• Tag Archives NES

  • Hello Kitty World (NES)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/655871951353610240

    Pick any licensed game at random, whether it be a game based on a movie, TV show, cartoon character or whatever, and there is a 99% chance it is going to be crap. However, it’s not 100%. Every now and then there is a gem of a licensed property. Hello Kitty World is one of those and it has a surprising lineage.

    Hello Kitty World is relatively obscure for a number of reasons. There is the above mentioned fact that it is based on a licensed property (Hello Kitty in this case), leading the average buyer to likely believe it is some crappy kids game. Then there is the fact that it was released very late in the life of the NES in 1992. Finally, it was never released outside of Japan.

    However, Hello Kitty World was actually developed, at least in part, by Nintendo themselves and Nintendo is not known for making crappy games. In fact, the basis of Hello Kitty World is Balloon Kid on the Game Boy. Balloon Kid is a sequel to Balloon Fight which is a fairly well known arcade game by Nintendo. Balloon Kid adds to that relatively basic arcade experience by turning it into a side-scrolling, flying platform adventure game. Hello Kitty World for the NES enhances the game further and adds the licensed characters. In fact, Hello Kitty World even features unused and reworked music from Balloon Kid.

    The premise is that you must navigate through the sky which contains various enemies, floating with the help of balloons. If an enemy pops your balloons, you will fall to the ground. You can also release the balloons at any point to drop to the ground or on top of an enemy. At that point, you can inflate new balloons to float into the air once more. You can also run around on the ground as well though most of your time will be spent in the air. Enemies can also kill you directly and if you land in the water, you also die. There are various unique play mechanics that make this a pretty good platformer, and unique levels and bosses as well. While Hello Kitty might not normally fall on your radar as a character you want to play in a video game, Hello Kitty World is an excellent platformer and should be tried by anyone who enjoys the genre.

    Of course, to play Hello Kitty World your options are currently pretty limited. As far as I know, there have been no re-releases and licensed properties rarely get that opportunity. Since this was a Japan only release, you will have to find a cartridge and a Famicom or suitable converter if you want to play this on real hardware. Or you can go the easy route and fire it up on an emulator instead. In either case, it is worth checking out.


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  • Nintendo Magazine System – Issue Number 8

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Computer & Video Game Magazines – Nintendo Magazine System – Issue Number 8

    Nintendo Magazine System was published in several countries and was the official Nintendo magazine in at least some of them. This particular one was published in Britain. Issue number 8 includes:

    Features

    • Cover Story – A cross between Alien Syndrome and countless space-bound horror films, Operation Logic Bomb blasts its way here for an exclusive NMS review. With loads to shoot, and loads of weaponry with which to do so, how does it fare?
    • Exhaust Heat II – Just when you thought racing games couldn’t get any faster, here come Seta with a game so fast it leaves scorch marks on your screen! Forget F-Zero, forget Exhaust Heat. The latest and greatest race game is for your Super NES – and we give it the full Mansell treatment…
    • NMS Goes To The Movies

      • – Lights, camera – and ACTION! With the likes of Batman Returns, Cool World and Lethal Weapon reviewed this very issue, we decided to lump them all together in a special section! So, buy yourself a large bucket of popcorn, irritate people by getting out of your seat and moving along the aisle every five minutes, and keep rustling a jumbo bag of salt and vinegar crisps whenever possible…

