Duck Hunt (Wii U)

 

Duck Season!

Summer vacation and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time isn't going well in the heat, so let get off some steam by shooting some ducks. That's right, a couple of rounds of Duck Hunt, a classic game from the original NES that introduced most people to the Zapper, the Nintendo light gun. 

Weapon of choice for Captain N!

Didn't have it as a kid, but played it at my neighbours place. Didn't get any far since the zapper were kinda unreliable... and my aiming suck probably. So this version is perfect for someone like me, you use your wiimote and it has a pointer on screen so I can see what I'm shooting. So on the first game I could get up to round 12 and on the clay pigeons I got up to round 16. Two ducks on the other hand didn't get me further than round 4, but it was the last game I tried so my arm might have been a bit tired as well. 

Well, that was pretty much it. Nothing else to say, fun distraction and with another player the competition between who can go most rounds and highest score might be of interest, but beyond that there's hardly nothing special. 

Bionic Commando (NES)

 

G.I. JOE, G.I. Joe is here!

Been home at the parents again and dusted off Bionic Commando for the NES released by Capcom. We actually got an American version (together with 3 more games) that had to use a converter. Which incidentally coincided when all dust and spit that we kids blew into the cartridges began affecting our original NES so my parents blamed the problems on the converter, until I cleaned it up for the first time 20 years after we got it. Of course I just put it in the Retron 5 I brought with me, and guess what? There's a bunch of cheats here so I can finally get to the end of the game. 

The story is that the evil empire is conquering the world and Super Joe, the best soldier in the rebel army have disappeared. So a bionic commando is sent in, captain Rad Spencer... dressed in green compared to the blue, red and yellow from the cover. Plus that he is a red-head compared to the blonde. So first priority is battling the evil empire to find Super Joe who tells you that the empire is about to finish their weapon, the Albatross, and to do that they are gonna resurrect Master-D, the leader of the extremist group the Badds that lived several decades ago, and the empire sees as a precursor to them. So Spencer  and Joe teams up to stop the empire for good. 

Kinda interesting story telling, since after the rescue of Joe (which is described as a super soldier) you can wiretap certain communications and the empire soldier are in disarray shouting that Super Joe is coming and being cut off as the commander tries to get a report. Awesome. Anyway, you find the leader of the empire, Generalissimo Killt, that is just about to leave on the Albatross without awakening Master-D since he wasn't needed... which Master-D doesn't like so he electrocutes Killt and take control himself... and it's non-other than Hitler himself. 

I mean look at him!

So you destroy the Albatross and runs after Master-D who tries to escape in an helicopter so you have to swing and jump with your bionic arm and fire a bazooka right in the windows of the chopper, blowing up Master-D, which is awesome if I didn't fail so many times and used the save state. And then you have to escape before the base is blown up in the self-destruct. But just as Spencer is about to leave he realises that Joe haven't escaped so he run back and escapes hanging from a helicopter with Joe as the base is blowing up behind them.

Kinda fun game actually, but it gets really hard and confusing. For example you gotta find different communicators and need to use different ones at different stages to get the wiretaps and communications so that you can follow along... and you start each stage by selecting which one to use, meaning when you have 4 different to choose from, there can be rather annoying when you don't know where to use which, why not just let them stack? Also, the platforming gets ridicules halfway through when you need to grapple up while being harassed by flying soldiers that push you down constantly. That's when I pretty much gave up the save scumming method and just put on invincibility so I hadn't to deal with that headache. There is a remake for the PS3, which I got, but haven't gotten past the first area off since the bosses are harder. Here you can just sneak up behind and fire at the computer core or whatever where you gotta actually fight the boss.

Battle for Olympus (NES)

From Zero to Hero in no time flat!

The game for greek mythology nerds. It's based on the story of Orpheus who have to travel to the underworld and rescue the love of his life, Eurydice, since she died and Orpheus armed only with a lyre descends to Hades and moves Hades to tears with the song and allows her to return, but only if he doesn't look back at her during their travel to the surface. It's a tragedy so of course at the very last minute he looks, overcome with doubt and fear, and Eurydice disappears forever. Stricken with grief again he grieves until he's killed by being torn to pieces by some women.

