NES Reviews D-E

As a late arrival on the NES, many gamers missed out on this overhead racer the first time around. With its toy-sized cars, screen-sized tracks, and quick races, Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat is like a dream come true for old-school fans. Despite its small scale, Indy Heat boasts better visuals and more strategy than most NES racers. The tracks are rendered exceptionally well from an isometric point of view, giving them a distinct sense of depth. Each of the nine courses sports a different configuration, and there's plenty of eye candy among the crowds in the stands, trucks, trees, and buildings. A tall scoreboard in the center clearly shows the lap count of each racer, and a tiny man waves the white and checkered flags. There are even men that hold up "PIT" signs when it's time for maintenance. Each race consists of five cars, and if you have a multi-tap, you can connect four controllers and challenge a group of friends! Can you guess who's driving that yellow car that always seems to win? Yeah - that's Danny Sullivan! The controls are simple as can be, but there's plenty of strategy involved with timing your turbo boosts and using the pit stops in the most efficient manner. The tracks tend to be narrow, so there's a lot of bumping going on as you jockey for position. In the pit area, tiny crew members leap out to work on your car, which looks funny but impressive at the same time. This is one of the few games where pit stops really do make a difference! Between races you can easily and quickly use winnings to upgrade your vehicle. Expertly designed and programmed with care, Indy Heat sets the high water mark for old-school racing fun. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.

Developed by LucasArts, you'd expect Defenders of Dynatron City to be more than your garden-variety side-scrolling beat-em-up. And it is! You begin by assembling a team of imaginative superheroes. Jet Headstrong has a hammer for a head and Buzzsaw Girl rolls around on a spinning saw. Monkey Boy tosses bananas and Radium Dog can float through the air. Rounding out the roster are Miss Megawatt and a robot named Toolbox. You only control one hero at a time but can toggle between four, and it's fun to experiment. Your first order of business is to rid the streets of pesky silver robots than run, jump, and hover. The fighting action leaves a lot to be desired and that's a serious liability for a fighting game. It's difficult to line up with the robots and when you're right on top of one your attacks don't even register. The superheroes are poorly balanced. Buzzsaw Girl's projectiles are super effective, but trying to "hammer down" a flying robot with Jet Headstrong is frustrating as hell. I couldn't get the special moves to work, and the counterintuitive map will have you moving in circles. The best aspect of the game by far is the scenery. The storefronts are meticulously detailed including a drug store, bank, library, nightclub, and auto repair shop. You can even enter most of the buildings! If you manage to clear the streets the remaining stages take place in a mall, sewers, and factory. It's a shame there's no score, continues, or password. I love the concept behind Defenders of Dynatron City and its eye candy is off the charts. But man, its fighting action leaves a lot to be desired. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

My initial review of Demon Sword was pretty harsh, which I blame primarily on my short-ass attention span. Several readers requested I give it another shot, especially after my favorable review of Legend of Kage (Taito, 1986). Kage was the direct predecessor of Demon Sword, and both games feature very similar gameplay. You control a ninja warrior leaping between bamboo treetops while attacking enemies that come flying in from every direction. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon has nothing on this game! One thing I hate about Demon Sword is your ninja's outfit. He appears to be wearing a red dress with a slit up the side, and that's not a good look for him! You can throw stars in any direction and slash with a sword that's remarkably effective considering how tiny it is. Careful - you could poke somebody's eye out with that thing! Eventually you'll acquire fragments which elongate your sword, and this gives the game a sense of progression. Your ninja can jump a country mile, and while gliding through the air is fun, it's possible to land in spikes, fire, or a bottomless pit. That's not cool. I really like the skeletal enemies you face - especially the dogs. Foes struck by your stars will get back up after a few seconds, and I'm not crazy about that. The controls are better than those in Kage, and the scenery is far more detailed. Unfortunately, it's also very repetitive, and you'll often have the uneasy feeling that you're moving in circles. Each level features several locked doors, some of which hold treasure or a sub-boss. When you obtain magic (like the ability to hurl fireballs) you'll want to save it for the end-of-level boss, because killing a boss with normal weapons takes too long. Speaking of bosses, the second one is a dead-ringer for George Washington, and I'm pretty sure the third boss is the Pope. Demon Sword doesn't display your score at the conclusion of the game, which is annoying. The in-game music grows on you, but that deplorable intro tune is the video game equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. All in all, Demon Sword isn't so bad. It definitely expands upon the Kage formula, but I wouldn't say it necessarily improves upon it. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

