underappreciated donkey kong jr. math

the release of the new smash bros. on 3DS has pretty much completely ruined my chances of finishing any other games for the near future, but i took a break from it to sit down with my remaining donkey kong game on NES, donkey kong jr. math. i wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and i was somewhat disappointed to find that the main two modes are 2-player only. also, because i know donkey kong jr. so well the changes in the mechanics were a bit odd at first, namely, that DK jr. no longer has his two-armed faster ascent and instead moves the same speed when travelling up or down a vine.

after i got over my initial reaction i found the game to actually be fairly enjoyable overall, and as is often the case that it feels like this is yet another one of those games that people dismiss without actually giving it a fair chance. the game re-uses most of the mechanics from donkey kong jr. so the jumping is a bit stiff, but otherwise the controls work pretty well. the goal of the main two modes are simple: select numbers and operators in order to reach a specified total number. selecting numbers and operators with DK jr. is more fun than just tapping numbers into a calculator, and although the first mode is pretty straightforward the second mode is actually more satisfyingly challenging. in the first mode you’re often putting together simple equations, like making 37 by selecting 9 * 4 + 1, but in the second mode the number you’re trying to reach is harder to get to since you’re restricted to a pool of 18 numbers, each of which can only be 1 through 9, and the target numbers often have large values and can be negative. so to reach a number like 285 from a starting number of 200 requires some thought, e.g. divide by 5, then multiply by 7, and then add 5. although i didn’t get to play with another person, it’s easy to imagine that going head to head could actually be pretty fun, what with getting in each other’s way, stealing numbers that the other person wants, and having to quickly change your strategy based on what numbers are closer to you.

the third mode is just a series of exercises of different types (e.g. large number addition, simple multiplication, long division, etc.), with a sort of complicated scheme. in each set you’re given 10 problems and the bird on the left drops an egg if you solve it perfectly the first time. the bird on the right shows you which “place” you’re entering numbers for (e.g. for addition that bird will fly over the ones place, then the tens place, hundreds place, etc.), and you can give up at any time by pushing the key into the lock. selecting numbers requires you to climb up and down a chain representing one of the digit places, and to input a number you just move to a different chain. the controls here are a bit more awkward than the other two modes, but since apparently you’re also scored on how quickly you complete each problem, precision and speed is also rewarded. the mode is a bit dry, but still somewhat entertaining (and did work certain brain muscles i haven’t used in a very long time).

as i said, although it’s easy to dismiss games like these, as nintendolife did in their review of the wii virtual console release, those who take the time to actually give it a chance will find a reasonably entertaining game (as nintendolife’s review of the wii u VC version attests). the main downside to the main mode is that it really requires both players to be at the same math level: it’s not really designed for, say, a parent and a child to play together, unless perhaps if the parent is already handicapped by just being unfamiliar with how to play video games. the game may have originally been created as an “edutainment” title with the goal of trying to remove some of the stigma of video games and it apparently was not received well at the time, and although it’s gotten a bad rap over the years i found it to be much more worthwhile than most reviews would claim.

find the solution with these underappreciated donkey kong jr. math links:
– i’d forgotten this, but the game was actually spotlighted in a fairly recent nintendo minute video. the video makes it look like 2P would actually be pretty fun.
– reference to the game in donkey kong country returns for wii
– entry at wikipedia
– apparently the game is one of the more expensive games for NES

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a visit to wario’s woods

i’ve been making my way through nintendo’s various puzzle games, and wario’s woods is a game that i’ve had for a while on wii’s virtual console but have finally set aside. apparently the game was the last officially licensed NES title (and released on SNES less than a year later), and the presentation is pretty polished. the game is one of the only games that features mario series mainstay toad in a starring role, and for that reason alone gets a thumbs up from me. the game continues toad’s characterization from super mario bros. 2 (specifically, his super strength), and also features the return of a couple of other characters from that game, namely birdo and pidgey.

