Bionic Commando

Release Year: 1988
Developer: Capcom

Bionic Commando is a strange game.  Widely heralded as one of the NES greatest due to the titular protagonist's ability to swing around with an extendable arm, it is a game that confuses me.  I see the allure, but playing a platformer (especially from the NES days) in which you cannot jump seems inherently strange to me...

This is not to say that swinging around and shooting the opposing military forces is not enjoyable - it is - but I just can't bring myself to play this game for much longer than a few minutes without getting frustrated.  I value Capcom's foresight in introducing a new gameplay mechanic with the swinging, but it's been evolved so far in the past 24 years that I have little interest in experiencing its genesis beyond the purpose of this blog.

I do wish they had kept the original Japanese title though - "The Resurrection of Hitler: Top Secret" would have surely enticed me more than Bionic Commando (the game was also heavily edited to remove any references to Hitler or the Nazi party).

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa

Release Year: 1993
Developer: Konami

Another NES game that was never released stateside.  This game is very bizarre - you play as a baby with a magical rattle that causes enemies to become weightless and start floating away when you hit them with it.  You can then jump on top of them and ride or you can smack into them and knock them away.  This all takes place in a world consisting of nothing but cakes and candy.  Oh yeah, you are crawling on the ground this whole time (you're a baby, remember?) but you are somehow able to jump like 10 feet in the air.  Also, one of the powerups makes you stand upright and run around for a short time.

Weird.

The Wikipedia entry for "Story" really sums it up quite nicely:

"Upa is the prince of a magical kingdom and the most recent in a line of brave fighters. One day, though, he broke an urn containing the spirit of Zai, an incredibly evil goatish demon who takes the life force of the kingdom's adults and kidnaps all the babies - except for Upa, who is given a magical rattle by a fairy who was trapped in the urn along with Zai. And so, in order to save his kingdom, Upa crawls into action..."

Battletoads & Double Dragon - The Ultimate Team

Release Year: 1993
Developer: Rare

Ah, Battletoads, how I've missed you.  Double Dragon is fine and all, but I was always a Battletoads kind of guy... 

It feels just as good to knock a robot off a spaceship with my comically oversized, green fist as a 24-year old man as it did back when I was 7.  Something that awesome just never gets old.  Rash, Zitz, and Pimple are simply timeless.  Now if only I had a co-op partner...

Batman - Return of the Joker

Release Year: 1991
Developer: Sunsoft

This is a good game.  I feel strange saying this, as it is not a good Batman game.  Unless Batman fights with a gun attached to his wrist, I don't think this game really gets what it's like to be Batman.  While the game looks nice, plays well, and has decent music, it never really felt like it should have had anything to do with Batman.  In fact, the first boss seems to be Mr.-Generic-techno-soldier-man (he was in a lot of 90s games), rather than any one of the great Batman villains they could have chosen.

After Batman - Return of the Joker, I played Batman (yeah, should have played that one first, but it was listed after Return of the Joker for some reason).  Interestingly enough, I actually thought the original game nailed the feeling of Batman better: scaling walls, beating guys up with your fists, and using different gadgets.

Well at least we have Arkham Asylum and Arkham City!

Baseball Stars

Release Year: 1989
Developer: SNK

Let me start this one by saying that I do not particularly enjoy modern sports games.  The way I see it, if I really wanted to play sports, I would just grab the appropriate ball, go outside, and play sports.  That being said, I enjoyed Baseball Stars.

I started my digital baseball career as the "Ghastly Monsters".  My opponents were the "Brave Warriors".  Much to my dismay, my players were not, in fact, monsters (though they did have fun names like "Alien").  The game looked very simple at first, but as I played, I began to see the layers of strategy involved.  As the batting team, you have the ability to position your batter in any direction within the designated batting box.  You can also choose whether to swing or to ignore the ball as it passes home plate.  As the pitching team, you control how far left or right of the mound you want to throw from, as well as both the speed and curve of the pitch.  Pretty advanced stuff for an NES game!  You can even attempt stealing bases if you think you can get away with it...  This one gets my seal of approval.

Balloon Fight

Release Year: 1986
Developer: Nintendo

Ah, Balloon Fight.  A classic of the NES.