This one came highly recommended by a reader and sure enough it's a winner. Desert Commander feels like the spiritual predecessor of Advance Wars (Game Boy Advance, 2001). At first glance it doesn't look like much. The graphics are very basic as you move square markers around a scrolling battlefield, setting positions of tanks, infantry, anti-aircraft guns, bombers, fighters, etc. Each army begins on separate areas of the map but once units get within range they can attack each other. The actual battles play out automatically on a split-screen, with random explosions taking out units on each side. The attacker always goes first, and that makes a big difference because you can wipe out half of your adversary before they can even return fire. The interface for managing your units is surprisingly simple and the action moves along at a brisk pace. The CPU opponent is smart and quick at making decisions. Things become more intense as your units dwindle and the turns become shorter. It's interesting how one critical battle can turn the tide. Pressing the start button brings up a map, and select shows the statistics of what's left on the battlefield. That's necessary because it's hard to remember if that generic tank icon represents one lone tank or a whole squad. Keep an eye out for strategic locations you can use to resupply or dig-in. A triumphant military march plays in the background, and it fits the game perfectly. Whether played versus a friend or the CPU you're bound to be enthralled by Desert Commander. It's easy to get into but hard to quit. © Copyright 2019 The Video Game Critic.

The Aladdin "deck enhancer" was a peculiar add-on for the NES that promised to be "the future in console play". This cartridge-shaped device offered a 64K memory upgrade for "better graphics and bigger games" with an "extensive library of exclusive titles". It never came to fruition, reducing the Aladdin and its handful of small black cartridges to novelty status. Dizzy the Adventurer was an ill-advised pack-in title starring a hero bearing a striking resemblance to Humpty Dumpty. The game is a mildly-fun combination of platforming and puzzle-solving. The platform action is aggravating, as Dizzy has the annoying habit of going into an uncontrollable roll after jumping. When you see a row boat floating your way your first inclination is to jump on it, yet you end up rolling off into the water. Naturally, water is fatal to the touch. I have to admit some of the caves and castles are pretty neat to explore. It's also satisfying when you solve a puzzle and see those flashing point values on the screen. Dizzy can carry up to three items at a time, and when used in the right way these tend to open up new areas. A pickaxe breaks a boulder blocking a cave and a coin grants you a ferry ride, for example. You exchange items with characters just loitering around and the dialog is mercifully brief. Unfortunately the mechanics for using items is a little obtuse. It would never occur to me that dropping a rope and logs next to each other would result in a bridge appearing. Just don't drop them on top of each other, because that doesn't do anything. The three item restriction is a real drag, forcing you to constantly backtrack to retrieve something you were forced to drop much earlier in the game. And throughout the entire game you're subjected to high-pitched, whining music that can't be shut off. I like the puzzle element of Dizzy the Adventurer, but the game demands a lot of patience and a pair of earplugs. Note: This game only runs via the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

Double Dribble is a arcade-style, four-on-four basketball title. The action is fiercely competitive with two players, and the CPU serves as a worthy opponent with three skill levels. On offense you simply shoot or pass, and on defense you steal or block. There's no turbo button (that wasn't invented yet), but the swift players move with fluid motion. The passing controls are crisp, but the highlight of the game occurs when a player goes up for a dunk. This causes the to screen to switch to a close-up showing a huge player slamming the ball down. It's very satisfying, despite the fact that the graphics are rendered in black and white. I also love the well-designed foul-shooting system, consisting of a simple ring moving up and down over the hoop. It requires good timing, and is far superior to the overcomplicated schemes employed by modern basketball games. The court itself looks terrific, but it can be hard to determine which player you're controlling. Defense is especially tough because there's no audible cue when a steal occurs. Once the player with the ball blows by the defender, he's home free, violating the unwritten rule stating "the defender should always be slightly faster than the man with the ball". Double Dribble's audio is rough, mainly limited to the basketball pounding against the hard wooden floor. The teams are uneven, providing a convenient excuse when you're getting your ass handed to you (not that this ever happened to me). As you might expect from Konami, there's a terrific halftime show complete with cheerleaders and mascots. Although somewhat uneven, Double Dribble still provides for a very fun and easy-to-play game of hoops. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