regardless of the cameos, the gameplay itself is pretty solid. the game features bombs and enemies and is basically your typical match 3 (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, with some pieces requiring you to remove them twice), although with some fairly novel mechanics. in the game you maneuver toad around the board. he can pick up any part of a stack (or a single piece from a stack), but is limited to where he can drop it. the game also alternates between two phases, one in which you have time to set up combos, and another that is more fast paced and is more about reacting. although they initially feel somewhat awkward, the controls work well and the gameplay is well balanced and well thought out. even after mastering the game’s mechanics the controls still feel a bit finicky, but the game is enjoyable overall. the focus of the game is on progressing through stages rather than racking up a high score, which is also a change of pace, and as with most puzzle games this game includes bonuses for chains and combos and a 2-player vs. mode.

in my post about brain age: concentration training (for 3DS) i’d mentioned “blob blast”, an activity included as part of that game’s “relaxation” activities that’s a touch-screen based reworking of wario’s woods (see the official site for a video clip). the touchscreen controls of “blob blast” remove all of traces of awkwardness of the original, although as a result the game feels much less unique. wario’s woods feels a little rougher around the edges, but its mechanics are definitely much quirkier and give the game much more character, even beyond the presentation. the game’s pace is much slower than the 3DS version in that there are 99 stages to work through (apparently the game includes a “round jump” function, which “saves your progress every fifth level and lets you jump back in later”) and the difficulty increases far too gradually (the game also allows you to accumulate continues by earning coins upon beating a level, with more coins given for faster times). as a result i found myself completely bored by round 51, and have set the game aside indefinitely (this is one of those games that, no doubt, greatly benefits from its 2P vs. mode). and although the game ostensibly features two single-player modes, the only difference is that in game B you encounter boss battles at regular intervals which are the same as regular levels except you have to remove pieces adjacent and in the same direction as a boss character that teleports around the board.

overall the game is memorable and unique, and it’s definitely not the worst of nintendo’s many puzzle games. although it’s not a puzzle game for the ages, it’s still pretty fun and puzzle fans looking for something a bit different should enjoy it.

visit these wario’s woods links:
– review of wii u VC version at nintendolife.com
– FAQ with a run-down of all the stages
– entry at wikipedia
– video of the ending
– video of a complete playthrough

zapping ducks in duck hunt

for reasons that may be obvious to some readers, i finally got around to dusting off my copy of duck hunt and giving the game a concentrated burst of attention. i pretty much hadn’t played the game since i was a kid (so, more than 25 years ago), although i’d actually tried to play the game years ago (i know i’m not the first person who was bummed out to find out that the old light-gun games don’t work on modern TVs). fortunately people in my neighborhood have been getting rid of ancient TVs fairly regularly so i’ve had one for a while (untested), and fortunately when i hooked my NES up to it, it worked perfectly. w00t! i played the most commonly available release of the game which was the dual cart that included the original super mario bros., although apparently a single-game cart was also released, along with the 3-in-1 game version that included the power pad compatible world class track meet.

armed with an original zapper (although the orange version rather than the original gray), i was ready to go. at first the precision seemed a little difficult (anything that wasn’t near the center of the screen didn’t seem to register well), but then i realized that if i lined the on-screen targets with the sight at the top of the zapper the controller worked perfectly. shooting from a few feet away worked fine, although when i got nervous about completing a stage i would sit a little closer to improve my performance. 😉

the game has three modes: two classic modes feature the infamous duck hunt dog in all his “giggling at you for missing” glory. the first of these features just one duck at a time, and you have three shots to hit it. for each round you have to shoot 6 of the 10 ducks with higher levels featuring faster-moving ducks and higher requirements (e.g. hitting 7 of 10 to progress). in the second mode you have to hit two ducks with three shots. and in the final mode you have to shoot clay discs which are tiny compared to the ducks, and which become smaller as they move off to the distance.

