jump, but more importantly it also</p><p>pass through Nintendo’s family-friendly filter</p><p>unscathed. The trading element of the game</p><p>lets you trade in certain illegal goods,</p><p>which in other versions includes narcotics</p><p>and slaves. In the NES port, these have</p><p>been replaced with exotic species and</p><p>the somewhat less controversial but</p><p>significantly cooler-sounding robot</p><p>slaves. Of all the NES games that made it</p><p>to Europe but not North America, Elite is</p><p>arguably the best of thebunch. n</p><p>ELITE</p><p>Year 1991 a</p><p>Publisher Imagineer</p><p>Developer Ian Bell & David Braben</p><p>ELITE WAS ORIGINALLY created for the BBC Micro</p><p>and Acorn Electron in 1984 by British developers Ian</p><p>Bell and David Braben, and was subsequently ported</p><p>to a wide variety of home computers. The NES version,</p><p>released seven years later, was the only console port.</p><p>It’s a critically acclaimed space trading game in which</p><p>players– starting off at a space station with a measly 100</p><p>credits and a low-powered ship to their name– head out</p><p>and discover their own adventure by playing the game</p><p>however they see fit. You can take on missions for</p><p>the military, mine asteroids, become a bounty</p><p>hunter, try a spot of space piracy, or just</p><p>stick to your designated role and take part</p><p>in a spot of trading. The sheer size of</p><p>Elite– there are over 2,000 procedurally</p><p>generated planets in the game– gave it</p><p>a real sense of scale and made players</p><p>feel like they really were exploring</p><p>space. Bell and Braben have each stated</p><p>that they believe the NES version to be</p><p>one of the best, although it didn’t completely</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 72 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>73</p><p>FACT</p><p>Faria’s program</p><p>director was Takashi</p><p>Miyaji, who went on to work</p><p>on the much loved Lunar</p><p>and Grandia RPGs as</p><p>designer and director</p><p>respectively.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There were two more</p><p>F-15 Strike Eagle games.</p><p>The second also got a</p><p>console release, making it</p><p>to the Sega Mega Drive.</p><p>The third, however,</p><p>was PC-only.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There have been over</p><p>60 international versions</p><p>of Family Feud over the</p><p>years, including Mexico’s</p><p>100 Mexicans Said and</p><p>Japan’s I Quizzed</p><p>100 People.</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you finish the</p><p>game a parade is held in</p><p>your name. Bystanders hold</p><p>signs saying ‘Cheers for</p><p>our stealth pilot,’ ‘MPS</p><p>games are the best’</p><p>and ‘this space</p><p>for rent’.</p><p>FARIA: A WORLD OF</p><p>MYSTERY AND DANGER!</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Nexoft</p><p>Developer Game Arts</p><p>THIS ACTION RPG starts off</p><p>as one story, but then throws</p><p>an interesting twist into the</p><p>works. As ever, a princess</p><p>has been kidnapped, and the</p><p>King of Faria has offered her</p><p>hand in marriage to whoever</p><p>rescues her. Your character, an</p><p>immigrant soldier, heads out and saves the day, but the thing</p><p>is you’re a woman. The King instead throws a party but an</p><p>unknown man poisons the food, making all the townspeople</p><p>sick. Turns out your quest is nowhere near</p><p>over! Faria borrows elements from</p><p>numerous games: although the town</p><p>exploration and random battle</p><p>encounters are similar to traditional</p><p>RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon</p><p>Quest, these battles are Zelda-like</p><p>real-time fights. Faria’s story is clever,</p><p>but the amount of grinding needed to</p><p>level up renders it repetitive. n</p><p>FAMILY FEUD</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>ANOTHER IN</p><p>GAMETEK’S series</p><p>of game show</p><p>adaptations, this time</p><p>based on CBS’s late</p><p>‘80s revival of Family</p><p>Feud (better known</p><p>in the UK as Family</p><p>Fortunes). As in the</p><p>show, two teams</p><p>of five families try to guess answers from a list of survey</p><p>results in an attempt to eventually reach 200 points and</p><p>take part in the Fast Money Round, where they can win</p><p>up to $20,000. Given the random nature of the</p><p>answers in a show like this, Family Feud</p><p>is not a multiple-choice game. Instead,</p><p>players must type in their guesses.</p><p>Because of this, the game</p><p>has error</p><p>correction built in: if players spell</p><p>an answer incorrectly but the game</p><p>can tell what they meant, it awards</p><p>a right answer and shows the correct</p><p>spelling. n</p><p>F-15 STRIKE EAGLE</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher MicroProse</p><p>Developer MicroProse</p><p>THE GAME ON which</p><p>F-117A Stealth Fighter was</p><p>based, F-15 Strike Eagle was</p><p>released on a variety of home</p><p>computers throughout the</p><p>late 1980s before making it</p><p>to the NES. Naturally, both it</p><p>and F-117A look very similar,</p><p>although this time you’re instead flying a McDonnell</p><p>Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. Based primarily on</p><p>the Gulf War, there are seven main missions this time,</p><p>taking you to the likes of Libya, the Iraq–Kuwait</p><p>border, Karbala, Basra, Southern Kuwait</p><p>and Baghdad. Each mission gives you</p><p>a number of primary and secondary</p><p>targets which you have to locate and</p><p>bomb while also gunning down any</p><p>enemy aircraft you come across.</p><p>There’s an Ace difficulty level which</p><p>unlocks some secret missions, but</p><p>they’re fairly standard and don’t involve</p><p>aliens this time. n</p><p>F-117A STEALTH FIGHTER</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher MicroProse</p><p>Developer MicroProse</p><p>A LARGE PART of</p><p>what made MicroProse</p><p>so successful in the</p><p>1980s and early 1990s</p><p>was its combat flight</p><p>simulation games. It</p><p>published more than ten</p><p>different air combat sims</p><p>during this period, and</p><p>while most were designed with home computers in mind,</p><p>F-117A Stealth Fighter is the only one released solely on</p><p>the NES. Sitting in the cockpit of a F-117A</p><p>Nighthawk (the world’s first stealth jet),</p><p>you take on a number of missions,</p><p>many of which are initially based on</p><p>real-life conflicts like the Gulf War</p><p>and the US invasion of Panama.</p><p>As you progress, you move onto</p><p>fictional conflicts, such as a war in</p><p>Korea. You even get to fight UFOs,</p><p>after you learn that aliens have set up</p><p>a secret base near the North Pole. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 73 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>74</p><p>FACT</p><p>The manual perhaps</p><p>realises that the game’s a</p><p>little on the tricky side, as</p><p>it advises that ‘the use of a</p><p>‘Turbo’ type joystick with</p><p>rapid fire feature</p><p>will be quite</p><p>helpful’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Hudson Soft introduced</p><p>a free booklet in 1992</p><p>called Master Higgins’ 10 Tips</p><p>for Responsible Play. It was</p><p>advertised in manuals for games</p><p>like Felix the Cat and parents</p><p>could order it to learn how</p><p>to stop their kids playing</p><p>too much.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Scuderia Ferrari</p><p>F1 team has won 16 F1</p><p>championships at the time of</p><p>writing, though they weren’t</p><p>doing so hot when this game</p><p>was released. After winning</p><p>in 1983, they didn’t win</p><p>again until 1999.</p><p>FACT</p><p>According to the manual,</p><p>the ‘Evil Place’ where</p><p>the Evil One lives is called</p><p>Dartmoor, which will be</p><p>disappointing to residents of</p><p>Devon in England where</p><p>an area of moorland has</p><p>the same name.</p><p>FESTER’S QUEST</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>A CURIOUS ADDAMS</p><p>Family spin-off starring</p><p>the bald and bizarre</p><p>Uncle Fester. While</p><p>out moonbathing one</p><p>night, Fester sees a giant</p><p>UFO descend from the</p><p>sky and shine a huge</p><p>beam of light down</p><p>onto the city. Deciding to investigate, he heads off into</p><p>the city and finds himself smack-dab in the middle of an</p><p>alien invasion. The game’s a top-down shooter similar</p><p>to the maze sections in Sunsoft’s Blaster Master, and</p><p>you’re armed with two main weapons– a</p><p>gun and a whip– which can either</p><p>be upgraded or downgraded</p><p>depending on what power-ups you</p><p>collect. It’s notorious for being an</p><p>extremely difficult game though</p><p>this is alleviated a little by noose</p><p>power-ups: use one of these and</p><p>Lurch appears, killing all on-screen</p><p>enemies. n</p><p>FERRARI GRAND</p><p>PRIX CHALLENGE</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer System 3</p><p>A RACING GAME based</p><p>on the Formula One</p><p>world championship and</p><p>developed by British studio</p><p>System 3. Playing as a Ferrari</p><p>driver, you take part in a full</p><p>16-race season, taking on</p><p>each track in the same order</p><p>as in the 1990 and 1991 F1</p><p>campaigns. Each track has its own unique background image,</p><p>meaning Monaco has a city-like landscape</p><p>(even though you don’t actually race</p><p>through the streets as in real life).</p><p>Each race has a qualifying lap</p><p>which determines your starting</p><p>position, then it’s onto the main</p><p>event itself. Damaging your car or</p><p>wearing out its tyres requires a pit</p><p>stop, where how fast you can press</p><p>the A and B buttons determines</p><p>how quickly you leave the pit area. n</p><p>FELIX THE CAT</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Shimada Kikaku</p><p>ONE OF THE NES’s</p><p>hidden gems, Felix the</p><p>Cat is an entertaining</p><p>platformer starring the</p><p>classic cartoon character</p><p>from the silent film era</p><p>(though this game is based</p><p>on the more modern</p><p>design introduced in the</p><p>1950s). The evil Professor has kidnapped Felix’s girlfriend</p><p>Kitty Cat and taken her far away. He’ll only give her back</p><p>if Felix hands over his famous ‘Magic</p><p>Bag of Tricks’ so off Felix heads, bag</p><p>in hand, to try to rescue Kitty</p><p>without giving the Professor</p><p>what he wants. The game takes</p><p>place over nine worlds, and</p><p>you’ll make use of Felix’s bag</p><p>throughout: the standard attack</p><p>makes a boxing glove pop out</p><p>of the bag, while in later levels it</p><p>transforms into a boat, a plane and</p><p>even a spaceship. n</p><p>FAXANADU</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Hudson Soft</p><p>THE ELF TOWN</p><p>of Eolis used to be a</p><p>peace-loving place,</p><p>until meteorites started</p><p>raining down on its</p><p>World Tree, drying up</p><p>the land’s water. Evil</p><p>dwarves have taken</p><p>this opportunity to</p><p>invade Eolis and cause havoc, so the Elven king gives your</p><p>unnamed hero 1500 gold and asks you to enter the World</p><p>Tree, travel through it to reach the Evil Place,</p><p>and destroy the Evil One who caused</p><p>all this. Faxanadu is a difficult but</p><p>entertaining side-scrolling mashup</p><p>of genres: while it’s technically an</p><p>action platformer similar to the</p><p>likes of Castlevania, the fact you</p><p>can also gain experience, visit</p><p>towns and talk to their residents,</p><p>use magic and collect items means</p><p>it’s technically part-platformer,</p><p>part-RPG. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 74 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>75</p><p>FACT</p><p>In the Japanese version, a</p><p>gravestone in Elfheim reads</p><p>‘here lies Link’, a reference</p><p>to the Zelda games. Because</p><p>Nintendo published the game in</p><p>the west, the American version</p><p>was changed to ‘here lies</p><p>Erdrick’, a dig at Dragon</p><p>Quest.</p><p>party of four characters on-screen during</p><p>battles – something not even Dragon</p><p>Quest did– helped players relate to them</p><p>and connect with them more. The six</p><p>different classes (Fighter, Thief, Black</p><p>Belt and Red, White and Black Mage)</p><p>could be upgraded later in the game: this</p><p>changed the character’s sprite and gave</p><p>a visual indication that your hard work was</p><p>paying off, showing their levelling up</p><p>as a tangible result rather than just a number</p><p>going up by one.</p><p>Also notable is Uematsu’s fantastic music, which is</p><p>so important to the game that it could be considered a</p><p>character in its own right. Even given the limitations</p><p>of the NES’s sound processor, Uematsu’s beautiful</p><p>compositions made playing the game for long periods of</p><p>time a treat. That the prologue and main theme continue</p><p>to be used in Final Fantasy games to this day speaks</p><p>volumes of their quality.</p><p>Another two Final Fantasy games were made for the</p><p>Famicom in Japan, but they weren’t ported to the west:</p><p>because it took three years for the first game to make it to</p><p>North America, by the time the sequels arrived the NES</p><p>would have been finished. Instead, the series wouldn’t see</p><p>another English-language release until the SNES’s Final</p><p>Fantasy IV, which was renamed Final Fantasy II for the</p><p>American market. n</p><p>FINAL FANTASY</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Square</p><p>‘THE WORLD IS veiled in darkness. The wind stops,</p><p>the sea is wild, and the earth begins to rot. The people</p><p>wait, their only hope, a prophecy: when the world is in</p><p>darkness, Four Warriors will come...’ So begins the intro</p><p>to one of the most fruitful final rolls of the dice in the</p><p>video games industry. The name Final Fantasy</p><p>wasn’t</p><p>just chosen because it sounded cool, though the real</p><p>reason depends on who you ask. According to designer</p><p>Hironobu Sakaguchi, he was planning to leave Square</p><p>and go back to college, so this was to be his final game.</p><p>Its composer Nobuo Uematsu, however, backs the urban</p><p>legend that it was because Square was in danger of going</p><p>bankrupt and if Final Fantasy wasn’t successful the</p><p>company may have gone under. Regardless of the</p><p>true origin story, all gamers know what happened</p><p>next: Sakaguchi’s creation was a huge success, and the</p><p>fact that Final Fantasy XV was released in 2016 shows</p><p>that the title is becoming even less accurate as the</p><p>years go by.</p><p>The adventure that started it all off begins in the</p><p>kingdom of Coneria, where four Light Warriors arrive,</p><p>each holding a darkened orb. These orbs once controlled</p><p>the world’s elements– earth, fire, water and wind– and</p><p>so the warriors’ mission is to bring light back to</p><p>the orbs and remove the world from darkness.</p><p>Although there had been numerous</p><p>RPGs released before Final Fantasy</p><p>arrived in Japan in 1987 (including</p><p>the already popular Dragon Quest</p><p>series), Sakaguchi’s game was such a</p><p>high quality example of the genre, with</p><p>such a well-written storyline for its time,</p><p>that it quickly cemented itself as one of</p><p>the best around. Thefact it showed your</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 75 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>76</p><p>FACT</p><p>Fisher-Price continued</p><p>to licence out video games</p><p>for a number of years. While</p><p>most of these were on home</p><p>computers, there were</p><p>some console releases</p><p>like Rescue Heroes:</p><p>Molten Menace on</p><p>PlayStation.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Fisher-Price was set</p><p>up in 1930. Its first ever</p><p>toy was Dr Doodle, a</p><p>duck on a string with</p><p>wheels on its</p><p>feet.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In a clever piece of stealth</p><p>marketing the pictures</p><p>revealed under the squares</p><p>are all Fisher-Price toys, from</p><p>roller skates to that weird plastic</p><p>‘Corn Popper’ thing you used</p><p>to wheel around to make</p><p>plastic balls bounce</p><p>around inside it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s box has</p><p>a huge warning on the</p><p>front saying: ‘Warning!</p><p>This cartridge contains</p><p>logic puzzles that may be</p><p>highly addictive. Caution</p><p>and restraint are</p><p>recommended.’</p><p>FISHER-PRICE:</p><p>PERFECT FIT</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>ROUNDING OFF THE Fisher-</p><p>Price trilogy is Perfect Fit,</p><p>which launched alongside I</p><p>Can Remember. This time the</p><p>theme music accompanying</p><p>the action includes the likes</p><p>of Baa Baa Black Sheep and</p><p>Hickory Dickory Dock, which really has no relevance</p><p>to what’s going on in the game. What you have here is a</p><p>series of three puzzles, each of which shows</p><p>a number of silhouettes on the screen.</p><p>One by one Fisher-Price products</p><p>appear, and the player has to</p><p>match them with the silhouettes</p><p>(hence Perfect Fit). In higher</p><p>difficulty levels, some objects</p><p>have to be flipped. Special</p><p>mention must go to the special</p><p>cameo appearance by that</p><p>plastic telephone with the face</p><p>that every kid used to have. n</p><p>FISHER-PRICE: I CAN</p><p>REMEMBER</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>NOT ENOUGH GAMES these</p><p>days launch with a stirring</p><p>chiptune rendition of Old</p><p>MacDonald Had a Farm but</p><p>that’s the very ditty that welcomes</p><p>children every time they start up</p><p>I Can Remember, another of the</p><p>three Fisher-Price NES games. Upon starting the game you’re</p><p>treated to another gem, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, as you take</p><p>part in what’s essentially a basic matching</p><p>game. Whether you choose to play</p><p>alone, against a friend or against the</p><p>CPU the general idea remains the</p><p>same: you’re presented with 12,</p><p>16 or 20 boxes (depending on</p><p>the difficulty level) and have to</p><p>find two that match. If you do,</p><p>you get points and keep playing.</p><p>If not, play passes to the other</p><p>player. Whoever has the most</p><p>points after three rounds wins. n</p><p>FISHER-PRICE:</p><p>FIREHOUSE RESCUE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>THE LAST OF three</p><p>Fisher-Price licensed</p><p>games on the NES, but</p><p>while the others were</p><p>developed by Beam</p><p>Software this was instead</p><p>handled by Imagineering,</p><p>the in-house New Jersey</p><p>studio of publisher Absolute Entertainment. The aim here</p><p>is to drive your Fisher-Price firetruck around a maze-like</p><p>town, looking for houses on fire (though, since it’s aimed at</p><p>very young children, you never actually see any flames).</p><p>When you reach a house you have to position</p><p>your ladder under each window, allowing</p><p>the unnaturally happy Fisher-Price people</p><p>to climb out to safety. As the difficulty</p><p>level increases, extra elements are added</p><p>like a time limit and key that must</p><p>be collected to access a locked house.</p><p>Complete each difficulty to be promoted</p><p>to firefighter, lieutenant, captain or chief. n</p><p>FIRE ‘N ICE</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Tecmo</p><p>Developer Tecmo</p><p>FIRE ‘N ICE is a</p><p>prequel to Solomon’s</p><p>Key, and tells the story</p><p>of the original game’s</p><p>hero Dana when he</p><p>was still an apprentice</p><p>with hardly any magic</p><p>powers. When the</p><p>ice-covered Coolmint</p><p>Island is attacked</p><p>by the evil wizard Druidle and set on fire, the Queen of the</p><p>Fairies gives Dana the power to create ice and</p><p>sends him off on his first ever adventure.</p><p>Much like its predecessor this is a</p><p>puzzle game, but this time the aim</p><p>is to remove all the fire from each</p><p>stage using your ability to create</p><p>and remove blocks of ice. Fire ‘n</p><p>Ice was renamed Solomon’s Key</p><p>2 in Europe, presumably because</p><p>a platformer called Fire & Ice had</p><p>been released on home computers the</p><p>year before. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 76 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>77</p><p>FACT</p><p>The villain’s name is</p><p>Dr Butler in the game’s</p><p>intro, but it’s Dr Turner in</p><p>the manual. It’s generally</p><p>accepted that</p><p>the game is</p><p>correct.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A regular rumour</p><p>among collectors is that</p><p>this game was only made</p><p>available in the US as</p><p>a Blockbuster rental.</p><p>There has never been</p><p>any evidence to</p><p>prove this.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A movie based on Flight</p><p>of the Intruder, starring</p><p>Danny Glover and Willem</p><p>Dafoe, was released the</p><p>same year. It was panned</p><p>by critics, with Roger</p><p>Ebert calling it ‘a</p><p>mess’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Black Belt and Last</p><p>Battle, released on the Sega</p><p>Master System and Mega</p><p>Drive respectively, are also</p><p>Fist of the North Star games,</p><p>albeit localised for the</p><p>west with the licence</p><p>removed.</p><p>THE FLINTSTONES: THE</p><p>SURPRISE AT DINOSAUR</p><p>PEAK</p><p>Year 1994 a a</p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Taito / Sol</p><p>THE SEQUEL TO The</p><p>Rescue of Dino and Hoppy</p><p>is similar to its predecessor,</p><p>only now you can play</p><p>as Barney too. This time</p><p>Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm</p><p>have wandered off and</p><p>are playing at the foot of</p><p>a volcano. A lake of lava</p><p>stands between Fred and Barney, and the kids, but a greedy</p><p>pterodactyl offers to carry them over if they</p><p>pay him five gemstones, so off you wander</p><p>through 12 stages in search of the gems.</p><p>The game was released in limited</p><p>numbers due to the fact that most</p><p>gamers had already moved on to the</p><p>SNES. As a result, it’s considered one</p><p>of the rarer games on the system with</p><p>copies selling for between $800 and</p><p>$2,000 depending on condition. n</p><p>THE FLINTSTONES: THE</p><p>RESCUE OF DINO AND</p><p>HOPPY</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Taito / Sol</p><p>THE FLINTSTONES AND</p><p>the Rubbles are heartbroken</p><p>when a time-traveller from</p><p>the thirtieth century looking</p><p>for dinosaurs appears in their</p><p>prehistoric town and kidnaps</p><p>their pets Dino and Hoppy.</p><p>The crook heads back to the</p><p>future (ahem) to put the dinos in a zoo, but there’s hope:</p><p>their alien friend Gazoo has a broken time machine. If Fred</p><p>can gather the pieces, Gazoo can repair it and send</p><p>Fred to the future for the game’s final level,</p><p>where none other than George Jetson</p><p>points him in the right direction (‘he’s</p><p>notorious for being eccentric around</p><p>here’, George claims). While most of</p><p>the game is a platformer, there are</p><p>also sections where you have to win</p><p>one-on-one basketball games for some</p><p>reason. n</p><p>FLIGHT OF THE</p><p>INTRUDER</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>BASED ON THE 1986 novel</p><p>of the same name, Flight</p><p>of the</p><p>Intruder plays out</p><p>over a series of 12 missions</p><p>set during the Vietnam</p><p>War. Players get to fly two</p><p>different types of aircraft,</p><p>the McDonnell Douglas F-4</p><p>Phantom II and the Grumman A-6 Intruder. The Phantom</p><p>is used for aerial combat as you try to take down enemy</p><p>MiG 21 planes from the North Vietnamese</p><p>air force. The Intruder, meanwhile, is a</p><p>bomber designed to take out ground</p><p>targets. Each mission has a number</p><p>of waypoints where you switch</p><p>between planes: for example, you</p><p>may have to take out aircraft with</p><p>the Phantom first to make it easier</p><p>for the Intruder to bomb targets</p><p>without being shot down. n</p><p>FIST OF THE NORTH STAR</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Taxan</p><p>Developer Shouei System</p><p>THERE HAD ALREADY</p><p>been a Fist of the North</p><p>Star game released in</p><p>Japan in 1986, so this–</p><p>the first ever western</p><p>product related to the</p><p>popular manga and</p><p>anime series– is actually</p><p>a localised port of the</p><p>second game. Based on the second series of the anime, it</p><p>follows the Tentei story arc as Ken tries to</p><p>rescue his people from the tyranny of the</p><p>Emperor Heaven. It’s a side-scrolling</p><p>action game where you jump, punch</p><p>and kick your way through eight</p><p>stages. As you progress you gain</p><p>new abilities, like rapid attacks and</p><p>a projectile attack. The game was</p><p>criticised for its awkward control</p><p>system: the simple act of entering</p><p>a door is performed by pressing A, B</p><p>and Right on the D-Pad. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 77 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>78</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version</p><p>of the game, called F-1</p><p>Sensation, was the last new</p><p>game Konami released for the</p><p>Famicom. Although it released</p><p>more Famicom software after</p><p>F-1 Sensation, these were</p><p>all re-releases.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although there are</p><p>five Flying Warriors, you</p><p>usually control only one</p><p>character, named Rick.</p><p>At times he can switch with</p><p>one of his teammates, or even</p><p>transform into a costumed</p><p>hero, Power</p><p>Rangers style.</p><p>FACT</p><p>If you like taking risks</p><p>off the track too, there’s a</p><p>casino in the game where</p><p>you can risk your race</p><p>winnings in an attempt</p><p>to afford better</p><p>upgrades.</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you beat the</p><p>game after collecting all</p><p>six scrolls, it’s revealed the</p><p>final boss was a fake. You then</p><p>have to play through the game</p><p>again, getting all six scrolls</p><p>and four newly-added</p><p>crystals to fight the</p><p>real boss.</p><p>FORMULA 1 SENSATION</p><p>Year 1993 a</p><p>Publisher Palcom</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>UNLIKE MOST F1 games on</p><p>the NES, Formula 1 Sensation</p><p>(which was only released in</p><p>Japan and Europe) had an</p><p>official FIA Formula One World</p><p>Championship licence. This</p><p>means all the constructors were</p><p>real, many of the drivers’ names</p><p>were real (including Mansell, Senna and Alesi), and even some</p><p>real-world sponsors like Shell and Nestle appeared on billboards.</p><p>The game itself is fairly straightforward: you</p><p>can either choose one of the 18 tracks for</p><p>a one-off race, or take part in a full F1</p><p>season. Despite all the official licences,</p><p>the game’s collision system makes</p><p>for a slightly unrealistic experience:</p><p>bashing into opponents’ cars causes</p><p>them huge damage and you hardly</p><p>any, to the extent that ploughing</p><p>through everyone and finishing the</p><p>race alone is an achievable tactic. n</p><p>FORMULA ONE: BUILT</p><p>TO WIN</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher SETA</p><p>Developer Winky Soft</p><p>ALTHOUGH ITS TITLE</p><p>may suggest it’s strictly an</p><p>Formula One game, Built</p><p>to Win’s main career mode</p><p>makes you earn the right to</p><p>get behind the wheel of an</p><p>F1 car. Starting with a class D</p><p>licence and an underpowered Mini Cooper, you have to win</p><p>a series of 30 races around America and use the prize money</p><p>to upgrade your car, eventually trading it for a</p><p>Vector W2 then a Ferrari F40. Once you’ve</p><p>worked your way through the races</p><p>and earned your class A licence, only</p><p>then are you awarded with an F1 car</p><p>and given permission to take part in</p><p>a full F1 season. This type of career</p><p>mode was ahead of its time, and didn’t</p><p>become standard practice in racing</p><p>games until generations later. n</p><p>FLYING WARRIORS</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Culture Brain</p><p>Developer Culture Brain</p><p>IF YOU’RE</p><p>WONDERING</p><p>whether someone at</p><p>Culture Brain loved</p><p>the word ‘Flying’ for</p><p>some reason, this</p><p>is actually related</p><p>to Flying Dragon.</p><p>While that was the</p><p>western version of</p><p>Japanese game Hiryu no Ken, this is instead a combination of</p><p>Hiryu no Ken II and III. The plot is unrelated to the previous</p><p>game: this time an evil force called Demonyx</p><p>has attacked the ‘Light Dimension’, so</p><p>it’s up to the Flying Warriors– five</p><p>heroes previously sent to the planet</p><p>by the Dragonlord in anticipation</p><p>of this event– to battle him and</p><p>his soldiers. As in Flying Dragon</p><p>there are ‘journey’ and ‘battle’</p><p>sections, but there are also new</p><p>‘command’ sections where you</p><p>issue orders, RPG style, to your</p><p>heroes during certain boss battles. n</p><p>FLYING DRAGON: THE</p><p>SECRET SCROLL</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Culture Brain</p><p>Developer Culture Brain</p><p>WHEN RYUHI WAS</p><p>a young lad, he trained</p><p>under his wise teacher</p><p>Juan and became a master</p><p>of Kenpo. When Juan</p><p>is attacked by the evil</p><p>Tusk Soldiers and robbed</p><p>of his secret scrolls,</p><p>Ryuhi– armed with the</p><p>final scroll– moves to Shorinji to continue his training.</p><p>Six years later, the Tusk Soldiers challenge him to a martial</p><p>arts tournament, so Ryuhi heads off to</p><p>both win the tournament and get the</p><p>other scrolls back. Flying Dragon</p><p>consists of two types of level: the</p><p>‘journey’ stages are side-scrolling</p><p>platform levels where you punch</p><p>approaching enemies, while the</p><p>‘match’ stages are one-on-one</p><p>fights taking place inside a ring.</p><p>These sections offer a much wider</p><p>variety of moves, and blocking is as</p><p>important as attacking. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 78 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>79</p><p>FACT</p><p>Friday The 13th is</p><p>perhaps best known</p><p>for its refreshingly blunt</p><p>failure screen: ‘You and</p><p>your friends are dead.