    Regulars

    • News – Big Arnie returns for another bout of Nintendo mayhem as Sony sign up the rights to his new movie, The Last Action Hero! Meanwhile Sylvester Stallone is set to hit the Super NES in a game based on his new film, Cliffhanger. Cripes! There’s all this and lots, lots more as we scour the world for all the tidbits of gossip you want to read.
    • Seal’s Mailbag – Arf, arf! Reeking of fish and suitably bewhiskered, SEAL returns for another bout of letter answering. However, if you really want to get on his good side, send him tins of sardines with your letter – it’s almost certain to get in then. Oh, and chocolate. He really likes chocolate. And crisps. And Toffee…
    • NHS: Nintendo Help System – Like Florence Nightingale did to countless soldiers all those years back, NMS cools the fevered brows of you struggling players out there. This month, Prince Of Persia and Alfred Chicken are dissected by our hand-picked team of butchers…sorry surgeons, and their innermost secret removed and placed in specimen jars for your delectation. All this and Small Tips, too. Blimey!
    • Will You Ever? – After revealing in our own, inimitable way the end of Axelay last month, this time we reveal what happens at the end of Super Mario World! That’s right, after the Mario has leapt on to Bowser for the very last time, and all that Mode 7-type related malarkey with the spiky one zooming in and out of the screen has gone, this is what happens…
    • High Scores – Is your sad fizzog featured within these hallowed pages? No, then get playing your fave game, attain a marvelous score, send us a dippy picture, and then wait for us to mock you in the next issue – all in harmless fun, of course.
    • Charts – Rockadoodledoo, Pop Pickers, it’s charteroony time! As well as the official Super NES, NES, and Game Boy charts, there’s the all-important NMS team chart where we scrap amongst ourselves just to get our favorite titles in there. Ah, so that explains why Kirby keeps making all those comebacks…
    • Blagman – Another new idea, and rather a daft one if we do say so ourselves. Blagman is King Scrap, without a doubt. If there is an industry freebie, this Robin Hood of the software industry is there to pinch it and distribute it amongst the needy and greedy. This month, Acclaim’s offices have been stripped bare of all manner of goodies, as the masked wonder offers a massive selection of poached freebies. If you want one, get writing…
    • Index – Ah, the Game Boy, How do we love thee? Let us count the ways. What a beautiful little device. So beautiful in fact that we have acquired the services of the lovely Sarah Ewing, EMAP beauty expert and Game Boy fan to deliver THE ultimate in looks tips and Game Boy info. What’s more, every Game Boy title under the sun is listed for your delectation. There’s never been anything quite like it, which is probably just as well…

    Super NES Reviews

    • Exhaust Heat II
    • Tuff E Nuff
    • Super James Pond
    • Outlander
    • Batman Returns
    • Cool World
    • The Terminator
    • Operation Logic Bomb
    • Shanghai II

    NES Reviews

    • Pugsly’s Scavenger Hunt
    • Lethal Weapon
    • James Pond II: Robocod
    • Mr Gimmick

    Game Boy Reviews

    • Universal Soldier
    • Lethal Weapon

    Previews

    • Alien 3
    • Terminator II
    • Striker
    • Biometal
    • Crash Dummies

    Tips

    • Small Tips
    • Prince of Persia
    • Alfred Chicken

    …and more!


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  • Platoon (NES)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Electronic Game Player – September 1988


    Platoon was released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and various other computer platforms including the Amiga and Atari. Slightly later, it was ported to the NES by Sunsoft. It is based on the 1986 Oliver Stone movie of the same name. As a licensed game, this one is actually pretty decent (at least on some platforms) which is unusual. This is an action game though it doesn’t really fit into one genre as it has different stages which play like different games. This sort of multi-format game used to be more common and in that sense it reminds me a bit of older games like Beach-Head.

    The movie follows a squad of five soldiers during the Vietnam war. The game has four distinct stages that generally follow the movie. Each of these stages is almost like a completely separate game though each one is a progression in the same story line.

    The first stage plays like a fairly typical side-scrolling action game. In addition to enemies on the ground, you will face obstacles like booby traps and air strikes. Each stage has one or more goals and in this stage you must destroy a bridge and find a village in which you must locate various items.

    The second stage plays somewhat like a first-person shooter. In this stage you navigate a network of tunnels in order to find flares and a compass. Of course there are enemies to battle here as well. After all, it wouldn’t be much of an FPS without things to shoot.

    Once you escape the tunnels, you take cover in a bunker for the third stage where you must use the items you located in the previous stage. You have a limited number of flares which must be used to locate attacking enemies before they can shoot you. This part plays somewhat like a light gun shooter similar to Operation Wolf, only using the game pad instead. Afterwards, you have to use the compass you found to navigate to a position safe from an incoming airstrike. To add to the challenge, you have a limited amount of time in which to do this.

    In the final stage, you navigate through the jungle in a 3rd person point of view while continuing to battle enemies. At the end, you’ll face Sergeant Barnes who is hiding in his own bunker. This stage is relatively simple but that doesn’t mean easy. You have to kill Barnes by successfully landing five grenades in his bunker.

    Licensed games are almost always abysmal. Compared to that benchmark, Platoon is an excellent game. However, the computer releases seemed to have been much better than the port Sunsoft did for the NES. While the computer versions have some quite excellent reviews, most reviews for the NES version complain about the difficulty and endless mazes. Platoon hasn’t been re-released as far as I know so you will have to track down an original or use emulation to play it. Screen shots above are from the NES version. The NES version will have among the best graphics but for playability I would recommend the Commodore 64 or Amiga versions.

    The ad above is from the September 1988 issue of Electronic Game Player.


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