Jacob
BACKER
1989
My first experience with Pang, while admittedly probably not the greatest version to start with, it's a simple yet fun, arcadey time.
While Metroid would not truly find its footing as a franchise until the Super Nintendo release, Metroid II is a remarkable step-up from the NES original. Immediately feels tighter and more responsive, and despite being on a black-and-white handheld, manages to ooze the moody atmosphere the series would be forever known for. The more sectioned-off, linear progression reduces the need for backtracking, which helps excuse the lack of a map. A unique experience on the Game Boy.
1985
Overly simple and archaic, but still manages to be a good bit of fun and very addicting. An interesting start for such a long-running series.
This game might have the worst jumping physics in any game, period. Truly dreadful and completely devoid of any quality except for the novelty of Castlevania on the go in 1989.
An interesting one for sure - feels like the Legend of Zelda but more focused on arcade-y action and less on puzzle solving. Has really nice visuals and music for the era. Wouldn't mind seeing a revival of this some day.
One of the best games on the NES - large, expressive sprites and timeless game design that rides the line between difficult and a desire to learn the opponent's patterns to get that satisfying knockdown.
An enhanced re-release of Red & Blue, and the first in a long line of Pokemon's "3rd version" releases. It's simply Red & Blue but with a bit tighter story progression, cleaned-up sprites, and a bit more content with the addition of characters from the at-the-time ongoing anime series, as well as tweaking character designs to match.
The addition of the partner Pikachu is cute, if a bit basic on how you interact with him. I don't know if I'd say it's the definitive way to play the original Gen 1 games, but it's a fun playthrough either way.
The addition of the partner Pikachu is cute, if a bit basic on how you interact with him. I don't know if I'd say it's the definitive way to play the original Gen 1 games, but it's a fun playthrough either way.
1989
The first version of the game that comes to mind when I think of Tetris, though there are superior ports/versions. Not a whole lot to say on this one, even the worst ports of Tetris are fun to play. A true timeless classic.
1985
Had no idea this was a port of an arcade game. Seems decent enough, though very early NES and thus very basic. A little bit of wonky hit detection but otherwise a mostly fine time to be had here.
1989
Always a good time running this beat-em-up arcade classic with a co-op partner. While still being relatively primitive for its genre, Final Fight really does hold up as an all-time classic, I think, and it's only aged better as it's fun to identify all the characters you're beating up from the various Street Fighter titles they'd appear in from the years to come. Nothing groundbreaking today, but a simple, fun time.
2021
Lovely little escape room game that I really enjoyed going through cooperatively, thought it does lean on the easier side as far as these games go. It's got a pretty basic, unimpressive art direction, but it varies up its themes enough that you don't really get bored of a single look or location. There is a huge amount of really impressive looking user-created maps on the Steam Workshop that I would also like to delve into one day.
1996
The more times I revisit the first generation of Pokemon, the more I find myself appreciating its quirks and eccentricities. I never grew up with the original Game Boy titles, but Red & Blue are inherently nostalgic games that are endlessly replayable to me. The original titles, while easily the worst-playing of the series, have such an alien, otherworldly strangeness to them that doubles in providing these with an irresistible charm.
I love seeing the crudely drawn, ugly sprites of these iconic monsters we're so used to seeing ad nauseam, never straying from the corporate, on-model appearance. I love how the game is held together with duct tape and hope, almost shockingly easy to break and exploit on the player's end. Red & Blue are the least polished, least appealing, and least corporate, squeaky-clean the franchise has ever been and I find them endlessly compelling for that.
I love seeing the crudely drawn, ugly sprites of these iconic monsters we're so used to seeing ad nauseam, never straying from the corporate, on-model appearance. I love how the game is held together with duct tape and hope, almost shockingly easy to break and exploit on the player's end. Red & Blue are the least polished, least appealing, and least corporate, squeaky-clean the franchise has ever been and I find them endlessly compelling for that.
1984
Not as much of a game as a pretty cool tech demo showcasing some of the more unorthodox gameplay the NES was capable of. There's not a whole lot of content to chew on here (level editor notwithstanding) but Excitebike is a bit deeper mechanically than it appears on a surface level. Had fun learning some speedrunning techniques and exploits to reach ludicrously high speeds.
1987
Fun, charming, and simple yet addicting. A pretty good port of the arcade classic, the NES home version mostly captures its frantic action and endless replayability despite the typical caveats of NES hardware. Had a total blast running through this one and really surprised me as one of the NES's best.
1988
A pretty shoddy beat-em-up very quickly outclassed by rival companies Sega (Streets of Rage) and Capcom (Final Fight). Feels very primitive, and while the XP and unlocking additional moves mechanics are pretty innovative and forward-thinking, they can't fix the broken base here with its terrible hit detection and wonky platforming.