</p><p>Game Over.’</p><p>FACT</p><p>The third series of</p><p>Fun House in the US had</p><p>a bunch of celebrity child</p><p>contestants, including Paul</p><p>from The Wonder Years,</p><p>the kid from Alf and</p><p>even Leonardo</p><p>DiCaprio.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There are three secret</p><p>words hidden in the game.</p><p>Players could write them</p><p>down in a form in the manual</p><p>and send the form to</p><p>Sunsoft in exchange for</p><p>a Freedom Force</p><p>decal.</p><p>FACT</p><p>As in any other pieces</p><p>of Frankenstein-related</p><p>media, The Monster Returns</p><p>refers to the monster as</p><p>Frankenstein, even though</p><p>that was the name of the</p><p>doctor who gave</p><p>him life.</p><p>FUN HOUSE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Hi Tech Expressions</p><p>Developer Realtime Associates</p><p>WHILE MOST GAME show</p><p>adaptations on the NES</p><p>are faithful renditions of</p><p>their TV counterparts, Fun</p><p>House isn’t. The show (the</p><p>US version, not the more</p><p>successful UK one) had its</p><p>child contestants answering</p><p>questions, taking part in various comedy challenges, racing</p><p>cars and finally entering the titular Fun House to win prizes.</p><p>The NES version is a top-down action game in</p><p>which the player, wearing roller skates,</p><p>has to skate around throwing tomatoes</p><p>at a series of targets over the course</p><p>of 72 increasingly more complicated</p><p>stages. Not even the presence of the</p><p>show’s host J. D. Roth– who makes</p><p>snarky comments when you lose–</p><p>makes up for the fact that you don’t</p><p>get to actually enter the Fun House as</p><p>seen on television. n</p><p>FRIDAY THE 13TH</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Atlus</p><p>CAMP CRYSTAL</p><p>LAKE is the only place</p><p>in the world where life</p><p>expectancy is lower</p><p>than 20, yet people</p><p>still keep setting up</p><p>summer camps there.</p><p>Another camp opens</p><p>and sure enough, just</p><p>like clockwork, Jason</p><p>Voorhees returns once again to slay a fresh set of teenagers.</p><p>Taking control of six camp counsellors (you</p><p>switch between them as you play), you have</p><p>to find him and kill him three times. It</p><p>seems Jason could have stayed at home</p><p>this time, however, as for no clear reason</p><p>the camp is also infested with killer</p><p>crows, wolves, bats and even zombies,</p><p>meaning you’re likely to die before you</p><p>even reach the main man himself in one</p><p>of his Punch-Out!! style boss battles. n</p><p>FREEDOM</p><p>FORCE</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>OF THE 16 games</p><p>that support the</p><p>Zapper, Freedom</p><p>Force is perhaps the</p><p>most impressive. It’s</p><p>an on-rails shooter</p><p>in the style of arcade</p><p>lightgun games, in</p><p>which the aim is</p><p>simply to shoot down</p><p>the enemies as they appear while taking care to avoid</p><p>hitting hostages or random members of the public (such</p><p>as skateboarding kids, old ladies and ‘bathing beauties’).</p><p>Playing as ‘Rad Rex’ (in two-player games,</p><p>your partner is ‘Manic Jackson’),</p><p>you have to take out a group of</p><p>dangerous criminals known as the</p><p>Unknown Guerillas– led by the</p><p>oddly-named Eugene Extreme–</p><p>who have captured an entire</p><p>airport and are holding it hostage.</p><p>An inventive bonus stage has</p><p>you playing Hangman by shooting</p><p>letters with your gun. n</p><p>FRANKENSTEIN: THE</p><p>MONSTER RETURNS</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>MANY YEARS AFTER he</p><p>was killed by villagers and</p><p>laid to rest, Frankenstein’s</p><p>monster comes back to life</p><p>via sheer coincidence after</p><p>a bolt of lightning hits his</p><p>tombstone. He kidnaps</p><p>the beautiful daughter</p><p>of the village elder, and</p><p>uses his evil magic (because he has magic now, apparently)</p><p>to summon an army of monsters. It’s up to your unnamed</p><p>village swordsman to rescue the daughter and send Frankie</p><p>back into the dirt. The Monster Returns is a</p><p>Castlevania-inspired action platformer</p><p>where you hack and slash your way</p><p>through numerous beasts, including</p><p>Medusa and Death, culminating</p><p>in a ridiculous final boss battle</p><p>against an enormous screen-filling</p><p>Frankenstein’s Monster complete</p><p>with a floating fire-breathing head</p><p>flying around and trying to hit you.</p><p>Idon’t believe it’s canon. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 79 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>80</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you buy a new</p><p>vehicle you still get to keep</p><p>your old one. This is because,</p><p>interestingly, if your new ship</p><p>is destroyed it’s gone for</p><p>good, and you’ll need to</p><p>revert back to your</p><p>previous one.</p><p>FACT</p><p>G.I. Joe team leader</p><p>Duke was supposed to die</p><p>in the 1987 animated movie,</p><p>but kids were so traumatised by</p><p>Optimus Prime’s death in 1986’s</p><p>Transformers: The Movie that last-</p><p>minute dialogue was thrown</p><p>in, saying he was just in a</p><p>coma and recovered</p><p>later.</p><p>FACT</p><p>PlayStation owners may</p><p>recognise Galaga as the</p><p>game that plays during the</p><p>loading screen in the first</p><p>Tekken. Its predecessor,</p><p>Galaxian, is the loading</p><p>screen game for</p><p>Ridge Racer.</p><p>FACT</p><p>When the 3.75-inch G.I.</p><p>Joe action figures launched</p><p>in 1982, the original G.I. Joe</p><p>character from the ‘60s wasn’t</p><p>among them. Hasbro didn’t</p><p>bring him back until 1994,</p><p>where he was a mail-in</p><p>exclusive.</p><p>GALAXY 5000</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Activision</p><p>Developer Activision</p><p>IT’S NICE TO know that</p><p>in the fifty-first century,</p><p>mankind won’t have</p><p>mutated or evolved to such a</p><p>ridiculous degree that racing</p><p>each other will no longer be</p><p>a thing. This is proved by</p><p>Galaxy 5000, an isometric</p><p>racing game where your ‘cars’ are instead floating spaceships</p><p>similar to landspeeders from Star Wars (or the cars from</p><p>WipEout, if you’d rather). Completing</p><p>races earns you money which can</p><p>be used to repair your craft, or</p><p>buy a better one. The 45-degree</p><p>viewpoint and the ability to shoot</p><p>your enemies mean Galaxy 5000</p><p>looks and plays a lot like RC Pro-</p><p>Am, but it’s not exactly the same:</p><p>there’s a wider variety of weapons</p><p>and you can also make your ship jump</p><p>to avoid attacks. n</p><p>GALAGA: DEMONS OF</p><p>DEATH</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Namco</p><p>NAMCO’S 1981 ARCADE hit</p><p>Galaga took the Space Invaders</p><p>formula and livened it up a</p><p>bit. Enemies swooped in from</p><p>the side of the screen before</p><p>joining their formation, and</p><p>would occasionally break rank</p><p>to dive-bomb towards you,</p><p>sometimes trying to capture you with a tractor beam. This</p><p>NES port released a number of years later</p><p>is almost arcade perfect, bar a couple of</p><p>minor differences due to the system</p><p>hardware. The musical cues sound</p><p>ever so slightly different because of</p><p>the NES’s audio processing unit, and</p><p>the screen ratio (a normal 4:3 TV</p><p>picture instead of the arcade version’s</p><p>vertical display) means your ship is</p><p>a bit closer to the alien formation, but</p><p>other than that it plays exactly the same. n</p><p>G.I. JOE: THE ATLANTIS</p><p>FACTOR</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer KID</p><p>THE G.I. JOE licence</p><p>moved from Taxan to</p><p>Capcom the following year,</p><p>but Tokyo-based developer</p><p>KID remained for the</p><p>sequel. The Atlantis Factor</p><p>has our heroes heading</p><p>to the lost city of Atlantis,</p><p>which has been raised from the depths by the Cobra</p><p>Commander and is being used as a heavily guarded Cobra</p><p>base. As before, players can swap between</p><p>different G.I. Joe characters– Hawk,</p><p>Roadblock, Wet Suit, Snake Eyes,</p><p>Storm Shadow and Duke– but</p><p>this time you start off as just</p><p>Hawk and have to earn the</p><p>rest, Mega Man style, by</p><p>completing each level. There</p><p>are also support characters</p><p>Spirit, Gung-Ho and Big Bear</p><p>who, once found, can restore</p><p>your life or ammo, or even revive</p><p>a dead Joe. n</p><p>G.I. JOE: A REAL</p><p>AMERICAN HERO</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Taxan</p><p>Developer KID</p><p>A VIDEO GAME based</p><p>on the gloriously well-</p><p>articulated 3.75-inch</p><p>(95mm) action figures</p><p>that dominated American</p><p>toy shops and televisions</p><p>throughout the ‘80s and</p><p>early ‘90s. It’s a run-and-gun</p><p>action platformer similar</p><p>to the likes of Contra (although far less difficult), with the</p><p>twist being that players can control a team of three characters</p><p>chosen from a pool of five: Duke, Snake Eyes,</p><p>Blizzard, Captain Grid-Iron and Rock ‘n</p><p>Roll (with Hawk joining the team for</p><p>the final level). Each character has</p><p>their own strengths and weaknesses:</p><p>for example, Snake Eyes throws</p><p>fireballs, which conserves the</p><p>team’s limited shared ammo, but</p><p>they’re weak. The game culminates</p><p>in a final battle against the evil Cobra</p><p>Commander, who can turn you into a</p><p>lizard if you aren’t careful. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 80 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>81</p><p>FACT</p><p>It’s possible to beat any</p><p>level by waiting for a few</p><p>minutes. This turns all the</p><p>walls into exits. The problem,</p><p>though, is that in Gauntlet</p><p>you’re constantly</p><p>losing health, so</p><p>it’s a risk.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Because this is a fantasy</p><p>game, the troops you hire</p><p>aren’t just swordsmen and</p><p>gunners. There are also a</p><p>bunch of monsters to enrol,</p><p>from skeletons and orcs to</p><p>gargoyles and giant fire-</p><p>breathing lizards.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The voice in the Gauntlet</p><p>arcade game belonged to</p><p>American filmmaker Ernie</p><p>Fosselius. He also recorded</p><p>the ‘ack-ack’ voices for the</p><p>aliens in Tim Burton’s</p><p>Mars Attacks! movie.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Firebrand is a playable</p><p>character in Ultimate</p><p>Marvel vs Capcom 3. If he</p><p>faces off against Doctor</p><p>Strange, the doc says:</p><p>‘This gargoyle’s quest</p><p>has failed.’</p><p>GEMFIRE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Koei</p><p>Developer Koei</p><p>WHILE KOEI WAS</p><p>(andstill is) generally</p><p>known for its strategy</p><p>games based on actual</p><p>historical events, every now</p><p>and then it liked to show</p><p>a bit more imagination.</p><p>Gemfire is an example of</p><p>this: while it’s still a classic</p><p>Koei-style war game it’s</p><p>set in a fantasy land called Ishmeria where six families,</p><p>supported by wizards living with them, are all trying to</p><p>remove the evil king Eselred from his throne</p><p>and claim Ishmeria as theirs. There</p><p>are two main phases when doing</p><p>this: in the map screen you can</p><p>upgrade your territory, hire</p><p>troops and try either negotiating</p><p>with or attacking neighbouring</p><p>territories. If it’s the latter, play</p><p>switches to a turn-based tactics</p><p>style battle as you try to capture</p><p>the enemy base. n</p><p>GAUNTLET II</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Tengen</p><p>THIS PORT OF</p><p>Gauntlet’s sequel was</p><p>far more faithful to its</p><p>arcade counterpart</p><p>than the first game</p><p>was. The character</p><p>sprites and stages</p><p>looked a lot more</p><p>authentic, new</p><p>features added to the</p><p>arcade version (like invisible walls) were present here too, and</p><p>there’s even digitised speech this time (even though it’s pretty</p><p>garbled and hard to understand at times). More importantly,</p><p>Gauntlet II is</p><p>one of the first NES games</p><p>to support four players simultaneously</p><p>using either the NES Satellite or NES</p><p>Four Score adapters. This finally</p><p>allows for the proper four-player</p><p>experience that made Gauntlet</p><p>such a joy to play in arcades,</p><p>making Gauntlet II a significantly</p><p>more accomplished rendition of the</p><p>‘real thing’ than the first game was. n</p><p>GAUNTLET</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Tengen</p><p>Developer Tengen</p><p>ATARI’S GAUNTLET</p><p>WAS a huge success in</p><p>arcades, due in part to its</p><p>simultaneous four-player</p><p>co-op gameplay and its</p><p>digitised speech, which</p><p>had the likes of ‘Elf needs</p><p>food badly’ booming</p><p>across the room. Tengen’s</p><p>NES version isn’t a straight port: instead, it adds a number</p><p>of features not present in the coin-op version. As before,</p><p>you choose a character– the warrior,</p><p>wizard, valkyrie or elf– and use them</p><p>to fight your way through 100 top-</p><p>down levels full to the brim with</p><p>enemies. The digitised speech is</p><p>gone, but now collecting treasure</p><p>can level up your character’s</p><p>abilities. There are also now eight</p><p>‘clue’ rooms, where you have to find</p><p>part of a code that unlocks the final</p><p>100th stage. n</p><p>GARGOYLE’S QUEST II</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>THE FIRST</p><p>GARGOYLE’S Quest</p><p>was a Game Boy game,</p><p>and this NES follow-</p><p>up is a prequel. Like its</p><p>handheld predecessor it</p><p>stars Firebrand, a gargoyle</p><p>who previously appeared</p><p>as a villain in Ghosts ‘n</p><p>Goblins. Firebrand is a young warrior training to be the</p><p>best, but his daily workout routine is interrupted when a</p><p>mysterious black light appears and drains all</p><p>the magic from the land. The game’s part</p><p>JRPG, part platformer: it has top-down</p><p>sections where you explore towns</p><p>and talk to villagers, and side-on</p><p>sections where you can run, jump,</p><p>climb walls, shoot fireballs at</p><p>enemies and float briefly (an ability</p><p>that can last longer as you level up</p><p>and your abilities improve). A Game</p><p>Boy port was released in Japan in 1993. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 81 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>82</p><p>FACT</p><p>Beating the game gives</p><p>you the badly-written</p><p>message: ‘Conglaturation!</p><p>You have completed a great</p><p>game. And prooved the</p><p>justice of our culture.</p><p>Now go and rest our</p><p>heroes!’</p><p>FACT</p><p>Many historians</p><p>say Genghis Khan was</p><p>responsible for the deaths of</p><p>around 40 million people. Given</p><p>this was the early thirteenth</p><p>century, it’s claimed that up to</p><p>11 per cent of the entire world’s</p><p>population died as a</p><p>result of the Mongols’</p><p>attacks.</p><p>FACT</p><p>As if the game’s one-hit</p><p>kills and its insistence on</p><p>scrolling to the left didn’t make</p><p>it tricky enough, the final stage</p><p>has to be completed a total of</p><p>four times – once with each</p><p>Ghostbuster – before</p><p>you get to see the</p><p>ending.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In real life, Foreman did</p><p>become the champ one</p><p>more time. In 1994, at the age</p><p>of 45, he beat Michael Moorer</p><p>to win the World Heavyweight</p><p>Championship, 20 years</p><p>after he’d previously lost</p><p>it to Muhammad</p><p>Ali.</p><p>GHOSTBUSTERS II</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Activision</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>A SECOND GHOSTBUSTERS</p><p>movie meant a second</p><p>Ghostbusters game, which this</p><p>time more closely followed the</p><p>events of its source material.</p><p>Taking place over seven</p><p>levels, the Ghostbusters have</p><p>to investigate the slime that’s</p><p>plaguing the city, pilot the Statue of Liberty through New</p><p>York then defeat the evil Vigo the Carpathian. There are</p><p>three types of stage: side-scrolling sections</p><p>where you shoot a ‘slime blower’ at</p><p>ghosts, driving sections in the Ecto-</p><p>1a, and the standalone Statue of</p><p>Liberty stage. Although it was</p><p>more faithful to the movie,</p><p>Ghostbusters II was criticised for</p><p>its high difficulty level. A second</p><p>game was released in Europe and</p><p>Japan (see New Ghostbusters II)</p><p>but sorry America, this was the only</p><p>one you ended up getting. n</p><p>GHOSTBUSTERS</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Activision</p><p>Developer Bits Laboratory</p><p>THE FIRST GAME based</p><p>on the fantastic Hollywood</p><p>block (and ghost) buster</p><p>was originally designed</p><p>by David Crane (Pitfall, A</p><p>Boy and His Blob) for the</p><p>C64 and Atari 800. It was</p><p>then ported to a number</p><p>of different systems, with</p><p>the NES version handled by Japanese studio Bits Laboratory.</p><p>Players start by buying a vehicle, and then roam the streets</p><p>of New York busting ghosts to earn money</p><p>that lets them upgrade their equipment.</p><p>Eventually, you earn the right to</p><p>enter the Zuul building for the final</p><p>confrontation. This final section</p><p>was notorious for its stair-climbing</p><p>section, where the player has to</p><p>climb 25 flights of stairs by mashing</p><p>the A button while avoiding ghosts.</p><p>The NES version is widely believed to</p><p>be among the worst. n</p><p>GEORGE FOREMAN’S</p><p>KO BOXING</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>AFTER A 10-YEAR absence</p><p>from the ring, 43-year-old</p><p>George Foreman stepped back</p><p>into the spotlight to try and</p><p>become the champion again.</p><p>And after that, who knows:</p><p>maybe start selling grills or</p><p>something. George Foreman’s</p><p>KO boxing is quite clearly</p><p>inspired by Nintendo’s own Punch-Out!! games, with the player</p><p>controlling George himself from a third-person perspective</p><p>as he scraps his way through a series of</p><p>opponents. As in Punch-Out!! you’re</p><p>essentially rooted to the spot and can</p><p>only briefly dodge to the side to</p><p>evade your opponent’s punches. The</p><p>difference, though, is that this game</p><p>doesn’t have Punch-Out!!’s weak-</p><p>spot-based combat, meaning bouts</p><p>end up being dull slugfests with not</p><p>much room for strategic fighting or</p><p>reading your opponent’s style. n</p><p>GENGHIS KHAN</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Koei</p><p>Developer Koei</p><p>ANOTHER OF KOEI’S</p><p>historical turn-based</p><p>strategy games, this time</p><p>based on the thirteenth</p><p>century Mongol leader</p><p>Genghis Khan. There are</p><p>two main modes: World</p><p>Conquest is a 1–4 player</p><p>scenario, where players</p><p>control either Genghis Khan, the Byzantine emperor AlexiosI,</p><p>King Richard I of England or Yoritomo of Japan, and the aim</p><p>is to unify all 27 Eurasian countries under</p><p>your control. Mongol Conquest,</p><p>meanwhile, is a single-player story</p><p>mode of sorts in which you start</p><p>off as the young Temujin–</p><p>before he became known as</p><p>Genghis Khan– and have to</p><p>unify the 14 tribes that make</p><p>up the Mongolian Plains. If</p><p>you beat Mongol Conquest</p><p>mode, it moves straight onto</p><p>World Conquest mode so you can</p><p>continue to grow your dominance. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 82 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>83</p><p>FACT</p><p>Many refer to this game</p><p>as Legend of the Ghost</p><p>Lion, because that’s what</p><p>the title screen says.</p><p>The box, however,</p><p>simply says Ghost</p><p>Lion.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Arthur has appeared in</p><p>a bunch of other Capcom</p><p>games outside of the series he’s</p><p>best known for. Most notably,</p><p>he was a playable character in</p><p>arcade shooter Cannon Spike,</p><p>as well as Marvel vs Capcom</p><p>3 and Marvel vs Capcom:</p><p>Infinite.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Some of the enemies</p><p>in Ghoul School are</p><p>unconventional to say the least.</p><p>Expect to face off against an</p><p>evil chef called the Grouchy</p><p>Gore-met, a nasty musical</p><p>note called Note-orious,</p><p>and a giant heart called</p><p>Admiral Aorta.</p><p>GHOUL SCHOOL</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Electro Brain</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>GHOUL SCHOOL IS</p><p>a Metroidvania style</p><p>adventure set in a</p><p>haunted school. Spike</p><p>O’Hara is a senior at</p><p>Cool School High, and</p><p>after finding a glowing</p><p>skull in a graveyard he</p><p>decides to give it to his</p><p>science teacher. The</p><p>skull sends a message to the realm of the dead, and various</p><p>ghosts and monsters overrun the school. Spike has to find</p><p>and defeat the ‘Ghoul Master’, while saving cheerleader</p><p>Samantha in the process. Ghoul School</p><p>has over 200 rooms to explore and, in</p><p>true Metroidvania fashion, features</p><p>a number of weapons and objects</p><p>you can earn to help you reach</p><p>new areas. These range from</p><p>suction cup shoes which let</p><p>you walk on the ceiling, to</p><p>embalming fluid (which is</p><p>highly effective against undead</p><p>enemies). n</p><p>GHOST LION</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Kemco</p><p>Developer Kemco</p><p>AFTER A GHOSTLY</p><p>lion attacks young</p><p>Maria’s village, her</p><p>parents head off to</p><p>see if they can find</p><p>out where it came</p><p>from. When they</p><p>don’t return Maria</p><p>gets worried, so she</p><p>heads off to try to</p><p>find them. Ghost</p><p>Lion is a top-down RPG similar to Final Fantasy and</p><p>Dragon Warrior, but one of its most notable differences</p><p>is the names it uses for standard RPG meters. Instead of</p><p>your experience level, you’re instead building</p><p>Maria’s ‘Hope’ meter, while ‘Courage’</p><p>replaces her health (naturally, if she</p><p>runs out of courage her journey is</p><p>over). She can summon spirits to</p><p>help her during battles: these act</p><p>like magic attacks in other RPGs,</p><p>but rather than the usual MP (Magic</p><p>Points) she instead uses ‘Dreams’ to</p><p>summon them. n</p><p>Sure enough, take one more hit and Arthur is literally</p><p>reduced to a pile of bones, with his next life beginning</p><p>way back at the start of the stage, or at the single halfway</p><p>checkpoint if you managed to get that far. While this may</p><p>sound unbelievably harsh… well, I suppose it was. But the</p><p>job in Ghosts ‘n Goblins was in slowly improving your</p><p>performance with each playthrough, inching your way</p><p>further and further into the game until you finally reach</p><p>the end, get to Satan… and realise that if you don’t have</p><p>the Cross weapon, you have to go back to level 5. n</p><p>GHOSTS ‘N GOBLINS</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Micronics</p><p>WHEN YOU ASK retro gamers to list some of the hardest</p><p>old-school classics, it’s usually only a matter of time</p><p>before either Ghouls ‘n Ghosts or its predecessor Ghosts</p><p>‘n Goblins is mentioned, usually with a quivering lip and</p><p>a single tear. It, like its sequels, tells the story of Arthur, a</p><p>romantic knight who very much has the affection of his</p><p>darling Princess Prin Prin. Unfortunately, the princess</p><p>is kidnapped by Satan (or simply ‘The Devil’ in the NES</p><p>version), and taken to his underworld, so it’s</p><p>time to do what all noble knights do</p><p>and head out to rescue her. Ghosts</p><p>‘n Goblins is notorious for its</p><p>strict two-hit-kill mechanic:</p><p>merely graze any enemy</p><p>or projectile and you’ll fly</p><p>backwards, losing your entire</p><p>suit of amour in the process.</p><p>This leaves Arthur in nothing</p><p>more than his tidy red boxer</p><p>shorts, at which point it’s safe to</p><p>say he’s exposed to another attack.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 83 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>84</p><p>FACT</p><p>Godzilla 2 is one of the</p><p>few NES games released in</p><p>the western world where the</p><p>developer remains unknown</p><p>to this day. Nobody</p><p>seems to want to claim</p><p>it for some</p><p>reason.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In France, the game</p><p>was known as Eric Cantona</p><p>Football Challenge: Goal! 2.</p><p>This isn’t to be confused with</p><p>Eric Cantona Football</p><p>Challenge on the SNES,</p><p>which is actually the</p><p>French version of Rage</p><p>Software’s Striker.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The boss monsters you</p><p>face are from various Godzilla</p><p>movies and other films made</p><p>by its studio, Toho. These include</p><p>classic Godzilla foes Mechagodzilla</p><p>and Ghidorah, as well as the likes</p><p>of fire-breathing dino</p><p>Baragon from Frankenstein</p><p>Conquers the</p><p>World.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In Japan, Jaleco had</p><p>a series of sports games</p><p>called Moero!!, each covering</p><p>a different sport. Goal! was a</p><p>port of Moero!! 5. Other Moero!!</p><p>games ported to the west</p><p>include Bases Loaded,</p><p>Racket Attack and</p><p>Hoops.</p><p>GODZILLA 2: WAR OF THE</p><p>MONSTERS</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Toho</p><p>Developer Unknown</p><p>IT WOULD APPEAR that</p><p>someone on Earth has rubbed</p><p>Godzilla up the wrong way,</p><p>because he’s no longer interested</p><p>in saving the planet. Instead, he</p><p>and a bunch of other monsters</p><p>have all decided to fight each</p><p>other, damaging the world’s</p><p>major cities in the process. This time, instead of controlling</p><p>Godzilla, you’re now in charge of the army as you try to stop</p><p>the monsters causing havoc. Rather than side-on</p><p>brawls you’re now dealing with top-down</p><p>turn-based strategy gameplay, as you</p><p>issue orders to your army units to try</p><p>to take down the pesky monsters.</p><p>The game was criticised for its</p><p>extremely confusing and seemingly</p><p>random battle system, which</p><p>includes a slot machine that is spun</p><p>each turn in an attempt to increase</p><p>your abilities. n</p><p>GODZILLA: MONSTER OF</p><p>MONSTERS</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Toho</p><p>Developer Compile</p><p>WHEN PLUTO AND Neptune</p><p>swap positions in space, an</p><p>unknown planet simply called</p><p>X attacks the Earth. Godzilla</p><p>and Mothra are sent into space</p><p>to defend mankind from these</p><p>new alien invaders. Each stage</p><p>in Monster of Monsters is called a Ring Field, and consists of</p><p>a grid of hexagonal squares. You move Godzilla and Mothra</p><p>along this grid, one square at a time, and</p><p>encounter enemies along the way: this</p><p>switches the gameplay to a side-on</p><p>action platformer. The aim is to</p><p>reach the enemy HQ, which then</p><p>lets you warp to the next Ring</p><p>Field and repeat the process.</p><p>When Godzilla or Mothra dies,</p><p>you can continue playing as the</p><p>remaining one: if you reach the</p><p>next Ring Field the deceased will</p><p>miraculously return to life. n</p><p>GOAL! TWO</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>IT’S BACK, AND this time</p><p>the American teams have</p><p>been left behind. Goal!</p><p>Two is that rarest of beasts,</p><p>a sequel that offers less</p><p>than its predecessor. Other</p><p>than exhibition matches</p><p>there’s now only one main</p><p>mode, the Super Cup.</p><p>This is basically World</p><p>Cup mode again (albeit without the legally dubious use of</p><p>the actual World Cup name this time),</p><p>although there are now 24countries</p><p>to choose from with the likes of</p><p>Scotland, Canada and Venezuela</p><p>added to the mix. New additions</p><p>include the ability to choose</p><p>your formation (the first game</p><p>was limited to 4–3–3 only) and</p><p>an actual roster of 15 players</p><p>instead of a set team of11. An</p><p>improvement on the pitch, then,</p><p>even if it offered fewer modes. n</p><p>GOAL!</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>JALECO’S FIRST ATTEMPT</p><p>at a football game has two</p><p>main modes: World Cup</p><p>mode lets you choose from</p><p>16 national teams (West</p><p>Germany and USSR are</p><p>in there, as a reminder of</p><p>how old the game is) and</p><p>take part in a traditional</p><p>World Cup format (‘amateur soccer’s most glorious prize’,</p><p>according to the manual). Tournament mode, meanwhile,</p><p>features eight American teams in a</p><p>straight knockout competition. The</p><p>manual refreshingly acknowledges</p><p>the poor passing and dribbling</p><p>in Goal! by advising: ‘A safe</p><p>strategy is shooting the ball</p><p>as far upfield as possible and</p><p>trying to hook or slice the ball</p><p>towards one of your teammates.</p><p>It’s a more effective strategy than</p><p>trying to slowly move the ball</p><p>upfield by dribbling and passing.’ n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 84 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>85</p><p>FACT</p><p>Golf was ported to</p><p>arcades in two different</p><p>versions. VS Stroke and Match</p><p>Golf played similarly to the NES</p><p>game, complete with Mario</p><p>lookalike golfer. VS Ladies</p><p>Golf, meanwhile, replaced</p><p>‘Mario’ with a female</p><p>golfer.</p><p>his peers felt was impossible. Nintendo paid</p><p>tribute to this legacy by including Golf as</p><p>a hidden ‘omamori’ inside the Nintendo</p><p>Switch hardware.