Six Bite-Sized NES Game Reviews (Part 1)

Prior to formally starting my challenge to beat the entire NES library, I was plugging away at beating tons of them without any blogging involved. I’ve got 70 completed NES titles under my belt from back then, so I thought a blitz of mini reviews would be a good way to easily let those games have a presence on my “completed” list. Without further ado, let’s tuck in!

1. 1942 (Capcom, 1986)

You play as a WWII American flying ace shooting down baddies in your plane. 1942 has the distinct look and feel of classic early NES Capcom, having a similar vibe to the likes of Commando. The plane’s loop-the-loop function is interesting; with the push of a button, the player becomes invincible for a few seconds, but its uses are limited. My complaints are that 35 levels feels like far too many for a game like this, and that the music is truly, truly abysmal. I had to play the whole thing on mute. If you find a way to avoid listening to the torturous soundtrack, 1942 can be an alright time for shmup fans.

2. The Adventures of Dino Riki (Hudson Soft, 1989)

A vertically scrolling shooter with a neat setting; rather than the typical pewpew spaceship adventure, you’re a caveman trudging through the dinosaur infested world on foot. The unique aesthetic and fun music make for a nice package of a game. There’s a lot of wonky top-down platforming forced on the player though, which on top of the brutal difficulty in the last level doesn’t make for a game I care to sit down and play again. Still, it was decent enough for what it was.

3. Amagon (Aicom Corporation, 1989)

A side scrolling action game with one hell of a strange identity. You play as a muscle-bound dude with a gun. When you earn 20,000 points by killing the fauna of the non-descript island and collect the right power up, you can become an EVEN BIGGER OBSCENELY BEEFY BEEFCAKE OF A MAN who kills every enemy with one fuck off punch to the face. Even bosses die in 2-3 hits when you’re in that mode; it’s hilarious and good fun to run around the jungle as this massive muscle-y speedo man OHKOing everything in sight. The smaller character was more of a pain to play as though, and dragged the overall quality of the game down somewhat. Of note is that the last boss is the Flatwoods monster, of all things. Highly memorable experience, I really enjoyed it for how out-there it was.

4. Othello (HAL Laboratory, 1986)

it;s ffuckign othello i rate it 10000/10

5. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (Konami, 1988)

Even though I found Simon’s Quest to be a clunky and confusing experience, I still liked it. The music was absolutely tops, and I adore the more gothic, frightening vibe it presents compared to the first Castlevania. Whether or not they had a secret intent to peddle calls to the Nintendo Power Hotline with how damn cryptic it can be, we’ll never know. The choice to lean so hard into mystery is one that does bog the experience down for me. All in all, the look and feel outdo the actual gameplay for me, but I wouldn’t call it a total waste of time, either.

6. Chubby Cherub (Bandai, 1986)

The Japanese edition of this game is based on an anime/manga series called Obake no Q-Taro, a series about a little ghost. In the Americanized NES version, you play as a little naked-ass cherub who loves eating stamina replenishing candy and hates dogs. You fly using an energy meter, which seemingly never runs out… until you hit the final quarter of the game. Suddenly, there’s no stamina replenishing food to be found unless you get extremely lucky and stumble upon a secret stash of it, meaning the stamina-less cherub walks veeeery slowly everywhere. Taking away the ability to fly took Chubby Cherub from fun but challenging to a badly designed slog, sadly. The last four levels are rough and not worth the bother, but I legitimately enjoyed the rest of the game. Super catchy theme tune, too.