even with the time i’ve spent playing wii, which has much more sophisticated pointer-tracking capabilities, this blast from the past was actually surprisingly fun, much more fun than i expected. although i’m an animal lover, the game doesn’t take the hunting aspect too seriously: the dog sports a wide grin at each success and the hit ducks, instead of having X’s for eyes, look at you with narrow-eyed disdain. the physicality of the zapper makes scoring hits supremely satisfying (i think there must be some deep-rooted, primal hunting instinct that’s causing the strangely strong response), and being limited to three shots for each stage makes for a significant but satisfying leap in difficulty between the main two modes. the lack of character in the clay discs mode is a bit of a drawback and its increase in difficulty isn’t quite as satisfying, but perhaps it was added to make parents feel a little more comfortable with playing a “kid’s game”. the responsive and accurate controls make all the modes fun, with a good degree of challenge. apparently starting at level 20 you can’t miss any targets to continue, which seems a bit overly demanding, that’s acceptable for an early video game.

all in all this was a game that, somewhat surprisingly, still holds up today. the game was so solid and well designed that i was somewhat tempted to add it to my “greatest games of all time” list, but i don’t think it inspires a need to play it for hours on end and i don’t know that i’ll be yearning to play it that often, so it doesn’t quite make the cut. but i’m definitely looking forward to playing through the other light gun games on NES (and other systems) much more than i was before.

zap ducks with these duck hunt links:
– video of awesome predecessor of this game by nintendo and from 1976, featuring a projector and a light gun. nintendo’s use of the technology dates back even further than that, and nintendo.wikia.com has a cool entry about their first foray into light gun based games, from 1973.
– details on the scoring, from strategywiki.org
– article on wikipedia, including some info on the arcade version and quotes about the laughing dog
– this entry at strategywiki.org provides details on the mode in wii play that featured some elements from this game
– the game occasionally gets mentioned on top ten NES games lists, including this one from gonintendo
– amusing artwork featuring a painting found at a thrift store
– cool 3d chalk art animation

simian villainy returns in donkey kong 3

i played through donkey kong jr. earlier this year, and i finally filled in a gap in my video game experience by playing through the often-ignored follow-up, donkey kong 3 on NES. those two NES versions, along with the NES version of the first donkey kong game were all based on arcade releases, and they were all released at the same time in north america (june 1986).

although DK jr. has vague similarities to the first donkey kong game, the same can’t be said for this release. as has often been noted, in those early days carbon-copy sequels weren’t churned out with nearly the same alacrity as nowadays, and i came to DK3 with very little previous knowledge outside of seeing a screenshot or two. the first two games are platformers with an emphasis on running and jumping, but i was surprised to find out that DK3 is actually more of a shoot ’em up.

there’s a lot of interesting gameplay packed into the single-screen arcade experience. the setup is that DK has invaded “stanley the bugman”‘s greenhouse, and stanley, armed only with his trusty bug spray, has to get rid of DK and exterminate the bugs in order to save his plants. the player has to juggle several objectives at once: spray DK enough times to make sure he doesn’t descend far enough to attack stanley himself (thus losing a turn) (stanley can use his bug spray to push DK up off the screen and to the next level in every first and second level of a cycle, and get his head stuck in a beehive in every third level); spray individual bugs that fly around, each with unique behaviors; spray worms that crawl along and can’t be defeated but will pause if hit, often impeding progress; and in a mechanic somewhat similar to defender, make sure none of the bugs make off with any of the five plants, which provide bonus points if they’re saved. once per turn there’s also a can of super spray, the game’s equivalent of an uzi, that basically gives you a free pass through the next couple of levels.

in terms of the pace the game is pretty typical old-school arcade style in that there are only three levels and they loop pretty much infinitely. this game does introduce new enemies at various points, providing slightly more of a progression than some of the other games which increase difficulty by just adding more and faster enemies. like other classic nintendo NES games of the time, there’s a harder mode (“game B”) that can be selected from the start screen, and an alternating two-player mode.