</p><p>An omamori is a Japanese amulet,</p><p>held inside a silk cloth, that acts as a</p><p>good luck charm: you should never</p><p>open the omamori, or you’ll release</p><p>the blessing. Because of this, the Switch</p><p>team hid a perfect version of Golf deep</p><p>inside the Switch’s firmware: players could</p><p>only trigger it by performing a very specific</p><p>gesture with the JoyCon, on a specific date</p><p>(the date of Iwata’s death) with the original</p><p>version 1.0 firmware. Since the Switch updates its</p><p>firmware the first time you connect it online, it was</p><p>designed never to be opened, like an omamori should</p><p>be: it was supposed to be a good luck charm tucked</p><p>away inside every Switch, as if Iwata was helping</p><p>guide the system to success. Hackers being what they</p><p>are, however, a group of data miners found the code</p><p>hidden away in the Switch’s system directory and</p><p>eventually figured out how to unlock it. Nintendo</p><p>removed Golf in the next system update,</p><p>proving once again why we can never have nice</p><p>things (especially nice things we weren’t supposed</p><p>to know about). n</p><p>GOLF</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo</p><p>THIS NES LAUNCH title was the third NES game</p><p>programmed by the late</p><p>Satoru Iwata. Nintendo had</p><p>contacted a number of external developers to see if</p><p>any of them wanted to make a golf game for the Famicom,</p><p>but they all declined, saying it would be impossible to fit</p><p>18holes into (what was in the early days) extremely limited</p><p>memory. ‘I heard about that,’ Iwata recalled in a 1999</p><p>interview, ‘and rather recklessly said “I’ll do it!”’</p><p>Iwata jumped on board and teamed up with Shigeru</p><p>Miyamoto and Kenji Miki (a new staff member who</p><p>designed the courses), and the result was the cleverly titled</p><p>Golf, an 18-hole golf game that continues to influence</p><p>modern examples of the genre to this day thanks to its</p><p>revolutionary use of the three-press swing system.</p><p>Armed with a power bar at the top of the screen,</p><p>players hit the ball by pressing the A button three times:</p><p>once to start a cursor going, once to set the power</p><p>and once to set the accuracy. This means swinging</p><p>in Golf, as in real life, is all about getting your</p><p>timing right.</p><p>The game’s influence is more obviously seen in</p><p>Nintendo’s own Wii Sports, released 21 years later.</p><p>Along with tennis, boxing, baseball and bowling</p><p>options, Wii Sports also included a golf course</p><p>featuring nine holes: these were actually perfect</p><p>modern-day recreations of the first nine holes in the</p><p>NES Golf, including the notorious ninth hole</p><p>with its tiny islands you had to hit the</p><p>ball onto.</p><p>Although Iwata would go on to work</p><p>on countless other games and eventually</p><p>become Nintendo’s global president</p><p>before his untimely death, Golf remains</p><p>an important milestone in his life because</p><p>it marked an early example of his ability to</p><p>think outside the box and deliver something</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 85 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>86</p><p>FACT</p><p>The first Goonies game,</p><p>also by Konami, was more</p><p>difficult (though its puzzles</p><p>were less obscure). Though it</p><p>didn’t come to the NES, it did</p><p>end up in Nintendo’s Vs</p><p>System arcade units in</p><p>America.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The act of actually hitting</p><p>the ball in Golf Grand Slam</p><p>is a little less exact. A small</p><p>target randomly jitters around</p><p>over the ball, and its location</p><p>when you press the A</p><p>button determines</p><p>where you hit it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In the original Japanese</p><p>version of the game the</p><p>organisation responsible is a</p><p>newly founded Nazi party, but</p><p>this was changed for the US</p><p>version. Golgo’s profession</p><p>was also changed from</p><p>assassin to spy.</p><p>them, you can at least stun them for a while. As well as</p><p>the 2D Metroidvania style sections there are also first-</p><p>person maze sections, where the player can find and</p><p>use items. This is where you’ll find and rescue the other</p><p>Goonies (and yes, the weird mermaid too), alhough</p><p>some of the puzzles in these sections are downright</p><p>impossible: nobody could ever figure out that in order</p><p>to gain a candle (an essential item for beating the game)</p><p>you have to hit an old woman five times, for example. n</p><p>THE GOONIES II</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>DON’T WORRY, THERE wasn’t a second Goonies</p><p>film that somehow passed you by all these years. The</p><p>Goonies II is actually the sequel to the first Goonies</p><p>game, which was only released in Japan. The plot in this</p><p>one’s a little odd: Ma Fratelli and her sons have returned</p><p>and kidnapped most of the Goonies. Mikey’s the last</p><p>one left, so it’s up to him to find and rescue all his fellow</p><p>Goonies… oh, and also his ‘good friend’, Annie the</p><p>Mermaid, an actual real-life mermaid who’s also been</p><p>kidnapped for some reason.</p><p>Initially accompanied by an 8-bit version of the</p><p>Goonies theme song, The Goonies R Good</p><p>Enough by Cyndi Lauper, you have</p><p>to explore a series of different</p><p>locations armed with the likes</p><p>of your yo-yo, a slingshot and</p><p>a boomerang. Every now and</p><p>then the Fratellis turn up</p><p>(including Cousin Pip Squeek</p><p>Fratelli, who was never in the</p><p>movie): though you can’t kill</p><p>GOLGO 13: TOP SECRET</p><p>EPISODE</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Vic Tokai</p><p>ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN</p><p>1968 and still running to this</p><p>day, Golgo 13 is the longest-</p><p>running manga series in history.</p><p>It’s about a professional assassin</p><p>called Golgo 13, also known by</p><p>the fake name Duke Togo, and</p><p>in this NES game he’s trying</p><p>to clear his name after the CIA accuses him of destroying a</p><p>helicopter carrying a dangerous biological weapon. You have</p><p>to find the antidote and kill who’s really</p><p>responsible via a series of game types:</p><p>side-scrolling action platforming,</p><p>lightgun-style sniping, shoot ‘em</p><p>up sections and maze stages.</p><p>The mazes are the most difficult</p><p>aspect of the game and the</p><p>element that modern gamers</p><p>complain about most. Those</p><p>with the boxed game had some</p><p>help, though, because the manual</p><p>provides maps for each of the mazes. n</p><p>GOLF GRAND SLAM</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Atlus</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>ANOTHER NES</p><p>GOLF game, but one</p><p>that goes into much</p><p>more (unnecessary?)</p><p>detail than others.</p><p>Its main mode is</p><p>Tournament: taking</p><p>place on the final</p><p>day of a US golf</p><p>tournament, you’re</p><p>one of 30 pro golfers</p><p>all aiming to finish the final 18 holes with the</p><p>lowest score. Taking a shot involves a</p><p>surprising number of options: after</p><p>placing a cursor on the course to</p><p>mark where you want the ball to</p><p>land– there’s no power bar in this</p><p>game– you then get to choose</p><p>your club, your stance, the type of</p><p>shot you want to hit, the height of</p><p>your tee (when teeing off) and even</p><p>the way you grip the club. It’s not</p><p>quite clear how much of this is needed. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 86 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>87</p><p>FACT</p><p>Norman also lent his</p><p>name to Greg Norman’s</p><p>Shark Attack! for the Amiga.</p><p>Don’t get too excited, though,</p><p>as it’s still just a golf game.</p><p>The Shark was Norman’s</p><p>nickname, you see.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the Vic Viper</p><p>has appeared in a large</p><p>number of Konami shoot ‘em</p><p>ups, there are actually eight</p><p>different models of Vic Viper,</p><p>with different weapons and</p><p>abilities. The one in Gradius</p><p>is the most basic, the Vic</p><p>Viper BP-456X.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Great Waldo Search</p><p>was remade many years</p><p>later as Where’s Waldo? The</p><p>Fantastic Journey and released</p><p>on Wii, DS, PC and mobile.</p><p>Though it was more fun</p><p>to play with pointer</p><p>controls, it was still</p><p>very limited.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Are you sure you don’t</p><p>remember the film? It had</p><p>Anthony Edwards from ER and</p><p>Linda Fiorentino from Men In</p><p>Black in it. There’s a bit where</p><p>he shoots a woman in the</p><p>bum with a tranquiliser</p><p>dart. No? Ah well</p><p>then.</p><p>GREG NORMAN’S</p><p>GOLF POWER</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Virgin Interactive</p><p>Developer Gremlin Graphics</p><p>THE LAST GOLF game</p><p>to be released for the NES,</p><p>Golf Power was endorsed</p><p>by Australian golfer Greg</p><p>Norman, who spent 331 weeks</p><p>as the world’s number one</p><p>ranked golfer throughout the</p><p>‘80s and ‘90s. There are nine</p><p>courses available to play through– USA, Japan, England,</p><p>Scotland, Germany, Spain, France, Australia and Hawaii– but</p><p>Golf Power’s main selling point is the Designer</p><p>mode, which lets you create your own</p><p>course and save it to the cartridge to</p><p>play with your friends later (it also</p><p>supports the NES Four Score for</p><p>four-player gameplay). Its wonderful</p><p>title music sounds very non-NES: it</p><p>was composed by Scottish musician</p><p>Barry Leitch, who was better known</p><p>for C64 music, and has a similarly</p><p>‘chirpy’ 8-bit home computer sound. n</p><p>THE GREAT WALDO</p><p>SEARCH</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher THQ</p><p>Developer Radiance Software</p><p>BASED ON THE third book in</p><p>the Where’s Waldo series (known</p><p>as Where’s Wally? The Fantastic</p><p>Journey in its native UK), The</p><p>Great Waldo Search presents</p><p>players with five different scenes</p><p>from the book– The Carpet</p><p>Flyers, The Underground Hunters, The Battling Monks,</p><p>The Unfriendly Giants and The Land of Waldos– and asks</p><p>them to find Waldo and a magical scroll in</p><p>every stage. Clocks can also be found</p><p>to give you more time, while small</p><p>plates give you extra points and</p><p>finding Waldo’s dog Woof takes</p><p>you to a bonus stage where even</p><p>more points can be racked up.</p><p>The game is underwhelming,</p><p>because despite being more</p><p>expensive it couldn’t match</p><p>the</p><p>actual books for detail, number of</p><p>scenes or things to look for. n</p><p>GRADIUS</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>ONE OF THE most well-</p><p>known examples of the</p><p>horizontally scrolling shoot</p><p>‘em up genre, Gradius</p><p>puts players in control</p><p>of a spaceship called the</p><p>Vic Viper (referred to</p><p>as the Warp Rattler in</p><p>the NES version) as they</p><p>try to defend the planet Gradius from invasion by the evil</p><p>Bacterions by heading to their fortress and destroying it.</p><p>The game’s power-up mechanic has you</p><p>collecting red power capsules, which</p><p>you ‘bank’ at the top of the screen</p><p>until you reach the power-up you</p><p>want, at which point you press</p><p>B to activate it. Gradius is also</p><p>notable for being the first ever</p><p>game to feature the Konami</p><p>Code, a cheat code that appeared</p><p>in many Konami games. Here, it</p><p>gives you a bunch of instant</p><p>power-ups. n</p><p>GOTCHA! THE SPORT!</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Atlus</p><p>REMEMBER GOTCHA!,</p><p>THE 1985 comedy about</p><p>an American student</p><p>who ends up embroiled</p><p>in a spy mission when</p><p>he goes on holiday to</p><p>Germany? Probably not,</p><p>since it was a huge flop.</p><p>That didn’t stop LJN and</p><p>Atlus deciding two years</p><p>later to release an NES Zapper game based on a paintball</p><p>scene from the start of the film. To its credit,</p><p>it does try something different: rather</p><p>than a straight lightgun shooter it’s</p><p>got a Capture the Flag element</p><p>to it. Holding both the NES</p><p>controller and the Zapper gun,</p><p>you use the D-Pad to pan left</p><p>and right across a paintball field</p><p>while shooting enemies. The aim</p><p>is to move to the end of the stage,</p><p>collect the enemy’s flag and return it</p><p>to your base. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 87 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>88</p><p>FACT</p><p>In the Official Nintendo</p><p>Player’s Guide released</p><p>in 1987, Mr Stevenson is</p><p>referred to as R. L. Stevenson.</p><p>This suggests he’s based on</p><p>Robert Louis Stevenson,</p><p>the author of</p><p>Kidnapped.</p><p>FACT</p><p>One of the writers for</p><p>US magazine EGM hated</p><p>the labyrinth sections so</p><p>much that in his review</p><p>he gave a password (TGL)</p><p>that let players skip</p><p>them and only play</p><p>the shooting</p><p>stages.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The arcade version</p><p>used a twin-stick system</p><p>where players could move</p><p>in one direction and shoot in</p><p>another. The NES version</p><p>obviously ditched this,</p><p>but the game didn’t</p><p>suffer for it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Sunsoft also released</p><p>a Gremlins 2 game for</p><p>the Game Boy, but it was</p><p>completely different.</p><p>Rather than a top-down</p><p>adventure, it was a</p><p>side-scrolling</p><p>platformer.</p><p>GUMSHOE</p><p>Year 1986 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>MR STEVENSON IS a</p><p>private detective, but he</p><p>used to work for the FBI and</p><p>his past has caught up to</p><p>him. His daughter Jennifer</p><p>has been kidnapped, and</p><p>the ransom is the five rare</p><p>Black Panther diamonds,</p><p>which are hidden all over</p><p>the world. Gumshoe is an interesting attempt at making a</p><p>platform game that’s controlled with the Zapper. The game</p><p>auto-scrolls to the right and Mr Stevenson</p><p>walks forward at the same speed: the</p><p>player has to shoot enemies and</p><p>obstacles around him, but they</p><p>can also shoot him to make him</p><p>jump. You have a limited number</p><p>of bullets, but Mr Stevenson can</p><p>collect red balloons to give you</p><p>more ammo. This encourages</p><p>players to keep him moving around,</p><p>instead of focusing solely on enemies. n</p><p>GUERRILLA WAR</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>THE NES VERSION of SNK's</p><p>Ikari Warriors was heavily</p><p>criticised for its fairly sedate</p><p>pace: its hero character moves</p><p>agonisingly slowly through</p><p>each stage. Its follow-up,</p><p>Guerrilla War, makes up</p><p>for this by improving your</p><p>walking speed, while also turning the action up to 11</p><p>and retaining simultaneous two-player. As a result, it's</p><p>fair to say this is the superior NES title. It’s a top-down</p><p>run-and-gun game, something SNK was</p><p>well-known for, in which you play as a</p><p>guerilla leader as he tries to save his</p><p>small island country from an evil</p><p>dictator. In case you’re wondering</p><p>what the real-life inspiration is,</p><p>the uncensored Japanese version</p><p>makes it perfectly clear: set in</p><p>Cuba, players one and two are</p><p>Che Guevara and Fidel Castro</p><p>respectively. n</p><p>THE GUARDIAN LEGEND</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Broderbund / Nintendo</p><p>Developer Compile</p><p>A MASSIVE PLANET</p><p>called Naju is hurtling</p><p>towards Earth, and it’s</p><p>loaded with a bunch of</p><p>vicious creatures. As the</p><p>Guardian of Earth (no</p><p>pressure), you land on</p><p>Naju and have to destroy</p><p>it before impact. There are</p><p>two stage types here: when you’re on Naju’s surface the</p><p>action consists of a series of top-down labyrinth sections,</p><p>similar to Blaster Master’s top-down stages.</p><p>There are then a series of underground</p><p>sections where you jump into your</p><p>ship and try to blast the planet</p><p>from the inside: these take the</p><p>form of vertically-scrolling</p><p>shoot ‘em up stages and are</p><p>generally agreed to be the best</p><p>part of the game. It’s actually a</p><p>sequel to the Japan-only game</p><p>Guardic, and is known there as</p><p>Guardic Gaiden. n</p><p>GREMLINS 2: THE NEW</p><p>BATCH</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>THE FIRST GREMLINS</p><p>movie was perhaps a little</p><p>too dark to be considered</p><p>kid-friendly, but that</p><p>certainly wasn’t the case</p><p>with the sequel, which leant</p><p>far more to the comedy</p><p>genre than horror. Cue</p><p>the NES game, which</p><p>loosely follows the plot of The New Batch as Gizmo escapes</p><p>the genetics lab in the Clamp Centre and realises it’s been</p><p>overrun by Gremlins. Taking place over nine</p><p>stages, this top-down action adventure</p><p>game arms Gizmo with a bunch of</p><p>improvised weaponry, ranging from</p><p>a bow and arrow (a rubber band</p><p>attached to two paper clips that</p><p>fires pencils) to a flash bulb which</p><p>kills every Gremlin on the screen</p><p>(remember, don’t expose them to</p><p>bright light). The final battle is against</p><p>a mutated Mohawk / spider hybrid. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 88 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>89</p><p>FACT</p><p>The reason Gun.Smoke</p><p>has that awkward dot in the</p><p>middle of its name is because</p><p>there was a western TV series</p><p>called Gunsmoke which ran</p><p>from from 1955–75. The dot</p><p>is to make it ‘clear’ the</p><p>game isn’t based</p><p>on it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Early Gyromite cartridges</p><p>actually contained the circuit</p><p>board from the Japanese</p><p>Famicom version, attached to an</p><p>adaptor so it could run on an NES.</p><p>These adaptors can be removed</p><p>from the cart and used to play</p><p>Famicom games on</p><p>the NES.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Gun-Nac is actually</p><p>a parody of Zanac, a</p><p>more serious shooter also</p><p>developed by Compile. Both</p><p>games are similar, though</p><p>Zanac is distinctly</p><p>light on killer</p><p>rabbits.</p><p>face the screen, at which point you’re in control of R.O.B.</p><p>and can issue commands to him. There’s also a Game B</p><p>mode where Professor Hector is sleepwalking, meaning the</p><p>player only has to control R.O.B. and doesn’t have to worry</p><p>about switching between the characters. Gyromite was</p><p>actually a fun idea, it was just let down by the limitations</p><p>of R.O.B. and his painfully slow movement. Picking up and</p><p>putting down gyros took an age, not to mention spinning</p><p>them always felt quite dangerous. n</p><p>GYROMITE</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>GYROMITE IS BEST known not for the game itself but the</p><p>lovable, terrible robot that came with it. This was the game</p><p>that came bundled with R.O.B., the Robotic Operating</p><p>Buddy that acted as a Trojan horse to make the NES</p><p>appeal to retailers during the video game crash. The game</p><p>tells the story of Professor Hector (or Professor Vector,</p><p>if you’re player two). He has to collect all the dynamite</p><p>in his lab before time runs out, but there are a series of</p><p>columns blocking his way. R.O.B. can move these pillars by</p><p>picking up gyroscopes in the real world,</p><p>spinning them on a worryingly</p><p>powerful spinning machine (this</p><p>was pre-fidget spinners, kids)</p><p>and placing them on coloured</p><p>pedestals in front of him: this</p><p>in turn moves the pillars in</p><p>the game world. The player</p><p>switches between the Professor</p><p>and R.O.B. by pressing the Start</p><p>button: this makes the Prof turn to</p><p>GUN.SMOKE</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>VERTICAL SHOOT</p><p>, the</p><p>player takes on the role</p><p>of a US pilot who has to</p><p>blast their way through</p><p>Japanese planes until he reaches Tokyo (anodd</p><p>premise given that Capcom is a Japanese</p><p>developer). As a relatively early NES</p><p>game it wasn’t the most accurate</p><p>port– the frame rate and sound</p><p>effects are significantly weaker than</p><p>those of the arcade game released</p><p>two years prior– but it was still one</p><p>of the best examples of the genre in</p><p>the home console market at the time,</p><p>and with 32 lengthy stages it certainly</p><p>took a while to master. n</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s hero Jack</p><p>made an appearance</p><p>12 years later as an</p><p>unlockable character in</p><p>Square’s PlayStation</p><p>game Chocobo</p><p>Racing.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Irem’s early Famicom</p><p>cartridges, including</p><p>10-Yard Fight, had a red</p><p>LED light in the middle of</p><p>them. When you switched</p><p>on the console, the</p><p>cartridge</p><p>lit up.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although only two 19XX</p><p>games were released on the</p><p>NES, there were eventually</p><p>seven games in the series,</p><p>including a remake of 1943</p><p>called 1943 Kai complete</p><p>with odd new additions</p><p>like laser-firing Second</p><p>World War planes.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The plane in 1942 is a</p><p>Lockheed P-38 Lightning,</p><p>the same type which was</p><p>flown by Richard Bong in</p><p>the Second World War. He</p><p>was America’s top ace,</p><p>credited with shooting</p><p>down 40 Japanese</p><p>planes.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 14 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>15</p><p>THE ADDAMS</p><p>FAMILY</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Ocean</p><p>Developer Ocean</p><p>THE ADDAMS</p><p>FAMILY was big in</p><p>the early ‘90s thanks</p><p>to the big-budget</p><p>1991 movie. A video</p><p>game tie-in was</p><p>promptly delivered,</p><p>but while 16-bit</p><p>systems like the SNES</p><p>and Mega Drive got</p><p>one game, the NES got another. The plot is the same in</p><p>both versions– evil lawyer Tully Alford has seized the</p><p>Addams mansion to steal its riches, so it’s up to Gomez</p><p>to rescue his imprisoned family members</p><p>and get the house back– but the actual</p><p>gameplay is different on the NES.</p><p>The mansion has a series of puzzles</p><p>which are solved by finding certain</p><p>members: for example, if you</p><p>rescue Wednesday from the freezer</p><p>and bring her to the furnace, she’ll</p><p>thaw out and give you the attickey. n</p><p>ABADOX: THE DEADLY</p><p>INNER WAR</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Milton Bradley</p><p>Developer Natsume</p><p>IT MAY LOOK like</p><p>a standard shoot ‘em</p><p>up, but Abadox has</p><p>an interesting plot to</p><p>back it up. Set in the</p><p>year 5012, a massive</p><p>alien creature called</p><p>Parasitis has swallowed</p><p>the entire planet of</p><p>Abadox and now plans to eat others. Playing as Second</p><p>Lieutenant Nazal, you have to enter Parasitis and shoot</p><p>your way through Abadox to find and rescue its princess,</p><p>before blasting your way out of the alien’s</p><p>rectum to escape. Not content with this</p><p>novelty, Abadox also messes around</p><p>with standard shooter convention:</p><p>some of its levels switch from side-</p><p>scrolling to vertical scrolling, but</p><p>the twist is you travel downwards</p><p>rather than up. Which makes sense</p><p>when you consider where you’re</p><p>headed. n</p><p>8 EYES</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Taxan</p><p>Developer Thinking Rabbit</p><p>POST-APOCALYPTIC</p><p>FUTURES AND video</p><p>games regularly go hand-</p><p>in-hand, and 8 Eyes is the</p><p>umpteenth example of</p><p>this. After eight nuclear</p><p>explosions nearly destroy</p><p>the Earth, the jewels</p><p>(‘eyes’) that mysteriously</p><p>formed at their centres are gathered by greedy</p><p>dukes who want to harness their power. At</p><p>the behest of the Great King– who wants to</p><p>rebuild the Earth– Orin the Falconer and</p><p>his falcon pal Cutrus head out to defeat</p><p>the dukes and gather the eight eyes.</p><p>The result is a game that looks a lot</p><p>like Castlevania, borrows from Mega</p><p>Man (when you kill a duke you get a</p><p>new sword which can be used to easily</p><p>defeat another), and ultimately isn’t as</p><p>enjoyable aseither. n</p><p>720°</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>BASED ON THE</p><p>Atari arcade game,</p><p>720° took full</p><p>advantage of the</p><p>‘80s skateboarding</p><p>craze by offering</p><p>this pseudo free-</p><p>roaming effort. As</p><p>a young chap with</p><p>little more than a</p><p>grin on his face, a skateboard under his feet and $100 in his</p><p>back pocket (which was a lot in those days,</p><p>let me tell you), you have to skate around</p><p>your town, entering competitions and</p><p>earning more money to upgrade your</p><p>equipment. If you take too long the</p><p>message ‘SKATE OR DIE’ will appear</p><p>and you’ll be chased by a swarm of bees:</p><p>a skateboarder’s worst enemy (probably).</p><p>Get caught by the bees and it’s an instant</p><p>Game Over. Harsh. n</p><p>FACT</p><p>8 Eyes has a two player</p><p>co-op mode in which</p><p>player 2 controls the</p><p>falcon. It’s actually far</p><p>more entertaining</p><p>to play this way.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Abadox is notorious</p><p>for being extremely</p><p>difficult. If you die in later</p><p>stages you lose all your</p><p>power-ups, which can</p><p>make things even</p><p>harder than they</p><p>already are.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Raul Julia, who played</p><p>Gomez in the movie,</p><p>went on to portray</p><p>M. Bison in the Street</p><p>Fighter movie starring</p><p>Jean Claude Van</p><p>Damme.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The arcade version of</p><p>720° came in a bigger</p><p>cabinet than usual, and</p><p>the speakers sat on the</p><p>top like a skater's</p><p>boombox.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 15 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>16</p><p>ADVANCED DUNGEONS &</p><p>DRAGONS: DRAGONSTRIKE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer Westwood Associates</p><p>ANOTHER WILDLY</p><p>DIFFERENT AD&D game,</p><p>DragonStrike is a top-down</p><p>shooter in which you ride atop</p><p>a metallic dragon, scouring the</p><p>land of Ansalon in search of</p><p>evil Dragonarmy members to</p><p>defeat. Rather than simply scrolling horizontally or vertically,</p><p>DragonStrike lets you freely travel in any direction. It’s also</p><p>unique in that it has an elevation system: your</p><p>dragon can toggle between flying high in</p><p>the air and low near the ground. Flying</p><p>low lets you avoid dragon attacks, but</p><p>also makes it possible to hit scenery</p><p>and take damage. This elevation</p><p>system made the game notoriously</p><p>difficult, as it’s sometimes tricky to tell</p><p>whether enemies should be approached</p><p>from the higher or lower plane. n</p><p>ADVANCED DUNGEONS &</p><p>DRAGONS: POOL OF</p><p>RADIANCE</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer Strategic Simulations</p><p>THE SECOND AD&D game to</p><p>arrive on the NES (and actually</p><p>the first created, it just took a</p><p>while to get ported over), Pool</p><p>of Radiance is more like a typical</p><p>RPG adventure than Heroes</p><p>of the Lance. After building a</p><p>party of six characters, the player has to drive</p><p>the monsters from the outskirts of the city</p><p>of Phlan so it can rebuild itself into the</p><p>thriving trade community it used to</p><p>be. While most of the gameplay takes</p><p>place from a first-person perspective,</p><p>whenever you get into a fight the</p><p>action switches to a side-on view and</p><p>the battle plays out in a basic tactical</p><p>RPG style. n</p><p>ADVANCED DUNGEONS &</p><p>DRAGONS: HEROES OF</p><p>THE LANCE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developers US Gold / Strategic Simulations</p><p>THE FIRST IN a series</p><p>of AD&D games for</p><p>the NES, Heroes of the</p><p>Lance was based on the</p><p>Dragonlance novels.</p><p>Rather than a conventional</p><p>RPG, it’s instead a side-</p><p>scrolling action game</p><p>in which the player takes control of eight heroes as</p><p>they attempt to retrieve the revered Disks of Mishakal</p><p>from a dragon called Khisanth. Unfortunately, Heroes</p><p>of the Lance didn’t go down too well: its</p><p>bland backgrounds, clunky controls,</p><p>infuriating deaths and the fact you</p><p>can beat the final boss with literally</p><p>a single shot mean it’s widely</p><p>considered by many to be one of</p><p>the worst games on the NES. Not</p><p>to worry though: as you can see</p><p>publisher FCI would go on to have</p><p>plenty more attempts. n</p><p>THE ADDAMS FAMILY:</p><p>PUGSLEY’S SCAVENGER</p><p>HUNT</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Ocean</p><p>Developer Ocean</p><p>THE SUCCESS OF the</p><p>Addams Family movie</p><p>spawned an animated series,</p><p>which in turn spawned</p><p>its own video game tie-in.</p><p>Once again the NES version</p><p>differed from the 16-bit one,</p><p>but in an interesting way: it’s</p><p>actually a port of the previous 16-bit Addams Family game,</p><p>with Pugsley replacing Gomez as the lead character. It’s not</p><p>a perfect port, though: many of the levels are cut</p><p>down or outright removed, the weapon</p><p>power-ups are missing and other than</p><p>on the title screen there’s no music</p><p>at all. Still, it was nice</p><p>‘EM ups set in space</p><p>were ten a penny in</p><p>the ‘80s and ‘90s,</p><p>as you can see by</p><p>flicking through this</p><p>book. Gun.Smoke</p><p>cleverly bucked this</p><p>trend by replacing</p><p>the stars with sand,</p><p>and swapping your</p><p>spaceship for a six-shooter. Playing as a cowboy called</p><p>Billie Bob (apparently nobody told Capcom that Billie is</p><p>the female spelling), you wander through</p><p>the town of Hicksville, gunning down</p><p>varmints in an attempt to reach</p><p>and kill various wanted gang</p><p>members. Gun.Smoke features</p><p>an interesting shooting system:</p><p>the B and A buttons fire shots</p><p>diagonally to the left and right,</p><p>while pressing them both at the</p><p>same time fires straight forward.</p><p>You can also call on a horse, which</p><p>offers extra protection. n</p><p>GUN-NAC</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher ASCII Corporation</p><p>Developer Compile</p><p>IOTA SYNTHETIC</p><p>USED to be one of</p><p>the most hip and</p><p>happening solar</p><p>systems in the entire</p><p>universe, and anyone</p><p>living there was more</p><p>or less guaranteed a</p><p>prosperous existence.