Re: NES games I need to review?
Posted: January 12th, 2017, 12:44 pm
I'm going to be a slightly dissenting voice here and say that I don't really come to this site looking for yet another review of the games everyone already worships (or hates). We don't really need a Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior review from someone who doesn't especially like RPGs, or at least that kind of RPG.
Your energies are better spent pursuing the things you find interesting, and/or shedding light on games that haven't gotten a lot of attention, rather than those that already have. Conceived in ideal terms, your job isn't to validate fanboys' existing prejudices, but to broaden horizons. And I don't think a game's quality or popularity is a good metric of whether it deserves priority for a review.
(all IMHO, of course)
That said, there are some games on the list I'm surprised to see you haven't covered yet, and would make for interesting reviews. Double Dragon III is an obvious one, though you probably won't like it, but it would complete your review of the NES series. Kid Niki is simplistic-looking but fun and easy, with some interesting secrets, and will be pleasant to write about. Faxanadu and The Guardian Legend are well-made action RPGs (more or less) that were staples of my childhood. Kickle Cubicle is a very solid action-puzzler.
As a boxing game, Ring King is in your wheelhouse and was ubiquitous back in the day, so it's certainly worth a post. Pro Wrestling, same deal. Lode Runner was huge in its day and deserves discussion. The second and third Lolo games are fine succcessors to the first. Battle of Olympus is a lot like Zelda II, and I think you'd enjoy the gameplay (whether you'd enjoy the backtrack-heavy quest is another story). Golgo 13 is another one of those games that was everywhere when I was a kid, and when I played it recently, I found that it holds up surprisingly well.
And of course I'm still hoping you'll re-review Destination Earthstar -- not because it's a great game (it's not, though I like the music), but because your 2001-era review completely overlooks the meat of the whole game, the side-scrolling shmup stages!
BTW a few of those games are unplayable without a translation patch, including Final Fantasy II and III (why does 1+2 have its own entry? Isn't it just a compilation cart?). Wagyan Land goes into some sort of Japanese quiz that I couldn't get past when I tried (and, until then, enjoyed) the game back in the early 2000s. You have no reason to review Takeshi no Chousejou, an infamously bad and hostile game, and in any event shouldn't go anywhere near it without a translation patch and walkthrough. And Lei Dian Huang Bi Ka Qiu Chuan Shuo -- why spend time on a bootleg version of Pokemon Yellow?!
Your energies are better spent pursuing the things you find interesting, and/or shedding light on games that haven't gotten a lot of attention, rather than those that already have. Conceived in ideal terms, your job isn't to validate fanboys' existing prejudices, but to broaden horizons. And I don't think a game's quality or popularity is a good metric of whether it deserves priority for a review.
(all IMHO, of course)
That said, there are some games on the list I'm surprised to see you haven't covered yet, and would make for interesting reviews. Double Dragon III is an obvious one, though you probably won't like it, but it would complete your review of the NES series. Kid Niki is simplistic-looking but fun and easy, with some interesting secrets, and will be pleasant to write about. Faxanadu and The Guardian Legend are well-made action RPGs (more or less) that were staples of my childhood. Kickle Cubicle is a very solid action-puzzler.
As a boxing game, Ring King is in your wheelhouse and was ubiquitous back in the day, so it's certainly worth a post. Pro Wrestling, same deal. Lode Runner was huge in its day and deserves discussion. The second and third Lolo games are fine succcessors to the first. Battle of Olympus is a lot like Zelda II, and I think you'd enjoy the gameplay (whether you'd enjoy the backtrack-heavy quest is another story). Golgo 13 is another one of those games that was everywhere when I was a kid, and when I played it recently, I found that it holds up surprisingly well.
And of course I'm still hoping you'll re-review Destination Earthstar -- not because it's a great game (it's not, though I like the music), but because your 2001-era review completely overlooks the meat of the whole game, the side-scrolling shmup stages!
BTW a few of those games are unplayable without a translation patch, including Final Fantasy II and III (why does 1+2 have its own entry? Isn't it just a compilation cart?). Wagyan Land goes into some sort of Japanese quiz that I couldn't get past when I tried (and, until then, enjoyed) the game back in the early 2000s. You have no reason to review Takeshi no Chousejou, an infamously bad and hostile game, and in any event shouldn't go anywhere near it without a translation patch and walkthrough. And Lei Dian Huang Bi Ka Qiu Chuan Shuo -- why spend time on a bootleg version of Pokemon Yellow?!