I knew what I was getting into with this one.  If you've never played it, I will take this opportunity to say this, "GO PLAY IT."  Nintendo may not have gone for an entirely original gameplay mechanic with Balloon Fight - it is admittedly very similar to Joust - but damn did they perfect it.  This game controls so smoothly, I am amazed to see how early on in the NES lifespan it was released. 

Balloon Fight demonstrates a gaming phenomenon that continues to ring true today, namely, that Nintendo seems to be the only developer who can make truly great games for their consoles.  I have noticed this fact many times with their more recent consoles (the Wii and Gamecube, specifically), but it did not really occur to me that things have always been this way until I played Balloon Fight with a NES controller in hand.  Gaming joy!

Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-kun

Release Year: 1990
Developer: Konami

The title loosely translates to "Demon Castle Special: I'm Kid Dracula". 

This game is awesome.  Figures it was never released in the U.S.!

The best way I have come up with to describe this game is this - it's like playing Mega Man, except instead of being a blue robot that shoots energy blasts, you are an anime-styled child Dracula that shoots fireballs.  Yeah, it's that awesome.  The game itself is very simple, but the art style and cutscenes have such charm that it made me want to keep playing it.  This is the first game I've played so far that I actually enjoyed!  Thanks Konami!

Yeaaaaaaah...  The first boss does kind of look like a Ku Klux Klan member with a swastika on his forehead...  Wonder if that had anything to do with it not being localized in the U.S....

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Pool of Radiance

Release Year: 1992
Developer: Strategic Simulations, Inc

Ever wanted to play a D&D game that looks just like one of those maze screensavers from Windows 95 (or alternatively, Wolfenstein)?  Yeah, me either.

The game seems promising at first.  You have the option to either play as a party of three pre-built characters or spend lots of time creating and customizing your own in true D&D fashion.  But there is a problem inherent in making your game a maze...  Want to guess?  Anyone...?

I managed to get hopelessly lost almost immediately.  I found two different clerics who I accidentally spoke to twice each before finally finding the "training room".  Fights consist of sprite characters standing motionlessly next to each other while you select an ability.  Sorry, guys - if I wanted to play an RPG video game, I'd be playing Final Fantasy.  And if I wanted to play D&D, I'd just play D&D, my imagination is capable of far more than this.

Here's hoping I find an enjoyable game soon...

Abadox: The Deadly Inner War

Release Year: 1990
Developer: Natsume (Milton Bradley?)

This game is weird...  But in a good way!  Floating eyeballs, brains, and other body parts seem hellbent on killing your flying, yellow guy.  The game seems to take place inside of some creature's body (as the title claims).  It's your standard sidescrolling shooter from the 90s - shoot things, shoot other things to get powerups, continue to shoot more things.  It's also INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT.  I managed to get to the first boss (some weird zombie/alien/skeleton dog) before deciding to give up.

 

I'm beginning to remember how story and plot were not necessarily central to video games in my childhood.  With the huge budgets and massive teams of people working on today's AAA titles, it is easy to forget that video games can exist without even a semblance of plot or story - the only motivation to continue is to see how far you can get before breaking your controller in half.

3-D Battles of World Runner

Release Year: 1987
Developer: Square

As the first game I play on this journey (due to it's place in the alphabetical order), 3-D Battles of World Runner is an interesting starting point.  Developed by Square, who would later become famous for their Final Fantasy series (in fact, the game was designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and composed by Nobuo Uematsu - both famed developers associated with Final Fantasy games), BoWR is a game that came into existence around the same time I did.  It is a very colorful game, full of strange ball-shaped enemies and an infinite landscape for you to endlessly run towards.  I assume the goal is to reach the bizarre, pink, rolled-up food(?) in the distance, but I did not play it long enough to find out. 

I have to say though, I do appreciate the animation of the player character when you pause the game.  While his back is turned towards you as he runs into the distance, when paused, he turns to face you, tired from his endless journey and beckoning you to continue.  One of those nice little touches that many games did not have back then.

The Hero

I have saved the world countless times.  You probably didn't know it was me.

I became the Hero of Time, wielding the Master Sword against the dark lord Ganon time and time again.

I traveled through many worlds, making new friends and battling darkness with my mighty keyblade.

I stopped an evil corporation from draining the world's resources and defeated a one-winged angel.

I've gunned down countless undead monsters (and the evil scientists who created them) who would like nothing more than to chew on your flesh.