as for the game itself, at first i found it completely foreign (nintendo has very rarely explored the the shooter genre), but after a while i enjoyed the game for what it is. the different bug types are easy to identify and are satisfying to defeat, and having to both manage DK and save the plants from the bugs makes the game feel more dynamic. stanley has more ability than the ship in galaga since he can not only run back and forth, but also move up and down a couple of levels vertically. the game has the usual bright and cheery nintendo exterior, and the game overall doesn’t have significant drawbacks. the first two stages are very similar while the third stage is too easy in comparison, and many times you can just jump in and defeat DK quickly. if you don’t manage to do that you end up spending a lot of time on the more challenging (and thus more fun) gameplay of dodging and defeating bugs, which would seem like a downside, but defeating all the bugs in a stage nets you more points overall, so for an arcade game it’s a reasonable design. (apparently in the arcade version starting with level 160 the game starts repeating only the first (and hardest) stage, although it’s not clear if this is intentional or what happens on the NES version.)

all in all i enjoyed it overall, and the game provides a fairly satisfying, if somewhat uneven, amount of challenge and fun. i wouldn’t say it’s become a great favorite, but it’s an interesting curio in nintendo’s catalog and should be more interesting to fans of shooters, classic arcade gameplay, and/or the donkey kong series, but i imagine most others would find this to be too old-school to spend much time with.

check out these villainous simian donkey kong 3 links:
– miiverse community
– nintendolife has reviewed the wii, 3DS, and wii u virtual console releases of the game. the 3DS VC review is the most positive of the three.
– entry at strategywiki.org, which includes a guide and descriptions of all the enemies as well as differences between the arcade and NES versions.
– the entry at mariowiki.com has much the same information but a few more tidbits
– entry on wikipedia

wrecking crew demolished

wrecking crew, one of the earliest NES titles, was one of those games that i had vague memories of seeing at a friend’s place growing up but that i didn’t really remember anything about. more recently the game was one of the 3DS ambassador games, not to mention the wii and wii u virtual consoles, and was also one of the games included in NES remix, so there have been plenty of opportunities to revisit it.

i finally sat down and gave the game a spin, and overall i was pleasantly surprised. in terms of mechanics and presentation the wrap-around stages slightly recall the original mario bros., and mario (and luigi’s) squeaky shoes and hammer recall the original donkey kong, but the game is wholly unique in that it’s one of nintendo’s earliest forays into the puzzle genre. it does so with character, and the game features a construction site setting and two types of enemies: one, a cross between a wrench and a dragon, and the other, an eggplant with safety glasses, along with fireballs that appear at regular intervals (also taken from the original mario bros.). in addition, the game features a unique mechanic where a “foe”, named spike the foreman (generally considered to be a predecessor to wario, the anti-hero), runs around and tries to trip you up, often literally. the game is also unique in that it features a stage select which allows you to start from any of the 100 stages, a quick reset via the select button (although doing so causes you to lose your current score), and a level editor. in the original edition you could save your creations, but the US didn’t see that feature reinstated until its rerelease on virtual console.

in terms of my experience, in general i enjoyed the game. like a lot of great puzzle games, wrecking crew makes the most of its limited number of elements, providing surprisingly sophisticated challenges out of relatively simple mechanics. limiting the types of elements in the board (basically destructible and indestructible walls and ladders, plus bombs) and the number of enemies makes it easier to internalize their use and behavior, and the game does a pretty good job of mixing up the types of stages: some are clearly more about working out the right order of actions, whereas others are more pac-man or burgertime-like and require finesse in avoiding the enemies while trying to navigate around the board to accomplish your objective.

