2021/11/23: NES: S.C.A.T.

[VideoGameCritic]

A lot of people have been asking me for this review over the years. Here is it. What do you think?

[JohanOberg]

Good review as usual. Just as an FYI, the japanese version "Final Mission" is harder with half the health and you lose your weapon when you get hit. Play that version for an increased challenge.

[Den]

I can't believe your review didn't mention the crystal-clear voice sample that starts the game: "You must destroy them! The earth is counting on you! Good luck!" That blew my mind when I was a kid.

[MSR1701]

Another one to try in the future!

[C64_Critic]

Why am I not at all surprised that your friends - myself included if I recall correctly - were immediately jumping to call out that SCAT has an alternative meaning?

You can always count on us to keep things classy!

[C64_Critic]

I can't believe your review didn't mention the crystal-clear voice sample that starts the game: "You must destroy them! The earth is counting on you! Good luck!" That blew my mind when I was a kid.

Even more incredible because I seem to remember him mentioning it at the time we were playing the game, so it was definitely striking a chord. Good point!

[Matchstick]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned this already, but if you have Nintendo Switch Online, this is one of the games included with their downloadable NES collection. There’s some other spendy Natsume games in that lineup and the SNES collection, as well, which has one of my all-time favorites - Wild Guns.

I’ll never allow myself to spend that kind of cash to buy the legit cartridge, but to play them on the Switch and take them with me wherever I go? Sign me up!

As far as the review, I feel the score is a little generous. I do agree with the review text, as far as the game being exciting at first. To me, SCAT is a good-looking game that performs well, but I just don’t think it’s much fun to play, especially after the first stage. Kind of reminds me of The Adventures of Batman & Robin on the Genesis - fun at first, but turns into a slog before too long.

I rented SCAT back in the day and played with a buddy, but we were both ready to move on after about 15 minutes. I played it on the Switch about a year ago and had the same reaction. For me, it’s a C. Just a pretty forgettable, “meh” game when stacked up against the rest of the NES library.

[VideoGameCritic]

I am going to have to go back and add something about the voice synthesis. Yeah, I made a big deal when we were playing it. When I finally sit down to write a review however I tend to forget things.