This NES edition of Dragon Spirit is less challenging than the Namco arcade version, but that turns out to be a mixed blessing. New Legend incorporates a storyline between stages, but you'll be wise to skip past these brainless cut-scenes. The overcomplicated intro almost suggests an RPG, but rest assured Dragon Spirit is a straightforward vertical shooter. You control a flying dragon blasting monsters with your fiery breath over islands, jungles, caves, and even deep in the sea. Much like Xevious, you can shoot missiles at foes in the air and bomb those on the ground. Unlike the arcade version of Dragon Spirit however, you can't shoot and bomb at the same time. I think it's better this way, since it adds a bit more strategy. Your missiles and bombs are unleashed in a rapid-fire manner, which is great for spraying pterodactyls or carpet-bombing deadly plants on the ground. There are ample power-ups which tend to drift toward you, including some that let you grow a second or third head to double or triple your firepower. Dragon Spirit's graphics are colorful and vibrant, but while some creatures look great, many appear to be shapeless blobs. You're bound to confuse some of them with the pixilated background scenery. While I enjoy Dragon Spirit's rapid-fire shooting, I found this version to be a bit easy. Each of your three dragons can withstand a number of hits before dying, and your enemies don't stand much of a chance against your considerable firepower. Also, there's never more than a few enemies on the screen at a time. If you're looking for a standard shooter, Dragon Spirit will do the trick, but it probably won't set your world on fire. © Copyright 2007 The Video Game Critic.

Special report by RPG correspondent Jonathan Hawk
"A slime approaches!" Known by many as the granddaddy of console RPGs, Dragon Warrior was nothing less than a trendsetter for its time, even though some of its elements were represented in earlier games. Known as Dragon Quest in Japan, the series was known to shut down the country with each new release as citizens would line up to buy it. In this first chapter you play the role of a nameable hero descended from the mighty Erdrick. Your ancestor thwarted great evil once before, and now it's time to accept your lineage and save the world once again. You are the only playable character, a party of one. The game sports a top-down view for exploration, and there's no world map, so get used to walking around a bit. You must bring up a menu for common actions like talk, search, and "stairs", and this naturally slows things down. The sprites are colorful and imaginative as you stroll through towns, desert, ruins, swamps, and of course dungeons. The game's simple music is enjoyable if not repetitive, and it changes in different locations. The encounters are random, and the combat is turned-based and first-person in nature. Boy howdy is there a lot of it. I remember playing this as a child, but now I wonder how I had the patience to suffer through all the grinding (that's killing monsters to level up, for you non-RPG fans). At least the illustrations of the monsters are pleasant, thanks to the handiwork of Akira Toriyama (known also for Dragonball and Chrono Trigger). Your only roadblock to exploring the world as you please is the increasingly difficult monsters you face as you stray far from home. But get this: there are no boss fights! As you level-up your character receives a small arsenal of spells such as sleep, heal, and "hurt". You can periodically upgrade your sword, armor, and shield. I find it very convenient how your new piece is automatically equipped and the old one is automatically sold. You can buy items but sadly lacking is one that restores magic points. If you die (and you will), you awaken before the king with half the gold you've acquired (mugged by monsters, no doubt). This instills in the player a fear of death, which some games lack entirely. One slightly aggravating limitation is how you can only save your progress in a single location - by speaking to the king. The plot itself is simple, and there are really no story points aside from "rescue the princess" and then "defeat the big bad guy". There are benefits of a simple story with few quests however, like not having to remember what you were doing after you walked away from the game for too long. To sum up, Dragon Warrior was challenging but becomes repetitive as the game draws on, and that save feature is a hassle. It's fun though, and absolutely a trailblazer in the world of console RPGs. As a child, this was the game that turned me on to the genre, and sent me out into the back yard to fight imaginary monsters for gold and experience. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Many gamers have fond memories of the Duck Tales television series, which no doubt helped earn this title a devoted following. It's notable is that this Disney game was produced by Capcom - making it extra attractive to collectors. The game puts you in the role of Uncle Scrooge out to save his nephews in exotic places like Transylvania, the Himalayas, the Amazon, African Mines, and even on the moon! The fact that you can select from one of five "lands" gets things started on the right foot. The graphics are remarkably sharp and vibrant, and festive harmonized music perfectly sets the mood. Adversaries include bats, apes, bees, ghosts, aliens, snow bunnies, and even mummified ducks! Uncle Scrooge's main attack is hopping around on his cane like a pogo stick, bouncing creatures right off the screen. You can hop around continuously, but this really makes you vulnerable to flying enemies. You will also discover that some enemies (like the flowers) are impervious to attack. Your pogo stick also allows you to reach high ledges and elevated treasure chests. Collecting diamonds increases your point total, and ice cream cones replenish your health. Both of these items have exactly the same shape, which is confusing. The branching stages feature alternate routes and even some Super Mario World-style hidden areas. As in Quackshot (Genesis, 1991) you must find a key item in one stage to make progress in another. Vines and chains take you underground or up into the sky, but you can't jump from these, just awkwardly fall from them. In general the game is surprisingly tough and unforgiving. Duck Tales won't cut you much slack, but it will ultimately win you over with its good humor and Disney charm. © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

