WWF WrestleMania Steel Cage Challenge was released by Acclaim first for the NES in 1992 and later ported to the Sega Master System and Game Gear in 1993 with the SMS version being a Europe only release. The game features 10 wrestlers including, of course, Hulk Hogan. The SMS/Game Gear and NES versions feature slightly different sets of wrestlers to chose from. While WWF fans will certainly be interested, this is a pretty mediocre title and you should probably temper your expectations.
There are various modes of play to choose from including one-on-one, tag team and championship. With tag team you of course get to choose two out of the ten wrestlers instead of just one. There are a fairly wide variety of moves that you can execute including punches, kicks, body slams, throws, headbutts, clothesline, powerslam, stomp, elbow drop and others. So what’s the down side? The controls are pretty crappy and the movies are difficult making for an often frustrating play experience. However, multiplayer is the great equalizer and no doubt WWF/WWE fans can still have fun with this one.
There has been no re-release of this game nor is there likely to be one. You’ll have to track down an original version (the NES version preferably or perhaps the SMS version if you are in Europe) or try it out on an emulator. There are better fighting games out there, even on 8-bit though so I would say this one is only for the hardcore WWF fan.
All screenshots above are from the NES version of the game.
Lethal Weapons was released for various home computers, the NES, Super Nintendo and Game Boy in 1992. It was actually based on the movie Lethal Weapon 3 which was the iteration of that series that was released around the same time. The game is a fairly typical side-scrolling platform adventure game with the quality you have come to expect from licensed properties.
There are two primary versions of the game. One released for the NES and Game Boy and another released for the Super Nintendo and various home computers including the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and DOS. In both versions, you get to choose to play either of the two main protagonists, Riggs or Murtaugh. The NES and Game Boy version is extremely difficult and mostly involves fighting with various criminals in the Los Angeles area. You can either punch or shoot your enemies and often punching seems to be more effective. The Super Nintendo and computer versions are similar types of games but the levels have more specific goals. The difference between the two characters that you can choose from are minimal and relate to firing speed and jump height.
None of the versions are particularly great games. The computer versions seem to be more highly regarded but that’s not saying much. If you do want to give this one a try, the Amiga (or Atari ST) version is probably best. Pick the SNES version over the NES or Game Boy version if you want a console game but if you are a sucker for punishment and want to play both variations then you’ll have to give the NES version a shot too (or Game Boy but why?). Needless to say, this game has never been re-released. A Sega Master System version was planned and may have even been mostly completed but was never released.
The ad above is from the February 1993 issue of Game Players magazine and advertises the NES, SNES and Game Boy versions. Screen shots above are from the Super Nintendo version of the game.
Released on December 1987 in Japan and May 1990 in North America, Final Fantasy was originally going to be creator, Hironbu Sakaguchi’s swan song in the realm of video game design. After a string of non-hits for developer Square, he planned to leave the video game business if this game was a failure too. Instead, Final Fantasy became the first installment of what many people, myself included, consider to be one of, if not the greatest Roleplaying Game franchise in the history of video games.
The premise is a very familiar one to fans of Japanese RPGs. A player creates a party of four characters from six classes. Those classes include Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage. This automatically made the game chock full of replay value, as the combinations of party members were mind-boggling, effectively giving the player a different play experience each time they started the game over. After selecting the party, the game takes on the standard format of JRPGs. The player walks around an over world map until happening upon a random encounter and then the screen switches to a turn-based combat view. The player then fights the bad guys until either the bad guys are the player’s party is defeated. Experience is rewarded along with treasure, rinse repeat.
Now of course the storyline of the game is a little more complex than just randomly wondering around a map with no goal. But for the few players who have never experienced FF1 before, I don’t want to spoil a single thing pertaining to the story. So suffice to say that the player is thrust right into the middle of an engaging story right from the very beginning.
Final Fantasy is one of the seminal games for the original NES. It was the game the brought Japanese style RPGs to the North American masses and has spawned countless sequels, spinoffs, ports and remakes as well as plenty of imitators. I’ve always preferred the more American style D&D type RPGs myself but there can be no doubt of the influence and impact of this game.
To be fair, the differences between JRPGs and “regular” RPGs aren’t always significant. Final Fantasy involves the player’s party traveling around an overworld map and occasionally (or frequently) engaging in turn based combat as part of their quest to do…whatever it is they set out to do. This isn’t so different than the Gold Box D&D games for example. Really the difference has more to do with style and storyline than with basic gameplay mechanics.
Final Fantasy was released in the U.S. in 1987, preceding Dragon Warrior by about two years. I always found Dragon Warrior to be far more repetitive and Final Fantasy to be the more interesting game. Final Fantasy was a huge critical and commercial success and is one of those NES games that every video game aficionado should try.
Fortunately, Final Fantasy has been re-released more times than just about any other NES game so you aren’t stuck with playing via an emulator or an original system if you don’t want to be. It was released as part of Final Fantasy Origins for the PlayStation in 2003 with updated graphics, a remixed soundtrack and FMV sequences among other changes. In 2004 it was released for the Game Boy Advance as part of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. This version had additional dungeons, more beasts and some other minor changes. In 2007 it was released for the PSP with improved graphics and other changes from the Dawn of Souls release. In 2009 the original NES version was released on the Wii Virtual Console. In 2010-2012 mobile phone versions were released including a version for iOS that was based on the PSP version. There are probably a few other versions I’ve missed but the most recent released was the 2016 release of the original on the NES Classic Edition.
One way or the other, you should give this game a shot if only to see how it all started.