So you play as Orpheus armed with a club and shield setting of to rescue... Helena? Helena of Troy? Alright, a bit of liberty already, both in choice of weapons and name of the wife. Maybe the letter restriction of the NES made Helena a better choice? Anyway, Helena have been killed by a snake that allowed Hades to kidnap her, but Aphrodite sees the couples love for each others and persuades the other gods to help so Orpheus meets with Zeus and from there sets of all around Greece to find all the temples of the gods and get the means to find the entrance to Tartarus and fight Hades. You get the Sandals of Hermes, the Shield of Athena, The divine sword of Hephaestus, Ares Power Bracelet, Apollo's Harp, a harmonica from Poseidon and Artemis Moon crystal.  You need all of these items in order to find the three nymphs and the hearts that allows you to find Tartarus.

You gotta defeat Hades minions like the Lamia, cyclops, the minotaur and a lot of snakes. God I hate the snakes. After getting to Tartarus and defeating Kerberos (I hate that damn dog too, bosses shouldn't be allowed to regain health, especially when they are hard to hit) you traverse the maze and finds Helena turned to stone, the next room being completely dark with only water and a bridge. You use the moon crystal and the moon lights up making Hades cast a shadow in the water so that you know where to hit to fight off Hades. Really cool concept, it also harkens back to mythology again since Hades had a helmet (or cap depending on the translations) that could turn one invisible, so props for that. You beat him by forcing him against the wall and do the Zelda II Shadow Link fight by kneeling and just attacking. Beat him and the hearts of the Nymphs releases Helena from the stone and both arrive outside of Tartarus as the sun rises bringing a new day and a happy ending for Orpheus. So a sword clearly beats playing a song.

Only the penitent man will pass!

We had this game when I was a kid and the furthest we got was defeating Lamia and getting the staff and fire ability (or that was when I was in my 20's so as kid we didn't get that far really). I pretty much got lost at the forest stage. It's hard. Dying sends you back to the entrance of the stage and there are a lot of death pits, enemies that have irregular flying patterns and the damage progression is awful. You take too much damage early on and the Golden apple that halves your damage is way off. But I have nostalgic feelings for it. The music is great, and the graphics looks really good. It was released 1991 in Europe, but the Famicom version was released in 1988 and the whole game was made by only three people. It was inspired heavily by Zelda II which you see in the side-scrolling segment and the final battle with Hades. It feels nice finally finishing it, although I gotta be honest, I used the save state function a lot. Boy, I don't know how much time I would have had to spend on the game to finish it legit. And I even had a Nintendo Magazine walkthrough of the game that at least showed the beginning of the game.

Galaga (NES Classic Mini) & Galalga '88 (PC Engine Mini)

 

Man the stations, incoming aliens!

Played a bit of Galaga mostly because I really don't feel like starting up a 100 hours JRPG and Diddy Kong Racing DS has some infuriating moments, but I at least got it to work. So I spent 2-3 days of my vacation to check how many games I have and also to find how many copies there is and how many I've finished. Probably shouldn't have done that since it gave me some horrendous back pains so I hardly could get out of bed the next day and was forced to do stretching excercises for a couple of days after that. 

But now I know that I have two versions of this game, this one on the NES Classic Mini and the other on PC Engine. Played the NES one first and made it to stage 8 after a couple of tries, but no further than that. I don't expect more than that either really. Basic colours  and not a lot of them. Galaga '88 on the other hand, a real step up in graphics with more colours and a background beyond the blackness of space. Even your spaceship has more than just black and white. On the other hand it makes it harder since a planet or space-station happens to make the spacecraft you pilot blend in the background together with the enemies bullets. So maybe it wasn't that strange that I only reached level 5 on that... or just that I'm bad at it. 

NES Classic Mini

Childhood memories packaged for your convenience!

So growing old and turning 32 means you stop getting presents from your parents meaning you gotta do it yourself so I went on a shopping spree on mini consoles. First out was the Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Mini... or NES Classic Mini for short. When it was announced and released I didn't wanna get it. First the shortage making it impossible to find and then the game, most I've already got on the Wii U, 3DS and several other versions (for example Mega Man anniversary collection on Switch and so on) meaning the games doesn't really sell it for me. What changed my mind? Well, after checking it, 15 of the 30 games I don't actually own in any version. I mean, I'm not that interested in getting Galaga, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, Ninja Gaiden is a game that doesn't speak to me and Star Tropics was kinda weird... and why is Ballon Fight a classic? I'm never gonna buy those alone and the package is nice so why not get it for a bargain?