although i enjoyed my time with the game, after getting through half of the 100 stages i felt like i’d seen everything there was to see. it’s fun to work out just the right strategy to trap enemies, and watching videos online it’s been interesting to see how different people come up with different approaches. the “theme and fun” (as nintendo power would put it) is pretty good, and the game definitely gets kudos for being one of the first of its kind. the bonus level is a matter of luck and feels superfluous, and the ease with which you get stuck and have to reset and thus lose your high score feels a bit cheap and pointless by modern standards. the game includes some replayability in the form of hidden “M A R I O” letters, revealed by destroying blocks in a specific, oftentimes completely nonintuitive order, on some stages, but doing so only provides 1-ups and provides only a minor diversion. similarly, uncovering special bonus items by destroying bombs in some stages is also fairly random (apparently the exact item uncovered is a function of the number of times you’ve swung your hammer), and so although getting a golden hammer (of smash bros. fame) is fun, it’s such a rare and random occurrence that it seems like an after thought rather than a worthwhile feature. all in all a decent successor to the original mario bros. and a game worth playing.

demolish these wrecking crew links:
– nintendolife gave the 3DS and wii u virtual console versions a 7 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 respectively, so it’s interesting to compare the two reviewers’ opinions
– miiverse community
– the entry at strategywiki.org includes details on how to get a golden hammer
– nice series of let’s play videos for the game
– entry at wikipedia.org
– apparently there was a japan-only sequel??

dodging the urban champion hate

about a month ago i played through the original xevious in preparation for checking out the enhanced version for 3DS. similarly, i decided to tackle the much-derided urban champion in preparation for trying its 3DS update.

i think it’s pretty safe to say that urban champion has become one of the consistently lowest-scoring first-party titles in nintendo’s history (although i’m quite curious as to what the reaction was when it first came out, way back in 1984). nintendolife’s review is fairly typical in its complaints about the repetitiveness, but i went into it with an open mind and had a mixed reaction. in general i found it to be fairly enjoyable, especially considering it was an NES launch title. the early NES graphics have a classic feel and there’s actually a surprising amount of variety in the controls (slow and fast punches that you can set to high or low, plus the abilities to block and dodge). the “history of 2-d fighters” at hardcoregaming101.net highlights the game’s innovations:

Urban Champion is the earliest fighter with any kind of easily controllable defending. It invented evading, which in this game takes the form of quickly leaning and stepping back. This is performed by holding back before your opponent executes a attack. Most importantly it is the first fighter to have easily controllable, reliable blocking, which is performed by holding up or down before your opponent executes a high level or low level punch, respectively. It is also the first fighter with dizzies, the first fighter with a form of “ring outs”, and the first fighter where matches were decided by something other than health depletion or point totals.

aside from the historical appreciation, the game actually proved to be fairly addicting. it’s easy to see why people would dismiss it so readily, but i have to wonder how many of those people have played past the tenth level. at the higher levels the game definitely gets more challenging and it’s clear the whole point is to get to the highest level possible, although even after spending a fair amount of time on it it’s not completely apparent to me whether winning was a matter of skill or luck. it feel like it’s a mixture of both (not unlike the later fights in mike tyson’s punch-out!!).

i’ve seen the game occasionally get compared to the game & watch game boxing (random video on it on youtube here), and that seems fairer than comparing it to subsequent games like street fighter II that really defined the genre. (although it’s still hard to justify the $5 virtual console price tag when you could get so many other NES classics for the same price.) it does seem that the game has at least some fans, as you can tell by sifting through comments online, and in fact the 3DS version has an unusually high rating in the 3DS eshop. overall i’d say the game isn’t nearly as bad as the majority of people would like to make it out to be, and its 3DS incarnation may well help remove some of its bad rap. although i spent significantly more time with it than the average person, i didn’t enjoy the game enough to really master it, but it’ll be interesting to revisit this game via the 3DS version at some point.

punch out these urban champion links:
– FAQ at gamefaqs with details on attacks
– entry on wikipedia
– random funny review

hungry, hungry yoshi

although yoshi debuted on the SNES in super mario world in 1990 in japan, he/it actually appeared in two games for the original NES. both are puzzle games, the first being the eponymous yoshi, and the second called yoshi’s cookie. yoshi, the game, has gotten renewed attention recently since it was one of the 10 NES “ambassador” games for 3DS. puzzle fiend that i am, the game had been on my radar long before then, but i sat down recently to give it a closer look and to close out the old year.