I was a talking, anthropomorphic fox who flew spaceships and defeated a giant, floating head bent on destroying the universe.

I've defeated the Lords of Hell and taken all of their shiny, shiny loot.


Some of my quests have been more personal...

I was an Italian plumber who crushes turtles by jumping on them and eats nothing but mushrooms and various leaves and flowers, attempting to get his girlfriend back from a giant spiky turtle who, for some reason, really likes to kidnap her.

I was a gorilla who just wanted his freaking bananas back.

I took vengeance against the gods of Mt. Olympus.

I was in a plane crash, found an underwater city, injected myself with unknown substances, fought guys in giant diving suits with drill hands, and beat a man to death with a golf club because he asked me to nicely.

I've been trapped in a derelict space station with the mutated, reanimated bodies of its crew and been forced to carefully dismember them in order to survive.



I've been in countless fights, some won, some lost.

I've done a 1080 spin on a skateboard AND a snowboard.

I've driven a taxi far above the speed limit while crashing into both people and buildings, and still received my fare.

I, with my band Youth in Asia, have toured across the entire world.  I play all of the instruments.

I've been arrested for speeding, killing pedestrians, shooting police, stealing cars, launching rockets at airplanes, and hitting people with a giant, purple dildo.  I always get out of jail with only a small fine.

And I've done ALL of this without ever leaving my living room.

Out of Town

I should also mention that this blog will not be updated for some time, as I will be out of the country until June 3rd.

See you then!

Prologue

August 19, 1992.  A day that changed my life.

This day, like each August 19th before it, held significance to me - it was the anniversary of my birth.  Only 5 years before, in Austin, TX, I was introduced to the world and taken home by my parents, two young, aspiring musicians.  However, this August 19th would prove to have a much greater impact on me, as a person, than any other before it for one reason - the introduction of video games into my life.  It was on this day, August 19, 1992, that I received a Nintendo Entertainment System bundled with Super Mario Bros. 3 as a gift from my parents.  From that day forward, video games have been an integral part of my life.

I cannot claim to be one of the "old guard" of gamers.  I was born only a year before the NES was released, and did not own one until years later.  Scores of arcade and PC games and various lesser known home consoles had come and gone in the years leading up to Nintendo's first home console being released, few of which I had the opportunity to play.  That being said, as I look back over the past 20 years, gaming has become an inextricable part of my life.  The technology may have changed over time, but the core experience - entering a world created by someone else for the singular purpose of entertainment - remains the same and is, in my opinion, unparalleled by any other form of media.  I follow video game news and culture feverishly.  I await the yearly industry and trade shows, typically filled with new game and console announcements, with heavy anticipation.  I allow myself no other hobbies, utilizing all of my free time (and money) to dive into these worlds and mingle with the characters living within.

I love modern video games.  I love setting up a new console or upgrading my PC and witnessing the power of technological advancement.  For all of its worn out cliches and tendency to churn out slightly-altered yearly sequels of established franchises, the modern video game industry still pushes forward.  One need only search beyond the major franchises to see that the heart of gaming as an art form still beats.  There is no doubt, however, that video games have changed.

The video game industry has always been a business - but the breadth and scope of that business has grown to a scale I never imagined possible.  As a child, I recall video games being a niche hobby.  As a teenager, video games were definitely not associated with popularity or social acceptance; in fact, I found that many of the people I met who also played a lot of video games were often social outcasts, much like myself.  I was lucky if the average person even knew what a "Nintendo" was or that they had played one for any extended period of time.  As an adult, I am astounded by what my little hobby has become.  When I see a video game (in this case, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3) surpass $1 billion earned in 16 days after its release, I have trouble connecting such a massive phenomenon with the curious distractions of my youth!

It is with this mindset that I now set out on a journey to revisit the video games of my past (and beyond!).  Initially, armed with an NES and a vast assortment of games, I plan to return to a simpler time, when crafting a video game did not mean that billions of dollars were at stake.  Developers could take more chances, be a little more quirky, and art direction was more important than how far we could push the graphical limitations of hardware.  I want to explore the origins of my favorite characters and see how the games I enjoy today have evolved over time through the eyes of a discerning adult.  Periodically, I will record my thoughts on a specific game here for posterity.  Please feel free to chime in in the comments below if you have any thoughts or reactions to what I write.

Wish me luck! :)

-DJ