Secondly, the games I own? How long will the Wii U survive before collapsing? Upgrading every second generation is probably a good one. Thirdly... it's nostalgia. The NES was the very first console my parents bought and that we played. It's just fun with the grey little box, and the controls just feels right in my hands. Also, the controls work with the Wii U/Wii controls by connecting so even better. Although a minus is I had to get a special package with an extra controller, 2 extra extension cords for the controllers and a charger to power the console... which doesn't work and apparently it's common issue with the mini consoles that the most reliable power source being the TV's USB-port. Don't know why. Still, it works as a recharger for my iPod so I don't have to charge it through the computer. Overall the package enhanced the console so I didn't have to sit to close to the TV and also allow 2-player plays... if someone ever would like to play with me. On the other hand always good to have a spare. 

So a fine and fun package. Apparently several have modded the console to get it to put other games on it which feels tempting to get all the games I played as a kid, like the Smurfs, Moon Ranger, Faxanadu and Bionic Commando for example. Games that probably won't get a rerelease either by being unlicensed from the beginning or licensed games that wouldn't be released due to tangled copy rights or just obscure (though Faxanadu I got on Wii virtual console and Bionic Commando have a remake on the PS3 I bought... but the original is still more nostalgic). One thing I found out though was that I can change controller to the Wii Classic Controller which is recommended for at least one player since it has a home-button that allows one to exit the game and go back to the console menu without needing to leave the couch and push the reset button. If I know what I want to play there is no problem, but playing Pac-Man for 10 minutes and then want to switch game to another game for 5-10 minutes can get a bit irritating with the motions. Wish the normal controller had some sort of way to reach it without pushing the button.

Overall, most games (if not all) you can get on the Wii U and some games like Kirby have an enhanced remake on the 3DS which makes it a bit better so is it necessary if you have those? No, not really, maybe for the nostalgia and just to get some controllers might be worth it, or trying out 30 NES classic games to see if some would fit you. Otherwise maybe skip it.

Dr. Mario (Wii U)

The Doctor is in the house!

Got a bit of urge to play some puzzle game and started up my Wii U again and found Dr. Mario. And the search function at the blog states that I haven't written on it before so, new game finished after 30 minutes!

We got it the first time for the NES back in the 90's and the most fun thing about it is its multiplayer action that me and my sister had going trying to beat it first or at least not die first since we were hardly any experts on it. Playing it on its own... I prefer Tetris actually. I will give it that the music is good and it is satisfying in defeating the viruses as they plop and then the big ones in the magnifying glass wriggles in pain until each of the colours are gone and they just... poff out of existence. Now, I can't recall if there ever was any story beyond that you have to destroy the viruses, but in one of the Nintendo Magazines we had I could read about this comic advertising the game:

Wish I had all of the comics since it's just campy fun.

Super Mario Bros. 1-3

Closest thing to capture all three games in one image

Since it's Mario's 30 years anniversary (while writing this that is) and me skipping over Mario Maker (since creating my own courses is gonna fail, no stable internet access and me not want to play other people's hellish nightmares) I will instead look on the classics, the first three games for the NES that I played as a kid. Even though the picture at the top is from the SNES All-Stars I'm gonna speak from the perspective of the original games since those are the ones I most recently played (due to having them on my 3DS... and Wii U). So lets start from the beginning.