yoshi is highly reminescent of hatris, one of the original tetris creator’s less-inspired spin-offs. the focus of that game was to position hats onto heads, whereas in this game the focus is on swapping the stacks (i.e. heads) themselves (although hatris included that ability as a “super” move). yoshi is a less restrictive and thus more entertaining game, although i’m sure many players will brush it off as being overly simplistic since you’re only required to make pairs of matches to clear pieces.

it’s true that the game is very straightforward and that it’s not hard to progress, but as with many puzzle games it becomes much more interesting if you focus on getting the highest possible score. in the original tetris, getting only 4-line “tetrises” definitely increases the game’s challenge, and similarly in this game clearing enemies by only matching bottom egg pieces to top egg pieces at the bottom- and topmost parts of the stage (and thus earning the maximum number of points) is hardly trivial. this isn’t wholly satisfying since you end up having to fill much of the board before you can clear it all, and although that sort of gameplay is akin to many other games such as panel de pon aka tetris attack, and puyo puyo, aka kirby’s avalanche in this game it’s not as easy to “give up the gamble” and recover from the corner that you’ve backed yourself into. the game exacerbates this by dropping top (and bottom) egg pieces in groups instead of completely randomly. also, having to spend much of your time up at the topmost part of the board where one small mistake will end your game and having to mentally switch back and forth between regarding the pieces as “garbage” that will go in between an egg and as pieces you’re trying to clear makes the game feel just a bit too fussy to be much fun.

all in all this is a more decent title than most will give credit for, and although i’d rank it above the mostly mindless dr. mario (which i’ve never really enjoyed) it’s not one for the ages.

well, that about wraps up 2011. stay tuned for the annual recap!

yoshi’s hungry for some yoshi links!
– PDF of manual at replacementdocs.com. there seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around about the scoring, so here’s the info straight from the source.
– good FAQ at gamefaqs
– entry at wikipedia

mike tyson’s tennis

i’ve been meaning to work my way through some of the earliest NES games, several of which are available in the gamecube version of animal crossing. (it’s been a while, but if anyone is interested the other two NES via animal crossing games i’ve played and reviewed previously are pinball and balloon fight.) in this particular case, the game was tennis, one of the US NES’s launch titles, but also one of the earliest releases for the original japanese famicom.

it took me quite a few attempts to get into the game enough to give it a fair chance, but my progression through the game was not unlike my experience with the original f-zero on SNES or the original punch-out!! (the mario as referee cameo apparently isn’t the only similarity between the two games). specifically, the game is perfectly amiable as it starts off, but soon gets brutally difficult. in the case of tennis the game starts off being somewhat hard to get into because at first it’s difficult to judge how far the ball is from the racket and where it’s going to land, but after a session i think most people would be able to master the basics. the controls are simple (the A button is for a regular shot and the B button is for a lob), and the difficulty is fairly smooth up to the third level (of five). levels 4 and 5, however, are pretty brutal.

the problem isn’t just that the AI is too good (which it is), but that at the higher levels you’ll have to do more than just return the ball to win. winning then requires a huge amount of trial and error and subsequently memorization in order to not only figure out how to make the computer opponent mess up, but how to master the intricacies of the gameplay. angling your returns becomes essential, but it’s easy to go out of bounds, an aspect of the real game that most other tennis video games don’t include. you’ll end up learning how to hit the ball extremely close to the boundaries of the court in order to win points. playing the net and hitting a volley (before the ball bounces) become more important as well, and the former becomes a real test of patience as hitting close to the net all too often results in hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds. the computer opponent, of course, is a master at playing the net, and will taunt you with his effortless, superhuman skill.