</p><p>That is, until one day a</p><p>strange cosmic energy</p><p>engulfed the entire system, turning all animals, plants and</p><p>inanimate objects into sentient killing machines. It’s up</p><p>to Commander Gun-Nac to climb into his ship and save</p><p>the day by pumping countless bullets into</p><p>these animated swines. Gun-Nac is</p><p>a fairly straightforward vertically-</p><p>scrolling shoot ‘em up, where</p><p>players can upgrade their weapons</p><p>and bombs as they progress.</p><p>Enemies range from giant rabbits</p><p>to the moon itself, which seems a</p><p>little counter-intuitive when your</p><p>aim is to save the solar system, not</p><p>destroy important parts of it. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 89 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>90</p><p>FACT</p><p>Hatris wasn’t the only</p><p>attempt Pajitnov made to</p><p>strike gold again. Welltris,</p><p>Wordtris, Faces, Hexic, Dwice</p><p>and Ice & Fire were all</p><p>created by Pajitnov over</p><p>the years, with varying</p><p>results.</p><p>FACT</p><p>PSP fans in the west</p><p>may be more familiar with</p><p>a later game in the series:</p><p>Hammerin’ Hero (also known</p><p>as GenSan in Europe) is</p><p>one of the few games</p><p>given an English</p><p>translation.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Washington Generals</p><p>was the ‘straight’ team that</p><p>toured with the Globetrotters.</p><p>Naturally they lost every game,</p><p>but one night in 1971, playing</p><p>as the New Jersey Reds,</p><p>they accidentally won</p><p>and the crowd was</p><p>devastated.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Gyruss also includes</p><p>the Konami code (it lets</p><p>you start with 30 lives),</p><p>but unlike in most other</p><p>Konami games you</p><p>have to enter it</p><p>backwards.</p><p>HATRIS</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Bullet-Proof Software</p><p>Developer Bullet-Proof Software</p><p>AFTER THE ENORMOUS</p><p>worldwide success of</p><p>Tetris, Bullet-Proof</p><p>Software– who owned the</p><p>licence and sub-licensed</p><p>it to Nintendo– hoped its</p><p>creator Alexey Pajitnov</p><p>could make lighting strike</p><p>twice. His next attempt was</p><p>Hatris, a puzzler in which</p><p>hats of different shapes and sizes fall to the ground and the</p><p>player has to stack five in a row to make them disappear.</p><p>The gimmick is that each hat stacks</p><p>differently: top hats make large stacks,</p><p>while you can pile a load of baseball</p><p>caps on top of each other without it</p><p>resulting in a massive stack. Hatris</p><p>was an interesting concept but it</p><p>was noticeably more difficult than</p><p>Tetris and wasn’t as immediately</p><p>accessible, and as a result it</p><p>reached nowhere near the same level</p><p>of success. n</p><p>HARLEM</p><p>GLOBETROTTERS</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Softie</p><p>USUALLY YOU’D EXPECT</p><p>a sports title to include more</p><p>than just exhibition games,</p><p>but when you’re dealing with</p><p>one based on a team that does</p><p>nothing but exhibition games,</p><p>you can maybe understand</p><p>why there’s nothing else on</p><p>offer. That’s the case with Harlem Globetrotters, the NES</p><p>game dedicated to those zany funsters who tour the world</p><p>playing comedy, trick-filled basketball games.</p><p>Naturally, you can choose to play as the</p><p>Globetrotters and pull off silly moves,</p><p>like pulling the referee’s trousers</p><p>down or kicking the ball into the</p><p>basket. Alternatively, you can do</p><p>away with such frivolities and</p><p>choose to play as their long-time</p><p>rivals, the Washington Generals,</p><p>who play a more straight-laced</p><p>game. Either way, once it’s over it’s</p><p>back to the title screen. n</p><p>HAMMERIN’ HARRY</p><p>Year 1992 a</p><p>Publisher Irem</p><p>Developer Irem</p><p>YOU MAY NOT be too</p><p>familiar with Hammerin’</p><p>Harry, but he’s appeared</p><p>in at least 10 games in</p><p>Japan over the years. This</p><p>NES offering is a port of</p><p>the arcade game of the</p><p>same name, and stars a</p><p>young hammer-wielding</p><p>chap eager to get his own</p><p>back on the Rusty Nail Construction Company after they</p><p>demolished his home. As well as bashing bad</p><p>guys with his hammer, Harry can also</p><p>thwack other objects across the screen</p><p>and hit his enemies with them. It’s</p><p>got a wonderfully bizarre sense of</p><p>humour– the final boss is an evil</p><p>businessman who zooms around in a</p><p>flying wheelchair throwing razor-</p><p>tipped dollar bills at you– and is a bit</p><p>of a hidden gem given its Europe-only</p><p>release. n</p><p>GYRUSS</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Ultra Games</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>IT IS THE year 25XX</p><p>and mankind ‘must rid</p><p>the universe of evil’:</p><p>a task that sounds a</p><p>bit much, to be fair.</p><p>You do this by flying</p><p>to each of the planets</p><p>in our solar system,</p><p>destroying enemies</p><p>along the way. Rather</p><p>than a straight scrolling shoot ‘em up, Gyruss is similar</p><p>to the likes of Atari’s Tempest in that your ship</p><p>is locked on a circular axis. Moving left</p><p>and right rotates your ship around the</p><p>screen, and you fire down different</p><p>‘paths’ towards the centre. Gyruss</p><p>differs from the arcade game it’s</p><p>based on by adding a bunch of</p><p>extra stages: while the arcade</p><p>version only covers six planets the</p><p>NES game includes all nine before</p><p>ending at the Sun. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 90 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>91</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Duck Hunt character</p><p>in Super Smash Bros. for</p><p>Wii U and 3DS has a special</p><p>move which makes a tin can</p><p>from Game C appear. Each</p><p>time you press the B button</p><p>the can bounces as if it’s</p><p>been shot.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In case you’re not aware,</p><p>‘shredding’ is snowboard</p><p>lingo for going down a hill</p><p>(presumably because the</p><p>board shreds the snow). If you</p><p>really want to be ‘rad’, you</p><p>could call it ‘shreddin’</p><p>the gnar’ instead. But</p><p>please don’t.</p><p>FACT</p><p>High Speed was</p><p>recreated a second time, as</p><p>a downloadable table in The</p><p>Pinball Arcade by FarSight</p><p>Studios. At the time of writing</p><p>it’s available on Xbox One,</p><p>PS4, PC, mobile and a</p><p>number of legacy</p><p>systems.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The irony of using a super</p><p>weapon to prevent another</p><p>super weapon from being fired</p><p>isn’t lost on the developers.</p><p>When you beat the game a</p><p>message reads: ‘Dismantle</p><p>your secret weapon. You</p><p>saved the land from</p><p>disaster.’</p><p>HOGAN’S ALLEY</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Intelligent Systems</p><p>THIS NES LAUNCH</p><p>game offered more</p><p>Zapper gameplay for</p><p>those early adopters who</p><p>wanted more than just</p><p>Duck Hunt. It consists</p><p>of three game types:</p><p>Game A is a police-style</p><p>shooting range where</p><p>you have to shoot criminals and avoid the innocents</p><p>(a lady, a professor and a policeman). Game B does</p><p>the same thing, but moves the action to a street scene</p><p>where characters appear in windows.</p><p>Finally, Game C is a ‘Trick Shooting’</p><p>mode, where you have to keep</p><p>shooting cans to juggle them in</p><p>the air and try to guide them</p><p>over to platforms on the left</p><p>side of the screen. Game A</p><p>was a microgame in the GBA,</p><p>GameCube and DS WarioWare</p><p>games, while Game C was a boss</p><p>battle in the DS version. n</p><p>HIGH SPEED</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>HIGH SPEED WAS an</p><p>iconic pinball machine</p><p>released in 1986. It was</p><p>notable for being, among</p><p>other things, the first</p><p>pinball machine to play a</p><p>complete song and the first</p><p>to feature a ‘jackpot’ feature</p><p>during multi-ball. Five</p><p>years later, Rare recreated</p><p>High Speed for the NES, with the manual proudly boasting</p><p>that ‘one of the hottest pinball machines ever has now been</p><p>converted to video’. In reality, High Speed</p><p>was actually based on a real-life police</p><p>chase its designer experienced.</p><p>While driving a Porsche 928, he</p><p>was pursued</p><p>by the police for</p><p>speeding at up to 146 mph. The</p><p>pinball table may have been</p><p>iconic, but it should come as</p><p>no surprise that it’s not quite as</p><p>exhilarating (or downright stupid)</p><p>as the real thing probably was. n</p><p>HEAVY SHREDDIN’</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Parker Brothers / Activision</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>BETTER KNOWN AS</p><p>Snowboard Challenge in Europe</p><p>and Australia, Heavy Shreddin’</p><p>is a snowboarding game with</p><p>18 levels set across five different</p><p>disciplines. Downhill is a timed</p><p>race where you have to quickly</p><p>reach the bottom, while Slalom</p><p>requires you to pass through flags on the way down. Half-</p><p>pipe is more about gaining points by doing jumps, while</p><p>Moguls has you hopping over a bump-riddled</p><p>circuit. The most difficult stage, however,</p><p>is the Backwoods: this features</p><p>23different obstacles– ranging</p><p>from hay bales and rope fences</p><p>to trucks and waterfalls– which</p><p>each have to be bypassed in a</p><p>different way. Heavy Shreddin’</p><p>was criticised for its extremely</p><p>simplistic graphics and its awkward</p><p>viewpoint which wasn’t quite side-on</p><p>and wasn’t quite isometric. n</p><p>HEAVY BARREL</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>TERRORISTS HAVE</p><p>SEIZED the underground</p><p>control complex of a nuclear</p><p>missile site, which is far</p><p>from ideal. You have to</p><p>infiltrate the site and kill</p><p>their leader before they can</p><p>launch the missiles. It’s a</p><p>difficult mission, but one</p><p>made a lot easier by Heavy Barrel, a super weapon that can</p><p>destroy almost every enemy with a single</p><p>shot. You’ll need to earn it, though.</p><p>As you shoot your way through the</p><p>game you’ll collect keys: these</p><p>open lockers, some of which</p><p>contain pieces of Heavy Barrel.</p><p>Once you find six pieces you</p><p>can assemble the gun and cause</p><p>carnage for 99 seconds, at which</p><p>point it falls apart and you need</p><p>to build another one. The game also</p><p>includes a two-player co-op mode. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 91 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>92</p><p>FACT</p><p>Another Hollywood</p><p>Squares game was released</p><p>on the Wii, PS3, PC and iOS in</p><p>2010. Unlike the NES game, it</p><p>featured video clips from actual</p><p>celebrities: Brad Garrett,</p><p>Kathy Griffin, Martin Mull</p><p>and Jeffrey Tambor.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Beating the game</p><p>reunites Kevin with his</p><p>parents. ‘Have you got</p><p>something against spending</p><p>Christmas with your family?’</p><p>his dad jokes. You’re the</p><p>one who ditched him,</p><p>you swine.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Oddly, there are two</p><p>different versions of Home</p><p>Alone. One has a Game Over</p><p>screen showing Kevin doing the</p><p>classic Home Alone ‘scream’</p><p>pose and saying ‘oh no’, while</p><p>the other simply says ‘oh</p><p>no’ with no picture of</p><p>Kevin.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The other versions of</p><p>Hook were a beat’ em up</p><p>arcade game, a point-and-click</p><p>adventure (Amiga and Atari</p><p>ST) and a completely different</p><p>platformer (SNES, Mega Drive,</p><p>Mega CD and Game Gear).</p><p>The NES version was also</p><p>ported to the Game</p><p>Boy and C64.</p><p>HOOK</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Sony Imagesoft / Ocean</p><p>Developer Painting by Numbers</p><p>THERE WERE NO fewer</p><p>than four completely different</p><p>games created to tie in with the</p><p>Spielberg-directed Peter Pan</p><p>movie starring Robin Williams.</p><p>The NES game is a side-</p><p>scrolling action platformer</p><p>where Peter has to rescue his</p><p>children from Captain Hook</p><p>by heading to Neverland and collecting four special items</p><p>needed to defeat him: an alarm clock, a horn, a tooth and a</p><p>magic sword. Each stage requires you to</p><p>collect a certain amount of items–</p><p>cherries, cakes, pearls and such–</p><p>before you can exit and move</p><p>onto the next. Peter’s rubbish at</p><p>fighting, but he can summon</p><p>Tinkerbell to defeat enemies</p><p>for him. There are also flying</p><p>sections between stages, where</p><p>you have to keep collecting</p><p>marbles to stay up in the air. n</p><p>HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN</p><p>NEW YORK</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher THQ</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>KEVIN’S BEEN</p><p>ABANDONED by his parents</p><p>again (they really need to</p><p>get a social worker involved</p><p>now), and this time he’s</p><p>stranded in New York. He</p><p>needs to escape the Trump</p><p>Plaza hotel while avoiding the</p><p>angry staff (thanks, Trump),</p><p>make his way through a dark and scary Central Park, reach</p><p>his uncle’s townhouse, climb to the roof, then make it back</p><p>to street level for a dash to the Rockefeller</p><p>Center Christmas tree, all while the</p><p>newly-renamed Sticky Bandits are</p><p>hot on his tail. With less emphasis</p><p>on traps, Home Alone 2 is more</p><p>of an action platformer as Kevin</p><p>has a dart gun he can use to stun</p><p>enemies. It’s generally considered</p><p>a bad game with awkward controls</p><p>and off-putting music. n</p><p>HOME ALONE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher THQ</p><p>Developer Bethesda Softworks</p><p>KEVIN MCALLISTER’S</p><p>FAMILY has gone on holiday</p><p>without him, and the nasty Wet</p><p>Bandits are trying to break into</p><p>his house so they can burgle it.</p><p>Kevin’s called the cops but they</p><p>won’t be there for 20 minutes,</p><p>so you have to survive until they</p><p>arrive by planting traps around</p><p>the house and trying to avoid being captured. Kevin can only</p><p>carry three traps with him at any time, so</p><p>it’s important to make sure you have</p><p>a steady supply. The game’s manual</p><p>overdoes it a bit when discussing</p><p>the enemy AI, claiming that</p><p>it’s ‘extremely intelligent’, and</p><p>that ‘being smart enables them</p><p>to track Kevin down in a way</p><p>that is unique to the Nintendo</p><p>Entertainment System library</p><p>of enemy characters’. It’s not that</p><p>impressive. n</p><p>HOLLYWOOD SQUARES</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>HOLLYWOOD SQUARES</p><p>SHOULDN’T work as a video</p><p>game: it’s a game show in</p><p>which celebrities are asked</p><p>trivia questions, and all the</p><p>contestant has to do is decide</p><p>if they’re right or wrong.</p><p>Surprisingly, though… nah,</p><p>only joking, it really doesn’t work as a video game. To its credit,</p><p>Rare did its best with the source material: each of the 400</p><p>questions has a different right and wrong</p><p>answer, and each ‘celebrity’ (they’re just</p><p>nine random characters) actually</p><p>gives a jokey fake response (usually</p><p>a terrible one, but occasionally a</p><p>zinger) before giving their real</p><p>answer, just like in the show.</p><p>For example, when asked what</p><p>distinguishes vultures from other</p><p>large birds of prey, your chosen</p><p>celebrity answers: ‘Vultures operate</p><p>primarily in Hollywood.’ n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 92 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>93</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Hunt for Red</p><p>October is the first movie</p><p>to feature the Jack Ryan</p><p>character, who was played in</p><p>later movies by Harrison</p><p>Ford, Ben Affleck, Chris</p><p>Pine and John</p><p>Krasinski.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Much like Double</p><p>Dribble, Hoops has slow-</p><p>motion dunking cutscenes.</p><p>However, here they can</p><p>sometimes result in opponents</p><p>managing to jump up and</p><p>block them, so they’re not</p><p>a sure thing.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Hydlide was a big</p><p>success in Japan, where it</p><p>was released on a number</p><p>of different NEC, MSX and</p><p>Fujitsu home computers.</p><p>It sold 2 million</p><p>copies across all</p><p>platforms.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s poor</p><p>design is best explained</p><p>in the manual: ‘When moving</p><p>forward, keep tossing a softball</p><p>ahead of you. You might knock</p><p>out enemies before you see</p><p>them. Sometimes by the</p><p>time you see them,</p><p>it’s too late!’</p><p>HYDLIDE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer Technology & Entertainment</p><p>Software</p><p>THERE AREN’T ENOUGH</p><p>heroes in games simply</p><p>called Jim. Thankfully,</p><p>Hydlide exists to fill that</p><p>Jim-shaped void in every</p><p>gamer’s heart. Jim has to</p><p>recover three magic jewels</p><p>which have been stolen from</p><p>Fairyland, and in doing so</p><p>rescue Princess Ann from the evil Boralis. Hydlide is an</p><p>open-world RPG where all combat is automatic: Jim has a</p><p>life bar, as do enemies, and you simply run into</p><p>them until one bar runs out. The A andB</p><p>buttons switch between ‘attack’ and</p><p>‘defend’ mode, which essentially</p><p>affect the speed at which each power</p><p>bar goes down. It’s a very basic</p><p>concept, but one that makes the</p><p>typical RPG grind when gaining</p><p>experience far less time-consuming.</p><p>Its music will drill into your brain. n</p><p>THE HUNT FOR RED</p><p>OCTOBER</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Hi Tech Expressions</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>ANOTHER MOVIE TIE-IN,</p><p>this time based on the 1990</p><p>spy thriller starring Sean</p><p>Connery. Playing</p><p>as a Russian</p><p>defector, your task is to take</p><p>the Red October– a Soviet</p><p>nuclear submarine armed</p><p>to the gills– and guide it to</p><p>the safety of an American</p><p>port before the Kremlin realises what you’re doing and</p><p>destroys your sub. The majority of the game consists of</p><p>side-scrolling underwater combat. Navigating</p><p>a series of deep sea tunnels, you have to</p><p>fire torpedoes and missiles to take out</p><p>enemies. Oddly, the NES version</p><p>ends on quite a tangent, throwing</p><p>a random platforming stage at</p><p>you and asking you to gun down</p><p>a bunch of bad guys in something</p><p>that wouldn’t look out of place in a</p><p>James Bond game. n</p><p>HUDSON HAWK</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Sony Imagesoft / Ocean</p><p>Developer Ocean</p><p>MOVIE TIE-INS ARE always</p><p>a gamble: If the film ends</p><p>up being a massive flop,</p><p>fewer people are going to be</p><p>interested in playing the game.</p><p>This was the problem facing</p><p>Hudson Hawk, based on the</p><p>Bruce Willis action comedy</p><p>that ended up making back a</p><p>only quarter of its budget and winning three Razzie awards</p><p>for worst film, screenplay and director. The</p><p>game is a side-scrolling platformer</p><p>where Hawk has to collect artifacts</p><p>created by Leonardo da Vinci, in</p><p>order to stop Mayflower Industries</p><p>building a machine that turns</p><p>lead into gold. Because nothing</p><p>says action like trying to save the</p><p>world’s economy. The game isn’t</p><p>terrible, but Hawk’s puny jump and</p><p>odd weapon throwing arc make it</p><p>more frustrating than it needs to be. n</p><p>HOOPS</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Aicom</p><p>A STREET BASKETBALL</p><p>game offering either one-on-</p><p>one or two-on-two games.</p><p>There are eight different</p><p>characters to choose from–</p><p>ranging from the all-round</p><p>star Mr Doc to the small but</p><p>speedy Barbie– and you can</p><p>take part in either a standard</p><p>‘first to X points’ match or</p><p>a game of ‘Around the World’, where players</p><p>take turns trying to score baskets from</p><p>various points on the court. Given</p><p>the nature of the contests mean</p><p>only one basket is used, the game’s</p><p>camera is locked to one half of</p><p>the court. There’s also a 15-game</p><p>tournament mode, which can</p><p>either be played alone or in co-op</p><p>with a friend: completing this shows</p><p>an ending screen revealing what</p><p>happened to each character years later. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 93 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>94</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you think of</p><p>bundled NES games you</p><p>usually think of titles like Super</p><p>Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. In</p><p>fact, for a while NES consoles</p><p>in West Germany, Switzerland</p><p>and Austria were instead</p><p>bundled with Ice</p><p>Climber.</p><p>with numerous protests and political campaigns,</p><p>the Topi was completely redesigned to</p><p>resemble a sort of Yeti instead.</p><p>Other enemies that feature in all versions</p><p>include the Nitpicker (a small bird that</p><p>flies around hassling you), the Condor (a</p><p>larger bird that can give you bonus points</p><p>if you’re able to jump up and grab onto it)</p><p>and the Polar Bear, which appears when the</p><p>game wants you to hurry up and pushes the</p><p>stage upwards.</p><p>Ice Climber was a relatively well-received</p><p>game, but it was forgotten over time as the Marios,</p><p>Zeldas, Metroids and such grew in popularity. It did</p><p>enjoy a comeback in 2001, however, when Popo and</p><p>Nana were added as playable characters in Super</p><p>Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube. This surprise</p><p>return led to many newer gamers finding out</p><p>about Ice Climber for the first time, and they</p><p>became such a well-loved pair that they came back</p><p>for the Wii Smash Bros. in 2008, along with</p><p>their own stage featuring the return of the</p><p>Polar Bear.</p><p>While Ice Climber may not be a game that’s</p><p>immediately cited when fans round off lists of classic</p><p>NES games, it retains a die-hard fanbase to this day and</p><p>many gamers continue to keep their fingers crossed that–</p><p>unlikely as it may be– Popo and Nana may get the chance</p><p>to return in a new adventure one day. n</p><p>ICE CLIMBER</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>ARGUABLY THE MOST difficult game in the NES launch</p><p>line-up, Ice Climber is a vertical-scrolling platformer</p><p>where the player has to reach the top of 32 mountains, each</p><p>containing all manner of tricky jumps and enemies. The</p><p>protagonists are Popo and Nana, a pair of parka-wearing</p><p>mountaineers armed with big wooden mallets. These</p><p>mallets can be used to attack any enemies that come near,</p><p>but more importantly they’re also used to smash blocks</p><p>above you.</p><p>This is crucial because jumping upwards is the</p><p>only way to progress in the game, and it’s this upwards</p><p>jump that makes Ice Climber such a tricky game to</p><p>adapt to (even for a modern gamer). Popo and Nana</p><p>jump with an extremely high arc, meaning they go</p><p>almost straight upwards and not very far to the side.</p><p>This is ideal for knocking out small gaps in the blocks</p><p>above you, then jumping upwards through them and</p><p>landing slightly to the side. This does, however, make</p><p>the platforming sections– where moving cloud-shaped</p><p>platforms travel from side to side– a little trickier</p><p>to navigate. The fact that the bonus stages feature</p><p>platforms and nothing else shows that successfully</p><p>hopping between them was considered an</p><p>achievement in itself.</p><p>The Japanese and western versions of Ice</p><p>Climber have one major difference, in</p><p>that one particular enemy is completely</p><p>different. The Japanese game features</p><p>enemies called Topi, which are essentially</p><p>small blue seals that waddle around,</p><p>filling holes in the ice and generally</p><p>causing problems until you thwack them</p><p>with your mallet. The western language</p><p>versions kept the Topi enemy, but since the</p><p>clubbing of seals was a hot topic in the 1980s</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 94 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>95</p><p>FACT</p><p>You only get one life</p><p>in Ikari Warriors II, but</p><p>you can get around that by</p><p>pressing A, B, B, A before the</p><p>Game Over screen appears</p><p>to continue where you left</p><p>off (except in the final</p><p>stage).</p><p>FACT</p><p>Unlike the second game,</p><p>Ikari III does away with the</p><p>cheat code formality and just</p><p>gives you infinite continues</p><p>(even on the last stage). This</p><p>means you can easily beat</p><p>the game if you’re simply</p><p>stubborn enough to</p><p>keep continuing.</p><p>FACT</p><p>It seems the chubby</p><p>player had a fan</p><p>somewhere in Nintendo,</p><p>because he made a cameo</p><p>appearance in Super Smash</p><p>Bros. Brawl as one of the</p><p>game’s collectible</p><p>stickers.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The heroes Paul and</p><p>Vince are instead known</p><p>as Ralf and Clark in the</p><p>Japanese version of the</p><p>game. They later appeared</p><p>as playable fighters in</p><p>SNK’s King of Fighters</p><p>series.</p><p>IKARI III: THE RESCUE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>WELL, IT LOOKS like they</p><p>aren’t warriors anymore.</p><p>Despite this, Paul and Vince</p><p>are very much up for another</p><p>mission, and this time the</p><p>president’s daughter Elise has</p><p>been kidnapped by Faust, the</p><p>leader of a secret organisation</p><p>called Crime Ghost. Whereas</p><p>the first two Ikari Warriors games were very much considered</p><p>shooters, Ikari III dials back the gunplay significantly and for</p><p>the most part you’ll be fighting hand-to-hand</p><p>instead. While the first two games were</p><p>criticised for their poor NES ports,</p><p>Ikari III is believed to be even</p><p>better than its arcade counterpart:</p><p>the hit detection is improved and</p><p>there’s a whole extra stage, an</p><p>auto-scrolling vertical shooter</p><p>where you swim through an</p><p>area in scuba gear, firing a gun</p><p>(hooray!) at enemies. n</p><p>IKARI WARRIORS II:</p><p>VICTORY ROAD</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer Micronics</p><p>WHEN YOUR FIRST game</p><p>is about commandos fighting</p><p>through a jungle to rescue</p><p>their colonel, it takes guts to</p><p>pull a massive swerve for the</p><p>sequel. That’s what happens</p><p>in Ikari Warriors II. As Paul</p><p>and Vince fly home after a</p><p>mission well done, the sky</p><p>suddenly turns black and a voice booms through the radio,</p><p>telling them that ‘Zang Zip, the War Dog, has enslaved the</p><p>people of Earth’. You’re then sent thousands</p><p>of years in the future and have to</p><p>destroy the evil alien menace. While</p><p>the general run-and-gun action</p><p>is the same, there are a couple of</p><p>changes here. Gone are the tanks</p><p>(do they have tanks in the distant</p><p>future?),</p><p>replaced by body armour.</p><p>You can also now collect money to</p><p>upgrade your weapons. n</p><p>IKARI WARRIORS</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer Micronics</p><p>PAUL AND VINCE are a pair</p><p>of commandos who have been</p><p>given secret orders to invade</p><p>an unnamed enemy nation</p><p>and reach the village of Ikari</p><p>by filling anyone who opposes</p><p>them with bullets. The game’s</p><p>a vertically-scrolling run-</p><p>and-gun shooter– something</p><p>SNK would go on to become renowned for in the following</p><p>years– which players can either take on alone or with a</p><p>friend. From time to time you can jump</p><p>into a tank for increased firepower</p><p>and protection. It’s well-known for</p><p>its badly written end message,</p><p>after you rescue General Kawasak</p><p>(named after SNK’s founder): ‘You</p><p>have accomplished the mission.</p><p>You are the very prevailer that</p><p>protect right and justice. I would</p><p>express my sincere. Thanks to you.</p><p>Take good rest!’ n</p><p>ICE HOCKEY</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D2</p><p>ANOTHER OF</p><p>NINTENDO’S wonderfully</p><p>generic-named sports titles. Ice</p><p>Hockey, you won’t be surprised</p><p>to discover, is an ice hockey</p><p>game for one or two players.</p><p>There are six teams to choose</p><p>from: USA, Czechoslovakia,</p><p>Canada, Poland, the Soviet</p><p>Union and Sweden (who replace Japan, who were in the</p><p>Famicom version). The game itself is as you would</p><p>expect from a hockey game, but while it</p><p>only consists of exhibition matches there</p><p>is one particularly interesting feature:</p><p>once you’ve chosen your team you</p><p>can choose whether each of your</p><p>four players are skinny, medium</p><p>build or chubby. This does actually</p><p>have an effect on the game: heavy</p><p>players have powerful shots and body</p><p>checks, but they’re also slow and poor</p><p>during face-offs. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_46-95.indd 95 18/01/19 7:13 PM</p><p>96</p><p>FACT</p><p>Amazingly, one of the</p><p>action figures was a baby in</p><p>a car seat called Skid the Kid.</p><p>Parents protested at the idea</p><p>of a toy baby designed to be</p><p>in car crashes, and it was</p><p>eventually pulled off</p><p>the shelves.</p><p>FACT</p><p>You can blame Indiana</p><p>Jones and the Temple of Doom</p><p>(the movie) for every mine</p><p>cart level you’ve ever played</p><p>in a video game. The iconic</p><p>scene where Indy, Willie and</p><p>Short Round escape on a</p><p>cart inspired countless</p><p>imitators.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Developer Sandcastle</p><p>consisted of the game’s</p><p>creator Will Harvey and</p><p>three other members. Before</p><p>making The Immortal, the</p><p>team originally formed to</p><p>make Zany Golf for home</p><p>computers (and later</p><p>the Mega Drive).