Ah, the classic look of a time-less classic

So we got it to the NES back in the early 90's. Best thing was that you could play as two players so either me and my dad could play or me and my sister. I think I used to be Mario, although I wanted to be Luigi since he was green. Never finished this as a kid. The closest I got as a kid was 8-1. I got pretty close when the browser based game with several different 8-bit heroes like Simon Belmont, the Contra guy, Mega Man and some others. The Contra guy being the best since every enemy or block gets destroyed before it can even hit me. I got to the final level and... failed the damn platforming maze. I  never reached Bowser. So when I finally got them on the newest systems with save state function, I play through them, compensating my lowered reactions and patience to relearn every single enemy pattern. Alright I might be pushing 30, but in video game years that must be in the late 50's. I need every help I can get. Of course the sense of beating it is of course lost and really, what is the point playing games if you have to cheat to beat it? Well, since most of my childhood was spent on learning these games, I think I put enough time on them to deserve to see the end screen. Also, there was a lot of secrets in the game like the warp pipes at the end of 1-2 or those at 3-2 (?, the first Lakkittu stage or whatever), but I can't in my life get how we found it out. This is pre-internet days so how did we know? Did we stumble upon them?

The Mario game that isn't a Mario game, and yet is a Mario game

The second game in the series and as we all know isn't the real 2nd game, but a reskin of another game that Miyamoto worked on, and later he took many of the enemies and put them in other Mario games, effectively adopting the game into the series. First time I played it was with my cousins game and when we travelled from Gothenburg one summer we found it in a store and bought it as well. This was the last of the first Mario games we bought. Then I got it again for the GBA as the first game as well. The fun thing with this game is you could choose between four different characters. Sadly I think the longest I got was past the first boss, the 3-headed snake at the bottom of the pyramid. The least played of the originals for me.

Interesting that in 2-3 Mario goes toward the right while in the first game it went to the left... which you couldn't do in that game

The biggest game of the three. And we actually got to the last world, but that was that. Easiest way was getting the two first flutes and enter world 2 and then warp forward. As the first game, how did we know how to get those two flutes as kids? I guess I saw my cousins play it and they got it, but how did they know? I don't think they saw the Wizard that let everyone else know. Maybe there is something in those Nintendo magazine we got from them. Again, me and my sister played this game over and over, if nothing else just so we could fight each other for the special cards you get at the end of each stage. And as always, we didn't finish it. I finished it on my 3DS and Wii U with save state support. How people could finish these games as kids I don't know.

So that's my memories from my childhood. coupled with some reflections as I replayed the games again. Didn't focus much on story because....  well 1 and 3 was Bowser or King Koopa kidnapped princess Toadstool later known as Peach and Mario and Luigi had to get her back. The second game was Mario dreaming about a door where he and his friends entered and they appeared in a world where some people asked for their help in stopping Wart. Music in all 3 games are rather good and are classics used over again... maybe not the second game, but the others as late of Paper Mario had many of the songs reused and remixed. Graphics are of it's time, but they are nostalgic and I prefer them over the vamped up sprites of the All-Star compilation and one reason I skipped buying the 25th anniversary game... especially since it didn't have anything else to show like Super Mario World or some other Mario games. Why get it, when I have all games on Virtual Console?

The Legend of Zelda

The very first Legend of Zelda-game released in 1986 in gold cartridge form indicating it's saving features. Best innovation ever for a video game. Other than that one of the best game series ever created and it began here. We got it as all other NES games in the early 90's and played it. But since I sucked (and due to me being the best gamer in the family) we didn't get further than the first dungeon. That is until the 2000's when I actually found and conquered the second dungeon. That was still on the old NES cartridge. Then we got the Zelda compilation on the GameCube and I actually got to dungeon 4-5. Without cheating I might add. But since it was on the current console and needed the TV to play I couldn't properly delve into it. Not until I got the 3DS and the 20 Ambassador games, where the original Zelda was one of them. I believe I didn't finish the game until the save state feature was updated and then of course with maps to show me where to go, find all heart pieces and such.

Of course, there's still the second quest to finish. That one I might actually try without a guide after getting a cleared file on the Wii U. Rather unique thing to relive the exploration part of a game almost 30 years old and it be completely new to me. It really brings me back to the old childhood days. Beginning the game and entering the first cave for the wooden sword and then go around looking for the first dungeon. Usually I gathered enough rupees to buy shield and candles since it was so scary to go into the dungeon... or even walk around the Overworld beyond the forest area. Really, walking around the first dungeon was so scary and when you go near the boss room the sudden roar that the NES could muster would scare me and then the wallmasters appearing dragging you back to the entrance. Really thinking about it makes me wonder how I even dared leave the house as a kid.

