The Chessmaster (1989)
Developed by: The Software Toolworks
Published by: Hi-Tech Expressions
Released in: NA (1989), PAL (1992)
The Chessmaster is a franchise that feels like it has existed since the dawn of human creation. If you’re of a certain age bracket, I’m willing to bet that you saw the iconic wise old man staring intensely at you from across the room at just about any shop video games were sold.
In a world where there are thousands upon thousands of free-to-play online and app-based renditions of the classic board game, Chessmaster on NES isn’t much to write home about. The game drops you into a low-level match against the Chessmaster himself as soon as you hit Start. There’s no fancy animations when you move your pieces, simplistic graphics, no music (outside of the title screen), and no complex AI to sharpen your pawn-shaped teeth on. Despite that (or perhaps because of that), it’s simple approach lends a relaxing quality to the game.
To compare it to another NES chess game, my wife and I (who is the real Chessmaster of this household, while I’m not all that great at the game) have been plugging away at trying to clear Battle Chess on and off for a good year now, with no wins to show for as of yet. We settled into Chessmaster expecting more of the same Nintendo hard difficulty, so you can imagine our surprise when we one-upped the legendary Chessmaster with the ease of beating a third grader at the game.
At the end of the day, Chessmaster on NES is a good time, but not a tough time. It’ll make you feel like you rule at chess with how forgiving its AI is, and with one match taking roughly five minutes, it makes for an especially easy NES clear. It’s the chess game of choice for people who suck at the game, like me, so I can wholeheartedly endorse it for that reason alone.
Initial Interest Rating: 7/10
Final Rating:
NESJunk 