the majority of reviewers have taken the easy way out and just written off the game as being completely outdated, but at the lower levels the game is actually a lot of fun and i bet that if you put in the trial + error + memorize time to master the “advanced” moves the higher levels would be enjoyable as well. there is a definite sense of satisfaction when you do manage to execute a shot at the net and slam the ball past the computer opponent, imagining his dazed and befuddled look. the gamers of today wouldn’t have the patience, but as a predecessor to the similarly punishing punch-out!! there’s a lot to appreciate. the graphics, like the other early NES releases, are clean and attractive, and although there’s no music during the game, the pong-like sounds are effective. although it lacks a competitive mode the co-op mode is fun, but again, at higher difficulties i imagine it would be supremely frustrating, even if both players were masters of the single-player game.

this is actually only the second tennis video game i’ve spent much time with. the first was wii tennis which i quite enjoyed, and so i think i’m going to have to go back and try that game again to see how it compares. nintendo has regularly put out tennis video games for all of their platforms, so it shouldn’t be long before i get my mitts (or should i say, tennis gloves) on another one.

punch out these tennis links!
– good FAQ at gamefaqs.com
– video at thebitblock.com highlighting co-op play for this game along with vs play of two other early NES sports titles
– in the iwata asks interview about the 3DS eshop, the developers have some interesting comments about why they abandoned making a 3-D version of tennis
– typically dismissive review at nintendolife.com. that reviewer didn’t even put in the minimal amount of time required to master the basics, but the reader comments are much more worthwhile.
– entry at wikipedia

the original legendary the legend of zelda

obsessive-compulsive that i am, i’ve been working my way through the zelda series. i needed a quick game to finish last week, so even though there are still a few in the series i haven’t played yet i picked up my copy of the original the legend of zelda for NES which i’ve been meaning to replay for a while.

it’s pretty much impossible for me to judge the game objectively as it was the first NES game i ever owned. even though i had played other early NES classics like mario and duck hunt, excitebike, and gyromite at friends’ houses, zelda was my first and i played it compulsively (some things never change). my mom wouldn’t let us play on weekdays, so on saturday mornings my brother and i would get up ridiculously early to play. i don’t remember the details about these sessions, but i do remember burning every bush and bombing every wall in order to uncover all the game’s many (and, from a modern POV, completely useless) secrets and being amazed at the fact the game includes a 2nd quest, basically doubling the length of the game. this was also one of the rare games that i remember kids in school passing around now-hilarious misinformation about, such as “did you get the purple ring yet?” ha ha.

replaying the game now, at least 10 years since i last even looked at it and probably at least 20 since i’ve last beaten it, was definitely an interesting experience. although i remembered exactly where every heart container, item, store, and dungeon was, there were some details i’d forgotten, like the clock item, the occasional enemy that hasn’t become a series staple (e.g. vires, patra, manhandla), or exactly what order the dungeons are. (incidentally, another thing that was entertaining that i’d never noticed it was that in the credits miyamoto is referred to as “miyahon”. online people seem to generally assume this was some sort of misspelling, but i remember reading somewhere that in those days companies had their employees intentionally use pseudonyms in the credits to avoid having the poached by rival companies.) dungeons were entirely straightforward and, with perhaps the exception of the last one, lacked the puzzle-solving emphasis that its sequels have. the items acquired are all fun and memorable, as is the music, graphics, and for the most part the enemy design. instead of a focus on puzzles there ends up being slightly more emphasis on combat: parts of the game were harder than i remembered, and i have to admit that i ended up having to continue more than a couple of times. it was also refreshing that the game isn’t so formulaic: you don’t get all the items you need to complete the game from dungeons; the boss of a dungeon isn’t necessarily weak against the item you do get in that dungeon; and some dungeons have more than one item.