Maybe playing this over and over actually made me stronger cause I remember when I discovered the letter the old man had in a cave far to the north and then used it to get red or blue potions. And this with very limited knowledge of English. Or when I stumbled upon the stair case below the statue warrior leading to a shop with the blue ring and meat. The last great discovery I think I made on my own was finding the blue sword above the waterfall guarded by this centaur creature that killed me hard. Sadly the old man wouldn't give it to me, I didn't know why then, but now I know it was due to having to few hearts. Which led to the strategy of gathering all hearts on the overworld and then get the blue sword together with the blue ring making the first part of the game relatively easy.

There's really nothing else to say, it's one of the great video game masterpieces and the most annoying things one can say about it is the translation at times really makes it harder for you and that sometimes the enemies are rather obnoxious. For example Dodonga who dislikes smoke, his pattern is rather random and you need to put a bomb in his mouth. Problem is that the computer believes that swearing of right before my bomb is the best action, depleting all my bombs making me have to leave, buy or grind for more and come back. One is manageable, but when they throw 3 at you it can go on your nerves, especially if you haven't upgraded the maximum bomb-bag since leaving the room resets the damage done to them and leaving the dungeon resets the enemies. Other enemies that really gets on my nerve is the darknut that must be attacked from behind or the side, but they rather like going right at you draining your health. Especially in groups of 5-10. God I hate them. And lastly it's the Like-like, the shield-eating bastards of Hyrule. 120 rupees for each encounter, with a maximum wallet-size of 255. Really, best advice is to get good at the game... or heavy use of the save feature. There we have the latest great innovation of video games, save states so you actually can finish them.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventures of Link, a game I've played back and forth since the early 90's. Of course, I didn't get further than the first temple until the mid 2000's and didn't finish until last year (2014) when it was released on the 3DS virtual console with save state making it a bit easier to traverse one hit kills and pitfalls. A fun game if you have the intelligence to keep pen and paper by your side to write down the temple maps... until easy access to the internet when you just look up a map on your phone taking away the more frustrating parts, although exploration gets a bit lost. An Action-RPG many seems to have some problems with today, but I like it. Nice music, the RPG elements are fun and interesting, questionable why 8 is the maximum level, 9-10 would feel more symmetrical (and probably make some of the end game a bit easier), and now that I'm a bit older I actually like walking around and exploring and finding new spells and hearts or magic... with a bit of help here and there (*cough* walk through *cough*). Story wise it's as simple as it got around that time. Link, a couple of years after the first game turns 16 and gets a mark on his hand and Impa tells him of the Triforce of Courage and the Zelda put a sleep in one of the towers of the North Palace. You get 6 crystals that are needed to be placed in each temple to unlock the final temple were your hardest challenge await. All the while the soldiers of Ganon are hunting you down to perform some sacrifice to resurrect him. Rather interesting story points. So you traverse the lands, beat some temples, reach the inner sanctum of the Great Palace and fight your own shadow for control of the Triforce of Courage. With it you awakens Zelda, curtains fall The End.

The difficulty is pretty much the one thing most people complain about and it exist mostly for the 3 lives and continue system. Dying with lives just let you restart the room pretty much, but a continue takes you all the way back to the North Palace, meaning every single pit fall is spelling death. You can't afford to fall since you at least need one extra life for the boss in the temple so that you don't have to navigate the temple again. Doesn't help that the only way to get life is using magic and due to the cap at 8 levels makes the magic meter drain insanely fast and it doesn't fill the health meter all the way. Then you pray to god the enemies drop a red magic bottle so that it fills the whole meter. It's probably this reason why enemies both drops health and magic in later games, especially since you need magic like jump and fairy to traverse some places which puts a real strain on how good you as a player need to be to finish of enemies that throws daggers and jump like crazy over the screen. It can even be multiple enemies and each one drain your health like crazy (some even dare drain magic or experience). Also something I thought about as well is how to get to the very first temple. You need to cross a cave, but due to not owning the lamp it's pitch black. I know they fixed it with all other caves having either pits making it impossible to see or a high cliff you need the jump spell to traverse that you get after exploring another cave which leaves only one cave to cross that is plausible. Still, couldn't the cave with the idol switch place with the temple so you can get the candle before traveling through dark caves? Or is that to force you to at least level up a bit? Then we have cheap enemies like the rock throwing wall or speedy birds or those sword resistant enemies you need the magic fire for (which, if I remember correctly, wasn't impervious to any other damage in the Japanese version). That's something you really need more of, enemies you need magic to kill with.