Eliminator Boat Duel delivers fun-in-the-sun racing thrills as you go head-to-head against a friend or a series of relentless CPU opponents. Each race is like three games in one. At the starting line you get a side angle view of the two impressively large speedboats. Getting off to a fast start means hitting the accelerator the split second the bikini babe waves the flag. From there the course seamlessly switches between a 3D perspective and an overhead view not unlike Micro Machines. The 3D view gives you a slick behind-the-boat angle as you race between flags in the open water. There's a nice sense of speed and the layered clouds overhead look lovely. The overhead view plays completely different as you weave around obstacles in bayou, wharf, and open water environments. The rich scenery includes shimmering water, swimmers, and cabins on the shore. Being in the lead gives you the first crack at nitro or money icons, but you're also more vulnerable to sharks, whirlpools, and hull-damaging logs. Nitros play a strategic role in the game, as a well-timed boost can allow you to narrowly edge out your opponent. The action becomes especially intense as the boats jockey for position near the finish. The game returns to the close view in order to show the boats crossing the finish line as bikini babes jump and cheer. If it's really close, you're treated to a super-slo-mo instant replay! Winnings can be used to repair and upgrade your boat, much like Super Off-Road. The CPU opponents are some colorful (and very sarcastic) characters including a Jerry Garcia look-alike named Aquarius Rex. The game only has one glaring flaw, and that's how it abruptly ends after a player loses three races. A score or some indicator of your performance would have been nice, but instead you just see an ugly "GAME OVER" screen. It's a blemish on an otherwise first-rate boat racer. Eliminator Boat Duel is a somewhat obscure title that should intrigue classic gamers looking for some wet-and-wild entertainment. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.

Compared to the first Star Wars game for the NES, Empire Strikes Back represents a huge step forward. At the very least, Empire makes an effort to capture the spirit of the saga, with graphics and music that are faithful to the film. Stages range from the snowy terrain of Hoth, to the green swamps of Dagobah, to the modern building architecture of Cloud City. The first stage places Luke on a Taun-Taun (a creature resembling a kangaroo) as he investigates a mysterious transmission on the ice planet Hoth. Hoth's snowy scenery is featured prominently, and it looks terrific. Upon entering some icy caverns, Luke can dismount from his Taun-Taun and explore the more narrow caves on foot. Here, Luke locates his lightsaber and begins acquiring his Force powers. There's some tedious jumping (including the ubiquitous "floating" platforms), but the controls tend to be forgiving. What stinks is how the game sends you all the way back to the beginning of each stage when you die - even when you've reached the boss! Although small, the characters are realistically proportioned and nicely animated. One particularly useful new move is the "power jump", which is charged by holding back on the directional pad. Most of the action in Empire is standard platform fare, but there are two exceptional shooting stages, including a battle against the AT-AT Walkers on Hoth which looks fantastic. Reminiscent of the original first Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Atari 2600, 1982) game, you fire at Walkers with your snowspeeder, and can even employ tow cables to trip them! It looks awesome when they collapse, and you can even go back and "finish" them! I love the way the snowspeeder is animated as it "loops around" for another run. Upon getting shot down, Luke can still run around the planet surface on foot, blasting incoming Snow Troopers. A second cool shooting stage takes place outside of Cloud City where you must blast a certain number of enemy aircraft. While both stages certainly look impressive, their gameplay is slightly compromised by the fact that the objects are so large you can't easily see what's coming. Despite the flaws, LucasFilm was clearly headed in the right direction, as the SNES versions would ultimately prove. Note: Although it was once under development, Return of the Jedi was never released for the NES. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.