</p><p>FACT</p><p>In 2003 Irem released</p><p>R-Type Final on PS2. It was</p><p>a side-scrolling shooter with</p><p>a ridiculous 101 ships to</p><p>unlock and play as. One of</p><p>these ships was none</p><p>other than the</p><p>OF-1.</p><p>INDIANA JONES AND THE</p><p>TEMPLE OF DOOM</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Tengen</p><p>INDIANA JONES’ FIRST</p><p>adventure on the NES is based</p><p>on the much-loved second movie</p><p>in the film series. It takes place</p><p>during the second act, where Indy</p><p>has discovered that the village’s</p><p>missing children are being forced</p><p>to work as slaves to mine for the</p><p>final two powerful Sankara Stones. The game consists of</p><p>12‘waves’ and has Indy fighting his way through the palace,</p><p>rescuing children along the way, in an</p><p>attempt to get hold of the Sankara</p><p>Stones (in wave 9) then proceed to</p><p>escape the palace, cross the film’s</p><p>infamous rope bridge and battle</p><p>Mola Ram. Despite featuring</p><p>a reasonable rendition of John</p><p>Williams’ iconic theme music,</p><p>the basic visuals and clunky</p><p>controls meant there weren’t</p><p>many massive fans of this game. n</p><p>THE INCREDIBLE CRASH</p><p>DUMMIES</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Software Creations</p><p>ONE OF THE odder</p><p>action figure lines of the</p><p>early ‘90s, Tyco’s Incredible</p><p>Crash Dummies was a</p><p>series of toys based on the</p><p>dummies used in public</p><p>service announcements</p><p>for car safety. The tie-in</p><p>game is a run-of-the-mill</p><p>platformer starring Slick and Spin, the main heroes, as they</p><p>try to rescue their friends Spare Tire, Darryl and Bumper</p><p>from the evil Junkman. Since the idea</p><p>of characters who love being in car</p><p>crashes was a tad close to the bone,</p><p>the game and its manual are filled</p><p>with reminders that you should</p><p>always wear your seat belt, right</p><p>down to a quiz at the end of the</p><p>manual. Q: ‘What’s the one thing</p><p>a person who doesn’t use safety</p><p>belts will never see?’ A: ‘Old age.’ n</p><p>THE IMMORTAL</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher EA</p><p>Developer Sandcastle</p><p>YOU ARE A nameless</p><p>wizard, standing in the first</p><p>room of a labyrinth. An image</p><p>of your mentor Mordamir</p><p>flickers from a nearby candle</p><p>and says: ‘Dunric, you have</p><p>come to save me.’ Your name</p><p>isn’t Dunric but you decide</p><p>to head into the labyrinth to</p><p>find him anyway. The Immortal is an isometric adventure</p><p>game where you can defeat enemies in two</p><p>ways. Your fireball attack lets you take</p><p>them out from a distance, but if you</p><p>get too close the action cuts to a</p><p>close-up hand-to-hand section</p><p>where you can dodge and attack</p><p>your enemies. The Immortal</p><p>was notorious for being</p><p>extremely gory on other systems:</p><p>that gore has been seriously cut</p><p>back for the NES version, with nary</p><p>an exploding head in sight. n</p><p>IMAGE FIGHT</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Irem</p><p>Developer Irem</p><p>IN THE YEAR 20XX (so</p><p>much happened that year,</p><p>according to gaming)</p><p>the moon explodes into</p><p>four large fragments</p><p>and a bunch of meteors.</p><p>The reason? Aliens from</p><p>the Boondoggle Galaxy</p><p>destroyed the base we built</p><p>on the moon, kicking off</p><p>their attempt to take over Earth. The world’s best scientists</p><p>combine forces to create the OF-1 fighter</p><p>ship: you have to board it and defeat the</p><p>invaders to ‘earn everlasting glory’.</p><p>Image Fight is a vertical shooter with</p><p>a clever level progression system:</p><p>the first five levels are all computer</p><p>simulations to see if you’re ready to</p><p>take on the alien menace. Only once</p><p>you get an average score of 90 per</p><p>cent in these stages do you get to take</p><p>on the final three ‘real’ stages. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 96 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>97</p><p>FACT</p><p>Just to complete</p><p>the collection of silly</p><p>names in Infiltrator, your</p><p>boss goes by the name of</p><p>Brigadier General Bunson</p><p>‘Old Blood ‘n Guts’</p><p>O’Shaughnessy.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Beam Software</p><p>developed a bit of a</p><p>reputation for cricket games.</p><p>Super International Cricket</p><p>came to the NES in 1994,</p><p>before EA Sports enlisted</p><p>the studio to make</p><p>Cricket 96 and</p><p>Cricket 97.</p><p>FACT</p><p>This version was</p><p>originally called The</p><p>Action Game on other</p><p>systems, because there was</p><p>also a point-and-click Last</p><p>Crusade title released at</p><p>the same time called</p><p>The Adventure</p><p>Game.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The ‘JEHOVAH’ section</p><p>actually contradicts the</p><p>film. In the movie, Indy</p><p>nearly falls to his doom when</p><p>he steps on the ‘J’, before</p><p>realising that in the Latin</p><p>alphabet it’s actually</p><p>‘IEHOVAH’.</p><p>INTERNATIONAL</p><p>CRICKET</p><p>Year 1992 </p><p>Publisher Laser Beam Entertainment</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>MUCH LIKE AUSSIE Rules</p><p>Footy before it, International</p><p>Cricket was another game</p><p>dreamt up by NES distributor</p><p>Mattel– via Melbourne studio</p><p>Beam Software– in an attempt to</p><p>get Australians more interested</p><p>in the system. As with Aussie</p><p>Rules, too, it wasn’t released outside of Oz. The game features</p><p>eight international teams covering all the major test cricket</p><p>nations: Australia, England, India, New</p><p>Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri</p><p>Lanka and the West Indies. As well</p><p>as exhibition matches there’s also</p><p>a World Series mode, where you</p><p>have to win two matches in a row</p><p>to win a trophy. The game didn’t</p><p>have an official licence, but player</p><p>names were suspiciously similar to</p><p>real ones (or cleverly related, like G.</p><p>Swamp instead of Geoff Marsh). n</p><p>INFILTRATOR</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Gray Matter</p><p>INFILTRATOR WAS A</p><p>part-helicopter sim, part</p><p>third-person adventure</p><p>game released for home</p><p>computers in 1986. This</p><p>is not that game. Instead,</p><p>this is a port of Infiltrator</p><p>II, renamed for the NES</p><p>to make up for the fact it</p><p>didn’t get its predecessor.</p><p>It’s a similar game, though: playing as the ridiculously</p><p>named Captain Johnny ‘Jimbo-Baby’ McGibbits,</p><p>you have to</p><p>stop The Mad Leader from taking over the world</p><p>by taking part in three helicopter missions</p><p>and three enemy base missions. The</p><p>chopper stages are first-person flight</p><p>sim levels where you have to gun</p><p>down enemies in your Whizbang</p><p>Enterprizes Gizmo DHX-3 Attack</p><p>Helicopter (yes, really), while the</p><p>base missions have you exploring</p><p>each base to complete objectives</p><p>while up against a strict time limit. n</p><p>INDIANA JONES AND THE</p><p>LAST CRUSADE</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Ubisoft</p><p>Developer NMS Software</p><p>UBISOFT RELEASED ITS</p><p>own Indiana Jones and the</p><p>Last Crusade game two years</p><p>after Taito’s, in a move that</p><p>doubtless confused many</p><p>an American gamer (not</p><p>so much in Europe, which</p><p>didn’t get the Taito game).</p><p>This one is a port of 1989’s Last Crusade: The Action Game,</p><p>previously released on home computers and consoles by US</p><p>Gold. It’s more conventional than Taito’s</p><p>effort, instead offering six stages of</p><p>standard platforming action as Indy</p><p>fights his way through a number</p><p>of stages in search of the Cross</p><p>of Coronado, a shield, your dad’s</p><p>Grail Diary and finally the Holy</p><p>Grail itself. It ends with a far simpler</p><p>version of the ‘JEHOVA’ puzzle, but</p><p>this time it sticks closer to the movie by</p><p>spelling it ‘IEHOVA’ instead. n</p><p>INDIANA JONES AND THE</p><p>LAST CRUSADE</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Software Creations</p><p>BASED ON THE third Indy</p><p>movie, The Last Crusade</p><p>follows our hero as he tries</p><p>to find the Holy Grail. It’s</p><p>a fairly story-heavy game</p><p>with a number of cut-scenes</p><p>featuring detailed pictures</p><p>of the cast from the movie.</p><p>Players get to choose the</p><p>order in which they visit each of the game’s levels, and since</p><p>the difficulty raises each time you beat</p><p>a stage this means they can start by</p><p>visiting the levels they struggle with</p><p>more. Levels range from side-</p><p>scrolling action platforming stages</p><p>set on a ship, a castle and a tank, to</p><p>a sliding puzzle where you try to</p><p>find out what the grail looks like, to</p><p>even a top-down section where you</p><p>have to spell out ‘JEHOVAH’ on floor</p><p>tiles as in the film’s climax. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 97 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>98</p><p>FACT</p><p>If you can somehow</p><p>manage to make it through</p><p>all six stages without dying,</p><p>you’ll play a much harder</p><p>seventh stage to get the true</p><p>ending. If you’re lazy, enter</p><p>the password 3279 to</p><p>jump straight to</p><p>level 7.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Ivan Stewart licence</p><p>only lasted a couple of years,</p><p>so by the time the game was</p><p>ported to some systems (like the</p><p>SNES and Mega Drive) it had</p><p>simply been renamed Super</p><p>Off Road and his grinning</p><p>face had been</p><p>removed.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bizarrely, on the</p><p>game’s box, Kuros is</p><p>portrayed by famous</p><p>Italian male model and</p><p>romance novel cover</p><p>star Fabio.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Iron Tank is less linear</p><p>than most games of its</p><p>type. The player can choose</p><p>different paths to go down,</p><p>allowing for completely</p><p>different routes to the end</p><p>of the game. Some are</p><p>shorter, but harder as</p><p>a result.</p><p>IVAN ‘IRONMAN’ STEWART’S</p><p>SUPER OFF ROAD</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>THIS SINGLE-SCREEN ARCADE</p><p>racer, originally developed by</p><p>the California-based Leland</p><p>Corporation and ported to the</p><p>NES by Rare, featured the likeness</p><p>of Ivan Stewart, a legendary</p><p>off-road racer who won the Baja</p><p>500 a record 17 times. Similar to</p><p>games like Super Sprint, Super Off Road consists of a series</p><p>of indoor off-road races that get progressively</p><p>more difficult. There are eight tracks in</p><p>total, featuring a variety of bumps and</p><p>jumps that can wildly affect your car’s</p><p>handling. You can only move onto</p><p>the next if you finish in first place</p><p>(or lose and have an extra life left).</p><p>There’s also a nitro system that</p><p>gives you a much-needed burst</p><p>of speed. Winning races earns</p><p>money that can be spent on car</p><p>upgrades or more nitros. n</p><p>ISOLATED WARRIOR</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Vap / NTVIC</p><p>Developer KID</p><p>THE PLANET PAN has been</p><p>attacked by an alien force,</p><p>which is able to consume</p><p>all living things, machines</p><p>and buildings. Pan’s people</p><p>(as in the residents, not the</p><p>‘70s UK dance troupe) are</p><p>told to evacuate the planet</p><p>but captain Max Maverick,</p><p>living up to his name, decides that isn’t going to happen.</p><p>Time to get shooting. Isolated Warrior is a</p><p>shoot ‘em up that, unlike the usual</p><p>vertical or horizontally scrolling</p><p>nature of its peers, instead goes</p><p>for an isometric viewpoint. Most</p><p>of the game also takes place on</p><p>foot, meaning that as well as the</p><p>countless enemies there are also</p><p>various pits to be jumped over.</p><p>Things are made more interesting</p><p>with the addition of a small</p><p>hovercraft device and a motorbike. n</p><p>IRONSWORD: WIZARDS &</p><p>WARRIORS II</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Zippo Games</p><p>RARE’S 1987 GAME</p><p>Wizards & Warriors was</p><p>enough of a success to</p><p>warrant a sequel, so Rare</p><p>called on the services</p><p>of UK developers Ste</p><p>and John Pickford–</p><p>known at the time</p><p>as Zippo Games– to</p><p>make the follow-up.</p><p>Ironsword continues</p><p>the adventures of the heroic knight Kuros as he once again</p><p>tries to bring down the evil Malkil. This time</p><p>Malkil’s taken the form of wind, water, fire</p><p>and earth, so you have to travel to each</p><p>element’s domain, collect the pieces of</p><p>the Ironsword, then head to IceFire</p><p>Mountain and defeat him. Ironsword</p><p>has more depth than the original,</p><p>adding a money system to the game as</p><p>well as magic: you can now learn spells</p><p>and use them to defeat certain bosses. n</p><p>IRON TANK: THE INVASION</p><p>OF NORMANDY</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>ON 5 JUNE 1944, the United</p><p>Forces are preparing their</p><p>final assault on the Normandy</p><p>Coast. They decide on a</p><p>(slightly non-canon) plan: get</p><p>one guy called Paul to drive a</p><p>tank through the front lines</p><p>and destroy the enemy’s HQ.</p><p>Thankfully, Paul is actually</p><p>from Command Unit 88, a special outfit known as Iron</p><p>Snake. And his tank isn’t any old M4, it’s the</p><p>United Forces’ strongest juggernaut, the</p><p>Iron Tank. Cue a vertically scrolling</p><p>run-and-gun game (well, roll-and-</p><p>gun) similar to some of SNK’s</p><p>other arcade offerings. The tank’s</p><p>turret can be rotated by pressing</p><p>A and a D-Pad direction</p><p>together: this lets you lock your</p><p>turret attacks to one direction</p><p>while firing your tank’s machine gun</p><p>in another direction. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 98 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>99</p><p>FACT</p><p>Jackal was known as</p><p>Top Gunners in American</p><p>arcades, but when Konami</p><p>ported it to the NES it decided</p><p>to change to the game’s</p><p>Japanese name to avoid</p><p>confusion with its other</p><p>NES game Top</p><p>Gun.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In case you’re</p><p>wondering if James Bond</p><p>Jr had a catchphrase like</p><p>his more famous uncle, he</p><p>most certainly did, though</p><p>it was a bit rubbish: ‘The</p><p>name’s Bond, James</p><p>Bond. Junior.’</p><p>FACT</p><p>Jackie Chan doesn’t</p><p>actually have a twin sister. This</p><p>is more awkward in hindsight,</p><p>because in 2003 he appeared</p><p>in the documentary Traces of a</p><p>Dragon where he discovered his</p><p>family’s secret past, including</p><p>two half-sisters he didn’t</p><p>know about.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Jack Nicklaus is</p><p>considered by many to</p><p>be the greatest golfer of</p><p>all time. With 18 major</p><p>championships and a</p><p>career spanning 44</p><p>years, it’s hard to</p><p>argue.</p><p>JAMES BOND JR</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher THQ</p><p>Developer Eurocom</p><p>THIS CURIOUS</p><p>ANIMATED series</p><p>debuted in 1991 and told</p><p>the story of James Bond’s</p><p>nephew and his adventures</p><p>with his friend IQ (the</p><p>grandson of Bond’s gadget</p><p>man Q) and love interest</p><p>Tracy. In the game, the evil</p><p>SCUM organisation led by the Scumlord has kidnapped</p><p>the world’s scientists, so the teenage spy heads out on</p><p>a rescue mission armed with gadgets</p><p>a-plenty. As well as his standard</p><p>handgun, James can make use of</p><p>his scuba gear and special bubble</p><p>gun to travel and fire underwater,</p><p>along with a jetpack that lets him</p><p>fly and shoot fireballs. Oddly,</p><p>you can also find a potion which</p><p>can turn James into a werewolf,</p><p>something his uncle presumably</p><p>wouldn’t have approved of. n</p><p>JACKIE CHAN’S ACTION</p><p>KUNG FU</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Now Production</p><p>JACKIE CHAN NEEDS no</p><p>introduction</p><p>to fans of martial arts</p><p>movies, so an action game starring</p><p>the Hong Kong legend was a</p><p>no-brainer. Action Kung Fu is a</p><p>side-scroller– one with satisfyingly</p><p>chunky and detailed sprites– in</p><p>which Jackie has to find and defeat</p><p>an evil sorcerer, killing his monsters</p><p>along the way, in order to save</p><p>China and rescue his twin sister</p><p>Josephine. As you fight through</p><p>the game’s five stages you’ll find</p><p>power-ups that let you perform</p><p>a finite number of special moves,</p><p>ranging from spin kicks to ‘sky</p><p>attacks’ (vertical jump kicks). A</p><p>‘secret’ code can be entered to give</p><p>you 99 continues, but it isn’t much</p><p>of a secret because it’s in the manual. n</p><p>JACKAL</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>THE VIETNAM</p><p>WAR has ended,</p><p>but US satellites</p><p>have discovered that</p><p>there are still dozens</p><p>of prisoners of war</p><p>being held on enemy</p><p>soil. The President</p><p>contacts the Green</p><p>Berets and asks</p><p>them to send the</p><p>‘Jackals’– elite jeep-driving commandos– to Vietnam to</p><p>rescue the POWs. Jackal is a run-and-gun</p><p>game for one or two players, in which</p><p>each player controls a jeep. There</p><p>are six enemy territories to drive</p><p>though, firing your machine gun,</p><p>bazooka and hand grenades along</p><p>the way. The aim is to destroy</p><p>barracks to find POWs: when</p><p>you do you have to pick them up</p><p>in your jeep and drive them to the</p><p>heliport, where a chopper will be</p><p>waiting to take them home. n</p><p>JACK NICKLAUS’ GREATEST</p><p>18 HOLES OF MAJOR</p><p>CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>THE GAME WITH the</p><p>longest title in the NES</p><p>library (and easily the most</p><p>frustrating one for the poor</p><p>person who’s laying out this</p><p>book), JNG18HMCG is a</p><p>golf game consisting of a</p><p>single 18-hole course. This</p><p>isn’t any old course, mind</p><p>you: it actually consists of the 18 real-life holes that Jack</p><p>Nicklaus considers his favourites in America,</p><p>Scotland and England. One minute</p><p>you’re on hole 8 at Pebble Beach, the</p><p>next it’s hole 14 at St. Andrews. This</p><p>novel approach doesn’t quite make</p><p>up for the game’s other drawbacks,</p><p>however: the power meter is a</p><p>little awkward and the course has</p><p>to draw itself after every stroke,</p><p>essentially resulting in that rarest of</p><p>beasts, loading in an NES game. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 99 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>100</p><p>FACT</p><p>Here’s a sample question</p><p>from the Junior Edition:</p><p>‘Everyone went ape when</p><p>he climbed up the Empire</p><p>State Building.’ The</p><p>answer: ‘Who is King</p><p>Kong?’</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite the name, Jaws is</p><p>actually based on the fourth</p><p>movie, Jaws: The Revenge.</p><p>The cover art is based on that</p><p>movie’s poster, and Jaws is</p><p>also defeated in that movie</p><p>by being rammed by a</p><p>boat.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Here’s a sample</p><p>question from the game:</p><p>‘This American sitcom was</p><p>adapted from the British TV</p><p>series Steptoe and Son.’</p><p>The answer: ‘What is</p><p>Sanford and Son?’</p><p>FACT</p><p>A sample question</p><p>from the 25th Anniversary</p><p>Edition: ‘This company’s first</p><p>electronic pocket calculator</p><p>is in the Smithsonian.’ The</p><p>answer: ‘What is Texas</p><p>Instruments?’</p><p>JEOPARDY! 25TH</p><p>ANNIVERSARY EDITION</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>JUST IN CASE you hadn’t</p><p>had your fill of Jeopardy!</p><p>quiz action on your NES,</p><p>Rare and GameTek went</p><p>to the well once again to</p><p>deliver a third helping of</p><p>trivia. Returning to more</p><p>adult-focused questions,</p><p>the 25th Anniversary</p><p>Edition features 1,740 brand new questions, with categories</p><p>like Chewing Gum, The Beatles and Literary Lions and</p><p>Tigers. Once again it’s essentially the same core</p><p>game as before, although the avatars look</p><p>suspiciously like the ones from the</p><p>Junior Edition with beards added.</p><p>This was the last Jeopardy! game</p><p>Rare worked on, but if you’re</p><p>the methodical type who’s been</p><p>obediently reading this book in</p><p>alphabetical order you’ll later find</p><p>that a fourth title, Super Jeopardy!, was</p><p>released without Rare’s involvement. n</p><p>JEOPARDY! JUNIOR</p><p>EDITION</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>JEOPARDY! SOLD WELL</p><p>on the NES, but the</p><p>questions were a little too</p><p>taxing for younger gamers</p><p>who may not have known</p><p>much about politics or,</p><p>indeed, ‘long lovely ladies’.</p><p>The following year Rare</p><p>and GameTek released</p><p>Junior Edition, a version of the game aimed at children aged</p><p>7 and up. The core game itself is more or less identical to the</p><p>standard version of Jepoardy! except the contestant sprites</p><p>have been changed to look like children</p><p>(because having adults answer these</p><p>painfully easy questions would look</p><p>strange). There are 1,740 questions</p><p>this time, with categories ranging</p><p>from Marvel Super-Heroes and</p><p>Foreign Words to Cartoon Animals</p><p>and Muppet Madness. So, if you</p><p>know the name of Kermit the Frog’s</p><p>nephew you’re in luck. It’s Robin. n</p><p>JEOPARDY!</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>THE FIRST OF three</p><p>Rare-developed NES</p><p>games based on the</p><p>long-running American</p><p>quiz show. Host Alex</p><p>Trebek is nowhere to be</p><p>found here, but the classic</p><p>Jeopardy! music is present</p><p>and accounted for as up</p><p>to three players take part in the Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy</p><p>and Final Jeopardy rounds as in the show. There are exactly</p><p>1,500 questions in the game, with categories</p><p>ranging from straightforward (Hollywood,</p><p>The Fifties, Scotland) to a little less</p><p>conventional (Dogs on TV, Names</p><p>From Old Maps and the worryingly</p><p>titled Long Lovely Ladies). Although</p><p>it doesn’t support multitaps, it still lets</p><p>you play with up to three players by</p><p>making players one and three share a</p><p>controller. Player one buzzes in with the</p><p>D-Pad, player three with the A button. n</p><p>JAWS</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Atlus / Westone</p><p>EVERYONE</p><p>REMEMBERS THE</p><p>bit in Steven Spielberg’s</p><p>blockbuster Jaws where</p><p>the deep sea diver dives</p><p>into the water and starts</p><p>harpooning the hell out of</p><p>stingrays and jellyfish. If</p><p>not, you’d better, because</p><p>that’s what takes up the</p><p>majority of your time while playing the NES</p><p>version. The aim is to kill these smaller</p><p>creatures and collect the shells they</p><p>leave behind, then trade these shells</p><p>in at nearby docks to power up</p><p>your ship. Once it’s strong enough,</p><p>it’s time to take on Jaws: first by</p><p>jumping into the sea and taking</p><p>him on face-to-face (there’s a mini</p><p>submarine available to use if you can</p><p>find it), and then heading back to your</p><p>ship to ram him for the final blow. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 100 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>101</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite having a stone</p><p>wheel as a weapon, Joe &</p><p>Mac’s manual is quick to point</p><p>out that the wheel ‘was not</p><p>actually invented until 5,500</p><p>years ago’ and ‘was made</p><p>of wood’. Way to kill the</p><p>lore, guys.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A bizarre Jetsons &</p><p>WWE crossover movie was</p><p>released in 2017, in which</p><p>professional wrestler The Big</p><p>Show is frozen in a blizzard and</p><p>is thawed out by George in the</p><p>future to discover the WWE</p><p>is now a robot wrestling</p><p>promotion.</p><p>FACT</p><p>John Elway played for the</p><p>Denver Broncos his entire</p><p>career, winning the Super</p><p>Bowl with them twice. When he</p><p>retired he eventually became</p><p>the General Manager of the</p><p>Broncos, helping them</p><p>win the Super Bowl</p><p>again.</p><p>FACT</p><p>For 30 years, Jimmy</p><p>Connors held the record for</p><p>the longest run as the world’s</p><p>number one ranked tennis</p><p>player (160 weeks). This was</p><p>eventually overtaken by</p><p>Roger Federer, who</p><p>managed 237</p><p>weeks.</p><p>JOHN ELWAY’S</p><p>QUARTERBACK</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Tradewest</p><p>Developer Leland Corporation</p><p>DON’T WORRY, JOHN Elway</p><p>hasn’t bought his own personal</p><p>quarterback that he sends</p><p>out on errands for him. This</p><p>is a home port of Tradewest’s</p><p>arcade game, simply titled,</p><p>Quarterback, which then had</p><p>Denver Broncos legend John</p><p>Elway’s endorsement added to it. It’s fair to say it isn’t the</p><p>finest recreation of the sport ever committed to cartridge:</p><p>due to hardware limitations there are</p><p>only nine players on each team, and</p><p>for some odd reason the CPU</p><p>really struggles to defend against</p><p>a specific play (Sneak). It isn’t</p><p>without positives, though: the</p><p>throwing mechanic– hold the B</p><p>button, move an on-screen cursor</p><p>with the D-Pad, then let</p><p>go of B–</p><p>does a good job of recreating the</p><p>stress of passing under pressure. n</p><p>JOE & MAC</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Data East / Elite Systems</p><p>Developer Elite Systems</p><p>KNOWN BY THE full title</p><p>of Joe & Mac: Caveman</p><p>Ninja in Europe, Data</p><p>East’s Joe & Mac was</p><p>released on a number of</p><p>8-bit and 16-bit systems,</p><p>with development duties</p><p>for the NES version</p><p>delegated to UK studio</p><p>Elite Systems. It’s an action</p><p>platformer following the adventures of a caveman called Joe</p><p>as he heads out– armed with the likes of axes, boomerangs,</p><p>fire and even stone wheels– in search</p><p>of the ‘bogus bunch of Neanderthal</p><p>nerds’ who’ve eaten all of his</p><p>village’s supplies and kidnapped</p><p>its cavewomen. The arcade and</p><p>SNES versions featured two-</p><p>player co-op, but the NES game</p><p>couldn’t handle it and so, despite</p><p>its name, Mac doesn’t feature in</p><p>the NES game: he’s ‘out hunting for</p><p>dinosaurs’ while all this is going on. n</p><p>JIMMY CONNORS TENNIS</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Ubisoft</p><p>Developer NMS Software</p><p>UBISOFT’S ATTEMPT</p><p>AT a tennis game on the</p><p>NES was a realistic (for the</p><p>time) interpretation of the</p><p>sport, backed by US tennis</p><p>great Jimmy Connors.</p><p>Connors’ only presence in</p><p>the game is as the default</p><p>name for the character</p><p>you control, though you can change it. Although there’s a</p><p>practice mode where you can face off against</p><p>a tennis ball machine and hit 100, 200</p><p>or 300 balls back at it, the meat of the</p><p>game is in its ‘Play’ mode, where</p><p>you go on a world tour playing</p><p>the final matches of 16 different</p><p>real-life tournaments (from the</p><p>Australian Open and US Open</p><p>to the Wimbledon All England</p><p>Championship). Each court has</p><p>a different surface which affects the</p><p>ball’s bouncing speed and height. n</p><p>THE JETSONS:</p><p>COGSWELL’S CAPER!</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Natsume</p><p>IT’S ANNOYING WHEN</p><p>you’re trying to have a nap at</p><p>work and the boss comes in</p><p>with work for you to do. It’s</p><p>even more annoying when</p><p>you’re George Jetson, and the</p><p>work in question is saving the</p><p>people of Planet M38 from</p><p>the nasty Mr Cogswell by</p><p>ending production of the mining work his</p><p>company is doing there. Bit of a task for</p><p>a regular employee. This platformer</p><p>features eight stages and has</p><p>George trying to find his family</p><p>members, each of whom has a</p><p>special item that will help him</p><p>defeat Cogswell. For example, his</p><p>son Elroy has a pair of magnetic</p><p>boots for George, while his</p><p>daughter Judy has a jet board that</p><p>can transfer you across large gaps. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 101 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>102</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Jungle Book was</p><p>the first film the company</p><p>released after the death</p><p>of Walt Disney, and was a</p><p>massive success worldwide.</p><p>It’s still Germany’s</p><p>highest-grossing film</p><p>of all time.</p><p>FACT</p><p>NES games are</p><p>regularly set in silly times</p><p>(the year 20XX being a</p><p>popular choice) but Journey</p><p>to Silius has a good one too:</p><p>it’s set in the year 0373 in</p><p>‘the new space age</p><p>calendar’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>If Joust’s gameplay</p><p>sounds familiar, it should.</p><p>Iwata would go on to program</p><p>Balloon Fight, an NES game</p><p>that shares many similarities</p><p>including the inertia-</p><p>based flapping</p><p>system.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Jordan vs Bird is</p><p>actually a sequel to the</p><p>1983 Apple II game One on</p><p>One: Dr J vs Larry Bird, in</p><p>which Bird went up against</p><p>Philadelphia 76ers</p><p>legend Julius</p><p>Erving.</p><p>THE JUNGLE BOOK</p><p>Year 1994 a a</p><p>Publisher Virgin Interactive</p><p>Developer Eurocom</p><p>THE HUGE SUCCESS of</p><p>Virgin Interactive’s game</p><p>based on Disney’s Aladdin</p><p>(primarily the Mega Drive</p><p>version) meant players</p><p>wanted something similar.</p><p>With Disney’s next movie</p><p>The Lion King still a while</p><p>away, Virgin filled the time</p><p>by releasing a platformer based on The Jungle Book, which</p><p>had been re-released on home video in the early ‘90s and so</p><p>was still fresh in childrens’ memories. The NES</p><p>version is a 10-level platformer where</p><p>Mowgli heads towards the ‘man village’</p><p>accompanied by his pal Bagheera.