Remote Control (1989)
Developed by: Riedel Software Productions, Inc.
Published by: Hi Tech Expressions
Released in: NA
Man, MTV in its early days sure was CRRRRRRAZY. The channel’s influence on pop culture as a whole, especially in the eighties, can’t be understated; popularising the idea of a music video and building an empire around that, MTV was on top of the world. Did you know that in the channel’s early days, MTV would have blank screens between music videos while a (likely underpaid) employee scrambled to insert the next VHS tape into the broadcasting VCR in real time? I just thought that was neat.
As it happens, Remote Control was their first foray into TV that wasn’t directly related to music, years before the populace outside of New Jersey would ever know what a “guido” was. Though there was plenty of music trivia to be found on it, the focus was on old school TV trivia. Old school even for the time, I might add; Remote Control is 99% about reruns of TV from the 60’s and 70’s.
Much like the TV show it’s based off of, Remote Control is a quiz game. Get asked a question, pick the right answer out of three options, bada bing bada boom. If you’re not well-versed on Happy Days, Bewitched or M.A.S.H, Remote Control might not be the game for you. I never had much of an interest in 99% of the shows that had trivia sections dedicated to them, but luckily, a lot of the questions were to do with pieces of TV iconography that have become general pop culture knowledge over the years. Likewise, the game dresses up dry science and math questions with people who were prominent pop culture icons of the time, likely as a way to dress up the fact that there are only so many questions one can be asked about Gilligan’s Island before they want to break down in tears.
The game’s presentation is a mixed bag. It’s hard not to love the RADICAL, CUTTING EDGE set pieces that scream late 80’s/early 90’s, as well as the MTV branding that is so quintessential with that time frame. The art on the human characters hits a bizarre uncanny valley for me, however; one one hand, I think it looks terrible, and the way it jerks around in stilted frames is unsettling. But on the other hand, I feel like I’ve actually seen these people loitering around the frozen section of my local supermarket, so would that make it good? I’ll leave it up to your own judgment.
Like the MTV Generation it would nurture over the coming years, Remote Control is full of sharp, sarcastic humour that only dudes and dudettes with major ‘tude would find funny. The game’s host has some pretty funny one-liners peppered inbetween questions, but he’ll start repeating the same few in the same 15 minute run of the game, so there’s even less reason to play Remote Control more than once. Though I enjoyed the mood Remote Control was going for, there’s really no reason to ever play it more than once, unless you were stuck with this cartridge as a kid, or you know a LOT about The Brady Bunch and want to flex that muscle.
If you have even a basic knowledge of retro TV, Remote Control is an especially easy clear for the NES, with one playthrough clocking in at no time at all. But unless you’re an 80’s kid looking for a hit of nostalgia or a connoisseur of that decade, you may as well let Remote Control stay off the air.
Initial Interest Rating: 8/10
Final Rating:
NESJunk 