So yes, I cheated like hell to finish the game by almost save scumming each cave, room or battle to avoid unnecessary damage or instant death by a wrong turn or something like that. I even managed a non-death run which is kinda remarkable cause you are expected to die once or twice... or a hundred times to reach the end. Otherwise, the only way to do it legit I believe is to survive until you reach the other continent and there grind the fire-killed monsters who give you 50 or 200 exp until you have enough lives (if you max out your stat levels each new 9000 exp gives you an extra life and refills either life or magic so you can probably use that as well) since that is the simplest way for extra lives. Another tip is to save the extra lives you can find on the overworld until you are ready to go to the hidden palace since that trek alone will at least cost you 2-3 lives, but once you reach it you don't need to travel there again (if you finish all the temples that is). Finish the games allow you to play it again, but this time you are maxed out meaning every crystal placed nets you an extra life making it on paper a lot easier. If it does anything else like the second quest on the first game I don't know. It's rather fun though to run through the first half of the game like a god, even the infamous death mountain maze is bearable. And yeah, grind like hell for that your first time through, tough as nails otherwise, but getting the hammer is worth is so you don't have to travel the bog again.

Mega Man Classic

 

So I've been playing the original mega man games on my Wii U and 3DS and maybe you want my thoughts on them. First off, I'm not good at these kind of games so I'm using the save state a lot... and I mean A LOT! Secondly, I've only played Mega Man 3 as a kid so there is hardly any nostalgia over this, so my favorites are not gonna be everyone's favorites. First game, many say it's the hardest. I would agree if I wasn't able to pull of the select button glitch (meaning pausing the game while firing the electric weapon causing much more damage than thought out, works well against the Yellow Devil). 

 

The second game, by many seen as the best of them all. Good music. Really, it's not much else to say about them. Same story, Dr Wily causing trouble so Dr Light (Right) sends out Mega Man to stop him. Really, I wouldn't say it is the best, mostly due to Quick Man's stage that feels like cheating with the insta-death beams.

 The third game, and to me the best of the bunch. Awesome intro and stage music and Rush. I don't know if it's due to me playing a lot more than the others, but it also feels like the easiest of the games and more enjoyable. Story is that Dr Wily has reformed so he and Dr Light creates Gamma to keep the peace, but they need some ores from different planets and the mining robots goes hay-wire so Mega Man is sent out to get the ore. Of course Dr Wily is behind it and you have to fight Gamma to get him.

Forth game. Some Dr Cossack attacks the world and Mega Man must stop him. Turns out he was black mailed by Dr Wily who kidnapped his daughter. First time playing I found it boring and hard. Maybe due to being fed up on Mega Man, but a second play through made it rather fun. Decent game that is.

Fifth game. Hardest game, damn robots have punishing patterns that makes it nearly impossible to avoid damage. Most hated are gravity and charge man. Story is that Proto Man has turned evil and caused havoc on the world and only Mega Man can stop him... turns out Dr Wiley used a fake Proto Man. Gotta say that the cut scenes are pretty nice.

Sixth game and never originally released in Europe. Some Mr X is having a tournament for robots and the eight winners starts attacking people so Mega Man must stop them. Turns out Mr X really was Dr Wily. Who knew. Some music tracks are really nice and the rush suits (or adapters) are really fun actually. Also introduced the thing that evenly spreads the energy to your weapons without having to change weapon all the time. Best mechanic ever.

Overall they are fun short distractions with often good music. Favorite one 3 due probably to nostalgia, but probably also due being the one that feels most thought out of the old ones. You have three different forms of Rush, you have the slide and the best stage music in Top, Spark, Snake and Hard Man. Magnet and Shadow Man are OK, but nothing special. After that it would be 4, 2, 6 and 1/5 sharing last place. Why 4 over 2? Slide and charge shot. Really, I'm so used to the slide it's aggravating playing the first two games.