the real emphasis of the game is, of course, on the almost entirely unguided exploration, and this is what makes me hesitate in my evaluation. the instruction manual points the way to the first two levels, but i could easily see how people would get frustrated at not knowing where to go. i didn’t have this problem because at the same time i got the game way back in 1987 i also got a copy of the official nintendo player’s guide which contained a basic guide to the majority of the first quest. of course now i would eschew such handicaps, but i have to wonder how my opinion of the game would have been different if i hadn’t had it. even now i’m leery of starting in on the second quest because i really don’t remember much about it except vaguely where the dungeons are and that there’s a lot of time wasted trying to walk through walls (the later sequels let you test walls with your sword to see if you can bomb them or not).

all in all this was a great trip down memory lane, and a great look back at the origins of what has become one of the all-time great video game series. it all started here, but even beyond that this is still a fun and colorful game and astoundingly polished and innovative for its time. the game shows its age, though, more so than the NES mario games, and the inevitable frustrations of the unguided overworld would make this off-putting for the uninitiated today and make me inclined to rank this a little more harshly than i would otherwise. but overall, yes, this is another NES classic that i’m happy to see still holds up for the most part, and it makes it onto my ever-increasing list of “greatest games of all time”.

some legendary zelda links:
– zeldadungeon.net has a nice subsite, with a rundown of all the cryptic clues the old man gives you and the locations of all the secret rupees
– the page at zeldawiki.org is also a good source
– scans of the manual at infendo.com. the instruction manual oddly enough refers to zola as a “she”, and it’s interesting to see how the race of water creatures known as the zoras began. zeldawiki.org illuminates the possible distinction between zora and zola here.
– funny related comic: link visits his mother
– summary of the nintendo channel data of the VC release here
– vgmaps.com has a lot of maps including this interactive one. this map at zeldacapital.com is a bit more readable.
– blast from the past: one of the commercials that aired for the game. not sure if they aired it a lot or not, but i actually remember this one. a classic.
– here’s the review at nintendolife.com for another modern perspective
– entry at wikipedia
– and a bit of trivia: here’s what happens if you try to have less than 3 heart containers by giving up one to the “your money or your life” guy

runnin’ ‘n gunnin’ through the original contra

my SO and i play games together occasionally, and a while back we tried out contra 3. that game turned out to be too difficult, though, even with the 10-man code, so recently we sat down to play the original contra for NES. the infamous konami code provides 30 lives, and since i have the game practically memorized we were able to make it through to the end even though his skills are, shall we say, somewhat lacking. 😉 the ability to steal lives from the other player when yours run out definitely came in handy.

although i lost more than a few lives this time around when i went back and played it solo, it really wouldn’t be too hard for me to manage a perfect or near-perfect run. so it seems a bit surprising to me that people still consider this to be one of the hardest games of all time (that is, without using the cheat code), but i suppose i’ve just forgotten how many times i had to play through the game as a kid to memorize it. super C and operation C weren’t too challenging either, but already i can tell contra 3 and contra 4 are going to be more difficult, just from the small tasters i’ve had of them.

in evaluating the game, i’m faced with the ol’ nostalgia vs objectivity issues. but even objectively speaking the game stands up extremely well, and the graphics, music, weapons, explosions, and level and boss variety make this one for the ages. it feels a bit short nowadays, but the game really makes the most of its limited gameplay with its eye-catching locales and a ton of enemy and environment variety. i think the waterfall level ranks among my top favorite levels ever, and the games features some of the best co-op play ever as well. an enduring classic, and one that still deserves a top spot on any “best games of all time” list.

not so contrary contra links:
– this was a “together retro” pick at racketboy.com early last year, so there’s a lot of good info and discussion there
– fully annotated maps at vgmaps.com
– some screenshots at gamespot.com
– PDF of the manual at replacementdocs.com. has some great lines like “if you succeed, well … it doesn’t matter, because i doubt you will”, and “believe in miracles maybe you’ll make it”. haha.
– entry at wikipedia
– speaking of lists of top games, contra is currently an entry in the ongoing series of polls i’m running to highlight some of the greatest games of all time. check it out here.