</p><p>As well as the jumping and vine-</p><p>swinging you’d expect, Mowgli can</p><p>also collect bananas which he can</p><p>then chuck at enemies (similar to</p><p>the apples in the Aladdin game).</p><p>Naturally, there’s a final boss battle</p><p>against the evil tiger Shere Khan. n</p><p>JOUST</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer HAL Laboratory</p><p>AS A YOUNG programmer</p><p>working for HAL, Satoru</p><p>Iwata heard in the early ‘80s</p><p>that Nintendo and Atari</p><p>were planning to release the</p><p>NES in the west together.</p><p>This deal would include an</p><p>agreement for Nintendo to</p><p>release ports of four Atari</p><p>games. Offering his services</p><p>as a freelancer, Iwata programmed an NES version of Joust</p><p>(a Williams game, but Atari owned the rights to</p><p>it). The Nintendo/Atari deal fell apart and</p><p>Joust lay unreleased for half a decade,</p><p>until HAL released the game itself.</p><p>This, then, was the first game Iwata</p><p>coded for the NES, and it’s a brilliant</p><p>adaptation of the popular ostrich-</p><p>ramming arcade classic. Players</p><p>must make their space ostrich flap</p><p>its wings in order to gain speed and in</p><p>turn knock enemies off their steeds. n</p><p>JOURNEY TO SILIUS</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Sunsoft</p><p>Developer Sunsoft</p><p>WHILE SUNSOFT</p><p>WAS working on its</p><p>Batman game, it also</p><p>had a Terminator title</p><p>in the works. It was so</p><p>close to completion that</p><p>Sunsoft had already sent</p><p>fliers to retailers telling</p><p>them it was coming, but</p><p>then the Terminator</p><p>licence expired.</p><p>Sunsoft was forced to quickly redesign and the result was</p><p>Journey to Silius, a futuristic action platformer where the</p><p>player instead controls Jay McCray, the</p><p>son of a scientist, as he sets out to</p><p>defeat the terrorists who killed his</p><p>dad and plan on destroying his</p><p>colony. The lack of recognisable</p><p>branding means Journey to Silius</p><p>is remembered far less today than</p><p>it deserves to be: it’s fun and full</p><p>of action, right up to the final boss</p><p>battle against a suspiciously familiar</p><p>looking metallic android. n</p><p>JORDAN VS BIRD: ONE ON</p><p>ONE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Milton Bradley</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>MICHAEL JORDAN AND</p><p>Larry Bird were easily two of</p><p>the most famous basketball</p><p>players throughout the</p><p>late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but</p><p>their play styles were very</p><p>different. Bird was known</p><p>for his ability to shoot three-</p><p>pointers with incredible</p><p>accuracy, while Jordan was a master dunker who could fly</p><p>through the air like… well, a bird. Jordan vs Bird puts both</p><p>superstars against each other in one-on-one</p><p>contest to see which playing style wins</p><p>out. Naturally you can play as either</p><p>Jordan or Bird, in matches that are</p><p>either timed or played until a certain</p><p>score is reached. As well as the one-</p><p>on-one matches each player also has</p><p>their own mini-game based on their</p><p>talent: a slam dunk contest starring</p><p>Jordan, and a three-point contest</p><p>featuring Bird. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 102 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>103</p><p>FACT</p><p>Data East sued Epyx</p><p>for its game International</p><p>Karate (known in America as</p><p>World Karate Championship),</p><p>claiming copyright</p><p>infringement. The court</p><p>disagreed, saying it was</p><p>fine for both games</p><p>to exist.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Ralph Macchio, who</p><p>played Daniel in the Karate</p><p>Kid movies, was on Dancing</p><p>with the Stars in the US. He</p><p>finished in fourth place</p><p>that year, with the winner</p><p>being NFL player</p><p>Hines Ward.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Kabuki is a classical</p><p>style of Japanese dance</p><p>drama. It first began in Japan</p><p>in 1603 and continues to this</p><p>day, though it was banned by</p><p>occupation forces after the</p><p>Second World War because</p><p>it promoted Japan’s role</p><p>in the war.</p><p>FACT</p><p>If you’re wondering where</p><p>Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum</p><p>or Richard Attenborough’s</p><p>characters are in the NES game,</p><p>it seems they didn’t make it.</p><p>The manual says Alan,</p><p>Tim and Lex are the ‘only</p><p>three human</p><p>survivors’.</p><p>THE KARATE KID</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Atlus</p><p>BASED ON THE first</p><p>two Karate Kid films, the</p><p>NES Karate Kid game</p><p>actually starts with the</p><p>martial arts tournament</p><p>from the end of the first</p><p>movie. Once you get past</p><p>that there are three stages</p><p>set in Okinawa, where the</p><p>second movie takes place.</p><p>The aim is to find and defeat the nasty Chozen three</p><p>times</p><p>in order to become a martial arts master. Along the way</p><p>you’ll come across three different mini-</p><p>games in which Daniel has to dodge a</p><p>swinging hammer, catch flies with</p><p>chopsticks and break blocks of ice.</p><p>Beat these mini-games and you’ll</p><p>earn power-ups that let you pull</p><p>off a drum punch and Daniel’s</p><p>iconic crane kick from the end of</p><p>the first film. Sadly, there’s no ‘wax</p><p>on, wax off ’ scene. n</p><p>KARATE CHAMP</p><p>Year 1986 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>IF YOU’VE EVER wanted to</p><p>become a karate master, then</p><p>this might be the game for</p><p>you. Than again, it probably</p><p>isn’t. Karate Champ is a</p><p>one-on-one fighting game</p><p>set over ‘nine picturesque</p><p>settings’, according to the</p><p>manual. While some of these</p><p>settings are indeed lovely (a canyon, the desert, the jungle</p><p>at night) just as many of them are grim (an alleyway, a</p><p>shady pier, a grey warehouse). Combat is</p><p>similar to games like Best of the Best,</p><p>as the player can pull off a wide</p><p>variety of moves depending on</p><p>which direction they’re holding</p><p>and whether they’re pressing</p><p>A, B or both buttons. Sadly, it</p><p>was criticised for atrocious hit</p><p>detection: often you’d put a foot</p><p>right through your opponent’s face</p><p>and it wouldn’t register. n</p><p>KABUKI: QUANTUM</p><p>FIGHTER</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer Human Entertainment</p><p>HERE’S A HELL of a story for</p><p>you. In the year 2056, the main</p><p>central computer controlling</p><p>the Earth has been infected</p><p>with a virus. A brave military</p><p>colonel named Scott O’Connor</p><p>agrees to take part in a highly</p><p>experimental mission: his</p><p>body is transformed into code</p><p>and he enters the computer in an attempt to kill the virus</p><p>from the inside. Oh, and he’s dressed like</p><p>a traditional Japanese Kabuki dancer,</p><p>because his great-grandfather was</p><p>one. Taking place over six levels,</p><p>Kabuki: Quantum Fighter is an</p><p>action platformer with a couple</p><p>of interesting weapons: as well</p><p>as standard things like a gun and</p><p>dynamite, you can also collect</p><p>memory chips to throw at enemies</p><p>or, if all else fails, use your trusty hair</p><p>like a surprisingly powerful whip. n</p><p>JURASSIC PARK</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Ocean</p><p>Developer Ocean</p><p>STEVEN SPIELBERG’S</p><p>DINOSAUR epic was one</p><p>of the biggest events in</p><p>motion picture history, and</p><p>this was reflected in the</p><p>video game adaptations. No</p><p>fewer than seven completely</p><p>different Jurassic Park games</p><p>were released for various</p><p>systems, with the NES and Game Boy getting a top-down</p><p>adventure game by Ocean Software. Playing as Alan</p><p>Grant, you have to explore Isla Nublar and</p><p>locate missing children Tim and Lex,</p><p>before finding a way to get off the</p><p>island. Although it has Zelda-</p><p>style free-roaming elements</p><p>it’s split into six separate</p><p>levels, each with a separate</p><p>mission: avoiding a triceratops</p><p>stampede, escaping a T-Rex</p><p>while on a boat (a scene from</p><p>the novel), restoring power to the</p><p>island’s computers and the like. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 103 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>104</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version of</p><p>Kickle Cubicle has some</p><p>slight differences. As well as</p><p>including more enemies in</p><p>each level, it also lets players</p><p>choose the order they</p><p>take on the game’s</p><p>four worlds.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Long before artificial</p><p>grass became a common</p><p>thing in professional football,</p><p>Kick Off was already one step</p><p>ahead. One of the game’s</p><p>options is a choice of</p><p>normal, wet, soggy or</p><p>‘plastic’ pitch.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Karnov has appeared</p><p>in a number of other Data</p><p>East games. Most notably,</p><p>he’s the end-of-level</p><p>boss in the first level</p><p>of Bad Dudes vs</p><p>DragonNinja.</p><p>FACT</p><p>KickMaster is a tricky</p><p>enough game in its own</p><p>right, but if you can manage</p><p>to finish it you’re ‘rewarded’</p><p>with the option to play a</p><p>harder version of the</p><p>game. Good luck</p><p>with that.</p><p>KICKLE CUBICLE</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Irem</p><p>Developer Irem</p><p>KICKLE IS A small lad</p><p>who wears earmuffs and</p><p>has the unique ability to use</p><p>his freezing breath to turn</p><p>enemies into blocks of ice.</p><p>One day the Wicked Wizard</p><p>King turned the four lands</p><p>of the Fantasy Kingdom into</p><p>an ice world, and trapped</p><p>its residents in Dream Bags. Kickle has to collect all the</p><p>bags and rescue his kingdom. This is a puzzle game where</p><p>the central mechanic is turning enemies into blocks, then</p><p>kicking them across the floor. Kicking them into</p><p>various objects affects their properties:</p><p>for example, by kicking them into</p><p>water you can create bridges, and by</p><p>kicking them into springs you can</p><p>change the direction they slide in.</p><p>After beating the 71 main stages</p><p>you unlock the ‘Special Game’</p><p>mode, which features 30 even</p><p>harder puzzles. n</p><p>KICK OFF</p><p>Year 1992 a</p><p>Publisher Imagineer</p><p>Developer Enigma Variations</p><p>BRITISH DEVELOPER</p><p>DINO Dini created</p><p>the massively popular</p><p>Kick Off for the Amiga</p><p>and Atari ST in the late</p><p>‘80s. Its success led to</p><p>a number of ports on</p><p>other systems, including</p><p>the NES. It’s a football</p><p>game with a top-down</p><p>viewpoint and was much loved for its extremely fast pace</p><p>and its learning curve. Whereas most other football games</p><p>before it had the ball more or less ‘glued’ to each</p><p>player’s feet, in Kick Off your players</p><p>would kick the ball ahead of them</p><p>as they ran. This meant a great</p><p>deal more skill was needed for</p><p>something as simple as changing</p><p>direction, but with practice</p><p>players would eventually get the</p><p>hang of it, making it an incredibly</p><p>satisfying game to master. n</p><p>KICKMASTER</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer KID</p><p>THE KINGDOM OF Lowrel</p><p>used to be a peaceful place,</p><p>but the evil wizard Belzed</p><p>put a stop to that by sending</p><p>his monsters to set it ablaze,</p><p>killing the King and Queen</p><p>and kidnapping Princess</p><p>Silphee in the process. The</p><p>great knight Macren fails</p><p>to save the day and in his dying breath asks his brother</p><p>Tonolan to use his ‘great kicking skills’ to rescue the</p><p>princess.</p><p>KickMaster is an action platformer set</p><p>over the course of eight stages where</p><p>the player is tasked with helping</p><p>Tonolan kick his way through</p><p>anything that moves. Along the way</p><p>you’ll gain experience points and</p><p>level up, expanding your repertoire</p><p>of kicks in the process: you start with</p><p>three, and as your level increases this</p><p>rises to ten. It’s a lot of kicking, basically. n</p><p>KARNOV</p><p>Year 1988 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>MEET JINBOROV</p><p>KARNOVSKI, better known</p><p>as Karnov. He’s a Russian</p><p>strongman who can breathe</p><p>fire, and he’s from the</p><p>village of Creamina, where</p><p>the valuable Lost Treasure</p><p>of Babylon is usually kept.</p><p>A huge dragon called Ryu</p><p>steals the treasure after thousands of years of trying, so</p><p>the villagers ask Karnov to go and get it back for them.</p><p>Although it’s a platform game, Karnov lets the</p><p>player collect ten different ‘options’– a</p><p>feature that’s more often associated</p><p>with shoot ‘em ups– and store them</p><p>at the bottom of the screen. These</p><p>range from standard weapons like</p><p>a boomerang and bombs, to more</p><p>unique items like glasses (which</p><p>let you see hidden power-ups) and a</p><p>swimming mask (which lets you swim</p><p>faster underwater). n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 104 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>105</p><p>FACT</p><p>One of the enemies</p><p>in the game is a massive</p><p>floating pair of lips called</p><p>Mick. It looks suspiciously</p><p>similar to the famous ‘tongue</p><p>and lips’ logo for The</p><p>Rolling Stones, whose</p><p>lead singer is Mick</p><p>Jagger.</p><p>has to make his way upwards, jumping from</p><p>platform to platform until he reaches an exit</p><p>at the top. These stages are particularly</p><p>difficult because the bottom of the</p><p>screen counts as a pit (no pun intended),</p><p>meaning you can’t fall back down or</p><p>you’ll die immediately. Then there are</p><p>side-scrolling levels, which are a little more</p><p>conventional, and a horizontal shoot ‘em up</p><p>section near the end of the game. Finally, at</p><p>the end of each world is a labyrinth stage made up</p><p>of individual linked rooms: here you have to figure out</p><p>how to reach the boss and defeat it.</p><p>Kid Icarus is a difficult game. It’s split into four</p><p>worlds– the Underworld, the Overworld, the Skyworld</p><p>and the Palace in the Sky– but most players never made</p><p>it past the Underworld and its four stages without a great</p><p>deal of practice and patience. And yet the game was never</p><p>criticised for this: it never felt cheap, and player death</p><p>was a fault of the player: a badly-aimed arrow here, a</p><p>misplaced jump there (and there and there). Its charm</p><p>always won through (partly thanks to Tanaka’s incredible</p><p>music), and its cult following resulted in Pit’s return on</p><p>the 3DS in 2012, a whole 21 years after the second Kid</p><p>Icarus game on Game Boy. Pit may forever be in Samus’</p><p>shadow, but there are many players who continue to have</p><p>a special place in their hearts for the little angel who</p><p>restored the light. n</p><p>KID ICARUS</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Nintendo R&D1</p><p>THE DREAM TEAM of director Satoru Okada,</p><p>producer Gunpei Yokoi, designer Yoshio Sakamoto and</p><p>composer Hip Tanaka is usually associated with Metroid,</p><p>but the group also worked on another classic NES game</p><p>at roughly the same time. Kid Icarus (known as Light</p><p>Mythology: Palutena’s Mirror when it originally</p><p>launched on the Famicom Disk System in Japan) is an</p><p>action platformer in which the hero is a little</p><p>unassuming angel.</p><p>It’s set in Angel Land, an ancient place where gods</p><p>and humans live together in harmony. It used to be</p><p>ruled by two goddesses, Palutena (who ruled the light)</p><p>and Medusa (who ruled the darkness). Because she</p><p>took pleasure in destroying the humans’ crops and</p><p>turning people into stone, Medusa was banished to</p><p>the Underworld by Palutena, where she vowed to get</p><p>revenge.</p><p>And get it she did: Medusa gathered an Underworld</p><p>army of monsters and evil spirits and used them to take</p><p>over the Palace in the Sky, locking Palutena away and</p><p>stealing the three Sacred Treasures: the Mirror Shield,</p><p>Arrow of Light and Wings of Pegasus. As the game</p><p>opens, Palutena– with the last of her strength– has used</p><p>her magic powers to contact Pit, a young angel</p><p>held in the Underworld’s dungeon. Granting</p><p>Pit a bow and arrow, Palutena gives him his</p><p>mission: escape from the dungeon and</p><p>make his way up through the Underworld</p><p>until he reaches the Palace in the Sky,</p><p>collecting the Sacred Treasures along the</p><p>way, and destroy Medusa.</p><p>There are four main types of stage in</p><p>Kid Icarus. The one that appears most often</p><p>is the vertically-scrolling level, where Pit</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 105 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>106</p><p>FACT</p><p>A remake of King’s</p><p>Knight called King’s Knight:</p><p>Wrath of the Dark Dragon</p><p>was released on mobile in</p><p>September 2017. In Final</p><p>Fantasy XV, it’s revealed that</p><p>lead character Noctis</p><p>loves playing it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Kid Niki makes a cameo</p><p>appearance at the start of</p><p>Kickle Cubicle if you hold</p><p>down the A button on the</p><p>second controller as you</p><p>turn on your NES. He’ll</p><p>replace an enemy on</p><p>the title screen.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Despite seemingly</p><p>being a generic character</p><p>dreamed up purely to</p><p>replace Mickey Mouse, Kid</p><p>Klown starred in another</p><p>few games on the SNES</p><p>and PlayStation.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version</p><p>of Kid Kool was based on</p><p>Kakefu-kun, a child star in</p><p>Japan in the ‘80s. Presumably</p><p>his wacky sensibilities</p><p>weren’t suitable for the</p><p>west, which is why he</p><p>was kool-ified.</p><p>KING’S KNIGHT</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Square</p><p>Developer Square / Workss</p><p>A SQUARE GAME about</p><p>a princess being kidnapped</p><p>by a dragon and four heroes</p><p>heading out to save her?</p><p>Sounds like an RPG… except</p><p>King’s Knight is actually a</p><p>vertically-scrolling shoot</p><p>‘em up instead. Much like</p><p>Capcom’s Gun.Smoke, the</p><p>player controls a character walking slowly up the screen and</p><p>shooting at enemies, instead of a ship. Each of</p><p>the game’s first four stages is controlled</p><p>by a different hero– there’s Ray Jack</p><p>the Knight, Kaliva the Wizard,</p><p>Barusa the Monster and Toby the</p><p>Thief– and when you reach the</p><p>final fifth stage all four heroes</p><p>join forces, team up in a tight</p><p>formation and take on the final</p><p>boss together (which is nice, but</p><p>makes your sprite massive). n</p><p>KID NIKI: RADICAL NINJA</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Tose</p><p>ALLOW ME TO quote</p><p>from the manual: ‘Kid Niki</p><p>is truly awesome! This “rad”</p><p>and “bad” punk dude is out</p><p>to rescue his spike-haired</p><p>girlfriend, Princess Margo,</p><p>from the clutches of the</p><p>Stone Wizard.’ As you may</p><p>be able to tell, Kid Niki was</p><p>an attempt to appeal to ‘80s</p><p>children in much the same way as a 35-year-old</p><p>actor pretends to be a teenager in a high</p><p>school movie. After starting off with</p><p>the odd cry of ‘WILL HELP YOU’,</p><p>Niki runs, jumps and slashes his</p><p>way through seven stages, facing a</p><p>boss at the end of each. He’s armed</p><p>with a spinning sword, which is</p><p>swung like a normal sword and</p><p>doesn’t do anything different except</p><p>for the fact it spins. n</p><p>KID KOOL AND THE</p><p>QUEST FOR THE SEVEN</p><p>WONDER HERBS</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Vic Tokai</p><p>KING VOLDAM THE Fifth</p><p>is ill. He needs seven special</p><p>herbs, but they’re all located in</p><p>the evil Draxer Empire. Luckily,</p><p>a ‘radical’ young ‘dude’ called</p><p>Kid Kool has arrived in the</p><p>Kingdom of Voldam, and since</p><p>he’s such a confident lad he’s</p><p>tasked with retrieving the herbs. Kid Kool is a platformer</p><p>where momentum is important: he takes a while to build</p><p>up speed, but once he does you can skim</p><p>him across water and grab bendy poles</p><p>to reach higher areas. The game</p><p>also has a time-based system: the</p><p>ending changes depending on</p><p>how quickly you return the herbs.</p><p>Vic Tokai released three more</p><p>games with the Kid Kool engine on</p><p>Sega systems: Psycho Fox, Magical</p><p>Flying Turbo Hat Adventure and</p><p>Decap Attack. n</p><p>KID KLOWN IN NIGHT</p><p>MAYOR WORLD</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Kemco</p><p>Developer Kemco</p><p>KEMCO’S CRAZY CASTLE</p><p>series often included licensed</p><p>games in Japan that had</p><p>either different licenses or</p><p>none at all in the west. This</p><p>has already been addressed</p><p>in this book with The</p><p>Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle</p><p>(aka Roger Rabbit), and</p><p>Kid Klown is another example. Known as Mickey Mouse</p><p>III in Japan, Kid Klown ditches Disney’s loveable rodent</p><p>for a young clown lad. The evil magician</p><p>Night Mayor (‘Nightmare’, geddit) has</p><p>kidnapped the rest of the Klown family,</p><p>so Kid has to get them back so they</p><p>can perform at the next circus show.</p><p>It’s a straightforward platform game</p><p>where the main weapon is balloons:</p><p>these can be used to attack enemies</p><p>(because apparently they’re painful</p><p>balloons), and let you float to get over</p><p>larger gaps. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 106 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>107</p><p>FACT</p><p>Kirby was originally</p><p>supposed to be a</p><p>placeholder sprite while</p><p>creator Masahiro Sakurai tried</p><p>to design a better character. He</p><p>ended up preferring Kirby (or</p><p>Popopo as he was known)</p><p>and so he ended</p><p>up staying.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s subtitle,</p><p>which appears on the</p><p>box for other versions but</p><p>is only shown on the title</p><p>screen of the NES port, is</p><p>‘Absence Makes the</p><p>Heart Go Yonder’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Believe it or not, Kings</p><p>of the Beach is actually</p><p>based on a book of the</p><p>same name written by</p><p>Sinjin Smith, which tells</p><p>the story of beach</p><p>volleyball.</p><p>appearance of some enemies after eating them,</p><p>and gain their powers.</p><p>The other important element introduced</p><p>in Kirby’s Adventure is Kirby’s pink colour.</p><p>Because the Game Boy version was</p><p>monochrome Kirby didn’t have a colour,</p><p>and as a result he was white on the box art.</p><p>When the NES game came around it was</p><p>decided that Kirby should be pink, and so an</p><p>iconic character was born. Well, re-born. n</p><p>KIRBY’S ADVENTURE</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer HAL Laboratory</p><p>KIRBY’S LIFE STARTED in the handheld world, when</p><p>he made his debut in Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game</p><p>Boy in 1992. A year later he made his first and only NES</p><p>appearance in Kirby’s Adventure. After waking from a</p><p>nap and realising he hasn’t had any dreams– something</p><p>that shouldn’t happen in Dream Land– Kirby goes off</p><p>to investigate. He discovers that his arch-enemy King</p><p>Dedede has broken the Star Rod, the power source of the</p><p>Fountain of Dreams, and given a piece to each of his friends</p><p>(the game’s bosses). Kirby has to recover all seven</p><p>pieces,</p><p>including the one Dedede has, so that Dream Land can</p><p>sleep peacefully again.</p><p>Although this isn’t Kirby’s first game, Kirby’s</p><p>Adventure is still notable for introducing two</p><p>extremely important aspects of this much-</p><p>loved character. The first is his ability to</p><p>swallow enemies and steal their abilities:</p><p>while he could suck up enemies in the</p><p>Game Boy game, he couldn’t do anything</p><p>with them other than simply spit them out</p><p>as projectiles. This time Kirby can take on the</p><p>KING’S QUEST V</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Novotrade</p><p>KING’S QUEST WAS</p><p>a massively popular</p><p>graphic adventure series</p><p>created by Roberta</p><p>Williams, the legendary</p><p>co-founder of Sierra</p><p>On-Line. While the</p><p>original series spawned</p><p>eight games, only twice</p><p>did it come to consoles:</p><p>a Master System port of the first game, and this NES</p><p>version of the fifth. King’s Quest V tells the story of King</p><p>Graham, who returns from his countryside walk to find</p><p>that his castle has disappeared (stolen by an</p><p>evil wizard), and his family along with it.</p><p>Accompanied by an owl called Cedric,</p><p>Graham has to travel through the</p><p>land of Serenia in search of the</p><p>castle and his missing family. The</p><p>NES version had many changes</p><p>made to suit Nintendo of America’s</p><p>family-friendly remit, including the</p><p>removal of some death scenes and</p><p>references to death. n</p><p>KINGS OF THE BEACH</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Ultra Games</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>BELIEVE IT OR</p><p>not, the ‘kings of</p><p>the beach’ aren’t the</p><p>lifeguards or the</p><p>guys who are there</p><p>early in the morning</p><p>with metal detectors.</p><p>They’re actually beach</p><p>volleyball players,</p><p>as this Konami</p><p>game indicates. Its</p><p>tournament mode lets you play as volleyball legends</p><p>Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos on five different beaches–</p><p>San Diego, Chicago, Hawaii, Rio de Janeiro</p><p>and Australia– as you face off against a</p><p>selection of opponents. These range</p><p>from real life players (Mike Dodd,</p><p>Tim Hovland) to characters from</p><p>other games (like Lester from</p><p>Skate or Die). If you aren’t happy</p><p>with the ref ’s decision you can</p><p>argue with him: convince him and</p><p>he’ll overturn it, but keep annoying</p><p>him and he’ll penalise you. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 107 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>108</p><p>FACT</p><p>Konami repeated this</p><p>‘prototype’ process again</p><p>in the mid ‘90s. Its PlayStation</p><p>game Goal Storm was the</p><p>predecessor to International</p><p>Superstar Soccer Pro, which</p><p>eventually ‘evolved’ into</p><p>the Pro Evolution</p><p>Soccer series.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The other versions of</p><p>Speedball were developed</p><p>by The Bitmap Brothers, a</p><p>much-loved British developer</p><p>responsible for games like</p><p>Xenon, Cadaver and The</p><p>Chaos Engine (also</p><p>known as Soldiers of</p><p>Fortune).</p><p>FACT</p><p>Activision’s deal with</p><p>Pack-In Video was that</p><p>Pack-In would have the rights</p><p>to sell Knight Rider in Japan and</p><p>Activision could sell it everywhere</p><p>else. The problem was, Activision</p><p>didn’t own the rights to Knight</p><p>Rider: it had to get them</p><p>after the deal</p><p>was done.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Krion Conquest was</p><p>originally supposed to be</p><p>based on the anime series</p><p>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.</p><p>Although they ended up not</p><p>getting the licence, the hero</p><p>in the Japanese version is</p><p>still called Doropie</p><p>(Dorothy).</p><p>THE KRION CONQUEST</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Vic Tokai</p><p>YOU MIGHT NOT</p><p>remember this, but in</p><p>1999 a robot battalion</p><p>known as the Krion</p><p>Empire came to Earth</p><p>and brought it to the</p><p>brink of destruction.</p><p>After Earth refused to</p><p>surrender, the Krions</p><p>set up large bases all</p><p>over the world, and started sending out robot troops to</p><p>attack. Playing as a witch called Francesca, it’s up to you to</p><p>save the day by fighting through five stages</p><p>and defeating the bosses in each. The</p><p>Krion Conquest is clearly heavily</p><p>influenced by the Mega Man</p><p>series: not only does it move</p><p>and play just like it (right down</p><p>to the way the screen scrolls</p><p>between sections), but Francesca</p><p>can also switch weapons, which</p><p>changes the colour of her outfit,</p><p>just like in Capcom’s games. n</p><p>KONAMI HYPER SOCCER</p><p>Year 1992 a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>SOME OF THE greatest</p><p>accomplishments start from</p><p>humble beginnings, and</p><p>Konami Hyper Soccer is</p><p>a shining example of this.</p><p>Released only in Europe</p><p>and Australia, it’s a fairly</p><p>unassuming football game</p><p>with 24 teams to choose from</p><p>and the option to play either a friendly (exhibition) match</p><p>or a World Cup style tournament. The controls are basic but</p><p>the sprites are nice and large, and it’s generally a half-decent</p><p>football game if nothing remarkable.</p><p>The important thing is that, a couple</p><p>of years later, Konami built on</p><p>Hyper Soccer’s foundations to</p><p>make a SNES football game,</p><p>International Superstar Soccer.</p><p>While the initial NES effort may</p><p>not have been revolutionary,</p><p>then, the SNES game it spawned</p><p>(and its subsequent N64 follow-</p><p>up) most certainly was. n</p><p>KNIGHT RIDER</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Pack-In Video</p><p>VERY FEW THINGS scream</p><p>‘this is the eighties’ like the</p><p>Knight Rider TV show did.</p><p>Starring David Hasselhoff</p><p>as a crime fighter who</p><p>drives a near-indestructible,</p><p>seemingly sentient talking</p><p>car called KITT, Knight</p><p>Rider was a big hit. This NES adaptation has you driving</p><p>through 15 cities as you chase a group of terrorists, all</p><p>while making sure you don’t run out of</p><p>fuel. The game takes a few liberties</p><p>when it comes to details: for</p><p>example, KITT is now armed</p><p>with a big machine gun which</p><p>is used to gun down enemies</p><p>(you can spot them because</p><p>they’re driving red cars).</p><p>Perhaps the biggest outrage,</p><p>however, is that the iconic</p><p>Knight Rider theme music is</p><p>nowhere to be heard. n</p><p>KLASH BALL</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Sofel</p><p>Developer Sofel</p><p>KLASH BALL IS better</p><p>known as the name it goes</p><p>by on all other formats,</p><p>Speedball. It’s a futuristic</p><p>sports game which</p><p>borrows elements from</p><p>handball, ice hockey and</p><p>pinball. Players run around</p><p>with a metallic ball, trying</p><p>to throw it into their opponent’s goal. There are no rules</p><p>when it comes to physicality, so you can</p><p>plough into other players as recklessly</p><p>as you like. Keeping things</p><p>interesting are a series of large</p><p>round obstacles that the ball can</p><p>be bounced off, and two holes in</p><p>the middle of the court which</p><p>serve as a teleports: throw the</p><p>ball into one hole and it comes</p><p>out of the other. Klash Ball was</p><p>an entertaining game but its sequel,</p><p>Speedball 2, was the real success. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 108 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>109</p><p>FACT</p><p>Krusty’s Fun House was</p><p>actually originally an Amiga</p><p>game called Rat Trap. The</p><p>developer Audiogenic then</p><p>licensed it to Acclaim who added</p><p>the Simpsons branding. Pity the</p><p>poor gamers who bought Rat</p><p>Trap and then the Amiga</p><p>version of Krusty’s</p><p>Fun House.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Kung Fu’s designer was</p><p>Takashi Nishiyama, who</p><p>knew his fighting: he designed</p><p>the original Street Fighter game</p><p>then moved to SNK to work on</p><p>numerous Neo Geo fighting</p><p>games, including Fatal Fury,</p><p>Art of Fighting, Samurai</p><p>Shodown and The King</p><p>of Fighters ‘94.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Many an eyebrow has</p><p>been raised at the fact</p><p>that Kung-Fu Heroes’ sound</p><p>effects sound curiously</p><p>similar to the coin-</p><p>collecting and 1-Up</p><p>sounds from Super</p><p>Mario Bros.</p><p>launch, and while many other</p><p>early games in the NES library</p><p>may not have aged so well</p><p>and have become a little less</p><p>entertaining over the years,</p><p>the fact that Kung Fu is so</p><p>simplistic and approachable</p><p>means anyone can pick it up</p><p>and enjoy it to this day. n</p><p>KUNG FU</p><p>Year 1985 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Irem</p><p>ONE OF TWO NES launch games developed by Irem</p><p>(the other being 10-Yard Fight), Kung Fu was initially</p><p>a movie tie-in based on the Jackie Chan film Wheels on</p><p>Meals, but by the time the game made it to the west the</p><p>only remaining connection was the characters’ names,</p><p>Thomas and Sylvia. The former has to rescue the latter</p><p>from the evil crime boss Mr X, who’s holding her captive</p><p>on the fifth floor of the Devil’s Temple. Along the way,</p><p>Thomas will encounter an endless stream of enemies, who</p><p>tend to come in three main</p><p>for NES</p><p>owners to finally get a version of the</p><p>Addams Family game they’d missed</p><p>out on... although this of course</p><p>meant they missed out on the actual</p><p>‘proper’ 16-bit Pugsley’s Scavenger</p><p>Hunt game as a result. n</p><p>FACT</p><p>The voice of Gomez in</p><p>the 1990s animated series</p><p>was actually provided by</p><p>John Astin, who had played</p><p>him 30 years earlier</p><p>in the original live-</p><p>action TV show.</p><p>FACT</p><p>If the game’s final</p><p>one-hit boss wasn’t</p><p>already easy enough,</p><p>the instruction manual</p><p>explicitly explains</p><p>in detail how to</p><p>beat it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Pool of Radiance was</p><p>so popular among AD&D</p><p>fans that a novel was written</p><p>about it, which then became</p><p>a trilogy: Pool of Radiance,</p><p>Pools of Darkness</p><p>and Pool of</p><p>Twilight.</p><p>FACT</p><p>A board game version</p><p>of DragonStrike was</p><p>released a year later. Aimed</p><p>at D&D beginners, it came</p><p>with a 30-minute VHS</p><p>tape explaining how</p><p>role-playing board</p><p>games work.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 16 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>17</p><p>ADVENTURE ISLAND 3</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Now Production</p><p>EUROPE HAD</p><p>SEEMINGLY had its</p><p>fill of Master Higgins</p><p>after two games, but</p><p>the chubby funster</p><p>returned for a third</p><p>outing in North</p><p>America. The new</p><p>damsel in distress</p><p>goes by the name</p><p>of Jeannie Jungle, and this time it’s aliens who have been</p><p>doing the capturing: seemingly the Evil Witch Doctor had</p><p>had his fill too. Master Higgins can duck for</p><p>the first time in this game, and there’s</p><p>now a fifth dinosaur character, a</p><p>tripetaurus, which has a rolling</p><p>attack. If you aren’t familiar with</p><p>the tripetaurus species, that’s</p><p>because it didn’t exist: it’s basically</p><p>just a fancy triceratops. There was</p><p>also a surfing bonus game this time</p><p>around. n</p><p>ADVENTURE ISLAND II</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Now Production</p><p>WHILE THE FIRST</p><p>Adventure Island was</p><p>based on Wonder</p><p>Boy, the sequel was a</p><p>completely original</p><p>game. It still uses</p><p>the same engine</p><p>and features most of</p><p>the same gameplay</p><p>mechanics, though. This time Princess Leilani’s sister Tina</p><p>is the one who’s been kidnapped by the Evil Witch Doctor,</p><p>meaning Master Higgins has to head out on another</p><p>rescue mission. New features include an inventory system</p><p>(which lets you choose which item to equip</p><p>yourself with before starting a new stage),</p><p>and the addition of four dinosaur-like</p><p>creatures which you can ride to take</p><p>advantage of their special abilities.</p><p>For example, the pteranodon can</p><p>fly and drop boulders, while the</p><p>elasmosaurus can swim quickly</p><p>underwater. n</p><p>ADVENTURE ISLAND</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Hudson Soft</p><p>HUDSON SOFT’S</p><p>SIDE-SCROLLING</p><p>platformer initially</p><p>started as a port of</p><p>Sega’s Wonder Boy</p><p>before the studio</p><p>decided to redesign</p><p>the lead character</p><p>after its spokesman</p><p>Takahashi Meijin. Renamed Master Higgins in the west,</p><p>the slightly chubby hero has to rescue Princess Leilani</p><p>from the generically-named Evil Witch</p><p>Doctor by collecting fruit to keep his</p><p>depleting health topped up while</p><p>running and skating his way</p><p>through 32 stages. Yes, skating.</p><p>You see, throughout the game</p><p>are a number of eggs which can</p><p>be broken to reveal weapons</p><p>(including a trusty stone axe) and</p><p>a skateboard, which allows for faster</p><p>travel but can be tricky to control. n</p><p>ADVANCED DUNGEONS &</p><p>DRAGONS: HILLSFAR</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher FCI</p><p>Developer TSR</p><p>THE FOURTH AND</p><p>final AD&D game</p><p>released on the NES</p><p>returned to a more</p><p>traditional RPG style.</p><p>This time the player</p><p>controls a single character</p><p>instead of a team, and the</p><p>game has you entering</p><p>the tightly controlled city of Hillsfar seeking fortune, fame</p><p>and the chance to get one over on the nasty merchant-mage</p><p>Maalthir. He's declared himself the First Lord</p><p>of Hillsfar, so the lad's clearly got himself</p><p>a bit of an ego. The display in Hillsfar</p><p>switches between three different</p><p>viewpoints: side-on when travelling</p><p>between locations, top-down when</p><p>exploring villages and first-person</p><p>when exploring caves. Its small quests</p><p>and tasks meant reaction was mixed,</p><p>with some criticising its lack of depth. n</p><p>FACT</p><p>A fifth AD&D game,</p><p>Dragons of Flame, was</p><p>released on the Famicom</p><p>in Japan but never made</p><p>it across the</p><p>pond to the</p><p>NES.</p><p>FACT</p><p>As well as being the</p><p>inspiration for Adventure</p><p>Island’s hero, Takahashi</p><p>Meijin was also famous for</p><p>his ability to press controller</p><p>buttons quickly: up to 16</p><p>presses a</p><p>second.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Master Higgins</p><p>would return in a fourth</p><p>Adventure Island in Japan</p><p>for the Famicom in 1994.</p><p>Adventure Island IV ended</p><p>up being the last game</p><p>released for the</p><p>Famicom.</p><p>FACT</p><p>An elasmosaurus was</p><p>a type of plesiosaur with</p><p>an extremely long neck. It</p><p>was basically the giraffe</p><p>of the underwater</p><p>dinosaur</p><p>world.</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 17 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>18</p><p>FACT</p><p>The only character</p><p>missing from the game</p><p>is Ginger, played by Tina</p><p>Louise. This may have been</p><p>because she refused to</p><p>have anything to do</p><p>with the show after</p><p>it ended.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Dino Riki’s appearance</p><p>was based on Korean-</p><p>Japanese wrestler Riki</p><p>Choshu, who appeared</p><p>in TV ads for</p><p>the game.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bayou Billy may not</p><p>have been a smash hit</p><p>but Nintendo pushed it</p><p>to the point that Billy</p><p>featured in an episode</p><p>of its cartoon series</p><p>Captain N.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Adventures in the</p><p>Magic Kingdom’s music</p><p>was composed by Yoko</p><p>Shimomura, who went on</p><p>to score the Kingdom</p><p>Hearts games.</p><p>THE ADVENTURES OF</p><p>GILLIGAN’S ISLAND</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Human Entertainment</p><p>FOR SOME REASON,</p><p>Bandai America decided</p><p>that the perfect game for</p><p>children in the early ‘90s</p><p>was one based on a TV</p><p>sitcom from the 1960s.</p><p>Split into four ‘episodes’</p><p>(levels), the game has</p><p>Gilligan and the Skipper</p><p>exploring the tropical island from the show in an attempt to</p><p>find a way off it. Along the way they encounter</p><p>their fellow Gilligan’s Island castaways and</p><p>take part in boss battles with a gorilla, a</p><p>bear, a skeleton and a cannibal. In an</p><p>interesting move, there’s a dialogue</p><p>box at the bottom of the screen,</p><p>where Gilligan and the Skipper</p><p>continuously have conversations as</p><p>you play. Sadly, these can get pretty</p><p>repetitive, meaning they become more</p><p>of an annoyance than anything else. n</p><p>ADVENTURES OF DINO</p><p>RIKI</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Hudson Soft</p><p>Developer Hudson Soft</p><p>DINO RIKI IS a ‘courageous</p><p>and intelligent young</p><p>man[...] determined to</p><p>establish mankind’s future</p><p>in this violent age’. The</p><p>violent age in question is</p><p>the prehistoric era, which</p><p>means what we have here is a vertical scrolling shoot</p><p>‘em up in which instead of flying a ship through space,</p><p>you’re a caveman wandering through the land. Typical</p><p>schmup weapons like lasers and missiles are ditched in</p><p>favour of rocks, axes, boomerangs and flaming</p><p>torches. One of the game’s oddest power-</p><p>ups transforms Dino Riki into Macho</p><p>Riki, a powerful alter-ego who can</p><p>fire clones of himself at enemies. It</p><p>only lasts for a while, though, and</p><p>when it runs out you lose all your</p><p>weapon upgrades. Oddly, this made</p><p>it a power-up players actively tried to</p><p>avoid. n</p><p>THE ADVENTURES OF</p><p>BAYOU BILLY</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>IT MAY BE more or less</p><p>forgotten these days but</p><p>in the late 1980s Crocodile</p><p>Dundee was one of the</p><p>biggest movies in America.</p><p>The Adventures of Bayou</p><p>Billy clearly took some</p><p>inspiration from it, but</p><p>instead of Australia the game’s set in New Orleans. The player</p><p>controls Billy West (not the guy who does the voices in</p><p>Futurama), a former soldier who has to rescue his girlfriend</p><p>Annabelle from New Orleans crime boss</p><p>Godfather Gordon. This involves nine</p><p>stages comprising three completely</p><p>different play styles. While most of the</p><p>game is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up</p><p>in the style of Double Dragon, other</p><p>stages involve driving sections and,</p><p>most memorably, lightgun stages in</p><p>which the player can use an NES Zapper</p><p>to take out enemies. n</p><p>ADVENTURES IN THE</p><p>MAGIC KINGDOM</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Capcom</p><p>Developer Capcom</p><p>DISNEY’S THEME PARKS</p><p>have always been a place</p><p>types: the standard ‘Gripper’</p><p>(who walks towards you and grabs you, draining your</p><p>energy), the Knife Thrower (who keeps his distance and</p><p>lobs blades at you) and the Tom Tom (a little person who</p><p>has a tendency to leap up and attack you).</p><p>Thomas encounters a boss at the end of each of the</p><p>five floors: though they aren’t the most imaginatively</p><p>named (Stick Fighter, Boomerang Fighter and Giant,</p><p>anyone?), they at least ensure some variety in what can</p><p>sometimes be a repetitive game. Ultimately, Kung Fu</p><p>was a success: its easy-to-learn controls meant it was</p><p>often the game retailers used to show off the NES near</p><p>KUNG-FU HEROES</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Culture Brain</p><p>Developer Culture Brain</p><p>JACKY AND LEE, a</p><p>pair of kung fu masters</p><p>(who definitely weren’t</p><p>named after Jackie</p><p>Chan and Bruce Lee)</p><p>return home after</p><p>weeks of training to</p><p>find that their village</p><p>has been overrun by</p><p>monsters, Princess</p><p>Min-Min has been kidnapped and the ten treasures of the</p><p>land have been stolen. Not the best welcome home they’ve</p><p>ever had. The pair have to make their</p><p>way through the eight enemy castles</p><p>(each with four levels), punching</p><p>countless enemies along the way.</p><p>Kung-Fu Heroes has a top-down</p><p>Zelda style viewpoint, but its</p><p>focus is purely on combat, with</p><p>the aim being to defeat enough</p><p>enemies in each level to open the</p><p>door at the top of the screen and</p><p>proceed to the next stage. n</p><p>KRUSTY’S FUN HOUSE</p><p>Year 1992 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Audiogenic</p><p>KRUSTY THE CLOWN</p><p>has a problem. Or, more</p><p>specifically, his theme park</p><p>Krustyland does. Its fun</p><p>house has been overrun by</p><p>rats, so Krusty has to get rid</p><p>of them by guiding them to</p><p>a series of rat extermination</p><p>devices operated by various</p><p>Simpsons characters, including Bart, Homer and Sideshow Mel.</p><p>You do this by placing blocks, connecting pipes,</p><p>destroying floors and walls and activating</p><p>various other mechanisms in a series</p><p>of progressively more difficult and</p><p>complex puzzle stages, while</p><p>also killing the other enemies</p><p>roaming the fun house (snakes,</p><p>aliens, giant birds and flying</p><p>pigs). It’s essentially a reverse</p><p>version of Lemmings, then, in</p><p>that instead of trying to save the</p><p>aimlessly wandering rodents you’re</p><p>trying to kill them. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 109 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>110</p><p>FACT</p><p>There were three main</p><p>Last Ninja games released</p><p>on home computers. A fourth</p><p>game was cancelled, as were</p><p>attempts to reboot the series</p><p>in the late ‘90s and again</p><p>on PS2, Xbox and</p><p>GameCube.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The end credits of</p><p>The Last Starfighter movie</p><p>promise that a real-life arcade</p><p>game was coming soon,</p><p>courtesy of Atari. The game was</p><p>never released, and neither</p><p>were the Atari 2600 and</p><p>5200 versions also in</p><p>development.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Charles Dance, whose</p><p>career enjoyed another</p><p>boost when he starred as</p><p>Tywin Lannister in Game Of</p><p>Thrones, plays the main</p><p>villain Benedict in Last</p><p>Action Hero.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Laser Scope</p><p>doubles as an extremely</p><p>garish set of headphones.</p><p>The author of this book once</p><p>plugged them into his iPod</p><p>and took a London tube</p><p>journey wearing them</p><p>for a bet.</p><p>THE LAST STARFIGHTER</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Graftgold</p><p>WHAT IF YOUR video</p><p>game skills could be used</p><p>to save the world? That was</p><p>the idea behind The Last</p><p>Starfighter, a 1984 movie</p><p>about a young lad who finds</p><p>out that the space combat</p><p>arcade game he’s been</p><p>obsessed with is actually</p><p>a battle simulator placed</p><p>on Earth by an alien defence force looking for the ultimate</p><p>gunner to fight for them. The NES game kicks off with you in</p><p>the Starfighter Corps, and has you taking</p><p>out enemy Xurian fighters by flying</p><p>back and forth across the game</p><p>area, shooting them down. The</p><p>Last Starfighter is a decent movie</p><p>tie-in, but that’s partly because</p><p>it wasn’t made for the movie: it’s</p><p>actually a reskinned version of</p><p>Uridium, a Commodore 64 game</p><p>far more popular in Europe. n</p><p>THE LAST NINJA</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>THIS IS ACTUALLY a</p><p>port of The Last Ninja</p><p>2, as the first game was</p><p>only released on home</p><p>computers. The player</p><p>controls Armakuni, a</p><p>master ninja from the</p><p>ninth century, who</p><p>is teleported without</p><p>warning to modern-day</p><p>Manhattan. Although</p><p>he has no idea where he is, Armakuni senses that his</p><p>enemy– the evil shogun Kunitoki– is there too,</p><p>so he heads off in search. The Last Ninja</p><p>is played with an isometric viewpoint</p><p>(‘don’t be confused by the unique</p><p>3D technology used’, the manual</p><p>reassures), as Armakuni works</p><p>his way through Central Park, the</p><p>New York streets, the sewers, an</p><p>office block and a large mansion</p><p>before facing off against Kunitoki. n</p><p>LAST ACTION HERO</p><p>Year 1993 a </p><p>Publisher Sony Imagesoft</p><p>Developer Teeny Weeny Games</p><p>THE LAST ACTION Hero</p><p>movie was a clever idea,</p><p>even if it wasn’t executed so</p><p>well. The NES game follows</p><p>the plot of the film, with</p><p>evil screen villain Benedict</p><p>finding his way into the</p><p>real world and celluloid</p><p>hero Jack Slater (Arnold</p><p>Schwarzenegger) heading</p><p>there too to stop him taking over. There are seven stages</p><p>in this action platformer, ranging from the</p><p>busiest and most violent Los Angeles</p><p>street you’ll ever see in a game– you</p><p>can’t move an inch without someone</p><p>else popping up to shoot you– to</p><p>stranger environments, like the</p><p>set for Hamlet (based on the film’s</p><p>infamous Shakespeare scene). The</p><p>movie was a box office dud, and</p><p>though it wasn’t terrible the game was</p><p>far from a sell-out too. n</p><p>LASER INVASION</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher Konami</p><p>Developer Konami</p><p>ORIGINALLY RELEASED</p><p>AS Gun Sight in Japan, Laser</p><p>Invasion was renamed for</p><p>North America to tie in</p><p>with Konami’s Laser Scope</p><p>peripheral. This was a large</p><p>plastic headset that acted like</p><p>a light gun: players lined its</p><p>eyepiece up with a target then</p><p>shouted ‘fire’ to shoot. Taking place over four missions, Laser</p><p>Invasion has three different play styles. Each level</p><p>begins with you flying a helicopter, taking</p><p>out enemies with your NES controller</p><p>and then landing in an enemy base.</p><p>The action then switches to an on-</p><p>rails light gun shooter (which can</p><p>be played with the controller, the</p><p>Laser Scope or a Zapper), before</p><p>moving to a 3D maze section where</p><p>you navigate with the controller</p><p>then switch to your gun control every</p><p>time you encounter an enemy. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_96-145.indd 110 18/01/19 7:14 PM</p><p>111</p><p>FACT</p><p>A sequel, The Legend</p><p>Of Kage 2, was released</p><p>a mere 21 years later on</p><p>Nintendo DS. Princess Kiri</p><p>has been kidnapped again,</p><p>and this time players can</p><p>control either Kage or a</p><p>female ninja called</p><p>Chihiro.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Your reward for fighting</p><p>your way through an often</p><p>difficult game (particularly</p><p>the trap-heavy third stage) is</p><p>an ending in which Arthur lets</p><p>Prince Valiant enter a training</p><p>programme to become a</p><p>knight. So he doesn’t even</p><p>get to become one</p><p>yet.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Legacy of the Wizard is</p><p>actually the fourth game in</p><p>Falcom’s Dargon Slayer series</p><p>in Japan. Its original title was</p><p>Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family,</p><p>but since it was the only</p><p>game in the series to make</p><p>it to the west it was</p><p>renamed.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Simpsons parodied</p><p>this game in 1995. When</p><p>Bart wants to rent the violent</p><p>game Bonestorm but finds</p><p>the shop is out of copies, he</p><p>has to settle for the boring</p><p>Lee Carvallo’s Putting</p><p>Challenge instead.</p><p>THE LEGEND OF PRINCE</p><p>VALIANT</p><p>Year 1992 a</p><p>Publisher Ocean</p><p>Developer Ocean</p><p>THE PRINCE VALIANT comic</p><p>strip has been running since</p><p>1937, and ultimately spawned</p><p>a 65-episode animated series in</p><p>1991. This game, which was only</p><p>released in Europe, was based</p><p>on that cartoon, and has Prince</p><p>Valiant trying to make his way to</p><p>Camelot– grabbing the legendary Viking Ring of Peace along the</p><p>way– in order to convince King Arthur to make</p><p>him a knight. The game has three distinct</p><p>styles: the first level is a standard side-</p><p>scrolling action platformer, levels</p><p>2 and 4 are first-person shooting</p><p>sections using a crossbow and ship</p><p>cannon respectively, and levels</p><p>3 and 5 are side-scrolling</p><p>of wonder so a video game</p><p>in which you explore one</p><p>of them makes perfect</p><p>sense. Adventures in the</p><p>Magic Kingdom features</p><p>five different stages, each</p><p>themed around a famous Disney ride. There are two</p><p>platforming sections based on Pirates of the Caribbean</p><p>and the Haunted Mansion, two vehicle sections based on</p><p>Big Thunder Mountain and Autopia, and</p><p>a strange Space Mountain level where</p><p>you have to quickly respond to button</p><p>prompts, similar to a quick time event</p><p>in modern games. The aim is to clear</p><p>all of these stages (and answer the</p><p>trivia questions dotted around the</p><p>park) to collect silver keys that will</p><p>open Cinderella’s Castle and let the</p><p>Disney parade begin. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 18 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>19</p><p>FACT</p><p>The only other Lolo</p><p>game released in the west</p><p>was Adventures of Lolo on</p><p>the Game Boy, where you</p><p>have to solve puzzles to</p><p>get theme park rides</p><p>working again.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese version</p><p>of Adventures of</p><p>Lolo 2 is considered a</p><p>separate game, since the</p><p>majority of its levels</p><p>are completely</p><p>different.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Lolo and his female</p><p>counterpart Lala did</p><p>actually make appearances</p><p>in a handful of Kirby games.</p><p>Interestingly, though,</p><p>they’re enemies. Must</p><p>be bitter.</p><p>ADVENTURES OF LOLO 3</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer HAL Laboratory</p><p>UNLIKE THE</p><p>SECOND Lolo</p><p>game, the third</p><p>does actually mix</p><p>things up a little.</p><p>Rather than having</p><p>Lolo rescue Lala yet</p><p>again, this time the</p><p>pair are teaming</p><p>up to stop the evil</p><p>King Egger, who’s turned everyone into stone. This means</p><p>you can now play any stage as either Lolo or Lala (though</p><p>their abilities are identical). A new world map has been</p><p>added which adds a small degree of choice</p><p>to which stages you take on next, and</p><p>new gameplay elements like boss</p><p>fights, crumbling bridges and and</p><p>a new whale enemy called Moby</p><p>allow for new puzzle mechanics.</p><p>It’s notably trickier than its</p><p>predecessors, but this time you</p><p>have infinite lives. n</p><p>ADVENTURES OF LOLO 2</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer HAL Laboratory</p><p>THE PHRASE ‘IF it</p><p>ain’t broke, don’t fix</p><p>it’ has rarely been</p><p>more closely adhered</p><p>to than in the second</p><p>Adventures of Lolo</p><p>game. Sit a screenshot</p><p>of the first and second</p><p>game next to each</p><p>other and you’d be hard</p><p>pressed to tell them apart: other than some new animations</p><p>like enemies disappearing in a puff of smoke when you beat</p><p>a level, the two look identical. Still, fans of the game were</p><p>happy with what was essentially just 50 more</p><p>levels of what they’d enjoyed in the first</p><p>Lolo, and all was well in the world.</p><p>Lolo 2 isn’t a complete clone, mind</p><p>you: one of the few new additions</p><p>is the ‘pro’ levels, four new stages</p><p>(unlocked with the passwords PROA,</p><p>PROB, PROC and PROD) which are</p><p>obscenely difficult to solve. n</p><p>the most recognisable characters in gaming.</p><p>Instead, a couple of years later HAL got to</p><p>work on a Game Boy title called Kirby’s</p><p>Dream Land and Lolo quickly took a back</p><p>seat. That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy some</p><p>time in the spotlight, though. Between</p><p>Japan and the west, a total of twelve</p><p>Eggerland games were released. Lolo may</p><p>have been a one-trick pony– well, a one-trick</p><p>blob– but it’s a good trick. n</p><p>ADVENTURES OF LOLO</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer HAL Laboratory</p><p>BEFORE THE LATE Satoru Iwata joined Nintendo and</p><p>eventually became its president, he had been working at</p><p>HAL Laboratory for 20 years. One of the early series he</p><p>worked on was Eggerland, a bunch of puzzle games in</p><p>which a little blue blob called Lolo had to move blocks</p><p>around to clear a number of stages. After a couple of</p><p>Japan-only releases, Eggerland finally made its way</p><p>overseas in Adventures of Lolo, an NES game which</p><p>was really just a compilation of stages taken from its</p><p>predecessors and presented to a western audience for the</p><p>first time.</p><p>The joy in Adventures of Lolo lies in its simplicity.</p><p>Lolo can only really move in four directions, push</p><p>blocks and occasionally gain the ability to fire</p><p>a total of two shots at enemies per stage.</p><p>This limited moveset means you’re able to</p><p>quickly master everything Lolo can do,</p><p>meaning all your attention can be focused</p><p>on the game’s 50challenging stages full of</p><p>traps, enemies and treasurechests.</p><p>In another world, Lolo could have gone</p><p>on to become HAL’s main mascot and one of</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 19 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>20</p><p>FACT</p><p>The password for</p><p>the last level is SUGA.</p><p>This is a reference to</p><p>Hiroaki Suga, the game’s</p><p>director, designer and</p><p>programmer.</p><p>FACT</p><p>It seems SETA didn’t</p><p>fancy the player’s chances</p><p>at beating this game much:</p><p>the manual has a page</p><p>dedicated to revealing in</p><p>detail what happens</p><p>at the end.</p><p>FACT</p><p>June Foray, the voice</p><p>of Rocky in the cartoon</p><p>show, was also the voice</p><p>of the Looney Tunes</p><p>character Granny</p><p>for more than</p><p>50 years.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s manual</p><p>includes a 14-page</p><p>comic illustrated by Frank</p><p>Cirocco, who was best</p><p>known for co-creating</p><p>Marvel’s Alien Legion</p><p>series.</p><p>AIR FORTRESS</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher HAL Laboratory</p><p>Developer HAL Laboratory</p><p>A FLEET OF</p><p>exploratory</p><p>spaceships from</p><p>the planet Farmel</p><p>have discovered</p><p>eight massive space</p><p>fortresses heading</p><p>towards Farmel to</p><p>destroy it. It’s up to</p><p>ace pilot Hal Bailman</p><p>to fly solo into each fortress and destroy it from the inside, a la</p><p>Independence Day. This process actually consists of two game</p><p>styles: each stage begins as a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up</p><p>in which Hal (named after the developer) flies</p><p>his ship towards one of the fortresses. Once</p><p>he gets inside it, the action switches to a</p><p>side-scrolling action platformer where</p><p>the player has to find and destroy the</p><p>central reactor then escape before the</p><p>fortress explodes. An impressive game</p><p>that further cemented HAL’s status as a</p><p>top NES developer. n</p><p>THE ADVENTURES OF</p><p>TOM SAWYER</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher SETA</p><p>Developer Winkysoft</p><p>MARK TWAIN’S</p><p>FAMOUS 1876 novel</p><p>may seem like an odd</p><p>source for a video</p><p>game, and it would</p><p>appear SETA and</p><p>Winkysoft agreed,</p><p>since this NES</p><p>rendition has very</p><p>little to do with the book. The entire game takes place in one</p><p>of Tom’s dreams (he’s fallen asleep at school), and the player</p><p>has to rescue Becky Thatcher from his nemesis</p><p>Injun Joe by making his way through</p><p>six enemy-infested stages. Oddly, the</p><p>North American version of the game</p><p>had its levels shuffled, meaning it</p><p>starts with the difficult pirate ship</p><p>stage (the fifth in the Japanese</p><p>version). This makes for a game</p><p>which starts off much harder than it</p><p>does in Japan. n</p><p>THE ADVENTURES OF</p><p>ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE</p><p>AND FRIENDS</p><p>Year 1992 a </p><p>Publisher THQ</p><p>Developer Radical Entertainment</p><p>IN TERMS OF plots, this</p><p>one’s a doozy. Rocky and</p><p>Bullwinkle– stars of the</p><p>‘60s cartoon series of the</p><p>same name– have to make</p><p>their way to England so that</p><p>Bullwinkle can inherit his</p><p>late grandfather’s title of Earl</p><p>of Moosechester. The problem is,</p><p>they have to get there before their rivals</p><p>Boris and Natasha, who plan to</p><p>impersonate Bullwinkle and get the</p><p>riches first. Licensed platform games</p><p>vary wildly in difficulty but this is</p><p>one of the worst: the music is off-key</p><p>and repetitive, the level design is</p><p>confusing, Rocky can’t climb stairs and</p><p>Bullwinkle’s attack drains his energy,</p><p>meaning killing enemies hurts you too. n</p><p>THE ADVENTURES OF RAD</p><p>GRAVITY</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Activision</p><p>Developer Interplay</p><p>RAD GRAVITY IS</p><p>a space hero with an</p><p>unusually large chin.</p><p>He’s been tasked with</p><p>travelling to eight</p><p>different planets and</p><p>locating the missing</p><p>Compuminds– which</p><p>connect to each other</p><p>and share knowledge like a big interplanetary internet– to</p><p>foil the evil wizard Agathos, who shut them</p><p>down. The result is an action platformer</p><p>in which each planet has a unique look.</p><p>The most infamous of these is Turvia,</p><p>a planet where gravity is reversed and</p><p>everything on the screen is therefore</p><p>upside-down. Rad Gravity never</p><p>went down as a truly iconic NES</p><p>release by any</p><p>means, but any game</p><p>with a trash planet called Effluvia can</p><p>never be considered a waste of time. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 20 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>21</p><p>FACT</p><p>As a UK publicity</p><p>stunt, the game’s product</p><p>manager stood for election in</p><p>Dorset representing the Alfred</p><p>Chicken Party. He finished</p><p>13th out of 14 candidates,</p><p>with 0.02 per cent of</p><p>the vote.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Another version of</p><p>Aladdin was released</p><p>on the NES; this was a</p><p>surprisingly good but</p><p>completely unofficial</p><p>port of the SNES</p><p>game.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Although the game’s</p><p>tracks were loosely based</p><p>on real-life F1 Grand Prix</p><p>circuits, which all have</p><p>distinct lengths, here</p><p>they’re all roughly</p><p>3.3 miles</p><p>(5.3 km).</p><p>FACT</p><p>The real Airwolf</p><p>chopper that featured in</p><p>the show became an air</p><p>ambulance in Germany.</p><p>Tragically, it crashed in a</p><p>thunderstorm in 1992,</p><p>killing its crew.</p><p>ALFRED CHICKEN</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher Mindscape</p><p>Developer Twilight</p><p>EASILY THE MOST</p><p>popular video game</p><p>hero named Alfred,</p><p>our hen-like hero has</p><p>to rescue Billy and</p><p>Floella from the evil</p><p>Meka-Chickens. Who</p><p>are Billy and Floella?</p><p>The game doesn’t quite</p><p>specify, I’m afraid. Regardless, there are five large stages which</p><p>Alfred has to navigate, armed with his trusty divebomb move</p><p>which lets him plummet to the ground and</p><p>attack enemies with his beak. Alfred</p><p>Chicken is notorious for its divisive</p><p>main theme: some believe its circus-</p><p>style riff is fun, others are adamant</p><p>it’s one of the worst soundtracks</p><p>in gaming. A toll-free number</p><p>(1-800-ALFREDC) was also set</p><p>up in the US so players could hear</p><p>a message from Alfred himself</p><p>promoting the game. n</p><p>ALADDIN</p><p>Year 1994 a</p><p>Publisher Virgin Interactive</p><p>Developer NMS Software</p><p>ALTHOUGH</p><p>CAPCOM</p><p>RELEASED an</p><p>Aladdin game for</p><p>the SNES, the NES</p><p>version (released</p><p>only in Europe)</p><p>was instead based</p><p>on the Mega Drive</p><p>game originally</p><p>developed by Virgin Games. While the 16-bit version was</p><p>widely praised for its outstanding character animation and</p><p>music, the NES port struggled to reach the same</p><p>level of quality. Movement is sluggish, large</p><p>sections of the screen disappear without</p><p>warning and attacking your enemies</p><p>can literally be a hit and miss affair,</p><p>as apples thrown at foes often don’t</p><p>register. This culminates in a final</p><p>boss battle with the evil Jafar, who</p><p>just stands there while you lob fruit at</p><p>him from a distance until he dies. n</p><p>AL UNSER JR’S TURBO</p><p>RACING</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Data East</p><p>Developer Data East</p><p>DESPITE THE</p><p>PRESENCE of two-time</p><p>Indy 500 winner Al</p><p>Unser Jr, Turbo Racing</p><p>is actually a game</p><p>based on Formula One</p><p>racing. That’s because</p><p>it’s an English language</p><p>version of Famicom title</p><p>World Grand Prix: Pole to Finish,</p><p>with Mr Unser Jr only really there to</p><p>pop up from time to time and give advice</p><p>on your upcoming race. The game</p><p>itself is a relatively accomplished</p><p>racing game which received some</p><p>criticism for the way its turns</p><p>appear with little warning. Given</p><p>that Al Unser Jr isn’t so famous in</p><p>Europe, the PAL version of the game</p><p>was simply called Turbo Racing and all</p><p>references to him wereremoved. n</p><p>AIRWOLF</p><p>Year 1989 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>AIRWOLF WAS</p><p>AN ‘80s TV series</p><p>about a military</p><p>helicopter armed</p><p>to the teeth with</p><p>a crazy amount of</p><p>high-tech gadgetry.</p><p>This NES rendition</p><p>has the show’s main</p><p>hero Stringfellow Hawke flying to a series of POW camps</p><p>and attempting to rescue all the MIA prisoners being held</p><p>captive there. Like many other flight sims</p><p>of the time, the game’s mainly played</p><p>with a first-person viewpoint as you</p><p>attempt to shoot down enemy</p><p>fighters. When you reach a camp</p><p>the screen switches to a side-on</p><p>view as you try to slowly land and</p><p>collect the prisoners. A Japanese</p><p>Airwolf game was also released but</p><p>it was a side-scrolling shooter and</p><p>was completely different. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 21 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>22</p><p>FACT</p><p>Alpha Mission got a</p><p>sequel, the cleverly titled</p><p>Alpha Mission II, which was</p><p>released on SNK’s Neo Geo</p><p>hardware. It’s currently</p><p>available to download</p><p>on the Nintendo</p><p>Switch.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Japanese publisher</p><p>Vic Tokai now deals in</p><p>telecoms and is known as</p><p>Tokai Communications. The</p><p>‘Vic’ stood for ‘Valuable</p><p>Information and</p><p>Communication’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Alien 3 movie is</p><p>infamous for going through</p><p>production hell. Director</p><p>David Fincher felt he had</p><p>no control over it and $7</p><p>million was spent on</p><p>sets that were never</p><p>used.</p><p>ALPHA MISSION</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer SNK</p><p>KNOWN AS</p><p>ARMORED</p><p>Scrum Object</p><p>in Japan, Alpha</p><p>Mission is an</p><p>NES port of</p><p>an SNK arcade</p><p>shoot ‘em up.</p><p>It’s interesting</p><p>in that the</p><p>player has two</p><p>different types of shot: lasers for enemies flying towards</p><p>you, and missiles for enemies based on the ground. It</p><p>was also notoriously harsh with its power-ups, since of</p><p>the 11 different types four of them are bad. Their effects</p><p>range from sending you backwards and</p><p>making you do certain areas again,</p><p>to outright removing all your</p><p>energy and power. This can make</p><p>it an extremely difficult game</p><p>for anyone who doesn’t read</p><p>the manual and just assumes,</p><p>as in most shooters, that you’re</p><p>supposed to collect everything. n</p><p>ALL-PRO BASKETBALL</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Vic Tokai</p><p>Developer Aicom</p><p>JAPANESE STUDIO</p><p>AICOM’S attempt</p><p>at a basketball</p><p>game featured eight</p><p>unofficially licensed</p><p>teams– goodbye</p><p>NY Knicks and</p><p>LA Lakers, hello</p><p>NY Slicks and LA</p><p>Breakers– and</p><p>the option for two players to take on a CPU opponent</p><p>together. It featured a vertical view of the court,</p><p>something that was fairly unique at a time when most</p><p>basketball games offered a side-on view. This had its</p><p>limitations, however: presumably to avoid the bottom</p><p>basket getting in the way, every time</p><p>the ball crossed the halfway line</p><p>the action would freeze and the</p><p>court would flip round, so the</p><p>attacking team was always</p><p>shooting upwards. Despite this,</p><p>it was critically acclaimed, with</p><p>impressive cut-scenes during</p><p>dunks. n</p><p>find all the trapped prisoners in each. If she fails to do</p><p>this before the timer runs out chestbursters explode out</p><p>of the prisoners, which is far from ideal (especially for</p><p>the janitor, who’d presumably have to work overtime to</p><p>clean up the mess).</p><p>Other versions of the game are notorious for having fast</p><p>Aliens that suddenly run in from the side of the screen and</p><p>kill the player. While the NES version is based on these</p><p>other ones and has the same issue, it’s actually a slightly</p><p>more enjoyable experience because they appear less</p><p>frequently, making for far fewer frustrating deaths. n</p><p>ALIEN 3</p><p>Year 1993 a a</p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Probe Software</p><p>THE THIRD ALIEN movie introduced an interesting</p><p>concept: by placing its heroine Ellen Ripley on a prison</p><p>planet and then adding an Alien to the mix, how would</p><p>she and the prisoners be able to deal with the bloodthirsty</p><p>xenomorph on a planet where all weapons are banned?</p><p>Somewhere during the film’s transition to video game</p><p>form, someone clearly decided ‘that won’t really work</p><p>here’ and as such the Alien 3 game has Ripley armed to</p><p>the teeth with pulse rifles, machine guns, flamethrowers</p><p>and grenades.</p><p>Whereas the SNES version of Alien</p><p>3 was its own bespoke game with</p><p>a look and feel similar to Super</p><p>Metroid, NES owners instead</p><p>got a port of the more common</p><p>version also available on the</p><p>Mega Drive, Amiga, C64, Master</p><p>System and Game Gear. Here</p><p>Ripley has to make her way through</p><p>a series of corridor-laden stages and</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 22 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>23</p><p>FACT</p><p>The arcade version</p><p>of Arch Rivals featured</p><p>a move where you could</p><p>grab a jumping player’s</p><p>shorts and pull them</p><p>down, revealing their</p><p>underwear.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Anticipation also</p><p>borrows from Monopoly</p><p>with its object-shaped</p><p>tokens. Players can choose</p><p>a pair of shoes, a teddy</p><p>bear, a horn or an</p><p>ice-cream cone.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In 1995 an International</p><p>Gladiators series ran,</p><p>bringing together</p><p>Gladiators from the US,</p><p>UK, Finnish and Russian</p><p>versions of</p><p>the</p><p>show.</p><p>FACT</p><p>It’s a shame that</p><p>Amagon wasn’t released</p><p>in the west under its</p><p>Japanese title, which</p><p>translates to Suddenly!</p><p>Machoman.</p><p>ARCH RIVALS</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Acclaim</p><p>Developer Midway</p><p>BEFORE NBA JAM,</p><p>there was Arch</p><p>Rivals. Dubbed ‘a</p><p>basket brawl’ by</p><p>developer Midway,</p><p>it’s very much the</p><p>prototype that</p><p>eventually became</p><p>the more popular</p><p>NBA Jam series. The</p><p>game features two-on-two basketball with very few rules:</p><p>rather than the non-contact sport it’s supposed to be, players</p><p>are instead completely free to punch their opponents to the</p><p>ground with no penalties given as a result. The</p><p>NES version of the game looks significantly</p><p>poorer than the arcade version, and</p><p>while it didn’t have the game-breaking</p><p>bug the Mega Drive version suffered</p><p>from (where you could score 95 per</p><p>cent of shots thrown regardless of</p><p>where you were on the court), other</p><p>glitches like three-point dunks still</p><p>meant it was far from perfect. n</p><p>ANTICIPATION</p><p>Year 1988 a a</p><p>Publisher Nintendo</p><p>Developer Rare</p><p>PROUDLY</p><p>DECLARING</p><p>ITSELF ‘Nintendo’s</p><p>first video board</p><p>game’, Anticipation</p><p>is Rare’s take on</p><p>what would happen</p><p>if Pictionary and</p><p>Trivial Pursuit had</p><p>a digital baby. The</p><p>board is based on the latter: players travel around and land</p><p>on coloured categories with the aim being to answer one</p><p>question of each colour. The questions, however, take the</p><p>form of Pictionary-style puzzles in which the</p><p>game slowly draws a picture and players</p><p>have to ‘buzz in’ with their controller</p><p>to guess what it is. Higher difficulty</p><p>settings remove some of the guides</p><p>(the clue, the number of letters and</p><p>so on). It offers support for up to</p><p>four players, but since it was released</p><p>before the Four Score adapter, two</p><p>players each share a controller. n</p><p>AMERICAN GLADIATORS</p><p>Year 1991 a </p><p>Publisher GameTek</p><p>Developer Incredible Technologies</p><p>AMERICAN</p><p>GLADIATORS– MUCH</p><p>like the UK version that</p><p>launched a few years</p><p>later– was a TV game</p><p>show where members of</p><p>the public competed in</p><p>a series of athletic events</p><p>against the ‘gladiators’,</p><p>a group of overpowered meatheads. This made it ripe for</p><p>a video game tie-in, but rather than take the show’s events</p><p>and recreate them like-for-like, the NES version</p><p>offered over-the-top ‘video game style’</p><p>versions. The one-on-one Joust event</p><p>became a side-scrolling affair, while the</p><p>Wall– in which contestants simply</p><p>tried to climb a big wall– became a</p><p>huge maze with numerous obstacles.</p><p>The result was a game that ended up</p><p>being far more entertaining than the</p><p>more ‘realistic’ offerings on the Mega</p><p>Drive and SNES in the following years. n</p><p>AMAGON</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Sammy</p><p>Developer Aicom</p><p>AMAGON IS</p><p>APPARENTLY</p><p>‘the most decorated</p><p>Marine’ who was</p><p>sent to a mysterious</p><p>South Pacific island to</p><p>investigate reports of</p><p>monsters living there.</p><p>After crash-landing</p><p>on the island, Amagon realises his rescue ship is on the other</p><p>side, so he has to fight his way through the monsters to reach</p><p>it and leave the island in one piece. Thankfully,</p><p>as a Marine, he obviously has the ability to</p><p>transform into Megagon, a sort of super-</p><p>strong version of his normal self. While</p><p>Amagon didn’t exactly set the gaming</p><p>world alight, it did have one interesting</p><p>idea: the strength of his Megagon form</p><p>depended on how many points the</p><p>player collected as Amagon. For every</p><p>5,000 points scored, Megagon could</p><p>take an extra hit before dying. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 23 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>24</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Asterix series of</p><p>comics and cartoons is</p><p>so popular in Europe that</p><p>when its native France</p><p>launched its first</p><p>satellite in 1965,</p><p>they named it</p><p>Asterix.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s manual</p><p>features a groanworthy</p><p>joke, in which it states</p><p>that the Cyclops</p><p>enemy ‘doesn’t</p><p>have a high</p><p>eye-Q’.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The game’s final level</p><p>pits you against DOH, a</p><p>floating head which acts</p><p>as the game’s final boss.</p><p>If you get Game Over</p><p>here, you can’t</p><p>continue.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Archon was designed</p><p>by Paul Reiche III, who</p><p>went on to co-found Toys</p><p>For Bob, the studio</p><p>that developed</p><p>the Skylanders</p><p>games.</p><p>ASTERIX</p><p>Year 1993 a</p><p>Publisher Infogrames</p><p>Developer Bit Managers</p><p>ASTERIX THE</p><p>GAUL is upset. His</p><p>super-strong pal</p><p>Obelix has been</p><p>kidnapped by the</p><p>Romans– they</p><p>carried him off while</p><p>he was sleeping–</p><p>and without its most</p><p>powerful fighter</p><p>the village is wide open for a Roman invasion. The village</p><p>council sends Asterix off in search of him in a journey</p><p>that takes in Gaul, Switzerland, Spain, Egypt and finally</p><p>Rome, where Caesar plans to throw Obelix</p><p>to the lions. Asterix was never released</p><p>in North America, presumably</p><p>because the character was far more</p><p>popular in Europe. However, with</p><p>its colourful and detailed graphics</p><p>(right down to the trademark</p><p>‘PAF!’ sign when you hit an</p><p>enemy), it’s one of the better PAL</p><p>region exclusives. n</p><p>ARKISTA’S RING</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher Sammy</p><p>Developer Sammy</p><p>THE EVIL SHOGUN</p><p>has stolen the magical</p><p>ring that protects</p><p>the city of Arkista</p><p>(though obviously</p><p>it doesn’t protect it</p><p>too well if it’s able to</p><p>be stolen), as well as</p><p>the Elven Kingdom’s</p><p>treasured Wealth Amulet and Elf Mirror. A young elf</p><p>named Christine decides to go and retrieve them, even</p><p>though her fellow villagers tell her not to. Arkista’s Ring</p><p>bears many similarities to The Legend Of Zelda, and not</p><p>just because people get confused and think its</p><p>title is referring to the protagonist. It’s a</p><p>top-down adventure game with similar</p><p>dungeons to Link’s first adventure,</p><p>and while it doesn’t come close to</p><p>matching Nintendo’s game in terms</p><p>of quality it does still have some</p><p>interesting things going for it, like</p><p>the ability to upgrade your bow and</p><p>obtain magic wands that shoot fire. n</p><p>ARKANOID</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher Taito</p><p>Developer Taito</p><p>WHILE IT WAS</p><p>Atari’s Breakout that</p><p>invented the brick-</p><p>breaking genre, it was</p><p>Arkanoid that built on</p><p>its foundations to set</p><p>the template for other</p><p>imitators to follow.</p><p>This was thanks to</p><p>three major innovations: varied stages with different block</p><p>layouts, enemies that got in the way and– most crucially–</p><p>the addition of power-ups that dropped down</p><p>and gave you different abilities. While the</p><p>arcade version or Arkanoid was played</p><p>with a knob that was turned to control</p><p>the paddle’s speed, this isn’t possible</p><p>with an NES controller’s D-pad (even</p><p>though the game supports it). As a</p><p>result, the game was bundled with</p><p>the Vaus controller, an analogue knob</p><p>that gave you a similar level of control</p><p>to the arcade game. n</p><p>ARCHON</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Activision</p><p>Developer Bullet-Proof Software</p><p>AN INTERESTING</p><p>TAKE on chess where</p><p>the player actually gets</p><p>a chance to control</p><p>the outcome when</p><p>two pieces clash.</p><p>Rather than Kings,</p><p>Queens and Bishops,</p><p>Archon deals instead</p><p>with Banshees,</p><p>Golems and Wizards, and as in chess each piece has their</p><p>own rules for movement. The main difference, however, is</p><p>that when you attempt to ‘capture’ an opposing</p><p>piece, the action instead switches to an</p><p>arena where the two characters involved</p><p>have a fight which is fully controlled</p><p>by the players. In this way you can</p><p>potentially avoid your opponent’s</p><p>capture and take their piece out of</p><p>action instead. This does, however,</p><p>mean it’s less about strategy and more</p><p>about player skill during the battle scenes. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 24 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>25</p><p>FACT</p><p>The voice of Dr</p><p>Gangreen in the cartoon</p><p>was John Astin. If you’ve</p><p>been paying attention</p><p>reading this book, you’ll</p><p>already know he was</p><p>Gomez in The Addams</p><p>Family.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There are two types of</p><p>Athletic World packaging:</p><p>one with the Family Fun</p><p>Fitness logo and one saying</p><p>it’s compatible with the</p><p>Power Pad. The Family</p><p>Fun Fitness one is</p><p>much rarer.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The Japanese Famicom</p><p>release of Athena came</p><p>with a bright pink cassette</p><p>tape featuring music</p><p>from the game’s arcade</p><p>sequel, Psycho</p><p>Soldier.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The arcade version</p><p>is instead about a man</p><p>called Roche who’s given a</p><p>mythical fire axe by God</p><p>and asked to save the</p><p>world by killing a</p><p>demon.</p><p>ATTACK OF THE KILLER</p><p>TOMATOES</p><p>Year 1991 a a</p><p>Publisher THQ</p><p>Developer Imagineering</p><p>THE CULT 1978 movie</p><p>Attack of the Killer</p><p>Tomatoes spawned a</p><p>cartoon series which</p><p>aired on Fox Kids in the</p><p>early ‘90s. This game is</p><p>based on the cartoon,</p><p>and has young hero Chad</p><p>Finletter trying to prevent the evil Dr Putrid T. Gangreen</p><p>from activating his Doomsday Tomato device and ‘pasting</p><p>the city’. As far as cartoon tie-ins on the NES</p><p>go, this is one of the most underrated:</p><p>while it doesn’t do anything massively</p><p>revolutionary– jumping on</p><p>enemies’ heads is still the way to</p><p>go– its impressive animation and</p><p>music mean it’s better than a lot</p><p>of the lesser licensed fare on the</p><p>system, and certainly better than</p><p>the majority of THQ’s other NES</p><p>offerings. n</p><p>ATHLETIC WORLD</p><p>Year 1987 a a</p><p>Publisher Bandai</p><p>Developer Bandai</p><p>THE FIRST OF ten</p><p>games in Bandai’s</p><p>Family Trainer series,</p><p>Athletic World was</p><p>bundled with what</p><p>was originally known</p><p>as the Family Fun</p><p>Fitness. This was a</p><p>large floor mat that</p><p>plugged into the NES</p><p>controller port and let the player control the game with</p><p>their feet, like an early version of arcade dance games.</p><p>Athletic World featured five different events–</p><p>Hurdles, Hop a Log, Animal Trail,</p><p>Rafting and Dark Tunnel– and each</p><p>player got tailored advice based on</p><p>their age and gender. Nintendo</p><p>of America quickly set up a deal</p><p>with Bandai to license the Family</p><p>Fun Fitness, which was promptly</p><p>pulled off the shelves, rebranded</p><p>and released as the Nintendo</p><p>PowerPad. n</p><p>ATHENA</p><p>Year 1987 a </p><p>Publisher SNK</p><p>Developer Micronics</p><p>ATHENA IS THE</p><p>Goddess of Wisdom,</p><p>but despite this she’s</p><p>bored sitting in her</p><p>castle, so she travels to</p><p>the Fantasy World to</p><p>fight some monsters,</p><p>just to liven things up</p><p>a bit. That’s literally</p><p>the plot of this port of SNK’s action platformer, which hit</p><p>arcades the previous year. Initially weaponless, Athena can</p><p>collect eleven different weapons along the way,</p><p>ranging from an iron ball and chain to a</p><p>fire sword. Although the arcade version</p><p>of Athena had its fans, the NES</p><p>conversion was notorious for its</p><p>extremely temperamental collision</p><p>detection: sometimes you’ll kill</p><p>enemies when you’re nowhere</p><p>near them, and sometimes your</p><p>weapon can pass right through them</p><p>withoutincident. n</p><p>ASTYANAX</p><p>Year 1990 a a</p><p>Publisher Jaleco</p><p>Developer Jaleco</p><p>ASTYANAX IS</p><p>YOUR typical</p><p>‘boy dreams about</p><p>girl, girl is trapped</p><p>in bubble, boy is</p><p>transported to</p><p>another dimension</p><p>by a fairy and asked</p><p>to save the girl who it</p><p>turns out is actually</p><p>a princess’ story. Although Jaleco launched the NES version</p><p>alongside an arcade game with the same name, the</p><p>two are completely separate adventures with</p><p>entirely different plots. Here, Astyanax is</p><p>armed with an axe but can upgrade it to</p><p>a spear and then a sword. He also has</p><p>a selection of magic spells, letting him</p><p>perform freezing, fire and thunder</p><p>attacks on enemies. Occasionally</p><p>he’ll also encounter Cutie, the</p><p>aforementioned fairy, who’ll restore his</p><p>magic or change his weapon. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 25 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>26</p><p>FACT</p><p>There are some</p><p>interesting time-based</p><p>mechanics in the game. If</p><p>you plant an acorn in</p><p>1955, it’ll be a tree in 1985</p><p>and 2015, letting you</p><p>reach high</p><p>platforms.</p><p>FACT</p><p>The movie’s</p><p>screenwriter Bob Gale</p><p>was ‘outraged’ when LJN</p><p>showed him the</p><p>game. During media</p><p>interviews, he told</p><p>fans not to</p><p>buy it.</p><p>FACT</p><p>There have been more</p><p>than a dozen (official)</p><p>AFL games since Aussie</p><p>Rules Footy, the most</p><p>recent being 2107’s AFL</p><p>Evolution on Xbox</p><p>One, PS4 and</p><p>Windows.</p><p>collection. You then have to find a ‘puzzle room’, where</p><p>you must unscramble the name of the object that’s</p><p>supposed to be placed there, then choose it from</p><p>your inventory. It’s as convoluted as it sounds</p><p>and this, combined with the high difficulty</p><p>level, meant most gamers never managed to</p><p>reach the end of the Back to the Future Part</p><p>II section. The few who did unlocked the Part</p><p>III section, a far shorter remix of Part II with</p><p>only 10 objects and no time travelling. n</p><p>BACK TO THE FUTURE</p><p>PART II & III</p><p>Year 1990 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>UNDETERRED BY THE negative reaction to the first</p><p>Back to the Future game, LJN and Beam Software tried</p><p>their hand at a follow-up. The second and third movies</p><p>were shot back-to-back, so it was decided that the NES</p><p>adaptation would follow suit and incorporate both plots</p><p>into one game… sort of. The meat of the game is based on</p><p>Back to the Future Part II, with Marty travelling between</p><p>1955, 1985 and 2015. It’s more of a free-roaming affair</p><p>than its predecessor: this time the player has to</p><p>make their way through a series of interlinked</p><p>2D stages, with the aim being to find 30</p><p>important objects and return them to their</p><p>correct time period. You do this by collecting</p><p>keys and using them to open special doors</p><p>which lead to ‘object rooms’. Here you’ve</p><p>got 60 seconds to collect all the clocks in the</p><p>room, at which point the object will appear for</p><p>BACK TO THE FUTURE</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher LJN</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>NOTORIOUS FOR BEING one of the most frustrating games</p><p>on the NES, Back to the Future is very loosely based on the</p><p>hit 1985 movie of the same name. The majority of the game</p><p>consists of controlling Marty McFly as he wanders through</p><p>the streets of 1955 Hill Valley, collecting clocks to top up a</p><p>constantly vanishing photo at the bottom of</p><p>the screen (if it disappears, his future</p><p>is erased). It’s occasionally split up</p><p>by basic mini-games where you</p><p>throw milk shakes at bullies, catch</p><p>you future mother’s love hearts</p><p>and collect musical notes. Its odd,</p><p>frantic music was famously terrible,</p><p>but it’s actually a faithful rendition of</p><p>the movie’s theme song The Power Of</p><p>Love sped up to a bizarre degree. n</p><p>AUSSIE RULES FOOTY</p><p>Year 1991 </p><p>Publisher Laser Beam Entertainment</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>BY THE LATE 1980s, the Australian games market was</p><p>dominated by the Sega Master System. Eager to get the</p><p>NES back in the game, Mattel (who distributed the NES in</p><p>Australia) got Melbourne-based Beam Software to make two</p><p>Aussie-focused sports games: International Cricket and this,</p><p>the first ever console game based on Australian</p><p>rules football. It was quite a competent</p><p>effort, too: despite not having the</p><p>official AFL licence it featured solid</p><p>controls, large chunky player sprites</p><p>and even digitised umpire speech, a</p><p>rarity on the NES. Granted, it only</p><p>said one thing (‘out of bounds, on the</p><p>full’) but it was better than nothing.</p><p>Mattel’s plan worked, as the game</p><p>topped the charts in Australia. n</p><p>The_NES_Encyclopaedia_P2_1-45.indd 26 18/01/19 7:11 PM</p><p>27</p><p>FACT</p><p>When you beat the last</p><p>team you get an ending in</p><p>which your team celebrates.</p><p>Part of this involves</p><p>an obese shirtless</p><p>fan carrying one</p><p>player on his</p><p>shoulders.</p><p>FACT</p><p>Bad Street Brawler has</p><p>numerous other names.</p><p>The Commodore 64 version</p><p>is called Bop ‘N Rumble,</p><p>while the Amiga</p><p>port is brilliantly</p><p>named Street</p><p>Hassle.</p><p>FACT</p><p>In the original arcade</p><p>version of Bad Dudes,</p><p>the president was called</p><p>President Ronnie and looked</p><p>like Ronald Reagan. The NES</p><p>president is unnamed and</p><p>looks more like George</p><p>H. W. Bush.</p><p>BAD STREET BRAWLER</p><p>Year 1989 a </p><p>Publisher Mattel</p><p>Developer Beam Software</p><p>DUKE DAVIS USED to be a punk rocker but has since</p><p>become ‘the world’s coolest martial arts vigilante’, determined</p><p>to rid the streets of thuggery. He’s armed with 15 different</p><p>attacks– known as ‘force moves’– but the player is only</p><p>given three at a time, the ones you get depending on which</p><p>level you’re on. Bad Street Brawler was developed with the</p><p>ill-fated Nintendo Power Glove controller in</p><p>mind, making it a nightmare to control.</p><p>This, combined with a bizarre range</p><p>of enemies (its ‘street thugs’ include</p><p>gorillas and small people swinging</p><p>a ball and chain) and some strange</p><p>dialogue (‘never trouble trouble</p><p>until trouble troubles you’)</p>
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